Well, the first "American Idol" kicked off sans Simon and the verdict is...not bad, actually.

Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler each have their own set of reasons why they can hold their own as judges, but they also both make for interesting TV. While they lack the inane rantings and mean-spirited humor of Paula and Simon, the new trio seem to have a good rapport with each other. Let's face it, Simon and Paula hated each other and it showed..and it was awesome. This year, not only to the judging trio seem to enjoy each other's company, but I can actually picture Steve, J-Lo and Randy going out together and splitting an Awesome Blossom. Unfortunately, it does play off a little bit as Good Cop, Good Cop and Good Cop.

As for the actually judging, they handled the task at hand with the ease of seasoned vets...to a degree. When it came to the bad news, Jen seemed at odds with crushing the hopes and spirits of teens and twentysomethings. Just wait, Jen. Once you get to the fiftieth bikini chick looking for a little TV time, the novelty of destroying lives wears off.

Steven fared a bit better than Jen. He was fine with saying no and had the humor needed to deal with the lunacy of the contestants, because let's face it folks, dem folks can be friggin' crazy. But in the end, the audition rounds lacked the malicious humor most folks tune in to watch.

This is the new era of "Idol," kids. The nicer "Idol." An "Idol" filled with rainbows, kittens and comfy sweaters.

I miss Simon.

-- Erin Maxwell

Finally, a touchdown for Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton.

The two performers, long neglected for their celebrated work on "Friday Night Lights," each scored Emmy lead acting nominations today for their work on the series' fourth season.

Overall, "Lights" received four Emmy nominations today, matching the program's total from its first three seasons combined. Rolin Jones was nominated today for writing "The Son" episode, while Linda Lowy, John Brace and Beth Sepko were cited for the fourth year in a row for casting.

The noms are credited to DirecTV, which helped "Lights" keep on the air through an arrangement with NBC. Though a small amount of hope remains that the clock has not officially run out on "Lights," the cast and crew are aware that their current production season is likely their last.

"The thing that makes this so sweet is that we only have two episodes left (to film)," Britton said this morning. "Another thought was this was good for the show. We're always thinking of ways the show can be saved at the 11th hour."

We managed to get through the perky divas, soulful singers and unwashed, unbalanced masses that made up "American Idol's" early audition episodes. We made it though the Lady Gaga group sings during Hollywood Week. And now we are down to the nitty gritty...and man, is it boring.

Of the 24 performances offered over four hours, I only remember four or five perfs. The theme this week was Billboard hits, but it might as well have been "Songs We Heard Over RiteAid's Sound System While Buying Shampoo." There were no belters, no show stoppers, no divas and nothing to write home about. Only a few of the kids stood out, and unfortunately, it was for the wrong reasons.

On Ladies Night, three of the ladies went for Beatles tunes (Lilly, Haeley, Katelyn) while almost everyone else went for a ballad. Between Lacey's lilting "Landslide" and Michelle's fallen "Fallen," I was having a hard time staying away. I think it was just after Janell's version of "What About Love" that I rigged a "Clockwork Orange"-esque contraption that kept my eyes open.

The only standouts that night were Siobhan (which required me to stop the TiVo three times to get the spelling of her name right), who performed a sultry version of "Wicked Game" sans stage presence. Crystal, who sang "Hand in my Pocket" and worked her one-man band. Simon said she was no different than the folks who play instruments outside subway stations. I was thinking more like the parking lot of Bonnaroo. And finally, there was Lilly, who did well with the Beatles tune, but needs to take a hint from her hair and sing Aimee Mann.

Unfortunately, the boys were not much better with a few more horrible ballads and no personality with the exception of a two crooners. Big Mike added to the entertainment factor of the show, if not for his enthusiasm, than for the offhand chance that he might charge the judges while screaming "Mike Smash!" And Casey, because it's fun to watch Kara make a fool of herself over this hottie. I'm very much looking forward to listening to her late night stalker calls that will be posted to the TMZ site in about two years from now.

The problem with this season is that there seems to be a lack of originality with most of the contestants. Other than funky haircuts, most of them don't have a unique bone in their body. I'm willing to watch a few more episodes. Maybe the kids will develop over time. But as of right now, it's just not a good start. I need more from my "Idol" hopefuls. Like a pulse.

Next week: More singing and I learn to make a defibrillator out of my Ikea lamp and metal drink coasters to keep my heart from stopping out of sheer boredom.

-- Erin Maxwell

Ellen has finally taken her spot on the panel and she's...subdued.

Sure, she's funny and quick and brings a whole bag of zany antics to the show, but in a very low key way. I wasn't expecting a Robin Williams-esque "I forgot to take my meds" performance, but maybe a few more zingers, or perhaps a trademarked Ellen dance to liven things up.

Personally, I'm holding off on making any judgments right now. I'm still on the fence. Her credentials for judging a singing competition seem to be "I've been on stage before." Using that logic, the next "Idol" judge can range from a homeless person who once hit an open mic night at the Largo to ASU's Ms. Wet T-Shirt 2008.

However, her humor might be exactly what the show needed. Paula was funny, but in a more laughing "at" than "with" situation. At least they brought in someone likeable who is meant to be intentionally humorous.

In Hollywood Week, Ellen seemed a bit mellow, but I'm willing to wait until the show gets going to see if she will shine.

And now, on to Hollywood Week.

On the first day, 85 kids were sent home in the sudden death round. Former "Idol" character studies Skiibowski the Arrogant, Vanessa the Country Gal, Cornelius, Maegan and Amadeo & the Family Stone were all cut during this round. On the bright side, Andrew (who helped the "mention Paula" drinking game by singing a grand version of "Straight Up"), Haeley, Mary Benatar, Casey the Objectified, Didi the Waitress, Crystal the Tatted Mom and Ashley R. all made it through.

On the second day, we had the dreaded group round, where great talents are paired with their uber competitive counterparts and are forced to harmonize and dance. I completely forgot who that blind guy was ever able to make it through last season.

So, the best part of the group round? The horrible, horrible group names, like Destiny's Wild, Faith, the Denver Mighty Rangers and Team Awesome (with Daddy Mike). Also included where the Dreamers and Phoenix, because those are super original names that no one has ever used before.

About half of the 96 singers survived the cage fight that is the group round. Two men in, one man out! Welcome to the Thunderdome, kiddies!

-- Erin Maxwell

TO: Glenn Britt, Time Warner Cable
   Chase Carey, News Corp.

CC: All other execs involved

FROM: Cynthia Littleton, Variety

RE: New Year's Eve

Gentlemen --

Please allow me to make an eleventh-hour appeal on humanitarian grounds in the matter of the Fox Television Stations' retransmission consent negotiations.

I appreciate the complexity of the issues at stake for both companies, and I recognize that the best minds in both companies have been tackling the problem for some time. But I appeal to you in the spirit of fair play and revelry. The contract deadline of midnight Thursday, while understandable as being the close of the calendar year, puts us on a collision course with the hallowed tradition of ringing out the old and bringing in the new with a bang. I firmly believe it will cast a bad vibe on 2010 if the year starts with us engulfed in work rather than celebrating with family, friends and a glass (or three) of bubbly.

Let's face it -- the  issues aren't going to change between 8 p.m. ET Thursday and 8 a.m. ET Friday. So if you can't come to terms before then, how about both sides agree to one of the following options: A) Call a 12-hour truce; B) Do what you gotta do well before midnight; C) Wait until dawn.

What I most want to avoid -- and I think I speak for many of my journalist colleagues -- is having to spend all night checking the Blackberry every few minutes and fielding dueling press releases.

I'm not taking sides in this fight, but I am compelled to note that I spent New Year's Eve '08 following the Time Warner Cable-Viacom carriage tussle. The post-midnight ET settlement agreement in that situation came just in time to blow my whole night. And this time around, my family has really cool plans for kicking up our heels at a certain theme park in Anaheim, Calif.

Thank you for your consideration. Believe me when I say I wish both sides the best of luck in the search for a mutually agreeable solution during the next two days.

Happy New Year,

Cynthia Littleton

POSTED BY JON WEISMAN

Don’t call “Glee” a musical – at least not to co-executive producer Brad Falchuk’s face.

“I’m not a big musical fan,” Falchuk said at the show’s Television Critics Assn. panel today. “I don’t like musicals and I didn’t want to make a musical.  The idea was to attract people like me and (showrunner Ryan Murphy) …I hope we’re so good that people can’t not watch.”

And that’s why Falchuk and the “Glee” crew have cautious optimism that the show’s momentum won’t fall off after its successful preview following an episode of “American Idol” in May.

