• by John Gaffney , September 26, 2002

OPRs For The Week Of Sept. 23

Whoa, Dude. Did You Go To Guru School To Learn That?: Reporting on the up and coming career of Jamie Lynn Spears (yes, of the family Spears) USA Today said “gurus of teen marketing say the Hasbro ads will be Jamie Lynn's coming out party as a preteen marketing force. “It almost doesn't matter if she can sing or dance," says Michael Wood of Teenage Research Unlimited. "She's Britney's sister." The move into the spotlight comes at a time when her big sister has been shunning publicity. "You have to wonder if this whole thing wasn't calculated," Wood says.

Taki Is Obviously Not A Veteran Of the Dot-Com Heyday: According to the Washington Post, once-busted Taki Theodoracopulos, 65, who has teamed up with Pat Buchanan to put out the American Conservative magazine, was asked at the National Press Club which is a more enjoyable way to throw away money -- funding a political magazine or snorting cocaine? "It's not even close," he replied. "Making a magazine, you feel good the next day."

Understatement Of The Year: Rosie O'Donnell received the Lucy Award at the Women in Film Awards in LA last Friday. "I'm so happy to get the Women in Film Award because it's fairly obvious to me I'm not going to be getting the 'women in magazine' award," she quipped.

No, No, Doctor, We’d Never Think That: GE announced that it will accept advertising for its Patient Channel, currently piped in to more than 50,000 patient hospital rooms. Pat Folcarelli, director of patient education at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, told The Wall Street Journal that she will think twice about continuing with the Patient Channel once it attracts big advertisers. "I prefer patient education with no ads because I don't want to give patients the idea that we are endorsing products," she says.