Dave is in the Aftonbladet - the headline reads "Letterman should celebrate in style!" The caption under his photo: "The non-Swedish winner David Letterman held up his TV prize with pride on his talk show, but gave his regrets for not being able to attend the Awards' ceremony in person. 'I don't live in your country,' he said."

Nothing breeds imitation more than success. No sooner does CBS's "Baby Bob" come on the scene does the Al-Jazzera network rip-off the idea. We see a clip of their new program, "Baby Mahmoud." It's a lovely 6-month-old baby. He says, cute as could be, "Death to America."

It's the first day of Spring and from 2:19 PM EST to just before show time, Dave was busy trying to balance an egg on its end. No luck. The only way to do it is to tap the end of the egg on a hard surface, creating a nice flat base. The egg will then balance quite easily. Not only does this work at precisely the time of the equinox, it works year round too.

TOY SHOW QUIZ: We tape clips from the recent International Toy Fair held at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan, take it to the Late Show comedy lab, and the results are hysterical. Much of the quiz is visual so I will only give a couple samples. - (fat guy lying down talking on the phone)
This man works for:
A) Toys "R" Us
B) Novelities "R" Fun
C) Pies "R" Delicious

- (woman getting scanned)
They're scanning this woman's badge to get her:
A) Name
B) Phone Number
C) Address, in case she "Pulls a Wynona"

WILL IT FLOAT: Much to everyone's surprise, this is quickly becoming a Late Show favorite among viewers. The response to the Quinnipiac Poll reveals great appreciation from the 18-35, college-educated male who likes beer demographic. How does this work? Dave instructs the Late Show models to drop a pre-determined item into a large tub of water. Before the drop, Dave and Paul discuss whether they think the item will float or sink. You too can play along at home. (This probably explains the great response.)
Tonight's item: A half-gallon of Strawberry ice cream. Dave says it will float. Paul says it will sink. The models place the half-gallon of strawberry ice cream into the tub ----- and it floats.
And that's how we play "Will It Float?"

TOP TEN: SIGNS MICHAEL BLOOMBERG DOESN'T LIKE BEING MAYOR
#7. Missed most recent city council meeting in order to watch "Baby Bob"
#3. Keeps asking, "Is it 2006 yet?"
#1. Answers every policy question with, "Why are you bothering me with this bull'djoy'?"

BONNIE HUNT: Bonnie is in the film "Silent Summer," the making of which was chronicled in the HBO "Project: Greenlight" miniseries. Bonnie had hotel problems earlier in the day and met the President in Chicago last week. Sorry, but that's all I have on Bonnie and our next guests, N.E.R.D., because halfway through the show I was handed this puzzle.

___________________________________________

There are 5 houses in different colors. In each house lives a person of a different nationality. The 5 owners drink a certain type of beverage, smoke a certain brand of cigar, and keep a certain pet. Using the clues below, can you determine who owns the fish?

- The Brit lives in a red house.
- The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
- The Dane drinks tea.
- The green house is on the left of the white house.
- The green house owner drinks coffee.
- The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
- The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
- The man living in the house right in the middle drinks milk.
- The Norwegian lives in the first house.
- The man who smokes Blend lives next door to the one who keeps cats.
- The man who keeps horses lives next door to the man who smokes Dunhill.
- The owner who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
- The German smokes Prince.
- The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
- The man who smokes Blend has a neighbor who drinks water.
___________________________________________

It took me about a half hour.

N.E.R.D. - From their CD "In Search of," they sang "Rock Star."

And that was our show for Wednesday, March 20, 2002. Wahoo Extra!

WAHOO CORRECTION: - From yesterday's Pat and Kenny Read Oprah Transcripts: I would like to thank Courtney Haden of Birmingham, Alabama, Bill Farr of San Jose, California, and Bruce Alter of Fairfax Station, Virginia for pointing out that it was not Rowan and Martin's Arte Johnson who stoically read the Rock & Roll lyrics, but Steve Allen.

In yesterday's Wahoo I wrote this about Al Gore shaving: "He must of used one of those white disposable Bics." "He must of . . ." Oy, how embarrassing. Almost makes me want to start proofreading.

Naaaah.

Due to the NCAA basketball tournament coverage on CBS, Thursday and Friday's Late Show will be of the "previously viewed" variety.
THURSDAY - Originally aired January 14, 2002; #1739. Ethan Zohn; Josh Hartnett; and musical group Remy Zero.
FRIDAY - Originally aired January 10, 2002, #1737. Jack Black; and the Foo Fighters.

Make your viewing plans now. My Oscar Picks

It's not about who should win, it's all about how the Academy will vote. Since the events on 9/11, my guess is the Academy voters would have pro-American leanings. This conflicts with the other Academy given: Use a British accent in your movie and the Academy will think it's great acting.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Maggie Smith/Gosford Park - British accent - the Brits have been good to us - plus she's kind of old
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Ian McKellen/Lord of the Rings - British accent - old
BEST DIRECTOR: Ron Howard/Beautiful Mind - who is more America than Opie? Altman bad mouths the U.S.
BEST ACTRESS: Sissy Spacek/In The Bedroom - American - she was great in "Carrie"
BEST ACTOR: Denzel Washington/Training Day - nice guy and he's due - Russell won last year, plus he's a grouch - and the Academy is growing sensitive to awarding actors for their mentally-challenged roles
BEST PICTURE: A Beautiful Mind - by attrition - Moulin Rouge is French: boo; The Rings - too much hype; In The Bedroom - no one really saw it; Gosford Park - may win simply for the accent but no one really saw this either

Oh, best Animated Feature: "Shrek"