It’s only a matter of time before some brave network takes on “American Idol,” which brings its death march of a seventh season to a close 7 p.m. Wednesday on WFLD-Ch. 32.

For years now, every other broadcast network has given the “Idol” behemoth a pretty wide berth. Having thrown lots of cannon fodder at the show in its first few years, the other networks grudgingly conceded a fair amount of Tuesday and Wednesday prime-time real estate to the Fox talent show. It just wasn’t worth it to throw promising shows – especially expensive scripted ones – at the Godzilla that was “Idol.”

But is “Idol” Godzilla any more? Has it been shrunk down to a more manageable Mothra-esque size? Live ratings for the show are down compared to last season – and last season, ratings declined from the previous season as well.

According to Mediaweek ratings columnist Marc Berman, Nielsen ratings for the May 7 “Idol” broadcast were down a whopping 24 percent versus the previous year in the key 18-49 demographic. Though ratings have rebounded somewhat, even Fox chairman Peter Liguori, in a recent phone conference with the media, expressed concern about the seventh go-round and promised to inject the show “with new levels of energy” in Season 8.

Here’s the part where I must insert the boilerplate sentences about how any network would kill to air “Idol,” it’s still making truckloads of money, it’s still a very potent force on the TV scene, etc. But it’s also pretty apparent that viewers are tiring of the show, which generally treats the people watching “Idol” with high-handed arrogance. 

For years now, “Idol” producers have been able to stuff the show with product placement, aging stars flogging their latest albums, corny group medleys and other bits of useless business. The end result is a program that comes off as a twice-weekly infomercial and performers who look exhausted thanks to endless photo sessions, commercial shoots, rehearsals for lame production numbers, interviews and – if they’re lucky – time spent rehearsing the songs they’ve chosen to sing on the air. 

Both of this year’s finalists, David Archuleta and David Cook (pictured above), look like they want nothing more than for the grueling “Idol” ordeal to be over.

In recent weeks, David Archuleta’s father has been banned from “Idol” rehearsals, but he should have been banned from the start. Struggling under the weight of his father’s interference and the non-stop demands of the “Idol” production has clearly taken a toll on this young man. His voice is clear and attractive, yet his performances have grown more wooden, artificial and even creepy over time.

David Cook, on the other hand, has dealt well with the pressures of the “Idol” machinery, considering that he’d probably rather be home with his brother, who has cancer. It’s to Cook’s eternal credit that he has done all he can to avoid playing the sympathy card and using his brother’s illness to get votes. But it’s also clear that this talented rocker just wants to move on – and who can blame him?

Early odds have Cook winning, but I’ll reiterate my long-held idea that it might actually hurt him to win, unless he has the strength to resist the mainstream-pop career that the “Idol” machinery will try to foist on him. If he does resist that path and can fashion a rock career like that of previous “Idol” contestant Chris Daughtry, that’ll be all to the good. 

What really needs refashioning, though, is the show itself. Simon Cowell is contracted for two more seasons of “Idol” judging, then he’s leaving (or so he says). Producers have said Paula Abdul is staying, despite (or perhaps because of) her unpredictability. Mark Harris of Entertainment Weekly rightly criticized the affable Randy Jackson’s “autopilot appraisals,” which could be rendered by a machine programmed to say, “It wasn’t your best for me, dawg.”

All of the judges seemed bored for much of this season. And speaking of Paula’s infamous Season 7 flub, in which she critiqued a performance that hadn’t happened yet -- what better proof do we have that she wasn’t paying much attention? At least Cowell seems to be on his game some of the time – but once he goes, why watch at all?

In that conference call last week, Fox executives said they were already working with "Idol's" producers to make the show more interesting and unpredictable in Season 8. Here’s a thought: How about a few “mentors” whom the younger members of your audience have heard of -- Rihanna, Ashlee Simpson, Alicia Keys, Taylor Swift. Any of those names ring a bell?

Executives also said the results show would return to the half-hour format that it used to have a few years ago. Thank goodness for small mercies.

“Some of it is just natural maturity of the show. It’s been a phenomenon, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t go through some natural aging just like any other show,” Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said of “Idol’s” Season 7 performance. “We’ll do some of those creative twists next season, and we’ll see what comes out of it.”

If the ratings slide and the ossified format continue largely unchanged, however, expect this to come out of it: One of these days, the talent contest won’t have the playing field to itself and “Idol” is going to get some serious prime-time competition. 

Here are a couple of clips from "Ugly Betty's" season finale. The first one features Lindsay Lohan, who's guesting on six episodes of the show, in a flashback to Betty's high school days. Lohan plays Kimberly, a "mean girl" at Betty's school.

By the way, "Ugly Betty" executive producer Silvio Horta discusses Lohan, the season finale and the ups and downs of the ABC show's second season in this interview.

Here's Lindsay:

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by the Watcher Web chat today!

If you didn't get a chance to to stop by, you can check out the chat footage here. And you don't have to watch the whole thing -- you can scroll to the questions that you want to hear answered.

Thanks again!

There's big news on the "Battlestar Galactica" front.

There will be another set of Webisodes that will link the first 10 episodes of Season 4 and the second half of the fourth and finale season.

Even bigger news: More "Battlestar Galactica" TV movies may get made.

As Galactica Sitrep noted Thursday, an internet radio show, The Doctor and Mrs. Who, reported last night that up to three “Battlestar Galactica” TV movies may get made later this year. Several sources at the show confirm that those films are indeed being discussed right now.

Executives are now doing number-crunching for these proposed films, and any deals for these movies are far from done. However, it would make sense to make more “Battlestar” TV movies while the show’s creative team and actors are still all in one place, as it were. (Pictured at right are cast members Jamie Bamber, Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff.)

According to one source at the network, the talk about the films is just idle chatter “at this point.” But several other sources close to the show says there is good reason for “cautious optimism” about one to three future “Battlestar” films, which would get made this summer, if they get the green light.

“Nothing’s etched in stone yet,” one source said – creative decisions haven’t been fully fleshed out and the casts have not been locked in.

And it's worth noting that "Battlestar Galactica" executive producer Ron Moore is a very busy man -- he's currently writing the show's series finale, his Sci Fi project "Caprica" is in pre-production and his Fox pilot, "Virtuality," which he co-wrote with "Battlestar" writer Michael Taylor, has been picked up for next season. Last month, he also signed a deal with United Artists for three yet-to-be named feature films.

