TV

4:50 PM PT -- Rob Lowe has evacuated his home due to the Thomas Fire.

Ellen DeGeneres' new beach side house is now under threat of being scorched by SoCal wildfires ... and it sounds like she's starting to evacuate.

Ellen tweeted Sunday that she just had to evacuate her pets from her recently purchased beach house in Carpinteria, for which she plunked down $18.6 million in October.

It's unclear if Ellen herself is being ordered to leave, or if she's already left, but it sure seems like the flames near her -- now dubbed the Thomas Fire -- are starting to get too close for comfort. So far, it's reportedly burned at least 200,000 acres in the area.

The fire has also spread to Montecito, which is home to tons of celebs who could potentially end up being affected, such as Oprah, Jeff Bridges, Drew Barrymore, Rob Lowe, and Patrick Stewart ... just to name a few.

Looks like Ellen is already taking precautions. Our advice to everyone else ... get out.

SNL hit a home run with an hilarious skit featuring some highly evolved kids who are more interested in sexual harassment, Trump's recognition of Jerusalem, the tax plan, and the opioid crisis than an Xbox.

Kenan Thompson nailed it as Santa and Kate McKinnon was one of the best elfs ever as kid by kid by kid put St. Nick on the spot.

The best line ... when one of the kids wanted a Matt Lauer sex toy.

Ryan Reynolds playing Pikachu gets a big ole stamp of approval from one of the biggest stars in the Pokemon universe.

Veronica Taylor voiced Pokemon trainer, Ash, for 8 seasons of the animated show, and has a hard time wrapping her brain around a live-action Pikachu -- but she told us Ryan has the skills to pull it off.

Bonus for Ryan: She says taking on the "Detective Pikachu" role means more than a fat paycheck -- it's gonna pay off for his kids on the playground.

As for which will reign supreme -- cartoon or the movie? Veronica tried to play it down the middle, but you can tell where her heart is.

Steve Harvey is being sued by a guy who claims he was hired by the TV mogul to raise $20 million for the Steve and Marjorie Foundation as well as other ventures and got royally stiffed.

Vincent Dimmock claims he struck a deal with Harvey in April to raise the $20 mil, and in return he says he was promised 12.5% of everything he brought in. Dimmock says in the lawsuit he had access to high-level execs, A-list entertainers and political figures including a former President, and he got pledges for $20 mil.

According to the suit, Dimmock delivered on the first million but Harvey refused to pay him his commission.

Dimmock claims Harvey never intended to pay him and then goes on to make various allegations.

Dimmock says he introduced Harvey to an investor in May, and during their meeting he allegedly disparaged women, blamed Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry for giving him bad financial advice and also blamed Barack Obama for Harvey's "disastrous meeting with Donald Trump."

He says Harvey and his foundation were in bad financial shape because of a series of P.R. gaffes, including mocking Asian men and meeting with Trump.

Adult Swim's prayers have been answered ... the "Black Jesus" lawsuit is no more. Amen.

A judge dismissed the suit a writer named Saint Solomon filed against AS. He claimed their show ripped off his short story, "Thank You, Jesus" -- which also features an African-American Messiah.

In the docs -- obtained by TMZ -- the judge spells it out pretty clearly -- the tales of 2 Christs aren't similar at all ... other than the lead characters being black.

Yes, both works had the idea of making Jesus black, but as the judge said, "Ideas are not protected by copyright."

As we reported ... Solomon wanted $75 million from Adult Swim. No dice.

50 Cent just won a huge legal victory when a judge threw out a lawsuit where he was accused of ripping off someone else's work to create his hit show, "Power."

Two guys wrote a play called "Dangerous" which they claimed was eerily like "Power." The story line involved a drug dealer who engaged in violence, launders money and attempts to stave off prosecution.

The court said these are common elements that are in the public domain and "One need only look to such shows and movies as The Wire, Empire, Breaking Bad, Narcos, Weeds, Carlito's Way, American Gangster, New Jack City, Scarface and Paid in Full."

So, 2 things we know ... 50 Cent won big, and the judge sure knows his TV shows and movies.

The raging L.A. wildfires have brought several Hollywood productions to a screeching halt ... and there's no end in sight.

We're told fires across Southern California -- from Bel-Air and Malibu to Ventura and the San Fernando Valley -- have shut down FOX's 'Last Man on Earth' in Chatsworth, Bravo's "Flipping Out" in Encino and Amazon's "Goliath" in Griffith Park ... just to name a few.

Several commercials and marketing campaigns have also been affected -- from a Chevy commercial set to shoot in the Angeles National Forest to photo shoots for Subaru and luxury retailer Lord & Taylor.

The halt comes on the heels of "S.W.A.T." and "Westworld" shutting down.

Sources at Film L.A. tell us none of the sets have been damaged and production halt is out of precaution. It's unclear when filming resumes because it'll depend on the fire's intensity, containment and aftermath. This, of course, pales in comparison to homes lost and hundreds of thousands forced to evacuate.

