TV

Join us as we cover the American Idol auditions LIVE from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington this morning.

Entertainment Tonight is reporting that iconic actress Farrah Fawcett has died at a California hospital.

Farrah Fawcett died today at St. John's Health Center in Los Angeles after a courageous and lengthy battle with anal cancer. She was 62.

The '70s style icon and "Charlie's Angels" star was born in Corpus Christi, Texas on February 2, 1947 and attended the University of Texas at Austin. She got her first career break in the late 1960s, appearing in TV commercials and then guest-starring on TV shows such as "I Dream of Jeannie," "The Flying Nun" and "The Partridge Family." She also appeared on several episodes of "The Six Million Dollar Man," starring husband Lee Majors. The couple married in 1973 but separated in 1979, divorcing in 1982. Afterwards, Farrah began a tempestuous, on-and-off relationship with actor Ryan O'Neal, and the pair had a son, Redmond O'Neal, in 1985.

In the classic Jim Carrey movie, a boy grows up being watched by the entire world, unbeknownst to him. Every activity in his life is planned for television.
On this ridiculously popular reality-TV show, the Gosselin children are growing up being watched by the entire world, whether they like it or not. Every activity in their lives is planned for television.
So far, they don't seem to mind. Later on? We'll see. (Unfortunately, we will see. Because Kate has apparently decided that the show must go on.)

According to reports this afternoon, the "big announcement" that the Gosselins planned for tonight's episode would be that they're getting a divorce. Some of us were holding out hope that they'd announce they were giving up fame to regroup and work on their marriage. Silly us!
"This is the hardest episode ever," Jon said. "It's just not good for our kids for us to be arguing in front of our kids."
Kate (interviewed separately) echoed that theme, saying the goal was peace.
The show then switched gears, focusing on where to set up the kids' toy "crooked houses" on the property. We won't get the official annoucement until later. Because this is, after all, show business.
Assuming the announcement is indeed that they're splitting up, who wants to watch this show anymore? It's just so sad -- Jon, especially, seems sad all the time. The Gosselins are now a broken family in a crooked house. With eight adorable, hopefully-still-happy kids.

After being incredibly saddened by the sneak peek of tonight's episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8, I can't help but to brace myself for the big announcement Jon and Kate are ready to share with the world. Is it really over?

Tune in tonight at 8 on TLC and join me as I hope the announcement does not involve divorce.

Here's the sneak peek from TLC in case you missed it.

From the Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Melissa Rycroft is becoming ABC's go-to performer.

Rycroft will add "Good Morning America" to her network credits, which already include "The Bachelor" and "Dancing With the Stars."

According to a person with knowledge of the deal, Rycroft will make eight appearances as a "Good Morning America" contributor. She will do fun, lighthearted pieces beginning next week, and she'll also travel for the show, the person said Thursday. The person, who was not authorized to discuss the hiring, asked not to be identified.

Rycroft's experience on "The Bachelor" ended badly when she was jilted by Jason Mesnick, but she ended up a finalist on "Dancing With the Stars."

Rycroft, a 26-year-old sales rep from Dallas, dropped a coy posting Wednesday on Twitter, asking, "Guess who just got a job with Good Morning America???"

Break out those karaoke tapes and get your gimmicks ready, Bikini Girl 2.0: American Idol auditions are making their way to Dallas. Well, actually, Arlington, at Cowboys Stadium.

Registration will be on Wednesday, June 24, and Thursday, June 25, at the stadium. You can find more details here: American Idol official site and Audtion FAQ

We'll be out there with you on Friday, standing in line, praying for a sudden cold front, staring in awe at the new stadium. But don't think you have to miss out if you won't be there. Thanks to the power of the Internet, you can follow along @guidelive_goes and on the breaking news blog.

And if you ARE trying out, you can play along, too. E-mail us to be part of our Tweet Street Team and share your experiences during the day.

Photo: Angela Crisci, 17, wipes a tear as she texts her boyfriend that she was not selected to go onto the next round at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. (AP)

Don't get me wrong -- I love digital television. I have a satellite dish on my roof and love using Tivo. But I also love the days when I could take my Sony Watchman to a Dallas Cowboys game and follow the (televised) action and the live action while parked in the stands, holding the TV in one hand and a hot dog in the other. As soon as the Friday deadline passed for the digital TV migration, I got out my Sony Watchman, turned it on and got what I expected -- nada. Oh, sure, Cowboys fans can now sit in the stands and follow the replays on a 60-yards-wide high-definition screen. But you won't be able to hear Joe Buck and Troy Aikman analyze the action. It was also cool taking the Sony Watchman on vacations and being able to watch television anywhere you wanted. I'm 57, so permit me even more nostalgia: Few people realize that, at one time, EVERY National Football League home game was blacked out, not just those that failed to sell out 72 hours before kickoff. So, when I was a kid, the Dallas papers ran an article showing you how to build your own beat-the-blackout antenna, and what do you know, the darn thing actually worked. You took a bed slat and five coat hangers with these lengths -- 28, 27, 26, 25 and 24 inches. You cut the 27-inch piece in half, shaved off any paint to enhance conductivity and attached to each piece one of the two strands of antenna wire. You pointed it in the direction of a TV station more than 75 miles away (back then, that was the blackout perimeter) and voila! Instant Cowboys game (albeit with a little snow). We lived in Southeast Dallas, so we pulled in the games from KLTV, Channel 7 in Tyler, which back then carried all the Cowboys home games. (Sherman and Waco were the other options.) Well, you can't do that anymore. Anyone want to buy a Sony Watchman that brings in NOTHING?

