TV

It's debatable, but Alex Trebek might've just announced the best "Jeopardy!" category of his career ... at the expense of Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne and Kanye West.

The category was "Let's Rap, Kids" and Trebek had to repeat lyrics from the rappers' hits. It's hilarious ... especially when he had to drop Desiigner's banger, "Panda."

Two actors drove smack into the L.A. sinkhole that made national news Friday, and they escaped from their car that got swallowed up in the raging storm.

"30 Rock" star Bobb'e J. Thompson and "Lincoln Heights" star Zachary Williams were in 1 of the 2 vehicles swallowed up by a 20-foot sinkhole that ended up closing Laurel Canyon, which connects Hollywood with the San Fernando Valley.

Zachary -- who was behind the wheel of his mom's Honda Odyssey -- says the earth literally moved under their feet, as the back tire hit the growing hole in the road ... disabling it. They scrambled to safety as they watched the Honda disappear into hole filled with rainwater.

They jumped into Good Samaritan mode as they saw a woman in another car who was trapped as it plunged into the sinkhole. They summoned cops, who then were able to save her.

It's time on "The Bachelor" for Nick Viall to head to the hometowns of the final 4 girls -- the first stop was Raven's crib down south ... and it didn't take long to get real sloppy.

The couple raced through a swamp on ATVs and got stuck ... the perfect excuse for Nick to lose his filthy shirt and make out with her.

Sometimes you gotta go muddin' to find true lovin'.

"Flip or Flop" star Tarek El Moussa's the only pretty mug you'll see on the flyer pimping his real estate biz ... Christina's apparently been kicked to the curb.

TMZ got its webbed hands on Tarek's ad that started circulating in the O.C. ... and he's flying solo. Tarek's now with Sotheby's ... and she's clearly not.

It's a big departure from they way they created their brand ... sort of like Sonny and Cher.

Tarek and Christina are putting on happy faces while they film their TV show ..but off-screen it's now The Sonny Show.

ZOMBIES, BEWARE ... a couple of MLB stars just got some heavy-duty undead killing weaponry in the form of Lucille, the iconic barbed wire covered baseball bat from "The Walking Dead."

BTW -- if you don't watch 'TWD' (which you should), Lucille is wielded by the ultimate scumbag/badass Negan ... and was used in one of the most brutal scenes in television history earlier this season.

That brutality didn't stop J.D. Martinez of the Tigers and Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers from fanning out when replicas of Lucille were delivered to their team's spring training earlier Friday, courtesy of the show's production.

R.I.P. to Glenn and Abraham.

Expect a Hillary Clinton sighting on 'SNL' this week, or at least Kate McKinnon as Hillary, after they did dinner together in NYC.

'SNL' superstar McKinnon was spotted doing dinner Wednesday night at Orso ... no doubt having some laughs about the current political environment.

As bad as the election turned out for the real Hillary -- it's been ratings gold for Kate and her castmates.

Who picked up the tab? It better be Lorne Michaels or NBC.

Anyone hoping to see Rosie O'Donnell play Steve Bannon on "Saturday Night Live" better write to their congressman ... Lorne Michaels.

We got Rosie leaving Nobu in West Hollywood Thursday night and she told us her uncanny photoshop of Bannon is as far as she'll be taking the role.

Why? Sounds like the idea failed to launch with 'SNL' honchos. We'll always have this ...

Nick Cannon isn't fretting about his decision to walk away from $4.5 mil a year as the host of "America's Got Talent" ... because his head was never really in TV.

We got Nick at a high school in the Bronx with members of NYC's Black Lives Matter ... a much bigger priority for him than the boob tube.

As for who should replace him on 'AGT,' ... why the white Nick Cannon, of course.

2:30 PM PT -- Bijou's rep, Jenni Weinman, tells us, "Bijou was born with small kidneys and has been quietly dealing with kidney disease for the last 5 years, including being on the transplant list. In an effort to heal her body she has led a stress free life with a vegan diet which eventually wasn't enough and she's been privately having dialysis."

