"How would you characterize the sex?"

This line in Alan Ball's new HBO vampire drama "True Blood" is posed not by a shrink or a sex therapist or a nosy friend but a sheriff's deputy with a thick Louisiana drawl. Let's just say it stems from a situation involving a roadside work crew and a loose woman named Maudette who turns up dead in her apartment.

"True Blood," based on the series of fantasy/mystery novels by Charlaine Harris, is true to its fictional small Louisiana town setting (Bon Temps). It's swampy, languid, humid, lusty and full of ... steam. I've still got another seg to go on the screener HBO sent out on Monday, so I'll reserve judgment until I've spent two hours with this weird collection of characters.

Ball is definitely not Pasadena anymore. I am pretty much convinced that Anna Paquin (pictured) is the best thing about the show -- by far. She's adorable, and does a lot with material that could otherwise sound ridiculous, in the wrong hands. (I'll leave it others to decide if she nails the accent.)

In a nutshell, "True Blood" takes place in the not so distant future when the undead have "come out of the coffin," complete with their own advocates making the talk show rounds and an equal-rights-amendment type bill that they're pushing in Congress. Paquin plays a plucky virtuous waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who has her own unusual trait in that she can read minds -- which can make her rounds at the tables at the backwoods bar and grill where she works awfully noisy.

Sookie is open-minded enough to be friendly to vampires, who are now able to "mix" with mortals after the invention of mass-produced synthetic blood, which is supposed to keep them from gnawing on unsuspecting sweet young things like Sookie. Bill, played by Stephen Moyer (pictured left and below with Paquin), is a handsome, mysterious vamp who falls for Sookie after she shows him some kindness one night (it involves her whacking a bad guy with a heavy chain, and protecting Bill from the greedy whims of some trailer-trash types).

Lois Smith is good as Sookie's slightly-daffy grandmother. Rutina Wesley is fun to watch as Sookie's smart-mouthed best friend, Tara ("Can you believe someone would name a black girl after a plantation. My mother was either stupid or mean.") So far some of the supporting characters seem a little 2-D, but Sookie is compelling enough to make up for a few Southern-fried cliches in the pilot seg, written and helmed by Ball.

"True Blood" bows Sept. 7. HBO is cranking up the viral marketing campaign with the launch of this elaborate website for Tru Blood, a "synthetic blood nourishment beverage" that figures into the show's storyline. Just in case you miss it on the Web, HBO also took out a full page faux ad for Tru Blood in today's edition of Daily Variety. "Friends Don't Let Friends Drink Friends."

Summer in Scranton? Why not. NBC has set "The Office" star/scribe Mindy Kaling is set to host the "Office Games" in the show's hometown of Scranton, Penn. on July 19. It's a promotional stunt to mark the launch of two games based on the show -- one a vidgame-style DVD, the other an old-fashioned board game based on "Office" trivia. She must be getting her own line of Kelly Kapoor nail polish and lip gloss down the road, because Kaling has committed to spending the day in and around the Mall at Steamtown officiating a "day full of Dunder Mifflin fun," including a 2K "fun run," a beet-eating contest, a trivia challenge and an autograph sesh. Events will raise money for the Scranton-based charitable org United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

"We'll be rolling out the beet red carpet for Ms. Kaling, assured Scranton Mayor Christoper Doherty. (More info on "Office Games" after the jump.) ...

Meanwhile NBC has confirmed what "Office" fans already knew: Amy Ryan will back for multiple episodes in the upcoming season in her role as the new HR person, Holly Flax, who takes over for the (Costa Rica-bound?) Toby Flenderson. Ryan had a swell debut on "Office" in last season's "Goodbye, Toby" finale. And it's not like she needs the work, coming off of an Oscar nod for last year's "Gone Baby Gone" and heaps of praise for her perf in the final season of "The Wire." She'll also be seen in one of this year's prestige, likely-to-be-Oscar-bait pics, Clint Eastwood's "Changeling." Wonder how long it will take Holly to figure out that Kevin isn't really slow, by the standards of the Scranton branch.

Hot off the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences nomination vote-tallying machine, here are the top 10 finalists for Emmy noms in the comedy and drama series heats. The final noms will be announced on Thursday, July 17.

(My 2 cents on the list follows after the jump)

COMEDY

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
The Office
Pushing Daisies
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men
Ugly Betty
Weeds

DRAMA

Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Grey’s Anatomy
House
Lost
Mad Men
The Tudors
The Wire

Get out your karaoke machines, spruce up your iPod and start running through those old Creedence Clearwater Revival, Elton John, Paul McCartney and Carpenters songbooks. "American Idol" audition time is here.