As for the proposed "Battlestar" TV movies, "there have been scattered notions floating around as to what the movie/movies (nobody's even nailed down how many) would cover -- and then there's the issue of whether the actors will be around and affordable," one source noted.

But the films could indeed get made. And it’s important to note that these proposed films won't affect the finale of "Battlestar Galactica" in any way -- that series finale will still proceed as planned. The films would be about incidents in “Battlestar Galactica’s” past. They will not take place after the time frame of the series finale. And the stories in the proposed films will depend, at least in part, on what actors are available to work on them.

For those keeping score at home, “Battlestar Galactica” is currently airing the first 10 episodes of its fourth and final season. The current batch of episodes will finish up in early June. Production is underway on the last 10 episode of the show and the final scenes for the series finale will be shot in June. Production could get under way on the TV movies as early as July, and one source says the films could get the green light in the next two weeks or so.

By the way, at this point, it’s not known when those last 10 episodes of "Battlestar" will air. Informed sources say that a decision on that won’t get made until mid-summer, so my guess is that Sci Fi won’t the final 10 episodes until 2009.

I’ll certainly keep you posted if I get any more information about these proposed "Battlestar Galactica" TV films.

But for now, I’ll just direct you to this terrific Galactica Sitrep interview with Michael Angeli, one of the writers for the show.

And I’ll also mention an interesting tidbit that a fan on the SciFi.com forums caught: The famous “Last Supper” photo on the Sci Fi site has been altered – possibly in a significant way for one character. Is it a clue about the future – and I wonder if more changes are going to be made to this infamous photo as the season rolls on?

Finally, here’s a fun video – the opening credits of “Lost” done “Battlestar Galactica” style.

Some people are utterly devoted to "Bones," which has its season finale 7 p.m. Monday on WFLD-Ch. 32. I don't quite get it. Sure, the show is likable and plucky, but it is also, in the main, overwhelmingly average.

Still, the show’s season finale, which revolved around the ongoing “Gormogon” serial-killer plot, held my interest, and I don’t mind having spent 43 minutes of my life watching it. If there’s one thing that “Bones” has figured out, it’s that serial killers + explosions + partial nudity is a winning TV formula.

[A couple mild spoilers for the finale appear below. Nothing major, I promise. The video clip below is from the finale, by the way.]

Don’t worry that this junior “CSI” is turning in to “Nip/Tuck” – the “naked” moment occurs when Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) barges in on FBI agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) as he lounges in his bathtub at home. The most revealing thing about this mildly comedic scene is that Brennan discovers Booth likes to loll in his bath wearing a beer-dispensing helmet.

“Bones” often goes for that mildly comedic tone, but I find the show’s dialogue relatively pedestrian, for the most part. If you’re among those “Bones” fans who thinks that Deschanel and Boreanaz (pictured above) enjoy sizzling chemistry on screen,  you no doubt find that their scenes together zing and swing.

On the other hand, if you don’t find the thespian skills of Boreanaz or Deschanel particularly memorable, you might find their scenes a little too self-conciously “jokey.” These actors are competent at best, and though she’s gotten better over the show’s three seasons and her physical awkwardness is less pronounced, Deschanel can still seem strangely vacant at times.

Of the “squints” or scientists working in Brennan’s high-tech forensic lab, T.J. Thyne, who plays Jack Hodgins, is the most compelling. He’s able to give this conspiracy-theorist and entomologist some welcome layers of depth, which come in handy during Monday’s episode, during which life is made decidedly tricky for Hodgins.

But newer addition Lance Sweets, a very young psychological expert, is a prototypical “Bones” character – he has little depth but lots of “funny” lines. Sweets (even his name is cringe-inducingly obvious) is a by-the-numbers “comic relief” guy and as such, this character has an off-putting, one-note sameness.

However I must admit that actor John Francis Daley (“Freaks and Geeks”) does as much as possible with this limited role.

All things considered, I find “Bones” a little lightweight for my tastes (which don’t favor dead-body procedurals, it must be noted).

But I’m sure many of my criticisms of “Bones” – that it is repetitive, self-consciously jokey and a little too pleased with itself – could be made about “Psych,” which is one of my not-so-guilty pleasures.

If “Bones” lightens your Monday each week, I don’t begrudge you that. To each his or her own. 

UPDATE: Here's the Flight of the Conchords' latest music video, "Ladies of the World."

I had a fabulous time at the Flight of the Conchords' Wednesday show at the Chicago Theatre.

I didn’t know what to expect, to be honest. I thought it might be a little boring – that it might just be the guys playing the songs from the show and that’s that. Not that I don’t enjoy those songs, but I thought it might not be that different from just sitting around and listening to their CD at home.

I was wrong. I loved their between-song banter and the little asides they threw in to the familiar songs that they performed. Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement (seen at right with "Conchords" cast member Rhys Darby) kept making jokes about how the show was going badly, but they’re such good improvisers that they turned most of the things that happened (tangled mic stands, flubbed lyrics) into comedy gold.

I think that’s what impressed me the most about the show – Bret and Jemaine made improvised banter seem really easy, and I’m sure it’s not. They were so relaxed yet never missed a chance to make fun of themselves or even Chicago (which they imagined would be like the movie “Chicago,” as Jemaine said in one funny, rambling bit). I’m sure some of their banter is stuff they’ve done before, but it all felt fresh and on-target and as calmly demented as you’d expect.

As Tribune rock critic Greg Kot noted in his review, "On stage, it was the between-songs dialogue that fascinated, laced with ever-stranger tangents, expertly timed pauses and subtle, minimalist physical humor."

I was also pretty impressed by the new songs, especially the closing one about angels. It’s so sick and funny that I’m sure it’ll end up on the next season of their HBO show.

Speaking of their music in general, as Sun-Times rock critic Jim DeRogatis wrote in his review, even if the musical in-jokes and digressive banter isn't your thing, "there was the inescapable fact that the group's set list boasted more hooks than a lakeside bait and tackle shop." 

Kot and DeRogatis’ reviews of the show are really good and I’m not sure I have much to add to what they said, except for a laundry list of memorable things that I can recall:

• Eddie Izzard, who’s doing standup shows Thursday-Saturday at the Chicago Theatre, was sitting two rows ahead of me at the Conchords concert.
• Arj Barker, who played the shop owner Dave on the show, opened with a standup set. He wore his trademark headband (or Dave's trademark headband).
  
