Hollywood Reacts to End of Election Process

December 14 -- Hollywood is weighing in on the finally-ended election process with mixed feelings. Vocal Al Gore supporters Barbra Streisand and Rob Reiner are understandably disappointed, but at least one guy, producer Jerry Weintraub, thinks that a Bush-Cheney administration will be more lenient toward moviemakers than a Gore-Lieberman-led White House would have been.

Weintraub, who produced The Avengers and the upcoming Ocean's Eleven, is a longtime friend and supporter of both George Bushes. He told Variety's Army Archerd, "I think George W. will be great for showbiz. He likes it. He hasn't attacked it. I think he'll be supportive. His father was [supportive]."

Sounding the opposite horn, Streisand, who stopped one of her last concerts to give Gore a free plug, tells Archerd, "It's a very sad occasion and one that could set a terrible legal precedent. Al Gore isn't the only loser. It's democracy and the American people as well."

"I almost started crying," admits Rob Reiner, who had to momentarily stop the speech he was giving at the Family Resource Center in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday when he heard the news of the Supreme Court's decision. "He was unbelievably graceful, a rock of Gibraltar," Reiner says of Gore. "We are all devastated."

And Jay Leno voiced the concern of late-night pundits everywhere in mourning the day when Bill Clinton leaves the White House. Last week on ABC's 20/20, Leno called the scandal-ridden commander-in-chief's two terms "the golden age of comedy" for him.

The Tonight Show host offered this pop culture analysis: "You know, the country will now be like what Happy Days was after The Fonz left. It's still on the air, but we're stuck with Potsie and Ralph Malph. The funny guy, the cool guy, is gone, and the two lame guys are still hanging around." Or, to put it another way, Elvis is just about to leave the building.