First impressions** of Fox's "Fringe."

The net hasn't sent out screeners of J. J. Abrams' new drama but it did hold a few screenings for press the past few days in Gotham and L.A.

Fox execs emphasized that the roughly 90-minute Warner Bros. TV pilot was still "unfinished," but they are still eager to show it off (and undoubtedly get some feedback). I'm writing this with my Spoiler Radar turned up to 11 in a sincere effort (as always) to not ruin any of the drama for viewers prior to "Fringe's" September debut.

About five minutes in to the screening, I realized I've done this show a terrible injustice with the loglines I've been using the past few months, and the suggestion that it would be very "X-Files"-ish. It's not. It's right there in the  patented Abrams-conspiracy chiller/thriller/action milieu with a wildly intricate plot. It's a good sign that the pilot -- penned by Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and helmed by Alex Graves -- does not feel too derivative of "Lost," even as it opens with mayhem on a commercial airline flight bound for Boston's Logan airport.

The accurate synopsis: "Fringe" opens with FBI agents including Dunham sent to Logan Airport to investigate the ultra-mind-boggling situation that erupts when a German commercial airliner lands with a plane full of dead people, crew included. And they're not just dead, but dead in a horrible, scientifically inexplicable way. Dunham's dogged pursuit of the how, why and what-the-#$$%@? in the airline case puts her on the trail of a broader conspiracy that extends deeper and wider than she ever could have imagined. Her investigation also puts her in contact with a brilliant scientist who happens to have been institutionalized for the past 17 years. Dunham recruits the scientist's miscreant son to help get him a furlough from the institution so that the elder and younger can help her ferret out the truth.

PRO

Anna Torv. The Aussie star is really good in the skin of the driven, resourceful and not-without-humor FBI agent Olivia Dunham. She's not a warmed-over Kate from "Lost" or "Alias'" Sydney Bristow. She's got her own quirks and traits, and that's a very good thing. Torv is beautiful in an unconventional way. I also appreciate that she looks like a real person, not an 80-pound weakling. Olivia does share Sydney's ability to kick butt and run like the wind when duty calls.

**Once again, these are first impressions and not meant as a review or hit-or-miss declaration. Pilots at this stage of the game are still works in progress.

Harvey Korman was one of those performers who exuded funny with every fiber of his being.

Funny and tall -- that always stood out (up) when I saw him in person. The few times I had the chance to chat with Korman, who died Thursday at 81, he was always in character, or maybe his character was just who he was. Either way, it was always a pleasure. He was friendly and easily approached.

At one cocktail party on the roof of the Paley Center for Media, I distinctly remember Korman and Tim Conway holding court in one corner, doing an impromptu bit of business (a little bluer than they were allowed on air in the "Carol Burnett Show" days), to the delight of partygoers. I believe it when "Carol Burnett Show" alumni gush about how they became a close-knit family. Korman and Conway were in the audience last October for a Q&A I did with Burnett for a promo screening of her "American Masters" special at the Paley Center. They weren't on the panel, just there to show support for their leading lady.

Korman's wild physical comedy translated very well to the big screen, as fans of "Blazing Saddles," "High Anxiety" and "History of the World, Part 1" can attest. But even more than Hedley Lamaar, I'll remember him best in movies as the drug-addled sitcom star Monty Rushmore in "Americathon." That 1979 pic, a comedic look at the future (1998) where the country is so desperate that it mounts a telethon (hosted by Rushmore) to raise cash, was a B.O. bomb in its day and mostly savaged by critics. But it makes me laugh, thanks largely to Korman, and I'm not ashamed to say so.

R.I.P., Harvey Korman.

"Lie to them. If you do it half as well as you do it to yourself, they'll believe you."

Oh Locke. Jeremy. Locke. Bentham. Whatever your name is. Wherever you are...

"Lost's" fourth season finale, "There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 and 3," wasn't 88 minutes of television. It was somewhere between a religious experience and a psychedelic journey through time and space, through the earth's crust, past the frozen donkey wheels, past disappearing islands, heroic dudes making the ultimate sacrifices for the ones they love and a latenight break-in at a low-rent funeral parlor in a bad part of L.A. I am still tingling from the enormity and the emotional gamut of the experience.

