Mail: George Clooney

CLOSE CALLS
Thank you for the article on Not Close & Trivial, er, Up Close & Personal. I now see why there aren't enough good roles for women. Potential tours de force are turned into tepid romantic comedies. If Jon Avnet had been handed Leaving Las Vegas, it would have become Honeymoon in Vegas. At least television had the guts to tell the real story.
Steven Chappell
North Syracuse, N.Y.

So are you truly amazed that somewhere on the winding, unpredictable road of movie development, the tragic story of Jessica Savitch evolved into a mushy, feel-good love story? This is Disney, folks, the same company that took a tragic tale of a drug-addicted hooker and turned it into a Cinderella love story for the '90s!
Mary Shelton
Riverside, Calif.

SMELLING A RAT
EW'S Cybertalk sidebar quotes Quincy Jones as a 7-year-old living in Louisville, Ky., doing ''whatever it takes to survive,'' including eating ''fried rats from the Mississippi River''! Hey, Q.: It'd be a long walk from Louisville to the Mighty Mississippi.
Bob Reeves
Nashville

EDITOR'S NOTE: Quincy Jones' office explained that he spent summers at his grandmother's home in St. Louis.

ANGEL OF THE EVENING
I was really glad to see the article on Touched by an Angel. I worked on that never-aired pilot as a production assistant. That project remains one of my favorites, mainly due to Roma Downey, who is without a doubt the kindest and one of the most fun actresses I have ever worked with, and to Della Reese, who nearly glows with energy. Congratulations, ladies! You deserve a hit!
Craig Edwards
Wilmington, N.C.

Thank you for your article on Touched by an Angel. Your magazine was smart to recognize a sleeper hit with a growing legion of fans (and websites). But to call it a ''guilty pleasure''? What do the fans of the show have to be guilty about? Save that moniker for Melrose Place. This is divine pleasure!
Michele R. Buc
Nashville

THE LIPS HAVE IT
George Clooney as Batman? I don't think so. This is a role that requires someone to spend half the movie with half of his face covered by a mask. Val Kilmer has better lips.
Bill Sorenson
Latham, N.Y.

SAVANNAH SMILES
Thank you for your story on Savannah. Could it be that we've found an alternative to that other Place? The men are tastier, and Jamie Luner as Peyton is red-hot. Once again, Aaron Spelling gives us a reason to learn VCR programming.
Sheri Ellis
Tarzana, Calif.