NEW YORK — The late-night guessing game is over, with a startling twist: Conan O'Brien has chosen TBS as his future talk-show home.

Expected to debut in November, the as-yet-untitled show will return O'Brien to the air after an absence that began in January when he abruptly left NBC, his employer of 17 years.

O'Brien's new program will air Mondays through Thursdays at 11 p.m., which will shift "Lopez Tonight," starring George Lopez, from 11 p.m. to midnight.

O'Brien's show will originate from Los Angeles, where he moved from New York for his short-lived stint hosting "The Tonight Show." For the second half of each show, he will face off against Jay Leno, who replaced him.

CAMERON DRAWN TO RAIN FOREST DISPUTE

BRASILIA, Brazil — Director James Cameron said yesterday that a real-life "Avatar" battle is playing out in Brazil's Amazon rain forest, where indigenous groups are trying to halt the construction of a huge hydroelectric project.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Cameron said he was in Brazil's capital to support Indian and environmental groups as they stage protests against the Belo Monte dam project.

Cameron attended an environmental summit in the Amazon last month with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. He returned this week to Sao Paulo to promote the DVD version of his blockbuster movie "Avatar," in which the fictitious Na'vi race fights to protect its homeland, the forest-covered moon Pandora, from plans to extract oil.

WALSH WILL STAR IN 2-CHARACTER PLAY

NEW YORK — Kate Walsh plans to spend her summer vacation in a 99-seat off-Broadway theater.

Walsh, star of ABC's "Private Practice," will appear in the world premiere of "Dusk Rings a Bell," a two-character play by Stephen Belber, the Atlantic Theater Company announced yesterday. She will co-star with Paul Sparks.

"Dusk Rings a Bell," which runs May 19 through June 20 at the company's Stage 2, concerns the reunion of Molly and Ray, who unexpectedly meet again more than two decades after a brief romantic encounter.

ANDERSON ON LIST OF CALIF. TAX SCOFFLAWS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California officials say former "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson has failed to pay $493,000 in personal income taxes.

Anderson is on the annual list of delinquent taxpayers released yesterday by the California Franchise Tax Board. She is among 250 individual and business taxpayers who owe more than $100,000 in back taxes. State records show a tax lien for $493,144 was filed against Anderson in April 2009.