The Beat

NBA journeyman Doug Christie's wife, Jackie, knows she has an image problem; that's what happens when you're known for exchanging I-love-you hand signals with your husband during games and fighting one of his opponents ( Lakers forward Rick Fox). But the couple (below) insists Jackie isn't a pugilistic control freak, and they hope their reality show will prove it. The 18 episodes of Committed: The Christies, which premieres on the BET "J" network on Oct. 5, will be culled from two years of shooting that continued after Doug was cut by the Mavericks last season. (He hopes to find another NBA job this year.) "We're just a traditional couple," says Jackie. She does admit that she'll cover her eyes for one airport incident certain to make the show. "I was overreacting to something," she says. "And it could end up being pretty embarrassing."

?Chad Johnson will dance again, and there's nothing the NFL can do about it. As grand marshal of Cincinnati's Oktoberfest--the world's second largest, after Munich's--the Bengals' wideout will lead a crowd of 500,000 in the annual World's Largest Chicken Dance on Saturday. There's one problem: Johnson never read the fine print in his contract and, until last week, didn't know about the dance. ("Oh, my goodness," he gasped when informed by a reporter.) It's too late for Johnson to renege. Fest organizers have named a signature dish in his honor: the Chad Johnson Cream Puff.

? Jack Nicholson dons a Red Sox cap for no one, not even Martin Scorsese. During filming of the Boston-based drama The Departed (in theaters on Oct. 6), the seven-time Oscar-nominated director asked the three-time Oscar-winning actor to wear a Boston hat for his role as a Beantown mob boss. Alas, Nicholson (right), who was born in New York City and raised in Neptune, N.J., is a Yankees fan--he likes Jason Giambi, whom he calls "my kind of biker guy"--and insisted on wearing New York headgear instead. Scorsese relented, and Nicholson's wife in the movie (played by Kristen Dalton) sports a Sox chapeau. The implication, says Nicholson: "Domestic conflict."

?When Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson landed the role of juvi football coach Sean Porter in Gridiron Gang (out on Sept. 15), he knew he wouldn't have trouble getting into character. "I drew from all of the greats I've played under," says Johnson, who was a defensive lineman for two years at Miami. "[Former Hurricanes staffers] Dennis Erickson, Greg Marks and Tommy Tuberville--I borrowed from their intensity and their passion." At the L.A. premiere on Sept. 5 Johnson huddled with one more coach: USC's Pete Carroll, who showed up three days after a win over unranked Arkansas. Johnson, whose alma mater had lost to Florida State the night before, questioned Carroll about the Trojans' soft scheduling. "When you're [ Miami], you choose to play Florida State Week 1 every year," Johnson says. "But who did Pete pick? Weak."