COURT WATCH: Nick Nolte sued by the parents of a teenage girl who claim their teenage daughter was drugged and date-raped at a party at his Malibu home two years ago. Nolte was not home at the time, and her assailant has already been convicted in the case.
WHO'S BAD: Santa Barbara police raiding Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch Friday to search for more evidence in connection with his child molestation case.
BACKING DOWN: A group of Greek lawyers upset over Oliver Stone's portrayal of Alexander the Great as bisexual backing off threats to sue the filmmaker and Warner Bros. The attorneys wanted the studio to add a disclaimer stating the film was not historically accurate.
GOING OUT WITH A BANG: Tom Brokaw's last stint as the anchor of NBC Nightly News Wednesday easily crushing its rivals, drawing 15.4 million viewers, well above the 9.2 million and 7.2 million ABC News and CBS News respectively scored for their broadcasts.
GETTING THE BOOT: Ami Cusack, a 31-year-old barista from Lakewood, Colorado, voted off Survivor: Vanuatu Thursday night in a 4-2 decision.
STRIPPED OF A JOB: Donald Trump firing 28-year-old Boston-based venture capitalist Ivana Ma on Thursday night's episode of The Apprentice 2 after she stripped while trying to sell chocolate.
HOLIDAY TUNES: "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire," written by Robert Wells and singer Mel Torme, topping the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' annual list of the Top 25 most-performed Holiday songs.
GAME, SET AND MATCH: CNBC planning to pull the plug on McEnroe, its low-rated talk show hosted by tennis great John McEnroe, and replace it with The Big Deal with Donnie Deutsch, TVGuide.com reports.
DIAPER DUTY: Actress Laura Dern and boyfriend Ben Harper welcoming a baby girl on Sunday in Los Angeles, her rep confirmed. The tyke weighed in at six pounds and two ounces. The couple also have a three-year-old son.
SPLITSVILLE: Julia Sorkin, the wife of Emmy-winning West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin, filing for divorce from her husband after nine years together. The couple have a four-year-old daughter.
GETTING HIS STAR: Kevin Kline received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Friday.
WEDDING BELLS: Variety reporting Paramount has tapped Nicole Kidman to star in Wedding Season, a romantic comedy about a cynical woman and her longtime boyfriend whose promise to never marry is questioned after the two attend 17 nuptials together. Robert Evans is producing.
THE COST OF CRIME: USA Network and Bravo divvying up syndicated rights to NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent for what is believed to be a record $2 million per episode.
SPEAKING OF COPS: Also per the Reporter, Christian Bale, Eva Longoria and Freddy Rodríguez, starring in Harsh Times, an indie cop drama set in South Central, Los Angeles. The film will be helmed by David Ayer, the writer of Training Day.
PEOPLE POWER: Shrek 2 is leading the film nominees for the People's Choice Awards. Other favorite-film nominees include Fahrenheit 9/11, The Incredibles and Spider-Man 2. Winners will be announced Jan. 9 on CBS' telecast of the ceremony.
A FART IN YOUR GENERAL DIRECTION: Monty Python's Spamalot, based on the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail and starring David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry, and Hank Azaria, set to begin previews at New York's Shubert Theater on Feb. 14. The Broadway musical is being helmed by Mike Nichols.
SUPERIFIC: Writer-director Chris Columbus set to direct and produce Universal's Sub-Mariner, a big-screen version of one of Marvel Comics' oldest superheroes, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
I THINK I CAN: Despite the negative reviews and disappointing five-day opening, the Warner Bros. holiday 'toon, The Polar Express, rising 24 percent over the weekend, bringing its current box-office total to $84 million.
'TOON TIME: Jerry Bruckheimer set to produce G-Force, a live-action/CGI family feature film centering on talking animals for Walt Disney Pictures, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
PIRATE BOOTY: The Motion Picture America on Friday issuing a report that rampant movie piracy in Asia in the form of bootlegged DVDs cost Hollywood more than $718 million in lost revenue in 2003, up from $575 million in 2000.
HOW DOES IT FEEL? In his first TV interview in 19 years, Bob Dylan telling 60 Minutes that he's not a prophet or a savior, despite often being hailed as one based on the poetry of his songs.
BUSTED: Singer Lynn Anderson, who won a Grammy in 1970 for "Rose Garden," charged with a DUI Thursday after police discovered her passed out in her car on the shoulder of a highway.