But Serling was more than just a narrator and a handsome face. He actually created and produced the popular science fiction series, which began a five year run in the late 1950s.

Serling’s life began in Syracuse, New York, on December 25, 1924, as the second child of Esther and Samuel Serling. He grew up in Binghamton, in a working-class family that encouraged his gift of gab and love of entertainment. As a young Jewish boy, he was anxious to engage in combat against the Germans during World War II, but after enlisting in the U.S. Army out of high school, he was sent instead to fight the Japanese in the Philippines.

It was soon after his discharge from the war that he entered Antioch College and became involved with the college radio station. It was a perfect fit and was instrumental in honing his writing and directing skills. He met his future wife, Carolyn Kramer, at college, and they married and had two daughters.

Serling’s career took off after a television script, which he had written, won an award. That ego boost led him to write a radio show. His first successful radio series was the Adventure Express, a series that revolved around two children and their train adventure.

In 1955, Serling’s first big break occurred when his teleplay Patterns,  a story about the lack of corporate morality, was shown on Kraft Television Theatre, and received rave reviews. In fact, it was so popular that for the first time in television history, the show aired for a second time.

Three years later, CBS aired what was intended to be the pilot for the Twilight Zone, on The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse. The pilot, titled The Time Element, was such a hit that Serling was given the go ahead for the series that made him famous.

In his short 50-year life, Serling received six Emmy Awards for his writing, and a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Producer/Director for The Twilight Zone. He was also the recipient of a star on the Walk of Fame, which resides at 6840 Hollywood Blvd.

(Image via britannica)

Let me give the uninitiated a little background on the name.

Back in the early days of Big Brother, host Chen had numerous favorite scripted words and movements, as seen in the telling video below. Fans, not so affectionately, nicknamed her in response to her robotic mannerisms and sayings.

Chen admitted in an interview with AOL television, that her best friend from college broke the news to her that fans were making fun of her performance as the BB Host. Although she sure looked peeved tonight when Matt let loose with the name, she stated in the earlier interview, “The Chenbot thing, I think people thought I’d be offended by it, but a lot of people don’t know my sense of humor and I thought it was so funny. I bought Chenbot posters and had them framed and have one up in the office. My husband’s assistant bought Chenbot mugs because she knew I thought it was funny.”

Later , she made a point of poking fun at herself in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, by stating “I am the Chenbot.”

Although her botlike mannerisms have improved a bit since 2000, I’m not buying the fact that she thinks it is funny, cause like they say in the movies, “the truth hurts,” which was evidenced by her response during tonight’s show.

Big Brother

Even more surprising and disheartening, is the fact that the pranks will come to an abrupt halt now with Annie booted off the show, and it is partially her fault. Why not play with some grace and brains, and at least try to be friendly after landing in the hot seat? She made herself a target, after the fact, with her bitchiness and angry outbursts. Heck, I’m not even in the house with her and I couldn’t wait to see the door hit her in the rear. As one insightful reality fan stated on Facebook, “Well that saboteur on Big Brother was a dud… this doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season…”

Lane (the Beast), Hayden, (the Animal), Matt, (the Brains) and Enzo, (Meow Meow) were the real instigators behind the demise of the mole, and you can bet they will be unbearable in their glee, during the next few days.

So unless CBS has a “plan B,” we will all lose out on the torture that America was plotting to inflict on the house guests, via the saboteur. Let’s hope the showmance between Brendon and Rachel is tantalizing enough to keep us interested.

The hot dog challenge was hilarious and the best line of the night came from Matt after seeing Andrew don his wiener costume. “I got to see the evolution of an orthodox Jew into a kosher wienie.”

But what is up with tootsie-doc Andrew anyway? Either he is playing a very bad saboteur, or he hopes to make people think he is the mole. Thankfully my Tivo was in good working order, because during the playback you would have to be blind not to see Andrew raise his hand to volunteer to sit out the challenge, before host Julie Chen even said the word “one” (as in “one person must sit out and be the mascot”). How the heck did he even have a clue what she was going to say? Enzo and Hayden were immediately suspicious, and with good reason. But c’mon, would CBS allow the cat to get out of the bag so early? I’m not sure that I am buying it, but Andrew clearly appears to be the one, due to that false move alone. Unless, of course, the network editing is meant to throw us off.

Just for the record, I had pretty-boy Hayden pegged to be the rat, but he clearly didn’t move from the couch during the black-out, so that just proves that I’ll never make it as a detective.

The second question running through my mind is why would CBS make the saboteurs’ silhouette and disguised voice sound like a male? Couldn’t they do a better job of making a masculine/feminine mixture to make it more of a mystery?

Thankfully fans won’t have to wait long to find out the truth, because we will be let in on the secret next Thursday, but I am dying to hear your thoughts on who you think the havoc master is, and why you think so.

