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Mr. Wrong, the first movie starring ELLEN DEGENERES (right), hits theaters in February; her book, My Point.and I Do Have One, topped the best-seller list; her sitcom, Ellen, consistently wins its time slot. Just wait till the 37-year-old's show is as funny as she is likable.
Truth is, The X-Files can't miss. Fox's sci-fi series has spawned conventions, comic books, and a rabid following, all thanks to creator and exec producer CHRIS CARTER, 38, who is working on an X-Files movie and another TV series.
By producing the debut albums of Craig Mack and the Notorious B.I.G. (combined sales: 1.7 million copies) and Mary J. Blige's latest (1.8 million copies), SEAN ''PUFFY'' COMBS, 24, has come to personify his company's name, Bad Boy Entertainment.
MICHAEL VINER, 51, president of Dove Books, has made a killing on the O.J. trial, publishing two books by Faye Resnick (the first sold a cool million), two by former jurors, plus a parody of Simpson's I Want to Tell You. Upcoming: a tell-all from Mark Fuhrman's ex-lawyer and a documentary on the case.
Her twisted-vixen performance in The Crush put ALICIA SILVERSTONE (left) on the map, Aerosmith and MTV turned her into a video babe, and Clueless made the 19-year-old bodacious at the box office. Now she has a $7-8 million deal with Columbia. Whatever.
Michael Crichton may have written the pilot, but the raptor's share of the credit for ER goes to 39-year-old executive producer JOHN WELLS -- a master at maintaining quality and cast harmony while making ER the highest-rated drama on TV.
A high school girl with superpowers, SAILOR MOON is one of the newest cartoon action figures to soar onto American television from Japan, where her doll has already crushed the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as the top seller.
Of all the goodies he'll grab should the Disney/ABC merger be approved, Michael Eisner says the most important is ESPN, the global all-sports network that reaches 157 million households. STEVE BORNSTEIN, 43, its president and CEO, is milking his cash cow by moving into everything from multimedia to sports bars.
The unseen power in Ted Turner's empire is SCOTT SASSA, 36. As president of the Turner Entertainment Group, he oversees many parts of the kingdom, including TV, film, and new media. Other moguls have wooed Sassa, but Turner has bound him fast. For now.
Where Ponce de Leon failed, NBC has triumphed, finding a veritable fountain of youth in JAMIE MCDERMOTT, 31. Picked to head its prime-time-series division in July, she has brought not only hits to the network (Friends, Frasier, and Mad About You) but the kinds of young viewers ad buyers lust after.
With Pulp Fiction, onetime Sweathog and Brooklyn disco king JOHN TRAVOLTA (right), 41, discovered audiences still love him best as a lowlife. His upcoming roles continue on the low road (a loan shark in Get Shorty, a psychotic pilot in Broken Arrow) but at a much higher price: a reported $5 million or more per pic.
