CBS goes for laughs

At a time when sitcoms seem like a fading art, CBS is staying on the laugh track. The network said yesterday it will air six comedies instead of four in the fall. CBS has confined its comedies to Mondays in recent years but will air Julia Louis-Dreyfus's "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and a new comedy with Jay Mohr as a recently divorced painter on Wednesdays. CBS renewed "How I Met Your Mother," a show with a questionable future until guest shots by Britney Spears gave it some juice this spring. The second new comedy, "Worst Week," is a single-camera show about a bungling magazine editor. CBS will also add three dramas in the fall - "Eleventh Hour," from the production team behind "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"; "The Ex List," which stars Elizabeth Reaser of "Grey's Anatomy"; and "The Mentalist," starring Simon Baker. (AP)

Dennis Quaid told Congress yesterday of a near-fatal drug mix-up in which his newborn twins were administered 1,000 times the normal dose of a blood thinner. The 54-year-old actor (inset) said his family's ordeal underscores the need to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable through lawsuits. At issue before the House Reform and Government Oversight Committee is a move by regulators at the Food and Drug Administration to step into lawsuits on the side of defendant drug companies. The Quaid family is suing drug maker Baxter Healthcare Corp., which is seeking dismissal of the lawsuit on grounds that the FDA approved the labeling. (AP)

The best-selling pop album on planet Earth and a disc sent hurtling into deep space are among recordings the Library of Congress will preserve for their cultural significance. Twenty-five selections were added to the National Recording Registry yesterday, part of the library's attempt to save America's aural history by archiving recordings deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." The inductees range from Michael Jackson's 1982 all-time-bestseller "Thriller" and jazz artist Herbie Hancock's 1973 fusion smash "Headhunters" to the 1977 record of Earth sounds that flew aboard the spacecraft Voyager in the event alien life forms encountered the craft. Other recordings added to the registry include works by Roy Orbison, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Kitty Wells, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. A collection of Navajo songs, Harry Truman's 1948 Democratic National Convention speech, radio broadcasts from Ronald Reagan before he became president, and the original cast recording of "My Fair Lady" also made the cut. (AP)

Amy Winehouse will not face charges over video footage that allegedly shows her taking drugs, her spokesman said yesterday. Police questioned the Grammy-winning soul diva for nine hours last week over a January video that appears to show her smoking a pipe usually used for crack cocaine during a party at her London home. (AP)

'If you think you are having a tough day, may I propose you walk in my shoes. It feels like "Dump on Al Month." ' -- Al Reynolds, the soon-to-be ex-husband of Star Jones, expressing his frustrations with media coverage of his divorce