• by October 27, 2003

THAT'S ALL FOLKS -- Marlins fans in New York (which include Red Sox and Mets fans, at least last week) weren't able to see much of the post-series celebration, since the local Fox affiliate went to news a few minutes after a weak grounder ended the game and the series. Fox's broadcasters said they would be back after the first commercial break; they weren't.

THE YANKEES LOSE -- Another unexpected benefit for non-Yankees fans forced to listen to the World Series via radio. We won't have to hear John Sterling's "The Yankees win, thhhhhhe Yankees win," at the end of the game until next year.

WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU -- It's been some time since The Riff has played "Dead Or Alive," but this week's release of Forbes' Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list is providing a new twist. Few would question this year's - and perennial champ - Elvis Presley's earning power. The only real question some might have is whether he actually is dead. And even if he worked for Peanuts when he was alive, the $32 million earned by beloved cartoonist Charles Schultz placed him second behind only the King's $40 million take. Not surprisingly, J.R.R. Tolkien's earnings last year were, well, precious! The $22 million gross of his estate obviously benefited from the DVD and pay- per-view grosses of the first two parts of his "Ring" trilogy. With the third soon to be released, watch for the fantasy author to remain atop next year's heap. The same may not be said for another fantastical writer, Theodor Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) actually saw his earning power decline last year, though it remains to be seen how the forthcoming release of "The Cat In The Hat" movie starring Mike Myers will do at the box office. Other dead celebs appear to be suffering from the same economic malaise that has hurt the earnings of many of those among us - including the Riff itself. And it's not for lack of their talent. Among those who've taken rollbacks are some of the Riff's musical favorites, including John Lennon and George Harrison (though the Fab Two remain at No. 4 and No. 5 atop this year's list, just behind Tolkien), Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix. Meanwhile, earnings have been on the rise for Marilyn Monroe and Tupac Shakur. Now that's resurrection.

SCI FI MINUS THE FI -- The Riff, for one, cannot wait to get its hands on the 36 pages of documents NASA has agreed to release concerning the hush-hush UFO incident in Kecksburg, PA, back in 1965. Our only question is whether Sci Fi Channel understands what it has done by pressuring the federal government to make those records public. If, as some believe, the files show a genuine alien encounter, then aliens, UFOs and the ilk not longer can be classified as fiction and therefore would not fall under Sci Fi's programming classification. Or could it be that Sci Fi has its sights set on an even bigger storyline? "I think its fair to say that we have truly entered the realm of science fiction in Washington, D.C.," said John Podesta, former chief of staff for President Clinton and a member of the Moynihan Commission, who along with Sci Fi president Bonnie Hammer, made the successful appeal to the feds last week. Podesta was referring to the fact that the government was willing recently to disclose the identity of a clandestine CIA agent, but not willing to release records of an unexplained crash in Pennsylvania 38 years ago. So, if aliens turn out to be real, will Sci Fi turn its attention to the seemingly unreal happenings in the nation's capital? Actually, NBC already has that show.