PATRICK SWAYZE BOUNCES BACK,BEATS PNEUMONIA

Rebounding from a brief, beastly illness, Patrick Swayze is on the mend and ready to get back to work promoting his new series, The Beast, which debuted this week on A&E.

Swayze's rep Annett Wolf announced the star's improved condition to People Friday night, releasing this statement: "I am happy to announce that Patrick Swayze is home after a brief hospitalization for pneumonia."


The actor, who is battling pancreatic cancer, checked himself into the hospital last week with a persistent cough later diagnosed as pneumonia.

Swayze responded well to treatment, and remained staunchly positive, telling the magazine earlier this week, "I am alive and plan on continuing to stay that way."


"GOOFBALL" KENDRA WILKINSON:"I"LL ALWAYS LOVE HEF..."


Girl Next Door Kendra Wilkinson apparently doesn't want to be persona non grata over her candid Q&A in Us Weekly, so now she's looking to clear up her remarks about living with Hugh Hefner and sneaking sex away from the Mansion.

"I'm more upset at myself with what I said," Kendra tells E! News. "I'm really bad at interviews, and anyone who knows me knew I meant no harm...I'm a goofball. Mostly, I'm very sorry to have hurt Hef...Playboy made me who I am, and Hef has done more for me than anyone else.


"In my heart, I will always love Hef and Playboy."
Kendra was so sorry, she stopped by the Mansion to apologize in person. "Hef was hurt, but he understands," she says. "He knows me and knows what came out of the article was not me at all."

And about those sex-on-the-side remarks?

PRESIDENT BUSH CAN'T RUIN GRISSOM'S CSI GOODBYE

Thursday TV's Big Wrench in the Works: President George W. Bush. Yes, the farewell address is a tradition for the outgoing commander in chief, but wasn't it President Dwight Eisenhower who warned about the dangers of delivering one on William Petersen's farewell night on CSI?

How Did Bush Mess with CSI Exactly? Because of the Bush speech, the CSI repeat that aired at 8 p.m. bled into the new CSI at 9 p.m., and the new CSI bled into Eleventh Hour at 10 p.m.


So, what's known right now is that from 9-10 p.m., per Nielsen estimates, CBS averaged 23.2 million viewers. From 9-10:30 p.m., the network scored 21.6 million. In any scenario, Petersen's last CSI (as a regular, that is—Gil Grissom did live, after all) packed the house, and won the night in total viewers and adults 18-49.What About Patrick Swazye's Show? Through no fault of President Bush's, A&E said it wouldn't have estimates on the premiere of The Beast 'til the afternoon at the earliest.