Wow. Busy day in celebrity deaths. First we hear that Farrah Fawcett finally lost her battle to cancer, then suddenly we hear that, after being rushed to a LA hospital in cardiac arrest, Michael Jackson also died. He was only 50, and he was about to embark on a comeback concert stint in London that he hoped would revive his career.

ABC News was already scrambling to move up the Farrah special they had planned to air on 20/20 this coming Friday. That special, where Barbara Walters interviews Ryan O'Neal, will be shown tonight at 10 PM ET. They also just announced that they will be airing an MJ retrospective at 9 PM ET.

Other networks are following suit with their own specials, according to THR.com.

It's interesting how most news outlets aside from Fox didn't confirm MJ's death even though our friends at TMZ had the news first. I guess it wasn't legitimate enough for them. Either way, it's a shockingly sad day in the entertainment biz, no matter what you may have thought of Farrah or Jackson.

Actually, I've been thinking about this, and I wonder: is this really such big news? I mean, 2012 is a few years from now, and there's a good chance that 30 Rock will be over by then anyway. So Baldwin will probably be leaving the show when, well, everyone else is.

Still, this interview with Playboy (highlights only - buy the mag for the whole thing) looks pretty interesting, with lots of quotes about his marriage, his contemplating suicide after leaving that phone message for his daughter, what he thinks of TMZ, Twitter, his possible political plans, and why he'll never go on Today again.

TMZ covers all things celebrity sleaze and gossip. But what about the rumor that the weird cat lady down the street has a strange cactus fetish and you can hear her wails of pain (or is that joy?) every Friday night into the wee hours of the morning? Who's going to follow her around with cameras and ask her what that's all about? Well, no one wants to get anywhere near that. But that doesn't mean the producers behind TMZ don't want to look at what's going on in your world.

Using online videos by regular schlubs like you and me from YouTube and other places, Reality Twisted is a new show that will showcase this content interspersed with commentary by the show's staff.

I've never seen Ashlee Simpson-Wentz act. I know she played a janitor or something on 7th Heaven, but I kind of missed the entire eleven-year run of that series. I've also never purchased and Ashlee Simpson album, so while I have heard her sing, or you know, not sing, I can't say I'm a huge fan. So I don't really know why I'm excited to hear she's joining the cast of CW's revamped Melrose Place, but I am.

I watched the original Melrose Place off and on, and while it was perfect mid-90s soapy goodness, I don't really feel that there's a burning need for its return. However, the new 90210 is doing pretty well for the fledgling CW, so I certainly can't blame them for taking the next logical step in bringing back its spinoff.

Notice I said Tracy Jordan and not Tracy Morgan, because this audio of a meltdown on the set of NBC's TGS with Tracy Jordan is a takeoff on the Christian Bale meltdown on the set of Terminator: Salvation, which I'm sure everyone has heard by now. If it was Morgan who did it, I guess I would have titled it Tracy Morgan Goes All Christian Bale On 30 Rock Set.

It's pretty funny, though it probably goes on a little bit too long. Jordan is ranting at the cameraman because he dares to film him while he's trying to act. They should actually show this at the end of one of the episodes, or maybe as an extra on the next DVD set. At one point you can even hear Tracy make a reference to TMZ.

It could be a little NSFW, though all of the bad words are bleeped out. For the record, Bale has effin' apologized.

Two stars from two of NBC's most popular shows are in the hospital, and at least one of the cases sounds serious.

Deal Or No Deal host Howie Mandel was rushed to the hospital in Toronto for an irregular heartbeat. He was admitted to the hospital just so they could monitor him and do some tests. He's expected to be released from the hospital later this afternoon.

The other person in the hospital is Law and Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay. She reportedly suffered a collapsed lung around the holidays, according to a spokesperson (who says it was a "partially" collapsed lung). There are conflicting reports as to how it happened, either by sledding or some other way, but TMZ says that the lung collapsed for a second time and had to be inflated again. She was nominated for a Golden Globe the other night.

By the way, Mandel is in Toronto to film scenes for his new hidden camera show Howie Do It.

When I heard that TMZ had been renewed for two more years, I thought, yeah, I get that. In my neck of the woods, the show airs at 7:30 p.m. every weeknight. Tabloid TV has gotten to the point where it's no longer relegated to a 3 a.m. timeslot. Now it airs at a respectable hour, which has somehow made the show respectable, too.

So what IS it about the rich, famous and screwed-up that we find so fascinating? Other than the fact that it's just plain fun to gawk at these folks, I've come up with a few reasons why TMZ is one of the best things to enter our lives in years:

1. TMZ shows us that even though the rest of us might be struggling out here, we're still way better off than the people on TMZ's radar. That's comforting in a weird way.

