Showbiz: Crowe one of MTV's dudes

Gladiator has picked up the most nods at the MTV Movie Awards with five nominations, including best movie and best male performer for New Zealand-born Oscar winner Russell Crowe.

Cast Away and Save the Last Dance gained four nominations each.

But only at the irreverent MTV Movie Awards could Dude, Where's My Car receive a nomination. For his role in the critically maligned goofball-comedy, Ashton Kutcher, a regular on That '70s Show, received a nod for best male breakthrough performance.

Other nominees in the category included Jack Black in High Fidelity, Patrick Fugit for Almost Famous and Hugh Jackman for X-Men.

The ceremony features several unusual categories, including honours for "best fight," "best villain" and "favourite line."

In an apparent snub, former MTV star Tom Green failed to place in the "best kiss" category for the scene in Road Trip in which he licked a mouse.

* Sergeant Bob Cryer has hung up his cuffs after putting in 17 years' loyal service to the Sun Hill patch in the TV police drama The Bill.

Eric Richard, 60, is one of the few remaining original members of show, which began in 1983. Cryer is being pensioned out of the force after he was accidentally shot by colleague PC Dale "Smithy" Smith, played by Alex Walkinshaw.

The character has become wheelchair-bound and is angry his career has been cut short, although there had been mutterings within the ranks that he was past his best.

During the series, Cryer has been taken hostage and a decade ago shot an armed robber dead.

Richard said: "As a poor kid growing up in Brixton my dreams never went beyond getting a good job in a factory. I'm thrilled to have exceeded those dreams."

* Sally Lindsay, 27, has taken over as the latest in a long list of buxom blond bartenders at Coronation Street's social centre, the Rovers Return.

She plays Shelley Unwin, carrying on the timeless tradition of glamorous barmaids such as Bet Lynch, Raquel Watts and Toyah Battersby, who was recently sacked, in the long-running TV soap.

One of her first ideas for the pub is a drag night to push up profits.

"I've watched Coronation Street all my life. The part is a dream come true," said Lindsay.

"Shelley is a live wire, she's brash and loud and won't take any lip from the customers. She is determined to shake up the Rovers and give the regulars some nights to remember."

* Hollywood legend Marlon Brando has cancelled a cameo appearance in a horror spoof because of illness.

The 77-year-old Brando, suffering from pneumonia, was unable to take on the minor role of an exorcism-practising priest in Scary Movie 2.

Brando was reported to have been paid close to $US2 million ($NZ5 million) for this latest role.