Photo: The now-outdated Sony Watchman

From the Ausiello files at EW.com:

Talk about lousy karma.

Despite reports that TBS was on the verge of rescuing My Name is Earl from NBC's scrap heap, a spokesperson for Twentieth Century Fox Television confirms that the Emmy-winning comedy is officially dead.

In a statement, the studio rep said, "While we had hoped to find a way to produce additional episodes for TBS, in the final analysis we simply could not make the economics work without seriously undermining the artistic integrity of the series. As none of us, [series creator] Greg [Garcia] included, want the show to go out on anything but a high note, we regret that we must put to rest any speculation that Earl will continue. We are grateful to everyone at TBS for their enthusiasm for the series and wish to offer our heartfelt thanks to the cast and crew of My Name is Earl for their incredible work."

First off let me just say that I began watching Jon & Kate Plus 8 about a year ago and fell madly in love with the eight little cutie pies on the show almost instantly.

However even despite all of the divorce drama and possibly the saddest season premiere in the world, the Gosselin family was able to push past it all and celebrate their 100th episode with a famous chef you might know: Emeril Lagasse, who was probably just in the area.

The Gosselin family has certainly reached a celebrity status with all of their recent family drama, and my heart goes out to the eight mini-Gosselins because in the midst of everything they still managed to be the cutest kids ever.

From the Associated Press:

BAGHDAD (AP) -- It's official. Stephen Colbert has declared victory in the war in Iraq. But the top U.S. commander in the country says not so fast.

Colbert, wearing a camouflage suit and tie, brought "The Colbert Report" - Comedy Central's political satire in which he plays a conservative TV pundit - to hundreds of U.S. troops at Camp Victory, the U.S. military headquarters on the western edge of Baghdad.

He drew rousing applause from the uniformed audience when he poked fun at the fact that many of them have been deployed to Iraq multiple times and could end up in Afghanistan as soon as the U.S. effort there accelerates.

"It must be nice here in Iraq because I understand some of you keep coming back again and again," he said during the taping of the first show on Sunday. "You've earned so many frequent flyer miles, you've earned a free ticket to Afghanistan."

Comedian Stephen Colbert gets a military style haircut from General Raymond Odierno, Commander of the Multinational Corps, Iraq.

Conan O'Brien is not smooth, or charming and far from being classically handsome, he's kind of weird-looking. That's why as a celebrity, and more to the point, as a talk-show host he lives and dies by being funny and smart. He was both during his Monday night debut as the new host of The Tonight Show, replacing Jay Leno who ended his 17-year run on Friday.

Just not enough of either

He didn't cry, but after 17 years hosting the Tonight Show, Jay Leno has never done anything to make viewers expect he would. The man who replaced late-night legend Johnny Carson under less than ideal circumstances -- Carson was clumsily forced out and his handpicked heir, David Letterman, was unceremoniously passed over -- has proven to be unflappable during his tenure, always steady and ready with a joke and a softball question for his next celebrity guest.

Both David Cook and Kris Allen say they weren't even planning to audition for the show; they each had a brother who wanted to try out, and they tagged along for moral support. So you never know about life, now do you.
Speaking of tryouts: Fox News is reporting that Dallas will again be an audition city for the 2010 season. Boys, don't bring your brothers! Or no, do bring 'em, I mean!

OK, I take back every suspicion I've ever had that the show fixes the results. Because there's no way they would have allowed this shocker.
Forget what I just wrote in my previous post about Adam's victory being "just meant to be." Because it wasn't Kris Allen is your new American Idol.
"Adam deserves this," Kris said after Ryan broke the news. In the days to come, that sentiment is sure to be echoed across the land.
On the other hand, Adam will be fine; he's well on his way to superstardom. As for Kris, he'll have to endure recording "No Boundaries" before figuring out his own path to greatness.
My favorite moment after the announcement: when his wife joined him onstage. Only then did the always-composed Kris look like he was going to lose it. As well he should.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any more thrilling, Queen shows up. OK, without Freddie Mercury -- but we got the next best (better?) thing in Adam Lambert.
As Adam and Kris joyfully sang "We Are the Champions," I got the impression that even Kris thinks Adam should win at this point. It's just meant to be.

Remember way back to the first season of this show? They MAY have gotten one or two B-list guest stars to stop by. Tonight all they had to do was just sing a few notes of a hit song before the original artist showed up to finish it off. Has this show built up its clout or WHAT.

"I guess that's what's in style," my son said of those bug-like wings attached to his shoulders as he sang the KISS classic, "Beth." I don't think so. (Thank God.) In hindsight, they were obviously meant to be a tribute to the glammed-up, made-up band he sang with.
Even the most diehard Kris loyalist has to admit that the performance blew most of the others away. Adam and KISS -- could that combo be any more perfect? Bravo.

"She got a new one," my daughter said as the mostly-naked contestant strutted across the stage. She meant a new bikini.
I liked that Kara came out and outsang Bikini Girl; that was pretty great. (Who knew she could belt it out like that?) But when she tore open her dress to show off her own bikini bod, I think it veered into, I don't know, ridiculousness. Or vanity. Something off-putting like that.

As soon as Fergie joined the rest of The Black Eyed Peas onstage and started rapping, the sound went dead and we got a nice shot of the Idol logo. Interesting!
In other news, please tell me how it's humanly possible to walk in those shoes she's teetering upon. And even jumping upon! Maybe she fell down and that was the part they censored. (Kidding.)