• Nobody threw props on to the stage, at least not from where I could see (and I was pretty close to the stage). In other cities, people have thrown jelly beans during “Albi the Racist Dragon” and tape during “Sellotape,” but I had a feeling we Chicagoans wouldn’t really be into that sort of thing (not that there’s anything wrong with that). And I appear to have been proven correct.
• The duo discussed what they’re concerned about – which is “issues.” They didn’t get overly specific during about which issues they’re into but said, “Anything Bono’s into, we’re into.”
• The discussion of Bret’s imaginary family – which is very tiny, apparently – went on a little too long but it was pretty funny.
• Bret took off a bunch of shirts, all of which were Conchords T-shirts fans could buy in the lobby. People in the audience urged them both to take off all their shirts, but they didn’t. They said if the audience members all took off their shirts, they’d do that too. Then someone shouted, “Take off your pants!” That became the phrase the audience liked to shout most, along with requests for “Bowie,” which the guys played second-to-last.
• Bret did some entertaining white-boy beatboxing during “Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros.”
• They had an entertaining running gag in which they asked for certain kinds of lighting and usually didn’t get what they wanted on the lighting person’s first try. They wanted “cave” lighting at one point (I think for “Albi”) but got “dappled forest” instead, which Jemaine pretended to be annoyed by. But they did ask for “dappled forest” later.
• A line added to “Business Time”: “Wipe off that pimple cream, my love.” Jemaine’s Barry White voice was even more impressive in person on this always-funny song.
• I was hoping they’d play “Frodo, Don’t Wear the Ring” or “Inner City Pressure” but I think those songs would have required more instruments than they had. As it was, I was happy to just experience the keytar solo.
• I’m not sure this is the official title, but the new song “I Told You I Was Freaky” was really good.
• UPDATE: I forgot to say before, I was pretty disappointed that they were out of "Redheads Not Warheads" T-shirts in my size at the merch booth.
• For the final song, they came to the edge of the stage and sat down. They said they felt close enough to the audience to share their secret, which is that “Jesus is [their] drummer.” They then sang the funny song about angels and what they do all day up there in heaven.
• Trust me, it’s freaky.

If you were at the Chicago show last night, share your favorite moments in the comment area below. Thanks! 

"24" has been off the air for a year, so Fox is throwing fans a bone in the form of a 2-hour TV movie that will debut Nov. 23.

The two-hour “prequel” to Season 7 will show Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland, pictured at left) battling an international crisis in Africa on the day that a new president, Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones), is being inaugurated in the U.S. The film will be shot on location in South Africa.

Last year, after a wave of criticism for a season that was widely regarded as among the show’s weakest, producers of “24” had thought about shaking things up by setting at least part of the show’s next season in Africa. That plan was eventually shelved, but some of those ideas went into the script for the "24" TV movie.

David Fury, an executive producer of "24," said that the 2-hour movie allowed the writers to return to "the ideas and some of the material originally written for Season 7. It was a great opportunity to more properly set up the events to come."

It wasn't clear from the Fox press release whether the "24" will take place in real time, but Fury said that it will -- for the most part. "With the exception of a brief opening teaser scene, the movie will be in a real-time format, taking place several months before Day 7," Fury said.

The events of the TV movie will help set up what occurs when “24” returns to its regular Monday-night time slot. When Season 7 begins, CTU will be gone and Bauer will be in Washington, D.C., on trial for the various alleged crimes he committed while battling terrorist plots. (There's more on Season 7 here, here and here.)

In Season 7, Bauer will be joined by new colleagues played by Janeane Garofalo and Rhys Coiro. Cast members Mary Lynn Rajskub (who plays computer whiz Chloe), Carlos Bernard (former Bauer buddy Tony Almeida) and James Morrison (CTU boss Bill Buchanan) will be among the few familiar faces when “24” returns in January.

“We're excited about the prequel [movie] because it explores Jack's complex emotional state of mind and still has all the signature excitement and suspense that fans have come to expect from ‘24,’” executive producer Howard Gordon said in a statement. “Shooting in South Africa affirms everyone’s commitment to making this season especially memorable for our fans.”

By the way, USA Today reports that when the show returns on Mondays in January, Joss Whedon’s new series, “Dollhouse,” will air alongside it.

Fox’s entire press release on the “24” sequel is below.

I want to ask you a question that's been on my mind since Sarah Chalke began appearing on “How I Met Your Mother” as Ted's new girlfriend, Stella.

Should Stella be "the Mother" of the show's title? Should she be the one that Ted ends up with for good?

There's much speculation on this topic, and Chalke's been so capable in the role that it's natural to think she might stick around and end up as the mother of Ted’s children. Executive producer Craig Thomas addresses that very issue below and also dishes up some tasty clues about the "HIMYM" finale.   

But first, I want to ask the show’s viewers -- are you cool with Stella being The One for Ted? Take the poll below and share your views in the comment section.

I have really enjoyed Chalke’s work as Stella (and her work on "Scrubs," which moves to ABC in the fall and which is also keeping her busy these days). Still, I'm still a little on the fence about her as the mother. Chalke has excellent comic timing, and she and Josh Radnor, who plays Ted, have a nicely understated chemistry.

But are Stella and Ted (pictured at left) a TV couple for the ages? Do that have that spark that makes you really care whether they end up together? They could be – but I think it’s case in which time will tell. I’m certainly willing to stick around and see what happens between Ted and Stella. And it sounds as though something significant happens with that couple in the show’s May 19 season finale. 

Thomas says that Stella as the mother is a very real possibility, but acknowledges there are “logistics” that complicate the situation. But from what he said, it sure sounds as though he and co-creator Carter Bays would like to see more of Chalke on their show.

“I liken the Stella situation to our predicament in the middle of the writers’ strike,” Thomas said. “We didn't know whether the remainder of Season 3 would necessitate -- the 4-episode plan, the 9-episode plan or the zero-episode plan. So we thought of plans for all three. (The zero-episode plan was, of course, to get very drunk on box wine and watch ‘Battlestar Galactica’ reruns.).”

“Same thing with the Stella situation,” Thomas continued. “We have to have more than one plan in mind.”

But it sounds as though one of those plans -- and a strong contender at that -- may have Stella as the mother of Ted’s children.

“We know which version [of Ted’s story] we want to write, and I'm confident that's the version we'll get to do,” Thomas said. The version that Thomas and co-creator Carter Bays want to write “involves seeing a bunch more of the delightful Sarah Chalke -- whether or not that means she's the mother, I really can't confirm or deny.”

