Scrubs star Zach Braff will bow out of the hit US series after completing its next season to pursue a career in directing.

The 33-year-old actor has starred in the show as Dr. John ‘J.D.’ Dorian since its inception in 2001, but admits he’s anxious to trade his on-screen role to get behind the camera.

An American Idol producer has denied reports Paula Abdul is set to leave the hit reality show, insisting she is an “integral part” of the singing contest.

Abdul has been mired in controversy after a crazed fan committed suicide outside her California home last month.

She claimed producers failed to keep Paula Goodspeed away and let her audition on three separate occasions, knowing she had stalked the star for 17 years.

Singer Paula Abdul is selling her Los Angeles home, less than a month after a fan committed suicide outside her front gates.

Shortly after Paula Goodspeed - who had been stalking the American Idol judge - took a suspected drug overdose in her car outside the Sherman Oaks, California pad on November 11, Abdul denied claims she was too scared to return to the house.

Production on Patricia Arquette’s hit TV drama Medium came to a halt when comic Sacha Baron Cohen invaded the set as his fashion reporter creation Bruno.

Filming was temporarily shut down as Baron-Cohen, posing as an extra, was forcibly removed from the set after interrupting a tense courtroom scene.

An insider for the show told EW.com: “No one had a clue it was Sacha playing Bruno. It’s amazing he was able to infiltrate the set and pull this off.”

Actor Zach Braff has confirmed his exit from TV comedy Scrubs, confessing he feels free now that he’s quit his role as Dr John ‘JD’ Dorian.

The news ends long-running rumours he is leaving the hit show, along with creator Bill Lawrence and co-star Judy Reyes, after the series’ eighth season, which premieres in the US in January).

Former ER star Julianna Margulies turned down an invitation to reprise her role for the final series of the medical drama - because she doesn’t think her character’s storyline can be improved.

The star shot to fame as nurse Carol Hathaway when the US series premiered in 1994, but left the hit show after six seasons to pursue other projects.

American Idol judge Paula Abdul is reportedly in talks to star in a new cheerleader-themed show in Las Vegas.

According to the National Enquirer, the former Los Angeles Lakers cheerleader is in negotiations with executives at several Sin City casinos to headline a stage show that would open late next year.

Comic book legend Stan Lee is planning to unveil a new superhero, who is gay.

Lee - the man behind Spider-Man, Hulk and the X-Men - is working with US cable network Showtime on an hour-long special, which will be based on Perry Moore’s novel Hero.

Hero follows an up-and-coming superhero’s struggle to hide his secret identities.