FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, October 22, 1998

DR. LAURA ADD: The photos of the morality maven will appear at the X-rated Club Love (www.clublove.com)--the same site responsible for the Tommy and Pamela sex tapes.

RERUN: A 39-year-old woman charged with trespassing at David Letterman's Connecticut estate. This person not to be confused with the infamous (and now deceased) "Mrs. Letterman".

FALL TV WATCH: NBC picking up Monday night freshman sitcom, Will & Grace, for the full season.

THANKS, YANKS: The New York Yankees' four-game sweep of the San Diego Padres expected to drop Fox's World Series coverage to all-time lows, ratings-wise--and cost the network $15 million.

GETTING STERN: A station each in Florida and Tennessee dropping Howard Stern's TV show. Yet more backlash from a segment on pubic-hair shaving.

RED OVER BLUE: Tuesday's NYPD Blue taking heat for mirroring the murder of Time-Warner chair Gerald Levin's son--the subject of an ongoing trial in New York.

MAKING NICE? Kelsey Grammer apparently settling a lawsuit brought by an ex-girlfriend who got ticked off by remarks he made about her on Oprah, reports say.

CHER NEWS: In Los Angeles, a construction firm loses a bid to sue Cher for alleged unpaid bills. A judge says there's no paper trail. He's tossing the case.

ANIMALS: Veggie-lover Paul McCartney blasting wire service reports that cast him as softening his stance against vivisection.

FOOD FIGHT? Singer Frankie Valli's wife facing battery charges for an alleged slap-fight at a Los Angeles restaurant.

THOUGHT HE WAS RETIRED: Conspiracy-minded radio host Art Bell to make yet another special announcement on his former show Friday.

COMEBACK? Onetime talk host Arsenio Hall in talks to join CBS action show Martial Law for a lengthy guest stint, and maybe a regular role, Daily Variety says.

PENNY PINCHERS: NBC ordering employees to refrain from ordering office supplies until January 1, the Washington Post says.

LITTLE BUDDY TICKED: Plans for a Gilligan's Island movie not setting well with TV Gilligan Bob Denver. "How do you satirize him?," Denver asked USA Today.

VERY POSSIBLE: Filming expected to start early next year on Mission: Impossible 2, with Tom Cruise and director John Woo on board, the Hollywood Reporter says.

XCELLENT: An X-Men flick to (finally) go before cameras next March, director Bryan Singer tells columnist Cindy Pearlman.

SNIP, SNIP: Director Ed Zwick tells USA Today he made "extremely minor changes" to the upcoming The Siege at the request of Arab-American critics.

ROAR! MGM cementing its claim on the title, World's Largest Film Library, snaring the PolyGram collection for a cool $250 million. Movies like The Graduate, included.

HERE GOES: The drummerless R.E.M. to try out their new act on tonight's Late Show With David Letterman. The band's set to appear on the CBS program tomorrow night, too.

WHAT? A man says an Aerosmith concert in California last year cost him his hearing. He's suing.

CAMP ACT: MTV VJ Jesse Camp signing a record deal. His band--whatever that is--goes into the studio next week.

TALK SPICE: Popster Geri Halliwell to do her first interview since the Spice Girls split tonight with CNN's Larry King.

F.Y.I. King, by the way, says he and his pregnant wife are expecting a boy. He says they'll probably name him Chance.

NO GARBAGE: Robin Williams adopting a section of California's Highway 101. He'll pay for roadside trash pickers.

SWINGIN': Frank Sinatra Jr.'s a first-time groom at age 54. He wed his longtime attorney girlfriend Sunday in Texas.

NEW GIG: O.J. Simpson saga player Fred Goldman now a talk jock at a station in Phoenix, Arizona.

MOUSEKEWORLD: Groundbreaking today in Japan on DisneySea, a new theme park and hotel, to open in 2001.