Fox confirmed Thursday that auditions for the 2009 edition of the Show the Stomps All Over Everything Else in Primetime will begin July 17 in San Francisco, at the Cow Palace.

As far as I'm concerned the first few segs of "Idol" culled from the road auditions (pictured here are snapshots from last year's trials) are the most entertaining. This is America, in all its out-of-tune, out-of-step, out-of-our-minds glory.

The highlight of last year's auditions had to be the determination of Antoria Gillon, who was nine months pregnant and in labor when she went through her audition in Dallas. She gave birth a few hours after her audition at local hospital to Jamil Labarron Idol McCowan, who will turn 1 on Aug. 7.

All of the official audition info follows after the jump, and more info is available at AmericanIdol.com:

It seems weirdly coincidental that George Carlin died almost 30 years to the day that the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision on broadcast indecency involving his "Filthy Words" routine. (Click here to read that 1978 decision for yourself -- it's a good read, if you dig wonky First Amendment stuff.) It's also interesting that the Supremes have agreed to take up their first broadcast indecency case during the 2008-09 session since they weighed in on Carlin's risque radio riffage back in the Carter era.

In fact, the Pacifica case that has determined so much of broadcast indecency policy -- at least until the indecency crusaders Michael Powell and Kevin Martin got a hold of the Federal Communications Commission -- got its start in Nixon-era America. It was Oct. 30, 1973, about 2 p.m. in the afternoon. A New York man was driving with his young son in the car and over public radio station WBAI-FM came Carlin's "Filthy Words" rap (it's called "Filthy Words" in the Supreme Court decision but history seems to have dubbed it the "Seven Words" routine), about words so deemed so naughty they could not be uttered on the public airwaves. The bit set the man's hair on fire, leading him to lodge complaints with the station and eventually, the FCC.

By February 1975, the commish decided that Carlin's routine (excerpts posted after the jump) was "patently offensive." The FCC didn't try to levy a fine, but sought to but an official "order" in the station's file that would be considered if the station racked up additional complaints. Pacifica wasn't having any of that and a three-year court battle ensued. Certainly, Carlin was well on his way to comedy superstardom before his name became forever intertwined with heavy-duty legal precedent, but his association with the landmark case also gave him a level of stature and importance, in pop culture and among his comedian peers, that he might otherwise have achieved.

In the end, the Supreme Court decided that Carlin's routine was "patently offensive" and profane by any definition of the phrase, even if it wasn't specifically wallowing in the "sexually or excretory organs or activities" muck that had been (and continues to be) a litmus test for broadcast indecency cases. The biggest strike against Pacifica was the fact that it aired in the afternoon. As a lower court noted in one of its rulings, and as any parent would agree, "the broadcast media have established a uniquely pervasive presence in the lives of all Americans."

Here's an excerpt from Justice John Paul Stevens' majority opinion:

NBC News made the logical move on Sunday in tapping Tom Brokaw for the tough job of following Tim Russert as moderator of "Meet the Press" for the rest of this year, at least through the end of the presidential race in November.

Brokaw has the reporting experience, the on-air chops and the gravitas to uphold Russert's considerable legacy in turning "Meet the Press" into a consistent news-making and profit-making enterprise for the Peacock, as Variety's Michael Schneider reports.

But as right as it is to hand the chair to Brokaw in the short term, there's an equally smart choice on the NBC News roster to take the job for the long haul. Andrea Mitchell, Peacock's chief foreign affairs correspondent, also has the resume, the Washington relationships, the reporting skills and the extra-thick skin to take on the job. Having Brokaw handle the challenging transition period in the wake of Russert's surprising death June 13 is the best scenario that could arise for the show out of NBC News' tragic loss. Mitchell wouldn't have to follow Babe Ruth up to bat, and having a clearly defined limited tenure would probably help Brokaw avoid the inevitable "is he as good as" comparisons too.

Brokaw, in my view, is the very model of how a network anchor should comport him or herself after relinquishing the throne.

That low rumble you're hearing across the land on Friday is the sound of tween and pre-tween girls camping out in front of their TV sets and getting ready to swoon and shout for the latest Disney Channel's musical telepic franchise, "Camp Rock."

