FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, September 2, 2005

PUTTING HER FAME TO USE: Ellen DeGeneres using Monday's episode of her show to raise funds for Hurricane Katrina relief. Her studio pledging a $500,000 donation and vowing to match viewers' donations up to another $500,000, for a potential total donation of $1 million from the show.

FROM THE MOUTHS OF STARS: E! Networks partnering with Hollywood stars including Eva Longoria, Paula Abdul, Pamela Anderson and many more for a PSA campaign benefitting the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. The announcements begin airing on E! Entertainment Television on Saturday. (E! Online is a division of E! Networks.)

ALL TOGETHER NOW: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, the WB and UPN planning to jointly broadcast Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast, an hourlong commercial-free Hurricane Katrina relief telethon, featuring musical acts and appearances by celebrities. Other networks, including E!, have signed on to simulcast the concert on Sept. 9.

PEACOCK IN FRONT: NBC also airing its own telethon tonight, reportedly in response to a plea from Harry Connick Jr. to put on a fundraiser as soon as possible, per Daily Variety. Connick, Wynton Marsalis and Tim McGraw are planning to perform.

JOINING THE CAUSE: The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Kanye West, Sheryl Crow, Paul McCartney, Kelly Clarkson, Brian Wilson, Melissa Etheridge and Trent Reznor, among the latest artists set to perform Sept. 10 at MTV's ReAct Now to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

JUDGMENT CALL: Television news executives pledging to exercise taste, but refusing to shy away from airing graphic and grim footage from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including shots of dead bodies.

FOUND! Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and New Orleans resident Fats Domino, initially unaccounted for in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, being pulled to safety by a boat.

ON HOLD: Production on several Hollywood films and TV series on hold in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, including a Hilary Swank movie called The Reaping and an FX series called Thief, which is set in New Orleans. Swank and the film's crew evacuated from Baton Rouge shortly before the storm hit.

IDLED: American Idol producers canceling auditions for the show scheduled for Sept. 5 in Memphis due to the extensive relief efforts currently operating out of the city.

LENDING A HAND: Nashville's Grand Ole Opry and the television network Great American Country announcing plans for a benefit called Country Reaches Out: An Opry Benefit for the American Red Cross on Sept. 27. Scheduled performers include Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, Craig Morgan and Billy Currington.

PITCHING IN: Nicolas Cage, Diddy, Jay-Z and Celine Dion each pledging $1 million to the Red Cross to aid relief efforts. Hilary Duff pledging $250,000 to various hurricane-relief charities.

MORE HELP: Mississippi resident Morgan Freeman setting up a charity online auction at CharityFolks.com, a place where people can bid on prizes such as VIP tickets to Fashion Rocks, plane tickets, movie tickets and more, with proceeds benefitting hurricane victims.

PLAYING DEFENSE: Peter Ezzell, Robert Blake's attorney in the civil wrongful death suit filed against the actor by the family of his slain wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, telling the jury in opening arguments Friday that Blake will testify that he had nothing to do with the killing of his wife.

TUCKERED OUT: Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme collapsing Monday after the band's concert in Hamburg, Germany, forcing the cancelation of the band's performance the following night. A doctor diagnosed the singer with exhaustion and ordered him to bed.

SUPPORT NETWORK: 98 Degrees reuniting in Cincinnati Saturday in support of band member Justin Jeffre's run for mayor.

CODA: Bluesman RL Burnside, known for his genre-breaking collaborations with hip-hop and indie-rock acts, died Thursday in a Memphis hospital at age 78.

BACK ON THE JOB: The cast and crew of Reba finally ready to tape the sitcom's much-delayed season premiere after a weeks-long salary dispute between Reba McEntire and 20th Century Fox, per Daily Variety.