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Wednesday night saw a tearful end to the “American Idol” journey of singer/songwriter Brooke White.
The husky-voiced songstress broke the traditional “American Idol” mold by being the first performer in a low-key, Carly Simon-inspired vein to reach the top ranks of the competition, ultimately finishing tonight in the fifth-place spot.
Paired for elimination with Syesha Mercado, White was perhaps best known for her hyper-emotional reactions on past elimination nights. She stayed true to form, breaking into tears during her farewell song –- Neil Diamond’s “I Am... I Said” -- and retreating to the rear of the stage where she was surrounded by fellow contestants in the "Idol" crew.
Next week the final four -- David Archuleta, Jason Castro, David Cook and Mercado -- will compete in a week themed around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
-- Richard Rushfield
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 We know that the bride (Lily, played by Kelly Rutherford) will wear one-of-a-kind Vera Wang.
But what about Serena, Blair, Chuck and Dan?
Elizabeth Snead has a few sneak peeks from the set of the "Gossip Girl" finale, "Much 'I Do' About Nothing" (airing May 19).
Click here!
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 One of the frustrating things to deal with as "Lost" continues to add layer upon layer to its mythology is keeping myriad -- often unresolved -- clues, theories and Easter eggs straight on a weekly basis. Most of the time I'm so caught up in the current week's reveals that I fail to remember every bit of "Lost" trivia that's been revealed over the years.
That was the case this week, when The Times' assistant managing editor and fellow "Lost" fanatic Michael Whitley e-mailed me to remind me of an orientation film that wasn't introduced as part of the series. The Orchid Station's orientation film was first screened for fans at the San Diego Comic-Con last summer and was then made available online.
It provides an answer to the identify of Halliwax, the man whose parka Ben Linus was wearing at the beginning of last week's episode. In the film, Halliwax is another name for the guy I'll call Dr. Orientation. He's appeared in all of the Dharma Initiative films so far, identifying himself as Marvin Candle, Mark Wickmund and Edgar Halliwax. Candle, Wick and Wax. More name games, similar to what the Others were playing with the 815 survivors in the first and second seasons when Ben was known as Henry Gale and Ethan Rom was never officially unveiled as an anagram of "Other Man."
Does that make Dr. Orientation one of the Dharma people, one of Ben's people or both? And is there one Dr. Orientation or three? The mysteriously doubling rabbit and this season's loopy time tricks provide some big clues.
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Sometimes the greatest insights about the night before come with breakfast. This morning, my hubby and fellow pop scribe, Eric Weisbard, pointed out that the maturity I'd written about in my Idol Banter last night isn't just a matter of tone.
In fact, he noted, Diamond was the guy who helped bring easy listening into the adult-contemporary era, and that means the lyrics to many of his finest songs are, if not Snoop-level dirty, at least a bit risqué. And we all know that risqué doesn't fly on "Idol."
Here's a list of Diamond's Greatest Semi-Nasty Hits and the subject matter to which they fairly explicitly allude:
"Cracklin' Rosie" and "Red, Red Wine": inebriation
"You Don't Bring Me Flowers": the problems that ensue when one partner is not sexually fulfilled (Neil sings...."When it's good for you, babe, you're feeling all right," and Barbra Streisand replies, "Well you just roll over and turn out the light."
"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon": deflowering girls
"Holly Holy" and "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show": dubious religious messages a la "Jesus Christ Superstar"
"Crunchy Granola Suite": the obvious Jason Castro choice alludes to growing and ingesting marijuana
"Play Me": free love
Oh, Neil. If only the Idols could.
-- Ann Powers
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The Idoldome was a colder, emptier place Tuesday night than it had been a mere week ago, when the most electrifying singer in "American Idol" history, Carly Smithson, still walked among us. In the life of every "Idol" partisan, sooner or later this day must come when one must look defeat dead in the eye and search for new reasons to keep faith in the system.
