Ask American Profile 8/3/2008

Q Where did Hannah Storm go? We miss her!
—Alton R., Nevada, Iowa

Storm, 46, is getting back into the sports business as one of the anchors of a new ESPN series, SportsCenter, which will air weekdays beginning Aug. 11. The former Early Show host will anchor from 9 a.m. to noon, joining ESPN just in time to report on the Summer Olympics in Beijing. In 1989, Storm became the first full-time female sports anchor at CNN, moving to NBC Sports in 1992 before transitioning to the news division. “I loved being in news—it made me a better journalist—but I’ve always had a passion for sports,” she says.

Q On the inside of the door in The Golden Girls, there’s an exclamation mark above the doorknob. There must be a story to it.
—Mary D. Little, Yulee, Fla.

There is, but it’s not much of a story. Despite persistent rumors that Golden Girls star Bea Arthur carved the shape into the door for good luck before the first episode in 1985, that’s not the case. According to the show’s creators, it was a natural flaw in the wood that happened to look like an exclamation point.

Q Who played the dad in the movie The Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan?
—Carol Adams, Billings, Mont.

Dennis Quaid was the daddy in the middle of identical twin daughters, both played by Lohan—then 12 years old—in the 1998 remake of the 1961 Disney comedy. A Hollywood veteran, Quaid, 54, has more than 60 movie and TV roles to his credit, including such memorable characters as Alamo fighter Sam Houston (The Alamo), baseball pitcher Jimmy Morris (The Rookie), piano pounder Jerry Lee Lewis (Great Balls of Fire), Old West icon Doc Holliday (Wyatt Earp) and Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper (The Right Stuff).

Q What happens to the contestants on Russian Roulette when they drop?
—Maxine Lancaster, Tabor, S.D.

Contestants who answer a question incorrectly on the Game Show Network’s Russian Roulette are given a chance to say a few “last words” before a trap door springs open beneath them and they drop 6 feet into a layer of padding 3 feet thick. Contestants are instructed before the game begins on the best way to land if they find the floor opening up beneath them. With a $100,000 prize in the balance, most players feel the drop is worth the gamble.

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