Sugar Ray singer’s ‘Extra!’

When the showbiz puff show “Extra!” launches its 11th season (Sept. 13), there will be a new yapping head in the anchor chair: Mark McGrath, the frosty-haired lead singer of the rock band Sugar Ray. (What, Dee Snyder wasn’t available?)

McGrath will cohost with Dayna Devon. In announcing his hiring, “Extra!” executive producer Lisa Gregorisch-Dempsey gushed, “Mark is a huge celebrity with a ton of charisma.” If he can learn to master that kind of hyperbolic flattery, he should do just fine in his new post.

As for qualifications, well, McGrath has always been a camera whore, going back to the days when Sugar Ray was going by the name the Shrinky Dinx. He has made appearances on a variety of TV shows, from VH1’s “I Love the “80s” to the ESPY Awards and” The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Turn on the video camera for your daughter’s birthday party, and McGrath is likely to show up in your backyard.

Still, it’s unprecedented and a little unseemly to have a semi-legitimate rock star decide to become a TV host. Imagine if Jim Morrison had announced that his real ambition was to replace Rona Barrett.

Just goes to show what an undifferentiated mosh pit the entertainment field has become.

Liotta in ‘ER’ in real time

ER is taking a note from 24 by doing a real-time episode, and is bringing in actor Ray Liotta for the ride.

The episode, to air Nov. 11, will follow every moment of guest star Liotta’s hospital visit. He plays an alcoholic ex-con with cirrhosis and a host of other problems.

The real-time narrative is a first for the NBC emergency room drama. ER has previously experimented with different structures, but the series’ famous live broadcast in 1997 wasn’t in real time.

“In a way, this is the inverse of that,” co-producer David Zable told The Associated Press on Thursday. “We also have never tracked one patient the whole time through the show.”