Hollywood Digest

NEW STEPHEN KING

ABC is ready to go with "Kingdom Hospital," a long-delayed series from Stephen King, according to a report in Daily Variety.

Plans calls for the 15-hour series, formerly known as "The Kingdom," to premiere next January -- beginning with a two-hour movie, and followed by 13 weekly episodes.

Variety said the series was originally intended to run this season, but King wanted to write every episode before production could begin. Now that the scripts are done, plans call for casting to begin in May.

HOFFMAN AS 007?

Dustin Hoffman might be interested in playing James Bond, but he doubts any producer would cast him in the role.

The two-time Oscar-winning actor told the New York Daily News he would "find it interesting to play 007" -- but not the way the super spy has traditionally been played in movies by Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton or Pierce Brosnan.

"But they wouldn't hire me, or if they did make that mistake, they'd fire me, because I'd want to play him as written -- meaning a misogynist and assassin," said Hoffman. "That's the character, but that's not what we see on screen."

LIVE FROM NEW YORK ... IT'S ADRIEN BRODY!

Hollywood columnist Army Archerd reports that Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody plans to play the piano on "Saturday Night Live" when he hosts the show May 10.

Archerd said Brody ("The Pianist") had to turn down an invitation from Roman Polanski -- who won the Best Director Oscar for "The Pianist" -- to join him on May 6 for the Moscow premiere of the movie, because the young actor was already committed to hosting "SNL."

Brody told Archerd he hopes his career includes music as well as acting, but he wants it to be "about the music and not about me -- I want to be taken seriously."

IT'S A GIRL!

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have a new baby -- a girl born on Easter Sunday at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J.

The Oscar-winning couple named their daughter Carys. The newborn weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces. The couple also has a 2-year-old son, Dylan Michael.

Zeta-Jones won the Oscar last month for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Velma Kelly in "Chicago." Prior to the Academy Awards ceremonies, the actress said she wasn't worried about winning the Oscar because, with the baby on the way, she was sure to be a winner one way or the other.

Michael Douglas won the Best Actor Oscar for "Wall Street" (1987) and a Best Picture Oscar as producer of "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975). His new movie, "It Runs in the Family" -- co-starring his screen legend-father Kirk Douglas and his 24-year-old son Cameron Douglas -- opens in U.S. theaters Friday.

RODNEY DANGERFIELD GOES HOME

Rodney Dangerfield has been discharged from UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, and is recovering at home from brain surgery on April 8.

The 81-year-old comic actor went home Monday, nearly two weeks after undergoing an extracranial-intracranial brain bypass to improve the blood flow in his body. The star of such comedy hits as "Back to School" and "Caddyshack" is scheduled to have heart valve replacement surgery, originally scheduled for the first week of May, but now more likely to occur later this spring.

NBC RULES AT SPORTS EMMY AWARDS

NBC Sports collected a record 13 Emmy Awards -- 11 for coverage of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games -- at the 24th annual Sports Emmy Awards in New York Monday.

The network's previous best was 12 Emmys in 1996 and 1988 -- both years in which it broadcast an Olympic games. The 13 Sports Emmys are in addition to six prime-time Emmys that NBC won for its coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the XIX Olympic Winter Games.

The XIX Olympic Winter Games won for Outstanding Live Sports Special, The Dick Schaap Outstanding Writing Award, Outstanding Editing, Graphic Design and Production Design-Art Direction. Bob Costas collected his 14th Emmy for his work as host of NBC's Salt Lake Olympics coverage, and his studio work for HBO.

NBC also won the Emmy for Outstanding Live Sports Series for "The NBA on NBC."

ESPN was second with six Sports Emmys. HBO was third with five and ESPN2 and Fox tied for fourth with four each.

The late Roone Arledge got a standing ovation during the posthumous presentation of his Lifetime Achievement Award.