She adds, "Bijou recently found out she has a friend that is a match and is optimistic she will have a transplant soon."

Bijou Phillips desperately needs a kidney transplant after suffering a blood infection ... TMZ has learned.

The 36-year-old actress and socialite was rushed to a Santa Barbara hospital Wednesday night. Her husband, Danny Masterson, was by her side at the hospital. Sources tell us Bijou had been feeling sick and her fever spiked ... prompting the hospitalization.

We're told she's been getting treatment for an ongoing illness.

She's currently in stable condition, but we're told she will need a kidney transplant.

Story developing ...

Ellen DeGeneres' wisecrack about boob piercings forced a judge to actually break down the English language for the woman suing Ellen's show ... before tossing the case out of court.

You'll recall a Georgia woman sued the show producers in June after Ellen -- during a segment called "What's Wrong with These Signs?" -- pronounced real estate agent Titi Pierce's name like "titty" instead of "Tee Tee."

In the docs, the judge articulated exactly why Ms. Titi's got no case:

"The letter 'i' in the English language can be pronounced in several ways. While Titi chooses to pronounce her name with "e," there is nothing demonstrably false in pronouncing it with "i" as DeGeneres did."

Chrissy Metz thinks her character's struggles to lose weight on TV are a serious dose of reality ... and she might have a point.

We got Chrissy Wednesday night at The London hotel in NYC, where she explained why Kate's repeated swings and misses to drop pounds on "This Is Us" is no Hollywood fantasy, but don't equate it to failure. She put it perfectly ... "We're all in it together."

Preach.

Ashton Kutcher and Sen. John McCain really did hit it off on Capitol Hill ... due to the actor's passion for something other than Hollywood.

We got McCain after Kutcher testified about the horrors of human trafficking, but as we told you McCain still snuck in a playful jab at Kutcher's expense as they were closing the Senate hearing.

Seems there's mutual admiration, because Ashton hung out with McCain afterward for a private tour of the Capitol. The Senator's clearly heard the bromance buzz sparked by his and Ashton's exchange, and based on this clip ... he doesn't mind a bit.

Nick Cannon's done with "America's Got Talent," but their advertising department did not get the memo.

The 'AGT' Auditions Twitter account just plugged audience tickets for the live auditions -- during which Nick typically mingles with performers -- and the promo still features Cannon with the caption, "Returning for Season 12."

Nick's made it clear he's not coming back because he's pissed at how he's been treated ... so it's probably time to crank out a new image.

Maybe something with Ryan Seacrest instead?

Nick Cannon just dashed the hopes of NBC and 'AGT' ... because he made it clear there is NO chance he'll come back to the show.

Nick was at LAX Tuesday and showed firm resolve ... he's done with the show. As TMZ reported, Nick said he was leaving 'AGT' after NBC execs seriously discussed firing him for talking smack on the show and NBC on his Showtime comedy special.

"The Howard Stern Show" aired a woman's phone conversation with an IRS agent -- revealing tons of personal information -- but she had no idea it was being broadcast and now she's suing.

Judith Barrigas filed a federal lawsuit over the phone call which aired in May 2015 ... she says by absolutely no fault of her own. According to the suit ... she called the IRS to discuss a pending tax case. The agent Barrigas spoke to -- Jimmy Forsythe -- had called into the 'Stern Show' as a listener and was on hold ... while he took her call.

She says 'Stern Show' producers overheard her convo with Forsythe and decided to put it on the air to 1.2 million listeners -- essentially eavesdropping on her very private and sensitive phone call.

Barrigas says she immediately got a barrage of harassing phone calls and texts ... as she had mentioned her phone number during the call with Forsythe.

"America's Got Talent" execs desperately want to keep Nick Cannon ... but if he really wants to walk, they likely won't hold him to his contract.

Production sources with knowledge of the situation tell us the show fires up next month, but honchos aren't scouting for new hosts ... at least not yet. They're hoping Nick has a change of heart.

If Nick holds firm, NBC likely won't sue him for breach of contract.