If Corzine picks Alda, does that mean Matt Santos wins?

Besides Bruce Springsteen, some fun and intriguing caretaker U.S. Senate appointments that will never happen:

* Alan Alda, has played three United States Senators in the movies and on television. While starring in M*A*S*H, Alda commuted to Hollywood from his home in Englewood so his daughters could grow up in New Jersey. The 69-year-old Democrat reportedly mulled a Senate bid in 1996 when Bill Bradley retired.

* Peter Benchley, best known for writing Jaws, started out as a White House speechwriter for President Lyndon B. Johnson. The 65-year-old Harvard graduate lives in Princeton, where his wife, Wendy Benchley, is a Councilwoman. They hosted a fundraiser for presidential candidate Howard Dean at their home in 2004.

* Harlan Coben, 42, is a best-selling mystery writer from Ridgewood who serves as an informal advisor to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. The Amherst College graduate recently wrote an New York Times Op-Ed piece slamming Senate Republicans for refusing to pass a resolution honoring Springsteen.

* Willis Reed would become the second Basketball Hall of Famer to represent New Jersey in the United States Senate. The 63-year-old Cedar Grove resident, who was Bill Bradley's teammate, later served as the Head Coach and General Manager of the New Jersey Nets. He would become New Jersey's first African American U.S. Senator.