Some details of the “HIMYM” season finale are discussed below. If you don’t want to see spoilers, exit here.

Spotted in the suburbs of the Windy City, one TV-centric scribe counting the days until the sure-to-be-scandalous Monday finale of "Gossip Girl."

Why the change of heart? Wasn’t a certain M. Ryan scathing in her assessment of our decadent Upper East Siders when she first met them last fall? My my, how times change.

Did absence make the heart grow fonder? Sounds like it. Maybe, thanks to her trusty TiVo, M. grew addicted to the adventures of Serena and Blair when other soapy shows were scarce during the recent unpleasantness (a “strike” by those who don’t have in-house masseuses and private planes on standby).

But that’s not the only reason, I hear. M. is telling the whole town that the show has done wonders with a certain Chuck, who’s gone from being a scary sleaze to being an entertaining cad. And M.’s quite a fan of our very own Queen B. (a.k.a. Blair), who’s developed into one of the tube’s most enjoyable villains (but a villain with a killer collection of headbands and a heart of gold).

Even the rise and abrupt fall of the ambitious Little J. (a.k.a. poor little Jenny from Brooklyn) reminded M. of an Edith Wharton novel by way of “The O.C.”

And what’s this I hear? A little bird told me M. was positively gripped by Serena’s recent revelations about her sordid past and by the scandalous yet sweet lip-lock between Serena’s well-bred mother and Dan’s cool rocker dad. Well, who wasn’t, sweetie?

M. was so intrigued she was even willing to overlook the fact that the badly cast Georgina is annoying, over-dramatic and predictable. Ah well, you can't have everything (unless you're Queen B., who's determined to have it all).

Will the finale (and I've got a tasty sneak peek of it right here, dear readers) be everything M. dreamed of?

Will our Upper East Side crew still be as interesting next season? Will their upper-crust antics still be as delish? Who knows, but count M. among the Queen B. converts.

xo xo,

Gossip Girl

Note: Keep checking this post for frequent updates. Also, network press releases announcing 2008-'09 schedules are at the end of this item. I've added ABC's upfront press release, which lists the network's fall schedule. CBS' and the CW's upfront press releases detailing their fall schedules are at the end of this post. If you're looking for NBC's fall plans, they were announced earlier and that press release is here. THURSDAY UPDATE: Fox's press release for the 2008-'09 season has been added.

“The Unit” has been renewed for another season.

That’s good news for fans of that show (a good chunk my e-mail of late was from concerned fans of the CBS military drama). But there’s much more coming from the “upfront” week in New York, where the broadcast networks are unveiling their 2008-’09 schedules for advertisers and the press.

One big surprise: A rare setback for Oprah Winfrey. “Oprah’s Big Give,” an ABC reality show that got mixed-to-negative reviews, will not return. ABC’s Stephen McPherson said at the network’s upfront presentation that it was because Oprah’s Harpo production company decided not to go forward with another season. “It wasn't something Oprah wanted to do,” McPherson said.

Regarding other shows, if you’re wondering whether a particular program will return next season, the L.A. Times Show Tracker blog has compiled a helpful list of series that had already been renewed as of May 8. That list is here, and it’s full of moderately and very successful shows such as “Bones,” “Lost,” “House,” “Two and a Half Men” and so forth. 

Show Tracker also has a list of shows that were “on the bubble” but that are now known to be dead. That list of canceled shows is being updated each day as the networks make their presentations to advertisers in New York this week. I was a little sad to see ABC’s “Miss Guided” die, but none of the other cancellations on the list are very surprising.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Moonlight” has had a stake put through its heart. But "The New Adventures of Old Christine" has been renewed by CBS.

Below, I’m providing a partial list of shows that were on the bubble and whose fates you may be wondering about. If you don’t see a show here, check Show Tracker, Zap2it.com, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily and The Futon Critic’s upfront roundup.

I’ll try to update this post throughout the week as well. But keep in mind that in the list below, I’m only mentioning shows that readers have been asking about or whose fates were unclear in recent weeks. (Was anyone unclear about the fate of “Cavemen”? Didn’t think so.)

Shows that are NOT coming back:

CBS:

• “Cane” (This is great because it means Nestor Carbonell can bring his freak factor to “Lost” next season)
• "Shark"
• "Moonlight" (Nikki Finke reports that the CW may pick the show up. There's no chance of it returning to CBS given how "Jericho" 2.0 performed, according to the New York Times' TV Decoder)

ABC:

• “Miss Guided” (Here's hoping the great Judy Greer and Chris Parnell find good new projects soon)
• “Women's Murder Club”
• “Men in Trees” :(
• “Cashmere Mafia”
• "October Road" (I'm taking a moment here to do a happy dance)
• “Oprah’s Big Give”

Fox

• “Back to You” (CBS may pick the show up)
• “Canterbury's Law”
• “New Amsterdam” (Hey, I thought the lead character was supposed to live forever. Snerk!)

NBC:

• “Las Vegas”(This show’s fate has been known for some time but I’m still getting asked about it, so…)

CW:

• “Aliens in America” (Sad but this wasn't hard to predict)
• “Girlfriends”

Shows that were on the bubble but ARE coming back:

ABC

• “Eli Stone”
• “Boston Legal” (Next season is the show’s last)
• “Scrubs” (It’s moving from NBC to ABC)

CBS:

• “The Unit”
• “How I Met Your Mother”
• "The New Adventures of Old Christine"

CW:

• “Reaper” (It will return at midseason)

Fox:

• “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (this renewal was announced a couple of weeks ago but again, I’m getting questions…)

Again, if you don't see a show you're interested in, please check the sites above. They'll have as much information as you can handle.