“Sometimes things find a niche audience, and oftentimes those are very high-quality things that can’t find a broad audience,” he said. “I don’t think we have that problem. I think we are for a broad audience.”

To be sure, the music promises to be a big attraction. Executive producer Dante Di Loreto said there’s a deal in place with Columbia for a soundtrack CD to come out in November, and with success, a second CD as quickly as December.

Di Loreto added that there has been no wanted song that has gotten away.

“We’ve been very, very fortunate,” he said. “We really have gotten every song we wanted. … Our show isn’t any different than any Fox show in terms of budget, but instead of smashing cars and planes, we’re singing songs and dancing.”

Good news on the "Glee" front. The show is definitely building on the promise of its pilot, which Fox sneak-peeked back in May.

And that's good news for Fox, which is putting everything it has into the launch of the series in September (regional screenings, contests, Internet vid-sharing sites, etc.).

Studio 20th Century Fox TV is eager to show off "Glee." So much so they invited a few dozen TV scribes to the lot on Wednesday for a screening of two more episodes. The segs went by quickly, complemented by a generous spread of popcorn, cookies and fruit salad.

Without giving away any plot points, it's great to see that the key characters are settling into their skin nicely, and the nifty production touches that made the pilot feel so fresh are still working, at least for me. And "Glee" deftly balances the soapy elements with laugh-out-loud moments.

At times the show can be downright saccharine, but somehow in the context of the material it mostly works. By the past standards of series co-creator Ryan Murphy, it's light and not terribly edgy, though there are signs that things may take a darker turn down the road apiece. The skewering of the holier-than-thou hypocrisy of the teen abstinence movement continues apace, with devilishly funny results.

A criticism so far is that some key characters are still pretty two-dimensional and verging on caricature.

Perhaps the show's biggest asset is its fresh-faced cast (they're good enough to overcome the fact that few of them look remotely high school age). Jane Lynch is the most well-known of the bunch, and needless to say she nails it every time she's on screen. And they're finding plenty to do with her character, the maniacal cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester who has it in for Matthew Morrison's Will Schuester, the earnest English teacher who dedicates himself to reviving the school's glee club, the source of his greatest triumph during his own years as a student at McKinley High School. (Lynch and Morrison pictured above at a "Glee" screening in May at Santa Monica High School.)

Lea Michele (pictured in purple with co-star Dianna Agron), who plays the over-achieving and ultra-ambitious Rachel Berry, continues to impress -- that girl can sing, as anyone who saw her in "Spring Awakening" can attest. Chris Colfer, who plays the music-loving closeted gay teen Kurt, gets a good showcase in an early episode, with Mike O'Malley as his dad.

The music selections in the upcoming segs are bouncy and fun -- including Kanye West's "Gold Digger" and Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)." Which means that Fox is not scrimping on the show. The music rights budget on "Glee" must be almost as much as the entire budget of some cable series.

The "Glee" express begins Sept. 16.

(I emphasize that these are first impressions, not a full-fledged review nor a hit-or-miss prediction. Most pilots at this stage of the game are very much works in progress.)

Pros:

Cons: It's an MOR ethnic comedy with no pizzazz. The great CCH Pounder is miscast in the wise mother role.

"Brothers" wasn't baaaaaaaaaaaaad on the scale of say, "Do Not Disturb" or "Kath and Kim." It's just milquetoast. I can't tell what anyone saw in it to deem it worthy of picking up.

I've always been fond of Daryl "Chill" Mitchell but he comes off as if he's phoning this one in. Pounder could read the fine print on the license agreement to sign in to FoxFlash.com and be more engaging than she is in this role as a loving mom just tryin' to keep the family together -- with a particularly uninspired catchphrase. Michael Strahan's acting chops leave a lot to be desired.

After thinking about it a bit, it struck me as something NBC might've developed in the late 1980s as a companion piece to "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" -- and then passed on. It also occurred to me that this is the kind of ultra-cliched sitcom formula that Mitch Hurwitz would send up, not put his name on as an exec producer.

All that said, it's not "Kath and Kim." So here's to hoping that the creative stewards of this show find inspiration and something better to do with Pounder's prodigious talent. Fast.

(I emphasize that these are first impressions, not a full-fledged review nor a hit-or-miss prediction. Most pilots at this stage of the game are very much works in progress.)

Pros: Tyler Labine, an original premise

Cons: The fact that the combo of Tyler Labine and an original premise fail to deliver much in the way of laughs in the pilot.

"Sons of Tucson" is mildly entertaining (check out the clip posted below) but I kept waiting for a really big laugh that never came. Labine was an immediate standout in CW's "Reaper." He's obviously talented and adept at Big Funny in a Jack Black-ish way. But the script never delivered.

The premise is au courant, with the three sons of a banker convicted for financial shenanigans sent cross country to live in a house that the father bought on the sly with cash when he was flush. The boys don't want to be separated by going into foster care, so they use their wits to find a faux father in a schlubby schemer they encounter at a sporting goods store.

The moppets are all pretty good but their characters so far are two-dimensional. The middle brother is the brains of the operation, the older brother is rotund and kinda dopey, and the little brother is a wild-eyed miscreant.

On first viewing it almost feels like there's too much going on in the pilot -- particularly with the B-story about Labine's Ron Snuffkin (two extra points for a great character name) desperate bid to raise cash to pay off a debt to a guy wielding a baseball bat, etc. The real potential here seems to be comedic value of Labine's somewhat involuntary induction into parenthood. Hopefully this is an area where all of these characters can be fleshed out. And deliver some laughs at the same time.

Here’s a news flash: “Lost” is a hit online. But so is CW’s “Privileged.”

For the first time, Nielsen Online has released rankings for online streaming of episodes and clips.
“Lost” tops the chart for the month of December with 1.4 million unique viewers, followed by NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” with 1.1 million.

By the yardstick of the total time viewers spent with a show online, the surprise leader in December was CW’s “Privileged.” The rating-challenged dramedy drew only 29,000 unique viewers, but those that did tune in stuck around for an average of 214.6 minutes.

There’s a big caveat to these rankings, however, in that they don’t include shows streamed via Hulu because Hulu won’t breakout its numbers to Nielsen (at least if I'm reading Nielsen-ese right. A Nielsen Online rep would only say that Hulu is "not available in our syndication service.")

Nielsen’s survey includes the websites of Hulu partners NBC and Fox, as well as ABC, CBS and CW. But by all accounts, Hulu's vid streaming traffic has outpaced that of the Peacock and Fox nets' individual websites. The survey captures clips that are embedded on other websites and blogs, as long as the streams come from the network's proprietary player (but not Hulu's player).

So much of the news surrounding Fox's upcoming Joss Whedon drama "Dollhouse" has been downbeat, you could be excused for forgetting that the show is designed to entertain rather than induce grief-counseling.

Fox asked for a reshot pilot, then decided to launch it and the series in the veritable graveyard of Friday night – the same night that buried Whedon's previous effort for Fox, "Firefly."

But with a sprightly sampling released for critics in advance of Tuesday's session at the TV Critics Assn. press tour, along with some believable spin that the Friday scheduling, which includes a "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" leadin, will mitigate audience demands, you could perceive the makings of a backlash to the backlash.

"My initial reaction (to the scheduling) was mixed, I think," Whedon said via satellite from Boston. "I had a bad experience on a Friday night – you might have heard about it. ...(But) I'm very excited about being paired with "Terminator," a show that I love and that shares the same sort of sensibility."

And although "Dollhouse," starring Eliza Dushku in the story of an underground agency that imprints personas on (mostly) unsuspecting people to create (mostly) infallible super-agents, is more serious than Whedon's iconic "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," saying it's humorless would be a stretch.

"The show is much more straight-ahead drama than what we've done before," Whedon said. "(But) we can't fight the funny. The funny is going to win ... partly because that's how articulate people react to difficult situations."

Meanwhile, for fans of Whedon's side project, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," there was more good news.

"As far as 'Dr. Horrible' is concerned, yeah, we'd like to do that again," Whedon said. "It's just a matter of time and the venue."

– Jon Weisman

Credit Kevin Reilly for keeping his sense of humor in tough times.

The Fox programming chief was contemplating a question from a scribe at TCA about what he thought of NBC running Jay Leno five nights a week at 10 p.m. He thought about it awhile and responded, “NBC is the crazy ex-wife I can’t get away from.”

Reilly’s tenure at NBC ended a few years ago the moment Jeff Zucker decided to bring in wunderkind Ben Silverman (how’s that working out, by the way?), yet he smartly takes the high road when commenting on anything Peacock related.

