STILL WAITING: The jury in the Winona Ryder shoplifting case failed to reach a verdict in its first full day of deliberations. The panel is due back at 10 a.m. Wednesday to continue weighing the actress' fate. She faces up to three years in a state prison if convicted.
ALL SEXED OUT? Cynthia Nixon telling Fox News that the upcoming season of HBO's Sex and the City will likely be the last. Production on the new season is due to begin in February, giving both new mom Sarah Jessica Parker and Nixon (who's due any minute) several months of maternity leave. HBO says it has not made a decision on continuing its hit series.
LICENSE RENEWED: Pierce Brosnan telling Daily Variety columnist Army Archerd that he will play James Bond for a fifth time in a still untitled 007 film due to begin shooting in 2005. Brosnan's fourth Bond, Die Another Day, is due out November 22.
DETENTE: Visiting Cuba for the first time on Monday, Steven Spielberg said the United States should end its trade embargo against the island nation and allow more cultural interaction with Cubans. "I do not see any reason for accepting old grudges being played out in the 21st century," Spielberg said at a news conference.
NICOLE ON TOM: Nicole Kidman telling the latest issue of Vanity Fair that she is only beginning to understand now what caused the breakup of her marriage to Tom Cruise last year and that, whatever people say, the couple had a "real marriage." "He basically swept me off my feet. I fell madly, passionately in love," she said.
REMEMBERING JAM MASTER: Thousands of mourners,including bandmates Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, turning up for the funeral Tuesday of Run-D.M.C. deejay Jam Master Jay, who was gunned down last week. Also paying their respects: hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons, LL Cool J, Chuck D and Queen Latifah.
SADNESS, WILL ROBINSON: Jonathan Harris, forever the scheming Dr. Smith on the classic TV sci-fi series Lost in Space, died Sunday from a blood clot in his heart. He was 87. Harris, who faked his British accent, also did lots of voiceover work, including featured roles in Toy Story 2 and A Bug's Life.
FULL CIRCLE: Former Spin City costar Alan Ruck, who nearly died last year from a strep infection but recovered in time for Spin's series finale, signing on to play a cancer patient who's going to die in Scrubs. The episode airs December 5.
ZOO TV: CBS planning to air U2's Beautiful Day, a special featuring the band's tour-closing perfomance from Ireland's famed Slane Castle. The taped concert, along with backstage footage of the band, will be broadcast November 29.
SHIVERSPOON: Reese Witherspoon signing on to Whiteout, an Antarctic whodunit about a female U.S. marshal living in self-imposed exile in Antarctica who's called upon to investigate the first murder on that continent. As yet, no writer or director is attached.
GET J.LO: ABC developing an hourlong drama loosely based on characters from Steven Soderbergh's 1998 comedy caper Out of Sight. The untitled series will focus on Karen Sisco, the tough yet sexy U.S. marshal character created by scribe Elmore Leonard and originally played by Jennifer Lopez.
AILING: Actor and Unsolved Mysteries host Robert Stack, 83, undergoing outpatient radiation treatment for prostate cancer after being diagnosed with the disease a month ago.
BIG APPLE-BOUND: Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Tori Spelling set to star in and coexecutive produce a still-untitled comedy for NBC about an up-and-coming corporate publicist at a large New York firm who is assigned the dregs of the company's accounts.
SAVING POOH? Disney enlisting the heirs of Winnie the Pooh's creators on Monday to wrest legal control of the honey-loving bear from Stephen Slesinger Inc., which leased the rights to the Mouse House.
IS IT WORTH IT? A prospective merger of CNN and ABC News could end up saving ABC $100 million, but also make the latter nearly unrecognizable as the Alphabet net slashes jobs and personnel overseas, according to a report released on Monday by an analyst.
SIDEKICKS: ABC announcing that Jimmy Kimmel Live, its new late night show scheduled to debut with a special on Super Bowl Sunday (January 26), will feature cohosts and air from the El Capitan Entertainment Center in Hollywood. The program officially replaces Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, which was axed earlier this year.
FLYING HIGH: Meanwhile, the network developing an ensemble drama exploring the world of the U.S. Air Force described as a cross between Top Gun and The West Wing. It will center around the Air Force Academy in Colorado and focus on both teachers and students at the school, as well as the generals involved in setting military policy.
BOO! The Halloween episode of The Simpsons scaring up nearly 17 million viewers Sunday, powering Fox's all-comedy lineup (also including King of the Hill and Malcolm in the Middle) to a nightly ratings victory in all key demographics.
ON STAGE: British comic Eddie Izzard set to make his Broadway debut next March at the Roundabout Theater in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Peter Nichols' dark comedy a handicapped child and the strain she puts on her parents' marriage.