Friday ayem update: Ratings are in. Big but not nearly as big as you'd think for two of the Greatest Hours of Television Ever. No doubt the DVR numbers will add significantly to the viewership by next week, and the web streams off ABC.com will surely be flowing during the next few weeks. 9-10 p.m. hour of finale averaged 11.9 million viewers and 4.6 rating/13 share in adults 18-49. 10-11 p.m. hour did 12.5 million and 5.1/14 in 18-49.

There's so much to think about, so much info to process and plot development to parse that it would be folly to try to offer anything like a definitive commentary on these segs while the first viewing is still reverberating around my brain. I didn't know how they were going to be able to top last season's gut-wrenching finale, but Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof (who penned both hours) and helmer Jack Bender surely did.

So first some top-of-mind observations and a few questions. After repeat viewing(s), I'll try to draw some larger conclusions. There's plenty of time. I think part of the emotional roller-coaster of tonight is having to come to grips with the fact that we won't get any new episodes until January-February. Shudder.

**A moment of mega-significance seems to be the scene toward the end in the life boat (I felt the ghost of Tallulah Bankhead in the scene) when Hurley is talking about "miracles" and Locke moving the island. "One minute it was there, the next minute it was gone." Hurley's statement was such an echo of the conversation Jack had with Locke in the fantastic, fantastic, beautifully shot scene in the Orchard station greenhouse where those two are once again going at it on the science/faith seesaw.

"Just wait til you see what I'm about to do," Locke warns him, and then tells him he has to lie about the survivors' plane crash experience to protect those left behind. Now fast-forward toward the scene in the life boat and Jack as always is scoffing at the notion of miracles, but, the minute he steps into what turns out to be Penny's boat (Penny's boat!), what's the first thing he cooks up? The Big Lie, for their own protection. For his own protection, as Locke warned him in the greenhouse: "the knowledge (Jack has) will eat you alive from the inside out. You're going to have to lie." Oh boy.

"Moonlight" devotee Barbara Hamlin of Jacksonville, Fla., was among those who headed to L.A. this past  weekend to attend the MoonlightCon 2008 at the Westin Hotel near LAX. Part of the "Moonlight"-mania included a trip to the Warner Bros. lot to see the hallowed ground where the now-canceled show was shot.

Update: Hamlin reports the MoonlightCon's auction of "Moonlight"-ana items raised $6500 for the Los Angeles Food Bank. Confab also held a blood drive, appropriately enough, that yielded 50 pints of donations to the American Red Cross.

Variety and this blog have been a bit snarky in poking fun at "Moonlight's" die-hards with a "get a life" tone. But we should never scoff at the kind of passion that smallscreen skeins can generate. Without that kind of fandemonium and earnest appreciation for the medium (which are two different things, admittedly), the TV biz would be bereft indeed, not much different than any other assembly-line product.

Hamlin sent along this appreciation for the kindness shown to her and other fans by the "Moonlight" crew during their bittersweet tour of the show's set, shortly before the bell tolled for good. The crew members appeared to appreciate the importance of showing a little respect to those who took the time to appreciate their handicraft.

The fans of Moonlight gathered in Los Angeles and had scheduled a Warner Bros tour for Friday, May 23rd. This event was scheduled well ahead of “Vampire Down,” May 14th, the Wednesday when CBS officially canceled Moonlight.

Even when the fans were told by one of the members of Moonlight’s crew that they were instructed to dismantle the set Tuesday, May 20th, they still wanted to go to Warner Bros to at least get a glimpse of the building Moonlight was filmed.

The Moonlight crew knew of the fans arrival date…and here’s the REALLY COOL PART…they did start dismantling the set; however, they waited until that Friday before they began to dismantle Mick St. John’s apartment (glossed by the fans as the Fortress of Style) and Beth Turner’s apartment.

To say shrieks of delight and thunderous applause of appreciation ensued would be an understatement. The Moonlight crew even went so far as to give fans various props as keepsakes of their time on the soundstage of Moonlight.

For their graciousness and generosity of spirit to make an extra effort to help fans of Moonlight have a wonderful experience that they will long remember, WELL DONE and BRAVO!!!

Betty White alert! The first lady of television will grace CBS' air as a contestant on the June 12 edition of "Million Dollar Password."

