People: Nov. 4, 2002

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SECOND ACTS

Whether for love of art or of money, book publisher Random House has decided to revive the Godfather saga. The problem is, the novel's author, Mario Puzo, died in 1999. To get around that, Random House senior editor Jonathan Karp, who worked with Puzo at the end of his life, sent an e-mail to literary agents to seek an author who is at roughly the same career point that Puzo was when he wrote the novel in 1969. There may not be too many writers eager to confess to that. Puzo said he wrote the story of the Corleone family as a way to make some money when he was broke at the midpoint of his career. Random House hopes the new book will be turned into a movie like the memorable first Godfather film, which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starred Marlon Brando. Proposals for possible story lines are due on Nov. 4, and Karp and the Puzo estate will choose the winner. If they really wanted to make some money, they'd turn the search into a competition and air it in weekly installments on TV. Right after The Sopranos.

Jordan Blows The Whistle

In life, as in sports, the best defense is a good offense, especially backed by capable lawyers. In court papers filed last week, former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan, who now plays for the Washington Wizards, accused Karla Knafel of attempting to extort $5 million from him to keep their onetime affair a secret. Jordan acknowledged that he had a liaison with Knafel more than 10 years ago, though it was not specified when the relationship started or whether he was married at the time. He also admits having paid her $250,000 in hush money, but says that when she came back for more, he went to court. Earlier this year, Jordan's wife Juanita filed for divorce, but the two reconciled a month later. Not much is known about Knafel except that she had a bit part in the 1991 film Bikini Island.

STILL MORE QUALITY TELEVISION

Americans seem to have an insatiable appetite for reality TV--except when it comes to the Anna Nicole Show. Ratings plummeted after the first episode, and critics dug out their thesauri to find new words for "awful." So, of course, the show has been picked up for a second season. This is because it airs on the cable channel E!, where the standards for a hit are lower. Despite the audience drop, on E! the show still qualifies as a ratings winner. So far, the unintelligible ramblings and aimless meanderings of Anna Nicole Smith have left people agog that she uses silverware without harming herself. But E!'s executive vice president Mark Sonnenberg isn't concerned. He believes people are "rooting for [Smith] to get back into shape and revitalize her love life. What's in store next for Anna Nicole remains to be seen." Though probably not by many.

A JURY OF HER PEERS