“I give them a lot of credit for signing up Jay. It’s a smart strategic move for them.” He was quick to add, however, that NBC has struggled with scripted programming at the 8 o’clock hour going all the way back to “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air," and having Leno at 10 isn't going to panacea for all that ails the folks in Burbank across the primetime landscape.

While Fox remains in strong shape as behemoth “American Idol” starts up tonight, and other dramas continue to perform well – “Fringe,” “Bones,” “House” – the live-action comedies continue to be a drag on the network.

Despite a renewal of “Til Death” – a decision that feels based much more on economics than creativity – there is little in the pipeline to generate much enthusiasm.

Again, Reilly used humor to deflect reality.

“We made a lot of year-end lists with ‘Do Not Disturb.’ Our comedy brand is the animation block, but we need to rebuild the live-action brand. It’s down to a low-pulse level. It’s very tough when you lose your blocks and protection. I give CBS credit. Their Monday comedies, like ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ are one of the best stories of the year.”

He added: “We’re going to be methodical. We’ve order five half-hour pilots. We’ll see whether one makes it on the fall schedule.”

-- Stuart Levine

Emerging from my December blog hibernation, I'm much more inclined to look forward to what the small screen has in store for '09 than reassessing '08. Fortunately, my Variety colleague Stuart Levine was motivated to muse on his highs and lows for '08 (posted after the jump).

There's not a whole lot that I've penciled into my must-see sked for the first quarter. Of course, the Big Event is the Jan. 21 return of "Lost" for its high-five season (more on that later). The final two "Friday Night Lights" segs of the season (maybe forever) on DirecTV Jan. 7-14, will be three-hanky affairs, for sure, according to sources who have already screened them. And there'll be more multicamera hijinks to enjoy from "The Big Bang Theory" ensemble, my fave comedy troupe on the tube these days, hands down.

As for new material, I was very impressed by what I saw on the four-episode screener of Showtime's "The United States of Tara." Toni Collette is amazing as a suburban mother and artist who grapples with three distinct personalities who also inhabit Tara's corporeal being. The supporting cast is also strong, with John Corbett playing Tara's husband in an understated way, and the always-engaging Rosemarie DeWitt as Tara's sister. Brie Larson impresses as the older of Tara's two teenage kids.

"Tara," which as everyone knows was conceived by Steven Spielberg and birthed by Diablo Cody, bows Jan. 18.

Gordon Ramsay fell in love yesterday -- with a Bloody Mary sorbet.

"I was slightly dubious about it" at first, he confessed, noting that it is seasoned with Tabasco sauce. "Now I'm over the moon. It's working brilliantly."

Ramsay shared this morsel during a phone chat yesterday afternoon (he was somewhere in England) to talk about the mega renewal deal he's just inked with Fox for two more seasons of "Hell's Kitchen" and "Kitchen Nightmares," plus a blind series commitment and plans for a  live "cook-along-with-Gordon" special sometime in the coming season.

That's a lot for a guy who's already hosting multiple shows in the U.K. and running a growing portfolio of Ramsay-branded restaurants.

"It's a happy problem," Ramsay assures. "I take it all very seriously, and I have an amazing (production) team behind it all."

Mike Darnell, Fox's prexy of alternative programming and Ramsay's biggest fan on this side of the Atlantic, is in awe of Ramsay's work ethic. He doesn't just host "Hell's Kitchen" and "Kitchen Nightmares"; he is those shows, Darnell says.

"Unlike a regular reality show host comes in, does his job and leaves -- these are incredibly demanding television shows for Gordon," Darnell says. "On 'Nightmares,' he spends four-to-five days in each city. He's on camera 12 hours a day. This is a hard-working man."

Yikes. Rough start last night for Fox's new sitcom "Do Not Disturb."

Show that was pretty well batted around by crix drew 4.9 million viewers and 2.0 rating/5 share in adults 18-49 in the 9:30 p.m. berth, according to prelim Nielsens. "Do Not Disturb" sank from its "Til Death" lead-in (6.4 mil, 2.4/7), which in turn gave up significant ground from a solid lead-in from 8 p.m. drama "Bones" (8.9 million, 2.9/8).

"Do Not Disturb" wasn't quite in "Anchorwoman" territory -- the comedy Fox yanked after one woefully low-rated airing last August -- but it's not a promising preem, by any means.

Overall, NBC won the night with another two-hour installment of "America's Got Talent" (11.5 mil, 2.8/8).

Meanwhile, in late night, Barack Obama's visit to "The Late Show with David Letterman" pushed Letterman to a narrow win over "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." "Late Show" polled a 4.1 household rating/10 share in Nielsen's 55 overnight metered markets to "Tonight's" 3.9/10. Craig Ferguson's "Late Late Show" squeaked past "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" by an even tighter margin (1.9/7 vs. 1.8/6).

"Fringe" got off to a surprisingly modest start for Fox last night.

It did respectable business, for sure, for a new show, winning the night for Fox in the adults 18-49 derby. But for all the promotion Fox gave it and for J.J. Abrams standing in the sci-fi/fantasy TV world, you would've expected more people to show up for the first seg.

Airing from 8-9:35 p.m., "Fringe" averaged about 9 million viewers and a 3.2 rating/9 share in adults 18-49, according to prelim Nielsens. The good news is that viewers didn't flee from the show at the half-hour marks. And "Fringe" will get a boost next week when it airs at 9 p.m. with a lead-in from the mighty "House."

Meanwhile, folks over at the CW have to be satisfied, if not overjoyed, with the second-week perf of "90210" and the debut of "Privileged." "90210" fell to 3.3 million viewers from last week's 4.9 million. "Privileged" hung in there at 9 p.m. with 2.9 million. And "90210" may yet see an uptick next week. Last night, the first-season finale of ABC Family's summer success "The Secret Life if the American Teenager" (still awaiting those numbers) aired opposite "90210," which surely put a dent in the teen and young femme turnout for CW.

Variety ratings guru Rick Kissell has all the details on last night's numbers right here.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Now, finally, J.J. Abrams feels your pain.

Abrams, who exec produced "Alias" way back when, now  knows what it was like to be on the other side.

While visiting buddy Greg Grunberg's house awhile back, the two were hanging out and "Alias" popped up on TV. Abrams (pictured right) was watching intently, and, like millions of others who scratched their heads watching the tail end of that series, he couldn't quite figure out who was good, who was bad and what the hell was going on.

"It was so confusing, it was impenetrable," Abrams admitted at Monday's "Fringe" session at TCA. "It was, 'Who the fuck is this guy?'"

Funny stuff, especially for the guy who birthed Sydney Bristow and knows where she started, but no so much where she ended up.

Anyway, point of the story was that don't expect "Fringe," Abrams' new show on Fox that's receiving the most buzz of any fall skein, to fall into the "Alias" dilemma.

Unlike "Lost" -- another Abrams series -- and "Alias," "Fringe" won't necessitate compulsive viewing to follow along.

"'Lost' has received and garnered a reputation for being a complicated show," he said. "'Fringe' is an experiment for us; a show with an overall story and end game. This is a show where you don't have to watch episodes one, two and three to understand episode four. This show will have a different paradigm. We're trying very diligently that this doesn't require the insane dedication that if you miss an episode, you have no idea what's going on."

Abrams recognizes that "Fringe" is being talked about a bunch and he takes that as a challenge.

"I do feel, ultimately, that any pressure or expectations for this or any show can ruin a show. If you expect it to change your life (as a viewer), it'll inevitably be disappointing," he continued. "I'm hoping we create a show that's entertaining, and hope and think it is. I don't think one show can save the fall."

Crix got their official look at the show Sunday, as Fox screened it at the Beverly Hilton. Some, though, have seen it previously online, as the pilot was leaked on to the Internet. None of the exec producers on stage -- Abrams, Alex Kurtzman (pictured left), Roberto Orci (pictured right), showrunner Jeff Pinkner and Bryan Burk -- were happy with the early exposure and all denied leaking it.

"We didn't put the pilot online," Burk said. "We hate putting it out there until it's done. That's why you didn't get advance copies. We keep working on our stuff until it airs. Often I'm working on 'Lost' 24 hours before it goes up."

So with the banter in the TV community calling "Fringe" the top dog, plus a primo timeslot -- 9 p.m. Tuesdays after "House" -- the pressure's on. Failure, it would seem, is not an option.

"We have no excuses," said Orci. "We can't say Fox didn't promote it. It's our fault if it doesn't work."

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Of all the entertainment toppers at the broadcast nets, Fox's Kevin Reilly comes across as a guy who gets it.

Unlike his counterparts, Reilly doesn't arrive at TCA just to read off the latest ratings stats or tout the company line -- "We love this show!"; This is a game-changer"; We couldn't be happier!"; -- but actually seems to be thinking and processing the questions from info-starved scribes.