White, of course, was married to Mr. Password, Allen Ludden, for many years and logged plenty of appearances on the show in its 1960s and '70s, Goodson-Todman heyday. Ludden had such a graceful way of handing the cards to contestants on the original show, with its pop-up toaster clues.

In this Regis Philbin-hosted primetime incarnation of the show, White will be paired with "Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Susie Essman. Oughta be fun -- but be forewarned, contestants: White is a heck of a "Password" player.

(From years of watching vintage "Password" reruns, my husband and I have determined that the all-time greatest "Password" player was Peter Lawford. He put so much into it. Carol Burnett runs a close second.)

"Do you believe in God, Jack?"

"Do you?"

"Two days after I found out that I had a fatal tumor on my spine, a spinal surgeon fell out of the sky...If that's not proof of God, I don't know what is."

This exchange between Ben and Jack in "Lost" episode "The Cost of Living," while Jack's imprisoned in the bowels of the Hydra station is more than just an epistemological debate -- it's a heck of a bit of writing that, to my way of thinking, helps prove that the first half of "Lost's" third season has been unfairly maligned as being weak. In preparation for tonight's two-hour, season four closer, I dove into the season three DVD set again.

Time has softened some of the harsher criticism, but in the fall of 2006 it seemed that even some of the show's most devoted fans felt the show was off the rails in the first six segs that aired in October and early November, before taking a two-month break. That skedding pattern didn't work well for the peculiar storytelling pattern of "Lost" -- live and learn, and to ABC's credit, they surely did.

Season three also carries the stigma of having the dreaded Nikki and Paolo storyline, which enough fans   yelped about to get the poor misguided characters buried alive before the end of the season.

But my goodness, let us not forget that the first few segs of season three are the ones that truly introduce us to Evil Sadistic Madman Ben -- beating Sawyer to a pulp, making Kate break rocks in the hot sun in an itty bitty sun dress and keeping them in cages while he plays  major head trips with Jack in the underground glass-walled cage. He's so bad ass he's not afraid to stroll around in tan pans and white shoes well after Labor Day.

This is funny stuff. National Geographic Channel found a clever way to promote its new spesh "Stonehenge Decoded," by summoning rocker Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap fame to share his provocative theories on the centuries-old monument.

Of course, Tap nuts know how important Stonehenge is to the band and its iconography. In five short Internet vids, Tufnel reveals the name of the lone man ("Duncan") that built the mysterious stone structure some 4,500 years ago.

Nige also confirms that he's been spending a good deal of time in a room at his home conducting "sonic vibratory research" and exploring how marinara sauce turns into dirt very much like the soil found around Stonehenge if subjected to the intense levels of guitar feedback (coming through an amp turned up to 11, of course). In fact, Stonehenge was originally an amplifier, Tufnel informs interviewer Jim Piddock.

"Stonehenge Decoded" appears to blend what looks like corny historical reenactment footage with traditional, years-in-the-making, heavy-duty National Geographic research and archaeological studies. It's set to bow June 1 at 9 p.m.

Posted here for your convenience are parts 1 2 and 4 of the Tufnel interview, which is sure to spark debate and fisticuffs among Anglo-Saxon scholars. The other three can be found right here.

Rock and roll! Or in this case, rock!

Discovery Channel takes over the Greek Theater Wednesday night for a concert and party to tubthump the June 4 debut of its Planet Green channel (the channel formerly known as Discovery Home). Perfs are skedded to include Ludacris, Tommy Lee, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Blue Man Group and others. Proceeds will go to a fund established to help rehab areas around Griffith Park that were torched by recent wildfires....

Thursday's a day for serious yakking. In the afternoon, the Hollywood Radio and Television Society hosts a luncheon event at the Beverly Hilton devoted to how the biz can help keep health care issues at the top of the nation's public policy agenda. Sally Field and Jeffrey Katzenberg are set as speakers. Leeza Gibbons will moderate a panel that is set to include top showrunners of shows that work in scrubs: Neal Baer of "Law & Order: SVU" (who really is a licensed physician), Bill Lawrence of "Scrubs" and John Wells of "ER"... In the evening, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences parses LGBT issues in TV with a sesh at its North Hollywood HQ that will include thesps Billy Baldwin, Billy Crystal, Ron Rifkin, "Dirty Sexy Money" creator Craig Wright and Showtime's Robert Greenblatt. Bruce Vilanch is sure to keep things interesting as moderator...

