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Sorry, Mr Cowell you know little about true talent By MARTIN SAMUEL 04th June 2009 We have been down the road from top of the pops to The Priory before. Remember Lena Zavaroni? This vulnerable, naive girl from Scotland shot to fame on a television talent show in the early Seventies and became an overnight celebrity. Like Britain's Got Talent's Susan Boyle, it didn't end well. Talent is having a repertoire, an act, not some five-minute novelty schtick. Modern bogeymen such as Pete Doherty and Russell Brand have more talent in their little fingers than anyone who will ever pass...

"Here’s what we know about the show’s eighth, and perhaps final season. A year-and-a-half to two years will have elapsed since the end of Season 7, with the action moving from the White House to the U.N. building in New York City. Cherry Jones is back as President Allison Taylor. “I don’t think they know quite what to do with me yet,” says Jones. “At first I heard they needed me for only a couple episodes, but I do seem now to have a little bit more to do.” Cherry says the new season will expand beyond an American threat...

7TH UPDATE: ABC has officially picked up Jerry Bruckheimer's pilot THE FORGOTTEN to series. 6TH UPDATE: I'm told ABC just picked up THE MIDDLE with a 13 episode order. The pilot starring Patricia Heaton. Same with the pilot that Kelsey Grammar was exec-producing and starring in, AWESOME HANK which ABC also picked up. 5TH UPDATE: I just heard that ABC offered to pick up 6 episodes of V -- but Warner Bros has not accepted. ABC also has ordered the hour-long HAPPY TOWN. 4TH UPDATE: ABC has officially renewed Better Off Ted. 3RD UPDATE: I've just learned that ABC has...

For those who care: Just a reminder, in case you've let it slip your mind. Tonight is the 'Bones' season finale, in which we'll see the return of the character "Zack Addy". I'm hoping it's going to be a good one.

The annual convention of the National Association of Television Programming Executives, or NATPE, kicks off today and runs through Thursday. The Wall Street Journal's Sam Schechner files updates from Las Vegas. Monday, January 26 Las Vegas is cold. Pools are drained, hotels are sparsely filled, and rain is on the forecast. Inside, as the National Association of Television Programming Executives' yearly TV marketplace kicks off, the mood is scarcely any warmer: The TV world is girding for what's likely to be one of its most challenging years in decades. [Flavor Flav] Kevin Winter/Getty Images Hip-hop artist and reality-show star Flavor...

If you had to choose between your PC, TV set or mobile phone, which one would you pick? That was one of the questions researcher Forrester posed to almost 4800 households in the US and, although the TV set still ruled the roost in most homes, the study showed that it was no longer the top gadget of choice among the young and prosperous. Forrester found that less than 20 per cent of the gen Y group (aged 18-26) ranked TVs top compared with the 37 per cent who rated their PCs as the most important. A further 27 per...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC and CBS unveiled separate plans Monday to make some of their hottest prime-time shows available for viewers to watch at their leisure -- without commercials -- for 99 cents an episode, throwing open the door to "on-demand" television. The back-to-back announcements from NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co. , and Viacom Inc.-owned CBS, came weeks after Walt Disney Co.'s ABC began offering commercial-free Internet downloads of its biggest hits, "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," for $1.99 a piece.

So who’s it going to be: Clay or Ruben? Thirty million people can’t stand the suspense. Inside ‘American Idol,’ TV’s most addictive show May 26 issue — Simon Cowell never lets you see him sweat, but at the moment he’s looking a little damp. It’s Tuesday afternoon, hours before the “American Idol” semifinal, and the last rehearsal is just beginning. Paula Abdul shows up with her ubiquitous Chihuahua, Thumbelina, chats with Randy Jackson and half-listens to the performances. Finally, Cowell can’t stand it anymore. “Can I give you some advice, Paula?” he says. “You look nice. Just don’t talk.” SIMON’S...