TV

"Too Hot to Handle" star Bryce Hirschberg has a new hook to impress the ladies -- it's new music to float their boat ... and it was written, recorded and produced on his floating studio.

The reality star tells TMZ he needed to stay productive and creative during quarantine this year, so he came up with his soon-to-be-released single, "Midnight Mystery."

The track was made entirely on his infamous houseboat in Marina del Rey -- living on a boat was his claim to fame on the Netflix dating show -- and it's set for release later this month on Black Friday.

We've obtained a sneak preview of Bryce's musical debut ... and naturally, he's singing about sex, love and relationships. It's not exactly yacht rock, but it's totally on brand for him.

Remember ... Bryce sang a song for one of the babes on "Too Hot to Handle" while wearing a captain's hat.

Alex Trebek -- the revered and beloved "Jeopardy!" host since 1984, whose calm but witty presence was must-see television for millions of Americans -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

A "Jeopardy!" spokesperson tells TMZ, "Jeopardy is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends."

The TV icon had been battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer since announcing the news back in March 2019. He immediately started chemo after the diagnosis but made no plans to retire and continued hosting his game show ... as impressively as ever.

Trebek powered through for a full year -- despite what he called "massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it was really worth fighting on" -- because he said he realized giving up on life would be a betrayal to his wife, God and other cancer patients.

He pointed out the odds of surviving a second year with pancreatic cancer were just 7 percent, but he hoped he'd be able to celebrate that milestone too. Sadly, he took a turn for the worse.

Alex continued to host "Jeopardy!" ... recently beginning his 37th season, and earlier this year, he shot the epic 'Greatest of All Time' tournament on prime-time television.

Ken Jennings, who won that 'G.O.A.T.' tournament reacted to Alex's passing, saying, "Alex wasn't just the best ever at what he did. He was also a lovely and deep decent man, and I'm grateful for every minute I got to spend with him."

Ken's competitor James Holzhauer added, "It was one of the great privileges of my life to spend time with this courageous man while he fought the battle of his life. You will never be replaced in our hearts, Alex."

"Jeopardy!" says Alex hosted episodes will air through December 25th. His last day taping in the studio was October 29.

The shows executive producer, Mike Richards, says, "Working beside him for the past year and a half as he heroically continued to host "Jeopardy!" was an incredible honor. His belief in the importance of the show and his willingness to push himself to perform at the highest level was the most inspiring demonstration of courage I have ever seen."

After his initial diagnosis, there were several ups and downs for Alex. In May 2019, he announced his tumors had shrunk more than 50 percent, obviously a great sign of progress, but his numbers declined and he began another round of chemotherapy a few months later. Still, he maintained a positive outlook ... and did a lot of good throughout his ordeal.

His soothing and reassuring voice was on display when he announced having cancer. Trebek -- who was signed to host the show through 2022 -- joked, "Truth told, I have to! Because under the terms of my contract, I have to host 'Jeopardy!' for three more years!"

His commitment to the game show was a two-way street. When Alex took a brief medical leave in 2018 to have surgery for blood clots on his brain after a nasty fall, "Jeopardy!" never aired episodes with a guest host. He also suffered mild heart attacks in 2007 and 2012.

Alex started his career on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1961 announcing the news, and quickly gained fame after hosting the high school quiz show, "Reach for the Top."

He introduced himself to U.S. audiences in 1973 when he hosted a new NBC show called "The Wizard of Odds." That would lead to work on a variety of game shows ... including "High Rollers" with his trademark curly hair and classic 'stache and a brief fill-in stint for Chuck Woolery on "Wheel of Fortune."

Then, when the "Jeopardy!" gig -- a revival of the old show -- came up, Alex got the call.

The show gained immense popularity with Alex at the helm ... dominating the evening game show biz along with 'Wheel.'

Alex -- winner of 6 Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding game show host -- set a Guinness World record in June 2014 for most episodes (6,829) of a game show hosted. Despite his unprecedented and hugely successful run, Alex never viewed himself as a celeb or the "star" of the show. He said as much to Harvey Levin for an episode on "Objectified."

Alex also told Levin he was seriously considering retirement before signing a contract extension. He seemed serious at the time ... naming 2 potential replacements: L.A. Kings announcer Alex Faust and CNN legal analyst Laura Coates.

Important to note ... "Jeopardy!" producers say they are not announcing a new host right now.

Trebek was born on July 22, 1940, in Ontario, Canada. He majored in philosophy at the University of Ottawa but he had serious ambitions about a career on TV. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998, but not before running the Olympic Torch in 1996 as it made its way to Atlanta.