On Sunday evening, Elmo's in town for the fourth annual presentation of the Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarships, also at the Leonard Goldenson Theater at ATAS' NoHo home base. Three $10,000 scholarships will be presented by ATAS and Ernst & Young to three grad students pursuing careers in children's media, in honor of the late host of PBS' enduring "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." Also on hand for the 5 p.m. presentation will be Mrs. Mr. Rogers, Joanne Rogers, and actor David Newell, aka Mr. McFeeley.

Sad to learn this evening of the passing of a very funny fellow, Dick Martin, at the age of 86.

Martin was a multihyphenate before the slanguage term was invented. In his long career he worked as a standup comic with longtime partner Dan Rowan (Rowan and Martin were inspired by their partial namesakes, Martin and Lewis), an actor, writer and producer, and later in life, as a very sought-after helmer for shows ranging from "The Bob Newhart Show" to Showtime's groundbreaking "Brothers" to "Family Ties," "Sledge Hammer" and "In the Heat of the Night."

After 1968, of course, Martin's place in pop culture history was cemented as the co-host and co-creator of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," which sought to tame the generation gap with humor for NBC. It worked. "Laugh-In" was the No. 1 show in the country in 1968-69 and 1969-70 seasons, and a top 25 show for two more seasons.

Martin had the kind of hound-dog face and a trademark zany-goofy character that just made you smile whenever he was on screen. In addition to all of that directing, in his later years he logged guest shots on everything from "3rd Rock from the Sun" to "Baywatch" to "Diagnosis Murder" to "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place."

Here's a detailed obit released this evening by the Martin family, and here's a good piece from the AP's Bob Thomas that puts into perspective the cultural impact that "Laugh-In" had in its heyday (apropos of this Time magazine cover from the era).

I'm very glad to have had the chance to see Martin in person last September as part of the Paley Center for Media's "Bob Newhart Show" reunion (that event also offered a last chance to see Suzanne Pleshette in her husky, saucy element before her death in January). He told a few good yarns about learning how to be a director by working on the show, and he sounded grateful to Newhart and the long-ago leaders of MTM Prods. (the Camelot of TV production companies) for giving him that chance.

Sock it to me, Dick Martin. If there's a comedy heaven...then he's already reconnected with Dan Rowan (who died in 1987) and they're working up some fresh material for a six-week run at the Sands Hereafter.

More first impressions** on the new crop for 2008-09, starting with CBS because they were the first to get their pilots out post-upfront -- probably because they had more completed pilots than any other net.

(Click here for the previous First Impressions post on "Ex List," "Project Gary" and "Worst Week.")

The Mentalist

PRO:

Simon Baker

Simon Baker

Simon Baker

Snappy writing makes it a cut above the patented CBS procedural drama, this time focusing on one-time purported psychic whose wife and child were slaughtered by a serial killer. Reformed sham artist now uses his keen powers of observation to help a team from the California Bureau of Investigation solve really hairy and heinous crimes. Think "Monk" without the neuroses, played with depth by Baker.

Simon Baker

Simon Baker

Simon Baker

Great scene with the investigative team members discussing the case at seafood restaurant gives us a lot of interesting character traits in a short amount of time without clubbing us over the head with exposition.

Nice direction by David "pilot zen master" Nutter.

CON:

A little CBS-formulaic in its execution in parts, starting with Robin Tunney's tough-as-nails team leader character.

Who's ever heard of the California Bureau of Investigation?

Character name of the cute rookie member of the investigative team, Grace Van Pelt (played by Amanda Righetti), makes us think of Lucy Van Pelt and the rest of the Peanuts gang.

**Once again, these are first impressions, and not meant to be a review or hit-or-miss declaration. At this stage of the game, pilots for new fall series are still very much works in progress.

Some interesting tidbits in today's SEC filings from CBS Corp. and CNET Networks on the commencement of CBS Corp.'s tender offer to buy CNET Networks for about $1.8 billion.

Most interesting is the detail offered in the backgrounder on the negotiations, which only reinforces how astounding it is that not one whiff of CBS' pursuit of CNET got out in the press prior to the deal announcement on May 15.

