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Wednesday, May 19, 1999 5:02:08 PM EST

• Oprah gives Northwestern students the business
• Sawyer, Gibson won't abandon their alarm clocks yet
• 'Ally McBeal,' Part Two?
• Paula Jones' psychic future murky

Winfrey

CHICAGO (CNN) -- Talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey is scheduled to tell students how to mind their own businesses. She's agreed to teach a business course at Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Winfrey will team up with her honey Stedman Graham to do it. They're to teach "Dynamics in Leadership" one night a week for 10 weeks. Only 100 second-year students are expected to be allowed to take the course.

Winfrey must know something about her subject. She earned a reported $125 million dollars last year, making her Forbes magazine's fourth highest-paid entertainer.

Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson

NEW YORK (CNN) -- No snooze alarm for "Good Morning America" anchors Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson. ABC says they've agreed to host the morning news show for another year.

The two replaced Lisa McRee and Kevin Newman in January. The move was supposed to be temporary -- just long enough to boost the ratings. Even Sawyer has said she expected be on the show only for a few months. But according to ABC executives, the early-rising co-hosts are having "such a great time" they've agreed to stay on.

Although the show is still running behind NBC's "Today" show ratings-wise, viewership has risen 27 percent since they began hosting.

ABC is building a new studio for the show in Times Square. It's scheduled to open in the fall.

"Ally McBeal" star Calista Flockhart

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The creator of FOX's "Ally McBeal" is shooting for a half-hour spinoff. David E. Kelley says he came up with the idea after experimenting with editing of the original.

The new series is designed to feature the same characters, cast and theme: an unconventional Boston law firm of attorneys who tend to break into song in the unisex bathroom.

The spinoff, as Kelley envisions it, would mix new scenes with unused and repeat footage shot for the hourlong show. Unlike the original, which blends drama with craziness, the spinoff would have a distinctly comic bent. The half-hour stories would be set at the firm and after hours -- not in court.

Kelley says it looks like it's going to happen.

But FOX, which presents its fall prime-time schedule Thursday, has made no comment on the matter.

Jones

BOCA RATON, Florida (CNN) -- If she's so psychic, why didn't she know?

Paula Jones signed a contract three months ago to pitch the Paula Jones Celebrity Psychic Network for a 90-day trial. So far, the phones have been awfully quiet.

"If this were a horse race, we'd be off to a slow start," says David Felger, president of the Zodiac Group Inc., which runs the network.

If the calls ever start coming -- at $3.49 a minute -- Jones could extend her contract five years. Felger declined to say how much Jones is earning.

If this doesn't work out, Jones has a backup plan. She's considering signing a $350,000 music contract.

"Paula has a big career ahead of her," says music promoter Jack Gordon. "She sings really well. We're looking at a country album."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.