Just when you thought things couldn’t get any more bizarrre on “American Idol,” the show lands in Hollywood, where some dude made like a panther and scores of tearful wannabes brought the drama.

But SoCal also gave us a highly poignant moment in the form of 64-year-old Sherman Pore, who launched a petition to get on the show to help lift the spirits of his longtime sweetheart as she battled cancer. Unfortunately, she died two days before the auditions. Sherman, whose age makes him ineligible for the show, performed a lovely rendition of “You Belong To Me” that had Paula Abdul getting misty. All the judges, including guest Olivia Newton-John, stood and applauded and reached out to Mr. Pore.

Who said “Idol” doesn’t have any heart?

BEST AUDITIONS: Brandon Rogers wowed the judges with a silky-smooth performance of “You Were Always On My Mind.” Said Simon, “I can see this guy making the finals.” … Alaina Alexander made a strong first impression with her performance of “Feelin’ Good.”

WORST AUDITIONS: Panther Guy Martik Manonukian gave us a horrible case of cat scratch fever as he went all feline before the cameras. Where are the tranquilizer darts when you need them?

SIMON SAYS: “The meowing was ridiculous and the singing was horrendous.” — to Panther Guy, of course.

ON THE WEB: E! Online reports that there’s no “Idol” Love for Courtney. … Taylor Hicks‘ album stalls while Chris Daughtry’s soars.

CBS

OK, I’ll admit it: The rise in ratings for “Criminal Minds” mystifies me. And the fact that it has surpassed a superior show like “Lost” absolutely floors me.

Then again, I haven’t watched it all that much as of late, so maybe I was missing something. In preparation for the show’s big coming-out bash on Super Bowl Sunday, I caught up on several episodes, thinking that, maybe, just maybe, I’d be won over.

Sad to say, it didn’t happen. “Minds” strikes me as a solid procedural with a pretty decent cast. Nothing more. Nothing less. Perhaps you disagree. I’d love to hear some counter arguments. In the meantime, check out my case study of “Criminal Minds” in today’s TimeOut section.

Fox
“Idol” arrived in the state that gave us Ruben Studdard, Bo Bice and Taylor Hicks — where, as Lynrd Skynrd insists, “the skies are so blue.”

But once again, much of the attention was on Paula Abdul and her amazing mood swings. Remember opening night when she seemed to be in a coma? Tonight, she looked as if she might be on ecstasy as she continually bounced in and out of her seat, fidgeting, swaying and gyrating. And then — poof — she was gone, missing the second day of auditions for what Ryan Seacrest called “family obligations.” … Um, OK …

BEST AUDITIONS: Tatiana McConnico, a 17-year-old from Georgia, definitely had the pipes as she easily secured a golden ticket. “A 100 percent yes. That was dope,” blurts Randy. … With Jack Osbourne-like perm and glasses Chris Sligh doesn’t look like an Idol, but he wowed the judges with his voice and his wry humor. When asked why he wanted to be the next American Idol, he replied, “I really want to make David Hasselhoff cry.” It was a reference to last year’s finale when Taylor Hicks’ performance reduced Hasselhoff to tears.

WORST AUDITION: Brandy Patterson butchered “Like a Virgin” and then had the audacity to blame her poor performance on the wooden floor. The snickering judges allowed her to move to the carpet where no improvement was detected.

SIMON SAYS: “You look like some nightmare experiment.” — to Margaret Fowler, a plus-size contestant dressed from head to toe in furry Big Bird-like yellow.

KELLIE PICKLER REVISTED? Jamie Lynn Ward, 17, will bring her sweet, twangy voice to Hollywood — along with a hard-luck backstory. She says she lives with her grandmother and plays caretaker to her paralyzed father. He apparently caught his wife cheating, shot her and then himself.

ONTHE WEB: Newsweek has a great story about “Fame Junkies” — never-say-die fantatics who have auditioned for “Idol” multiple times … “Entertainment Tonight” has an interview with Simon, who dishes about the season so far and other topics, including Jennifer Hudson.

(AP)

I’ve got no problem with the television portion of Sunday night’s SAG Awards. The biggest surprise was Chandra Wilson’s (”Grey’s Anatomy”) victory as best actress in a drama. But who’s gonna argue with the woman they call The Nazi?

Another “doctor” — Hugh Laurie of “House” — won best actor in a drama, so that means Kiefer Sutherland (”24″) will have to settle for that Emmy.

Alec Baldwin was named best actor in a comedy series for his work in “30 Rock.” Solid choice. And America Ferrera was named best actress in a comedy for her breakout performance in “Ugly Betty.” Again, a great pick.

“The Office” was named best ensemble television comedy and the “Grey’s Anatomy” cast won the drama ensemble honor. Perfect on both counts.

Oh, and I hear they handed out some hardware to big-screen movie stars, too.

(NBC)
Concord native Juliana Hansen turned in a solid performance during Sunday’s opening round of live episodes on NBC’s “Grease: You’re the One That I Want.” But does she have what it takes to land the role of Sandy on Broadway?

Juliana, looking confident and gorgeous, was the next-to-last singer of the night. She performed Sheryl Crowe’s “The First Cut Is the Deepest.” The judges, for the most part, loved it — but also offered some constructive criticism. “You have such a strong voice and such a command on stage,” said Kathleen Marshall. “But I know you can have more fun than that.” And David Ian offerered, “We need to see more heart.”