One of his most well thought out answers came while addressing the current state of network comedy. He could've given the standard response -- "It's cyclical. It'll come back"  -- but instead sees the genre as having a difficult time making a complete recovery. He even took a shot at Fox.

"We've talked about it every year. A lot of confidence has left the creative space. I see talented people coming in skittish and not knowing what to pitch, and what will sell," Reilly explained. "NBC has a cohesive thing, something I worked on while I was there. We're going to mix it up this year. We're not taking our pitches in our office, but go out on their own turf. To a restaurant, house, anywhere to get it out of a sterile environment. We're going to pay writers to shoot something before they come in."

"Our comedy brand has a bit anemic, and we're looking for the next 'Malcolm in the Middle."

One comedy project Reilly seemed particularly enthusiastic about is midseason single-camera laffer "Boldly Going Nowhere," from the team behind FX's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

"It's 'The Office' in space," is how Reilly described it, and he should know something about what makes "The Office" a hit as he was head of NBC Entertainment when the show arrived in Burbank via London. "It's about petty jealousy and incompetence on a long-term mission."

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:

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.

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)

Is there a better character actor in TV these days than Lance Reddick?

His steely presence as the ramrod-straight (well, almost) cop Cedric Daniels added so much to "The Wire," particularly in the final season that wrapped in March. He's creepy-beyond-freaky in his recurring role as the ultra-mysterious Matthew Abaddon in "Lost" this season (on that show, that's saying something). And he's sure to add gravitas to J.J. Abrams' latest small-screen adventure, "Fringe," on Fox in the fall. I probably should've known that he was cast in that pilot but it didn't register until I saw the cast shot this ayem when Fox announced its sked.

The Yale drama school-trained Reddick made his mark on the New York stage (that's clear from his distinctive intonation) and gradually moved into film and TV roles. (He's nothing if not versatile. His C.V. even includes a guest shot as a stage hand in a 1997 seg of "The Nanny.") A semi-regular role on HBO's "Oz" in 2000 and 2001 helped Reddick raise his profile, as did his role in the Emmy-winning HBO mini "The Corner," a precursor to "Wire." He's done guest shots on all three "Law & Order" shows, he's stopped in on "CSI: Miami," "The West Wing" and "Numbers," and been seen in features including "I Dreamed of Africa,' "Don't Say a Word," "Brother to Brother" and most recently, the Tribeca entry "Tennessee."

Here's hoping he gets a long steady gig on "Fringe." He appears to play one of the good guys, an FBI agent working with the femme hero (played by Aussie actress Anna Torv, pictured right with co-star Joshua Jackson) to help solve the mystery of why a plane load of people die grisly deaths on a commercial flight (Flight 627 -- what's the numerology there, I wonder?) into Boston. Their probe begins to uncover traces of a broader conspiracy...but you already suspected that.

Update: Reader AC brings up a good question: Will Reddick's role on "Fringe" prevent him from recurring on "Lost" next season and beyond? I'm thinking probably not, although it will probably take some advance planning on shooting dates, especially because "Lost" lenses in Hawaii. The fact that "Fringe" and "Lost" both hail from J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot banner (albeit different studios in Warner Bros. and ABC Studios, respectively) doesn't hurt either -- both shows will (presumably) be more inclined to help each other make it work. Even if there was no such connection, Reddick's role on "Lost" can only raise his profile with the same demo that "Fringe" hopes to attract, so you gotta believe that the powers that be see Reddick doing double duty on both shows as a good thing all around. Of course this presumes that "Lost's" creative stewards see Reddick's character continuing in a significant way. You can never tell on "Lost," but they've certainly woven him into enough integral plot situations that it stands to reason we're going to see more of him.

Fox is giving "Fringe" everything it's got in the fall, moving "House" down to an 8 p.m. slot to give J.J. Abrams' new drama (pictured left) a strong sendoff on Tuesdays in the fall.

There was more shuffling than we expected on Fox's fall lineup. With going for laughs in the Wednesday 8-9 p.m. hour this fall, Fox has done a switcheroo and will slot drama "Bones" at 8 p.m. and its sitcom combo "Til Death" and "Do Not Disturb" (the working title for the newcomer formerly known as "The Inn") at 9 p.m.

Monday will remain home to "Prison Break" at 8 p.m. at 9 p.m., paired with season two of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday are all unscripted, and Sunday remains animation central. Frosh toons "Sit Down, Shut Up" (which seems to have gone back to that title after switching to "Class Dismissed" earlier this week) and "Family Guy" spinoff "Cleveland" (pictured right) won't be ready until spring at the earliest.

Here's Fox's fall sked. Variety's marathon-man Michael Schneider has more details in this report. The January lineup and new show descriptions follow after the jump.

FOX PRIMETIME SCHEDULE: FALL 2008

(All Times ET/PT)

MONDAY

8:00-9:00 PM    TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES
9:00-10:00 PM   PRISON BREAK            

TUESDAY

8:00-9:00 PM    HOUSE   
9:00-10:00 PM   FRINGE         

WEDNESDAY

8:00-9:00 PM    BONES          
9:00-9:30 PM    ‘TIL DEATH             
9:30-10:00 PM   DO NOT DISTURB (wt)            

THURSDAY

8:00-9:00 PM    THE MOMENT OF TRUTH            
9:00-10:00 PM   KITCHEN NIGHTMARES             

FRIDAY

8:00-9:00 PM    ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER?             
9:00-10:00 PM   DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS!               

SATURDAY

8:00-8:30 PM    COPS   
8:30-9:00 PM    COPS   
9:00-10:00 PM   AMERICA’S MOST WANTED: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK      
11:00 PM-Midnight       MADtv   
Midnight-12:30 AM       TALKSHOW WITH SPIKE FERESTEN

SUNDAY

7:00-8:00 PM    THE OT (NFL post-game) 
8:00-8:30 PM    THE SIMPSONS   
8:30-9:00 PM    KING OF THE HILL       
9:00-9:30 PM    FAMILY GUY      
9:30-10:00 PM   AMERICAN DAD            

And now our attention turns to Fox, which wraps up upfront week on Thursday with its 4 p.m. presentation at Gotham's City Center.

Come to think of it, I wonder why Fox didn't go first this year? It's been the No. 1 network in 18-49 for the past four seasons, and in this strike-jumbled year it's going to close out the 2007-08 campaign as No. 1 in total viewers too.

So with NBC sitting out its usual Monday midday slot in this year in favor of the Jimi Hendrix version, Fox might've moved in and made a statement about how far its come since the days of "Mr. President" and "The Wilton North Report." What's the expression Rupert Murdoch is fond of citing -- "Fortune favors the brave" Oh well, maybe next year.

The time has come to get in touch with our inner Preston Beckman and figure out what moves Fox is going to make in the fall and in its January season. It doesn't take a Ph.D in skedding to figure out that the net is going to shine a spotlight on J.J. Abrams’ drama “Fringe” as its hot new prospect for the fall and Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse” for midseason.

Speculation is that “Fringe” will land on Monday in the fall in tandem with “Prison Break” or “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” The betting is that Fox won’t want to mess with success on Tuesday and thus will keep its drama combo of “Bones” and “House” intact on the night for the fall.

Wednesday seems likely to remain Fox’s live-action comedy night, though the net may shuffle things in light of CBS’ decision to sked laffers in the 8-9 p.m. hour next season. Newcomer “The Inn,” starring Niecy Nash and Jerry O’Connell, is likely destined for a pairing with third-year sitcom “Til Death.” Wednesday 9 p.m. could go to “Sarah Connor” if “Fringe” winds up mated with “Prison Break on Monday.

In the fall, Thursday and Friday are expected to remain some combination of unscripted skeins. As ever, Fox has a strong reality bench that includes “Don’t Forget the Lyrics,” “Kitchen Nightmares,” “Moment of Truth” and “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader.”

Sunday is set to remain status quo with a stack of animated comedies. Newcomers “Class Dismissed” and “Family Guy” spinoff “Cleveland” won’t be ready to bow until first quarter at the earliest.

Meanwhile, given how much 20th Century Fox TV is investing in Whedon's latest TV effort, “Dollhouse” is sure to land a plum spot in January when “24” and “American Idol,” return to the lineup.

Fox is sending millionaires down in the hole, as they say on "The Wire," for its latest reality venture.

"Secret Millionaire," which net announced today with a six-seg pickup, will send a group of rich folk into "some of America's most impoverished" neighborhoods to make new friends and figure out who's most deserving of a six-figure bit of philanthropic largess at the end of the series when they reveal their true identities.

