Tattle: Next up for twitter: A television show

TWITTER WANTS to expand.

Not from 140 characters to a 141, but to television.

The annoying social-networking site for the attention-span-challenged has teamed with Reveille productions ("The Biggest Loser," "American Gladiators") and Brillstein Entertainment Partners to develop a series which would put Tweeters on the trail of celebrities in an interactive, competitive format, the show's producers said yesterday.

"Right now, Twitter is an incredible technological and cultural phenomenon," said exec producer Amy Ephron, who created the show and took it to Twitter.

"It captures what's best about Twitter, and it's a compelling TV show in its own right," said Noah Oppenheim, head of unscripted development for Reveille.

What is it again that's best about Twitter?

Oxford poetry is Ruth-less

Ruth Padel, Oxford University's first female Professor of Poetry, resigned yesterday after acknowledging she had helped publicize charges that her rival for the post, Nobel literature laureate Derek Walcott, had sexually harassed a former student.

Padel, the great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin, made history at Oxford when she became the first woman to be elected to the position of Professor of Poetry since the job was created in 1708.

In a statement announcing her resignation, Padel said she did not engage in a smear campaign, explaining that she had only passed on information already in the public domain.

"I acted in complete good faith, and would have been happy to lose to Derek, but I can see that people might interpret my actions otherwise," she said in the statement.

That doesn't even rhyme.

Tattbits

T.I. told about 16,000 fans at a sold-out Atlanta concert Sunday he would stay optimistic when he heads to prison on a federal weapons conviction.

He could be in prison by the time you read this.

"I'm going to stand up tall, head up high," he said. "Thank you for all of your support."

During the concert, T.I. said he hoped that everyone learned from his mistakes and he brought his five children on stage.

"What I need y'all to do is pray for me while I'm gone," he said. "I'll see y'all in 366 days."

* Liberty DeVitto, the former longtime drummer for Billy Joel claims Billy has stiffed him out of royalties for years.

DeVitto filed suit in Manhattan. His lawyer says he doesn't even know how much money is due. He says the piano man's sales are subject to an audit.

Let the bidding begin

In 2001, Germany printed 14 million Audrey Hepburn stamps as part of a series featuring movie stars including Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo. The print run was destroyed, however, after Hepburn's son, Sean Ferrer, objected to the cigarette holder dangling from Hepburn's mouth and refused to grant copyright.

Well, not all were destroyed.

The Finance Ministry had already delivered advance copies of the Hepburn stamps to Deutsche Post for approval.

Thirty of these proof copies escaped destruction when they shrewdly mailed themselves to freedom.

A minimum bid of 30,000 Euros ($41,959) has been set for the stamp - of which only five copies are known to exist - at an auction today in Berlin.

Ferrer said he hoped the collector would use proceeds from the auction to support cancer research or anti-smoking campaigns.

His movie star mother died of colon cancer in 1993.

* Meanwhile in Paris, Marcel Marceau's battered top hat, embellished with a single red flower, goes up for auction this week, one of more than 900 personal objects and souvenirs that once belonged to the celebrated mime who died in 2007 at age 84.

Marceau's daughter, Camille, organized the auction in a last-ditch attempt to settle her late father's outstanding debts. Marceau racked up steep debts over the years to finance his show.

The entire sale is expected to bring in about $400,000.

Tattle hopes it will be a silent auction. *

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

Send e-mail to gensleh@phillynews.com