Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Dec 3, 2020

Pretty cool: A bunch of actors from "The Lord of the Rings," including IAN McKELLEN, JOHN RHYS-DAVIES and MARTIN FREEMAN, have gotten together to try and buy J.R.R. TOLKIEN's old house and turn it into a literary center dedicated to his works. The house was going to be sold, but British author JULIA GOLDING got a three-month window from the old owner to buy the house before it went on the open market. They estimate they'll need around $6 million dollars.

FOX's show, "The Masked Singer," has been renewed for another season --it's fifth. The show, hosted by NICK CANNON, averages around 11 1/2 million viewers. Panelists on the show include KEN JEONG, JENNY McCARTHY, NICOLE SCHERZINGER and ROBIN THICKE.

If you're one of those people who got your pet on an airplane flight for free as an "emotional support animal" --you won't be able to now. Yesterday news broke that the U.S. Department of Transportation now defines a service animal as a "dog, regardless of breed or type, that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability." This means that other pet will not fly for free. Examples of "emotional support animals" that airlines have had to put on board include miniature horses, hamsters, pigs and even peacocks. Word is several flight attendant unions supported the revision. FYI: carrying a pet under an airline's pet policy can run up to $125 a flight.

COVID-19 update: Turns out former French president VALÉRY GISCARD d’ESTAING passed away yesterday at the age of 94 after contracting the coronavirus. He was President of France from 1974-81.

And it isn't just France where celebrities get Coronavirus: yesterday Bravo reported that “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” stars KYLE RICHARDS, KATHY HILTON and DORIT KEMSLEY have tested positive for Covid-19.

Pretty incredible story --a couple in Tennessee used a frozen embryo to make their latest child. The mom, TINA GIBSON, is 29 years old --and the embryo they used to create her daughter, MOLLY, was frozen when Tina was just two years old. That's right --27 years ago. It's not the first time the Gibsons have used artificial insemination to create a child. The family struggled with infertility problems for almost five years before deciding on using a frozen embryo. Their youngest daughter, EMMA, was born in 2017, and at the time the 24-year-old embryo was the oldest in history to have made a baby. But Molly's birth is believed to set a record of 27 years. Tina says she and her husband, Ben, are "over the moon" about it: "If you would have asked me five years ago if I would have not just one girl, but two, I would have said you were crazy," she said.