By the way, here’s a bit of information about new shows for fall. I’m being selective since there’s a lot of news about new programs coming out of upfront week. Check TV Tattle, the Futon Critic, E!Online, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter for more frequent and complete updates:

• The American version of the BBC’s “Life on Mars” has been picked up for fall by ABC, but David E. Kelley has exited the project and the Hollywood Reporter says that some of “October Road’s” “creative” team (and I use that term loosely) may take over the reins. Is there better way to ensure that the show will be awful? I think not. Uugggh.
• Variety says “Friday Night Lights” executive producer Peter Berg will direct “Virtuality,” a two-hour pilot for Fox that was written by “Battlestar Galactica’s” Ron Moore and Michael Taylor. That’s the second “FNL”-“BSG” connection: Another director/executive producer of the Texas-set show, Jeffrey Reiner, will direct “Caprica,” the upcoming “BSG” spinoff.
• Speaking of “Caprica,” Eric Stoltz has joined Esai Morales and Paula Malcolmson in the cast of that Sci Fi project.
• Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse” is definitely on the Fox schedule but it’s not clear yet when it will air – in the fall or at mid-season. Fox announces its schedule Thursday so we’ll have more news on that front soon. 
• Fox also picked up J.J. Abrams’ sci-fi flavored thriller “Fringe.” [UPDATE HERE] It will debut on Tuesdays after "House" in the fall. "Dollhouse" will arrive at midseason and air with "24" on Mondays. 
• For superfans of Whedon and Abrams, Zap2it.com has reviews of those pilot scripts.
  
• Finally, next season the CW is launching an update of “Beverly Hills, 90210” called simply “90210,” and Jennie Garth from the original show will have a recurring role as a guidance counselor.

It’s easy for a young woman making her way in the big city to get lost. Just ask Betty Suarez.

As its second season wore on, “Ugly Betty,” which follows the awkward but winning Queens native Betty (America Ferrera) as she navigates the dangerous waters of the Manhattan fashion world, veered further and further away from the things that had made it such a roaring success.

The plots were too numerous, too repetitive and sometimes overly outlandish (yes, even for this frequently arch soap). The show’s mixture of sly humor and earnest sweetness took a back seat to frenetic plots and predictable, often irritating, supporting characters. One story line involving Betty’s choice between two suitors seemed to go on forever, as I noted in this recent post.   

“We lost Betty’s point of view,” “Ugly Betty” creator and executive producer Silvio Horta said in a recent interview. “We kept adding layers and layers to the cake.”

Though the season started out promisingly, things had gone off course even before the writers’ strike, Horta noted.

“We’d have seven or eight story lines and it started to feel more sitcom-y,” he noted. “We needed to get back to the basics of what you felt in Season 1 and the first few episodes of Season 2. … We think there’s much more that the show can be.”

But just as the writers were in the midst of making many post-strike course corrections – Thursday’s episode (7 p.m., WLS-Ch. 7) is by far the most enjoyable and least frantic “Ugly Betty” outing in some time – news broke that the entire production would be moving across the country.

Last week, the cast and crew were told that, thanks to new tax legislation that makes it cheaper to film in New York, the third season of “Ugly Betty” would be produced there. Until now, Betty’s Queens neighborhood and various Manhattan locations had been re-created on Los Angeles soundstages.

Horta said that despite the move, all of “Ugly Betty’s” regular cast members will be part of the third season. However, he added that, for creative reasons unrelated to the move, Rebecca Romijn’s Alexis will only be a recurring character next season. And he did note that the finale does involve a cliffhanger regarding which boyfriend Betty will choose, Gio (Freddy Rodriguez) or Henry (Christopher Gorham); that would presumably affect one of those actors’ Season 3 screen time.

“They’re all moving, they’re all excited, some more than others,” Horta said of the cast’s reaction, who noted that the news of the move was “a lot to process.” “People who have families -- it’s a little more difficult. But by and large, they’re excited about it.”

The move to New York City will make it easier to shoot scenes in Betty’s Queens neighborhood as well as any number of memorable New York locations (a horse-drawn carriage ride in a recent episode certainly would have looked a lot better in the real Central Park).

“The move will allow us to use the city more and to use the city in that very romantic, ‘Sex and the City’ way. That was my goal from the get-go, to capture that,” added Horta, who noted that the show’s exuberant pilot was shot in the Big Apple.

In Season 3, the show will once again employ “Sex and the City” costume designer Patricia Field, who worked on the “Ugly Betty” pilot. Eduardo Castro, the costume designer who supplied the cast’s colorful outfits in Seasons 1 and 2, is no longer with the show, and many other crew members will lose their jobs thanks to the move. (One crew member who’ll make the move to New York: Production designer Mark Worthington, who helped create the distinctive and eye-popping “Ugly Betty” aesthetic.)

“They’re all great and they’ll find other work but it’s really tough,” Horta said of the show’s crew. “But I do think ultimately that it will be a great thing for the show.”   

Using authentic New York locations excites Horta, but he said and his writing staff have a much bigger goal in Season 3: To make the show more about Betty’s journey and to weave the characters into more unified, emotionally grounded plots.

Even the guest arc of Lindsay Lohan (pictured at left), who’ll appear in six upcoming episodes, was designed with a Betty-centric purpose in mind.

“The mantra now is, we will only do [a multi-episode guest arc] in so far as it illuminates our characters and the relationships between our main characters,” Horta said. “We felt this could be a guest arc that could really inform Betty’s journey -- where she’s been and where she’s going -- in a really cool, fun way.”

Lohan, who’s glimpsed in a flashback scene in the May 22 finale, was a “mean girl” at Betty’s high school whose life didn’t turn out very well.

“She and Betty run into each other,” Horta said, and next season Lohan’s character is “going to re-bond with Betty and things are going to be different -- but things are going to go a little bit awry,” as they usually do in the magazine assistant’s world. 

Horta said Lohan was “really nice” and turned up early for her one day of filming for the finale. But next season will be the real test of whether the starlet, who was once regarded as one of Hollywood’s most promising young actresses, will turn out to be a good addition to “Ugly Betty” or a case of stuntcasting gone awry. 

“Lindsay now is just known for the tabloids, but she was – she is – an amazing actress,” Horta said. “I hope the magic can be recaptured here, and we all believe it can.”

The season finale features another cameo, by supermodel Naomi Campbell, who plays herself in scenes of a softball game between the staffs of Mode and Elle magazines.

(Note: The next few paragraphs hint at things that happen in the season finale. You can skip that part and go directly to more Season 2 analysis by Horta if you don't want to get a few clues about the finale.)

It’s always been theoretically possible. But until last Thursday I didn’t believe there could be a truly terrible episode of “The Office.”

I was proved wrong.

A lot of shows are hitting road bumps in their post-strike returns, but those problems haven’t always resulted in bad TV. “30 Rock’s” May 8 finale, for example, was a little more surreal and disjointed than normal but I still quite enjoyed it. And “Lost” has excised or moved some stories to next season without losing its sense of momentum (in fact, the trimmed-down number of episodes this season may be partly responsible for an increased level of suspense.)

