OSCAR COUNTDOWN: Chicago dominating the 9th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday night, with Renée Zellweger named Best Actress, Catherine Zeta-Jones Best Supporting Actress and the cast receiving the Best Ensemble Award. Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for Gangs of New York and Christopher Walken received Best Supporting Actor for Catch Me If You Can.
TIMELY WRITINGS: British playwright David Hare snagging Best Adapted Screenplay for The Hours, while filmmaker Michael Moore won Best Original Screenplay for his searing anti-gun documentary Bowling for Columbine at Saturday's 55th annual Writers Guild of America Awards.
IMAGE IS EVERYTHING: Denzel Washington sweeping the 34th Annual NAACP's Image Awards on Saturday, earning Best Actor for John Q, as well as Best Supporting Actor and Best Director for his feature helming debut, Antwone Fisher, which was also named Best Picture. Halle Berry won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Jinx in James Bond's Die Another Day.
HOUSE KEEPING: The comic odd coupling of Steve Martin and Queen Latifah in Bringing Down the House swept up a very royal $31.7 million as the new number one movie. Bruce Willis' secret ops action drama Tears of the Sun had something to cry about, with just $17.2 million in a distant second.
PASSING: George Miller, a stand-up comedian who appeared on David Letterman's late-night talk show more than any other comic, died Wednesday in Los Angeles of complications from a blood clot in his brain. He was 61. "George was my oldest friend, and one of the funniest people I ever knew," Letterman said in a statement. "We are all very sad that he is gone." Miller performed on Letterman 56 times over two decades.
CODA: British pop star-actor-record producer Adam Faith, who first topped the charts in 1959 with "What Do You Want" and later starred in several successful TV shows, has died of a heart attack at the age of 62, his agent said on Saturday.
COKE PUSHERS: Missy Elliott and American Idol's Simon Cowell joining Chazz Palminteri as the new pitch-people for Vanilla Coke. The ad campaign debuts March 11 during Idol. THE CURTAIN FALLS: Theater ticket holders at 17 Broadway musicals, including Les Miserables, The Producers, Hairspray and The Lion King, left out in the cold this weekend after the League of American Theater and Producers announced all musical shows would be canceled because actors and stagehands refused to cross the picket lines of striking musicians. No word when the strike will end.
OUT OF THIS WORLD: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Minority Report tying with 10 nods apiece to lead the list of nominees for the 28th Annual Saturn Awards, sponsored by Cinescape and the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. On the tube side, Buffy the Vampire Slayer scored five noms.
WHAT DEBATE? Bob Dole says he's unhappy with the first of at least 10 debates against Bill Clinton that will air on 60 Minutes this Sunday, the first of which focuses on the wisdom of a tax cut in wartime. "I think it needs to be a little tougher," Dole said Friday. "It needs to have a little more edge to it for people to be interested."
SOLID! Undercover Brother's Eddie Griffin signing on to join Charlie Sheen, Denise Richards and Jeremy Piven in Dimension Films upcoming spoof sequel Scary Movie 3.
HOPING TO AVOID CONTROVERSY: A prominent Jewish leader on Friday requesting actor Mel Gibson give assurances that his new film, The Passion, following the last 12 hours in the life of Christ, does not portray the Jews as collectively responsible for the crucifixion.
TAKING A BREATHER: Bluegrass artist Alison Krauss postponing next week's taping of the cable TV show Crossroads with Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler after doctors recommended she rest her vocal cords following a recent cold.
INJURED: The New York Post reporting that Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Susan Foemke suffered numerous cuts to her hands while trying to stop her boyfriend from killing himself with a knife on Friday.
GIRLS GONE TO TEXAS: After getting a warning from officials in Panama City Beach, Florida, who said they'll arrest anyone who takes their clothes off, the producers of the Girls Gone Wild videos moving their first ever pay-per-view special to South Padre Island, Texas.
MUSIC WITH HEART: Tim McGraw announcing he plans to donate a portion of ticket sales and merchandise proceeds from his upcoming tour "Tim McGraw and The Dance Hall Doctors' One Band Show" to the Red Cross.
SILENCED: CNN canceling long-running afternoon show Talkback Live after nine years. The slot is expected to be filled by an extended Live From, which came on before Talkback.