Plumber Is Unamused by Bathroom Joke

Fame unclogs an artery . . . Paying Paula . . . The ties that unbind . . . and it’s deja vu in palimony land.

Plumber John Keating was caught on the 1990s version of “Candid Camera,” but he’s not smiling. Instead, he’s suing.

Keating is taking HBO, Time Warner Entertainment and a production company called World of Wonder to court, charging that their idea of entertainment was--for him--a wrenching experience. The plumber’s Los Angeles Superior Court suit seeks unspecified damages for emotional distress, fraud and invasion of privacy. He says he was used as an unwitting guinea pig in “a human experiment for entertainment, a nasty and perverted version of ‘Candid Camera.’ ”

The prank happened Sept. 1 at a home in Beverly Hills where, court papers say, Keating was “greeted at the door by a tall buxom blond woman dressed in a leopard print negligee.” He was directed to a supposedly clogged sink in the bathroom off the master bedroom.

As he went to work, he heard the unmistakable sounds of l’amour. Then he heard “scurrying,” and a naked man, clothes in hand, joined him, court papers claim.

The blond shouted that her husband was coming, and almost immediately, an angry, jealous man confronted the plumber and the stranger cowering in the bathroom. Keating, “terrified that he would be killed as the victim in a jealous tryst,” brandished a wrench and ran out. He was met in the hall by a production crew, which told him it was all a practical joke.

According to the suit, Keating read them the riot act, telling them they were “idiots to have put him in a life-threatening situation and they are lucky no one is dead.”

No comment from the defendants.

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STREET JUSTICE: Actor Donald Sutherland is joining his neighbors in opposing plans to close traffic lanes along Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica to fix the sewers.

Caltrans planned to close two southbound lanes of PCH and erect a barrier near the center of the highway, leaving two lanes in each direction. Vehicles traveling down the California Incline would not have been permitted to turn left, according to papers filed in Superior Court in Santa Monica.

The suit by the Palisades Beach Property Owners Assn.--which includes Sutherland and attorneys Browne Greene and Charles M. Levy--claims the construction will create “extremely hazardous” traffic conditions that “will have a direct, immediate and adverse effect” on the homeowners’ ability to get in and out of their driveways.

Their attorney, Andrew R. Hunter, said negotiations since the suit was filed have resulted in a few concessions from Caltrans--most notably the reinstatement of the left turn. An injunction hearing is scheduled Dec. 8.

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PAULA GETS PAID: A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ordered a West Hollywood talent company to pay singer-choreographer Paula Abdul more than $100,000 for an appearance she made three years ago at a Kentucky horse race.

Judge Rodney E. Nelson entered the judgment against Aaron Tonken & Associates, which had issued Abdul a promissory note as compensation for appearing at the Jim Beam Stakes.

Tonken said in a phone interview that he is caught in the middle because the event’s organizers never paid his company for Abdul’s appearance.

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LOVE HAS NO PRIDE: Bluesy Bonnie Raitt and her husband, actor Michael O’Keefe, are calling it quits after eight years. They’ve been separated for several months. No papers have been filed yet, but Raitt’s record label, Capitol, has put the word out about the split.

Their love match was said to have inspired Raitt’s 1989 album, “Nick of Time,” which sold more than 14 million copies and earned eight Grammy awards.

Also being hauled into divorce court are comic tool man Tim Allen and actor Keith Carradine.

Allen’s wife, Laura Deibel, has filed for legal separation after more than 15 years of marriage. She cites irreconcilable differences and seeks custody of their 9-year-old daughter.

Sandra Carradine also cites irreconcilable differences in her petition to end her 17-year marriage. She’s seeking joint custody of the couple’s two teenage children.

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THE LONELIEST NUMBER: That dispute between the members of the 1970s rock group Three Dog Night was resolved, just as a trial was to start.

Chuck Negron, the former lead singer, settled his dispute with former bandmates Danny Hutton and Cory Wells over rights to the band’s name.

Negron claimed it was his distinctive voice, singing hits like “One (Is the Loneliest Number),” “Old-Fashioned Love Song” and “Joy to the World” that made the band famous. He sued the others over use of his image, as well as the band’s name.

Hutton and Wells countersued, alleging that Negron, who billed himself as “the voice of Three Dog Night,” was violating terms of a previous settlement.

Although settlement terms were confidential, it does now seem that these three dogs will be sharing the bone.

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QUOTABLES: Everything in Hollywood really is derivative:

“No good deed goes unpunished.”

--Jack Klugman, at his 1999 palimony trial.

“No good deed goes unpunished.”

--Clint Eastwood, at the 1996 spinoff of his palimony case.

“Did these guys read the same manual?”

--Sondra Locke, Eastwood’s ex.