Ok, so after being a blogging fool last Friday, I thought I deserved yesterday off. Sorry, I just wasn't inspired ... except for 24. Hope y'all remembered to watch another action-packed episode last night. But WTH, if you didn't, thanks to the miracle of the internet, you can watch it here or just take a few minutes to read Fox's awesome episode recap http://www.fox.com/24/


On to Tuesday night: Fox kicks off American Idol Final Auditions Week tonight at 8 pm. Yes, it's another hour devoid of trainwrecks! Have I mentioned how disappointed I am in Fox's decision to show less bad auditions and more good ones? It's totally ruined one of my fave guilty pleasures! And I told them so ...
I'm on an email list for Fox's survey panel and got a survey last week about AI and my viewing habits. So I let them have it, complaining about the lack of lame auditions! Anyway, if you, like Eddie Idol, are in it for the serious contenders, there will be more "final" auditions on Wednesday and Thursday nights, both at 8 pm.
For more on AI visit http://www.americanidol.com/

Following AI is another new episode of Fringe at 9. Yeah, I forgot to watch this last week and I'm not too hopeful for tonight either. But if you are, a serial killer is turning victims' brains into liquid across the country, and the case has a special urgency for Olivia.
For more on Fringe, visit http://www.fox.com/fringe/

Those raunchy Real Housewives of Orange County hit the road on Bravo tonight at 10. Jeana and Vicki are visiting Chicago. That should be interesting, since Jeana and Vicki haven't been getting along all season. For more on the OC Wives visit http://www.bravotv.com/Real_Housewives/season/3/

Nip/Tuck returns on F/X tonight after being MIA last week. I have to say, not excited so far this season ... anyway, Julia is back and Sean's trying to reconcile his feelings for her ... WHERE, OH WHERE, is the CARVER??? Come back, this show desparately needs you! For more on Nip/Tuck visit http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/niptuck/


Ted Allen and The Food Network's newest reality competition Chopped has an all new episode at 10. Sorry, haven't been able to remember to watch this one yet ... even though I blogged about it and was interested. I guess I'm still yawning over Ted's last show Food Detectives. Don't get me wrong, I really like Ted, but I don't think he's capativating enough to anchor his own show ...
For more on Chopped visit http://www.foodnetwork.com/chopped/index.html


My pick for the 10 p.m. time slot tonight is over on TLC. Toddlers & Tiaras debuts tonight and, boy do I love watching over-the-top conceited Moms dress up their toddlers like Miss America hopefuls for these extravagant pageants!
Who are these people, who sometimes forego feeding the rest of the family just to buy that one-of-a-kind child-sized sequin evening gown (to be worn only once, mind you), for that coveted crown?
I don't know which I like better, the screaming kids getting spray-tanned, their overzealous mothers or the ambiguously gay pageant coaches who help them achieve their dreams! All I know is I'll be there watching with a big bowl of popcorn!
For more info visit http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/toddlers-tiaras/about-toddlers-and-tiaras.html

And the really big news, according to Entertainment Weekly, is that Dr. Doug Ross is back!!! Oh yeah, baby, George Clooney's long-rumored return to ER is apparently happening, and he's taping his part this week, and here's the photos to prove it.

ER ends its run during sweeps in May and apparently is lining up many former players for the finale. Along with Clooney, expect to see Noah Wylie, Eric LaSalle and Julianna Marguilies. Now I just might have to tune in for that!

Yes, American Idol returned with great anticipation last night on Fox. And for those of you who are hooked, there's another two hours tonight beginning at 8! Last night's show was conducted from Phoenix, Arizona, while tonight it moves to Kansas City.


I must admit I was a little disappointed because there weren't too many trainwrecks last night. Yeah, that's why I watch baby! I love to see those people making asses out of themselves -- that's great television!!


Nothing tickles my funnybone like seenig judge Randy Jackson sitting at the table with a piece of paper in front of his face because he's cracking up over some baaaad singer!


OK, highlights: Let's start with the kid with the REALLY DEEEEEEEEP Voice!! James Earl Jones called -- he wants his voice back. I felt a little bad for this kid, because he was sweet, I'm sure he takes a beating with that voice, and the judges weren't too kind.


The crying rocker had to go though -- really man, get a band .... or hop on over to VH1, because Brett Michaels says this is his absolute last season of Rock of Love!


