Affleck's 'Gone, Baby' nearly done

The muckety-mucks at Miramax have finally set a release date for Ben Affleck's directorial debut "Gone, Baby, Gone." We're told the movie, based on the Dennis Lehane bestseller, will be out in October, though the date and place of the premiere haven't been set. The drama, starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Ed Harris, and Morgan Freeman, was shot around South Boston last summer, and the word among folks who've seen the rough cut is very positive. Ben Affleck's keeping a low profile as he does the final edit, but the actor's name has surfaced in connection with Jody "Babydol" Gibson, a notorious former madam who's written a tantalizing tell-all. The just-published book, "Secrets of a Hollywood SuperMadam," names two dozen celebrities who, Gibson says, used her call-girl service. In addition to Affleck, they include Bruce Willis, former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, Jim Belushi, director Barry Levinson, and Dorchester's own Mark Wahlberg. Gibson was convicted in 2000 of running a prostitution ring and served two years in prison. Her clients were listed in court documents, but the names were redacted. Gibson says all of the celebrities named in her book were included in the case against her. "I think [Affleck and Wahlberg] may be pleasantly surprised when they read the book," Gibson told us yesterday. "The girls liked them." (Writing about Ben, BabyDol says the actor, who was single at the time, liked girls who were blonde, busty, upbeat.) Affleck's rep called the book bunk yesterday. "Ben's never heard of this woman," Ken Sunshine told us. "Do you really think that Ben Affleck ever needed to pay a madam for her services? This is completely untrue. There is nothing true about this story, and we are exploring all legal options." Wahlberg rep Sarah Lum did not return phone calls.

Brown lacking a support system?

Singer Bobby Brown remains at the Norfolk County House of Correction, still unable to scare up the overdue child support he owes former girlfriend Kim Ward. What's puzzling is that Brown, whose once-promising singing career is in shambles, hasn't asked the court to decrease the amount of money he pays in child support. (He pays $5,500 a month for his two teenage children with Ward.) "There's a procedure in place to reduce it, and Bobby's been told about it, but he's never filed anything," said Norfolk County Register of Probate Patrick McDermott. "To approve it, there has to be a material change of status." Well, he may not be Mr. Whitney Houston much longer. Brown's due back in court tomorrow.

Glass reflects on television life

Fans of the National Public Radio show "This American Life" needn't worry that the impending launch of a Showtime TV series means host Ira Glass has gone Hollywood. "No. . . . I'm speaking to you from the DoubleTree. This room cost $69," said Glass not long after arriving in Boston yesterday afternoon. "We're still public radio." Glass and a troupe of his radio show regulars -- Sarah Vowell, Dan Savage, and Jonathan Goldstein -- were at the Opera House last night to tape an episode of the radio show. Although separate, the six-city tour is a promotional prelude to the March 22 launch of the half-hour TV series featuring all new segments. "This American Life" -- the TV show -- keeps a lot of what made "This American Life" so popular with NPR listeners, particularly its focus on off beat stories. "There's no news hook for our pieces," said Glass. "We're so far out on the sea of features you can't see land." And even though Glass has embraced the power of having images with the stories, he is still adjusting to what goes on behind the scenes. "I have tried to maintain a shred of dignity in the television production, yes," Glass said. "But there came a point in one of the shoots where . . . they thought my ears stuck out." The solution? "They put gaffer's tape on my ears to keep them back."

Just a couple of days after William Monahan won the Oscar for writing the screenplay for "The Departed," two projects have been announced that reteam the North Shore screenwriter with the director of the Boston-set crime drama and one of the film's stars. Monahan will work with fellow Oscar-winner Martin Scorsese on "The Long Play," a film that will be produced by Mick Jagger and span 30 years in the music business. Also, Monahan will write the script and be an executive producer for a Leonardo DiCaprio project, "Confessions of Pain," according to yesterday's The Hollywood Reporter. "Confessions of Pain" also is a remake of a Hong Kong cop drama from the team behind "Infernal Affairs," on which "The Departed" was based.

Actors Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth were at the Cambridge watering hole The People's Republik on Mass Avenue filming scenes for the as-yet- untitled blackjack movie based on Boston author Ben Mezrich's book "Bringing Down the House" about a group of MIT students who beat the Las Vegas casinos. . . . After nearly 30 years of producing programming at WCVB-TV (Channel 5), Linda Polach left the station and began executive producing WGBH-TV's (Channel 2) nightly news and public affairs program "Greater Boston," effective last night. Polach replaces Mark Mills, who left "Greater Boston" in December to avoid any conflict of interest after his wife, Nancy Fernandez Mills, was named director of communications for Governor Deval Patrick.

He's familiar to TV viewers as a crime scene investigator on "Law & Order," but John Cariani was wearing his playwright's hat when he stopped by the South End the other day to see the SpeakEasy Stage Company's production of his play "Almost, Maine." Cariani, who won a Tony nomination for his portrayal of Motel the Tailor in the Broadway revival of "Fiddler on the Roof," was joined by the company's producing artistic director Paul Daigneault and members of the cast for a discussion with the audience.

Suzanne Ryan of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.