Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe ROBERT BLAKE Los Angeles police have arrested a suspect in the murder of actor Robert Blake's wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, nearly a year ago. Advertisement And it's the actor himself. The 67-year-old star of the 1970s TV series "Baretta" was seen on live television Thursday being led in handcuffs out of his daughter's home in a gated community near Calabasas, Calif., where he'd been staying. He's expected to be booked on a murder charge and his arraignment likely would be Monday. Police earlier in the day arrested Blake's bodyguard, Earle Caldwell, in Burbank. His role in the case was not immediately revealed, but there had been reports from Bakley's family he had threatened her sometime before her death. Bakley was found shot to death May 4, 2001, in the couple's car after they had dined at a Studio City restaurant. Blake had been considered a suspect almost from the start. The couple had gotten married six months earlier after a DNA test revealed Blake had fathered the couple's daughter, Rose, and not Christian Brando, as she originally had believed. Advertisement SANDRA BULLOCK Sandra Bullock's new movie, which takes on the subject of high school killers, opens on Friday -- one day before the third anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. Hollywood often displays a preference to avoid such unpleasant subjects, but Bullock told the New York Daily News it's time to get past the fear and face the subject head on. "Everyone wants to tiptoe around issues," she said. "But that's why so many things have gone wrong to begin with." In "Murder by Numbers," the actress plays an FBI profiler who tracks down two gifted high school students who execute a series of what they think are perfect murders and try to pin the crimes on a friend. Bullock -- who also produced the movie -- conceded that she wondered at times while she was making the movie whether she was "putting messages out there" that might promote harmful behavior. She concluded that openness was best. "If you sweep things under the carpet, you glorify it," said Bullock. "If you bring it out in the open, discuss what the problem could be, it's only going to help heal it." Advertisement NEW EMMY AWARD There will be a new category at this year's 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards -- for best interactive TV programming -- but the winner will not receive a statuette. Original interactive content specifically integrated into a TV program will be eligible for the award. Officials at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles said the new honor would be an "area award" -- meaning that no nominations will be announced, and there is the possibility that one, or more than one, or no awards will be presented. Winners will receive a plaque rather than a trophy. Shawn Hardin, governor of the academy's interactive media peer group, said the kinds of programs that will be eligible for the new award include game shows with online tie-ins, Internet components created in conjunction with dramas and public affairs programming involving viewers in online participation. He said the PBS "Frontline" series could qualify for its "tight coordination between the show and the Web site." He also mentioned "Weakest Link" (NBC) and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" (ABC), which provide opportunities for viewers to answer trivia questions at home. The CBS drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" could qualify because it offers interactive explanations of the forensic science at the center of the show. Advertisement According to some estimates, 30 million to 40 million U.S. viewers watch TV and go online simultaneously. Approximately 10 million homes have satellite and cable TV boxes that can deliver basic interactive programming. Nominations for the 54th awards will be announced on July 18. The Emmys will be presented Sept. 22 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, in ceremonies to be telecast live on NBC. The new interactive award will be presented in separate engineering awards ceremonies. (The above two items thanks to UPI Hollywood Reporter Pat Nason) 'FOR THE PEOPLE' Lea Thompson and Debbi Morgan will co-star in the legal drama "For The People," which will premiere on the Lifetime Television Network July 21. Thompson ("Caroline in the City," "Back to the Future") plays a liberal-minded Chief Deputy District Attorney in the Los Angeles D.A.'s office whose professional world is profoundly shifted when a conservative African-American District Attorney, played by Debbi Morgan ("The Hurricane," "Eve's Bayou"), is elected and becomes her new boss.