And let's not forget bikini girl -- like you guys could! I don't think I've ever seen Simon Cowell so excited! But girlfriend got her groove on and even sassed new judge Kara DioGuardi with this exchange:


Kara, "Honestly, you don't have the chops to sing that song, sweetie."


Bikini Girl, "But your demonstration wasn't any better."


Oh Snap!!



For those of you who enjoy rehashing Idol each week, I'm hoping to put together something interesting here. Like the Elfman, I have a couple of friends who are Die-Hard Idol watchers and each season I get emails from them that seriously critique and sarcastically comment on each episode. I've invited them to join me here. Should be informative and hilarious! Keep your fingers crossed ...


For more info on American Idol visit http://www.americanidol.com/


What else is on tonight? Glad you asked ...




Over on ABC they're re-airing last season's Lost finale -- you know the one that shows exactly how the Oceanic 6 got off the island. It was an edge-of-your-seat finish and if you missed it or ever wanted to join in the Lost discussions at work, here's your chance to get your feet wet before next week's season premiere.
The broadcast boasts a few never-before-scenes as well as pop-up commentary to get you up to speed. For more info on Lost visit http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=index




On Bravo at 10 p.m. Top Chef Season 3 Champion Hung returns to judge the cheftestants. Can't wait. Hung was the most dangerous player they ever had on the show, and he never copped to any of it. Remember the Breakfast Quick-Fire Challenge in the apartment. "Hung you just broke the truffle oil on the floor."
Hung -- "No I didn't," as he flung himself across the room. Hung was always running behind everyone else, with knife in hand. He was also one of the most interesting players. Looking forward to seeing him.

Stop back tomorrow for the Top Chef Recap.

For more information on Top Chef visit http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/index.php


And on MTV, The Real World serves up another episode at 10 from Brooklyn, NY. Last week, the guests arrived to meet & greet and fight with each other. Trust me, you didn't miss anything, except MTV's first ever post-op tranny! However, I'm sure we'll be in for the usual shenanigans soon. For more info on season 17 visit http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/realworld-season17/series.jhtml


Later on, if your curious, fresh from his Golden Globe for Best Actor Drama, Mickey Rourke stops by to chat with Jimmy Kimmel at 12:05 on ABC.


In Other News:


Last night's episode of Nip/Tuck barely kept me awake. Looks like the writers are happy about their Christian-Breast Cancer storyline as most of the ep centered on that. Julia showed up briefly, as did Kimber, if only to mock Christian's circumstances, calling it "karma, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner."

Sean hooked up with the med student, but promptly blew that opportunity. Liz did sleep with Christian, but he only did it to prove he still could, which severely ticked the lesbian off! I think the best part was the androgenous couple that was staying at their practice for surgery, with the "wife" showing the 17-yr-old Indian whiz kid med student her appreciation in an x-rated way. Although "she" wasn't quite what she seemed ...




I erroneously reported Monday that Patrick Swayze would be hitting Jay Leno's Tonight Show to promote his new series on A&E, The Beast. Seems Mr. Swayze has been in the hospital since his interview with Barbara Walters aired, being treated for pneumonia. His camp says the actor is doing fine and recovering well. Best wishes to you Patrick!


And while all the glitz and glamour returned to the Golden Globe Awards Sunday night, not all the audience did. Ratings for the gala show were estimated to be 14.6 million, which was way better than the 6 million that tuned in for last year's star-deprived awards announcement, but was also down from the 15.7 million people who tuned in for the 2007 broadcast.




Fox reports that this will be the last season for Prison Break. Thanks! I loved this show's first season and was still intrigued during the second. The first season was brilliant, but ended with the prisoners escaping (thus, no more "prison break"). They spent the second season on the run and most ended up in a Panamanian prison for the third season -- forging another "break."

This season, however, they've been hired by someone (the gov't, maybe, who the hell knows), to recover a device called Scylla that has all "the company's" info on it. I lost interest after four episodes, but might tune in to see how it all ends.

The final episodes will air on Friday (Friday?) nights, beginning April 17. Well, if it wasn't already dead, putting it on Friday night was the final nail in the coffin.

For info on Prison Break or to catch up visit http://www.fox.com/prisonbreak/



ONLY 7 MORE DAYS TO LOST!!



Up tomorrow, Top Chef Recap, The Beast teaser and saying Goodbye to Gill Grissom