FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, September 28, 2004

PASSING THE TORCH: Jay Leno announcing that he will turn over the Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien in 2009, after a 17-year run as host.

LENO ADD: On Monday night's anniversary show, Leno explained his decision, recalling the animosity that existed when NBC passed on David Letterman for the job. "A lot of friendships were permanently damaged," he said. "Quite frankly, I don't want to see anybody go through that again." Leno also offered up a warm tribute to his predecessor, Johnny Carson, with a lengthy clips package.

COUNTRY BOY: Former Sex and the City star John Corbett tells E! Online he's giving up acting to become a country music singer.

IN THE LEGAL RING: A U.S. District judge rejecting Sylvester Stallone's request to dismiss a lawsuit brought by former heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, who claims the actor inappropriately used his name to promote his Rocky films.

REALITY BETS: An offshore gambling website is suspending betting on NBC's The Apprentice after a large number of wagers were placed on two contestants. The owner of the website fears someone close to the previously taped show knows the finalists already and has bet accordingly.

NIXED: Alanis Morissette scrapping a Sunday concert in Jakarta, Indonesia, heeding a U.S. travel advisory warning of possible terror attacks there in the coming days.

INVESTIGATE AT HOME: Planet Toy sealing a licensing agreement with CBS Consumer products to create a line of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation forensic activity kits that will be sold at Toys "R" Us and the CBS Online Store starting in October.

NO SPIN ZONE: Comedy Central refuting Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, who called The Daily Show audience a bunch of "stoned slackers." According to Nielsen Media, viewers of Jon Stewart's show are more likely to have finished four years of college than people who watch The O'Reilly Factor.

MARTHA WATCH: Martha Stewart assigned inmate number 55170-054 by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The homemaking maven does not yet know where she will serve her sentence, but has requested the minimum-security prison in Danbury, Connecticut. Stewart has been ordered to report for prison by Oct. 8.

YANKED: Dan Rather's daily CBS radio broadcast pulled off the air by Houston affiliate KPRC in reaction to the 60 Minutes report questioning President George W. Bush's National Guard Service. Rather has since apologized for the report which was based on documents that could not be authenticated.

DEFENDING DAN: A USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll revealing that most Americans believe CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather made an "honest mistake" in his controversial story and don't think he should be fired for it, especially since he took personal responsibility.

FEEL FOR YOU: Prosecutors decling to file charges against Chaka Khan's son, who was arrested Friday night for allegedly killing a 17-year-old male at an apartment complex in Los Angeles. Charges may filed at a later date, pending a continuing investigation.

MAKING A SWITCH: Variety reporting Julia Roberts and director Mike Nichols in talks to come aboard the romantic comedy Seven-Year Switch for Columbia. Roberts, who is currently expecting twins, would play a woman coming up on the seventh year of a relationship.

FOX'S LADIES: Per the Hollywood Reporter, the Barenaked Ladies signing a deal with Fox to star in a pilot for a comedy/variety show. The quintet will perform improv skits with guest stars and play music.

A SIMPLE LIFE ABROAD: Belgium launching its own version of Fox's The Simple Life, according to the Hollywood Reporter, but instead of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, the international series will feature two young prominent Belgian women.

ON THE ROAD: Al Franken taking his radio show, The Al Franken Show, on the campaign trail starting Thursday. He'll hit eight cities in swing states before wrapping up on Oct. 9.

HIS CANDID CAMERA CONTINUES: MTV ordering another three seasons--24 episodes in all--of Ashton Kutcher's Punk'd.

BIG BIRD TO THE RESCUE: Sesame Street next week will rebroadcast a five-part hurricane story line featuring Big Bird helping kids deal with such storms and their aftermath that was first broadcast in February 2001.

LISTEN UP! Blondie, Shirley Manson, Wilson Phillips and En Vogue among the performers for the Lifetime's Womenrock! Breast Cancer Awareness Concert set for tonight at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. Vivica A. Fox will host. The event will air next Monday on Lifetime.

WALK LIKE A SINGLE MAN: Singer Frankie Valli, 67, filing for divorce from his wife of 20 years Friday. The couple separated on Thursday and have three sons.

RECOVERING: Michael Jackson's father, Joseph Jackson, released from a Los Angeles hospital on Saturday after having a successful operation to treat a bleeding ulcer.

SICK BAY: Famed O.J. Simpson attorney Johnny Cochran hospitalized Monday to undergo more tests for an undisclosed neurological condition which is not said to be life-threatening.

ATOMIC TRACK: U2's first single off its upcoming album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, expected to debut this week in the top 20 of Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart after just three days on the radio. The band also announced the track listing for its new disc, due out Nov. 23.

RARE APPEARANCE: Tom Waits quickly selling out his only lone U.S. concert date this year, an Oct. 18 show at Seattle's Paramount Theater. The only other North American gig is an Oct. 15 stop in Vancouver.

BEHIND THE MIC: B-52's singer Fred Schneider coming aboard to host the weekly Sirius Satellite Radio show, Party Out of Bounds, which will air on Fridays at 9 p.m. starting Oct. 1.

RIDING INTO THE SUNSET: Nevada's Ponderosa Ranch, the famed American West theme park where NBC's classic western Bonanza was filmed, closing Sunday after being sold to a financier. No word what plans the buyer has for the property.

STILL MISSING: Palestinian security forces on Tuesday looking for an Israeli Arab producer for CNN television who was kidnapped by gunmen in the Gaza Strip. There is no word on the whereabouts of Riad Ali.