In the end, democracy cannot be just a way to force one’s own candidate into office; the means must be more important than our individual ends and, bitter though it may be, the will of the electorate must be embraced. Were it not for American Idol, one must recall, we would have never known Carly Smithson at all. However, taking my seat in the Carly-less Idoldome, I recounted the words of the Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert in his Elegy of Fortinbras, when he wrote, putting words in the mouth of Hamlet’s sole survivor,
“Now you have peace Hamlet you accomplished what you had to
and you have peace The rest is not silence but belongs to me
you chose the easier part an elegant thrust
but what is heroic death compared with eternal watching
with a cold apple in one’s hand on a narrow chair
with a view of the ant-hill and the clock’s dial”
In the event, cold apple in my hand astride my narrow chair in the upper tiers, it proved to be an interesting night for moving on and seeking closure, doing so on the night of what Simon Cowell called “the strangest show we’ve ever done.” I am not sure how much of this came across on television, but in the Idoldome events were, even by the roaring circus atmosphere of the tapings, fairly frenetic, or as Simon termed it, “chaotic.”
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 I never thought I would have occasion to feel sorry for Neil Diamond, but "American Idol" always seems to introduce me to new and uninvited emotions. Tuesday's show, devoted to the songbook of the estimable Tin Pan Alley rocker, did him a great injustice -- and it didn't do much for the tremulous Top Five Idols, either.
Maybe they're still processing the slaying of Carly last week, or perhaps they'd gotten into whatever made Paula render judgment on Jason Castro's second song before he sang it -- but with one exception, all five contenders seemed a little, well, glazed.
That exception was Syesha Mercado, who used her lovely sense of calm on the Lionel Richie-esque ballad "Hello Again" (Diamond's song predates Richie's "Hello" by three years, by the way) and delivered the jangly 1967 song "Thank the Lord for the Nighttime" as if her mama were Motown royal Martha Reeves.
Syesha's turning out to be as intelligent a performer as David Cook, though it hurts her that her strong spot is where standards meet jazz, since "Idol" generally promotes the idea that pop history begins in the 1980s. To me, Simon's pronouncement that she might be in trouble seemed as loopy as Paula's missteps (the wiggiest judge also called Syesha "Brooke"); but I've also come to accept that, this season especially, America doesn't always vote with its ears.
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 Well, despite their best efforts to show that they’d undergone a complete attitude revolution, Shannon Elizabeth and partner Derek got the ax this week. If you’re a celebrity on, let’s say, the D through B-minus lists, and you’re considering signing up to be a "Dancing With the Stars" contestant in the future, let this be a lesson to you: Do not violate the sacred "DWTS" ethos of peppy persistence. You might want to start practicing the following lines now: (1) "We’re just having such a blast," (2) " 'DWTS' has changed my life" and (3) "You just have to go out there and give it your best shot." Granted, these are necessary but not sufficient –- otherwise, Steve Guttenberg would still be with us.
I’ll hand it to the "DWTS" people this week: They really made the most of Cristián de la Fuente’s injury. Instead of engineered and flimsy suspense, there was engineered and palpable suspense. Would Cristián wait to find out his fate, or would he drop out? First, we learned more about the injury itself. Partner Cheryl said she’d heard a pop, which she initially thought was her dress (and, hey, kudos to her for not freaking out that she had been inadvertently denuded), but it turned out to be Cristián’s arm. Eventually, we found out from Cristián that his injury was not a “severe muscle cramp,” as the emergency medical technician had (perhaps condescendingly) called it, but rather a ruptured tendon in his bicep that would require surgery. Co-host Tom Bergeron asked whether Cristián wanted to continue competing (if fate would permit it), and I found that I was actually a little on the edge of my seat. Maybe this was because Tom had already tantalizingly told us that some new information had come in just before the show. It turned out that the new information was that the doctor could delay the surgery if Cristián wanted to continue, which he did. Now, you already know that he was spared this week –- he wasn’t even in the bottom two –- so I can’t re-create that moment here. It will be interesting to see a couple of things going forward: First, how long the sympathy card will keep him in competition, and second, how well he can dance without using his left bicep. I find I use my bicep for numerous actions each day, including lifting my child, drinking coffee and/or cocktails, and clocking anyone who dares insinuate that "DWTS" is for sissies. It strikes me that you really need your biceps in ballroom dancing, particularly when you’re the man.
