apologies, we ran out of time

The Regal Riviera Stadium 8 is open for business. The News Sentinel has lavished the place with coverage. Some of my friends in Los Angeles find it hard to believe that the country's largest theater chain is headquartered right here in Knoxville.

For the opening of the new theater, Regal is running a radio commercial voiced by the legendary Don LaFontaine. One of my personal career highlights was directing LaFontaine and several other celebrities in a radio production of "A Christmas Carol" at the Museum of Television & Radio.

I have already seen two Matt Damon movies at the state-of-the-art Riviera. In fact I've been there three days in a row. On Thursday we went to a one dollar charity showing of "Oceans 13." Yesterday evening I did a remote broadcast from outside the theater. Today we saw "The Bourne Ultimatum," a movie we've wanted to see ever since the hysterical preview was on TV.

As we left the theater on Thursday, I saw County Commissioner Mike Hammond leaning against a company vehicle from his day job. I walked over to say hello. He complimented the photo of me that he's seen on the wall at LA Weight Loss.

For the first two weeks, everyone who buys a ticket at the Riviera gets a free popcorn and a free soda. I appreciate the deal but if anyone from Regal is reading this, how about some Sprite Zero or at least some Caffeine-Free Diet Coke?

On Monday, "Live at Five" originated from the Riviera during a VIP reception. It would have been nice to be invited but I know that I may have ruined my chances to get on the guest list two years ago with my red carpet question to David Keith.