TV

Whew... what an hour. So much happened that I wasn't expecting at all! I kept pausing the DVR and going back to re-watch bits of action and dialogue.

If you saw the show and want a recap of the biggest twists, go to the jump.

We should have guessed where Locke was hiding. Yo, Jacob!

Is Naomi dead now? For real? Or will the Island heal her, too?

Jack may never again trust any of Kate's hugs.

Danielle, hit Ben again. Please?

...and we bet that nothing good can possibly come from Hugo happening upon Jacob's cabin.

That alleged "lawyer for Oceanic," Matthew Abbadon, is uber-creepy. "Are they still alive?" he asks FutureHugo.

OMG. Stay tuned...

...and we know this much:

FutureJack drinks screwdrivers for breakfast.

FutureHugo is one of "the Oceanic Six," and he wants to go back to the hat factory.

Naomi's corpse apparently got up and went somewhere.

Stay tuned.

Last night, about halfway through ABC's repeat airing of Lost's two-hour Season 3 finale, there was a hilarious one-minute video montage starring Josh Holloway as Sawyer.

During the guitar vamp that opens the song, we see Sawyer taunting: "New sheriff in town, boys! Y'all best get used to it." And the rest -- well, you just have to see it for yourself. Call it James Ford's Greatest Hits, set oh-so-appropriately to "Bad to the Bone."

If you missed it, here it is on YouTube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IPMuucRMDaM

(Later there was another video montage of Terry O'Quinn as Locke, set to "Crazy" -- but for some reason nobody seems to have posted that one yet.)

Josh Holloway as James "Sawyer" Ford (Photo: ABC)

North Texas has become one of the most well-stocked ponds for reality show producers to fish in. Everything from American Idol to The Bachelor has scouted here. On Friday, however, our area will be known for its brains when Jennah Durant, a 29-year-old Lakewood resident, will appear on Jeopardy!. Ms. Durant works for the Environmental Protection Agency as a public affairs specialist, so here’s hoping ‘Nature’ is one of the categories. The show can be seen at 11 a.m. on CBS (Channel 11).

Ok, Lost, after your catch up to the story thus far, tell us what mystery you're itching to see solved this season.

Rejoice, O faithful Lostaway fanfolk! At last, at loooong last, it's the day we've all been anticipating for years. No, it's actually just been eight months. It only seems like years.

Season 4 of Lost starts on ABC at 8 p.m., and from all advance reports, we can expect to be just as delighted, mystified and wowed as we were by last May's Season 3 finale. That's the good news.

The bad news is that said delight and mystery will last only for eight eps, because we don't know when we will see the second half of Season 4. Production on Lost was interrupted by the screenwriters' strike, and even if the strike's settled by Oscar night, I figure we'll be lucky to see eps 4-9 through 4-16 by the end of this calendar year.

Dallas native Elizabeth Mitchell, who plays the mysterious
Dr. Juliet Burke on LOST. (Photo: ABC)

I always feel kind of bad for contestants who are raked through the coals on Idol. Julie Dubela obviously didn't make friends with the show's producers; they did everything but scrawl "Horrible Person" above her name as she sang.
Then again, she was pretty insufferable. Maybe the fallout she's sure to feel from tonight's show will help transform her into a sweet, humble soul. But it's doubtful.

Along with bathing suits, sand and conga lines, Miami might also be home to the next American Idol. Get to know this name: Syesha Mercado, an adorable 20-year-old whose voice evoked the early days of Kelly Clarkson. Other standouts: former boy bander (Boyz N Girlz United, anyone?) Robbie Carrico, and larger-than-life pals Corliss Smith and Brittany Wescott. Then there was Julie Dubela, who was once on American Juniors. Now, she’s just very full of herself. After the prissy blonde got the boot, she pouted to the camera and, in full-on Mean Girls mode, said, “You know, shut up!”

She was cute (in an Alicia Silverstone way) and endearing, but did anyone else think her audition was rife with pitchiness?

Well, we shouldn't whine so much about TV shows always throwing Southfork and longhorn cattle into every Dallas-themed show; seems Miami is suffering the same fate with Miami Vice and Gloria Estafan songs. (The dreaded "Oh Ay Oh Oh, Oh Ay Oh Oh Ah began tonight's festivities.) Hey, why not throw in CSI: Miami footage while they were at it? OK, maybe not.

The Associated Press reports that Bob Schieffer plans to step down as anchor of CBS' Face the Nation in a year, when a new president is inaugurated.

Mr. Schieffer, an Austin native who grew up in Fort Worth, has anchored the program since 1991, and he has many ties to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He is a Texas Christian alumnus (Class of '59), and the TCU journalism school is named for him.

He helped cover the JFK assassination in 1963 as a young reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and in 1965, he became the first reporter from a Texas newspaper to report from Vietnam. He later became news anchor at WBAP-TV, a post that eventually led to his joining CBS News. His brother is Tom Schieffer, a former partner in the Texas Rangers ballclub, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Australia during GWB's first term.

Photo: CBS News

"I cannot wait until we get to Hollywood and to prove Simon wrong that I am America’s Next Top Model."
Elizabeth Erkert, temporarily forgetting which reality show she was going for

Could the next American Idol sprout from the cornfields of Nebraska? The show aimed to find out Tuesday night with auditions in Omaha. Many of the flyover-state’s singers were endearing; when Jason Rich forgot his words (again and again) before emerging victorious, he gained an instant fanbase. Same goes for Rachel Wickler and her arm-wrestling superpowers. Less adorable was the flashy, self-described “weirdest guy” Johnny Escamilla, who didn’t win over Simon Cowell. “In every single way,” the judge said, “that was just everything I hated.”

