A-OKAY: Despite tabloid reports claiming Elizabeth Taylor is ailing, the entertainer's rep tells syndicated columnist Liz Smith that there's "nothing ominous" about Taylor's health.
D'OH: Bugs Bunny topping TV Guide's list of 50 greatest cartoon characters, edging Homer Simpson. Rocky and Bullwinkle check in at third, Beavis and Butt-head are in fourth and the Grinch is fifth.
MOVING ON: The New York Post reporting that All My Children actress Kelly Ripa, who also cohosts Live with Regis & Kelly, is planning to leave the soap opera when her contract runs out in December. However, Ripa says, "All My Children has been and will continue to be a big part of my life. I hope to continue to appear as Hayley Santos for many years to come."
ANOTHER ONE GONE? TV Guide reporting that actor A Martinez will leave General Hospital (where he's played the part of Roy DiLucca for nearly three years) to star in For the People, a new legal series on the Lifetime cable network.
HALL OF FAMERS: Oprah Winfrey, Kelsey Grammer, CBS News' Bob Shieffer and radio deejay Don Imus among this year's class at the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. The inductions take place November 11 in New York.
OOPS: Britney Spears caught flipping the bird as she left a Mexican airport earlier this week. The popster later apologized, saying she made the gesture out of frustration at the swarming paparazzi.
MORE BRITNEY: Meanwhile, Spears reportedly cutting short her performance in Mexico City Sunday night. She left the stage after just five songs. No word on why.
MODEL MOMMY: Claudia Schiffer is pregnant with her first child, her publicist confirmed Monday. The supermodel has reportedly made it through her first trimester--coincidentally three months after marrying film producer Matthew Vaughn.
MODEL MOMMY II: Supermodel Daniela Pestov gave birth to a daughter July 21 at New York Hospital. The girl, named Ella, weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and is the first for Pestov and boyfriend Palo Habera. She also has a six-year-old son, Yanick, from a previous relationship.
LAUNCHING EARLY: The release date for Steven Soderbergh's sci-fi thriller Solaris starring George Clooney moved up from December 13 to November 27. His latest flick, the low-budget Full Frontal, hits theaters next weekend.
STILL ROARING: The Broadway production of Disney's The Lion King celebrating its 2,000th performance Tuesday. The show has been running for nearly five years.
SACKED: A clash with shareholders costing Thomas Middelhoff his job as CEO of media giant Bertelsmann. He'll be replaced by Gunter Thielen, who heads the company's printing and media services.
BARGAIN HUNTER: Actress Renée Zellweger trading in her $1.8 million home in the Hollywood Hills for a $6.8 million 1930s-era Bel-Air mansion, the Los Angeles Times reports. The home had been on and off the market since March 2001 and was originally listed for $8.9 million.
BARNEY'S BACK: Don Knotts returning to Morgantown, Pennsylvania, for his 60th high school reunion. The beloved Andy Griffith Show star was the senior class president.
REUNION ADD: Forty years after playing a young husband and wife on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore reuniting for a PBS/KCET Los Angeles production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Gin Game.
SKETCHY: 'N Sync singer Lance Bass' production company looking to produce television series based on the popular comic strips The Duplex, Hearts of the City and Cleats.
BLAME THE DARK SIDE: Two men accused of trying to sell a stolen copy of Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones on eBay deported from Michigan to their native Canada after both paid $3,100 in fines.
MOUSE HUNT: A Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarding $14.9 million to a talent agency that claimed the Walt Disney Company underpaid commissions from the hit ABC sitcom Home Improvement starring Tim Allen.
AT CLOSE RANGE: Sean Penn set to star in The Assassination of Richard Nixon, a true story about a desperate salesman's attempts to make his mark on history. Cameras roll in April.
HAIL TO THE CHIEF: President George W. Bush granting an exclusive pair of interviews about the events surrounding September 11 to 60 Minutes II. The discussion will air on the first anniversary of the attacks.