THE BUZZ TAKE IT FROM FRANZ: ARNOLD'S OK.

Kevin Nealon thinks that all this fuss over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calling Sacramento Democrats ``girlie men'' is out of proportion.

``When he was on 'Saturday Night Live' he just kind of fell in love with the joke,'' says Nealon, who was Franz to Dana Carvey's Hans in the ``Saturday Night Live'' sketches of the late 1980s about a pair of Teutonic body builders. ``And being the businessman he is, he uses it toward helping his cause, and people always laugh.''

``It has nothing to do with gay people, either,'' adds Nealon from his Los Angeles home. ``It's just about weaklings - loser weaklings. It's been spun around to be something derogatory. It's so typical of politics.''

Schwarzenegger used the term in a speech last weekend, accusing some Democratic lawmakers of lacking the backbone to stand up to special interests. Their response is that they are standing up to the former action hero in denying cuts to programs they see as vital.

So where did this ``girlie men'' insult stem from?

Nealon says he and Carvey were touring the summer of their first ``SNL'' season when they saw Schwarzenegger on TV talking about what he did when he came to town. ``And he said, 'You know, vhat I like to do is slip into my nice light cotton shirt and I go out on de town and I come back to de hotel and I slip into my nice, light cotton sheets, you know.' ''

The pair then decided to do a comedy skit involving Arnold's accent and body building when they returned to ``SNL'' the next season. After Hans and Franz and their promise to ``pump (clap) you up'' were a hit, though, he and Carvey were wary of meeting Schwarzenegger when he came on the show.

``We went back to his dressing room and Maria Shriver was standing by the doorway looking kind of skeptical and we went in and Arnold was sitting there with a script in his hand smoking a big cigar. And he looked up at us and said, 'OK, fellas, how am I supposed to do de accent?' ''

Nealon and Schwarzenegger are friends now - in fact, Nealon is the frontman for the winter Special Olympics. He said he doesn't expect the Hans and Franz characters to attempt to recapture their old fame because of the governor's comment, noting they are too busy campaigning for Arnold and his causes.

- Valerie Kuklenski

Dolled up for a good cause

Jane Withers swept into a hotel meeting room, took a look at the 30 or so vintage dolls on display, and gushed, ``Oh, my friends!''

They are a portion of the 250 pieces from her vast collection of dolls that will be auctioned for charity Aug. 1 in Kansas City, Mo.

Between greeting old friends (the living sort) and chatting with collectors, the actress mingled with the companions of her youth, when she co-starred with Shirley Temple and passed time on the 20th Century Fox lot with Tyrone Power, Sonja Henie, Alfalfa Switzer and others.

``Hello, Shirley - you having fun, kid?'' she said to the 15-inch likeness of her ``Bright Eyes'' co-star.

``They are all special. And you know, everywhere I look (in this room) I have good, happy memories,'' said Withers, now a vibrant 78-year-old great-grandmother. She looked fondly at her 3-foot-tall English royal guard doll. ``He's going to make somebody happy, happy, happy. And anything is nicer shared.''

She was all smiles at the Thursday preview at the St. Regis Hotel, but Withers admitted that wasn't always the case as she prepared to part with a collection she began in the early '30s.

``Oh, honey, you should have seen me about six weeks ago. I was a mess. I cried enough to fill Boulder Dam. But that's OK. They're going to be out now making other people happy and joining their collections.

``Think of all the new dolls and new friends they're going to meet,'' she added with a giggle.

Stuart Holbrook, president of Theriault's auction house specializing in dolls, said part of the appeal of Withers' sale is the accessible price range; most are estimated in the hundreds instead of the six-figure stratosphere.

``So many of the celebrity auctions these days are more personal items. ... What do you do with Katharine Hepburn's hairbrush?'' he said. ``But these are collectible in themselves, and Jane is here and telling the stories about them.''

The catalog includes not only a complete set of Dionne Quintuplets but also a gray-haired, cherubic Doctor Dafoe. Her stuffed Goofy is a prototype given to her by Walt Disney on a day he took her to acres of orange groves and talked about his plans for an amusement park there. Her Charlie McCarthy was a present from Edgar Bergen, and the threadbare teddy bear was Alfalfa's own favorite toy, offered to young Jane because he'd had a crush on her.

Withers is donating her proceeds to some of the 24 charities she works for annually. She'll be at the auction at the Marriott Country Club Plaza to sign catalogs and tell buyers the background of each doll.

Bids also may be placed by phone or online. For details, call Theriault's at [phone] or see www.theriaults.com.

- V.K.

They won't be seeing RED (carpet)

Hollywood's mean queen and her princess might be swept off the red carpet.

Joan and Melissa Rivers' jump from E! Entertainment Television to TV Guide Channel means they may be booted off the walkway at the forthcoming Emmy Awards.

The Botoxed-into-submission comedian and her sidekick daughter planned to supply TV Guide Channel the mix of nasty barbs, uninformed questions and sycophantic adoration that passes for their signature interview technique. But E! has a deal with the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for exclusive live cable coverage of Emmy arrivals.

The Riverses reportedly signed a three-year contract worth up to $8 million to hook up with the TV Guide Channel earlier this year. The Emmy Awards will air Sept. 19 on ABC.

- Fred Shuster

From 'Cheers' to Pier 1 to ... 'Fat Actress'

Low-carb Hollywood is bulging with plus-size stars.

After Camryn Manheim, Kathy Bates and Queen Latifah opened the seams for the big and beautiful, fat-pack actresses are crowding into the land where size 2 reigns.

The latest is Kirstie Alley, the pillowy, formerly willowly ``Cheers'' chick who's a frequent favorite target of the supermarket tabs because of her weight. Alley, now reportedly at 275 pounds, is biting back by starring in ``Fat Actress,'' an unscripted comedy series about the life of a super-size celeb.

Alley pitched the concept as a ``send-up of her own image as well as Hollywood's obsession with weight and beauty,'' says Robert Greenblatt, entertainment president for Showtime. The half-hour series, set to begin shooting this fall, will air next year.

Rubens, the Flemish painter with a taste for voluptuous females, might've made a great casting director.

- F.S.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Actress Jane Withers, left, shows off some of the items from her enormous doll collection - including a Charlie McCarthy dummy, below, given to her by Edgar Bergen - at the St. Regis Hotel Thursday. Withers will auction off the dolls for charity Aug. 1 in Kansas City, Mo.Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) NEALON

(4 -- color) ALLEY

(5 -- color) MELISSA RIVERS

Steve Granitz/WireImage.com