The highlight of KCBS-TV’s staff Christmas party...

The highlight of KCBS-TV’s staff Christmas party was a taped retrospective of the year’s unintentionally funny moments on Action News, including:

* Go-go dancers cavorting suggestively around legal reporter Harvey Levin as he tried to speak.

* A bee tormenting Orange County reporter Dave Lopez outside a courthouse.

* And anchorman Jim Lampley opening a newscast with the words: “Good evening, I’m Bree Walker.”

Lampley quickly corrected himself. After all, Walker is not only his Channel 2 co-anchor, she’s his wife.

It’s one thing for San Franciscans, Seattleites and Portlanders to knock us. But do we have to see wisecracks about L.A. on our own billboards, too?

“Leave Jungle for Island,” says an ad inviting Angelenos to vacation in Las Vegas.

“Just Another Beautiful Day in San Diego,” reads another billboard taunt.

And then there’s “Beautify L.A.--Drive One,” a Mercedes commercial.

Funny, we thought the best way to beautify L.A. would be to remove the billboards.

Susan Tellem of Beverly Hills says she’d steer clear of the car (see photo) she saw advertised the other day.

If you’re an Angeleno looking for a last-second Christmas present, we’d advise against buying a new trash can, no matter how touched the recipient might be. In the next several months, the city will be distributing two trash cans to every residence as part of its shift to a mechanical-collection program.

The 85-year-old, two-story structure that burned down in Glendora this week was once known as the Cub Pharmacy Building. It was built in 1905 by L.A.-area resident Frank Chance, one of California’s first Hall of Fame baseball players. He was part of the Cubs’ famous double-play combination, Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance.

‘Twas the fifth night before Christmas when, what to our wondrous eyes should appear, but an RTD bus with white “snow” and a wreath, not reindeer.

Inside, shiny tinsel garlands were hung with care--from the overhead grab bars.

We heard the driver exclaim, as he drove out of sight, “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”

Or was it, “Correct change, please?”

miscelLAny:

Forty-five years ago, psychologist Joyce Brothers, now a commentator for KNX radio, correctly answered the $64,000 question on the TV show of the same name. Her category: boxing.