CBS Corp. boss Leslie Moonves and CBS chief financial offer Fredric Reynolds made several treks during the past year to CNET's San Francisco HQ to meet with their counterparts, CNET CEO Neil Ashe and CFO Zander Lurie. Ashe and Lurie also spent a lot of quality time at Black Rock meeting with CBS brass. We also now know that May 14 was a marathon workday for Moonves. Not only was it the day of the Eye's upfront presentation at Carnegie Hall, but the final-final the paperwork on the CNET deal was hammered out that day and night and into the wee hours of May 15 prior to the PR execs for both companies pushing the "send" button on the press release that morning.

The big question now, of course, is whether another suitor will come forth with a higher offer for CNET during the next month or so during the tender offer period. Some have suggested that CBS overpaid in agreeing to a deal that gives CNET a 45% premium over where its stock price was before the deal was announced.

But the CBS response is pretty persuasive. CNET is no Internet pipe dream. It's a real company and web pioneer that survived the first dot-bomb meltdown. For 2008, CNET is forecasting nearly $93 million in earnings on revenues of $446 million. Those are numbers that even a $14 billion company like CBS can't sniff at.

As recounted in this SEC filing (the interesting stuff starts on page 15) Reynolds, intrepid CBS Interactive prexy Quincy Smith and two other CBS execs made the first fact-finding mission to CNET's offices in April 2007. Then Moonves and Ashe made a point of having dinner in July during investment banker titan Herbert Allen's annual moguls' retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho. (Allen & Co. wound up becoming an adviser to CNET on the deal.)

(Pictured above: Leslive Moonves on stage at Carnegie Hall during the Eye's May 14 upfront presentation. He headed back Black Rock later in the day to monitor the last lap of the CNET negotiations.)

First impressions** from the first batch of pilots to land on my desk (thanks CBS):

The Ex List

PRO:

There's a lot to dine on here in the single-woman's fantasy story of finding Mr. Right at the direction of storefront psychic who tells her to revisit all of her old boyfriends to find the One, within a year or she's outta luck. Cast is uniformly good, particularly lead Elizabeth Reaser as Bella, Anne Bedian as the psychic, Rachel Boston as Bella's sister Daphne and Alex Breckenridge as friend Vivian.

Writing is peppy, very conversational and of-the-moment in its references and meter.

Premise, based on an Israeli series, feels fresh, as does the setting, in a fictional seaside community. The fairy tale-ish element in the premise makes the idyllic-hamlet backdrop work just fine, and helps explain why the femme characters are clad mostly in barely-there sun dresses and itsy-bitsy bikinis.

CON:

Dialogue is a tad breathless here and there, but it's nothing that can't be tapered back.

Characters are uniformly sex-obsessed and ultra vain, which could wear thin.

Reaser and Boston appear to have not eaten for at least five years.

**Once again, these are broad-strokes first impressions, not reviews or hit-or-miss declarations. At this time of year, pilots picked up for the fall are still very much works in progress.

It wasn't a total loss. This is a contrarian view on the season that will go down in the Nielsen annals as the lowest rated on record for the Big Four nets, but there was some good news to be found here and there, amid the wreckage.

For sure, the season-long stats on the 2007-08 campaign are pretty darn ugly, as Variety ratings guru Rick Kissell smartly and soberly details in this season wrap. But in actuality we didn't have a season, we had two abbreviated seasons -- pre- and post-strike. Writers Guild of America leaders were as strategic as Eisenhower and Marshall carving up the European theater in triggering the work stoppage to begin on Nov. 5, to ensure maximum impact on current production and pilot development.

Of course, most everything the WGA was fighting for in its 100 Days War has been at work in force  -- on steroids -- in this topsy-turvy season: the increasing popularity of web streaming of programming and DVR time-shifted viewing, the increasing use of digital extensions of traditional programs to drive traffic to network-affiliated websites and to generate new revenue streams for our half-dozen favorite media congloms.

Beyond the fairness issue and the wonky oh-my-god-younger-generations-will-never-watch-TV-the-same-way-again considerations, let's look at what the nets have to show for themselves program-wise out of the fall and spring mini seasons of '07-'08.

Congrats to "American Idol" No. 7, David Cook. The biggest "American Idol" fan I know walked out of the Variety newsroom on her way to the finale certain that David Archuleta was going to win, even though David Cook deserved to win. Clearly, there was an upset in the duel of the Davids. Gotta be good for the ratings.