Juliana has her work cut out for her if she’s going to stay in the thick of things. At the end of the program, the three regular judges named their favorite performers of the night and she was not among them.

Here’s hoping that she did enough to remain in the competition — and that, from here on out, her song choices allow her to connect more strongly to the audience.

I know a lot of you “Jericho” fans are anxiously biding your time for the show to return. Yes, it’s getting closer: CBS will offer a recap episode on Feb. 14 before re-launching the series on Feb. 21.

In the meantime, the producers are promising to deliver several answers before Season 1 is in the books. Here’s what we learned from the “Jericho” session at press tour.

(ABC)
It was pointed out to me the other day that “Desperate Housewives” was actually leading the season’s ratings race. There’s a couple of caveats that need to be considered: 1) “Grey’s Anatomy” and/or “CSI” would be the likely leader, but they face off in a bloody time-slot war, and 2). Now that “American Idol” is back, every other show is left playing for runner-up roles.
Still, that doesn’t in any way diminish the fact that “Housewives” has experienced a creative comeback after a lackluster second season. So what’s in store for the show over the next few months? Well, a couple of weddings, a new romance for Edie and a few other juicy developments, according to mediavillage.com, which offers this interview with producer Marc Cherry.

(ABC)

So while watching “Grey’s Anatomy” last night, were you seeing double?

In other words, when you peered at Isaiah Washington up on the screen, did you see the taciturn Dr.Preston Burke — or the person who, as a fellow TV blogger wrote, became “Hollywood’s biggest a-hole this week”?

I admit that I occasionally had trouble pushing reality aside. At times, I couldn’t help but think: Here’s the bigot who has caused such a hubbub with his gay slurs. … The man who just announced that he’s seeking therapy for his problem. … The man who could be fired by ABC.

This is the problem when an actor’s real-life exploits become so overexposed. It can take you out of the story. For example, will we ever be able to watch a Lindsay Lohan flick from here on out without having her troubled reality intrude on the experience?

On the other hand, good acting and engaging characters can always pull us back in. For example, it wasn’t until well after the episode was over that it occured to me that the depiction of George (T.R. Knight) as a wild “sex machine” with Callie (Sara Ramirez) was highly ironic. Knight, of course, is gay, and was the unfortunate target of Washington’s slurs.

While we’re on this subject, I wanted to point out that USA Today TV critic Robert Bianco offered a great take on the “Grey’s Anatomy” off-screen ordeal that I haven’t seen anywhere else. In a column earlier this week, Bianco wrote:

“… let’s look at this ugly incident’s one bright side: Had word come out 20 years ago that a TV star had been called a homosexual, it’s the gay actor whose career would have been over. Now, it’s the bigot who’s in danger. That, at least, is a healthy sign.”

Amen to that.

(NBC)

I’ve worshipped “Heroes.” I find the beauty in “Ugly Betty.” But still, I will continue to insist that “Friday Night Lights” is the best new show of the season and it’s heartbreaking to see it struggle in the ratings the way it has.

Watched it again last night (”Idol” was TiVoed) and loved it again. Most shows experience sort of an ebb and flow from week to week, but “Lights” simply has not had a bad episode yet this season. And I love how it’s continuing to deftly deal with intriguing issues such as teen sexuality, steroid use and physical disability.

Regarding the latter, Scott Porter is doing terrific work as a former star quarterback now coping with life in a wheelchair. What other show is brave (or crazy) enough to take a hunky young actor and not only turn him into a paraplegic, but then unflinchingly delve into all the complex layers of his story?

I know. You’re getting tired of seeing me do the rah-rah bit for “FNL.” But someone has to. Along those lines, I’m happy to report that “Entertainment Weekly” FINALLY gave it some love recently. Check out Ken Tucker’s fine story on the struggles of “Friday Night Lights.”

“American Idol” arrives in New York City and, oh goody, we get our first on-camera spat between Paula and Simon. She even calls him a “jerk” and a “(Bleep)-hole” when he interrupts her while she’s giving some advice to a male singer who sounds very girlie.

When it was all said and done, 35 wannabes from New York were handed golden tickets to Hollywood. But, of course, we only saw a fraction of them because producers were intent on showing us the freaks.

“Idol” also gave us one of those touching moments that truly make the show. Sarah Burgess, a teenager from Ohio who has major Daddy issues, played hooky and came to New York without telling anyone. Her goal: To prove to her nay-saying father that she could make it to Hollywood. And she did just that as Paula called her “One brave girl.” Then came the sob-filled call to Pops. Good stuff.

BEST AUDITIONS: Kia Thornton busts out Aretha and wows the judges. “Great audition,” Simon raves. “The best today. One-hundred percent yes.“ … Nicholas Pedro, who made it to Hollywood last year only to forget the lyrics and drop out, launched his comeback with a solid performance.

WORST AUDITIONS: Hammy and flamboyant Ian Bernardo is intentionally irritating and gets way too much camera time. … Spacey Isadora Furman, who claims to be clairvoyant, is predictably awful, doing irreparable harm to “Lady Marmalade.“

SIMON SAYS: “I don’t think rational advice is necessary at this point.” (To Isadora).

ON THE WEB: Jewel defends tough Idol judges… Also, some media buyers mystified by “Idol”’s success.