"Secret Millionaire" hails from RDF USA and will be exec produced by Chris Coelen, Greg Goldman and Bruce Toms. It's based on an RDF show that was a hit on U.K.'s Channel 4. No air date has been set, per Fox.

Nothing's official yet but it looks like Fox has decided to take a pass on the Bernie Mac comedy that Bruce Helford penned for Warner Bros. TV, "Starting Under." However, the network is said to be bound and determined to getting the comedian back on its air as soon as possible, and execs hope to start developing a new project with Bernie Mac after the upfront madness ends.

Warner Bros. TV, which has a deal with the comic, is equally determined to find the right fit for the star and will likely shop a new project around town, though there's an understanding that the welcome mat is definitely still out at Fox for Mac.

During the weekend, the signs were that Fox would pick up "Starting Under," about a blue-collar guy who's forced to move in with his son after losing his job, and then give it a major overhaul. But somewhere between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, there was a meeting of the minds and it was decided that it would make more sense to just start over again from scratch.

Bernie Mac, of course, enlivened Fox's air from 2001-2006 as the star of "The Bernie Mac Show."

Primetime in the 2008-09 season is gonna be all over the map -- Australia, Israel, Canada and the U.K. for starters.

In this strike-interrupted pilot season, networks are embracing concepts and formats from overseas like never before. After writing "based on a ----- series" about 50 times while tracking the pilot buzz this weekend, I got to wondering about the origins of these projects.

I doubt that I'm the only one who assumes that if a property is being exported to the U.S., it must've been a hit at home, right? Wrong. At least that wasn't the case with "Sit Down, Shut Up" (pictured left), the live-action Australian sitcom that has inspired the Fox animated series "Class Dismissed," from Mitch Hurwitz and a bunch of his old "Arrested Development" cohorts. Fox gave it the greenlight on Saturday on the strength of a short presentation reel.

Original "Sit Down" ran for 13 segs on Australia's Channel Ten in 2001 but wasn't well received by critics or viewers, according to a post on "TV Tonight," a blog that bills itself authoritatively as "Australia's leading TV blog." In fact, this voice of Oz TV greeted the news that "Sit Down" had been fingered as a U.S. animated series with a pithy: "Now I've heard everything."

CBS is believed to be thisclose to picking up has picked up an unusual drama project, "Mythological Ex," that is based on an Israeli series of the same name (and retitled "The Ex List" for the U.S.).

Tracking down any details of this show -- revolving a woman sent on a soul-searching journey after a tarot card reader tells her to get hitched pronto to Mr. Right, who is someone who has already been in her life -- on the web in English was kinda tough.

From what I could gather, the series airs on Israel's Channel 2, an outlet that bowed in 2005, and is produced by a company called Reshet TV. Here's the link to the company's home page. If anyone who reads Hebrew can provide further guidance on whether "Mythological Ex" has its own page within, I'd be grateful. (Thanks to reader Phil, here's the link to the page, with clips of the show.) The image at right was all I could turn up through the Google Image search.

Word is that CBS execs are over the moon about the potential of the U.S. adaptation penned by Diane Ruggiero.

Fox just made it official: It's a go for J.J. Abrams' "Fringe."

Two-hour pilot produced by Abrams' Bad Robot and Warner Bros. TV, stars Aussie thesp Anna Torv as a femme FBI agent who tackles cases involving spooky unexplained phenonena with the aid of an out-there scientist and his neer-do-well genius son. Yes, it does sound like "X-Files Redux" but because "Lost" is perhaps the Greatest Show Ever we'll give Team Abrams (whose fearless leader is pictured at left) the benefit of the doubt that they can put a fresh spin on the genre.

"Fringe" pilot was penned by frequent Abrams' collaborators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and helmed by Alex Graves.

Speculation is that "Fringe" will be Fox's Big New Fall Launch series while Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse," which already has a seven-episode order, will be the Big New January Launch series. With these two shows plus "Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles" returning, there's gonna be a lotta reality-bending going on at Fox next season.

Earlier today, Fox handed pickup to animated comedy "Sit Down, Shut Up," from Sony Pictures TV  and 20th Century Fox TV, insiders said. "Sit Down" is exec produced by "Arrested" maestro Mitchell Hurwitz and features the vocal talents of "Arrested" thesps Jason Bateman (pictured right), Will Arnett and Henry Winkler, along with comic Nick Kroll. That greenlight comes on the heels of Fox's order dispensed late Friday for live-action comedy "The Inn," whose pilot Bateman directed.

"Sit Down" is based on a live-action Oz comedy and revolves around the dysfunctional faculty at a high school. Pickup had been expected. Toon vets Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein were already recruited as showrunners last month (Daily Variety, April 28).

No official word yet on anything from Fox, but it's understood that in addition to "The Inn," Fox has have given the nod to a third season of Sony sitcom "Til Death" and has pinkslipped the Kelsey Grammer-Patricia Heaton starrer "Back to You" after one season.

Meanwhile, CW execs are expected to make their official pickup calls later today. It's a no-brainer that the spinoff of "90210," from Rob Thomas and CBS Paramount Network TV, gets the go-ahead. Warner Bros. TV's young femme-friendly drama "How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls" is also considered a safe bet.

"Inn" stars Niecy Nash (pictured left) and Jerry O'Connell in a multi-camera comedy set in a hip Gotham hotel. It hails from scribe Abraham Higginbotham (who is yet another "Arrested Development" alum), 20th Century Fox TV, Reveille and Principato-Young Entertainment.

Meanwhile, rumblings from the Fox screening room is that execs very much want to be in biz with Bernie Mac (pictured right), whose Warner Bros.TV  project "Starting Under" has a 13-seg commitment, but they were only lukewarm about the execution of pilot, revolving around a down on  his luck guy who's forced to move in with son, by comedy vet Bruce Helford.

So the project still seems likely to get a greenlight but it will undergo some major renovations, perhaps with another scribe brought in to work alongside Helford.

Biz watchers today are also intently focused on ABC and what it may or may not be announcing Tuesday ayem as it moves into the leadoff slot normally occupied by NBC (which already lifted the curtain on its sked last month).

Chatter late Friday was that the fate of a renewal of David E. Kelley's "Boston Legal" was still wrapped up in the prospect of Kelley and 20th Century Fox TV reaching a deal with ABC Studios to move the Kelley cop pilot "Life on Mars" from 20th to ABC Studios under the direction of new showrunners Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec.

Drama "Women's Murder Club" appears to be officially K.O'd after one season, but as of late Friday there still seemed to be some hope for renewals for ABC midseasoners "Eli Stone" and "Miss Guided."

It's a very weird year. That's what everyone in town keeps saying over and over again as the biz gears up for the annual upfront ritual, which will be a little less ritualistic this year.

Gone in this Very Weird Year is the time-honored way in which reporters get big hints on what pilots are getting picked up -- by tracking the talent that is being flown in to New York.

As we all know, there are a whole lotta pilots that have not yet been shot and are just now setting casts. Most of the chatter, good and bad, about 2008-09 hopefuls this week has centered around the projects that the nets have in hand as pilots or presentations, or at least have significant thesps attached, a la ABC's "Never Better," which landed Damon Wayans (pictured right) as its lead last week.

So with the caveat that it is all spin and conjecture at this moment in time, let's review the buzz out there.

ABC's the hardest to read when it comes to new stuff.

On comedy front, Cedric the Entertainer (pictured left) vehicle (ABC Studios) seems to have traction -- or not, depending on who you talk to!

"Bad Mothers Handbook" (ABC Studios), about three generations of femmes living together, has not lensed but has the benefit of Alicia Silverstone (pictured right) and another high-profile name in the offing.

"My Brother's Hot and Other Dilemmas" (ABC Studios) about a girl attracted to her new step brother, has Alyssa Milano (pictured left). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that either a Silverstone or Milano comedy vehicle could be a nice companion for ABC's frosh hit "Samantha Who?" -- assuming that either pilot satisfies the larger obligation to actually be funny.

"Never Better" (ABC Studios) shot up on the radar after Wayans signed on and Marc Buckland signed on to direct.

Drama-wise at ABC ... I just don't know.

Only "Life on Mars," offbeat time-travel cop drama, is in the can. David E. Kelley and Tommy Schlamme have bowed out of that project, they're looking to move this from 20th Century Fox TV to ABC Studios and retool it under prospective showrunners Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg.

There's been a lot of chatter in the biz that "Life on Mars" shuffle granted a reprieve to Kelley's "Boston Legal" for another season. (Biz watchers with long memories will recall that two years ago, the same thing happened when ABC was hot for Kelley's "Mars.") But I'm hearing that "Boston Legal's" fate also has a lot to do with Kelley and how involved he intends to be going forward, among other factors.

