Late-night lights back on at NBC

Los Angeles – After two months off the air in support of their union and their writers, NBC’s late-night hosts are going back to work in 2008.

The network announced Monday that both “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” will return with new episodes on Jan. 2. Both shows have been dark since the writers’ strike began in early November as Leno and O’Brien supported the Writers Guild of America (both are members of the union).

Both men also make it clear that they continue to support the WGA, but in statements they also express concern for the rest of their shows’ staffs. O’Brien and Leno have been paying staff salaries for several weeks, but continuing that indefinitely wouldn’t have been possible.

Leno and O’Brien said they would continue to support the striking writers, but, by their count, 180 people will be able to return to work because of their decision.

Whether the other network late-night hosts follow suit remains to be seen. David Letterman’s company, Worldwide Pants, is reportedly interested in working out its own deal with the Writers Guild for both CBS late-night shows. Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC show and both “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central remain dark. Carson Daly, who’s not a WGA member, resumed his NBC show earlier this month.

Just what writerless versions of “The Tonight Show” and “Late Night” will look like is an open question, even to the hosts. “I will make clear, on the program, my support for the writers and I’ll do the best version of ‘Late Night’ I can under the circumstances,” O’Brien says. “Of course, my show will not be as good. In fact, in moments it may very well be terrible. …”

Pamela Anderson files for divorce again

Los Angeles – The third time was not the charm when it came to matrimony for Pamela Anderson.

The buxom blonde has filed for divorce from her latest hubby, Rick Salomon, reports TMZ.com.

The former “Baywatch” babe married her longtime friend Oct. 6 in Las Vegas at the Mirage Hotel in the hour and a half interval between her two magic shows. Her two previous high-profile marriages had ended in divorce.

Anderson, 40, was previously married to Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee in 1995 and divorced him three years later. Besides an infamous sex tape and possibly Hepatitis C, the couple also have two children – Brandon, 11, and Dylan, 9 – to show for their marriage. Her second marriage during the summer of 2006 to musician Kid Rock, nee Robert Ritchie, lasted less than four months.

Prince Edward, Sophie, welcome baby boy

London – Britain’s royal family welcomed the birth of its newest member Monday, a son born to Prince Edward and his 42-year-old wife, Sophie, Buckingham Palace said.

Edward – the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II – and Sophie, who are the Earl and Countess of Wessex, were “absolutely thrilled,” the palace said in a statement. The baby is the eighth grandchild of the monarch and her husband, Prince Philip.

The infant weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces and was delivered by Caesarean section Monday at Frimley Park Hospital outside London.

The couple’s daughter, Lady Louise, was born in November 2003.

When Edward and Sophie married in 1999, it was announced that their children would not bear the title of royal highness.

Rihanna downplays relationship rumors

New York – Rihanna continues to shoot down rumors that she hooked up with actor Josh Hartnett.

“This is what really happened,” the 19-year-old singer tells Allure magazine. “He and my management, they have each other’s contact information. I went to (the New York club) Pink Elephant, and he came by. All of a sudden, the next day, I’m seeing that we were kissing and hugging up each other.”

“You can’t even go out with a friend who’s a celebrity and have a good time without people making (bleep) up,” Rihanna says in the magazine’s January issue. “Well, at least he’s good-looking, right?”

The Barbados-born sensation has also been romantically linked to actor Shia LaBeouf and Jay-Z, her boss – and Beyonce’s boyfriend. She has denied a hookup with the 38-year-old rapper, who is president of her record label Def Jam.

Of Jay-Z’s Grammy-winning gal pal, Rihanna says: “She’s Beyonce, and I’m (his) new protegee. When we see each other we say hi. We’re not enemies, but we’re not ‘friends’ friends.”

AFI names year’s best in film, television

Hollywood – The raucous comedy “Knocked Up,” the animated family film “Ratatouille,” the final season of “The Sopranos” and the freshman comedy-fantasy series “Pushing Daisies” have been named by the American Film Institute as among the best works in film and television for 2007.

The AFI calls its annual awards an almanac that records the year’s outstanding achievements in film and television. The AFI Awards are the only recognition that honors the creative ensembles both in front of and behind the cameras of movies and programs that, according to the AFI, “best advanced the art of the moving image; enhanced the rich culture of America’s art form; inspired audiences and artists alike; and/or made a mark on American society.”

Besides “Knocked Up” and “Ratatouille,” the AFI’s selections for the 10 outstanding films of 2007 are “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “Into the Wild,” “Juno,” “Michael Clayton,” “No Country For Old Men,” “The Savages” and “There Will Be Blood.”

Joining “The Sopranos” and “Pushing Daisies” on the television side are “Dexter,” “Everybody Hates Chris,” “Friday Night Lights,” “Longford,” “Mad Men,” “Tell Me You Love Me,” “30 Rock” and “Ugly Betty.”