Mischer eschews rumors, calls Jackson 'professional'

GOOD MORNING: Disbelief and denial. That's the reaction and reports I get from those to whom I've spoken about the current Hollywood rumor mill. "I feel badly for Michael, he's a target," said Don Mischer, who has worked with Jackson for 10 years, most prominently as producer of the super Super Bowl half-time extravaganza from the Rose Bowl, where Michael was surrounded by a thousand young people in "We Are the World." At the end of the number, Jackson picked up and kissed, hugged several smiling tots who were thrilled to be a part of Jackson's fundraising appearance. Mischer told me, "Michael had nothing to do with the selection, staging or relationship with any of the children. He was totally professional during the entire program, to which he contributed great creative input." Mischer added Michael had made no requests for any one special person to be there nor did he have any idea who would be surrounding him. "He is an absolute professional, a sensitive person, and I could never dream that any of these accusations are true"... And Gary Pudney, who produced the June ABC "World Music Awards" in Monte Carlo where Jackson received three awards, told me , "My heart is with Michael." Pudney said he knows nothing about a 13-year-old boy and his mother at Monte Carlo with Michael, as reportedly charged by the dentist-father who filed a complaint with L.A. Child and Family Services. "Michael was totally professional. He flew in (commercial) from L.A.-Paris-Nice and returned to Paris for a visit at Euro Disney. He arrived with only his assistant -- didn't even need security personnel since it was supplied by the palace (Monaco). As for children with Michael -- there were so many around him I wouldn't know who belonged to who, but all I know was he was absolutely professional." Pudney is in negotiations with Jackson for another honor appearance -- the Radio City Music Hall of Fame ... And Jackson is also skedded to be honored Jan. 29 as Scopus Laureate with a gala dinner at the BevHilton ... Steve Roth is appalled and angered by a reported upcoming US Mag story illustrated with a canceled $ 1,200 personal check allegedly from him to Heidi Fleiss. "It's bullshit," said Roth. "It was a stolen check on an account closed a month and a half before it was written. I don't know Heidi Fleiss, I never saw her. Who would be dumb enough to write a personal check to her? Furthermore, it's not my signature. We (he and his accountant) thought it was peculiar when we saw it at the time. This is a witch hunt," said the "Last Action Hero" producer.

WHATTA SURPRISE for tram takers on the Universal Hollywood Studios tour Thursday as they drove past the N.Y. street where Mike Myers and Dana Carvey were happily greeting 'em -- between takes for Par's "Wayne's World 2." They told me the movie has been a particularly joyous experience, and when I asked about the reported problems getting it off the ground, Myers called the discussions with the studio "more like Talmudic talks than fights." Carvey said the duo always gets emotional with everything they prepare -- ditto when working out their "SNL" sketches. Yes, they'll probably do a "Wayne's World" sketch on the TV'er next season -- after all, "W.W.2" opens (very wide!) Dec. 10. The movie's producer, Lorne Michaels, is commuting between L.A. and N.Y. for the new season ... Will there be a third "W.W."? They modestly deferred to the hope$ it would warrant a return. "We're like Peter Pan," said Dana --"We appeal to all age groups." Director Stephen Surjik, making his feature bow, believes the sequel's even better -- with a solid story line. And exec producer Howard W. Koch Jr. also noted the sequel has double the original's $ 20 million budget. A giant concert sequence featuring Aerosmith -- and 2,000 extras -- was filmed last week. And Thursday's scene was an extravagant London neighborhood, complete with all the stereotype comedy English props, wardrobed atmosphere players, vehicles. The movie co-stars Tia Carrere and Olivia D'Abo as the boys' babes. Kim Basinger and Drew Barrymore also appear (in torrid scenes) -- but are unbilled. As is Charlton Heston, who plays a gas station attendant.

"I'M NOT CONCERNED," Robert Goulet told me. "Doctors expect a full recovery." A routine physical exam revealed required prostate surgery. Goulet called me from a golf course in Hawaii, where he's vacationing before undergoing the operation next month. He expects a three-week recovery period and will return to "Camelot," bowing at the Pantages in mid-December ... Emmy-winning director Stan Latham adds the Fox sitcom "South Central" to his credits this fall. It will be a midseason replacement. Meanwhile, he continues on "Roc," which he will also produce, and HBO's "Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam," which he exec produces. He's hot ... Reginald VelJohnson wings to Raleigh, N.C., for his mother Eva Riley's funeral Saturday and he returns Monday to resume "Family Matters"... Oscar-winning writer Horton Foote's here with his first draft of "Miz Lil & the Chronicles of Grace" for Wind Dancer Prods.' Matt Williams, David McFadzean and Carmen Finestra.