Conan O'Brien's been making the best of a bad situation, and now he's got Opera Man on his side.

Adam Sandler appeared on Wednesday night's "Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien" and dropped the bombshell that he and fellow "Saturday Night Live" stalwart Chris Farley were dumped by NBC despite their huge popularity, Eonline reports.

"I did get fired also. Back in the day," he revealed. "Nobody wanted to tell me the truth that I was getting fired."

Sandler related a quick story of how his manager suggested that the funnyman find something else to do, but Sandler demurred, saying how much he liked SNL, that "it was fun there."

"And then all of a sudden Farley ran into my office and is like, 'We're getting fired!' "Me and him got fired. That's when my manager at the time came up with, 'NBC: Nothing But [expletive]!'"

"Can we air that? What are they gonna do to me?" cracked O'Brien, mugging for the studio audience.

Sandler joked that he put in a good word for O'Brien at a few Hollywood studios.

"I already kinda laid into a few movie studios so it's done," added Sandler. "You're gonna be in movies with me. Only with me."

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Guess who's paying a little ol' visit to the set of the TV musical sensation "Glee"?

Idina Menzel!

Lea Michele (Rachel) took no time at all to tweet that "Wicked's" other leading lady (Kristin Chenoweth has already appeared) was on the set of "Glee" Thursday, Eonline.com reported.

"So happy she's on our show," gushed Michele. The cast is shooting the Madonna episode this week, so does that mean Idina might bust out a Material Girl hit? Not so fast, the show's Fox rep says they are actually shooting two episodes this week, and Idina is in the non-Madonna one.

Idina is rumored to be playing the rival glee club coach, but it's still possible there will be some sort of biological connection to Rachel (Lea), who is adopted.

"I have been told my whole life that I look like Idina," Michele said.

The Grammys are staging an unprecedented tribute in honor of Michael Jackson.

The Jan. 31 broadcast will feature a never-before-seen 3-D clip Jackson made for his hit "Earth Song." The clip was to be part of Jackson's London comeback shows last year. It will be accompanied by a performance featuring Carrie Underwood, Celine Dion, Usher, Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson.

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Rapper Ja Rule has lost a bid to keep a loaded gun found in his luxury car from being used against him in a New York weapons-possession case.

A judge said "no" Wednesday to the argument by the platinum-selling artist that the gun was found during an unjustified police stop of his Maybach sports car after a July 2007 concert.

Prosecutors say the stop was warranted because the car had no insurance and a suspended registration.

The judge did throw out another piece of evidence: the rapper's statement to police that he had a bit of marijuana in his pocket. He isn't charged with drug possession.

Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, has pleaded not guilty. The 33-year-old faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Beyonce and Madonna are the latest stars to flock to tonight's "Hope for Haiti" telethon, joining some of the biggest names in music in a two-hour multi-network telecast benefiting the survivors of the devastating earthquake. "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief" will air at 8 p.m. on all major networks, featuring stars filmed in multiple locations worldwide.

Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, Jennifer Hudson and Wyclef Jean will perform in New York, while the Los Angeles taping will feature Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow and John Legend. Jay-Z, Bono and The Edge, Rihanna and Coldplay will do their part from London.

Mackenzie Carpenter's video program, "Omnivore," is available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.