The other couple in the bottom two was Marissa Jaret Winokur and partner Tony, despite their strong scores from the judges this week. I wonder whether all of those fans keeping Marissa in the game shifted their support to Cristián this week. I also wonder whether the fact that Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark finished second this week wasn’t actually a good thing for them in that it may have forced people to vote for them instead of assuming they’d easily go through to next week. Discuss.
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Each week, Chef Ramsay lays the trap. And each week, someone walks right into it. Haven't they learned anything by now? Ben fell for it last week when Chef Ramsay told him that he was "surprised" by his dinner service performance. Ben profusely thanked the chef, puffed out his chest and started yammering about how he was giving it his all....until chef interrupted to say he was surprised at how bad the performance was.
This week, Louross fell for it. Chef told him he was the evening's standout. But not for the reason Louross thought. Ooo. That backhand had to smart.
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Simon called it the "strangest show we've ever done." In person at the Idoldome, things did indeed seem, as he said, a bit chaotic. I'll have the full report later tonight, but please share your first impressions in our comments section now.
And don't forget to join me for a live chat tomorrow, Wednesday noon PST at chat.latimes.com.
- Richard Rushfield
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 As you might have seen on Dish Rag, heiress Lydia Hearst is making an appearance on "Gossip Girl" as herself a socialite named Amelia (here's a sneak peek pic). Now the CW confirms that singer Lisa Loeb will be making a cameo in the May 12 episode.
Remember how Rufus' band, Lincoln Hawk, was featured in a Rolling Stone "Top 10 Forgotten Bands of the '90s" issue in the show's pilot? Apparently, Lincoln Hawk reunites at a '90s-themed concert sponsored by the magazine at which Loeb will also perform.
After last night's episode, maybe Serena should dedicate "Stay" to Dan.
-- Enid Portuguez
Photo credit: Mark Seliger / Los Angeles Times
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What is it about Stephen Colletti that makes LC all weak in the knees? I don’t think I’ve ever gotten it.
I may think LC’s not the kindest to Audrina -- she and Lo picked on her again for inviting Justin Bobby to their housewarming party -- but I wouldn’t wish her taste in guys on anyone. Stephen, Jason, Brody …she's not really into the winners.
And LC's been sprung so long on Stephen, even I’ll admit it tugs on my heartstrings. I get that he's cute in an aw-shucks kinda way, but he did pick Kristin Cavallari over you, LC. Poor thing.
But then again, it’s not as though Stephen My-last-girlfriend-was-"Heroes"-star-Hayden-Panettiere Colletti never saw “Laguna Beach.” It’s not like both he and LC aren’t perfectly aware that she’d happily have thousands of “pretty babies” with him (as Lo likes to say) if he ever gave the word.
Might as well milk it, yeah? Give the people who watch “The Hills” what they want: more of LC’s unrequited love. If there’s anything LC does well, it’s play the luckless girl, right? Her best friend betrayed her, she falls for all the wrong guys. It fuels the show.
Do I believe her crush is 100% legit? Sure. Is it sad that she’s deigned to offer it up as good TV and nothing else? Well, yeah. As one LC sympathizer, a colleague at the Los Angeles Times, put it: “Is it Lauren’s fault that she loves too much?”
And so we have last night’s episode of “The Hills,” a collaboration between LC and the show’s producers titled “A Date With the Past.” I say they collaborated because she does narrate these things, so she‘s clearly cool with playing up her unreturned affection.
Stephen plays dense so well too. He took LC on a friend-date to Il Cielo, which was voted as “the most romantic restaurant in L.A.” by Los Angeles magazine.
What did they talk about? About how all their silly friends and family wish the two would get it on already:
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NEW YORK— Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is leaving no stone unturned in her efforts to gain ground before next Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primaries in North Carolina and Indiana.
Tomorrow, for the first time ever, the New York senator will sit down with Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly in South Bend, Ind. The two-part interview will air Wednesday and Thursday on “The O’Reilly Factor.”
Clinton’s conversation with O’Reilly comes days after her rival, Sen. Barack Obama, appeared on “Fox News Sunday” in an interview with Chris Wallace.
