The tributes were for Steven Spielberg but Kirk Douglas was just as inspirational in his appearance at the Anti-Defamation League's gala Wednesday honoring Spielberg with its America's Democratic Legacy kudo.

He moves slower and his voice doesn't have the command it once did, but through his will and his good humor Douglas had the crowd in his palm as he spoke of visiting Oskar Schindler's grave in Israel and his fears for the generations who will follow him once he inevitably moves into "the void." And just as it got really serious and somber, he hammed it up over a challah loaf and made off with a carafe of wine. Then, in a moment I'll never forget, the entire International Ballroom sang "Happy Birthday," because today in fact marks the start of Douglas' 93rd year. Yes, 93.

As various speakers read off the list of Spielberg's personal, professional and philanthropic accomplishments, it was impossible not to be in awe of the man. As always he comes across as humble and down-to-Earth.

He called Drew Barrymore, who was among the evening's presenters, his "training wheels" for fatherhood during the making of "ET: The Extra-Terrestrial." He spoke of how he marvels at his children's ability to multi-task while doing homework and how he'd "put a stop to it" if only their grades weren't so good. And he made the larger point that in a world that moves ever-faster, with advances in communication and media coming at lightning speed, it's important not to lose sight of history, not to think that we're so enlightened, because "all the old evils still exist," and racism and intolerance "have found a new frightening home in cyberspace."

"We have to fight against the centrifugal forces of technology to slow the world down." This battle makes the ADL's central mission all the more important: "Defense of human dignity, and all human life," Spielberg said. Coming from the man who made "Schindler's List," "Munich," "Amistad," "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers," who launched the Shoah Foundation, who lends his money and his name to innumerable worthy causes, it's not just talk.

How will we ever get any work done?

NBC and CBS have reached deep into their program vaults and are flooding the web with free streaming offerings of couch-potato classics, including "Star Trek" (the great 79); "Hawaii Five-0" (a personal fave); "Emergency" (Gage and DeSoto rule); "Miami Vice" (love the one where Frank Zappa guest stars); "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (great host); "Kojak" (great Telly); "MacGyver," "Melrose Place," "The A-Team," "Simon & Simon" and the original Lorne Greene-in-a-robe-and-toupe version of "Battlestar Galactica."

There's especially good news for fans of the Rod Serling oeuvre. CBS is offering the first two seasons of "The Twilight Zone," and NBC.com and SciFi.com are beaming out "Night Gallery." "Night  Gallery," produced by Universal TV for NBC from 1970-1973, is not as consistently mind-blowing as "Twilight Zone," but the best of the episodes, mostly the Serling-penned segs, are very, very good indeed. Steven Spielberg famously made his directorial debut on a "Night Gallery" seg starring Joan Crawford as a blind woman with a very high sense of entitlement.

Interesting that these separate initiatives from the Eye and the Peacock were announced about a week after the majors inked the new deal with the Writers Guild of America that calls for them to pay scribes 2% of the distributor's gross on web streaming of library TV shows, library being defined as anything produced after 1977 and streamed more than a year after its initial telecast.

With library product, the 2% of distrib's gross formula kicks in right away, not in year three of the WGA contract as is the case for contempo programs. So the timing of the majors' push to offer on-demand access to their libraries is a good thing for scribes, on paper. The real question is, how do you calculate  the distributor's gross for online distribution of an old "MacGyver" or "Miami Vice" seg?

In theory it will be based on whatever the license fee that the owner (aka distrib) of the program receives from the exhibitor, aka NBC.com and CBS.com. But valuation matters get even more complicated when you're talking about vintage product owned by the same conglomerate that also controls the Internet exhibition. This is the kind of stuff that will keep lawyers for the guild, the studios and top creatives fully employed during the next few years.

POSTED BY STEVEN ZEITCHIK

Showtime is a step closer to airing a series from Steven Spielberg.