On September 11, the United States entered a new Age of Seriousness. This week, it ended.

Here at the Lycos 50, we may have thought that the Age of Seriousness ended last week, when the Taiwanese sex scandal revolving around politician Chu Mei-Feng reached #1 on the Lycos 50.

Mei-Feng actually remains at #1 this week, the story that isn't going away despite being virtually unknown here in the United States. But that's not just a sex scandal -- it is also a political one. So it is just a little bit serious.

No, the Age of Seriousness is over because of the presence of one O.J. Simpson (#18) on the Lycos 50 -- for the first time ever.

Since there was no Lycos 50 back in 1995, we didn't get to enjoy Simpson's first go-around in the national spotlight. But he's back, thanks to a missing girlfriend and a dead feline.

Simpson's on-and-off girlfriend, Christie Prody, was reported missing this week, and her cat was found dead in her apartment. Of course, Simpson claims that he doesn't even date Prody anymore -- but that he also talked to her last week. All this means the gossip rags have tied the two together, and so have Lycos users. Searches for Simpson outnumber searches for Prody 16-to-one.

MAN OR MOTH: Surprise, surprise. We've been watching movie searches for over a year now, but The Mothman Prophecies (#26) came out of nowhere to make this week's Lycos 50. It actually got more queries than the current #1 film at the box office, Black Hawk Down (which is hot online as well at #35).

Usually, a movie gets searches because it's highly anticipated, but Mothman Prophecies searches seem to be coming from people who have already seen the film and want more information on the West Virginia monster stories that inspired the film. Searches for just Mothman are twice as prevalent as searches for Mothman Prophesies. Mothman got just a handful of searches three weeks ago, and after the movie hit theaters searches went up 350 percent.

PIGSKIN POWER: The NFL (#3) is hotter than ever thanks to searches for the Super Bowl (#28). An interesting search from this week was NFL rule book, as Lycos users struggled to understand the mysterious "tuck rule" that allowed the Patriots to make it past the Raiders, and eventually into the big game.

Lycos users may be the only folks in America who favor the Patriots, as the miracle men of Foxboro get 50 percent more searches than the St. Louis Rams this week.

SHORT SUBJECTS: Carol Burnett's daughter Carrie Hamilton (#40) makes the Lycos 50 after passing away due to cancer, but the late torch singer Peggy Lee falls short of the Lycos 50... The Golden Globes (#21) make their annual appearance on the Lycos 50... Last year, the Australian Open made #26, but it doesn't come near the Lycos 50 this year... Boxer Mike "I'll Eat Your Children" Tyson comes close to the Lycos 50 (he's #56) after last week's wacky tirade and attack of champion Lennox Lewis at a press conference.

NEW THIS WEEK: O.J. Simpson, Golden Globes, The Mothman Prophecies, Carrie Hamilton, Linkin Park.

DROPOUTS: Napster, The Fast and the Furious, Michael Jordan Survivor, Aaliyah.

TOMORROW: Slow risers.