Taking a Dive

KING OF THE SEA James Cameron is going back underwater. He's producing a series of specials with Jean Michel Cousteau (son of Jacques) for ABC that will follow Cousteau's crew over the next three years as they explore previously unphotographed undersea locations. But for the first special, they're stopping at one of Cameron's favorite haunts, the remains of the Titanic. Of course, if they really want to make the series interesting, they should let backbiting oceanographers vote each other off the submarine.

DOWNEY SOFTNESS The good news for Robert Downey Jr. is that prosecutors are not going to file charges for his April drug bust. The bad news is they're going to let the California corrections system treat the alleged offense as a parole violation, which could result in an even longer sentence.

The good news: prison officials are prepared to let Downey do six months in lockup rehab rather than put him back behind bars. The bad news: he still faces trial for his November drug arrest. The good news -- what was the good news again?

THANK THE ACADEMY The awards ceremony isn't the only thing about the Oscars that goes on forever. A study published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine says that Oscar winning actors live an average of four years longer than their costars -- 79.7 years to 75.8. Those who've won multiple Oscars average six years longer than nonwinners. (It's not an honor just to be nominated; that adds no years to your life, the study shows.)

Look at Katharine Hepburn, who's won a record four Oscars, and who turned 94 on Saturday, or two time winner Anthony Quinn, who's 86. The study suggests that Oscar bred longevity comes from the healthful effects of peer recognition -- call it the Sally Field ''You like me!'' factor. Or maybe it's just that lugging those heavy statuettes around builds muscle.

R.E.M. SLEEP Everybody in pop is hitting the arena circuit this summer -- except R.E.M. The trio decided they'd be shinier, happier people if they promoted their new album ''Reveal'' through a worldwide tour of radio and TV stations than actually playing in front of fans. ''If we have a proposal to do something that we've maybe never done, you think, 'Well, that'd be a lot more fun than playing Cleveland for the 28th time,''' guitarist Peter Buck told MTV News. The band's only live performance in North America will be a free show on the streets of Toronto on Thursday.

TV UPFRONTS Where are the sweeping changes that industry analysts expected from NBC's new Entertainment President Jeff Zucker? Not on the fall schedule unveiled at the network's ''upfront'' presentation to advertisers yesterday at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights are intact, and the only change for Thursday is ''Inside Schwartz,'' a new comedy replacing the canceled ''The Weber Show'' in the post- ''Friends'' slot. Other additions include a comedy / cooking show starring spice guy Emeril Lagasse (called, what else, ''Emeril'' -- bam!), and a second hour of ''Weakest Link,'' whose host, Anne Robinson, was on hand to make the requisite XFL joke.

CASTING CALL It's back in time to World War II for the star of ''Billy Elliot.'' Jamie Bell will star in ''Who Goes There?'', based on the true story of a German U boat that landed in a Welsh village during World War II. Shooting begins in this fall.

''Billy'' director Stephen Daldry will direct ''Hiding Room,'' based on the novel by Frederick Raphael (screenwriter of ''Eyes Wide Shut''). It will star Ralph Fiennes as a wartime spy in Cairo who has a dangerous affair with a foreign beauty (Jennifer Connelly). No, it's not a sequel to ''The English Patient.'' Or ''Requiem For a Dream.''

STRIKE WATCH When the actors' unions and the producers meet today to begin negotiations to avoid an industry crippling strike, the focus will not be on Mel Gibson or Julia Roberts or the rest of the 2 percent of Screen Actors Guild members who earn more than $100,000 a year. Rather, a SAG spokesman says, it'll be on the ''middle income'' actors who make up the bulk of the unions.

While neither SAG nor the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has made public its demands, they're sure to ask for an increase in residuals, since SAG says 70 percent of its actors earn less than $7,500 a year. To paraphrase the old backstage adage, there are no small parts, only small salaries.

PASSING NOTES Actor / playwright Jason Miller, who starred as Father Damian Karras in ''The Exorcist,'' died of a heart attack Saturday. The 62 year old Miller, who was the father of Jason Patric and the son in law of Jackie Gleason, won a Pulitzer Prize for his play ''That Championship Season'' in 1973. He grew up in Scranton, Penn., and at the time of his death was the artistic director of the Scranton Public Theater, where he was to star as Oscar Madison in a production of ''The Odd Couple.''