FEEL THE LOVE: A Los Angeles judge on Friday ending Courtney Love's house arrest for drug-related probation violations. The judge says Love has put her "gnarly drug problem" behind her.

SPLITSVILLE: Heather Locklear filing for divorce from Richie Sambora after 10 years of marriage. "This is a private matter, and there will be no further comment at this time," said Locklear's publicist.

BEYOND IDOL: Simon Cowell partnering with NBC to create a nationwide variety talent competition series, where viewers will be able to select a winner who will go on to headline a Las Vegas show.

HERE WE GO AGAIN: Prosecutors alleging Tom Sizemore violated his probation a second time by testing positive for drugs on Jan. 23 and getting tossed from a drug-treatment program for arguing with another person. Should his probation be revoked, he could face 16 months behind bars.

BACK IN THE HABIT: Former teen idol Leif Garrett voluntarily checking into a live-in drug-rehab facility after failing a recent drug test and violating his probation stemming from his 2004 cocaine arrest.

THE NIPPLE EFFECT: ABC implementing a five-second tape delay on Sunday's Super Bowl pre-game, post-game and half-time telecast, apparently to avoid any Janet Jackson-like shenanigans that may occur.

WHAT A DRAG: Director Lee Tamahori, whose credits include Die Another Day and Along Came a Spider, facing charges that, while dressed in drag, he allegedly solicited an undercover cop, TMZ.com reports.

UNPLUGGED: The Foo Fighters set to launch their first acoustic tour in May playing material from their 2005 release In Your Honor.

SOUL MAN: R. Kelly scoring a leading three nominations for the 20th Annual Soul Train Music Awards. Kelly will also receive the inaugural Stevie Wonder Award for career achievements in songwriting. Wonder will present the honor at the Mar. 4 ceremony.

CRUCIFIED: Conservative activists upset over an upcoming episode of NBC's Will & Grace, which they claim mocks Christ's crucifixion by having Britney Spears play a Christian conservative talk-show sidekick who does a cooking segment entitled "Cruci-fixin's." NBC says the objections stem from a faulty press release and say the script hasn't even been written.

OUTPLAY WITH A TWIST: Survivor: Panama kicking off Thursday night with the castaways divided up into four tribes--young men, older men, young women, older women--and Wisconsin lumberjack Tina Scheer getting the boot.

VAN HALEN ANYONE? CBS announcing Rock Star will return for a second season in Summer, 2006, with auditions for potential singers starting in early March in cities around the U.S. No word yet what band will be hiring.

WORKING IT OUT: Lawyers for Marlon Brando's estate amicably settling a lawsuit brought by his former business manager claiming the late actor sexually harassed her and unlawfully fired her. Financial terms were not disclosed.

DISMISSED: An appeals court in new York tossing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit brought by a man who claims a radio station's Britney Spears hoax was responsible for his wife's death when she fell and hit her head outside the station's headquarters upon seeing a Spears impersonator.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: Red Eye star Rachel McAdams tapped to present the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Scientific and Technical awards on Feb. 18 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

BACK TO THE BAYOU: Director Tony Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer planning to shoot their upcoming thriller, Deja Vu, starring Denzel Washington, in New Orleans and include post-Katrina footage of the devastated city. Shooting starts Monday.

ON THE BEAT: Filming has begun on the second season of TNT's top-rated crime drama, The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick. Season two premieres summer, 2006.

DO THE DO: Bravo set to premiere the third season of Blow Out, its hit reality series following hair stylist Jonathan Antin, on March 21.

GLITTER UPDATE: Vietnam set to try faded British glam rocker Gary Glitter on child-molestation charges in late February.

NEW PUMPKINS? Former Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin close to beginning work on the band's first studio album since their break up in 2000, Billboard reports.

THE RETURN OF THE DUKE: Per Variety, Morgan Freeman set to play jazz legend Duke Ellington in director Antoine Fuqua's The Jazz Ambassadors, which follows the Ellington orchestra's successful tour of Iraq during a 1963 CIA-backed coup.

SMALL-SCREEN CREATURE: CBS ordering seven half-hour episodes based on Aardman Animations' Oscar-winning short Creature Comforts that will air in 2007.

HOLIDAY TREAT: Shrek codirector Vicky Jenson in talks to make her live-action debut with the holiday comedy Four Christmases, following a young married couple, both children of divorced parents, who must attend four different Christmas Day family gatherings.

HAPPY REUNION: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Amanda Peet reuniting with her Whole Nine Yards costar Matthew Perry in Aaron Sorkin's upcoming TV show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, focusing on the behind the scenes of a late-night sketch-comedy show.

SOMETHING TO CHEER ABOUT: CMT greenlighting an eight-episode reality series following the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders' audition process.

THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE: AMC Entertainment buying Loews Cineplex Entertainment to create the country's second-largest movie chain.