Liking It Hot

Before Pamela Anderson, before Madonna, before Britney, there was Marilyn, mother of all postwar bombshells. To give the Uberbabe her props, CBS is airing Blonde (May 13 and 16), which chronicles Monroe's heartache-ridden career. If it whets your appetite, jump online, where MM's still making waves for Web surfers. Not even counting the recent online auction of one of her Playboy photos for $3,525, a dizzying range of sites devote themselves to the original dizzy blond. Bypassing the online autopsy photos, the toxicology reports, and the purported stag film, EW cyber-samples Monroe, a talented woman of considerable depth who happened to be incomparably photogenic.

-- A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND Endorsed by Monroe's estate, marilynmonroe.com offers such tidbits as Lee Strasberg's eulogy, e-cards based on Andy Warhol's Marilyn silk screens, and an exhaustive filmography, including her uncredited cameo in that 1948 classic Scuddo Hoo! Scudda Hay! Who knew?

Drool Quotient: C

Pathos: C

-- BREATHY BYTE In CBS' Blonde, actress Poppy Montgomery re-creates the paint-peeling rendition of ''Happy Birthday'' Marilyn performed for John F. Kennedy in 1962. At www.marilyn-monroe.org.uk/sounds.html, you can download the real thing: a scratchy audio file of Monroe seductively crooning ''Happy birthday, Mr. President.'' There are nine other song excerpts, including ''I Wanna Be Loved by You'' and ''Goodnight Honey.''

Drool Quotient: A

Pathos: B

-- 46-YEAR ITCH Pictures of Monroe standing over a subway grate with a gust of air billowing her skirt are still uplifting decades after they were taken to promote 1955's The Seven Year Itch (Joe DiMaggio, wed to Marilyn at the time, was not amused). Children of the late Sam Shaw, who took the shots, are contesting the rights to sell the images; you can eyeball the pics at www.spcpromotions.com. At marilynmonroepages.com, view Andre de Dienes' photos of Monroe as an apple-cheeked brunet assembling airplane parts in Rosie the Riveter mode, or click on George Barris' poignant, sexy black-and-whites taken shortly before Monroe's death in 1962. Red lipstick was about all she wore for her classic 1949 ''Red Velvet'' sessions; check out the 22-year-old MM at marilynfineart.com. Prints sell for $600 a pop.

Drool Quotient: A

Pathos: B-

-- BOMBSHELL INTELLECT Marilyn Underground (www.marilynunderground.be), a ''tribute to Marilyn's intellect,'' offers personal correspondence both banal and heartbreaking, plus poems, reading lists, and book reviews. In one letter to poet Norman Rosten, Monroe borrows a phrase from William Butler Yeats: ''Love me for my yellow hair alone.'' Not as impressive are her own short poems. Example: ''Here goes/Good nite/Sleep tight/and Sweet repose/Where ever you lay your Head/I hope you find your nose.''

Drool Quotient: C

Pathos: A-