It seems a safe bet that "Women's Murder Club" is headed for the morgue, though ABC is said to be anxious to stay in biz with star Angie Harmon. Midseason drama "Eli Stone" is said to be 50-50 for a sophomore year. And surprisingly, ABC is said to be considering a pickup for midseason comedy "Miss Guided." Can't swear to this but I heard the actors' options have been extended for a few more weeks.

At CBS, it's always a dangerous game trying to predict what Team Moonves is going to announce at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday. But some chatter about returning shows seems to be firming up.

No lie -- Fox's much-touted "Moment of Truth" had some stickiness in its debut Wednesday behind "American Idol." It passed the toughest test of holding on to the vast majority of "Idol's" coattails.

"Truth" -- which challenges contestants answer a string of increasingly personal questions, things they've already answered while strapped to a polygraph machine prior to going on camera, in the hopes of claiming the $500,000 top prize -- wound up with 23.2 million viewers and 10.2 rating/24 share in the key adults 18-49 demo, per prelim Nielsens. "Idol," by contrast in its final half-hour pulled 28.5 million viewers and 11.4/28 in 18-49.

"Truth" also held up well at the half-hour mark -- if "Idol" viewers were gonna bail, they would've bailed by 9:30. Show lost about 3.7 million viewers and three demo share points between at the half, which isn't half bad by any measure.

With "Idol" back on the sked, everything else pretty much paled, but an honorable mention goes to NBC's "Deal or No Deal" (13.8 million, 3.7/10) which managed to put up its best numbers in 13 months despite going toe to toe at 8 p.m. with "Idol."

It's tough at the top. "American Idol" stormed back on to the primetime sked on Tuesday, bringing along 33.2 million viewers and a 13.8 rating/32 share in adults 18-49 for its two-hour opener.

Nobody would ever sniff at 33 million-plus viewers or a 32 share in the key demo, but it's gotta be noted that this year's debut is off 11% in viewers from last year (when the two-hour preem drew 37.4 million) and 13% in adults 18-49 (15.8/36).

That said, there isn't a network exec on Earth who wouldn't give up several appendages to have "Idol" on his or her air. Welcome back, Simon. And to all you helpless hopefuls -- a la Ben Haar, 24, of Delaware (pictured right), who found a way to get the camera's attention at the Philadelphia audition -- thanks for giving it your all, and then some.

Mundane news about the TV biz is overshadowed by the strike drama these days, but in the late afternoon today I caught up with the fact that Sunday was a pretty good night for business, for all but NBC. I can't believe I missed the rare opportunity to enjoy a primetime oater with part one of CBS' three-part Larry McMurtry mini, "Comanche Moon," a "prequel" to "Lonesome Dove." (That's what screeners are for.)

Fox's pre-strike decision to hold "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" back for midseason paid off, with a big assist from the NFC playoff game between the Giants and Cowboys. Sure, the football overrun with a gazillion viewers and 35 share in adults 18-49 helped it get off the tarmac but "Sarah Connor" didn't fold in its second half-hour, which was a good sign.

(Pictured left, Linda Cardellini and Steve Zahn in "Comanche Moon.")

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Yup, it's that time of year again.

Time to find ourselves face to face with those narcissistic posers, self-righteous egomaniacs, and, on rare occasion, someone who actually knows something about what it takes to create a winning song. And those are just the judges.

"American Idol," in all its pumped-up glory, returns Tuesday and Wednesday night and so the seventh season begins. The auditions, the insults, the crying, the tears, the guest performers, "Idol Gives Back," a trip to Hollywood, a final 12 and, when it's all over, another champ standing among the confetti at the Kodak.

Fox arranged a conference call with Simon Cowell Wednesday morning to discuss the new season, his reflections on last year and whether Paula is as crazy as she seemed in her Bravo reality show.

"Yes, she's an emotional girl," Cowell said, "but things were exaggerated in the edit."

Cowell affirms last season was a bad one, in terms on the quality of the competition, but believes this new group of contestants are a cut above from what he's seen at the nationwide auditions.

"This is a much better season. If it was worse, we'd have a problem. We can't guarantee to find a superstar but we're at the mercy of who turns up at the auditions. … I think it's going to be one of the strongest years in a long, long time. The talent is younger, more current and more interesting. I'm going into this season more optimistic than last year. Paula and Randy said last year the bar was risen, but I didn't believe it. I think it's going to be a big year."

Where "Idol" always arrives in January as the 800-lb. gorilla on the TV landscape, this year it's gained a few pounds. There's little, if any, scripted competition and viewers could be salivating for the real-life drama that "Idol" provides.

Cowell discussed this season's heightened ratings expections set against the lack of scripted programming, but the Brit said those raised expectations are nothing new.

"That's happened the last two or three years. We're in the same position as we were last year and the year before. The show has got to look better and be more fun," he admitted. "If it is, people will watch but it absolutely comes down to the content we provide the viewers."

As for his relationship with Paula and Randy, Cowell says that after being together for so long, there's bound to be fights and disagreements. But that's all part of the natural course of things.

"After seven years, you get on each other's nerves. We're not robots and you can become a bit argumentative or emotional."

Emotional isn't a term one might use to describe Cowell, who seems very calculating in his comments to impressionable would-be stars. Especially the ones who can't sing a lick and are deserving of his wrath. But even Cowell admits there have been instances when he's been unnecessarily harsh.

"There are certain times when you watch a show back and you hate yourself for what you said at the time," he explains. "You don't know their backstory before they walked in the room. Maybe their dog just died. You see their backstory and feel horrible."

"And sometimes you get very bored, but at the end of the day every person has seen 'Idol' and they know what they're in store for."

Not just the horrific singers, but audiences too. We know what to expect as well.

Let the hysteria begin.

Joss Whedon was a goner. He had no intent of going back to the smallscreen, and in fact was trying hard to sort out his options for a pre-strike feature writing offer. Then he got a ring from his faithful friend and former "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" colleague Eliza Dushku, who was looking for some advice on how she should make the most of the development pact she'd signed with Fox and 20th Century Fox TV during the summer.

In mid-September, the two went to lunch at Santa Monica's at Ivy at the Shore, and over a meal, almost by accident, Whedon came up with the concept for "Dollhouse," as Variety's Michael Schneider details in his report on the seven-seg commitment that Fox and its studio sib 20th have given to Whedon's idea for a show about a super-secret (what else?) world of folks who are walking tabula rasa -- blank slates who are programmed with different personalities each time they're dispatched for a mission.

"It was a mistake!" Whedon says. "I sat down with her to talk about her options, and acted all sage, saying things backwards like Yoda and laying out what I thought she should do. But in the course of doing it, I accidentally made one up. I told it to her, and she said, 'That's exactly what I want to do.' "

At the moment Eliza beckoned, Whedon was at work on his fantasy-thriller "Goner," for producers Mary Parent and Scott Stuber at U, and he was fielding a whole bunch of options for a pre-strike feature writing project. Although Whedon didn't have such a grand time during his last hitch at Fox in 2002-03 with "Firefly" (which begat the 2005 U feature "Serenity"), times change and so do networks.

Whedon gamely took a meeting with Fox's Peter Liguori and Kevin Reilly, and walked out with a sizable commitment for a project the net hopes to have in production by the spring -- in an ideal, strike-free world. Fingers crossed.

(Pic of Whedon and Dushku at a 2003 "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" charity event by Albert L. Ortega/WireImage)

Fox is getting an early start on the tubthumping for season seven of "24."

Net has a countdown clock ticking off the minutes to the debut of the "Day 7" trailer at 1 p.m. ET on Oct. 25. (Click here to watch the seconds fly by for yerself at 24trailer.com). Website also alerts "24's" die-hards that the trailer will bow at the same time on the big-big screen in Times Square, and that the first promo for the new season will air Oct. 25 during Game Two of the World Series.

Hard to believe Kiefer Sutherland's been on the job as Jack Bauer for seven years now. The upcoming frame promises to find Cherry Jones in the White House and president Allison Taylor; Bauer on trial in Washington D.C. for "his actions in the pursuit of justice" (not gonna go there with the cheap DUI jokes out of respect for Kiefer Sutherland's rep among the "24" staff as being the nicest guy in the world to work with); and the return of Carlos Bernard as Jack's erstwhile colleague Tony Almeida (wasn't he dead?).

Clock begins anew for "24" on Sunday, Jan. 13 with a two-hour opener, followed by another hour on Jan. 14 in its regular Monday 9 p.m. berth. I have to confess that I'm still catching up with segs from season six, and so far I can't stop thinking about how great the underrated Powers Boothe is as veep Noah Daniels (pictured right).