Tom Selleck's Emmy-winning "Magnum, P.I." co-star, John Hillerman, died from heart disease ... TMZ has learned.

A spokesperson at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences in Texas tells us Hillerman had hypertensive arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease which proved fatal. We're told he also had complications due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as well as congestive heart failure.

John played Higgins -- Selleck's condescending, yet lovable, landlord on the '80s hit TV show.

As we reported, he died at his home in Houston last month. He was 84.

Looks like "Duck Dynasty" star Jep Robertson is gonna be crashing with family if he ever returns to Louisiana for the holidays because he's getting rid of his huge crib on famed Robertson Row.

Jep's listed his 6 bedroom, 6 bath home in West Monroe for $1.4 million. Most of the cul-de-sac is occupied by his famous family.

Jep recently relocated with his wife, Jessica, and kids to Austin, Texas to start his food truck business, which landed him the spin-off show, "Jep & Jessica: Growing the Dynasty."

Hilary Duff's rekindled an old flame ... and sealed her reconciled relationship with a kiss.

It's back on again for Hilary and Matthew Koma, her music producer boyfriend she split with back in March. The 2 were seen looking lovey-dovey after a coffee run in L.A. Tuesday.

Duff told the ladies of "The Talk" it's the third time she and Koma have dated, adding ... "Timing is such a big deal ... third time's a charm!"

The couple's been dropping hints of their reunion for a few months ... but it looks like it's official now.

Tom Izzo's won the NCAA tournament and been to 7 Final Fours ... but from the looks of it, the happiest moment of his life was being on the set of "Judge Mathis."

The legendary Michigan State basketball coach was a special guest on the courtroom reality show ... and dude was cheesin' like it was his damn wedding day.

Mathis was presiding over a diehard Ohio State fan (from Michigan!!), so he had to throw shade and shout out Coach Izzo -- who couldn't get enough.

Fun fact: Judge M says his daughter was a student assistant for Izzo ... so it's no surprise that they bro'd out backstage during the taping.

Mathis even dropped the gavel on rival Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, captioning their pic: "I hear you are a Judge Judy fan. Izzo wins!"

Dustin Hoffman got grilled like a cheeseburger when John Oliver tore apart the actor's response to claims he sexually harassed a crew member on a movie set.

Things got super heated in the middle of a TriBeCa Film panel discussion -- Hoffman started explaining his apology to the woman who claims he repeatedly harassed her 32 years ago on the set of "Death of a Salesman."

Oliver insisted the explanation was total BS, saying, "It's that kind of response to this stuff that pisses me off." It was ON from there. Hoffman fired back at the HBO host, asking why he believed all of the woman's allegations ... and questioned why she waited so long to say anything.

It was awkward, contentious, uncomfortable and very entertaining. For the audience, at least.

Isaiah Washington knows what it's like to be shunned by Hollywood ... and that's why he's going to bat for Terry Crews.

We got Isaiah out at LAX Monday and asked him about the backlash his friend, Terry, has gotten after claiming he was sexually assaulted by a powerful Hollywood agent. Russell Simmons even tried silencing him.

Isaiah knows firsthand what it's like to get blackballed -- he went from being a star on the hit TV show "Grey's Anatomy" before he was fired in 2007 for using a homophobic slur in an argument on set with Patrick Dempsey. It subsequently led Isaiah on a years-long drought without a major role on TV.

Blake Anderson finalized his divorce about as quickly as the law will allow ... TMZ has learned.

The "Workaholics" star's now ex-wife Rachael Finley filed for the big D back in late May -- and 6 months later they've reached an agreement and the judge has even given 'em a stamp of approval ... according to court docs.

The couple got married in 2012, and have a 3-year-old daughter. They agreed to joint legal and physical custody of her.

Under California law there's a cooling off period -- meaning even the smoothest of divorces have to wait 6 months -- which Blake and Rachael did.

One of Jeremy Piven's accusers says she's not surprised Kevin Dillon came to his "Entourage" buddy's defense ... because he was privy to the culture of sexual harassment on the set.

Ariane Bellamar, who accused Piven of sexual assault -- tells us Dillon was on the set and saw the harassment firsthand, although she concedes he did not see any sexual assault. Piven adamantly denies sexually assaulting or harassing Bellamar.

While Ariane acknowledges she never experienced anything other than lewd comments from Dillon, she insists "Entourage" was a stewing pot for sexual harassment.

Kevin has not been accused of any wrongdoing. But that's not stopping Ariane from tearing into him.

Billy Bush says part of the reason he penned an op-ed calling out President Trump had to do with his accusers, and what Billy perceived as the Prez belittling their claims.

Billy's on the "Late Show" with Stephen Colbert Monday night, and he elaborated on how he came to write a piece in the New York Times directly calling out Trump as the voice on the Access Hollywood tape ... after Trump reportedly tried denying it.

He says he was moved to action by Trump's accusers and their stories ... whom he believes Trump is undermining by casting doubt on the tape.