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Leonardo DiCaprio shows Thailand that he's a good visitor; Drew Carey sues for his food money; the networks fear Michael Jordan's retirement

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By Josh Wolk

Josh Wolk

Josh Wolk is a senior writer at EW and the author of ''Cabin Pressure: One Man's Desparate Attempt to Recapture His Youth as a Camp Counselor''

GOOD VISITOR Leonardo DiCaprio has requested a meeting with the prime minister of Thailand, where he is shooting his next movie, "The Beach," to ask if he can do anything to help promote tourism for the country. This seems like a thank you from the actor to the government, which recently denied environmentalist groups' pleas to halt production of the film, claiming the crew would destroy the ecosystem of Phi Phi Island's Maya Beach (the movie's main location) by reshaping the sand dunes, removing natural vegetation, and planting 93 coconut trees.

LAWSUIT Drew Carey is suing the A&W fast-food chain, claiming they withheld $600,000 in an endorsement deal after he was shown eating at a McDonalds on his ABC sitcom. A&W, obviously incensed by Carey's lack of burger allegiance, is demanding that Carey pay back part of the $450,000 payment they already gave him for the deal.

NERVOUS NBC and TNT recently celebrated after the news that they would once again have NBA games. But now they have been shaken by the news that Michael Jordan may announce his retirement today. Last season, NBC averaged a 6.5 rating when it aired Bulls games (probably not due to viewers' fascination with Dennis Rodman), and a 3.8 when other teams played. TNT dropped from a 2.8 to a 1.7 when Chicago wasn't on.

CASTING Frances McDormand ("Fargo") will play the lover of Michael Douglas, a famous author who can't finish his next book, in Curtis Hanson's "Wonder Boys".... John Cleese will reportedly play the addled sidekick to James Bond's gadget guru Q in the spy's next film, "The World Is Not Enough".... Jackie Chan's next film (from his own idea) will bring him to the Old West, where he teams with a train robber to track down a kidnapped Chinese princess. Basically, with the two inevitably bickering partners, it's "Rush Hour" on horses.

REEL DEAL Joe Dante ("Small Soldiers," "Gremlins") will next direct "The Sixth Day," a thriller about a pilot who discovers he's been cloned and that the doctors behind the process want him disposed of.

OBITUARY Stuntman William Charles Skeen, 49, died yesterday while taping an episode of Chuck Norris' "Walker, Texas Ranger." Although the stunt -- in which Skeen was in the passenger seat of a car going off a ramp at 35 miles per hour -- seemed to have gone well, when the crew got to the car they discovered Skeen wasn't breathing. Police said he had a history of heart problems.

TODAY IN HISTORY After retreating from the stage for two years because of his heroin addiction, Eric Clapton was convinced by Pete Townshend to perform at a show at London's Rainbow Theater in 1973.... The YMCA file a lawsuit (but later drop it) against the Village People in 1979 for their song of the same name.