Nicollette Sheridan: ABC dismissed "Desperate" assault as a "light tap"
Sheridan's lawyers have added wording to her lawsuit saying that ABC investigated her claim and found that the Marc Cherry incident was just a "light tap on the side of the head." Sheridan also says she was told to go back and finish the season "in the spirit of professionalism," though she was let go two months later.
Gabourey Sidibe's mom wows "America's Got Talent"
Alice Tan Ridley brought the audience to its feet with her version of Etta James' "At Last."
White House crasher is "so phony she's authentic" on "Real Housewives"
In the first episode of "The Real Housewives of D.C.," Michaele Salahi "brims with a phoniness that supersedes merely phony," says Lisa de Moraes, who adds that "Michaele may be the most authentically phony person in the history of the 'Real Housewives' franchise."
Kevin Spacey pitches himself to Showtime as a cult leader
But will the busy movie star find the time to work on "The Crux"?
"Jersey Shore" may dump Sammi, Ronnie, Vinny and Angelina
They were reportedly so underwhelming in Season 2, they might not survive to Season 3. PLUS: Sammi won't be charged with beating a woman in Miami night club.
Turns out that the 72-year-old former "Late Night" announcer didn't choose to leave Conan — Conan left him. Goddard tells a British puppet that he wanted to join Conan's "Tonight Show," but Conan wanted Andy Richter to be his new announcer in Los Angeles. But, Goddard says of Richter, "I didn't think announcing was his strong point" and that Conan "misused Andy." Goddard adds that NBC didn't want to pay for both him and Richter, and that if Conan wanted him, he would've brought him to L.A.
In the Season 3 opener, says Jason Zinoman, "Homosexuality comes off almost banal, offhanded, of minor consequence. It's a fantasy of a post-gay America—until it becomes just a fantasy of very gay America. No more so than in what will probably be the episode's most talked-about scene: the preposterously erotic dream sequence involving Bill and bar owner Sam Merlotte." PLUS: 
"FNL" is going to end on a sentimental note: 
The former "Idol" boss says three judges are enough, and "Idol's" problem is it focused too much on the judges and not the contestants. "The team took their eye off the ball a little bit," he says, "and was more worried about the judges and what was happening with them than it was regarding the talent last year. It became about Kara (DioGuardi) joining and making the fourth judge, Paula (Abdul) leaving, Ellen (Degeneres) joining and Simon leaving and much more about them and concentrating on that than on the talent that they were finding."
"The heart-in-the-throat quality of this season comes as much from the writers' exhilarating disregard for television conventions as from the events portrayed," says Donna Bowman. "Every cliffhanger produced anticipation that often as not was subverted by having what came after timed at a jagged off-angle from the shape we've internalized as expectation. I could name a half-dozen examples from the past twelve episodes. But the whiplash shift in 'Full Measure' — from the final imagery in "Half Measures" to Jesse's conscience, Walter's pragmatism turned craven begging for his life, and Gale's final definition as collateral damage — is as fine a demonstration of that mastery as you could wish."
"If the Coen brothers were to make a TV show, it might look something like this," says James Poniewozik. "Like 'Fargo,' 'Breaking Bad' is the story of a mild-mannered man who, first through need and then through greed, spirals into criminality. Like 'No Country for Old Men,' it levels an unblinking gaze at human cruelty. And like many of the Coens' films, it leavens these dark themes with a mordant sense of humor."
The 3rd season tries to top the previous seasons from the get-go, which can be both a good and bad thing, says Robert Bianco. "While it can be a joy to behold 'True Blood' barreling along at full speed," he says, "it also can leave you with a queasy feeling that the show is only barely under control — and may at any second jump the tracks. There are times when it appears to be outrageous for outrageousness' sake alone, as if the writers' sole goal was to top themselves. 'True Blood' is already as over-the-top as it needs to be. Any higher and our homes might not be able to contain it."
Shooting on Season 5 begins Tuesday, but wife/"sister" Jennifer Carpenter said her husband has been doing well through rehearsals. "We've said it over and over that he's in complete remission just so people will stop worrying," she says with laugh, "but still people come up to him asking, 'Are you okay?'"