-- Matea Gold
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Absence can, I'm told, make the heart grow fonder. But it can also make you wonder just what exactly you were so fond of in the first place.
In the wake of the writers strike, we've been waiting for months for our favorite shows to return to the air with new episodes. Now here they are, all our old favorites, crowding up our TiVos with their dear familiar names. And yet something is missing. The first post-strike episodes of shows like "30 Rock" and "The Office" seemed to fall flat; "The Big Bang Theory," which seemed to be gaining some street cred, was just ridiculous; "Grey's" was clever but lacked emotional umph and then, last night, "House" returned with what can only be called the worst episode in its history.
Brevity is mercy in the case of last night's "House" so here's a quick recap: the main case is of a man so happy that Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) decides it is the symptom of something terrible; his new team, through plot twists that I cannot bring myself to explain, "discover" that House has syphilis; House and Amber (Anne Dudek) divide up visiting rights with Dr. Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) in such a patronizing manner that I spent the entire episode wondering why Leonard did not threaten to quit if his character were not returned to adulthood, much less manhood. It was all so patently ridiculous, it felt almost like a parody. Except it wasn't funny. And for "House," not funny is a problem.
Indeed, if this had been the premiere of a new show called "House," I would not be tuning in for the second episode.
At least that is what I was thinking when I crawled sulkily into bed last night. But then I wondered if maybe this wasn't more of a relationship problem than an industry issue. Separation can raise expectations, blur reality, dampen the mysterious chemistry that creates attraction. Watching these early episodes is a bit like seeing your college lover after summer has separated you -- yes, you're happy to be in his/her arms again, but man, did he always laugh that loudly? Was her stutter always that affected? The first embrace after months away is always a bit awkward, no matter what the train station scene in "Reds" has led us to believe.
So maybe television and its audience have just lost their groove. The question becomes, then: Is it permanent? "It's
just been too long," said one viewer with a shrug, explaining that she
just didn't feel the same way about "my show" any more. "I guess I'll
give it another chance but, I don't know...."
Sad and poignant words. If nothing else, we are learning the emotional value of the season finale. Because we are used to taking a break from our favorite shows, for weeks and months (or in the case of "The Sopranos" and "Battlestar Gallactica," years), but usually we get a good cliffhanger or very special episode to provide both closure and a little something to think about. But this time it was all so sudden, so outside our control -- one minute they were there, trustworthy, reliable -- the next they were not. Instead the curtain was ripped aside and we saw scruffy writers in baseball caps, actors with (gasp) no makeup doing time on picket lines and YouTube. Turns out television is just a business after all, with its creators whining about salaries and Bennie's just like we do at our places of employment.
So we can be forgiven for needing a little extra courtship, a little reassurance before we re-commit. And maybe it's the same with the writers. The alchemy of a writers room is a strange and fragile thing, which is why reporters and other outsiders are rarely allowed
in. (That, and all the profanity.) It must be hard to rekindle that,
hard for the writers, and the actors, to get back up to speed and recapture the magic.
Though this is no excuse for turning Wilson into a snickering man-child.
And subsequent episodes of "30 Rock" and "The Office" felt better, more like themselves, the shows we've known and loved. So maybe, as with any important relationship, we just need to give it time. As for "House," well, now that House has, basically, two diagnostic teams, maybe the writers should figure out what he, and they, are going to do with them. Or give Wilson and Amber a relationship that is recognizable as human. Or make Dr. Caddy (Lisa Elston) a real person again. Or bring back a romantic foil for House. But they're going to have to do something. And fast. Because the one thing the writers strike taught is that we may miss our shows when they're gone, but life does go on without them.
