Clintons in the Hot Seat

Bill and Hillary Clinton were roasted over the weekend, and it wasn't just in the movie "Primary Colors." The 60 members of Washington's elite media core, the Gridiron Club, put the First Couple on the spot Saturday, and the Clintons seemed to take the evening's ribbing like good sports. (Last year the Prez missed the annual press event -- which has taken place since the administration of Benjamin Harrison -- after he injured his knee at the Florida home of pro golfer Greg Norman.) As expected, the names Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones and Kenneth Starr came tripping off dais speakers' tongues. One song parody, sung to the tune of "All that Jazz" (from the show "Chicago"), went: "Got Dow Jones/We don't need Paula Jones/And all that jazz/We buy AmEx/So please don't sell us sex/And all that jazz." In response, Clinton told the assembled reporters, editors, columnists, cartoonists and bureau chiefs that his lawyers had approved only three jokes: "Why did the chicken cross the road? Asked and answered." "A lawyer and a client walk into a bar. The lawyer turns to his client and says..." Clinton stopped himself, telling the crowd, "No, wait. It's privileged..." And, finally, "Knock, Knock: Don't answer that."

At the nation's box-office this weekend, the Clinton satire "Primary Colors," starring John Travolta, failed to muster enough votes to unseat 14-term incumbent "Titanic" as No. 1 flick of the weekend. (The disaster-romance now has garnered the most consecutive weekend box office victories ever, beating the mark of 13 set by "Tootsie" in 1982 and matched by "Beverly Hills Cop" in 1984.) In the final weekend before tonight's Oscar presentation, multi-nominee "Titanic" took in $17.3 million, down just 1 percent from the previous weekend. "Colors," which stars Travolta as a venal U.S. presidential candidate, came in at No. 2, with a respectable $12.4 million.