Seen, Heard, Said

MEL GIBSON IN THE NEWS: Out of the goodness of their hearts and because their appreciation of acting excellence is very refined, a bunch of theater-owners got together a few days ago and named Mel Gibson the Male Star of the Year. (The fact that his movies brought something on the order of 200 million American dollars pouring into box offices in 1992 may also have had some bearing on this thoughtful gesture.) Nor is this the extent of the achievements being logged by Gibson and his relations these days.

MEL GIBSON'S SISTER IN THE NEWS: Mary Estridge, whose great good fortune it is to be Mel's sibling, recently fulfilled a family tradition by going on the Australian version of "Jeopardy!" Family tradition? Indeed, for Hutton Gibson - whose great good fortune it was to be Mary and Mel's dad - won big on the American "Jeopardy!" back in the '60s, and parlayed that experience into mondo moola by cutting a swath through Australia's TV game shows after moving kith and kin to that country. We wish we could turn this tale into a candidate for feel-good movie scenario of the year by reporting that Mary, in her turn, won big on the Aussie show, but we can't because she didn't.

MEL GIBSON'S MOUTH IN THE NEWS: Meantime, Mel himself recently took Australia's Prime Minister Paul Keating and Liberal Party leader John Hewson to task during an interview taped in L.A. and then shown Down Under. "Not one Australian, I should imagine, wants either of those men to represent them." Please, Mel, put your peroration in the form of a question.

AN ACTOR WHOM WE SOMETIMES GET CONFUSED WITH MEL GIBSON IN THE NEWS: A still, small voice advises us that Ted Danson has been going around telling his friends that he was offered $13 million to do another year of "Cheers." And was he tempted? "I didn't even have to think twice before saying no way." Please, Ted, put the one-sentence denouement of your story in the form of a question.