And before excoriating “The Office’s” indefensible episode, I should note that, despite its ups and downs, I look forward to watching the NBC comedy each week. When it’s on its game, it’s terrific.

But it must be said that this season has been uneven at best. And last Thursday was the first time I ever finished watching an episode and thought, “That was just awful.”

It wasn’t just that Michael Scott (Steve Carell, pictured at right) behaved like a reprehensible, sexist jerk.

It wasn’t just that Pam (Jenna Fischer), who has always had limits to her passivity, let him get away with his jaw-dropping treatment of both her and the potential intern at the job fair.

It wasn’t just that Jim (John Krasinski) and Andy (Ed Helms) were stuck in a completely sealed-off story line about a golf game that made Jim seem like a stalkerish, borderline-offensive creep. (Brian Baumgartner’s fine work as Kevin was enjoyable but it didn’t redeem this awkward story line.)

It wasn’t just that the golf story line ignored the fact that Jim has made efforts in the past to be a good salesman (I don’t recall him being portrayed as someone who usually made no effort at all).

It wasn’t just that absolutely nothing happened in the story line featuring Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Angela (Angela Kinsey) back at the office.

It wasn’t just that the show tried to pretend that this was the first time that Pam had tried to create an exit strategy from her dull receptionist job.

No, the problem was that none of that was funny. At all. 

The only time I laughed was when Andy launched his golf cart into the pond. And that could have been Randy on a golf cart on “My Name Is Earl.” That was just a funny physical moment that could have aired on any number of sitcoms.

It is annoying that after a wait of so many months, “The Office” essentially wasted one of its few post-strike episodes.

Though perhaps the writers don’t see it that way. “Job Fair” may have done a couple of things that needed to be done from a storytelling perspective: It may have helped set up what will take place in the hourlong May 15 season finale (One of the show’s supporting characters is set to leave Dunder Mifflin -- and perhaps, in the wake of “Job Fair,” more characters will follow that person). And I suppose there’s a chance that elements of the episode might help put into motion the “Office” spinoff, which will launch in early 2009.

Other than that, the episode served no purpose, unless it was to make me really dislike Michael. My least favorite “Office” episodes or moments generally revolve around Michael behaving in a particularly buffoonish, cartoonish way. The show works so hard to create a minutely realized version of reality, then Michael will do something stupid that reeks of the most broad and obvious sitcom humor. I don’t find that funny. I also don’t find it humorous when he acts like an aggressively offensive jerk, as he did in “Job Fair,” but maybe that’s just me.

I think it’s more interesting when the show portrays Michael as someone who possesses a glimmer of intelligence, a modicum of vulnerability and possibly even a shred of awareness of how others see him. But too often, the show fills up time (especially in hourlong episodes) by having Michael do things that are stupid and jerky rather than subtle and funny. I think back to his “Bros Before Hos” speech from “Benihana Christmas,” him holding the pizza delivery kid hostage and him driving his car into the lake. The latter two gags just weren’t funny at all, to me anyway.

I wish Steve Carell would use his considerable power as an A-list actor to demand that the show do better by his character. But maybe he’s OK with how the show portrays Michael.

In an extensive interview in the June issue of Playboy (which is out now, and yes, I read it for the articles), Carell said, “Michael is a man without an ounce of self-perception. He doesn't understand how others view him. He has an enormous emotional blind spot.”

True, but I find Michael most compelling (and usually funnier) when he shows fleeting glimpses of perception – when he realizes that Ryan’s reaction is far too ecstatic when they run into each other at a nightclub (of course Ryan’s joy was drug fueled, which Michael may or may have not realized), or when he confronts the reality of how much Stanley hates him. Those tiny flashes of emotional intelligence make him a human being whose plight is pathetic and funny, rather than just an idiot who does dumb stuff.

Thursday’s season finale is an hour long, and I’m hoping the writers don’t pad it out, as they so often do, with too many Stupid Michael Tricks. I do have some hopes for the episode, since it guest stars Amy Ryan (star of "The Wire" and "Gone Baby Gone"; she is pictured at right). And let’s hope next season of the show demonstrates more brilliance along the lines of “Benihana Christmas” than the limp, mean-spirited “Job Fair.”

For more excerpts from Carell’s Playboy interview, and for a summary of what happens in Thursday’s finale, keep reading. Note that the summary (and the title of the episode) reveal who’s leaving Dunder Mifflin.

In "news" that had been widely leaked to the news media during the past few months, Jimmy Fallon is set to take over from Conan O'Brien as host of "Late Night" in 2009.

O'Brien, as you probably already know, will take over "The Tonight Show" from Jay Leno next year. Leno will exit that show but is expected to resurface on somewhere else on the TV landscape pretty quickly.

"You're never really certain of these things, but I just think [Fallon's] built for it," Lorne Michaels told the Associated Press. Michaels, the "Saturday Night Live" executive producer, is shepherding the Fallon transition at "Late Night." "You've just seen that he's really funny, he's smart and he has a really, really good work ethic."

Is a work ethic enough? I don't have much of an impression of Fallon; he seems a callow and not particularly memorable performer. And he's not even (by far) the most memorable "Weekend Update" host that "SNL" ever produced.

And as Time's James Poniewozik points out (in a post with the brilliant headline "Fallon Upward"), the O'Brien and Fallon situations are not quite comparable.

"Granted, Conan O'Brien himself proved that an underrated host could succeed wildly. (As I wrote a few years back when Jimmy Kimmel launched, hosts the world over owe O'Brien a huge debt for lowering the bar of expectations.)

"But O'Brien was someone whom few outside Simpsons fans knew at all, and even those who liked his writing hadn't seen him before a camera. Fallon is a known quantity—just known for something else, reading scripted material and doing characters, and the marketplace's verdict on that work is mixed, judging from his post-SNL career."

Still, NBC needs someone to fill that "Late Night" chair, though executives there are probably wishing they'd never put the Leno-O'Brien succession in motion. I like O'Brien's show quite a bit, but I have some doubts about how his humor will play on the much more mainstream "Tonight Show."

Here are six things you may want to know about Monday's episode of "House," which is Part 1 of the show's two-part finale (Hugh Laurie as Greg House is pictured at right).

The post below contains video clips, including an eye-popping video clip of Dr. Cuddy, so don't play it unless you really want to see one of the most memorable scenes in the episode (or at least the start of that scene). And of course don't read any of the clues below if you want to remain in the dark about the episode:

"Storm Over Everest" (9 p.m. Tuesday, WTTW-Ch. 11) is an undoubtedly beautiful and interesting film.

