• Every trade paper and site is saying goodbye to Army today. Variety's Editor Tim Gray called Archerd one of showbiz's "defining voices." celebrating his work as one of the first to call attention to AIDS in the industry, standing up to the blacklist and as the last lion of the red carpet. He died of "a rare form of mesothelioma cancer, thought to be the result of his exposure to asbestos in the Navy during WWII." [Variety]

• The ever-spectacular Jerry Bruckheimer sweepstakes has been won by NBC, which bought the new pilot from the world-devouring producer. The new show "tells the stories of a team charged with making sure fugitive criminals don't evade justice." [THR]

• The first omens of Fall TV were so-so at best, with the debuts of 90210 and Melrose Place pulling in "sluggish ratings." [Variety]

• Whitney Houston is back on top. Her comeback album "I Look To You" was #1 on Billboard's Hot 200 selling 305,000 copies. [Billboard]

• The long running litigation between the estate of JRR Tolkien and New Line pictures is nearing a conclusion, with the Tolkeins and their co-plaintiff Harper Collins looking to rake in upwards of 100 milion dollars. [Hollywood Reporter]

Expect a light news day today as much of the industry is en route to Toronto, where the Oscar race officially kicks off tomorrow.

Archerd, a New Yorker, brought new vitality to entertainment reporting and penned, for decades, the "Daily Variety" column for Variety and received kudos for breaking earth-shattering stories, perhaps most notably the fact that Rock Hudson died of AIDS. He was so trusted and well-respected, in fact, that Warren Beatty called Archerd to spread the word that he had married Annette Benning. That's no small potatoes.

Later, when television networks were angling for a piece of the action, rather than resisting, Archerd joined onto Entertainment Tonight for a spell. He also founded the People's Choice Awards, so we're all indebted to his egalitarian approach to entertainment. As a testimony to his place in the Hollywood media's upper echelons, Archerd played himself on the small and big screen.

Archerd left the scene back in 2005, when he retired to live out his days with his actress wife, Selma. He died this evening. He was 87-years old. Aspiring journalists of all ilks should be in awe.

Archerd, who, as the Academy's official Oscar-night MC, spent half a century lobbing softballs at stars on the end of the red carpet, may no longer have a say in who passes his gate and when. But what he lacks in influence he made up for yesterday with scalding, retrospective insight:

I can only say you'd need an escape-proof contraption to keep arriving celebrities away from the camera or mike-carrying pre-show interrogators on the red carpet—with a few bashful exceptions, of course. [...] Remember producer Allan Carr's 1989 Jeff Margolis-directed Oscar show opening with "Snow White" arriving into the Shrine after I introduced her on the red carpet? Poor [...] Allan Carr — he never recovered from the brickbats tossed at him. Should Snow White have arrived by a side entrance?

He's got a point: If viewers can't handicap the potential for onstage disaster from the arrivals, then who has the patience to anticipate it during a three-and-a-half-hour awardscast? It's not like Jeremy Piven is nominated. Leave it alone!

• Attracting An Oscar Audience [Army Archerd]

How come Brett Ratner, director of multi-million-dollar features, agreed to judge a festival containing only two-to-three minute films? The event is the first annual Fragrance and Film Festival, presented by Vogue and the Fragrance Foundation. When I learned that the movies must be inspired by one of the Foundation's 2008-nominated fragrances, I had to ask Ratner what made scents to him — excuse it.

Ratner enthusiastically told me his reason to further the film and fragrance association and competition. It was because of Mike Todd, Jr.'s 1960 Scent Of Mystery in which various scents were wafted through the theater to jibe with the action on the screen. ... Ratner said he was impressed by the innovative filmmaking and moreso when in 1981 John Waters made Polyester and released it with his "Odorama" system whereby audience members could compound the visual by scratching and sniffing hand-held cards.

And filmwise Ratner also reminded me that scents were sprayed by fans in theaters in the pre-sound, "silents" days. "I like the idea (of the scented cinema)," enthused Ratner. "Maybe we'll have some in theaters again?"

Indeed, we anticipate a whole retrospective devoted to sussing out the essence of Ratner's output: The sulphuric chemistry of Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan! The horseflies and steam encircling Red Dragon! The hints of garbage-strike and vanilla from X-Men: The Last Stand! Not for nothing, Archerd also passes along news that President Shimon Peres has personally invited Ratner to join Israel's 60th anniversary celebration this month, where reportedly the fauxteur will be honored for "brave, pioneering advances of the nation of Israel through aromatic cinema." Congrats to him.

• This Makes Scents [Army Archerd]

I'll avoid the obvious, like Paris Hilton items—unless she's cast in a remake of ”Gone With The Wind,” God forbid. See you soon, as they say in Vegas, “Hit me!”

So courageous!

By our estimates, he's got two weeks before his bosses threaten to smash his gold watch if he doesn't start three-dotting Hilton's every move.

• Welcome to ArmyArcherd.com [ArmyArcherd.comr]