Alex -- who was named an officer of the Order of Canada in 2017 for his iconic achievements -- married Elaine Kares in 1974 and they divorced in 1981. He married again in 1990 ... this time to Jean Currivan, with whom he had 2 children ... Matthew and Emily.

He was 80.

The iconic Victorian home famously used for exterior shots for "Full House" and "Fuller House" is no longer on the market -- as in, potential buyers can cut ... it ... out.

The four-bedroom, 3,728-square-foot home on San Francisco's picturesque "Postcard Row" sold last month for a cool $5,350,000.

"Full House" creator and executive producer Jeff Franklin had owned it since 2016, and put it on the market last summer. He had intended to make it look exactly like it did on TV. In fact, he started by painting the front door it's familiar red shade from the show, but as you can see, the door is now black.

Neighbors raised a fuss over Jeff's renovation plans due to a potential increase in tourists, and his building permits got pulled. With his dreams dashed, he put the home up for sale ... and now it's off his hands entirely.

The three-story interior, which was not ever seen on the show (it was filmed in a Hollywood studio) ... features a master suite on the top level, complete with a fireplace, walk-in closet, spa-like bath and views of San Francisco Bay.

The election has not been called on the news shows, but that didn't stop Bill Maher from stating what is increasingly obvious ... Joe Biden's gonna be the next president.

Bill flat-out declared Biden the winner, and he reveled in the fact he's the only one in the media who's said it out loud for all to hear. He also says Trump's acting like a "whiny little bitch" in challenging the process ... something Bill predicted 3 years ago.

The numbers certainly support Bill's conclusion ... Biden is pulling away from Trump in Pennsylvania and Georgia with a dwindling vote count remaining ... and that would be more than enough to win.

Bill also cautioned during his show ... it's not going to be smooth sailing for Biden, because there are 70 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump, and although Biden has vowed he'll be a president for all Americans -- whether they voted for him or not -- it's going to be a tall order to get them under the tent.

Nevertheless ... Bill celebrated with balloons cascading down from above -- balloons that startled the host in the middle of some pretty great conversations.

Lori Loughlin's starred in her share of Hallmark movies, and now her real life might mimic one ... because she's set to get out of prison and return to her family on Christmas Day.

The Bureau of Prisons has given the actress an official release date -- Sunday, December 27 -- but here's the deal ... an inmate whose release date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday can be released on the last preceding weekday.

Bingo! Make some room in that sleigh, Santa ... Lori's got a great shot at freedom on Friday, December 25 -- or maybe even Christmas Eve, since Friday's a national holiday.

If you recall, this is what happened to Felicity Huffman -- she only had to serve 11 days of her 2-week sentence because she got sprung early on a Friday.

Of course, there's still the chance Lori could get out well before Christmas too ... but it would have to be related to COVID issues -- if there's an outbreak at California's FCI Dublin, it's likely a judge would grant her an early compassionate release.

And, as we've reported ... once Loughlin is released, she's still got 2 years of supervised release as part of her sentence in the college admissions scandal.

Al Roker's sharing some scary personal medical news ... he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but he's taking aggressive steps to beat it.

The longtime "Today" host and meteorologist announced it Friday morning on the air, and said he's going to undergo surgery next week to have his prostate removed. Al said he learned about the diagnosis on September 30 but shared the news now to explain to viewers why he'll be taking off some time for the surgery and recovery.

Al called it a good-news-bad-news situation, saying, "Good news is we caught it early. Not great news is that it's a little aggressive, so I"m going to be taking some time off to take care of this."

Dr. Vincent Laudone will perform the procedure at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC, and said they decided removing the prostate was the better option over radiation.

66-year-old Roker says he hopes sharing the news will encourage Black men to get screened for a cancer that's very treatable if detected early. Al's been advocating for that since 2013, when he and co-anchor Craig Melvin got prostate exams live on "Today."

Vivica A. Fox says Joe Biden's running circles around Donald Trump when it comes to being a true leader ... and he's not even officially the president-elect yet.

We got Vivica at LAX Thursday and she told our photog she's liking what she's seeing and hearing from Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris.

Vivica says it's refreshing to see Biden acting like a true president by doing his part to help the country remain calm as folks wait on edge for ballots to be counted and a winner declared.

Biden and Harris received briefings on the coronavirus pandemic and economy Thursday while votes were still being tabulated in key states like Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania, with Biden preaching patience and assuring the public our democracy is still working, albeit slow and steady.

