AND NOW THERE ARE TWO!

It was a surprising result. Melinda was eliminated from the "American Idol" competition last night. If I had to pick a reason why, I would say her third song killed her. Congratulations to Blake and Jordin who will sing for the title next Tuesday.

I received several notes sent to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net about my Ryan Seacrest observations yesterday. The word "creepy" was used to describe Ryan (by more than one of you) and I was asked if I agree with that assessment? I think it's funny that some people think that about Ryan, I've read that observation in other publications, but it's not an observation I agree with. I've heard of "gay-dar", but now I'll see if I can figure out "creep-dar".

CBS' NEW FALL SCHEDULE:

An actor whose work I admire will headline a new show on CBS, Tuesday night at 10. "Cane", starring Jimmy Smits.

CBS' "Shark", starring James Woods will return, but on a new night. Sunday, at 10. What's interesting about Shark's return is because of the way the last episode ended. Shark's boss, played by Jeri Ryan had just lost an election, meaning that character will no longer BE his boss or in the building. Shark's daughter, played by the wonderful Danielle Panabaker, announced she was moving to New York to go to school and be closer to her mother. And Shark himself admitted to a serial killer about multiple crimes that SHARK had committed to secure the conviction of the serial killer. So what happens when Shark RETURNS to CBS in a few months? Will the Jeri Ryan character be brought back in a subservient role to Shark? Will the Danielle Panabaker character be brought back because "she changed her mind"? And are we supposed to believe that no one but no one will ever find out about all the very serious crimes Shark is guilty of? Look, I know it's just a television show, but if you (CBS) want us to pay attention to these shows (like I do), these are things that a lot of people are going to wonder about.

Speaking of CBS...I wrote about this a few weeks ago, but that idiotic decision to put the show "Jericho" on a very long hiatus came back to haunt CBS. "Jericho" was doing well in the ratings before the long hiatus, but by the time it came back, the viewers had moved on to something else and now "Jericho" has been cancelled. The same thing happened to NBC and "Heroes" when "Heroes" was put on a long hiatus, but NBC renewed "Heroes" for next season.

Other shows cancelled by CBS were "The Class", "The King of Queens" and "Close to Home".

PARIS HILTON:

Good news for Paris Hilton! Her jail sentence has been reduced from 45 days to 23 days and if she follows all the rules while she's in jail, there's a good chance her sentence will be reduced even more. The bad news is that she IS going to jail and unless you've done time, one can't imagine what something like this will be like in the way of a "life adjustment". That would be true for anyone, but especially for one who has spent her life being pampered and catered to.

Now here's the 500-pound gorilla that will be ever present in the same jail that will be occupied by Paris Hilton. The person or persons who somehow get photos of Hilton in jail and sell them to tabloids. We're hearing figures that are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. But the really BIG money figures to be for the story her jail bunkmate can tell.

Speaking of paparazzi faves and folks who ARE familiar with jail, I call your attention to the Long Island Lolita (Amy Fisher) and Joey Buttafuoco. Those two had a hot affair going on in 1992, but things got cold when when Amy shot Mary Jo (who happened to be Joey's wife) in the head which resulted in Amy spending some time in jail. As did Joey, but later, and for different criminal activity.

Fast forward to 2007. During Joey's most recent stint in jail, Amy made contact with Joey. After several conversations, one thing led to another, Joey got out of jail and they've decided to date again. He's now 53 and she's now 32 which means in 1992, oh, never mind.

They had their first date last night, the tv show "The Insider" was there and you'll be able to see this wonderful couple on "The Insider" tonight. We're told that a TV producer is shopping a reality show about Amy and Joey and we can't help but be reminded of words stated by promoter Don King, who said, "Only in America!"

We end on a serious note.

JERRY FALLWELL:

He was an interesting guy, he was in the news a lot and he died a couple of days ago.

Jerry Falwell preached about a number of things I didn't agree with, but he was never involved in a scandal which is commendable for a televangelist. I never met him, but those who had met him told me he was fun to be around. And yes, I hear the same things about President Bush.

Editor's note: If the pictures aren't up when you see that a new blog has been written, come back in a few minutes. They'll be up then. Within the following hour or so, you might also see a new story which is what happened today.

If you have any comments, feel free to write to me. scottstjames@sbcglobal.net

Tomorrow:

Kate Walsh and the "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff.