Harvey Levin

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who recently revealed that he cuts off the water when his children take extremely long showers, may have entered a new realm of domestic drama Tuesday involving a more formidable member of his household: his wife. Schwarzenegger promised "swift action" after TMZ.com posted two pictures of Maria Shriver driving while apparently violating the hands-free cellphone requirement he signed into law. The pictures show Shriver with her right hand on the wheel and her left holding a cellphone to her ear. One is dated July 12, 2009, and the other was taken Sunday, according to TMZ. The pictures appear with an article that begins, "Maria Maria, cell phone cheatah!"

With its "Action" newscasts leading the way, KCBS-TV Channel 2 once again captured more Los Angeles-area Emmy Award nominations Thursday than any other local station. KCBS collected 50 of the 198 nominations announced by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences--six fewer than last year but 13 more than KNBC-TV Channel 4 and 28 more than KABC-TV Channel 7. KCBS newscasts accounted for 22 of the nominations, including five for news reporting, three for feature reporting, three for special mini-documentaries and two more for investigative work.

Time Warner Inc. wants more juice out of TMZ, the celebrity website that is the brainchild of former Los Angeles TV newsman Harvey Levin. The media giant hopes to wring more advertising revenue out of the property and use some of the money to expand the news operation, according to people close to the site who were not authorized to speak publicly. That's the plan once Time Warner takes full control of TMZ today, when the media giant spins off AOL to shareholders. Since its launch by former KCBS-TV Channel 2 reporter Levin in December 2005, TMZ has been run as a partnership of AOL and the Telepictures unit of Warner Bros.

James Paratore TV executive helped launch Ellen DeGeneres' show Prominent television production executive James Paratore, 58, died Tuesday after suffering a heart attack while cycling in France. As president of the Warner Bros. Telepictures Productions unit from 1992 through 2006, Paratore was involved in the creation of some of television's most successful franchises, including daytime talk shows hosted by Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres as well as the reality hit "The Bachelor," entertainment news magazine "Extra" and the courtroom show "Judge Mathis.

The gig: As president of Warner Bros.' Telepictures Productions, Hilary Estey McLoughlin, 47, oversees one of the biggest syndication companies in television. Telepictures has more than 1,200 employees and nine shows on the air, including "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," George Lopez's late-night talk show "Lopez Tonight" and "Extra." It also owns Harvey Levin's tabloid empire, TMZ. A seed is planted: Estey McLoughlin grew up in Queens, New York, obsessed with television. "The thing about Queens is, everyone's TV is on all the time.

Alec Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, have a paparazzi problem again, one that on Monday had him running to the store - literally - and her pulling out of teaching yoga classes for a week. Baldwin on Sunday reportedly had an incident with a New York Post reporter and photographer that ended with the actor and photographer both going to the police to file harassment claims against each other. Baldwin's publicist Matthew Hiltzik said in a statement to CNN and other outlets Monday that the photog's claims of racist and otherwise disparaging comments, detailed in a Post story , were "absolutely false," specifically noting that the claim of racist remarks was "one of the most outrageous things I've heard in my life.'" The Post had initially approached Baldwin to ask about a lawsuit filed against Hilaria by a former participant in one of her yoga classes.

KCAL-TV Channel 9 was the big winner in the 46th annual Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards, picking up 13 statuettes Saturday night--five more than its closest competitor. But it failed to capture the coveted award for best hourlong newscast. Instead, in the equivalent of a movie winning the Oscar as best picture without collecting any honors for its writer, director or actors, KTTV-TV Channel 11's "Fox News at Ten" was named the best 60-minute newscast on local television during 1993. The 10 p.m.

Los Angeles Municipal Court judges were told Wednesday by Presiding Judge Malcolm H. Mackey to quit assigning indigent defendants to four attorneys until accusations of overbilling the county can be resolved. Mackey did not include in his order the names of three other lawyers identified as targets of a county chief administrative office probe of alleged irregularities in the millions paid each year to court-appointed attorneys.