TV

Judge Judy is celebrating another judge's ruling that she absolutely deserves every penny of her $47 million salary, and says it's a victory for all women's salaries ... even if ya don't make 8-figures.

We got Judy Monday afternoon in Bev Hills, and congratulated her on the legal victory over a talent agent who claimed the enormous salary CBS pays her, screws him out of profits. A judge shot that down, saying she's worth the dough.

As usual, Judy cut through all the legalese and summed up the case as a lesson for society: Don't question a woman's paycheck, unless you're gonna scrutinize a man's too!

"Bad Girls Club" star Nicole "Nicky" Vargas is living up to her show's name ... and at the same time giving a literal meaning to getting busted, and TMZ has the video to prove it.

The Brevard County Sheriff's Office tells TMZ ... Nicky was arrested last week in Cape Canaveral, Florida after cops say she was giving her boyfriend oral sex while topless and in PLAIN VIEW. We're told multiple people witnessed it because they were in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

And get this -- cops say a witness confronted them and told them to beat it. That's when things allegedly got violent ... with Nicky and her bf ripping the witness' shirt and punching him in the chest and the back of the head with a closed fist.

Cops also say when they arrived, Nicky ran before she was caught and arrested for unnatural and lascivious acts in public, battery and exposure of sexual organs. She's out on bail.

Pronunciation's fury has struck again in the game show world -- and it cost one guy dearly after he said "flamingo" instead of "flamenco" ... even when it was spelled out.

The contestant -- a dude named Jonny (no 'H') -- had a complete answer filled out on the board Monday night on "Wheel of Fortune" which read "Flamenco Dance Lessons." But instead of saying 'flamenco,' he went with the pink bird ... and producers cried fowl.

Jonny got buzzed for a wrong answer, and another fellow contestant, Ashley, picked up an easy W. Even sadder than the fail ... this poor dude's face realizing his mistake, which cost him $7,100.

This ain't the first time pronouncing an answer wrong has screwed someone on TV. You'll recall ... a man was dinged on "Jeopardy" not too long ago for calling Coolio's song "Gangsta's Paradise" ... "Gangster's Paradise" with a hard R.

CBS got some 'splainin' to do ... as far as the legendary studio made famous by Lucille Ball is concerned.

Charles Hensley says he applied for the "Desilu" trademark in 2016 in order to relaunch Desilu Studios as a "technology-focused film and television studio." Hensley says he was granted the trademark this year, and says CBS did not oppose his application.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Hensley says he reached out to Lucie Arnaz -- daughter of Lucy and Desi Arnaz -- to see if she would be on board for the relaunch. He claims CBS, which originally aired "I Love Lucy" back in the day -- derailed his negotiations by telling Arnaz to stop dealing with Desilu.

According to the suit, CBS is already using the Desilu trademark on other productions, which Hensley thinks compete with his plans for the studio.

9:34 AM PT -- The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office has charged Nicolle Rochelle with disorderly conduct. Rochelle is an actress and has history with Cosby -- she made several appearances on "The Cosby Show" in the early '90s.

Bill Cosby's courthouse entrance was nearly derailed by boobs -- a topless protester charged at him and had to be taken down by cops.

The woman was screaming "women's lives matter" when she ran right in front of Cosby Monday morning outside the Norristown, PA court. Cops immediately pounced on her and took her down in a bush. Cosby, who says he's now legally blind, looked puzzled during the commotion.

The protester's torso was covered with the names of Cosby accusers and her mantra, "women's lives matter." Gotta hand it to her ... even at the bottom of the bush, she kept on chanting.

Cosby continued into court where opening arguments are scheduled for his retrial for 3 counts of aggravated indecent assault.

Tom Arnold can't fathom how Roseanne still has a job ... but he says the least ABC can do is apologize for her insanity.

We got Tom at LAX on Sunday and asked him about his ex-wife, Roseanne, whose show reboot has brought her new glory, but also scrutiny given she's a Donald Trump supporter. Plus ... she's also under fire for spreading conspiracy theories on Twitter ... like when she tweeted and then deleted David Hogg gave a Nazi salute at the March for Our Lives rally.

"Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence and his wife, Christa Miller -- one of the stars of the series -- are living the good life in NYC ... in a home fit for a Hollywood power couple.