--Mary McNamara
(Photo courtesy Fox)
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As a relative newcomer to "Dancing with the Stars," I sometimes can’t tell at first whether something that seems off in a dance is intentional or not. But even I could tell everything had gone horribly awry in Cristián de la Fuente’s second dance with Cheryl this week. The dance started off typically -- in other words, Cristián moved around fluidly while Cheryl performed all of the fireworks maneuvers -- but about two-thirds of the way in, all kinds of weird errors started happening in rapid succession. Oh, and Cristián was flagrantly rubbing his arm. And then he and Cheryl fell down at the end. Co-host Tom Bergeron made the executive decision to cut to a commercial, and when we returned, we found that Cristián had suffered a “severe muscle cramp,” as diagnosed by the show’s emergency medical technician. The judges said they would judge up until the injury, and this translated into sevens all around. Their first dance -- a Viennese waltz -- had been positively received (though the judges cited a slight lack of energy and “content”) and scored 25/30. The combined score was therefore 46/60, which, I’m afraid, doesn’t bode well for them unless they get a large number of sympathy votes. They’re in last place –- and by five points. Last we heard, Cristián was off to the hospital, and Tom promised us an update tonight.
While Cristián’s injury was certainly the most dramatic moment of the show, it was hardly the only noteworthy item.
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 Just when you think the worst things that can happen on the Upper East Side are stolen skeleton keys and Valentino dresses, "Gossip Girl" introduces Georgina Sparks. Vengeful, deceiving and utterly diabolical, Serena’s former partner-in-crime (played by Michelle Trachtenberg) makes all of Blair and Jenny’s backstabbing dirty deeds look so … high school.
This girl definitely has an agenda. Convincing Serena to drink one too many cosmos is one thing (I’m still waiting for some explanation as to how 16-year-olds are allowed into bars and clubs — at least show them flashing their fake IDs!), but slipping a drug in her Diet Coke was a page ripped right out of "Melrose Place." "Looks like you haven’t really changed after all," she sneers after Serena awakens groggy and disoriented. Heather Locklear would have been proud. Later it’s apparent that Serena and Georgina share a secret so deep, dark and twisted (and possibly illegal?) that it must be kept from Dan at all costs.
What could Serena have done? (Feel free to post your guesses in the comments.)
This secret better be good because last night marked the first time anything comes close to genuinely threatening the golden couple’s happiness. Dan’s concerned puppy dog eyes were working overtime as Serena flaked their study dates and the SATs. When he confronts her at Chuck’s suite, you can see their wide-eyed adoration for each other slip away as the seeds of guilt, insecurity and distrust are slowly planted. The last scene, in which Georgina introduces herself to Dan as "Sarah" -- how she knew exactly which bench in Central Park he was wallowing on is beyond me -- shows how far she’s willing to go to ruin Serena’s life. There was so much treachery crammed into this episode that it’ll be a miracle if Dan and Serena’s young love escapes unscathed.
Speaking of love, Nate and Vanessa? Really?! I understand his attraction to her carefree artist’s attitude about life and higher education, but these two have zero chemistry. Aside from being the "unexpected" coupling that viewers are forced to wrap their heads around, I can imagine this union's sole purpose would be to make Blair (and maybe Dan?) jealous. If anything, it humanizes Nate, who shockingly knows his way around Brooklyn and digs lesbian punk bands. OMG.
xoxo
-- Enid Portuguez
Photo courtesy of the CW
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Tuesday night one of the season's most eagerly awaited drop-ins, Neil Diamond, will visit the Idol stage, taking the remaining five back to a groovy land that disappeared long before they were born.
While the Idols rehearse, I am puzzling over the Diamond songbook and trying guess which songs each might perform. My early read is that this is a potentially a great night for Brooke White -- who has lots of low-key singer-songwriter-type pieces to choose from -- and David Cook -- who has a lot of remake-ready melodic choices. And potentially a harder night for David Archuleta, who has to sort through a fairly adult-themed catalogue, and Syesha Mercado, who has fewer theatrical/r and b'ish numbers from which to choose.
Here are my thoughts about which songs they might pick. Please share yours in the comment sections. Let's put our heroes on the right track for Tuesday night!
David Archuleta:
"I'm a Believer"
David Cook:
"September Morn" or "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" (Urge Overkill version)
Jason Castro:
"Song Sung Blue" or "Sweet Caroline"
Syesha Mercado
"Heartlight" or "You Don't Bring Me Flowers"
Brooke White
"Love on the Rocks" or "Play Me"
Let's hear what you think!
