It was another day of crisis management for Mel Gibson Tuesday as the film industry debated whether he would ever be able to overcome the apparent damage to his career resulting from his anti-Semitic remarks following his DUI arrest over the weekend. Although Gibson issued a more detailed apology for his statements, several PR advisers said that it came too late. Washington, DC-based PR exec Richard Levick told MSNBC, "In the first 24 hours, people start forming opinions. ... He has constantly been behind the story." Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, told the Associated Press that he felt "a little bit uncomfortable" about Gibson's apology, since it appeared to be the careful work of publicist Alan Nierob. "To what extent is it a true reflection of Mel Gibson's true feeling?" he asked. He also noted that Nierob had told him two years ago that Gibson wanted to meet him to discuss his The Passion of the Christ with him. He said that the meeting was never arranged. Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, noted, "Anti-Semitism is not born in one day and cannot be cured in one day, and certainly not through the issuing of a press release." On the other hand, Mandalay Entertainment Chairman Peter Guber said that any attempt to blackball Gibson would "fly in the face of what free speech is. ... Anybody trying to prevent anybody from being gainfully employed is distasteful to me." Similarly producer Lynda Obst told the newspaper, "This could be an opportunity where we say to anti-Semites that Jews don't boycott. ... I don't like any forms of blacklist." Meanwhile L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke has written that Gibson's publicists have ruled out any TV appearance by the besieged movie star anytime soon. She also reported that "Dateline NBC" is working on a feature about the Gibson incident to air next Sunday. In addition, Finke quoted "a source intimate with his situation" that Gibson was on the verge of suicide at the time he was stopped while reportedly driving around 90 miles an hour. "If that cop hadn't stopped him, this guy was going to be wrapped around a pole," Finke's source said. "This is such a bigger issue than 'Will he work again?' This is about his not wanting to live anymore."

Two best-selling authors have asked the best-selling author of all not to kill off the central character of her stories. John Irving (The World According to Garp) and Stephen King (Carrie) told a news conference in New York Tuesday that they had written to J.K. Rowling asking her not to kill Harry Potter in the final book of her series about the boy wizard. (Each of her Harry Potter tales has been or will be made into a motion picture. She has indicated that several key characters will die in her final Potter book, which she is currently writing.) Referring to a scene in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Final Problem, in which Doyle killed off his famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, King told reporters, "I don't want [Harry] to go over the Reichenbach Falls." Irving commented, "My fingers are crossed for Harry." (If history is any indication, there may still be hope for Harry even if Rowling does kill him off. The public was so outraged after Doyle sent Holmes to his death that it mounted a letter-writing campaign that resulted in the author's resurrection of Holmes.)

As part of Netflix's "Rolling Roadshow" tour in which 10 classic movies are being screened where they were filmed, Kevin Costner will return to Dyersville, Iowa on August 11 for a screening of Field of Dreams, which he filmed there. It will mark his first return visit to the town since he wrapped production of the movie in 1989. Netflix also announced that Costner will perform at a free concert at the baseball stadium that was the site of the movie, which will be screened after the band's performance on a 30-foot inflatable screen in the outfield. In a statement, Costner said that Field of Dreams "was significant in my career, and the band is an important part of my future."

Except for the talent contests America's Got Talent on NBC and So You Think You Can Dance on Fox, all of the shows in the Nielsen top ten last week were reruns. The ratings reflected that as the most-watched network during the week, CBS, averaged a lowly 4.9 rating and a 9 share for the week. NBC followed with a 4.2/7 following be Fox with a 3.5/6 and ABC with a 3.4/6. Fox led among adults 18-49 with a 2.3/9 -- but Spanish-language Univision moved into second place among that demographic group with a 1.6/6, edging out CBS and NBC, which posted a 1.5/5. Reporting on the results, the Associated Press commented Tuesday: "The broadcast networks aren't giving viewers many reasons to turn on their sets during the sweltering shut-in months of summer." Earlier in the month AMC's airing of the made-for-TV drama Broken Trail pulled in 9.92 million viewers, while USA's airing of the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie tallied 7.37 viewers.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research: 1. Without a Trace, CBS, 7.3/13; 2. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 7.1/12; 3. CSI: Miami, CBS, 6.9/12; 4. House, Fox, 6.5/11; 5. America's Got Talent, NBC, 6.2/11; 6. Two and a Half Men, CBS, 6.0/10; 7. CSI: NY, CBS, 5.9/10; 8. (tie) Criminal Minds, CBS, 5.8/10; 8. (tie)Law and Order: SVU, NBC, 5.8/10; 8. (tie) So You Think Can Dance (Wednesday), Fox, 5.8/10.

Within one or two years, television shows will be delivered over the Internet with the same quality as cable and will represent a viable distribution stream to compete with cable, according to a new study. As reported by Media Life magazine, the study, by Economist Intelligence Unit, conducted for the consulting firm Accenture, found that IPTV is being pushed by the telephone companies, which are finding their own revenues being reduced by cable companies offering voice services. Denis McCauley, editor of the study, told Media Life, "The ability to offer IPTV has given the telcos the chance to offer this triple-play of voice, internet and media services, and thereby try to claw back ground that they have lost to the cable companies, primarily." On Tuesday it was reported that the video website YouTube.com had surpassed MySpace.com in daily visits.

AOL has begun testing its new video portal, www.aolvideo.com, due to go live on Aug. 4 with 45 channels. Some of the content from MTV Networks is already available on Apple's iTunes music store, but much of it has never been made available legitimately on the Internet before. That will include shows from the A&E Television Networks, including The Biography Channel and The History Channel; the Spanish-language channel Sorpresa!; and a soap opera channel from Proctor & Gamble. AOL will offer both free and paid-for content.

In what appeared to be an overnight effort to take advantage of the notoriety surrounding Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic outburst, Comedy Central on Tuesday ran a full-page ad showing the South Park kids shouting, "C'mon Jews, show them who really runs Hollywood." Today's (Wednesday) Los Angeles Times points out that the kids are standing next to the Scientology headquarters and that the ad referred not to Gibson but to Comedy Central's decision to re-air the South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet," spoofing Tom Cruise, that it had originally yanked months ago. (Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone later submitted the episode for Emmy consideration, and it was nominated.) "It's a little bit of an inside joke at our expense for pulling the Scientology episode," Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox told the Times. He noted that the ad was designed and approved weeks before the Gibson incident.

Serialized television dramas are being given a boost by DVD compilations that help bring viewers up to date on story lines, Paul Scheuring, the creator of Fox's hit Prison Break has told Home Media Retailing magazine. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is releasing Season One of the show on Aug. 8, giving viewers a chance to get caught up on the story line before Season Two begins on Fox on Aug. 21. The DVD also includes an "extra" devoted to the faux tattoo that co-star Wentworth Miller receives that includes clues for his escape plan. Another "extra" is a featurette about shooting scenes at Joliet Prison.