American Idol

Among last night's American Idol Gives Back performances by Fergie, Snoop Dogg, John Legend and others was Robin Williams, who came onto the stage in character as a Russian Idol named Ivan Yakinov.  read more »

MONDAY

It’s George Bush’s final State of the Union (All Networks, 9 p.m.). Incidentally, the one year when the networks are scrambling for programming and therefore probably welcome the intrusion is the one year where no one could care less. The failing economy, Iraq, and his legacy will more than likely be on the agenda. Watch and wait for the presidential candidates to trip over themselves trying to respond first.

Speaking of wastes of time, it can’t replace an actual new episode, but Gossip Girl Revealed (CW, 8 p.m.) should satisfy your weekly fix for the posh adolescents. In the show’s new time slot, it promises plenty of bonus features—commentary, deleted scenes, profiles—and a re-airing of the pilot. Sadly, this is meant as an introduction to the uninitiated and harkens the beginning of repeats. Oh, they’re too young to die!  read more »

MONDAY

So, um, hey writers, so far you’ve been winning the public relations war—despite the fact that your absence has lead to our favorite shows in premature repeats, a deluge of reality programming, and a Golden Globes “press conference” (which scored abysmal ratings, by the way). But, ahem, those directors seemed to have worked things out with the studios rather quickly—you may have paved the way, but how many more nights like tonight, where good TV has been replaced by American Gladiators (NBC, 8 p.m.), are people going to take before they start to forget that and start to think you’re an unreasonable bunch?  read more »