Gone is the smarmy Pierce Brosnan. The new James Bond, played by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, sticks with the basics: poker, martinis, and exercising the license to kill. Bond fans weary of the crass, sexual humor of the previous 20 Bond films find some respite in the 21st installment. Still, even Bond's toned-down womanizing earns the film a PG-13 rating.

Do not try what you see Bear Grylls attempting at home. That's because the adventurist and star of the Discovery Channel's reality survival show Man vs. Wild knows which plants to eat and you don't. The premise of Grylls' show is delightfully simple: Grylls parachutes into any number of barren and deserted environments with usually only a knife and a flint and shows viewers how to survive and make it back to civilization.

When the crusty Bill Parcells gets effusive in praise, you know things are going well. And for brief moments during the stretch run of the NFL season, the Cowboys coach has been just that. Take, for instance, Parcells breaking his stoic mold to kiss Cowboys safety Keith Davis on the head in October. Or his kiss-and-makeup relationship with Terrell Owens. Or the moments when the giddy schoolgirl inside Parcells crept out and went on display for a few moments after newly acquired kicker Martin Gramatica secured a Cowboys win over division foe New York.

At first Wilbur is nothing but a runty spring pig. By the end of Charlotte's Web, we see him not just as Some Pig-he's terrific. He's humble. And through the compassion of a little girl named Fern and the devoted friendship of a spider named Charlotte, he can taste the first snow of winter rather than the flames of the smokehouse.

Baseball writers have a prickly decision ahead of them: For the first time, well-known players from baseball's steroids era will be on the Hall of Fame ballot. Released Nov. 27, the ballot contained what many feel are two sure-fire future Cooperstown inductees in former Orioles third baseman and shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. and former Padres outfielder Tony Gwynn.

They can't all be as funny as Waiting for Guffman. That said, while Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy's new film, For Your Consideration, doesn't measure up to their previous work, it's a simple, pleasant movie that neither aims high nor misses the mark.

Here's an almost unimaginable reality: While filled with drama and intrigue, what some called the latest "Game of the Century" meant nearly nothing in the polls when it was over. Tragedy leading into the contest only added to the game's mammoth interest. Legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler collapsed and died just a day before the big game, leading to a broadcast filled with tributes.