-- Richard Rushfield
(Photo from Fox)
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Elizabeth Snead, over at sister blog The Dish Rag, has a sneak peek at Amelia (Lydia Hearst) who debuts as the new "B" in town on "Gossip Girl" on May 19.
Snead also came across a "Gossip Girl" casting notice on Craigslist seeking "upscale" actors for a "wedding of the year."
CW reps confirmed this morning that the final "Gossip Girl" episode this season indeed goes down at a lavish wedding that the crew is furiously shooting on location today.
To see Amelia (Lydia) baiting bad boy Chuck (Ed Westwick) click here.
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Oops, she's doing it again.
CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" begins production today on a new episode, guest-starring Britney Spears. The troubled pop star reprises her role as Abby, the dermatologist's assistant who had a crush on Ted (Josh Radnor) and is now dating ... wait for it ... Barney (Neil Patrick Harris).
20th Century Fox Television, which produces the show, issued a press release today about the new episode, which included a statement from co-creator Craig Thomas: "We're all so thrilled to have Britney joining us once again. And just to head it off at the pass this time around: Yes, Mom, Britney's very nice and no, I can't get her autograph for you."
The episode will air on May 12.
-- Maria Elena Fernandez
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 The speed needed to break away from an object's gravitational pull. Catchy, apropro.
It started in the last episode when Cally was slapped and then spit out into space (there's your summary). Cylon Tory had made up her mind, and the other new Cylons seem destined to follow.
This episode, Chief Tyrol and Col. Tigh were reaching their escape velocities, each pulling away from their lives. Chief mouthing off to Adama and getting demoted (and possibly booted off the ship), and Tigh giving in to some weird dominatrix moment with Six. His 'yes-sir-may-I-have-another' beat down was unsettling, and kissing a bloody mouth can't be too sanitary -- even for Cylons. Anders was absent this go-round, discounting an episode-ending scene where I just knew he was coming up behind a sleeping Starbuck with a wrench. But it was not to be. Yet.
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Jason Castro was having a rough week, and the dreadheads knew it. The loyal fan club, whose website daydreamingboy.com includes downloadable Support Jason fliers, watched Jason get slaughtered for his rendition of “Memory” and then learned from their sources in the Castro camp that he was coping with a mix of exhaustion and fever chills to boot.
So what were the devoted fans to do when their Idol was suffering from a high temperature and low morale? Why, send presents, of course. “We’re always trying to think of things we can do to lift his spirits,” explained Christalle Baxter, known to her fellow dreadheads as “dreadhead No. 1201.”
Concerned that a gift of flowers could worsen Jason’s illness by aggravating his allergies, the dreadheads settled on balloons. Christalle set up a Paypal account, and it wasn’t long before the donations poured in.
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“Nuke” fans—that is, fans of Noah and Luke, the gay couple on “As the World Turns” — are busy messaging the media again.
Back in February, they organized an onslaught of e-mails protesting a perceived ban on gay kissing. While all the heterosexual couples kissed, Noah and Luke hadn’t kissed for months. Our article quoted a spokesman for Proctor & Gamble, the show’s sponsor, who explained that soap operas always want to keep viewers wanting more.
If that’s the case, it worked beautifully. After 211 days — and believe me, the fans were watching and counting — another kiss has been recorded. And in another happy blizzard of e-mails, they are celebrating that it wasn’t “just a peck.” Typical subject line: “Rejoice, for the Kissing Ban is Over!!!”
And “Kissing Accomplished.”
One wrote, “We expect the show to continue to feature the couple kissing whenever a scene calls for it. If they do, they definitely deserve some major kudos ... . I can imagine the American Family Association ... will be upset with them.”
Yes, indeed, activists from the other camp also issued a press release saying P&G promotes “explicit open-mouthed homosexual kissing” and more. A link to the kiss is attached — with a warning.
I expect the 2008 Kiss Watch to continue — with viewer engagement ratings to soar.
-- Lynn Smith
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 Letting go is hard to do. Thursday night, I talked with Carly Smithson by phone from the "Tonight Show" dressing room, hoping that she could put things in perspective. And indeed she did. The transcript of our conversation follows.
Q: How are you today?
C: I’m good. Thank you.
