People talk 5/6/03

'Friends' star, fiancee wed on Hawaiian island

LOS ANGELES -- "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc has said "How you doin'?" to marriage.

The 35-year-old actor, whose dimwitted character on the popular NBC sitcom purrs that catch phrase to woo women, married fiancee Melissa McKnight on the Hawaiian island of Kauai on Saturday.

The ceremony took place at night on a bluff overlooking Anini beach, LeBlanc's Los Angeles-based publicist, Joe Libonati, said Monday.

LeBlanc's "Friends" co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox attended the event, but Matthew Perry was in London and David Schwimmer was in Chicago, Libonati said.

The couple had been engaged since 1998. It was LeBlanc's first marriage and the second for McKnight, who has two children from that previous relationship.

On "Friends," LeBlanc found fame as soap-opera actor Joey Tribbiani, the blockheaded ladies' man with a passion for sports, the TV show "Baywatch" and homemade jam.

Pauley makes plans for post-NBC career

RADNOR, Pa. -- Jane Pauley wants to start a magazine and work on a television series after leaving NBC next month.

"I'll probably work on a series that would be called 'How We Learn,' something like you might see on PBS. I'm interested in that," Pauley, who departs after 27 years at the network, tells TV Guide in its May 10 issue.

"I have two children in college (and one in high school) who find me a meddlesome mother -- and I give such good advice!"

Pauley, 52, also has talked to people about a women-oriented magazine, and gotten favorable responses, she said.

"It's not Oprah, not Martha Stewart Living, not Rosie. But it will be of interest to women in my age group."

Pauley's husband, Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau, supports the career change.

"He said: 'Being married to you is never boring.' That was a huge compliment, because 25 years ago, when we were still dating ... I might've worried that I was going to be boring, too careful, too cautious. And it's the one thing I didn't turn out to be," Pauley said.

New Chuck Norris action series down but not out

HONOLULU -- A Chuck Norris television series based in Hawaii could still make it on the air even though NBC has pulled out of the project, the actor's brother said.

Aaron Norris, the show's producer, said no specific reason was given when he learned of the network's decision this past week.

"We're trying to resurrect it," said Norris, who added that he has met with two other studios previously interested in the series.

Chuck Norris, the 63-year-old actor who starred in "Walker, Texas Ranger" for nine years on television, was to portray a U.S. Coast Guard commander in "The Guard."

The series, which was to begin filming 22 episodes on Oahu in July, was being co-produced by Norris Brothers Entertainment and Lions Gate Entertainment.

The Norris brothers have been working with the Hawaii Film Office on the project since April 2002.

TV pilot, film role reveals actresses' maternal side

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- After seven seasons as the fast-living fashion maven Nina Van Horn on "Just Shoot Me," Wendie Malick is finally getting a chance to show off her maternal side.

Malick's new television pilot, "My Life With Men," features the ex-model as a woman in a house full of males.

"It's a big change for me," the 52-year-old told The Associated Press.

"I'm living with my four sons, my husband, my father and a male dog that's not fixed. Basically I'm surrounded by testosterone."

Malick will know next week whether ABC will add the show to its fall lineup. She also just completed a film, "Bathroom Boy," in which she plays the mother of a boy who locks himself in a bathroom to do math equations. Her son is played by Justin Long of the NBC series "Ed."