Lawrence -- who also co-created "Cougar Town" and "Spin City" -- and Miller -- who also starred on "Cougar Town" and "The Drew Carey Show" -- dropped a cool $7.55 million on the 3-bed, 3.5-bath condo on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue.

The pristine pad features high ceilings and gallery walls, marble countertops and radiant-heated stone floors in the master bathroom ... as you can see in the pics by Travis Mark. Their condo's in a recently renovated 1912 building ... featuring a top-of-the-line fitness center, yoga studio and screening room.

The Duffer Brothers have a smoking gun to prove they didn't rip off "Stranger Things" ... TMZ has learned.

The brothers are being sued by Charlie Kessler, who produced a short film back in 2012 called "Montauk." He claims he had a meeting with the Duffers in 2014 where he pitched them a series based on the short film. He says he never heard back, but was shocked when "Stranger Things" debuted in 2016, using his script idea and story.

TMZ has obtained emails showing the Duffer Brothers were developing a "Montauk" series as far back as November, 2010 -- 3 1/2 years before Kessler claims he even pitched the show to them.

In 2 emails in November, 2010, the brothers set out their vision ... a "real," "paranormal" "gritty eighties" show. In one of the emails, it specifically says the show is set in Montauk. There is a reference to "the Montauk experiments."

A Google document dated October, 4, 2013, would become the premise for "Stranger Things" ... "Benny (renamed Will for the show) leaves his friend Elliot's house, a bunch of kids are there, eating pizza, dungeons and dragons ... Benny leaves on bike, hears voices, goes into strange world, taken by some evil force."

Two emails from 2014 -- February 27 and April 4 -- both written before the alleged meeting between the Duffer brothers and Kessler, lay out the vision for the show. It reads, "...set in 1980s Long Island" with "a vintage Stephen King feel." The April 4 email mentions a location scout in Montauk.

The lawyer for the Duffer Brothers tells TMZ, "These documents prove that Mr. Kessler had absolutely nothing to do with the creation of 'Stranger Things.' The Duffer Brothers were developing their project years before he claims to have met them."

"This is Us" star Justin Hartley's reeling from the loss of his dog ... but it's his second pooch he's even more concerned about.

We got Justin out in Studio City on Thursday and our guy offered his condolences after the passing of Memphis ... the 11-year-old rescue Justin and his wife, Chrishell, adopted in December 2016. Chrishell said Memphis died earlier this week after his kidneys gave out.

Justin says it's been a tough few days but watch the vid to find out why he's also worried for his second rescue, Gracie. And for what it's worth ... he's also kinda concerned about our guy running into trees.

Vivica A. Fox didn't take the high road when confronted by fur protesters at her book signing ... she took the holiest road.

The incident went down Wednesday night at Barnes & Noble in Tribeca where Vivica was signing copies of her book, "Everyday I'm Hustling." The video starts with protesters in full "Stop wearing fur" chants as Vivica patiently lets them do their thing.

Check it out ... Vivica at one point even says, "They're doing their thing." But then she dished it back with a good ol' "God bless you." Not once ... not twice ... not three times ... not four times -- well, just watch.

Judge Judy and CBS just won an enormous victory against an L.A. talent agency that sued the network claiming it conspired with the TV jurist to screw the agency out of profits.

An L.A. County Superior Court judge just ruled CBS' decision to pay Judy $47 mil a year was legit -- what she was worth.

Rebel Entertainment had a deal to get 5% of the profits from the show, but since 2010, CBS said the show was actually running in the red because it had to pay Judy an enormous salary. Rebel claimed it was a conspiracy between CBS and Judy to prevent the agency from getting any cut of profits. Rebel seemed to be saying Judy wasn't worth $47 mil.

The judge begged to differ, and it seems Judge Judy's deposition was a big factor. When Judy re-negotiated her deal, CBS tried to counter her demand but she made it clear there would be no real negotiation -- it was a take-it-or-leave-it offer, and CBS capitulated. The judge said Judy was worth it.

The judge noted Judy's show was a "resounding success" ... fact is, without her there would be no show.

JWoww says Sammi Sweetheart's sex doll stand-in offered some good times for the 'Jersey Shore' cast ... but it sounds like she misses the real McCoy.