Q: So what has today been like for you?
C: Very strange. Just exhausting. It's very strange coming off of the Idol bubble down to the ground and I guess going out to the real world and experiencing that.
Q: Tell me about the dinner. (Note: Each week after the elimination show, the contestants traditionally share a farewell meal in honor of the eliminee.)
C: We didn’t really have it. We had it at CBS and it was very quick. They were going to cancel it but the producer knows how much I love it and as soon as they heard it was me that was leaving, they reorganized it. It was actually just in our holding room upstairs and there was some friends and family. It was very quick. But fun.
Q What was the mood?
C: Everyone was very happy. I didn’t want anyone to be upset for me. I’m not that kind of person. I just want to go out with my head held high and let everyone know that I enjoyed every minute. It was a very great experience and I have no sadness in me. Top six is a huge achievement in my book.
Q: You’ve made a lot of fans. Our site is exploding with people leaving nice comments about you.
C: It’s so nice to hear that. We’re in our wee bubble and don’t know what people are saying.
Q: That’s what I wondered. How much do you know of what people are saying?
C: Not much. I tried to ask friends and family to just keep it to themselves because obviously everybody reads everything and I didn’t have a computer, I chose not to, because I didn’t want to be tempted to look at anything. I heard little bits and bobs, but I tried to keep it to an opinion in knowing what was out there. I wanted to have my own opinion of myself and not somebody else’s opinion of myself. But unfortunately, Simon has one of the largest opinions.
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 Well, now we know what the writers of "Grey's Anatomy" were doing during the strike, when they weren't walking the picket lines of course. They were watching "House."
Last night marked the first new episode of "Grey's" in many, many months. Not content with beating its fellow medical drama out of the post-strike box by five days -- the first new "House" airs on Monday -- show runner Shonda Rhimes and her crack team of writers seem to be poking gentle fun, and paying some homage to, the strange powers of their rivals at Fox. First there was the resident's contest in which Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), Cristina (Sandra Oh), Alex (Justin Chambers) and Izzie (Katherine Heigl) competed for points based on things like number of sutures stitched or surgeries scrubbed in on. It looked suspiciously like the competition Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) set up last season to choose a new diagnostics team, especially since "solving a medical mystery" was assigned the highest point value.
So Meredith diagnosed a brain tumor by considering a patient's hasty marriage on the rebound a symptom, while Izzie put a patient (Cheech Marin) with a sprained ankle through a battery of tests, including a spinal tap (she did stop short of the Housian favorite, the MRI). Meanwhile, Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and Mark (Eric Dane) had mildly flirtatious conversations on elevators, a la House and Dr. Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard).
If someone was walking around with a cane, though, I missed it.
It was pretty funny for those of us who follow both shows. Rhimes has a knack for lassoing the zeitgeist, whether it be her cast of many colors or her enthusiastic use of the Internet to connect with her viewers, so it's not surprising that she would unabashedly grab the general trend toward media cross-pollination and inject it into her show. (At the end of the "Grey's" episode, the Chief (James Pickens Jr.) even totted up the cost of the tests Izzie had run just as Dr. Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) does so often on "House.")
The recognition from the creators of one hit medical show that another exists, and has its own strange set of foibles, not only makes for interesting television, it creates another level of shared intimacy with the audience, an inside joke for us bazillion viewers. As the rest of the media world grapples with tone and transparency, the folks at "Grey's," who dominated the Web with their pro-strike shorts, have given us another point of connection: there are people at work behind these shows and apparently they watch TV too.
Of course, "Grey's" is not "House" and never pretended to be. The personal lives of the staff remain front and center, though everyone seems to be taking a bit of a breather from the pell-mell hook-up and breakup pattern that threatened the show last season. Derek is still pursuing Rose because he apparently has not read the countless magazine articles in which Rhimes has assured everyone he and Meredith will get back together for good. Callie (Sara Ramirez) is chumming it up with Erica (Brooke Adams) and they will win cutest couple if hints from "next on "Grey's" are anything more than a big tease. (How does Ramirez get her hair so shiny?) Although it was a relief to see Meredith retraining her focus on medicine -- and getting into therapy! It's never too late Meredith! -- Lexie (Chyler Leigh) seems to be picking up the neurotic/neediness slack, redecorating her ratty apartment with bedpans so George (T.R. Knight) will remain her roommate.
