When Al Roker says he's a long-time fan of "Family Feud," he's not kidding. "It's the only game show I've ever wanted to host. The original with Richard Dawson was especially great. When he did 'The Match Game' it was brilliant, but with 'Family Feud,' he just hit the ball out of the park," enthuses the "Today" show weatherman. "All the hosts have been great — Ray Combs, Louie Anderson, Richard Karn, John O'Hurley. But compared to Richard Dawson, they're all kind of just marking time."

Okay, we've all learned something about Al now, haven't we?

No wonder, when producers of the prime time, celebrity version of "Feud" approached him about hosting, "They had me at 'hello,'" as he puts it.

Roker's first six installments of the show are airing every Tuesday through July. And after that? "Beats me," he says. "It's something I'd really like to keep doing."

So far, he's been surprised by Hugh Hefner's girlfriends, who'll be seen at month's end. "As a group, those women were pretty smart. I'd expected them to be not the brightest bulbs in the pack." And he's been taken aback by the mothers of Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy, who happen to be on tonight's (7/8) show. "They were amazing, like straight out of central casting. Their answers were a little surprising. I won't give it away, but at one point Larry said, 'Mama just got kicked out of her church.'"

Roker's next big move is to China — with "Today" as the gang does its coverage of the Olympics in Beijing next month. Al's never been there, and says he's really looking forward to the trek, though it's bound to be challenging.

"I feel really good," he tells us. And he sounds upbeat. "Well, I try. Nobody really wants to see a surly weatherman."

THE CELEB 'NET: Dave Coulier says he and his Clean Guys of Comedy Tour pals didn't just get their act together to take it on the road. They're taking it to the Internet. "We've got a Web site called cleanguys.TV where we've pulled clean comedy content and put it all under one roof," reports Coulier, who's been out on the road with Ryan Hamilton, Kivi Rogers, Heath Hyche and Bob Oschack.

"With comedy even the stuff they're doing in prime time now is pretty racy and on the Internet you're just one click away from pornography sometimes, so we really stick out like a sore thumb. It's so different and so refreshing … it's just good clean fun." He adds, "We're trying to find the right Internet partner to team up with us to really launch a whole Clean World where users can create their own Clean Guys characters and there'll be a storefront called The Cleaners, where you can start to clean up your own world. Or you can go to Smuttville and clean it up with your graffiti power washer."

THE FAST TRACK: Grammy-winning jazz bassist/composer Marcus Miller is hustling big time. The Thunder album he's been working on with legendary bass player Stanley Clarke and renowned bassist Victor Wooten is truly coming in just under the wire, says Miller. "We're trying to get it out soon because we've got some gigs coming up the middle of August. We have most of the songs recorded, but you have to hear it all together to know what else needs to be recorded to make it a complete package."

At the same time, Miller is frantically working on the CW sitcom, "Everybody Hates Chris," for which he does the theme music. To avert problems from the threatened actors' strike, Miller says, "They're already shooting for season four. I just finished the first episode and I'm working on number two now. And the kids are getting older, so everything is pointing to 'Let's get it done.'"

NOTE WORTHY: Rosie Perez, who's been shooting episodes for "Lipstick Jungle" as of late, tells us she's proud of her Puerto Rican roots, but she wishes more people realized that she's also an American. "I was always treated as an immigrant. People ask if I have a green card and I have to tell them I'm Puerto Rican and am American. I'm like, 'No, I have an American passport.' It's crazy that they do not know that," notes Perez, that people don't recognize that Puerto Rico is a self-governing territory of the United States. "It's not taught to them so whose fault is that?"

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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