IN ADDITION TO BLACK TIE, RED LEATHER SUIT WILL BE ACCEPTABLE: Unsurprisingly, after last year's debacle, the producing team for next year's Oscars is again looking at a comedian-type to host, and apparently, Eddie Murphy is in talks, with Billy Crystal likely to play some sort of role (I assume doing a musical bit near the open, as NPH did a few years back. Given that the production team is led by Brett Ratner (no, I don't know why, either), it's not exactly a surprise, but it's certainly an interesting choice.

AND HULL HOUSE FOUNDER JANE ADDAMS, WHO HAS VOWED TO DONATE ALL OF HER WINNINGS TO THE LAME AND THE IRISH: Slate's Josh Levin recounts great casts in Dancing with the Stars pre-history.  Still, I'm surprised he didn't talk about that great 1975 cast with Fannie Foxe, former Brady Bunch star Barry Williams, Young Frankenstein's Marty Feldman, "Captain" Daryl Dragon, and Brett Somers, no matter how inevitable it was that Steelers rookie sensation Lynn Swann would win.

okay, another: 1984's season with Night Court's Richard Moll, The Love Boat's Ted Lange, Laura Branigan, Katarina Witt, Zola Budd, Police Academy star Michael Winslow, and former Interior Secretary James Watt.

THE TEMPLE OF PURE COLLEGE BASKETBALL HAS GONE RECONSTRUCTIONIST: That was the reaction of a friend of mine when I shared the news that The Palestra—the 84-year-old University of Pennsylvania gym-slash-sweatshop which has hosted more college basketball games than any other arena—has replaced its fabled fixed-digit, kid-has-to-change-the-letters-manually scoreboard with a modern video display.

In other death-of-Philadelphia-tradition news, farewell to all-rock 94.1 WYSP-FM, and good riddance, Howard Eskin.

ALOTT5MA FRIDAY PLAYLIST:  This idea hit me while listening to "Hazy Shade of Winter" on my iPod on the way home from work yesterday: songs which sound that much better while listening with headphones (or otherwise stereo-enhanced).

WE CAN ONLY ASSUME NPH AS MARIUS IS THE NEXT TO BE ANNOUNCED: Allegedly, Anne Hathaway is in talks to play Fantine in a movie version of Les Mis as her next role, which will give her the chance to do "I Dreamed A Dream." The article also suggests that Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter are close to signing to play the Thenardiers, with Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe already attached as Valjean and Javert, respectively. I'm still not sure that it works transitioned from stage to film, but the cast is certainly shaping up nicely.

BUT WE WENT RIGHT ON WITH THE SHOW:  Next Sunday at 4pm, VH-1 will rebroadcast without commercial interruption the six hour Concert for New York City held on October 20, 2001. It's a varied setlist which reflects the music of 2001 (Five For Fighting, Backstreet Boys) but also contains some timeless, great performances from pop/rock legends in front of a passionate crowd. Below the fold, Billy Joel, "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)":

GOOD NEWS: Remember last week when we advised commenter Kate on a travel bucket list for her and her father? Kate emailed me today to let you all know that things have changed:

I wanted to offer a sincere thank you to everyone for such wonderful ideas of what my father should do, he is planning on doing a number of them. I also wanted to give everyone an update. The good news is that although we were told a cancer diagnosis was almost certain, as it turns out, "almost" doesn't mean "always". He did not end up needing surgery. He came home from the hospital yesterday, the diagnosis is not cancer but something much less serious and non-life threatening. He is currently shopping so he can cook dinner tonight, which he will eat. We hope to experience many more years of his presence. In the meantime he has a new lease on life and a "no time like the present" attitude to take away from a couple of scary, scary weeks.

Obviously we're a little shocked and thrilled. We're still going to do some of the travel ideas. Two weeks ago I was asking him about funeral arrangements, tonight he is planning on making me dinner.