Oh, and there was a grizzly bear attack, which was pretty unnerving considering that a Hollywood trainer was recently killed by a grizzly. But I don't think even Rhimes could have seen that one coming.
-- Mary McNamara
(Photo Cheech Marin and Katherine Heigl, courtesy ABC)
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Right now, I’m firmly in Camp Gio.
It’s like in “Lost,” Gio is Locke, the guy with the real answers. He’s the guy who keeps things interesting, who gets things done. But Henry, like Jack, is just so darn noble and likable that you completely understand the folks who stayed on the beach with him. (It's not that much of a stretch!)
Seriously, though, I’m not pro-Gio because I’m not a fan of Henry -- who, for the record, is infinitely more likeable than Jack -- but Henry’s evil baby mama is about to tear him away from Betty forever. And as far as second choices go, who isn’t totally charmed by our newly buzzed sandwich boy? C’mon, the pint-sized tough guy swoons over carriage rides.
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After another agonizing month of waiting, we’re down to the final five post-writers'-strike episodes of “Lost’s” spectacular fourth season. What was originally supposed to be eight hours of storyline has been condensed to six hours. While we’ll forever wonder what subplots were sacrificed, if this episode is any indication of how things will go for the rest of the season, the missing hours won’t be missed for long.
The secondary cast continued to get pruned this week. They're starting to depart the show so rapidly now, it's like we're watching "American Idol." Following the brutal shootings of Rousseau and Carl in the previous episode, we witnessed the murder of Ben’s daughter Alex at the hands of Widmore’s military guys; the off-camera murder of Ray, the doctor from the freighter; and the 1-2-3-style killing of a whole lot of disposable Oceanic 815 survivors. (Just how many of these nameless survivors are left at this point?)
The murder of Alex was definitely the episode’s dramatic center and if Ben’s stunned reaction was as genuine as it seemed, then it was the act that connected the status quo of the present with the reality of the post-island flash forwards. But that’s not just idle speculation -– the episode was titled “The Shape of Things to Come.”
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Sometimes the writers on "30 Rock" outdo themselves, but not necessarily in a good way. Last night's episode felt like three episodes folded into one. First, Devon Banks (Will Arnett) returned to antagonize Jack (Alec Baldwin) by marrying the daughter of Jack's mentor, Don Guise (Rip Torn). Then, after being told that he in fact would be inheriting the company, Jack started grooming Liz (Tina Fey) for his former position. In the meantime, Tracy (Tracy Morgan) and Frank (Judah Friedlander) endured an "Amadeus"-like drama as Frank served as the Salieri to Tracy's Mozart as he tried to create a porno video game in order, of course, to make his children proud.
Whew!
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 The finality of the series' approaching end is taking shape.
Tricia Helfer, who pulled the strings behind Gaius Baltar (James Callis) as Cylon 'Number Six' (or just Six) on "Battlestar Galactica," will continue to pull strings as she takes on the role of Carla in USA's "Burn Notice."
Up until this point, Carla had been a faceless voice on threatening phone calls to the show's main character, Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan). She'll apparently have a more visual and active role as she hands out assignments for him to take care of.
Helfer has been actively preparing for life after "Battlestar," also signing a talent holding deal with Fox. For one of FHM's sexiest women, linking up with the #1 new series on cable (for 2007) is not a bad way to stay on screen.
-- Jevon Phillips
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What are you up to now?
Well, you have to go back to everyday life, so I had to get a job: I work in an art store. The show took a few months to film, and somebody has to pay the rent. If I want, I’ll pursue modeling. Before the show I never had a background in modeling. I found a different side of me: I’m kind of scared by it, but I like it.
Did you feel we saw the real you on the show?
Yes and no. At panel they panned me as this meek, mousy girl, and I’m not. I have a habit of being lewd and offensive and be all things to people, and we saw a little of that when I went a little crazy, but my buttons were pushed, and I don't let people walk all over me, and that’s what happened.
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