I'll go ahead and confess right here that I boo-hooed a little when Angelica Puente got through to Hollywood and made up with her dad. Yes, the show manipulated me into my tears. I am no match.

Who agrees that ultra-peppy, gift-giving Chris Bernheisel was actually auditioning for a gig on the red carpet instead of a singing spot? Seems like he played it just right; Simon pretty much ordered the local Fox channel to send him out to L.A. for the gig.
While Chris was fun and all, I wonder if he's for real. Quotes that made me doubt him:
"I feel like I could explode and happiness is gonna go flying everywhere," and "This is the biggest, life-alternating change in my life." Hmm.

Who is your favorite Texas Idol contestant so far in season 7? Check out some video and pics here if you need a refresher. Also, don't forget to come back to the TV blog Tuesday night for more live Idol blogging!

Also online
• 1/28: 'American Idol' producer likes mining Texas talent

OK, so normally I wouldn't write about someone's estate sale here -- this ain't the Green Sheet. But this estate sale is notable because of what's for sale -- namely, a lot of stuff you've probably seen on TV. Today and Saturday, you can rumage through that stuff and maybe take some of it home for the right price at the estate sale of production designer Curtis A. Schnell. Mr. Schnell designed for shows like Crossing Jordan and Ed, among others. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at 210 N Clinton Ave. in Dallas. Cash and checks (with ID) accepted. To get a look at some of the items up for sale, click here.

If the Idol auditions are any indication, Charleston is fun place in which to dwell. The city certainly delivered laugh-out-loud originality, which is what the show needed. Who among us was expecting to meet “the black Clay Aiken,” a girl even more country than Kellie Pickler and a couple who first kindled their love on the message boards? (Kudos to their re-enacted kiss by the trash can and the editor who thought to add “dramatization” underneath.)
What about potential winners? There weren’t many, but brother-sister duo Michelle and Jeffrey Lumpkin should go far on personality alone. As Jeffrey put it, “America needs a good laugh these days.”

From the start, this audition show put last night's to shame. Almost everybody was entertaining (especially the boisterous, brilliant brother-and-sister team). By far, the best episode of the season. Sorry, our town.

So far, I'd say Dallas wins for the most entertaining audition city this year. San Diego? The least. Let's keep our fingers crossed for tonight's offerings!

Are you better looking than a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader? Probably not. But you can find out if you are smarter than one on Thursday night's episode of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. The contestant is a Cowboys fan, and he’ll have to pick between the cheerleaders’ help and the team of 5th-grade whiz kids. The two-hour episode airs at 7 p.m. on Fox (Channel 4).

“Obnoxious,” Simon Cowell said of the first San Diego contestant, Tetiana Ostapowych, who made it through anyway. A few other annoyances followed (Alberto Hurtado’s “ultimate revealing of my soul” didn’t pan out so well), but the majority of singers shown were decent.
The 30 going on to Hollywood include Aussie hottie Michael Johns (start screaming now, girls!); “vocal paralysis” victim David Archuleta; and tattooed, talented Carly Smithson, who was disqualified two seasons ago due to an incomplete visa. After receiving another golden ticket to Hollywood, she broke into tears. “I think this is my year,” she said. “I hope.”

Interesting that last week's audition recaps from Philly and Dallas were both two hours long, but this week's episodes are cut in half. I can't say that I'm devastated; tonight's San Diego auditions weren't exactly spellbinding. Still, 30 of the 12,000 people who tried out got through. Better odds than the two cities preceeding it.
Maybe this just means Texans (and Pennsylvanians!) are more interesting than Californians.

Ultracute Aussie Michael Johns may very well strike a chord with the ladies. My prediction. (As for the Ace Young comparison, I mean that only in the nicest way.)

During the audition shows, it's easy to fall in love (OK,perhaps a little strong) with several contestants whose backstories are charming, heartbreaking or otherwise interesting. This happens every year. What also happens is that many of these people will never be heard from again. Ever. (On the show, I mean. I'm sure they're still alive and kicking somewhere.)
Let's just keep this in mind so we don't get too attached at this early stage. It's too soon. You have the whole season ahead of you. Think of your future!

You might have noticed that among the television honorees in the new, un-glitzy Golden Globes, there were two wins for Mad Men: Jon Hamm (Don Draper) for Best Actor in a TV Drama, and the show itself for Best Drama Series.

So if you missed seeing this highly addictive show when it first aired last summer, here's your chance to catch up.

Set your DVRs for the Mad Men reruns that will begin airing this Sunday, Jan. 20, at 11 p.m., following the new AMC series Breaking Bad.

Hey, let us know if you recognized anyone from Wednesday's show.

Also, Leslie mentioned the whole Dallas thing and the cliches in her post. What do you think? Was Dallas portrayed well on the show?

Tara Cuslidge, who covered the Dallas audtions along with Matthew Haag, Kip Mooney and our favorite raisin in the sun, Josh Davis, sent in this little tidbit of news about the Tuesday night auditions:

Last night one of the crazies Matt Haag and I saw singing to himself outside the auditions at Texas Stadium was escorted out of the audition! His name is Douglas.

Brandon Green of Lucedale, Miss., may have a pretty decent voice (remember, he sang "Rich Girl") but there's no way in tarnation that he's winning this thing. Because forevermore, he'll be known as Brandon "The Guy Who Saves His Fingernails -- EW!" Green.
"Yeah, it's pretty gross," he said to the judges. "I shouldn't have even told it."
But then Ryan Seacrest wouldn't have gotten to utter this little quip: "Lucky for Brandon, he NAILED his audition and his trip to Hollywood is in the BAG."

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