• by John Gaffney , March 7, 2003

OPRs For March 7:

No It Ain’t Sponsored By Alpo, Boyyyyyyyy: Coming to MTV this spring/summer is a new variety show with host Snoop Dogg called Doggy Fizzle Televizzle premieres 6/22 at 10p. Six episodes have been ordered.

As Long As They Don’t Give ‘Who’s Line Is It Anyway’ To Dr. Phil, I’m OK With It:After falling to No.3 in the 2001 Harris Poll, Oprah Winfrey had reclaimed her spot at the top of America's Favorite TV Personalities. Showing the fickle nature of television popularity, the two people who ranked ahead of Oprah on the 2001 list, Drew Carey and Regis Philbin, have dropped off entirely. Riding on Winfrey's coattails is her protégé Dr. Phil McGraw, who makes his first appearance on the list at No.7.

Guess He Hasn’t Seen Elmo On Sesame Street Lately: After competing the deal for Bill Clinton and Robert Dole to debate weekly on ’60 Minutes,’ Washington attorney Robert Barnett, who represented both men in the deal with CBS, said: "This is a great opportunity for people to hear two different points of view well spoken on critical issues. There is all too little of it now."

Could This Be A Case Of Attitude Adjustment? This from The Economist: “The British newspaper industry thinks rather highly of itself. It sustains 11 national titles, and unusually high readership levels. It has a culture of irreverence, from which it looks down at the tame and stodgy German papers, and now at Le Monde, France's leading high-brow newspaper, recently the target of accusations of political collusion. Yet British newspapers are in bad trouble—even worse than meets the eye. At first glance, things look gloomy enough.”