But as participants of the disastrous May 10, 1996, Mt. Everest expedition recount the deaths of their friends and their agonies as a storm raged around them, they remained mostly dry-eyed. One exception is Beck Weathers, whose frostbite-damaged face was partially reconstructed via plastic surgery. Another is Helen Wilton, who quietly recounts patching through a satellite call between dying guide Rob Hall and his wife. Still, both only tear up once or twice, perhaps out of decorousness or perhaps from having told their tales many times before.

Maybe it’s a mountaineering thing; tough men and women are the sort to take on the world’s tallest peak. Many participants in David Breashaers’ film talk about being moved by the beauty of Everest and by the horrors of that ill-fated climb. And Breashears, who was on the mountain that 1996 day with an IMAX film crew, has a gift for capturing Everest’s stern beauty. (The photo at left was taken in 1996 by guide Scott Fischer; it shows climbers as the base of the Hillary Step near the summit.)

But it’s often hard to read any emotions on the faces of the participants. This deliberately paced film may be compelling to those interested in the hubris and humanity on display during that expedition, which participant Jon Krakauer documented in the (1996) book “Into Thin Air.”

Yet there’s a curious reticence to “Storm Over Everest,” which carefully avoids addressing many of the controversies about the commercialization of Everest (which Krakauer’s fine book explored). Though it adds to the historical record of the mountain and to the many accounts of those fateful 1996 days, Breashears’ detailed yet distanced account may leave the viewer, if you’ll pardon the pun, a little cold.

On the other hand, “A Walk to Beautiful” (8 p.m. Tuesday, WTTW-Ch. 11) may be the most moving documentary of the year. I spent parts of this hourlong film wiping away tears, contemplating the resilience of young Ethiopian women whose suffering, unlike that of the Everest climbers, was not the result of any actions they voluntarily took.

“A Walk to Beautiful” lets the women and the doctors who treat them at Addis Ababa’s Fistula Hospital tell their own stories. But sometimes words are not necessary. The look on the face of one rural woman, Aheyu (pictured below), as she boards a bus and leaks urine on to the floor, tells you how wretched she feels.

Like millions of women in developing countries, childbirth caused major damage to her underdeveloped body. The process punched a hole between Aheyu’s birth canal and bladder (some women also leak feces as well). As a result of her incontinence, her community shuns her.

A friend tells her of the fistula hospital, where free operations can fix the damage. “How can they bring you back to life,” Aheyu nervously asks of the surgery. But the fact is, these operations bring these women back to life in any number of ways.

For these women, being shunned by their families and villages is crushing not just to their bodies but to their spirits. Aheyu’s own mother speaks matter-of-factly about making her daughter live in a rough shelter outside the main house. But in an almost wordless scene, the mother weeps and presses scarce money in her daughter’s hand as she heads off to the hospital.

Finding sympathy and a community of other women with fistula is a revelation for young women such as Wubete. “They are not revolted by me here,” says the 17-year-old patient, who talks of being married off by age 11.

This quietly moving film follows three women’s cases and captures daily life at the hospital, which is supported by charity. Wubete’s journey ends in an unlikely place, and the smile on Aheyu’s face after surgery is heart-piercing. Seeing women like her go from contemplating suicide to choosing colorful new clothes for their trip home is, indeed, beautiful.

The tabloids' favorite pop starlet returns to the CBS comedy "How I Met Your Mother" on Monday, and I had two thoughts when I saw the promotional photo that the show's P.R. folks sent out: First, NPH knows how to rock a suit, in or out of character.

Second, the hair, makeup and wardrobe people at "HIMYM" appear to have been very nice to Britney. I immediately thought, "If only the ladies at Go Fug Yourself could see Brit now!" Those hilarious fashion-centric bloggers have certainly had their share of fun with Britney in the past (see here), but I have to think Brit might get a "well played" designation for her well-groomed look here.

In Monday's episode, which is titled "Everything Must Go," Britney once again plays Abby, the receptionist who had a crush on Ted. She's angry at Ted for reasons that aren't quite clear yet, and Barney's also on the outs with Ted. So Abby and Barney decide to go to the gang's bar to flaunt their relationship (or is it a "relationship"? Hmm).

Here are a couple of clips from Monday's episode.

Now that was an enjoyable episode of “Lost.”

It didn’t move the ball forward in a whole lot of different areas – they’re clearly saving up a lot of big reveals for the final three hours of the season (which air on May 15 and May 29), but I enjoyed the heck out of various elements of "Cabin Fever."

I get absurdly excited every time Richard Alpert (the wonderfully spooky Nestor Carbonell) arrives on the scene. I just know he’s going to bust out some major-league Dharma Initiative goodness one of these days, and his mere presence boosted my enjoyment level of an already good episode.

[OK, I'm going to talk a lot about last night's episode below, so exit here if you haven't seen it.]

"An American Crime" (8 p.m. Saturday, Showtime) is a difficult film to watch.

It depicts an abuse case that came to light in Indiana in 1965, and it’s probably impossible to sit through this quietly wrenching film without your stomach tying itself into knots.

But Ellen Page (pictured below) and Catherine Keener, the film’s two leads, give such honest performances that this dark, engrossing drama will likely be of interest to fans of their typically fine work.

Page’s warmth and vulnerability infused the whip smart “Juno” with far more compassion than it might have had otherwise. But in “An American Crime,” she’s not playing a character whose heart is safely tucked away behind a wall of defensive irony.

Page’s character, teenager Sylvia Likens, is a wide-eyed, sweet young woman who, along with her polio-afflicted sister, is left with a large, struggling family while the girls’ parents go on the road with a carnival.

[What follows includes some plot points about the film. Those who plan to watch it and who don't want to know what happens may want to exit here.]

The head of their new household, Gertrude Baniszewski (Keener), has half a dozen children of her own, including a baby by her 22-year-old ex-boyfriend. Her husband is long gone, and her illness and dependence on drink and a mind-altering “medicine” have left her on the edge of sanity.

Yet despite her money worries and worsening family problems, Gertrude is able to keep it together enough to lead a conventional life, at least for a while. She attends church, takes in ironing and seems friendly enough to Sylvia’s parents.

Nothing is amiss at first and Sylvia has fun goofing around with Gertrude’s kids. But the teenager soon runs afoul of this strangely vindictive woman. The abuse that Sylvia eventually endures is harder to watch given that Page has made her seem so innocent and kind. Sylvia is confused by the dark turn that her relationship with Gertrude takes, but she’s terrified to leave, given that her sister is handicapped and even more vulnerable.

