Slap forehead here.

SLAP FOREHEAD HERE It's no secret that journalists are forever desperately seeking to spot a trend. All they need is a count of three to create some vague movement that will bring in another paycheck. Seldom, however, has that desperation been more obvious than in "Movie Cameos Keep Laughs Coming," a recent FoxNews.com piece by Amy C. Sims.

The headline is bogus enough. Movie cameos have kept laughs coming ever since the Hope/Crosby Road… productions. Why treat the topic like breaking news in 2004? Well, Sims discovered that Will Ferrell recently made a cameo as an inmate in Starsky & Hutch. Andy Dick also does a cameo in that film, just like he did in Old School, Road Trip and Zoolander. Starsky & Hutch actor Snoop Dogg also did a cameo in Old School, and you know who else was in Zoolander? Jerry Stiller, the article thoughtfully informs us.

Sims gets help making her point from Seattle "movie fan" Rhett Ursy and hackety-hack New York Post writer Bill Hoffmann, who she claims writes an entertainment column for the paper. He doesn't, of course, but why should Sims get a simple fact right? After all, she's making up the point of her entire article.

See, here's what Sims and Hoffman and even that Seattle movie fan ignore while discussing this non-existent trend: Their entire point is made by citing films with the same director and/or stars. Todd Phillips directed Road Trip, Old School and Starsky & Hutch. He's built a repertory company of sorts, and it's no surprise that Old School star Ferrell would stop by to appear in Phillips' Starsky & Hutch. After all, Old School star Vince Vaughn is also in the film. So is Owen Wilson, the brother of Old School star Luke Wilson.

So now, is it any surprise that Jerry Stiller showed up in Ben Stiller's Zoolander?

While we're asking questions, is Amy C. Sims retarded? It's a miracle that she didn't cite how actor Kevin Smith often makes cameos in films by director Kevin Smith. Let's not dwell on the fact that an editor actually approved this article. Couldn't FoxNews.com have just filled space with an old Henry comic strip?

And how sad is Hoffmann for going along with the false premise? Somebody at the Post needs to show that guy more attention. The poor sap even tries to help out by citing a film that isn't directed by Todd Phillips, and can only come up with Demi Moore's role in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Nice going, Bill. There are more than 10 cameos in that movie, and you named one of the film's few proper co-stars.