It may have taken them a little longer to get there than most shows, but Fox's unsinkable "Family Guy" is prepping a 100th episode party for Oct. 29 at the ever-fashionable Social Hollywood. Seth MacFarlane and his crew are known to know how to celebrate their "freakin' sweet" milestones. This bash might lend itself to some TMZ moments, if Stewie gets out of hand...

There might be some TMZ action coming out of next week's Hollywood Radio and Television Society gathering of the heads of the five network families. The selection of Barry Sonnenfeld, helmer and exec producer of ABC's "Pushing Daisies," as moderator of the Oct. 16 luncheon has raised some eyebrows among rival nets. It's a head-scratcher for others, given that Sonnenfeld isn't exactly known for his emcee-ing skills. But for those of us who've complained about milquetoast HRTS moderators in the past, we've got to give Barry the benefit of the doubt. It outta be a lively sesh, anyway, with ABC's Steve McPherson, CBS' Nina Tassler, CW's Dawn Ostroff, Fox's Kevin Reilly and NBC's Ben Silverman...

The milestone-episode parties continue on Nov. 3 with Warner Bros. Television's celebration of "ER's" 300th at Hollywood's Cabana Club. Hard to believe it was 13 years ago that George Clooney did such an effective job of playing the tipsy Dr. Doug Ross in the famously good two-hour "ER" pilot. NBC skein has had its ups and downs since then but it has earned its place in the pantheon of primetime's longest-running series, and casting history. This party outta be a classy affair to remember, especially if it attracts a full (or even pretty full) complement of thesp, writer and producer alums....

And from the good-cause department, Zimmer Children's Museum will fete Fox talent relations exec Missy Halperin (pictured left) and PBS' kidvid programming exec Linda Simensky (pictured right) at its 7th annual Discovery Award dinner on Nov. 8 at Regent Beverly Wilshire hotel. Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher, the battling spouses of Fox sitcom "'Til Death" will emcee. Zimmer org is focused on teaching small fry about ethics, community involvement and cultural sensivity through interactive and roll-up-your-sleeves exhibits at its museum on the Miracle Mile.

The fall season is well underway and so is the fall leg of panel-confab-Q&A madness. The Hollywood Radio and Television Society's annual network chiefs sesh outta be lively this year, what with ABC's Steve McPherson, NBC's Ben Silverman and Fox's Kevin Reilly on the same stage. (Quick quiz: Which net prexy said "Be a man" during the summer Television Critics Assn. press tour about which prexy in regards to the firing of another prexy?) All I can say is, CBS' Nina Tassler and CW's Dawn Ostroff probably shouldn't wear anything they really love to the luncheon, set for Oct. 16 at the Bev Hilton Hotel...

The night before the HRTS soiree, a group of industry vets who remember a time when a panel of entertainment chiefs featured only three male execs, will gather at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences HQ in North Hollywood to celebrate the release of an industry memoir from Ralph Baruch, founder of Viacom. Event will include a "how-to" Q&A with Baruch, who telegraphs just how much he's seen in his many years in the biz with the title of his tome: "Television Tightrope: How I Escaped Hitler, Survived CBS and Fathered Viacom"...

And for further schooling in smallscreen history, head on over to the Fine Arts Theater in Bev Hills for a conversation among TV publicists who've been through the wars (and then some). The Entertainment Publicists Professional Society panel dubbed "Legends of Television Publicity" will include network and studio vets Cliff Dektar (who was always a gentleman and a friend to me during his days with the Lippin Group), Michael Casey, Doug Duitsman, Hank Reiger, Gene Walsh and Murray Weissman...

OK, this one's kind of a stretch in terms of a TV connection, but I've always loved Raymond Chandler and this event sounds like fun. (And come to think of it there was a "Philip Marlowe" gumshoe skein on ABC in  1959-60. Powers Boothe also played the tough-talking sleuth in a mid-1980s HBO series.) Hollywood Heritage cultural org is offering a three-hour guided tour of "Raymond Chandler's Hollywood on Oct. 20 and Oct. 21. (Think "The Big Sleep," "Murder, My Sweet," Dick Powell and Humphrey Bogart in really great suits.) Tour promises to take the curious to various homes, apartment buildings, streets, hotels and dives where Chandler (pictured right) and his lit alter ego Philip Marlowe hung out in the 1930s and '40s. Hard to tell where the line between fact and fiction is drawn here but it still sounds like good, clean, noir-y fun. For more info high-tail it to http://www.hollywoodheritage.org/.

I was too beat to make the green-scene at Area on Monday night for the Fox Fall Eco-Casino Party, but a  splendid time was had by all, I'm told. A little too splendid, perhaps, for Kiefer Sutherland, who got arrested for investigation of drunken driving after leaving the event and making a U-turn where he shouldn't have, according to the AP. (Who among us hasn't been tempted to take those kind of shortcuts after a long night of work-related schmoozing?)

The Fox soiree was a eco-friendly, carbon-neutral fundraiser that brought in more than $25,000 for enviro-charities the Nature Conservancy, Habitat for Humanity and Earth Share, all in keeping with the net's tubthumping this season for a "Cool Change." Event drew about 500 people to the club, which was decorated entirely with recyclable and renewable materials. Partygoers left with a baby tree ready for planting, and swag bags made out of recycled Fox billboards.

(Yes Virginia, some good did finally come of all those "Happy Hour," "Standoff" and "Justice" marketing materials.)

The show of force among Fox execs included the dynamic duo of Peter Liguori and Kevin Reilly, exec veeps Marcy Ross, Preston Beckman and Joe Earley, and a talent roster that included Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, Fred Willard, Rashida Jones (pictured above with Reilly), Emily Deschenal, Omar Epps, Thomas Dekker (pictured right with Liguori), Joely Fisher, Spike Feresten, Jennifer Morrison, Lisa Edelstein, Seth MacFarlane, Kal Penn and John Cho.

"Family Guy" had its force-is-with-you mojo working on Sunday. Animated skein's two-part season opener, a "Star Wars" spoof dubbed "Blue Harvest, Parts 1 and 2," drew 10.7 million viewers and a 5.5 rating/13 share in the adults 18-49 demo in the 9-10 p.m. hour, which indicated a high awareness of the seg among a slightly older crowd that doesn't typically tune in to the toon. (Granted, most of the competish was still in repeats.)

Young auds showed up as well, of course, to the tune of a 7.7/19 in adults 18-34 and 5.3/17 in teens, per prelim Nielsens. In the boys-to-men 12-17 demo, "Family Guy" smoked with 7.8/22. In most key measures, Sunday's perf marked "Family Guy's" best numbers since its return to Fox's air (after its resurrection on Adult Swim and DVD) in May 2005.

Not much of an upset Saturday night during the first leg of the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony as HBO's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" maintained its trophy market share with a total of five wins, followed by Discovery Channel's "Planet Earth" (wha?) and NBC's "Tony Bennett: An American Classic" with four apiece. (For a proper report on who-won-what, click here for the report from Variety's Jeff Sneider, who sacrificed his Saturday night so that you and I wouldn't have to.)

Contrary to conventional wisdom the Creative Arts ceremony isn't all craft and tech honors (though let it be said here that the below-the-line folks are not only H'wood's salt of the earth but its true artisans). NBC nearly swept the guest-star awards categories, which can be a handy career reviver for the right actor at the right moment if the sun and the moon and the stars align...

Elaine Stritch (pictured left) bagged the guest actress in a comedy trophy for her turns in "30 Rock." Leslie Caron (pictured right) took the drama trophy for her one-shot on "Law & Order: SVU." John Goodman's visits to "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" were recognized for guest actor in a drama, while Stanley Tucci (pictured above) got the nod on the comedy side for having fun with the great Tony Shalhoub on "Monk." (So if you count USA Network as one of "the networks of NBC Universal," as the Peacock likes to put it, NBC U did sweep the category. That bit of bragging rights and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee at Musso & Franks...)

(Pics of Stritch and Caron on Creative Arts Emmy red carpet by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)

I'd buy Dianne Wiest as Parker Posey's mom, easily. The Oscar-winning thesp has signed on for a recurring role on Fox's midseason comedy "The Return of Jezebel James," which means that creator Amy Sherman-Palladino has another solid actress and intriguing character to write for.

Wiest will play Talia, the mother of the two very different sisters, Sarah and Coco, played by Posey and Lauren Ambrose, around which the "Jezebel James" conceit is built. Wiest hasn't done much TV since her 200-2002 stint as D.A.  Nora Lewin on NBC's "Law & Order." She bagged an Emmy in 1997 for her guest shot on Disney Channel's "Road to Avonlea" to go with her two supporting actress Oscars, for 1986's "Hannah and Her Sisters" and 1994's "Bullets Over Broadway."