We spoke to Jenni 'JWoww' Farley Thursday ahead of the premiere of their reunion season on MTV, and she tells us Sammi REALLY should have joined her fellow guidos and guidettes for their comeback ... rather than be recast with plastic.

We broke the story ... 'Jersey Shore' producers replaced Sammi with a sex doll version of herself, which J says was done all in good fun ... maybe too much fun, actually. Sounds like that doll's been through some things. We'll let her explain.

Either way, JWoww says Sammi missed a huge opportunity to cash in on her "Jersey Shore" fame, even if she's in a "different place" now ... post Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, whom she dated during the OG run.

J seems to think folks should finish what they started, and that goes for Sammi, too -- who, btw, was apparently made aware of the sex doll gimmick. Maybe she'll reconsider for Season 2 ... which JWoww says is greenlit.

Jerry Seinfeld isn't laughing over a claim he stole the idea for his hit Netflix show, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" -- instead, he says the guy suing him doesn't have a leg to stand on.

In the docs Jerry filed, he lays out 3 reasons why Christian Charles' lawsuit should be dismissed. Christian claims Jerry ripped off his original concept of 'CICGC.' First, Jerry says Christian missed his chance to sue over a copyright claim -- pointing out the first episode aired in 2012, and it's now 2018. The statute of limitations for copyright claims is 3 years.

Jerry also claims the idea of comedians in cars getting coffee is too generic to claim ownership over. He points to "Carpool Karoake," "Jay Leno's Garage" and something called ... "Cougars in Cars Getting Cosmos" ... as examples in the genre.

Finally, Jerry says he filed a copyright for his pilot episode of 'CICGC' ... just the episode, not the concept. But in the docs, obtained by TMZ, Jerry says Christian filed his own copyright 10 days later for "Comedians in Cars Going for Coffee." Jerry thinks Christian was trying to be sneaky by slightly tweaking the title.

Jerry admits in his response that Charles did, in fact, direct the pilot episode in 2011 ... but denies stealing anything.

"Riverdale" co-stars Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart finally let the cat out of the bag with words instead of smooches -- it's "obvious" they're dating ... according to them.

We got Jughead and Betty Wednesday leaving LAX together after they were caught kissing on camera in Paris earlier this week while in town for a RiverCon event. Don't tell Archie.

The photos of them locking lips pretty much confirmed they were an item, but prior to last night, they remained mum about their budding relationship. Well, that's all behind us ... 'cause Lili caved.

6:25 PM PT -- Beverly Hills PD tells TMZ ... Jaime was actually outside of the car when the man began smashing it, but her friend and 4-year-old son were inside, parked along the curb. We're told the man jumped on the vehicle and then on the rear windshield, causing glass to shatter ... which struck King's child.

Jaime's friend then jumped out of the car to confront the guy, and he threw a can at her. Police say the man vandalized another person's vehicle right before King's.

The suspect -- 47-year-old L.A. man, Paul Francis Floyd -- was arrested for felony child endangerment, felony vandalism, and misdemeanor battery. He's being held on $100k bail.

Jaime King was rattled to the point of tears when a stranger jumped onto her car and smashed her windows in the heart of Beverly Hills.

You can tell from the photos ... the actress was absolutely terrified. According to witnesses, Jaime was in her Mercedes-Benz when the man approached on a skateboard, crawled onto her hood ... and then started banging at her windshield.

He eventually moved to the back of her car, and you can see ... he nearly shattered the rear and front windshields. It's unclear when Jaime got out of the car, but she was not injured.

Police got multiple 911 calls from witnesses who said the man was on a mini-reign of terror even before he got to Jaime's car -- allegedly punching and kicking several other vehicles, and throwing cans at several passersby.

Lou Diamond Phillips took a plea deal stemming from his DWI arrest ... so now he's gotta stay off the sauce for a couple years.

The "La Bamba" actor pled guilty to driving under the influence back in November in Portland, Texas, and was sentenced to 2 years probation ... according to his lawyer.

The conditions of the probation reportedly state the 56-year-old actor must stay sober, take a DWI education class, not enter bars or taverns, report in-person to a probation officer for the first 4 months, and use a portable device to make sure he's not drinking alcohol.