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Finally, some good news for Kobe Bryant -- HE'S GOT A JOB OFFER ... courtesy of Kenny "The Jet" Smith.

Look, it's no secret Kobe's playing like crap these days -- and Kenny says it's because his superhuman "Black Mamba" alter-ego was murdered by Father Time (RIP).

The good news? Kenny wants Kobe to come join him as a panelist on "Inside the NBA" on TNT ... but the job offer was laced with an old fashioned shot at the Lakers.

"We got a seat for you Kobe on TNT ... and it'll be ready for you in April 'cause y'all wont make the playoffs."

Kenny says it's the perfect gig for Kobe ... since it would reunite him with his former BFF/archnemesis Shaquille O'Neal.

Henry Winkler welled up as he reminisced about his late "Happy Days" co-star Al Molinaro Tuesday night at LAX ... and his kind words make for contagious waterworks, so grab a tissue.

Winkler and Molinaro worked alongside one another for a decade on the show, so our photog asked The Fonz his favorite memory of Al, who played 'Big Al' Delvecchio. Winkler credits Al for being instrumental in making The Fonz a huge star.

Molinaro passed away last week at 96.

Rachel Dolezal copping to the obvious -- that she's white -- was great, but her estranged biological parents are still waiting for her to take responsibility for the pain she's caused her family.

Larry Dolezal tells TMZ Rachel's confession on "The Real" should be her gateway to repair old wounds with her siblings. Larry wants her to take responsibility for contributing to an alleged sexual abuse case against her biological brother -- which was eventually dismissed.

He also thinks she helped an adopted brother emancipate from the family.

Larry says he still hasn't heard from Rachel since the scandal broke, but hopes "she'll be honest in everything with her family now" -- especially since he wants a relationship with her and her new baby.

Jon Stewart's had enough of retirement after just a few months of it -- he's struck a sweet deal over at HBO, but you won't see him on TV ... not the way you used to, anyway.

Stewart signed a 4 year production deal with HBO Now and HBO Go ... the premium cable's digital and mobile platforms. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Stewart will be creating short form content, but he's also giving HBO first shot at any future movie and TV projects.

We got Jon in D.C. back in September, and he sounded thrilled to have some down time. Break's over.

The tone of Leah Remini's feud with Scientology sounds a little different this morning ... as in, way less mention of Tom Cruise.

We got Leah outside the 'Howard Stern Show' in NYC, where she's been promoting her tell-all book "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood & Scientology." In her "20/20" interview about the book ... Remini's run-ins with Cruise were a hot topic.

But watch what happened when our photog asked if she'd ever work with Cruise in the future.

It's pretty clear, Leah's backing down on all the Tom talk. His name only came up a couple of times during her Stern interview, and never in a negative way. She made one more stop in NYC today ... at "The View" and explained the shift in rhetoric.

Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough have rumors brewin' ... 'cause during "Dancing with the Stars" it sounded like one of 'em let a celebration fart rip.

At the end of Monday night's results show, Bindi and Derek found out they were safe. Derek promptly scooped up his 17-year-old partner and you can clearly hear the alleged toot. It's unclear just who done it, but it sounds way too much like a didgeridoo to not at least bring Bindi in for questioning.

But hey, if all else fails ... blame a dingo.

Jennifer Lopez is the best employment agency, and girlfriend, Casper Smart's ever had -- 'cause somehow the guy managed to score a role on her new cop drama.

Casper was on the set in NYC on Monday, shooting a scene with J Lo's "Shades of Blue" co-star Ray Liotta. Jennifer stars on the NBC show, but she's also executive producer.

Dating J Lo ... it pays in so many ways. Beyond the obvious, that is.

Rachel Dolezal made a huge confession, and while it shocked absolutely no one ... it was still cool to finally hear her say it -- SHE'S WHITE.

The former prez of the NAACP's Spokane chapter was on "The Real" doing her usual tap dance about "identifying as black" and blah, blah, blah. But we gotta hand it to co-host Jeannie Mai, who just put it to Dolezal straight, telling her ... "You're NOT black."

Check out Rachel's response. Breath of fresh air.

BTW, she's pregnant ... and definitely didn't take kindly to a crack about her baby's race.

Former U.S. Senator and longtime Hollywood actor Fred Thompson died in Tennessee today after battling cancer.

