The distressing news about Patrick Swayze (see previous post) sucked the air out of what had been a typically diverse and bizarre morning on the press tour.

Spike announced it is producing a series called 1,000 Ways To Die about grotesque and unusual ways in which people have left the planet.

A sample: One episode will report the story of a man trapped in an avalanche. He had enough food and water to survive for several days, probably long enough to be saved, according to a Spike rep. However, while buried in the snow, he killed himself by breathing his own methane gas. He farted himself to death.

Death is a live topic at Spike. Jesse James, the contemporary daredevil who claims to be related to the wild west outlaw, is doing a series, Jesse James Is a Dead Man, in which he will attempt reckless stunts, such as driving a super-powered motorcyle 200 mph on one wheel.

James also will deal with the extremes of hot and cold. He’ll drive a car across the Ice Highway near the Arctic Circle in temperatures that descend to 60 below zero. He also sets himself on fire in a supposedly flame retardent suit. This one didn’t quite work the way he planned. He wound up with some serious burns, he said, including the inside of his butt cheeks.

The Daily Show’s Demetri Martin, whose new Comedy Central sketch show, Important Things With Demetri Martin, debuts Feb. 17, experienced a comedian’s nightmare. He tried to be funny at 10 in the morning in front of a groggy bunch of critics. He actually had some success but not until he prodded critics to laugh.

Martin did offer today’s “Here’s Something You Didn’t Know.” Most castles in America are inside fish tanks.

What do you say to America’s most prominent drag queen? Critics were at a loss for what to ask RuPaul, who is hosting RuPaul’s Drag Race–think American Idol for would be drag queen superstars–which premieres Feb. 2 on the Logo Network.

The room went uncommonly quiet when the floor was opened for questions, to the extent that RuPaul kiddingly began to tell a joke, “A black man with a parrot on his shoulder goes into a bar…”

Even when he eventually got a question or two, there were long gaps between them.

It should get better later today when HBO takes over with a lineup featuring stars from Big Love, In Treatment and new series featuring Drew Barrymore, Will Ferrell and Kevin Bacon, as well as a special on disgraced man of the cloth Ted Haggard.

I’ve gotten a few questions for Gabriel Byrne I’ll try to have answered. If you have something you want to know from any of these folks, get it to me by 6 p.m. your time. I can’t promise I’ll get every one answered but I’ll try.

I’ll have them posted by later tonight or early Saturday. There are no days off on the press tour, so I’ll be posting throughout the weekend.