Thursday ayem update: Now we know. The David vs. David drama was indeed good for the ratings. Prelim Nielsen's peg the viewership for the 8-10:06 p.m. finale at an average of 31.7 million viewers and an 11.4 rating in adults 18-49. That's a gain of nearly 1 million viewers from last year's "Idol" closer. Hail hail rock 'n' roll. (Elsewhere on the dial, you gotta give credit to CBS' workhorse "Criminal Minds." Even against the flames of the last hour of "Idol," that show is rock steady, pulling in its usual 13 million viewers and 3.3 rating/8 share in adults 18-49.)

For a treat, read the finale coverage by Variety's resident "Idol" nuts, Kathy Lyford and Erin Maxwell from Variety.com's Season Pass blog. It's a hoot.

(Pictured left to right: Fox's Kevin Reilly, David Cook, Fox's Peter Liguori and the man who needs no introduction, Mike Darnell)

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE AND JON WEISMAN

Like a parent with kids on different teams squaring off against each other, Warner Bros. TV prexy Peter Roth will watch with both glee and terror as the 2008-09 TV season kicks off.

Of the four new WB dramas picked up by the broadcast nets during last week’s upfronts, three have been thrown against each other in the same 9 p.m. Tuesday timeslot: “The Mentalist” (CBS, photo on right), “Fringe” (Fox) and “Surviving the Filthy Rich” (CW).

For better or worse, this kind of fraternal battle is becoming familiar for Warners. Mondays at 8 p.m. feature a head-to-head-to-head-to-head slugfest among four WB shows, as hourlongs “Chuck” (NBC), “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (Fox),  “Gossip Girl” (CW) face CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.”

“It’s a very high-class problem to have,” Roth said. “While it wouldn’t necessarily be our preference to have programs competing against one another, we have been in this situation before.  We suggest since they are all great shows, viewers should watch one of them live, TiVo the others and, preferably, watch them within the advertiser-desired three-day window.”   

At 10 p.m. Thursday, WB rookie “Eleventh Hour” goes up against veteran “ER,” which will begin its 15th and final season. And on the comedy side, it’s no laughing matter for WB as Pushing Daisies” (ABC) and “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (CBS) both vie for the same eyeballs at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

The on-air brawl between MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Fox News' Bill O'Reilly is getting down and dirty and high-level within NBC Universal and News Corp.

The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz has the whole inside story of CEO intrigue and bare-knuckle tactics -- all of which has to be good for the ratings of both programs. The Washington Post's story is getting so much attention that as of this evening I could not pull it up on the Post's website to save my life; the page just kept getting stuck in loading mode. Is there anything more frustrating than the getting the blank white screen and hourglass symbol when you really want to read something?

Hopefully the Post's web wizards will come up with a fix soon. There's nothing TV news loves better than a good feud, especially if it involves two of their own plus the powerful likes of Roger Ailes, Rupert Murdoch, Jeffrey Immelt and Jeff Zucker.

Lots of TV-centric goings-on around town in the next few weeks. CBS Paramount Network TV gets into the swing of summer with a "block party" on the CBS Radford lot on Tuesday night to herald the June 5 debut of CBS drama "Swingtown," about fun-loving, Quaalude-downing, partner-swapping couples in the summer of '76. It's so nice to see "Swingtown" costar Molly Parker all cleaned up and dusted off from her "Deadwood" days...

...Speaking of CBS dramas, a clutch of "Moonlight" fans are descending on L.A. this weekend for what's billed as the first fan-generated confab on the show, "MoonlightCon," at the Westin hotel out by LAX. Undoubtedly these folks will cook up some stunt to draw attention to their cries for another network to pick up their fave rave, which CBS dropped last week. (That's the hint in an email message today from a "devoted Moonlight fan" who promised me that "the fat lady ain't sung yet!") It doesn't appear that their immortal, series star Alex O'Loughlin, is skedded to stop by, but they will be taking a "Moonlight"-centric tour of the Warner Bros. lot on Friday...

...Some of those "Moonlight" fanatics might want to hop a bus to Culver City on Saturday morning, where Sony Pictures TV is holding open auditions for its revival of "The Gong Show" for