All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Paula Abdul‘s still out, but Simon Cowell is reportedly extending his stay for three seasons, so at least something is right in American Idol World.

– Is it her declining ratings or part of a deal with Beyonce that led Oprah to reconsider her ban on having rappers on her show? Either way, MediaTakeOut reports that Jay Z will hang with The Big O for a September episode in which the two will visit the Brooklyn housing project where Jay Z grew up.

– Everything you never wanted to know about the Octomom and more: Fox’s Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage two-hour documentary, which will air on Aug. 19.

– The Big Brother house has gotten disturbingly real this season, with houseguest (and current Head of Household) Chima telling her housemates about being a victim of a vicious attack by a serial killer.

– And then there’s the more surreal aspect of Big Brother, in which Entourage star Jeremy Piven, promoting his new big-screen comedy The Goods, popped in for a visit at BB, apparently after he’d gotten into a tiff with Chris Kattan at MTV.

– King of the Hill will wrap its 13-season run on Fox with a one-hour series finale on Sept. 13.

– TNT’s hospital drama HawthoRNe, which needs a whole lot more Michael Vartan screen time, has been renewed for a second season.

– There’s a mini Arrested Development reunion happening on Fox, where AD creator Mitch Hurwitz will produce a sitcom starring AD star Will Arnett as a rich, obnoxious Beverly Hills type who falls for a woman repulsed by his money and lifestyle. Maybe working together again will help the fellas nudge that in-development Arrested Development big-screen movie along …

– Charlie’s Angels star Cheryl Ladd, who definitely does not look 58, will play a cougar on an episode of CSI: Miami this season.

– Courteney Cox says her Friends friend Jennifer Aniston will likely guest star on her new ABC sitcom Cougars if a part is written for her. Sounds like a perfect opportunity to throw Lisa Kudrow into the mix and reunite all three female Friends friends.

– And tonight in primetime:

– Gordon Ramsay‘s wife Tana makes an appearance on Hell’s Kitchen (8PM ET, Fox)
– The Power of Veto competition is held on Big Brother (8PM, CBS)
– Kat complains about the easy grading system in one of her classes on 10 Things I Hate About You (8PM, ABC Family)
– Regis tries to give away more big bucks on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (8PM, ABC)
– Cheech and Chong are the subject of tonight’s Lords of the Revolution on VH1
– Back-to-back episodes mark the first season finale of Better Off Ted on ABC (9 and 9:30PM)
– The first season of NYC Prep comes to an end (9PM, Bravo)
– Christina tries to come up with some clever solution when she’s told to cut six nurses from her staff on HawthoRNe (9PM, TNT)
– New ep of Warehouse 13 on SyFy (9PM)
– Luke hosts a prom for the remaining ladies on More to Love (9PM, Fox)
– It’s the season premiere of Daddy’s Girls (10PM, MTV)
– Grace and her brother search for Neely on Saving Grace (10PM, TNT)
– Tommy and Needles fight over who should be Lou’s best man on Rescue Me (10PM, FX)
– What would happen if Ariel threw a fashion show and none of his friends attended? We’ll find out on Miami Social (10PM, Bravo), but my guess is that we’ll be looking at a professional hissy fit
– A woman asks William to help her addict son, but the son doesn’t want help on The Cleaner (10PM, A&E)

• No Comments
• Filed in TV News
• Tags: American Idol, Arrested Development, Big Brother Jeremy Piven, Jennifer Aniston Cougars, Octomom Fox special, Oprah Jay Z, Simon Cowell

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Among the TV shows that will host panels at the San Diego Comic-Con in July: Chuck, Dexter, Dollhouse, Lost, MythBusters, Psych, True Blood, Supernatural and Smallville.

– There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but there are free TV comedy episodes to watch while you’re noshing. Thanks to Sitcoms Online.com for the heads up about iTunes’ summer sale, which includes free episodes of Arrested Development, Reno 911! and The State, 99-cent eps of The Office, 30 Rock and The Larry Sanders Show, and, best of all, the entire five-episode first season of The State for $3.96.

– Fox has announced its fall 2009 premiere dates, kicking off its season on Sept. 16 with Glee and (another) new season of So You Think You Can Dance.

– Speaking of SYTYCD, why would Katie Holmes be performing on the show? Right? Yet, the rumor persists that she’ll be shaking her moneymaker on a July episode.

– American Idol season five vet, and one of the show’s most successful artists, Chris Daughtry, talks about his second album, which will be released on July 14.

– America’s Got Talent kicks off next week on NBC (June 23, (9PM ET), but will the show find its own Susan Boyle? Even though the Internet sensation was the runner-up on the latest season of Britain’s Got Talent, she’s reportedly earning more than $160,000 for a 12-minute performance at corporate events. In comparison, former President Bill Clinton gets between $140,000-150,000.

– NPH – Neil Patrick Harris, of course – is going to be a villain called The Music Meister in a fall episode of Cartoon Network’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Wouldn’t he be great in the next big-screen Batman, too …

– Gossip Girl is the big TV nominee at this year’s Teen Choice Awards.

– Heidi Pratt says Al Roker made her cry. So does dry shampoo … in other words, what doesn’t? Did being chastised by Whoopi Goldberg also make her shed tears?

– Dave Letterman apologizes, again, for the Palin jokes on tonight’s Late Show.

– Heroes star Sendhil Ramamurthy will guest star in the upcoming “Bollywood Homicide” episode of Psych, which premieres (not soon enough) its fourth season on Aug. 7.

• No Comments
• Filed in TV News
• Tags: 30 Rock, Al Roker, America's Got Talent, American Idol, Arrested Development, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Chris Daughtry, Chuck, David Letterman, Dexter, Dollhouse, Fox fall premiere dates, Fox premiere dates, Glee, Gossip Girl, Heidi Pratt, Katie Holmes, Lost, MythBusters, Neil Patrick Harris, NPH, Psych, Reno 911!, San Diego Comic Con, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Smallville, So You Think You Can Dance, Supernatural, Susan Boyle, Teen Choice Awards, The Larry Sanders Show, The Office, The State, True Blood, Whoopi Goldberg