All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Did AT&T help Kris Allen win American Idol? Allegedly so.

– Everyone loves a good case of schadenfreude, but it makes you wonder just how insufferable Jon and Kate Gosselin are that no one seems to be coming to their defense these days, don’t it? BTW, nearly 10 million viewers watched the season five premiere of Jon & Kate Plus 8 … again, schadenfreude. I wonder how far that number will drop for next week’s new episode, especially since the premiere made it pretty clear that the Gosselins can barely stand to sit next to each other on a couch.

– As the New York Daily News points out, the Gosselins are hardly the only exploiting their children for reality TV dollars.

– Jessica Simpson just isn’t going to go away, and TV may be helping that.

– Whoa … Is Susan Boyle really a potty mouth?

– If you doubt The Big O’s influence, tune in Thursday night for CNBC’s The Oprah Effect (9PM ET), a special that delves into how just a mention on her show can mean the difference between a business thriving and filing for bankruptcy.

– Hoo-ah! Al Pacino‘s headed to the tube, playing suicide doc Jack Kevorkian in an upcoming HBO movie.

– 24, which begins production on season eight today (yay!), has added another pair of new cast members, including Kissing Jessica Stein star (and girlfriend of Mad Men star Jon Hamm) Jennifer Westfeldt.

– And, there’s plenty of serious TV business to talk about today, but for some comic relief, and just plain old fun summer TV watchin’, you can’t beat tonight’s return of Wipeout (ABC, 8PM ET) and The Big Red Balls.

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• Filed in 24, American Idol, Celebreality, Comedy, Drama, TV News
• Tags: 24, Al Pacino, American Idol, AT&T, big red balls, controversy, Gosselins, HBO, Jack Kevorkian, Jennifer Westfeldt, Jessica Simpson, Jon, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Jon Hamm, Kate, Kris Allen, Mad Men, Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, scandal, Summer TV, Susan Boyle, The Oprah Effect, Wipeout

It’s like Grease-meets-Fame-meets-Freaks and Geeks-meets-Square Pegs, with a dash of every other great teen/high school drama thrown in for good measure. And, it’s peppered with Journey songs. What is this delicious mix of pop culture goodness? It’s Glee, the new dramedy that’s getting a cushy premiere slot tonight: the post-American Idol hour (9PM ET on Fox, or whenever they decide to end the constantly-in-overtime AI).

First things first, Glee is wonderful. It’s sweet, funny, sincere (sometimes painfully so, as many a drama and choir geek will probably attest), and though I’m not a huge fan of musical theater that doesn’t feature some sort of performance by Nathan Lane, the song-and-dance numbers performed by McKinley High’s glee club are just plain fun.

The show, in case you’ve somehow missed all the hype during Idol, revolves around small-town teacher Will Schuester (Tony-nominated Matthew Morrison), a former glee club member during his own high school days, who volunteers to become advisor to the current glee clubbers in an effort to help them prove they’re not second-class citizens to the school’s jocks and celebrated cheerleaders (the “Cheer-ios,” whose advisor is the always delightful scene stealer Jane Lynch from Party Down, Talladega Nights and The 40-Year-Old Virgin).

Will, whose prickly home life has led to a bit of disconnect from his own once bright and hopeful outlook, has the super peppy, ambitious and talented Rachel (Spring Awakening star Lea Michele) to lead the way. And once he, well, blackmails (hey, this is a show from Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy – it’s sweet, but there’s still some of that trademark orneriness in there) secretly-talented singer and football star Finn (Kyle XY‘s Cory Monteith) into joining the singing squad, they may just have a shot at, well, if not greatness, something akin to not sucking, either.

Sounds like the perfect summer show, right? Something that not only we in the 18-49 demo can enjoy, but something that might actually get the ‘tween and teen set to peel their eyes away from the Internet and their Xboxes long enough to watch, right?

Yep, it was the perfect idea to premiere it post-Idol, at the end of the TV season, right before the summer TV schedule kicks off … and then put it away and not air it again for several months, when it will live in the Wednesday at 9PM timeslot on Fox’s fall schedule.

Bottom line: Don’t miss tonight’s premiere. And then don’t forget how much you liked it when it finally airs again in a few months.

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• Filed in American Idol, Comedy, Drama, I Love TV!
• Tags: American Idol, Comedy, Cory Monteith, Drama, Dramedy, Glee, Jane Lynch, Journey, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Musical, Ryan Murphy, Summer TV