Jon Tenney

Jon Tenney has had a rough morning, much of it spent being knocked down, kicked around and punched by his good friend as others stand by and watch. And as if that weren't enough, he's still working on his lines and blocking. Tenney is just weeks from the opening night of David Mamet's Hollywood satire, "Speed-the-Plow," which opens at the Geffen Playhouse on Wednesday. On this day, he and his friend and costar Greg Germann are working through a fight scene as director Randall Arney looks on.

Jon Tenney has had a rough morning, much of it spent being knocked down, kicked around and punched by his good friend as others stand by and watch. And as if that weren't enough, he's still working on his lines and blocking. Tenney is just weeks from the opening night of David Mamet's Hollywood satire, "Speed-the-Plow," which opens at the Geffen Playhouse on Wednesday. On this day, he and his friend and costar Greg Germann are working through a fight scene as director Randall Arney looks on.

Tom Flynn's scintillating yet serious 1993 romantic comedy stars Peter Gallagher (right) as a young Texan visiting his cousin (Jon Tenney) in a Chicago suburban home. Tenney and his two roommates (John C. McGinley and Tom Sizemore) are all dedicated--and potentiallynasty--pranksters. Flynn comments on the all-American tendency of men to grow older without growing up as Gallagher, meanwhile, finds his cousin's girlfriend (a radiant Suzy Amis, left), propelled into his own arms.'

Tom Flynn's scintillating yet serious 1993 romantic comedy stars Peter Gallagher (right) as a young Texan visiting his cousin (Jon Tenney) in a Chicago suburban home. Tenney and his two roommates (John C. McGinley and Tom Sizemore) are all dedicated--and potentiallynasty--pranksters. Flynn comments on the all-American tendency of men to grow older without growing up as Gallagher, meanwhile, finds his cousin's girlfriend (a radiant Suzy Amis, left), propelled into his own arms.'

Like one relay runner to the next, TNT's police procedural"The Closer" hands its baton, or nightstick, to"Major Crimes" Monday night; the latter series will begin just as the former ends, with the briefest narrative gap between them. It was star Kyra Sedgwick's desire to move on from playing Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson, the head of a fictional LAPD unit devoted to high-profile crimes, that brought down the curtain on "The Closer. " But why scuttle the ship just because the skipper's left?

Cherry Jones arrives for an interview just like one would expect her to: on a bicycle, her straight brown hair tucked under a helmet, her tall, athletic body attired in beige summer shorts and vest. The intensely blue-eyed Southerner may have received the most rapturous reviews of the 1994-1995 season for playing the meek yet defiant Catherine Sloper in the hit Lincoln Center Theater revival of Ruth and Augustus Goetz's well-worn 1947 drama "The Heiress."

Dancing for AIDS: Sharon Stone, Rosie Perez, Helen Hunt, Kathy Najimy, Jason Alexander, Daphne Zuniga, Jay Thomas, Jon Tenney and Megan Ward are among the celebrities slated to join more than 7,000 dancers at the L.A. Sports Arena on Sunday at the AIDS Dance-a-thon, an annual five-hour fund-raiser for AIDS Project Los Angeles and other AIDS groups. Scheduled performers include PM Dawn, Ce Ce Peniston, Portrait and Donna DeLory.

Court Recessed: "L.A. Law," a staple of NBC's Thursday night schedule since 1986, will go on hiatus in March as the network gives its 10 p.m. time slot to "Crime & Punishment." "L.A. Law" will return to its old time slot April 1, with the first of the season's remaining eight original episodes to be executive produced by William Finkelstein, who returns after working on ABC's divorce-lawyer drama, "Civil Wars."

"Fools Rush In" is the kind of love story that Hollywood does better than anywhere else when it puts its mind to it. It has magic, glamour and romance yet never forgets that it's taking place in a recognizably real world. It also represents a major breakthrough for its stars, Matthew Perry (of TV's "Friends") and radiantly beautiful Salma Hayek. It's the perfect Valentine's Day release.

Sweetwater High School rallied from a six-point deficit late in the game Saturday to beat Mira Mesa, 63-62, in the first round of the Hilltop Invitational boys' basketball tournament. The Red Devils placed four players in double figures, led by Mahlon Williams with 13 points. San Styles and Brent Lawrence scored 12 each and Matt Simmons added 11. John Hannon of Mira Mesa was the game's high scorer with 15 points.

It's a very "Closer" Christmas. It may not seem the obvious thing to do, but you can celebrate the holidays with a two-hour episode of the TNT hit "The Closer." When the suspect in a string of bank robberies flees to Atlanta, Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) follows, with fiance Fritz Howard (Jon Tenney) firmly in tow.