Vivica says it's a welcome change of pace after 4 years of Trump, who by the way, kept claiming the pandemic would magically disappear after the election. The opposite's happening -- infections are skyrocketing.

Actor Eddie Hassell -- most famous from NBC's "Surface" -- has died after being shot ... TMZ has learned.

Eddie's rep tells us he was killed early Sunday morning somewhere in Texas over what appears to be a carjacking. His team is working on getting more information, but they confirm he has, in fact, died.

While he didn't have too many leading roles in movies or TV shows, he acted in quite a number of them over the years. He's perhaps best known for playing Phil Nance in "Surface" for a bunch of episodes. He also starred as Eddie Suarez in "Devious Maids" for a bit.

Other acting credits include a role in "The Kids Are All Right," "Family Weekend," "'Til Death," and other cameos in a ton of other series and flicks like "2012," "Longmire," "Jobs," "Bones," "Southland," "Warrior Road," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," "Bomb City," and other projects.

Besides being an actor, Eddie was an avid surfer and skater -- he was also a published author, having written, "Someone Should Tell You: Startling Revelations and Truths to Help You Understand and Improve Your Life."

He was 30 years old.

Lori Loughlin will not be sprung early from her 2-month prison sentence in the college admissions scandal, but she does have one possible early out.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, Lori will be isolated for the first 2 weeks of her stay at Dublin Federal Prison in Northern California. That's normal, because prison officials are extremely concerned about the spread of coronavirus behind bars.

There have been federal prisoners who have gotten out early because of COVID -- notably Michael Cohen, who's serving the remainder of his sentence under house arrest -- but given the judge in her case, he's unlikely to spring her early. The judge has made it clear ... he wants her to serve the entire sentence.

The Board of Prisons does have the ability to release her early if COVID spreads at the facility, but so far that's not even on the table.

You may have heard that federal prisoners only have to serve 85% of their sentence, but that doesn't apply to Lori. The 85% rule applies only if someone is serving a sentence longer than a year. That's why you see some sentences that are 1 year and a day, because that makes the inmate eligible for early release. Again, not the case with Lori.

Like it or not, Floyd Mayweather is a genius -- and played the "game of boxing" better than anyone else in the history of the sport ... changing it forever, so says Max Kellerman.

There will always be an argument about who's the best pure boxer of all time -- Floyd? Muhammad Ali? Joe Louis? -- but when it comes to the business side of the sport, Max tells us there's only one name in the conversation.

"He retired undefeated. He made hundreds of millions of dollars. He never took a bad beating. He has a very good point that he's the best ever at playing the boxing game," the "First Take" star told us in NYC.

"Boxing, at its core, is basically fans and networks exploiting fighters. And, what Floyd and [his business partner] Al Haymon did is they flipped the paradigm around. They said 'No no, you're not gonna exploit us' -- in fact, the fighters, in this case, Floyd, are gonna exploit the fans and networks. 'I know you wanna see us in the maximum kinda risk situation but in fact, I wanna put myself in the minimum risk, maximum reward situation.'"

Max points out Floyd navigated his career masterfully with 3 main factors -- "The timing of when he picked the opponents, his boxing style and then, of course, his own excellence."

Think about it ... Floyd has some incredible names on his resume -- from Canelo Alvarez to Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao even Conor McGregor.

We also asked Max -- a boxing savant -- about the upcoming Gervonta Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz fight ... and if he thinks Ryan Garcia would have a shot against Teofimo Lopez.

Cameron Monaghan's quick-thinking neighbor told cops he caught a woman red-handed doing a shameless act ... and now the suspect is in jail.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD got a call last month around 9 AM from a man telling the dispatcher he was following a woman on foot, claiming he witnessed her setting the "Shameless" star's rosebush on fire, which was promptly put out.

We're told the neighbor initially saw the woman set the rosebush on fire and leave ... but when she returned to the area the neighbor followed her and called cops. It wasn't long before cops caught up to the man and detained the woman. It's unknown if Cameron -- who played William H. Macy's stepson/nephew in the Showtime hit series -- was home at the time.

According to police ... there's home surveillance of the woman lighting the fire. We're told the 44-year-old suspect was ultimately arrested and the L.A. County District Attorney's Office has now charged the woman with 1 count of felony arson and 1 count of misdemeanor possession of a smoking device.

Lori Loughlin's started her 2-month stint of hard time, and while the place she's incarcerated in certainly ain't the Ritz-Carlton ... it doesn't sound TOO terrible.

