Ellen DeGeneres made her debut on the Hollywood Round of “American Idol” Tuesday night, and although the quick-hit auditions (or what we saw of them) weren’t much of a test for her judging skills, I thought she did fine. I worried…

When CBS recently renewed “Survivor” for seasons 21 and 22, the wild card was host Jeff Probst, who didn’t yet have a new contract. That detail has now been taken care of. Probst Tweeted this morning, and CBS confirmed shortly,…

With the Super Bowl out of the way, it’s time to get pumped up for the Winter Olympics, beginning Friday night in Vancouver. But I’m wondering whether we’re looking forward to the Games the way we used to, when everybody…

Get out your calendar; NBC has announced dates for the season finales of several shows. In chronological order:

“Trauma,” May 10.

“Mercy,” May 12

“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,”  May 19

Thursday night comedies, May 20.

“Celebrity Apprentice,” May 23,

“Chuck,” May 24

“Law & Order,”…

Jim and Pam’s baby will arrive in a one-hour episode set for May 4, NBC says. You’ve noticed, I’m sure, how women on TV often give birth in inconvenient places, for the sake of drama or comedy. So when I…

The record stood for a long time, but the series finale of “M*A*S*H*” in 1983 is no longer the most-viewed television program. With 51.7 million households tuning in, Super Bowl XLIV is the new champion, Nielsen says. “M*A*S*H*” was watched…

Schiff, Giddish, Bishop and Ravi Patel in "Past Life."

The Olympics start Friday, but this is still a sweeps month, and competitors won’t clear the way as they might have in the past. For example, “Lost” will air new episodes straight…

"Worst Super Bowl party ever"?

An 18-second promo for “Late Show With David Letterman” was one of the highlights of the mostly lackluster commercials during Sunday night’s exciting Super Bowl XLIV. (Congrats, NOLA!) Here it is, if you missed it or…

The episode of “What Not To Wear” shot here in October and featuring the Rev. Emily Bloemker, associate rector at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Creve Coeur, airs tonight (Feb. 5) on TLC. Sorry for the short notice, but each…

Puppy Bowl!

Unless there’s a party at your house, don’t feel trapped into watching the Super Bowl on Sunday. TV networks — treating game day like a holiday — have scheduled all sorts of counter-programming marathons. That’s assuming you have cable.…