Ambre Lake has found out about Daisy's chit-chat with TMZ. Outside a Los Angeles club, the herion-chic groupie revealed that she an Bret had slept together. And now, Ambre is talking back via her MySpace blog. You've got to love that MySpace, right?

The Rock of Love 2 winner sets the record straight by asserting that she and Bret are still together. In fact, if they weren't, we would hear about it from her mouth and not Daisy's. Ambre says that Daisy has no involvement in their relationship. She also maintains that she bears no ill will toward Daisy.

Father's Day is this Sunday, June 15, and in celebration TiVo conducted a poll to find out which TV shows that dads say they hate but they secretly love. This is like looking into the secret diaries (you know, the ones with those flimsy little locks on them?) of dads around the country, but here are the results:

1. Dancing with the Stars
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Access Hollywood
5. TMZ

I think this poll has revealed one thing: most dads in the United States are...women?

And you won't believe what she's saying! The runner-up from Rock of Love 2 chatted with photographers outside a club recently. She talked about Ambre Lake, Bret Michaels and, of course, her awesomely skanky self.

About Ambre, Daisy pretended like the Rock of Love 2 winner didn't even exist. Then she claimed that Ambre and Bret aren't even together. Gasp!

About Bret: Daisy says that she's still not over the has-been rocker. In fact, she's out drowning her sorrows in alcohol. However, she says something mighty interesting at the end of the video. Daisy reveals, not so subtly, that she and the Poison frontman slept together recently. As she puts it, they were hanging out and they weren't talking. Wink, wink.

Check out the video and let me know your thoughts. Here's my favorite line: "Allegedly, I have no clue." I fully plan on making use of that gem sometime in the near future.

[via VH1]

I've written many times here about how much I hate the tabloid shows, whether it's Access Hollywood, TMZ, or Entertainment Tonight. One of the worst is ET's sister show, The Insider. Besides having a despicable host (Pat O'Brien -- what's with that little fake laugh he does all the time?) and the lamest writing this side of a junior high student newspaper, it's also evil and dumb.

Take last night's episode. I don't watch the show, but I didn't get to my remote quick enough to change the channel after the news ended and I caught the teaser opening. They showed singer John Mayer with a gun to his head, a rather raw photograph that looked like it was taken across the street from a bank. Was Mayer being held hostage in a holdup? Was one of Jennifer Aniston's exes there telling him not to see her anymore? OMG! Stay tuned to this breaking news!

Reports are now circulating that Jeff Archuleta, father of American Idol favorite David, has been banned from any rooms where his son is learning or rehearsing his songs. Nobody official is talking about it yet, but the anonymous sources have tales to tell. TMZ's source tells them that Jeff has caused problems with producers, the band, vocal coaches, and other contestants.

The tipping point seems to have been David's version of "Stand By Me." It's said that Jeff insisted on inserting a verse from Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls" and the unauthorized change cost the show money. Now, I balk at anyone from Idol worrying over money, considering how much the show makes, and how little they pay the contestants, but I can see how a meddling stage parent could be a headache. And it does seem like a reasonable offense to help justify the bringing of the banhammer. Jeff will still be allowed to watch the live show from the audience, but will no longer be involved in any of the backstage preparations. The more interesting question is whether or not all of the bad press will have an effect on voting.

[Thanks Johari]

Last year, the train-wreck-fascinating TMZ.com grew into a 30-minute TV series, aiming its lens at troubled pop tarts and clueless drunks stumbling around Hollywood. And try as we might, some of us were unable to divert our eyes.

Now another website might be morphing onto the small screen. MomLogic.com, a site aimed at moms of all ages, is being eyed to grace the airwaves as a talk show in the fall of 2009, reports The Hollywood Reporter. The Telepictures-created site was launched by Warner Bros. Television Group in November.

CSI star Gary Dourdan was arrested at 5:21 AM and charged with suspected possession of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, and maybe other drugs as well.

He was arrested in Palm Springs, CA when police saw him sleeping in his car early in the morning. When they got to the car and investigated further, Dourdan was arrested for the above offense. He's out on bail.

This arrest will trigger approximately 327 different jokes about the CSI gang helping him and tests being done on the car, etc. Now we just have to figure out whether he's leaving CSI (official word is that Dourdan and the studio came to an understanding on his departure) because of his drug use or (as Keith wonders) he's doing the drugs because he's leaving the show.

Chicken, egg.

According to TMZ, Brian Dunkelman offended a Laugh Factory audience last week by bitterly joking during his stand-up routine, "If wishes came true Ryan Seacrest would have AIDS."

As you might recall, Dunkelman was Ryan's American Idol co-host during season one. After leaving the show, Dunkelman faded into obscurity while Ryan Seacrest went on to become one of the most recognizable faces on TV.