Lucy

In titling its new series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," the Starz Network cannot be accused of false advertising. There is blood, and lots of it -- buckets of it, waves of it, seas of digitally enhanced candy-apple-red comic-book gore, spilling, spurting, hurtling across and toward the screen as bodies are stabbed, slashed, sledgehammered and variously dismembered. There is sand too, but you don't notice that so much. From executive producers Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi, this long-form, adults-only retelling of the story of the Thracian slave-turned-gladiator (Andy Whitfield)

Bart Andrews, a prolific author of TV trivia tomes who wrote "The 'I Love Lucy' Book," an early definitive appreciation of the classic sitcom, has died. He was 64. Andrews died Dec. 26 at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center following a heart attack, said his sister, Cathy LaGreca. After a series of strokes, he had moved four years ago from West Hollywood to a nursing home in Los Angeles. "He was the first guy to ever write a history of the 'Lucy' show. It was the first book," said Lucie Arnaz, daughter of the program's stars, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Lucy Vodden, who provided the inspiration for the Beatles' classic song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," has died after a long battle with lupus. She was 46. Her death was announced Monday by St. Thomas' Hospital in London, where she had been treated for the chronic disease for more than five years, and by her husband, Ross Vodden. Britain's Press Association said she died Sept. 22. Hospital officials said they could not confirm the day of her death. Vodden's connection to the Beatles dates to her early days, when she made friends with schoolmate Julian Lennon, John Lennon's son. Julian Lennon, then 4 years old, came home from school with a drawing one day, showed it to his father, and said it was "Lucy in the sky with diamonds."

Anne Roberts Nelson, a pioneering television executive with CBS who negotiated contracts for long-running hits such as "I Love Lucy" and "Gunsmoke," has died. She was 86. Nelson, who was hired in 1945 and was the longest-serving CBS employee, with 64 years at the network, died Saturday of natural causes at her home in Baldwin Hills, the network announced.

They were childhood chums. Then they drifted apart, lost touch completely, and only renewed their friendship decades later, when illness struck. Not so unusual, really. Except she is Lucy Vodden -- the girl who was the inspiration for the Beatles' 1967 classic "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" -- and he is Julian Lennon, the musician son of John Lennon.

Reeling from a plunge in sales and property tax revenue, Orange County officials Tuesday began the process of slashing as much as $1.2 billion from the county budget -- a potential loss of 798 jobs -- for the coming fiscal year. In the face of sharp declines in state funds, increasing retirement costs and concern that the local economy has yet to hit bottom, county supervisors are trying to cobble together a $5.5-billion budget -- a decrease of about 18% from last year.

TODAY'S FEATURED MATCHES (World rankings in parentheses.) Venus Williams, U.S. (3) vs. Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic (46) resumption of second-round match with Safarova leading 7-6 (5) Absurdly, they played their first set near nightfall, in cold that felt autumnal, in a stadium so cavernous you could almost count the spectators. Serena Williams, U.S. (2) vs. Virginia Ruano Pascal, Spain (133) Ruano Pascal, in her 13th French Open, will try to deal with Williams despite being 35 years old.

On the night of Feb. 10, 2000 -- in the pre-spoiler era, when it was possible to watch an episode of television and be wholly surprised -- "ER" viewers found themselves stunned/petrified by its final two minutes. The scene: During a Valentine's Day party in the ER, an annoyed Carter (Noah Wyle) goes looking for his put-upon medical student, Lucy (Kellie Martin), to reprimand her one more time for the day.