"Camp Rock" has an virtually impossible act to follow in "High School Musical 2," the telepic that set a basic cable viewing record last August with 17 million-plus tuning in. But "Camp Rock" has a fighting chance in that it is fortified with the Jonas Brothers, the red-hot cute-brothers band that has been raking it in the past few months on tour in the U.S. and Europe, and with hit records released, of course, by Disney's Hollywood Records.

The aptly timed movie set in a summer camp revolves around the leader of a boy rock band who is sent to camp by his band mates for a dose of "bratty boy rehab," explains Disney Channel entertainment prexy Gary Marsh.

"Camp Rock" is different from "High School Musical" in that the tunes are more directly embedded into the storytelling to enhance the plot and characters, as opposed to the more song-and-dance number approach of Troy and his crew, Marsh says.

Project was in development for some time before the Jonas Brothers became attached. Disney brass initially sought to cast the mega-heartthrob Jonas sibling Joe in the lead role. But in a scene right out of, well, a Disney Channel telepic, Joe told the Mouse House execs that he'd only do it if they crafted parts for his siblings Nick and Kevin as well. That wasn't hard to accommodate, Marsh says.

POSTED BY BRIAN LOWRY

Despite the temptation to give NBC News the benefit of the doubt, the net's Tim Russert memorial coverage officially “jumped the shark” some time between noon and 4 p.m. PST Wednesday, amid four more hours of time-filling blather.

Russert’s sudden death from a heart attack on Friday was an unexpected jolt to the system, and the network was to be forgiven indulging in a measure of on-air grief. At a certain point, however, even a modicum of recognition about relativity and propriety should have kicked in, as “Remembering Tim Russert” essentially blotted out coverage of anything else in the world — from flooding in the Midwest to the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

By doing so, MSNBC’s maudlin repetition of platitudes finally performed a genuine disservice to the late “Meet the Press” host’s memory by beginning to take on an unsavory aura of self-promotion. Inevitably in the painful process of padding out the hours, there were so many references to the “NBC family,” the network’s enduring commitment to his example, and parading by correspondents and contributors sharing personal memories to qualify as back-patting.

Perhaps foremost, though, where does this set the bar on future on-air obituaries? How many hours (and indeed, days) should be devoted to mourning other NBC talent, such as Tom Brokaw or Matt Lauer?

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, as usual, sounded utterly oblivious to the network’s role in perpetuating the coverage — as if the marathon was somehow demanded by outsiders. Anchoring the coverage throughout the day, MSNBC’s Chris Jansing was especially irritating, and it fell to contributor Eugene Robinson to open his tribute to Russert with the smallest of nods to the overkill that had already taken place.

“It’s hard to talk about it without resorting to cliche,” he said.

Too true, as well as too little, and by then, much too late.

Wonder why the Internet seems to be moving slower and slower these days? Maybe it's because of all the  18-34-year-olds out there hogging all the bandwidth.

Internet ratings provider has comScore let loose some eye-opening stats about Internet vid consumption. For starters, comScore estimates that U.S. consumers watched 11 billion Internet vids in April, running an average of 2.8 minutes a pop. The average Web surfer watched 228 minutes of video online during the month, with 18-34-year-olds being the heaviest-viewing demo at an average of 287 minutes. More than 70% of U.S. online users watched some online vid during the month. YouTube alone accounted for 4.1 billion, or 38%, of those 11 billion vids viewed, which breaks down to 49.8 vids for each of its 82.1 million viewers. MySpace ranked No. 2 with 481 million vids served up to 46 million viewers...

... The Disney Channel may help pull some of those people away from their computer screens next month with the smallscreen debut of its 3-D theatrical sensation "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds" concert pic. Mouse House will hand out free 3-D glasses at Wal-Mart Stores (while supplies last, which probably won't be long) starting July 5 in preparation for the pic's July 26 premiere on Disney Channel. There's also a brand-new "Hannah Montana" seg set to bow July 20 to whip up more enthusiasm for the concert pic. I'm thinking the "Best of Both Worlds" telecast is gonna be huge for Disney Channel -- maybe not "High School Musical 2" 17 million-plus viewers big, but I wouldn't be surprised if it comes close. Ask anyone who's done a blog post on "Hannah Montana" -- it's the gift that keeps on giving, traffic-wise....

It is the big tent of the magazine world, home everything from Architectural Digest to Vogue, Golf Digest to Wired, Bon Appetit to Vanity Fair, Details to the New Yorker, and plenty of other blue-chip print brands.

