NBC: Ratings prove we were right about Olympic tape delays
"I don't even worry about giving it a rating in my head," said David Neal, executive vice president of NBC's Olympic coverage. "We believe in what we are doing here. The amount of time and effort that we put into preparing for the Olympic Games surpasses anything that I've been around. We have the strength in our convictions. We believe in what we are doing. We believe in the way that we present the Olympic Games. And I think the ratings back us up." PLUS: Dick Ebersol appears to be right and Olympics held Top 7 of 8 in last week's ratings.
Ellen poised to succeed Simon, Andrew Garcia played "American Idol: The Home Game"
Could there be a power shift on "Idol"? PLUS: Perez Hilton films "Idol" campaign video and Jimmy Kimmel picks Katie to win.
Is "Lost" a metaphor for the Beatles or George W. Bush's war team?
Paul McCartney as Jacob? George Harrison as Sayid? Ringo Starr is Hurley? Yoko Ono as Kate!? Or what about George W. Bush as Locke and Dick Cheney as Jack? "The REAL power broker in the group, almost too coldly analytical, and unwilling to listen to anyone, even when the truth is staring him in the face," Peter Ames Carlin and Nick Gorini say of Cheney as Jack. "Convinced he can fix anything, and that anyone who doesn't understand what he's doing or where he's coming from, he rarely tells anyone in the group what his motivations are. The only difference between Jack and Dick? Jack has a heart."
How Team Darlton became Team Darlton /// Spoiler: Michael is going to …
DVR viewers add 2.2M to "Lost" premiere // The 5 types of "Lost" fans
Music prof creates "Society for the Study of Lost" // Nestor Carbonell wants answers
Chris Harrison: My wife laughed when Rozlyn accused me of cheating
"The Bachelor" host says of her attempts to imply he hit on the fired producer's wife: "It was a desperate attempt by a very desperate woman to create a diversion and deflect the spotlight from herself as she had done several times throughout the interview when she felt backed into a corner by the overwhelming truth I was extremely disappointed that Rozlyn would stoop to that level and bring my family and me into this already sad and unfortunate situation. Beyond the fact that it’s just flat out not true, that comment was well beyond the line of decency and speaks volumes to the kind of person Rozlyn is. My wife, who I’ve been with since I was 18 and have been married to for over 16 years, was in the audience that night and got as big a laugh out of Rozlyn’s comment as I did."
What you didn't see // Was Rozlyn actually lying?
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"Glee" cast to perform at the White House
Alleged "Gleek" Michelle Obama has invited the cast to sing at the White House's annual Easter Egg role on April 5th.
Oscar hopes to grab young eyeballs with Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus, "Twilight" cast
Four of Hollywood's rising stars, including Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, will be awards presenters.
Oprah debuts an edible set made up of chocolate
The set for today's show was built with about 7,000 Godiva chocolate bars and 2,400 Godiva truffles.
Lacey Schwimmer out at "Dancing with the Stars"
After dancing with Lance Bass and Mark Dacascos, Schwimmer she won't be back next season.
Jim Belushi returning to TV, as a CBS "Defender"
He'll play a Las Vegas defense attorney, who "fights for the little guy."
Matt LeBlanc's hair has gone completely gray for Showtime
The 42-year-old former "Friends" star is playing a white-haired version of himself for "Episodes."
JB Smoove will host Comedy Central's Def Jam-inspired hip-hop standup show
The "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star will helm the series from "Def Comedy Jam's" Russell Simmons.
PBS and BBC are remaking "Upstairs, Downstairs"
The classic 1970s series will be remade as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of "Masterpiece Theatre."
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Ray Romano has been shockingly good as a dramatic actor
On "Men of a Certain Age," "Romano has revealed hidden depths," says Matthew Gilbert. "A number of times throughout the 10-episode season, I’ve found myself riveted by Romano’s magnetism as the quietly broken Joe Tranelli. He makes you really feel Joe’s discomfort and anxiety about the failures in his life, as the show’s casual pace lingers on his large, sorrowful eyes." PLUS: "Certain Age" creator always knew that Romano can act.
Howard Stern: Simon Cowell is "very afraid" of me taking over "Idol"
Stern this morning responded to Simon's comments last week that the shock jock wasn't right for his job.
Florence Henderson is writing her memoir
The "Brady Bunch" star's autobiography should be released next year.
Rozlyn Papa gets in verbal spat with "Bachelor" host Chris Harrison
Rozlyn and Harrison were on Ryan Seacrest this morning, where she lodged a series of accusations that Chris Harrison is on a crusade against her and that she had no idea she would be accused of having an affair with the producer. "I didn't know I had to deny anything," she said. Harrison, meanwhile, accused Rozlyn of miling the affair so she could get her own TV show. (MP3 link)
"Friday Night Lights'" Scott Porter regrets not trying out for "Glee"
Says the 30-year-old actor: "Oh man, I really want to kick myself in the face for 'Glee' because I kind of did the stupid actor thing where you go, 'Okay, I'm at a certain point in my life now where I only want to play this guy or that guy.' When Glee was casting, I thought, 'I'm too old to be a student. I need to stop playing high-school kids.'"
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William Shatner joins "Sh*t My Dad Says"
The CBS pilot based on the famous Twitter acccount has been greenlighted, with Shatner playing the profane elderly father.
Academy Awards rejected Sacha Baron Cohen as host
Oscar producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic say they initially wanted to hire Cohen as host (as Borat or Bruno?). "The Academy swatted it down," says Shankman. "They thought it was too big of a wild card."