There's still no firm preem date set for "Jezebel James" but it's expected to land around the time Hurricane "Idol" hits Fox in January. For a peek at "Jezebel James," click here for your entry into Clip Madness.

POSTED BY MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

News Corp. and NBC Universal on Wednesday unveiled the official name to their new online video joint venture: Hulu. Hulu?

Apparently the branding companies that specialize in company names are simply picking up a Hawaiian language dictionary these days. (How do I get a piece of that action, by the way? For a few hundred grand, I give any of you permission to swipe a name off the list of songs we've played on Hawaiian Eye.)

After all, Wikipedia comes from the Hawaiian phrase "wiki wiki," or "fast." The search engine Mahalo takes its name after the word for "thank you." Internet tech company Akamai means "smart" in Hawaiian. The list goes on.

Now, there's "hulu," which means "feather, quill, plumage" in Hawaiian, according to the "Hawaiian Dictionary" by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert (above). The secondary definition is actually rather nice: "esteemed, choice, precious."

Of course, I have no idea whether the folks behind Hulu -- until now only known as "NewCo" -- were thinking Hawaiian. (It was the first thing that came to my mind -- several hula halaus around the globe have the word "Hulu" in their name.) On the site, CEO Jason Kilar explained his choice this way:

Hulu is short, easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and rhymes with itself. Subjectively, Hulu strikes us as an inherently fun name, one that captures the spirit of the service we're building. Our hope is that Hulu will embody our (admittedly ambitious) never-ending mission, which is to help you find and enjoy the world's premier content when, where and how you want it.

Now, Hulu ever expands overseas, it may run into some unfortunate translation problems, particularly in Indonesia -- according to this list found at Websters Online Dictionary: (Lots more after the jump)

In an effort to rev up for the fall season, it's time to inaugurate what I intend to make a regular feature of this blog, namely lots of video snippets from our favorite, and even not-so-favorite and we're-not-sure-yet, shows.

Let's call it Clip Madness. (This edition was made possible by the kind folks at Fox and ABC who helped me quickly wrangle some clips. In subsequent weeks we'll spread the spotlight around to all the nets that care to offer up easy-to-embed snippets.)

Clip Madness is presented in the spirit of this wonderful time of year, the tail end of the honeymoon period when every new show is full of promise, this year's sleeper, a new "Friends," the next "CSI," a slow-building gem a la "The Office," etc. etc. Showrunners are starting to stock up on Mylanta, vodka and Vicodin, but network marketing mavens are in their element as they head into the final now-or-never stretch of piquing the American public's interest in what the programming department came up with this year.

(Pictured above: A scene you're not likely to see on ABC's "Pushing Daisies," for reasons that will become clear in the clip posted below. Pic of actors Lee Pace and Anna Friel kissing comes from the Aug. 16 screening of "Daisies" at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.)

This just in -- "Anchorwoman" is dead, yanked by the network after one airing that drew ratings lower than Lauren Jones' neckline. Just think of how this messes will all those office betting pools on which new show will be the first casuality of the fall season. It's August 23rd, fer chrissakes...

The first outing was the last for Fox's "Anchorwoman," the reality-comedy-improv-hybrid show about Lauren Jones, a real-life former WWE lady wrassler and swimsuit model who became a real-life news anchor for tiny KYTX-TV Channel 19 in Tyler, Texas. Hourlong skein opened Wednesday at 8 p.m. to an average of 2.7 million viewers and a 1.0 rating/3 share in the adults 18-49 demo. It came in No. 5 out of six, just ahead of CW's "America's Next Top Model" repeat.

On the bright side, those 2.7 million viewers represent more than 25 times the population of Tyler (94,146 projected for last year), which lies about a hundred miles southeast of Dallas.

Seacrest in!

Fox has bowed to the inevitable and selected "American Idol" dude Ryan Seacrest as host of its Sept. 16 live Primetime Emmy Awards telecast, as Variety's Michael Schneider reports. He's a perfectly good choice and should do a totally serviceable job. His work on "Idol" may not be "unparalleled  in the industry," as Fox's press release verbiage touts, but he's a pro. Still, it would've been interesting in a parallel universe to see an Emmycast hosted by Hugh Laurie. Star of Fox's drama "House" is known to have turned the gig down. Too bad. Maybe he'll at least be a presenter...

Seacrest's presence will also ensure that this year's Emmys has an "Idol" tinge to it. Initially, "Idol" exec producers Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe were supposed to take the helm of the telecast, but they bowed out a few months back and handed the reins to awards show vet Ken Ehrlich. Meanwhile, the Emmy gig ensures that it's going to be a busy couple of months for Seacrest. In addition to "Idol's" seventh go-round in January, he's also set to host Fox's "entertainment" portion of the Super Bowl telecast in February. Fox sez it'll be the first time pigskin's big shew comes complete with pre-game red carpet blow by blow.

All the "X-Files" you'll ever need is coming soon from Fox Home Entertainment in a big (61 discs big) box set with a bow tied around it and a $330 price tag, as DVD Spin Doctor reports. Gee, might this be advance promo-stoking for the upcoming "X-Files" movie that David Duchovny dropped a huge hint about during his TCA sesh on his Showtime comedy "Californication." We want to believe. We do know that Gillian Anderson is also on board for the pic. The first "X-Files" theatrical outing from 1998 is included in the box set as an extra...The plot thickens.

Yes, she named him Idol. A preggers woman who toughed it out Monday at the Dallas open-audition for next year's "American Idol" competish wound up going into labor while waiting her turn in Texas Stadium. Antoria Gillon wasn't about to give up her hard won spot in line, so she braved the long wait (doing the 'hee-hee-hee-ho' breathing exercise the entire time, no doubt) and finally got her turn, in between contractions. (Would love to know what her audition number was. "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now"? "Be My Baby"? "Get Ready"? ).

Undoubtedly impressed by her fortitude and determination, the local judges invited her to come back for the next round of auditioning. On the heels of that good news, Gillon got herself to a local hospital, and in the wee hours of Tuesday, the world welcomed Jamil Labarron Idol McCowan, all six pounds and seven ounces of him. (Wonder what Simon would've made of her performance in the delivery room? Paula surely would've gushed.) Just think, in another 18 years, he can audition for the 2025 edition of "Idol."

Been thinking a lot about why primetime TV is in such a superhero-loving moment. No, it wasn't brought on by the onset (onslaught) of Comic-Con this week. It was Television Critics Assn. press tour and all the yak yak yak during the past fortnight about the upcoming season's new shows.

I was struck by the superhero-mania by realizing that that even high-end, Emmy-winning drama types a la writer-producer Kevin Falls and director Alex Graves are working in the genre (sort of) with NBC's "Journeyman." Our hero in this show is a San Francisco newspaper reporter who can travel through time and change the course of people's lives. Falls and Graves during the TCA sesh on the show took pains to stress that they were going for "grounded sci-fi," and that the show would hinge not on time travel but on relationships.

"It's a a time-travel show made by people who don't believe in time travel," assured Graves, whose past  credits include "The West Wing," "Sports Night" and "Ally McBeal." Still, "Journeyman" has a mandate, one that he doesn't quite understand, to change people's lives for the better (and to keep viewers from changing the channel). Sounds superhero-ish to me.

It was NBC's own "Heroes," of course, sparked the most recent mania for supernatural storytelling with its breakout sizzle this past season. (BTW, the two pics posted here are from the soph season opener of "Heroes," tantalizingly titled "Four Months Later," set to air Sept. 24. Not many clues revealed in them but I figured they were a nice touch for anyone interested in this column's topic.)

In the coming season we have variations on the superhero theme in not only "Journeyman" but NBC's "The Bionic Woman," Fox's "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," and to a lesser degree (more about people with special powers than save-the-world-itis) in CW's "Reaper," ABC's "Pushing Daisies," from "Heroes" alum Bryan Fuller, and Fox's "New Amsterdam."

So why all the interest in characters with power to bend Newton's laws?

A fantastic time was had by all at Fox's post-TCA party on the Santa Monica pier on Monday night, as evidenced by this pic of "House" star Hugh Laurie in action on the bumper cars. The network took over the whole pier and gave TCA-ers the run of the joint, which had to fulfill childhood fantasies of anyone who ever spent time on the pier as a kid and ran out of quarters. TypePad's power-outage woes and a busy day back in the office kept me from weighing in on much of anything today. But this Laurie pic was too cool to pass up.