Welcome to Idiot Box Updates, where we run down all the latest TV news and separate the facts from the rumors and nonsense on and about the small screen.
Here's a list of the top 20 prime-time shows by viewership numbers, compiled by Nielsen Media Research for May 4-10.
1. "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 23.57 million viewers.
2. "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 23.41 million viewers.
3. "Dancing with the Stars," ABC, 20.28 million viewers.
4. "NCIS," CBS, 16.72 million viewers.
5. "The Mentalist," CBS, 16.68 million viewers.
6. "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 15.55 million viewers.
7. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 14.91 million viewers.
8. "Dancing with the Stars Results," ABC, 14.56 million viewers.
9. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 14.17 million viewers.
10. "Criminal Minds," CBS, 14.13 million viewers.
11. "CSI: Miami," CBS, 13.72 million viewers.
12. "CSI: NY," CBS, 13.4 million viewers.
13. "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 12.29 million viewers.
14. "House," Fox, 12.05 million viewers.
15. "Survivor: Tocantins," CBS, 11.99 million viewers.
16. "Cold Case," CBS, 11.84 million viewers.
17. "Without a Trace," CBS, 11.83 million viewers.
18. "Rules of Engagement," CBS, 11.33 million viewers.
19. "Amazing Race 14," CBS, 10.49 million viewers.
20. "Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist," ABC, 10.23 million viewers.
Here are the top 10 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of May 4-10.
Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. NBA Playoffs: Houston vs. L.A. Lakers (Wednesday, 10:43 p.m.), TNT, 4.78 million homes, 6.32 million viewers.
2. NBA Playoffs: L.A. Lakers vs. Houston (Friday, 9:51 p.m.), ESPN, 4.43 million homes, 5.95 million viewers.
3. "ICarly: I Date a Bad Boy" (Saturday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 4.37 million homes, 6.47 million viewers.
4. NBA Playoffs: Houston vs. L.A. Lakers (Monday, 10:46 p.m.), TNT, 4.07 million homes, 5.4 million viewers.
5. NBA Playoffs: Boston vs. Orlando (Sunday, 8:06 p.m.), TNT, 3.7 million homes, 5.08 million viewers.
6. NBA Playoffs: Boston vs. Orlando (Monday, 8 p.m.), TNT, 3.35 million homes, 4.35 million viewers.
7. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.33 million homes, 4.79 million viewers.
8. NBA Playoffs: Atlanta vs. Cleveland (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), TNT, 3.32 million homes, 4.5 million viewers.
9. NBA Playoffs: Boston vs. Orlando (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), TNT, 3.31 million homes, 4.34 million viewers.
10. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.29 million homes, 4.07 million viewers.
Jay Leno's final guest on " The Tonight Show" will be the man who's taking over for him: Conan O'Brien. Leno ends up his 17-year-run as host of NBC's late-night show on May 29, after which O'Brien will step in as the new "Tonight" host - on June 1.
Leno's final week of shows includes Mel Gibson, Prince and Billy Crystal — who was Leno's first guest when he took "Tonight" over from Johnny Carson in 1992.
This fall, Leno will begin a daily prime-time show for NBC. With any luck, it will fail miserably. Go away, Jay. It's Conan's time to shine.
Look. A lot of crazy shit happened on "Lost" last night. I'd love to sit and dig through all the lunacy, but we've got plenty of news to get to, so those of you interested in all the juicy tidbits can head over to Yahoo News.
Fox has picked up comic book drama "Human Target" and single-camera comedy "Sons of Tucson" for new series options.
"Target," from DC Comics and Wonderland, was the best-received pilot at the network's screenings last week. The show centers on Christopher Chance (Mark Valley), a mysterious freelancer who offers a unique form of security for hire: He assumes the identities of people in danger - a bit like "The Pretender," only he's the human target instead of his clients.