Tiger Woods' apology: The oddest telecast in TV history?
"Never before," says Adam Buckman, "had a private figure been given so much valuable airtime on so many TV channels to say whatever he wanted. He’s not a president, not a governor, not a Pope — he is a professional golfer, a ubiquitous presence on TV commercials (until recently), basically an entertainer. And yet, he garnered airtime on CBS, Fox, ABC and NBC; MSNBC and CNN; CNBC and Fox Business; ESPN 1, ESPN 2 and ESPNNews; and, of course, the Golf Channel (and here in New York, on the local cable news channel, New York 1)." PLUS: "Special report" is no longer so special.
"Idol" castoff Angela Martin is a winner!: Ellen & Kara will get her song, record label
"We're going to get you a record label," Ellen told Angela, whose sob story had become a major "Idol" storyline. Ellen surprised Angela by telling her that Kara will produce a song for her.
Conan O'Brien: The Stage Show?
According to Page Six, Conan might bypass his contract by doing a live stage show tour that would keep his name in the news.
Check out the giant "Hung" billboard with bulging penis
New Zealanders are sure getting an eyeful.
Food Network owner to launch the Cooking Channel in May
The cable channel formerly known as the Fine Living Network will debut on Memorial Day with many of the Food Network's stars, including Bobby Flay and Rachael Ray.
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"Survivor" Heroes didn't take long to become Zeroes
What great TV, says Leslie Gray Street. "I’m not sure why I hadn’t considered beforehand the possible downside of having all those exaulted good guys in the same space, fighting for relevance, cash and prizes," she says. "See, part of 'herohood,' at least on 'Survivor,' seems to be a strong self-awareness of one’s supposed goodness, which also often translates in a lot of self-righteous showboating. There is nothing more tedious than one person in a group who thinks they’re right about everything. And in a tribe full of them? Yikes!"
Jeff Probst: Stephenie shouldn't have been booted // Drama Queens vs. Prima Donnas
Ethan Zohn: Top 10 reasons I'm glad NOT to be on "Survivor"
David Hasselhoff's reality show heads to college psych class
The Hoff yesterday was at the University of Arizona, where his daughter is a student, speaking to a class on the "Structure of Mind and Behavior."
Fox cancels "Past Life"
The drama series is being pulled after four disappointing episodes.
Kristin Kreuk gets "Hitched" to Josh Schwartz
The "Smallville" alum, fresh off her Schwartz-tastic "Chuck" stint, will join Jack Carpenter in the pilot about a newly married couple.
Can Jeff Garlin still be funny as a skinnier sidekick?
The "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star chronicles his efforts to lose weight in his new book "My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World."
Survey: 27% of married women have husbands who "rule the remote"
Only 4% of married women have total control of the remote, according to a Redbook survey.
Animation hurts "The Ricky Gervais Show"
"The pleasure is all the podcast's alone," Robert Bianco says of Gervais' new HBO series, debuting tonight. "The purposely retro animation, which turns Gervais into a more cheerful Fred Flintstone, not only adds nothing to the mix — it subtracts."
Meet Karl Pilkington // He's the star of the show // Cartoon works surprisingly well
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Simon Cowell: Howard Stern and Madonna aren't fit to judge "Idol"
Simon said today he's "fairly certain" that Stern hasn't been approached, but he thinks the shock jock just isn't right for "American Idol." "You've just got to know what you're talking about," he said. "We have to have people on these shows who actually know what they're talking about, rather than just guessing. They've really got to have experience, so that they can not just criticize, but offer constructive advice as well." Simon did, however, endorse Perez Hilton. "Perez would be funny," Cowell said. "He's got good taste in music, he's got a personality, that could work."
Simon wants a Taylor Swift-type to win "Idol," hopes Lady Gaga will mentor
Simon Cowell thinks a woman could win this season, but says his ideal champ is somebody like Swift: "I mean, look, I would love to find a Taylor Swift. Somebody who’s relevant rather than a contest winner.'
Simon says its's a shame "Idol" booted Chris Golightly
"I really, honestly don't have a clue why he's been removed from the competition," Simon Cowell said this afternoon. "I'm guessing it's some sort of technical reason."
ABC hooks up "V" and "Lost"
"V" will follow "Lost" at 10 o'clock on Tuesdays when it returns to the ABC lineup on March 30.
Maggie Q poised to star in CW's "Nikita"
If she's cast in the newest remake of the 1990 film "La Femme Nikita," the Vietnamese/Irish-American actress will have the highest-profile leading role of an Asian actress on broadcast TV.
A&E renews "Steven Seagal: Lawman"
Sixteen episodes will air next season, up from 13 its first season.
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He'll actually spend two weeks in rehab, but his exit will coincide with the start of a one-week hiatus for the show, according to TMZ. Which means Sheen won't likely return to set to begin filming the final six episodes of the season until three weeks from now. PLUS: CBS backs Sheen and, according to RadarOnline, Sheen entered rehab dragging his feet six hours after his rep said he had already checked in.
Leno has his first two weeks back as "Tonight Show" host booked. His first show back next Monday will feature Jamie Foxx, Lindsey Vonn and Brad Paisley. He'll have Palin and Shaun White for his 2nd night. Other guests will include Simon Cowell, Judd Apatow, Dana Carvey, Morgan Freeman and Matthew McConaughey. PLUS: 
