Palin might spur Church Lady redo

Dana Carvey might resurrect Church Lady when he performs comedy in Las Vegas this weekend because "a lot of people" keep telling him vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is a lot like Carvey's old "Saturday Night Live" prude.

Carvey says Church Lady and Palin do share a "kind of evangelical vibe."

"They're very clear on their point of view. But Church Lady doesn't have the hair that you would shake out and take the glasses off. (Palin) has that move down," Carvey says.

Carvey envisions Church Lady -- whose catchphrases were "Well, isn't that special?" and "Could it be ... Satan?!" -- would chastise liberals again.

"The Church Lady would be fun ripping into Keith Olbermann," Carvey says, and adds in character: "Well, well, well, Keith Olbermann: Our head's perfectly square, but we don't have little bolts on our neck. Interesting."

Check out the next Friday Neon section, where Carvey equates Barack Obama's intonation as a cross between Bill Clinton and Ross Perot, and John McCain's as Johnny Carson plus ... Carol Channing.

STUPID RECESSION

A "person close to the industry" on the Strip told me Monday that, so far, entertainment shows have done fairly well to keep up attendance. A late showing of "Love" over the weekend was packed, for instance.

But partly that's because of hotels reducing room rates to draw in money-minded tourists. A $225 room might now fetch $159 or less.

"A full room orders room service, still makes show reservations, still gambles," the insider said. "An empty room doesn't. So we're willing to sacrifice room rates to secure that other incremental revenue."

According to our "person close to the industry," Monday's stock crash and the Republicans' dissing of the Bush bailout looked like it could lead to a deeper recession locally, but keep your fingers crossed:

"If things get much worse, it's going to become more difficult for us to entice people to come in. And if they don't have even $159 for a room, then they're certainly going to have trouble (paying) $150 for a ticket to 'O,' or $85 to see Rod Stewart."

That so stinks.

SEX WITH YOUR PARENTS?

At least MTV still is giving Vegas dubious publicity by recruiting here. MTV talent scouts come to town Friday in search of teens and their parents for a new show called "Sex ... With Mom And Dad," starring Dr. Drew from "Loveline" and "Celebrity Rehab":

"Looking for outgoing, well-spoken young adults between the ages of 16 and 19, and their parents. Parents and teens must have contrasting views on dating, relationships and sex."

God forbid MTV give any screen time to role models who get along. The pitch for gross continues:

"Is it hard for your parents to understand your relationships? Do you have different views on issues like love, dating, sex and relationships? Do you wish they understood more?"

Frankly, this sounds like any teen ever, forever. If you're inclined, send a photo (because how you look is important!) to talkwithmyfolks@mtvstaff.com, or call 212-654-6996. And congratulations on being a mess.

RESPONSE TO ANGEL COLUMN

Criss Angel truly brings out intense reactions from people, who responded en masse to my column Monday after I interviewed fans as they exited his new Luxor show during "ticketed previews."

Cirque du Soleil still is tinkering with the show. But online Monday, more people chimed in. Many posted items such as this (which is edited for some grammar):

"This show was horrific. ... My girlfriend had comped tickets for the first show. First, someone tell Mr. Angel people don't like bunnies that much. 2) Tell him he can't sing. And 3) An open bar and gratuitous nudity wouldn't have saved this show."

I like bunnies. Anywho, a few fans piped up such as this:

"Criss don't give up. All the Loyals know that you are going to give a high-quality, brilliant production as soon as you have worked out the kinks. We love you and support all your efforts!"

We will see. Time will tell. And other cliches.

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Sunday. Contact him at 702-383-0391 or delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.