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Last Update on February 09, 2010 04:10 EST

HOWARD STERN - "AMERICAN IDOL" RUMORS ARE TRUE

UNDATED (AP) -- Howard Stern confirms the rumors are true that he's being considered as the replacement for when Simon Cowell leaves "American Idol." On his satellite radio show, Stern said he'd have to be offered a tremendous amount of money because he's "already making a ton of dough." He says Idol is a gig he easily can handle. He says what the singers do on "American Idol" is "facacta karaoke." Facacta is Yiddish for a combination of crazy and ridiculous.

ELLEN DeGENERES - FIRST "AMERICAN IDOL" EPISODE IS TONIGHT

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Tonight is Ellen DeGeneres' big coming-out episode. As a judge on "American Idol." For the first time, we see DeGeneres take her place at the judges' table, replacing Paula Abdul. It's the start of the Hollywood round. As one of the four judges, DeGeneres will decide which of the 181 singers will stay and which will go back home.

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JAY LENO - DAVID LETTERMAN

BURBANK, Calif. (AP) -- It was Facebook that brought Jay Leno and David Letterman together for Sunday's Super Bowl commercial that also included Oprah Winfrey. Jay Leno says he and Letterman hadn't seen each other in 18 years. But, Leno jokes Letterman found him on Facebook, he made a friend request and Leno accepted. And, Leno says that's how he and Letterman "hooked up and watched the game. Letterman jokes he wants to "thank the actors who played Oprah and also Jay Leno. They did a tremendous job." Letterman has been at odds with Leno ever since Letterman was passed over as host of "The Tonight Show" when Johnny Carson left.

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JAY LENO'S FINAL PRIMETIME SHOW TONIGHT

BURBANK, Calif. (AP) -- It's out with the new and in with the old for Jay Leno. Tonight, he'll give up the failed experiment that was "The Jay Leno Show." After a three-week break while NBC covers the Olympics, he'll return to the "Tonight Show" that he hosted for 17 years. Leno tried primetime for six months. He had about the same size audience as he did in late night, but that's small for primetime and affiliates had been complaining that they were losing viewers for their local news. Conan O'Brien, meanwhile, was losing ratings on the "Tonight Show." NBC paid him $33 million to go away. He can't return to TV until September first at the earliest.

CHARLIE SHEEN

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) -- Charlie Sheen and his wife hugged in court after a judge changed the restraining order against Sheen and said they can be together again. The judge is allowing them to work out their differences. Charlie and Brooke Sheen got into an argument Christmas day and Charlie Sheen is accused of holding a knife to his wife's throat and threatening to kill her. Brooke Sheen's lawyer says she wants "this case to be over and charges dismissed so they can get on with their lives." The lawyer says he's asked prosecutors to drop the case. Charlie Sheen is charged with felony menacing and misdemeanor charges of third-degree assault and criminal mischief. The most serious charge carries a maximum three-year prison term. Sheen did not enter a plea yesterday and is supposed to be back in court March 15.

GARY COLEMAN

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A guilty plea from Gary Coleman to misdemeanor criminal mischief. It's part of a plea bargain related to a domestic violence incident last April. The original charge of domestic violence assault was dropped. Coleman has been sentenced to 31 1/2 days in jail. But, he'll only have to serve the time if he fails to complete a domestic violence course and pay a $595 fine. Coleman's lawyer says Coleman and his wife, Shannon Price, had had an argument which got out of hand. But, he says "no one was injured and no ambulances were called. It was just a disagreement." The lawyer says Coleman has been "under an extreme amount of stress." He's been struggling to find work and he has a lot of health problems, including undergoing dialysis for a kidney condition and last fall he had heart surgery that was complicated by pneumonia. Gary Coleman turned 42 yesterday. The same day he was in court.

BOX OFFICE

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The long-distance love of "Dear John" brought "Avatar" down. "Dear John" opens at number one with $30.5 million. That pushes "Avatar" down to second place after spending 7 weeks on top. "Avatar" took in $22.9 million over the weekend. But, it still was good news for "Avatar" because its domestic record continues to grow. It's now at $639.3 million in North America. Worldwide, "Avatar" is at $2.2 billion. New movie, "From Paris With Love," has a weak opening in third with only about $8 million. Here's the rest of the weekend's top-10: "Edge of Darkness," "Tooth Fairy," "When in Rome," "The Book of Eli," "Crazy Heart," "Legion" and "Sherlock Holmes."

"DEAR JOHN"

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Director Lasse Hallstrom wishes he could've made music videos of the songs Amanda Seyfried sings in "Dear John." Hallstrom made music videos before he started directing movies. This isn't the first time Seyfriend has shown off her musical talents. She co-starred in the movie version of "Mamma Mia!" a couple of years ago.

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