FREEDOM: Robert Blake released on $1.5 million bail Friday afternoon. The actor, accused of murdering wife Bonny Lee Bakley, had to turn in his passport and must wear an ankle bracelet. He's due back in court March 27.

TWO-STEP TROUBLE: Folks criticizing the Dixie Chicks after Natalie Maines told an English concert audience, "We're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas." By late Friday, Maines had issued an apology calling her remarks "disrespectful."

PRECIOUS CARGO: Justin Timberlake aboard a flight to Japan that was forced to return to Los Angeles after takeoff because of engine problems last week. The pop star made the trip a day later, traveling to promote Justified, and has since returned Stateside.

RAINCHECK: With the threat of war looming Liza Minnelli and David Gest postponing their anniversary bash April 15 for 1,200 friends and family members at New York's Marriott Marquee. Hard to believe it's already been a year.

IRISH EYES SMILING: Colin Farrell confirming he's expecting a child with an unamed model to British TV show host Paul Ross this morning.

MEOW! Halle Berry in talks with Warner Bros. to play the felonious feline in Catwoman, due to start shooting later this year.

WILD KINGDOM: The Humane Society handing out it's annual Genesis Awards tomorrow at the Beverly Hilton in los Angeles. Winners of the award, which honors celebs who bring a spotlight to animal rights issues, include AJ McLean, Shannon Elizabeth and Aisha Tyler.

FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: Matthew Perry jumping to West Wing for two episodes, April 23 and 30, to play a Republican lawyer hoping to land a job as White House associate counsel, reports Variety.

WHO'S BAD? A California jury siding with a German concert promoter and awarding him $5.3 million in his $21 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against Michael Jackson. Promoter Marcel Avram claimed the Gloved One owed him for backing out of two millennium-eve concerts.

LOOK WHO'S TALKING: Two-time Oscar nominee John Travolta tapped to be a presenter at the 75th Annual Academy Awards airing March 23 on ABC--the ninth time Travolta has appeared as a presenter.

MORE OSCARS: U2 will shake, rattle and hum as performers for the Academy crowd come March 23, the first time the band has performed on the Oscar show.

MORE OSCAR GOLD: Forty-four Oscar statuettes were flown into Los Angeles on a specially marked plane from Chicago today. The 24-carat gold trophies will be heavily guarded until the March 23 ceremony.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING: Howard Stern suing ABC and the makers of Are You Hot for allegedly stealing the idea from his radio show. Two people on the ABC show used to work for Stern.

BAD PRESS: Miramax pulling newspaper ads that feature an Oscar endorsement for Martin Scorsese written by the former head of the Academy, breaching a rule that all votes must remain confidential.

PUTTING UP A FIGHT: Renée Zellweger's romantic comedy Down with Love slated to compete against The Matrix: Reloaded when the two movies bow May 16.

ABOUT A TV SHOW: Fox casting Patrick Dempsey in the Hugh Grant role of its half-hour sitcom adaptation of About a Boy. Producers are still searching for the appropriately nerdy 12-year-old friend, reports Variety.

GUESSING GAME: ABC casting for a second installment of Celebrity Mole to air this summer or fall. Ahmad Rashad is expected to return as host.

PLAY NICE: Jeanne Hebert the fifth Survivor voted off the island last night, meanwhile Mars and Venus teams went coed.

MOURNED: Tony-winning actress Lynne Thigpen, who played Ella Farmer in The District and was also known for numerous movie and TV roles, died suddenly Wednesday night at her home in Los Angeles. No cause of death is known. She was 54. Filming on the CBS drama has been temporarily suspended.

DISSING OSCAR: Academy Awards producer Gil Cates confirming that Eminem won't attend next week's ceremonies, despite his "Lose Yourself" from 8 Miles being nominated for Best Song.

TWO TO TANGO: Jennifer Lopez partnering with Richard Gere for Shall We Dance?, a Miramax Films remake of the top-grossing Japanese flick. Lopez would play a ballroom dance teacher who agrees to instruct a working-class guy who's out to impress her. Peter Chelsom (Serendipity) will helm.

BREATHING EASIER: Doctors implanted electrodes in Christopher Reeve's diaphragm in an experimental procedure on February 28 designed to allow the paralyzed actor to breathe on his own and not using a respirator. Reeve will discuss the surgery at a news conference today in Cleveland.

MOB WAR: HBO has suspended filming of The Sopranos' fifth season due to a nasty contract dispute with the show's star, James Gandolfini. Shooting was set to begin on March 24.

LOOKING FOR JUSTICE: An appeals court ruling that an Ohio man currently in a mental institution after being convicted of stalking Gwyneth Paltrow, was wrongly denied a hearing to be considered for a conditional release program. The court ordered the trial court to schedule a new one.

SKATER BATTLE: Shoe company Skechers filing a countersuit against Britney Spears, accusing the popster of fraud and breach of contract for postponing decisions about product designs and advertising for Britney 4 Wheelers roller skates and apparel. Spears filed her own breach-of-contract suit in December 2002.