In the spirit of "Slums of Beverly Hills," the new comedy "Sons" stars Tyler Labine as a charismatic but misguided hustler hired by three young, resourceful brothers to act as their father while their real one does time in prison for a white-collar crime.
Frank Dolce, Davis Cleveland, Troy Gentile and Natalie Martinez co-star in the comedy penned by Tommy Dewey and Greg Bratman. Dewey and Bratman exec produce with Harvey Myman, Jason Felts and Justin Berfield. Todd Holland directed the pilot.
Jamie Foxx will host the ninth annual BET Awards, set for June 28 at the Shrine Auditorium. Maxwell and Ne-Yo are scheduled to perform at the show, where soul trio the O'Jays will be presented with a lifetime achievement award.
Foxx recently appeared as a mentor on Fox's "American Idol," but we won't hold that against him.
Eminem and Jimmy Kimmel will fly about 200 laid-off autoworkers to Los Angeles for the May 15 taping of his appearance on Kimmel's show.
The Detroit-bred rapper says he and Kimmel want to remind everyone that real people are being affected by what's going on in Detroit. News reports ignore people who have lost their jobs without getting big payouts after dedicating themselves to the auto industry, Em points out, and it's time some original attention was brought to their plight.
Eminem will appear on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on May 19 and May 22. He's also set to appear on an episode of "Family Guy," this Sunday (May 17).
David E. Kelley's legal drama "Legally Mad" is not going forward at NBC. The network has decided to pass on the pilot after holding it in contention.There are no immediate plans for the project to be shopped elsewhere.
Provided he's not in jail before then, "24" star Keifer Sutherland promises a much more realistic spin in the next season of the smash show.
"I can tell you that it's grounded in a political shift that's taking place in the world, that I actually think is probably the most realistic thing we've ever done," he said recently.
"It's going to be centered in one of the most realistic circumstances, because some of our stuff -- let's be fair -- has been kind of far-fetched. But this one I think is quite possible, so I'm very excited about that."
Sutherland, 42, stars as Jack Bauer, a government agent who tirelessly saves the world from terrorists and other shady bad guys. When he's not in front of cameras, he can be found headbutting strangers, defending Brooke Shields' honor from vicious thugs aka fashion designers that walk past her at a party.
Meanwhile, "V" and "Limelight" screened to lukewarm reviews on Monday at ABC. "V" made the cut, but it appears theirs no limelight in store for "Limelight."
"Lie to Me" has been picked up for a second season by Fox. The new show performed respectably in its debut season, thanks in large part to its "American Idol" lead-in. "The Shield" creator Shawn Ryan has hopped on board the project as executive producer and showrunner.
If you didn't know, "Lie to Me" stars Tim Roth as Dr. Cal Lightman, a police consultant who has a remarkable knack for detecting lies. And it's pretty badass.
"Sit Down, Shut Up" looks to have been put in the corner for good. The animated program from Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz has been pulled from the schedule, not long after it was moved to a weaker time period on Sunday nights. Will it ever be back? Probably not.
The season (and possibly series) finale for Joss Whedon's sci-fi semi-dud "Dollhouse" his a series low, making the chances for the show's renewal drop even further.
The finale brought the show's worst ratings to date, says The Hollywood Reporter. Friday's episode was watched by 2.8 million viewers and drew a mere 1.0 preliminary rating among the coveted 18-49 adult demographic, down from the previous series low of 1.1 in the penultimate episode.
ABC doesn't announce its fall schedule until May 19, but the network has ordered 13 episodes of the half-hour comedy "Modern Family," making it the first for ABC's 2009-2010 schedule. The show follows the lives of three highly different takes on the American family: a traditional nuclear family of five, a gay couple, and an interracial couple. Ed O'Neill, our beloved Al from "Married With Children," stars.
In other ABC news, Bob Saget can notch "Surviving Suburbia" down as another fail. The show has been yanked from ABC's schedule until the summer, and will likely never see the light of day again. Ah well.