With all that editorial heft under one roof, it's no surprise that Conde Nast wants to spin some of it out into the electronic realm. There's a push afoot at the company to expand into a new medium (or at least one that is relatively new to Conde Nast), and it's not the Internet. It's television.

"What we're trying to do is create original ideas that can deliver as much as possible for us in print, as a live event, and in the digital and TV space," says Richard Beckman (pictured left), prexy of Conde Nast Media Group and chief marketing officer of Conde Nast. "We have over 100 million people read our magazines each month. We have 32 million unique visitors to our websites each month. We have the expertise in creating editorial in narrow niches with strong passion-point marketing (opportunities). This type of content lends itself to a unique kind of engagement with its (targeted) consumer."

Conde Nast's interest in diving deeper into television production this year has been fueled in large part by the success of the company's CBS special "Movies Rock," which featured contempo artists performing classic screen tunes.

Two-hour spesh, produced in conjunction with the Producers Guild of America and exec produced by Don Mischer, Kathleen Kennedy and Bruce Cohen, was well-received and performed well enough for CBS to yield a follow up installment later this year (and a vigorous campaign by Conde Nast to secure an Emmy nom in the variety/music special category).

"Movies Rock" delivered for Conde Nast in the form of a special one-off supplement mag, overseen by Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter, that was bundled with 14 Conde Nast titles in advance of the December TV preem.

"It started with the idea of looking at music and movies and how they've shaped each other," Beckman says. "It sounded like an interesting (stand-alone) magazine idea. That translated to the live show that became a TV show and had all sorts of digital extensions. What we're doing is taking all the currency and assets we have across various media platforms and bundling to them to our advertisers."

"Movies Rock" was patterned after the success of Conde Nast's "Fashion Rocks" concert event, which has been a big part of Gotham's fall fashion week festivities for the past five years, and has also aired as a special on CBS.

The 67th annual George Foster Peabody Awards ceremony at Gotham's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Monday turned into an impromptu tribute to Tim Russert. Peabody honorees including Christiane Amanpour and Stephen Colbert offering kind words and remembrances about the NBC News stalwart who died Friday at the age of 58.

"60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl stepped in as Peabody ceremony host at the last minute as a sub for NBC News anchor Brian Williams, who bowed out in order to spend time with NBC News staff following his return from Afghanistan.

Colbert recalled Russert's generosity and sense of humor when Russert had Colbert on "Meet the Press" last year during "The Colbert Report" star's short-lived bid for the GOP presidential nomination.

ABC News' Bob Woodruff (pictured left) and CBS' Kimberly Dozier (pictured right), both of whom suffered serious injuries in the line of duty in Iraq, were among those picking up Peabodys for their work. Cast members from two of this year's scripted honorees, "Mad Men" and "30 Rock," were also on hand. (Pics after the jump.)

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Life can be so freakin' fleeting.

I know I'm supposed to be a hardened journalist and not let news — both good and bad — affect me, but I can't help but feel devasted by the sudden and tragic loss of Tim Russert., who was only 58 years old.

There's an old adage that we feel a special connection to people we see on television all the time. Much more so than in film, as those on TV are in our living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens and everywhere else we watch.

And even more than that, Russert was on in the mornings on the "Today" show, in the afternoons occasionally as a political analyst on MSNBC, in the evenings on "Nightly News With Brian Williams" and then Saturdays on his conversational talkshow and, of course, the political big daddy, "Meet the Press" on every Sunday ayem.

What a tragedy. I still can't believe he's gone.

Shannon C. Barry of Trabuco Canyon, Calif. (near Mission Viejo in Orange County) is not a self-appointed media watchdog, or an activist by nature.

She's a wife and mother of three who works as a waitress and a professional horse rider, and as a "taxi driver" for her kids. She doesn't have much spare time to watch TV, though she makes a point to "never miss an episode of 'American Idol.'"

But Barry was incensed and spurred to take action after getting a glimpse of CBS' "Swingtown." Last weekend she emailed a letter of complaint urging CBS affiliates to yank the show that revolves around the lives of three married couples and their spouse-swapping, Quaalude-dropping adventures in the summer of '76.

"Basically, it's defiling marriage," Barry said in a telephone interview Thursday. "The more we put things like this on the air, the more the public is exposed to things like that, it becomes OK. But it's not OK to represent marriage that way."

Barry first heard about "Swingtown" through an item in People magazine. A look back at the era of sex, drugs and spouse-swapping didn't sound like anything that belonged on broadcast TV, in Barry's opinion.

Her instinct was confirmed after she saw a promo spot for the show on CBS. Then she went on the CBS website and watched a trailer "that showed three people in bed together," Barry said. "It definitely really rubbed me wrong."

If you dream of becoming a television writer, buff up the resume and click here because applications are now being accepted for the 2009 Writing Fellowship Program run by the Disney-ABC Television Group, Walt Disney Studios and Writers Guild of America West.

The fellowship is an intense year-long paid program that gives a handful of promising scribes the chance to jumpstart their careers through seminars and workshop, one-on-one mentor assignments with Disney and ABC creative execs and the ability to observe first hand how the sausage is made on ABC, Disney Channel or ABC Family shows, among others.

Alumni of this program, heading into its 19th year, have famously done well for themselves. Success stories from this year's program, which isn't even over yet, include Erika Johnson, who landed on "Ugly Betty"; Leyani Diaz, who joined the staff of "Brothers and Sisters"; and Matthew Whitney, who can now be found in the writers' room on ABC Family's "Greek."

I've spoken with a number of fellowship alums over the years, and there is no doubt that it is an incredible experience for those who are lucky enough to land a slot. Disney deserves a tip of the pen for its commitment to the Writing Fellowship and similar program for helmers that the Mouse House runs with the Directors Guild of America.

Applications for the Writing Fellowship will be accepted via this website through Aug. 8. So get out that spec script you've been harboring on your hard drive and get cracking.

A hearty bon appetite to Stephanie Izard, the first femme foodie to claim the mantle of "Top Chef."

It was the braised pistachios that seemed put her over the top among the final three. Lead judge Tom Colicchio, who's not easily impressed, commented at the close of Wednesday's finale on that nutty touch to one of her winning dishes, roasted lamb medallions with maitake mushrooms.

Izard, a 31-year-old Stamford, Conn., native and former owner of Scylla restaurant in Chicago, told the Top Chef blog that she's going to use her $100,000 prize to "pay off credit card bills" and get back into biz with a new eatery.

The fourth-season finale of Bravo's hit culinary competish came on the same day that the cabler announced plans for "Top Chef Junior," which puts a teen oriented spin on the format, as Variety's Stuart Levine reports.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Jack Nicholson is smack in the horns of a dilemma.

It's no secret the Oscar winner and film icon is a huge Lakers fan, sitting courtside for the last few decades whenever he's in town. So it's only natural to assume he'd be at Staples Center Thursday night for the fourth game of the Lakers-Celtics matchup.

But that same night one of Jack's best friends, Warren Beatty, is receiving the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award at the Kodak Theater, which will be broadcast on USA Network on June 25 at 9 p.m. and midnight. The two have worked together on such films as "Reds" and "The Fortune" and have been neighbors on pricey Mulholland Drive forever.

But, hey, he can see Warren taking out the garbage every week. How often do you get a chance to watch Kobe in the Finals?

Word has it Jack has decided to catch the game, which starts around 6:15 and should last til about 9. At that point, he could head over to the Kodak and give Warren all the support he needs before the "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Bugsy" star delivers his accceptance speech.

Others in attendance include Halle Berry, Faye Dunaway, Robert Evans, Dustin Hoffman, Diane Keaton, Barry Levinson, Quentin Tarantino, "Chinatown" scribe Robert Towne and natch, Mrs. Beatty herself, Annette Bening.

(Photo: Wire Image)

We certainly could've predicted this. The Parents Television Council-driven complaints about CBS' "Swingtown" are starting to roll in, as detailed in this post on Season Pass.

It was a surreal when-worlds-collide scene during the SAG solidarity rally today held outside the union's headquarters, which are conveniently located across the street from Variety.

The rally was designed to be a demonstration of SAG's resolve to fight for a "fair deal" and make it crystal clear how SAG feels about the primetime contract that its fellow actors union AFTRA just reached. The "vote no" chants and frequent cries of "AFTRA sucks" from the crowd left little doubt where SAG leaders come down on how the unions' 44,000 overlapping members should vote, as Variety's ever-laboring Dave McNary reports.

But as I made my way closer to the speakers platform where SAG's Alan Rosenberg and Doug Allen were speechifying, I was stopped dead by the presence of an Other. I started to hear the whispers. I ducked, scanned Wilshire Boulevard for signs of Smokey, and then looked up at the turquoise sky to make sure that a commercial airliner wasn't about to explode overhead.