As we reported ... Aunt Becky surrendered Friday to begin serving her sentence at California's FCI Dublin -- a low-security prison -- and we've obtained its handbook outlining what her day-to-day will be like.

First of all, it's still prison -- so there's a very strict schedule for wake-up time (5 AM), quiet hours (9 PM to 5 AM), and inmates must be in their cells for daily counts at 4:30 AM and 9 PM.

According to the handbook ... Lori has to make her bed every day and can be disciplined if she doesn't keep her cell tidy, and the same goes if she sleeps in late or misses meal time.

She'll be in government attire only -- no personal clothing -- and will have to maintain a regular job assignment ... which might include clerical work, cooking, baking, food prep, dishwashing or general cleaning.

OK, so what about the good stuff? Well, Lori and her fellow inmates can listen to music on an approved radio or mp3 player -- as long as it's nonwork hours -- and there's a TV ... but nobody's allowed to change the channel.

The real perks seem to be in the leisure activities and programs provided by FCI Dublin ... including hobby craft classes, wellness classes, structured exercise, sports leagues and holiday events.

Prize bags, treats and certificates are even awarded for participation in health education and exercise ... and the sports opportunities are endless.

For example, Lori can get involved in basketball, volleyball, track, softball, and tennis at the prison's outdoor facilities ... or partake in bingo or a ping pong tourney indoors. Or, she can just workout.

Lori Loughlin has surrendered to authorities to officially begin her 2-month prison sentence for her role in the college admissions scandal.

The "Full House" star reported to FCI Dublin in California on Friday, nearly 3 weeks before her November 19 deadline to do so ... bringing her one step closer to finally closing a dark chapter in her and her family's lives.

As we previously reported ... Lori and her husband, Mossimo, agreed back in May to plead guilty to 1 count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Mossimo also agreed to plead guilty to honest services wire and mail fraud. You'll recall Lori and Mossimo were accused of paying $500k in bribes to get their daughters into USC and faking a photo that made it look like the girls were college-caliber rowers.

Lori also must pay a $150k fine and will be on 2 years of supervised release when she gets out. She also has to perform 250 hours of community service. Mossimo will serve 5 months in prison with a $250k fine and 250 hours of community service.

Remember ... the fact that Lori's now headed off to prison is a massive about-turn after vowing to fight the charges. As for why they had a change of heart ... they were facing multiple felonies and potentially decades behind bars.

Lori's the latest celeb to serve time for their role in the college bribery scandal. Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days behind bars but ultimately was released after 11 days.

"Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro is getting back to work just over a month after impaling his hand in a gnarly freak accident ... but he won't be getting his hands dirty.

So here's the deal, Buddy's very first event since the horrific bowling injury is scheduled to go down Friday with Goldbelly CEO Joe Ariel. They're teaming up for an event dubbed Halloween Goldbelly Live! ... where they'll teach, via Zoom, how to make "Frankencakes."

But, sources connected to the event tell TMZ ... the "Cake Boss" will ONLY be instructing and not actually doing any of the decorating or whatever else goes with making the Frankenstein cake kits. We're told someone from Buddy's team will be doing the actual decorating while Buddy mostly oversees the production.

BTW, Buddy's still got a long recovery process. Buddy's returning to the air on November 22 when the Food network airs "Buddy vs. Christmas." If you're wondering ... this special was filmed before his accident. And, speaking of the accident ... TLC will air a 2-hour special on December 23 about the accident with footage captured immediately after the accident.

Just days after the accident, Buddy gave his account of the freak bowling accident. He said his long road to recovery's largely because of severe tendon, nerve and muscle damage to his right hand, which just recently had its third surgery.

"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" just became even more of a family affair ... because Kathy Hilton is officially joining the show.

The sister of 'RHOBH' star Kyle Richards and former star Kim Richards -- and of course, Paris and Nicky's mother -- finalized her deal in the last week ... production sources tell TMZ.

We're told Kathy's signed on to be a "friend of the show," which means she'll make regular appearances and possibly do confessionals ... but isn't considered a full-time cast member.

We broke the story in September ... after making brief appearances in past seasons, 'RHOBH' producers made an offer to Kathy to join, but she was mulling it over. Clearly, she decided to pull the trigger.

It's unclear if her addition will lead to any appearances by her children, but production for Season 11 is underway ... so fans will find out shortly.

The Kathy news isn't the only big development on the show -- it was also just announced that Crystal Kung Minkoff will be added to the Season 11 cast list. She's the wife of "Lion King" director Rob Minkoff ... and the first Asian American to join the show.