Brief and to the point

Wanna be the next Vanna? Game show historians might quibble that Vanna herself is the next Susan, but that's reaching a long way back. No matter, Wheel of Fortune is running a Vanna-for-a-day promo this week. Send in a video if you want to touch the letters for one (1) episode.

Various web wags can't resist noting that Newlywed Game host Sherri Shepherd will soon qualify as a contestant for her own show. She just got engaged to a TV writer named Lamar Sally. Sherri accepted the proposal on the day after Christmas, or Boxing Day as the Brits (ominously?) call it. It's a triumph of hope over experience, her second experiment in matrimony. See you at the altar in Chicago this August, Sherri.

Anne Francis, who I'll always remember as the ditzy and curvaceous blonde on the '50s sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet, has died at age 80. Her IMDb page stretches for miles - this lady must have been in most of the TV series ever made. A couple game shows appear in the long parade: You Don't Say and Password.

One of the endless lawsuits swirling around The Price is Right is now centering on the monumentally important diary of former model Brandi Cochran. I wish I could care more about this colossal story.

In a feat of topological complexity, Million Dollar Money Drop should soon disappear down one of its own trap doors. The glacial quizzer crashed to its worst numbers yet last night: a 1.3 18-49 rating and 3.8 million total viewers. But in keeping with the show's overall pace, the crash was very, very sloooooooowwwww.