The film doesn’t set out to demonize Gertrude (nor necessarily forgive her), but the restrained performance by Keener goes a long way to explaining the actions of this woman, whose life and mind are disintegrating. Yet there is something about such horrific abuse that can’t be explained. What’s clear, though, is that Gertrude’s edict about Sylvia needing to “learn her lesson” gives many kids (not just her own) the license to enforce some sick ideas about discipline.

For director and co-writer Tommy O’Haver (“Ella Enchanted”), “An American Crime” was a very personal project, according to the film’s press notes. He grew up in Indianapolis, where Baniszewski lived, and he read as much as he could about the case, which made the national news when what happened to Sylvia became public.

When he read about the case, O’Haver says in the film’s press kit, “I thought, ‘Oh my God! Real people can become this ugly if they’re put into the right situation. They could be my neighbors. It haunted me and I had to know why.”

The dialogue for the courtroom scenes, which feature Bradley Whitford (“The West Wing”) as a capable district attorney, was taken from court transcripts, and where possible director Tommy O’Haver and co-writer Irene Turner hewed to the known facts of the case brought against Gertrude.

One thing the press kit makes clear is that many neighbors knew of the abuse of Sylvia yet did nothing to stop it (Michael O'Keefe plays a local pastor who does try to figure out what's gone wrong at Gertrude's house). That point could have been better made in the film, which also could have used some tightening in the second half, which is by far the hardest part of “An American Crime” to sit through.

But it may not be possible to ever understand what drives adults and even children to commit abuse—or simply ignore it. Thanks to O’Haver’s sad yet well-made film, perhaps our understanding of the unforgivable has been expanded a little.

UPDATE: My Tribune colleague Mark Caro, who writes the Pop Machine blog (and who just returned from book leave -- welcome back!), wrote here about "An American Crime's" eventful reception at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007.

Some bits and pieces of TV news:

• AMC is bringing back “Breaking Bad” for another season (the full press release is at the end of this item).
• James Poniewozik of Time noticed that Liz Phair did the music for the CBS’ sexed-up summer series “Swingtown.”
• I saw on Pop Candy that fans of “Veronica Mars” can sign up for a themed cruise with other “VM” fanatics via the site Cruise to Mars.
• In other Pop Candy news, one of Whitney’s readers created a very sick/funny “Lost” Mother’s Day card.
• Paula Malcolmson, who was fantastic as Trixie on “Deadwood,” has been cast in a leading role on “Caprica,” the “Battlestar Galactica” prequel. UPDATE: Esai Morales, who was excellent on "Jericho," has also been cast in a lead "Caprica" role, according to the Hollywood Reporter. On paper I'm quite liking the combo of Malcolmson and Morales.
• Tim Goodman of the SF Chronicle is goading TV obsessives into a "Lost" vs. "Battlestar Galactica" throwdown. Personally I'd rather just see Ben fight Starbuck. Or maybe Locke vs. Tigh?
  
• Ray Wise of “Reaper” talked to E!Online’s Kristin Dos Santos about the show’s chances for renewal and other devilish matters. Speaking of “Battlestar Galactica,” that show’s Kandyse McClure has been fun as Ben’s girlfriend on “Reaper.” Finally critic Alan Sepinwall thinks the show has made progress (I agree) and wants to see more of the kooky storage-rental guy.
• I'm a little late with this shout-out, but I really enjoyed what TV Guide's Matt Roush had to say about two Monday-night "bromances" gone awry (on "House" and "How I Met Your Mother").
  
• Amanda the Aspiring TV Writer has some typically useful and clear answers to the big question that most young creative folks who move to L.A. eventually ask: “Will I ever make it?”
• UPDATE: A good essay on what ails "American Idol" this year is here.
• RedEye is hosting its annual “Best Character on TV” smackdown (Starbuck from “Battlestar Galactica” won last year).

Here's that "Breaking Bad" release:

Oh, “American Idol," why must you break our spirits and crush our souls?

Here are more questions I had after Tuesday’s lackluster “Idol” Final Four program (which featured David Archuleta, Syesha Mercado, David Cook and Jason Castro, pictured at left):

1. What is wrong with Jason Castro? The most important performance of his life and he couldn’t bother to learn the lyrics? To one of the best-known songs of all time? Why oh why oh why? How obvious was it that, as he told an interviewer last week, he was "ready to go home"?

2. Who was mixing the show? Maybe this is a technical thing that only bothered me, but the mixing of the vocals was horrible and did the singers no favors. Whoever was doing the sound mix for the show put the vocals way out front, and you could barely hear the band on some tracks. Why? This isn’t remotely the strongest “Idol” Final Four -- why showcase their voices in a way that seems designed to draw attention to their flaws?

3. Though she gets points for effort, how much did Syesha's first performance remind you of Tina Turner? (Correct answer: Aside from the dancing, not much.)

4. Speaking of the teary Syesha, why is she still in the competition? I agreed with Randy -- though the post-performance weepiness seemed genuine, her rendition of “A Change Is Gonna Come” was screechy and lacking in … well, anything. The singing was unsubtle, the arrangement was weak and it was about 100 times less memorable than anything Sam Cooke ever sang.

5. Why does it feel like we’re enduring the last few episodes of “Idol” rather than enjoying them? There’s a grim, death-march quality to this season, and David Archuleta (pictured at left) embodies it. He does have a lovely quality to his voice, and he is undoubtedly talented. I can't deny that. But I don’t think there are any real experiences informing his performances. He’s aping emotions, not communicating them. And he does appear to be on the verge of collapsing with nerves by the end of each show. Why can’t the poor kid relax?

6. Why do I fear David Cook (pictured at right) will win “Idol”? He’s the only worthwhile thing about the show at this point, in my opinion. His performance of “Baba O’Riley” was typically offbeat and interesting (yet obviously too short to really work). Yet, all things considered, a David-vs.-David finale does not excite me. It’s like warm milk vs. vintage wine. It doesn’t seem fair, yet I think the warm milk will win.

7. How much useless glop will we have to endure during the May 21 finale? All signs point to a likely a David-vs.-David season-ending contest, and all I can ask at this point is that Fox restrain its usual bombast and not overstuff the finale (as it did last year) to the point that the winner is named eight minutes past the show’s declared running time. Is that too much to ask?