Hollywood Digest

DYLAN'S PRIVATE GIG

Hollywood columnist Army Archerd filed a report Friday about a Bob Dylan concert Thursday that was decidedly not open to the public -- since it took place on a soundstage in suburban Los Angeles.

Dylan and his band filmed a number of songs for the legendary singer-composer's final scene in the upcoming movie "Masked and Anonymous" -- starring Dylan as a singer whose career is going down the chute.

Archerd reported that Dylan and company performed some new songs and some old ones -- including "If You See Her, Say Hello," "I'll Remember You," "Dirt Road Blues" and the traditional "Dixie" -- and that cast members such as Ed Harris and Jessica Lange came in on their day off to catch the set.

John Goodman ("Monsters, Inc.," "The Emperor's New Groove") co-stars as the manager of Dylan's character -- described as a cross between boxing hype-master Don King and Elvis Presley's manager Co. Tom Parker.

EMMY Sept. 11 HONORS

The TV Academy handed out more than one dozen nominations Thursday for programs honoring the memory of the victims and the heroism of the search and rescue teams of Sept. 11.

"America: A Tribute to Heroes" -- the all-star fund-raising special that was shown simultaneously on all the networks and most of the cable TV channels -- got six nominations, including one for outstanding variety, music or comedy program.

HBO's "In Memoriam: New York City, 9/11/01" and CBS' "9/11" -- each received five nominations, and VH1's "Concert for New York City" got two nominations.

Two Sept. 11-themed shows that did not focus especially on Ground Zero were also nominated.

Nickelodeon's "Nick News Special Edition" was nominated for Linda Ellerbee's examination of daily life for children in Afghanistan. And Comedy Central's irreverent "South Park" was nominated for best animated series for episode called "Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants."

EMMY NOMINATIONS 'ALL IN THE FAMILY'

Two of Hollywood's better-known husband-and-wife teams had cause to celebrate when this year's Emmy nominations were announced.

Jennifer Aniston and her husband Brad Pitt were both nominated for their work on the NBC comedy "Friends" -- Aniston for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series and Pitt for guest actor in a comedy series.

Another lead actress in a comedy series nominee -- Jane Kaczmarek of "Malcolm in the Middle" -- got to share the joy of being nominated with her husband, Bradley Whitford. He's up for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for "The West Wing."

'FATAL ATTRACTION' REUNION -- SORT OF

Some might call it an eerie "Fatal Attraction" coincidence -- not only are Dan Gallagher and Alex Forrest nominated for Emmys, they're also up for their guest-starring appearances on the same show, "Will & Grace."

Dan and Alex were the ill-fated lovers played by Michael Douglas and Glenn Close in the 1987 noir thriller "Fatal Attraction." Douglas was nominated for his role as a police detective and Close was singled out for her performance as a big shot photographer on "Will & Grace."

FOX GETTING BACK INTO LATENIGHT BIZ?

Having waited a decent interval since "The Chevy Chase Show" debacle of 1993, Fox-TV is reportedly looking into a return to the late night talk-variety show arena.

Daily Variety reported that Fox officials met Thursday to discuss options for late night programming, but insiders said it is way too early to talk about specifics.

The network has never seemed to be in a big hurry to do something with the timeslot. Fox's first foray into late night, "The Late Show starring Joan Rivers," ran for just eight months in 1986-87. Fox waited six years before putting on "The Chevy Chase Show" -- which folded after just six weeks.

STARS LINE UP FOR 'SIMPSONS'

When "The Simpsons" opens its 14th season on Fox in November, special guest voices will include a handful of veteran rockers and two rock icons.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards will be joined by Elvis Costello, Lenny Kravitz, Tom Petty and Brian Setzer in an episode called "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation."

Other celebrities lined up for guest-starring gigs with Homer, Marge, Bart, Maggie and the rest of the Springfield crowd include Oscar-winning actress Marisa Tomei, rock legend Little Richard and actor Elliott Gould ("M*A*S*H," "Ocean's 11"). One episode will feature Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin -- the roles that made them famous in the 1966 TV series "Batman."

OSCAR'S DOMINOES

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has formally changed the date of its 2004 movie awards, moving the event up two weeks to Feb. 8, to stay out of the way of the Academy Awards.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to hold its 2002 Oscars ceremony on Feb. 29, as part of a two-year experiment to see if it works better for the Academy and for ABC-TV to hold the event one month earlier than the customary March date.

The decision has caused a ripple effect throughout the entertainment awards environment. BAFTA's decision to move its award is likely to be emulated by many -- if not most -- other awards show organizers.