Thompson famously co-starred in tons of big budget movies, like "Die Hard 2," "The Hunt for Red October" and "Cape Fear" -- before going on to win office as a U.S. Senator for Tennessee.

Thompson served in the Senate from 1994 to 2003. He was also an attorney and was appointed minority counsel for the Republican Senators who were on the Watergate Committee.

After his time in office Thompson went back to acting, and most notably starred in a couple of "Law and Order" TV series as D.A. Arthur Branch.

In 2007, he briefly jumped back into politics ... attempting to win the Republican nomination for President. He eventually dropped out of the race in early 2008.

His family said he died peacefully in Nashville, surrounded by loved ones. They said he'd been battling lymphoma.

Thompson was 73.

Al Molinaro, who played the beloved chef at the drive-in on "Happy Days" ... died in a California hospital on Friday.

Molinaro's son confirmed the actor's death ... telling us he had very bad gall stones, but Al elected not to have surgery due to his age. He was 96.

On "Happy Days" he played Big Al Delvecchio, who started out as the chef at Arnold's Drive-In. He eventually became owner of the Fonz's fave hangout, and remained on the show for 10 years.

Molinaro also played the Big Al role on the spinoff, "Joanie Loves Chachi." His character would famously spin long tales that always started with, "Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep."

In the mid '90s Weezer put him in their "Buddy Holly" music video.

Al is survived by his wife, Betty and his son Michael .. who tells us the actor was extremely proud of his family and his roots in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Katie Holmes feels badly about some things that happened years ago when Leah Remini first started challenging Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology.

Holmes responded to Remini when ABC sought a comment about Remini's claims about meeting Tom when he was dating Katie. Apparently, Remini makes several comments about that incident and about Tom's place in the Church during her 20/20 special airing tonight.

In one clip 20/20 released, Leah says Tom and Katie engaged in some serious PDA during the visit ... prompting Leah to say, "Hey, get a friggin’ room.”

A rep for Katie says they gave 20/20 the following statement: “I regret having upset Leah in the past and wish her only the best in the future."

We're told Katie's statement was not specifically referring to the kissing, but to many things Leah says on 20/20.

By the way, Remini says her crack about Tom and Katie kissing got her "written up" by high ranking Scientology officials.

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For the first time, Harrison Ford tried to reveal the details of his plane crash, but the problem is ... HE DOESN'T REMEMBER MOST OF IT!!

It's pretty incredible -- Harrison was trying to tell Jimmy Kimmel about that day back in March when he made the emergency landing of a single engine WW2 plane on a golf course -- but the last thing he can recall is telling the tower ... this isn't going to end well.

Harrison explained why he's suffering amnesia -- check it out.

Zola -- the woman whose Twitter tale has taken the Internet by storm -- might soon have her own movie or TV series because Hollywood execs are hitting her up left and right.

Unless you've been living under a rock this week, Zola gained global attention when she took to Twitter and told the story of her trip to Florida to strip with a "white bitch" named Jessica. Zola tells TMZ her story captivated execs at MTV, VICE, WME and a few independent film makers.

Zola says she'd like her own TV series about her days as a dancer and wants Meagan Good or KeKe Palmer to play her.

Zola's married to the guy from the saga and she's expecting a kid. She tells us she hasn't stripped since her wild weekend in March.

It's Robert Englund's day for sure, and he gave us his best Freddy Krueger impersonation at LAX.

The 'Nightmare on Elm Street' star said he's working with the folks on "The Walking Dead" to celebrate Halloween.

He also gave up his idea for a 'Nightmare' sequel.

Cuba Gooding Jr. has done his O.J. research and his conclusion is clear ... he wants nothing to do with the guy.

Our photog got the star of "American Crime Story: The People v. OJ Simpson" leaving 1 OAK in WeHo Thursday, and Cuba scoffed at the notion of chitchatting with Simpson.

Lo and behold the Wheel of Blame ... created by the producers of "Grace and Frankie" who got tired of hearing excuses every time production got postponed and created a literal blame game.

The wheel is hilarious, asking the token question heard on sets, "What's taking so long?" Possible culprits include ... "Camera," "Sound," "Catering" and "The actors," which include Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Martin Sheen. "Obama In Town," "Global Warming" and "Donald Trump" are also included in the excuses.

We're told the show's creator, Marta Kauffman, had the art department make it, and even include her name on the board. However, they keenly omitted themselves on the first one, so Kauffman ordered another be made.