The Big Brother house guests were named on The Early Show, and once again there are a lucky 13 of them. The 2010 house-arrest victims are: oil rig salesman Lane Elenburg, 24, podiatrist Andrew Gordon, 39, deputy sheriff  Kathy Hillis, 40,  college student Hayden Moss, 24, grad student/waitress Rachel Reilly, 26, high school swim coach Brendon Villegas, 30, shoe store manager Kristen Bitting, 24, college professor Ragan Fox, 34, hotel sales manager Britney Haynes, 22, web designer Matt Hoffman, 32, insurance adjuster Enzo Palumbo, 32, model Monet Stunson, 24, and bartender Annie Whittington, 27.

Each summer CBS adds a new twist to keep fans from becoming bored, and this season is no exception. One of the house guests in season 12 will not be competing for the prize, but instead is out to sabotage the rest of the guests and mess with their minds.

One of the favorite “shake-em-ups” was the Twin Twist, where identical twins Adria and Natalie played one-and-the-same person, and secretly switched places every three days. Then on season eight, “America’s Player” was introduced. One player was chosen by America to do certain tasks for them while inside the house, including having to vote out who America wanted. The “chosen one” was forbidden to reveal their identity to the other house guests.

This year for a fee, like always, die-hard fans can watch the house guests 24/7 on a live feed from within the house. Addicted fans can also grab the latest spoilers and house updates on their mobile phones. AimX Labs has created applications for the Blackberry, iPhone, Android and Palm Pre/Pixi, if you are so inclined.

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ABC plans to lock up, peep show style, a group of the shows’ former “15-minute-of-famers.” The contestants will live together in The Bachelor mansion and compete against one another. They will also be contending for $250,000 in prize money, as well as continuing to look for love and hook-ups, or at least ABC hopes they will.

Chris Harrison and Dancing with the Stars sweetheart Melissa Rycroft are co-hosting the six-week series. Rycroft, if you recall, was the bachelorette who won Jason Mesnick’s heart, for barely a minute, and was quickly dumped when he decided his heart thumped harder for Molly Malaney.

Some of the “bad boys” and “crazy ladies” from past seasons have been invited to participate and add some much-anticipated drama to the mix. Remember scandalous and conniving Wes from Jillian Harris’ season of The Bachelorette , and manipulating Michelle, who got an early boot from the Bachelor by Jake Pavelka?

In just a moment the cast will be revealed, and everyone’s favorite punching bag, Vienna Girardi, is not on the list. Could the “Queen of Tabloids” be added to the cast at the last minute? Bachelor Pad cast member Mathau Johnson revealed that he was shocked when a producer woke him at 6:00 a.m. on the first day of shooting, and cut him from the show. I wonder why?  Could the producers have gotten news of the Jake Pavelka, Vienna Girardi break-up and quickly snagged her on the rebound? Let’s hope so, because it would make for some extra-juicy drama and even more tabloid fodder.

And now here are the cast mates.  Drumroll please….

• Jessie Sulidis
• Tenley Molzahn
• Jonathan Novack
• Peyton Wright
• Gia Allemand
• Juan Barbieri
• Jesse Beck
• Ashley Elmore
• Natalie Getz
• Dave Good
• Gwen Gioia
• Wes Hayden
• Nikki Kaapke
• Krisily Kennedy
• Elizabeth Kitt
• Jesse Kovacs
• Michelle Kujawa
• Kiptyn Locke
• Craig McKinnon

From all accounts though, this medical drama may just spice up medicine with a bit of Lost intrigue, or is that wishful thinking? Lost took place in a jungle, while exploring good versus evil and redemption from emotional ills. In Off the Map, young doctors, each with their own emotional hangup, run from yet unknown life traumas and land together in a jungle clinic in South America. Throw in a black-smoke monster and Lost fans will feel like they are home again.

All kidding aside, the docs may just find redemption in the jungle while they save the lives of others, and viewers just may be intrigued by what it takes to get them to that place and how it leads to who they really are.

Martin Henderson, Caroline Dhavernas, Enrique Murciano, Mamie Gummer, Valerie Cruz, Jose Julian and Jason George are set to star in the midseason replacement, which is executive-produced by Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers and creator Jenna Bans.

Michaels was born on February 18, 1974, and currently lives in sunny California, with her pets. It is hard to believe by looking at her, but Michaels was an overweight preteen, whose tiny 5’2″ frame topped the scales at 175 pounds, by the age of 12.

Michaels took up martial arts, and after seventeen years of experience in Muay Thai and Akarui-Do, she sports a black belt.

Her titles include fitness trainer, author, life coach, and DVD trainer. She is a former co-owner of Sky Sport and Spa Club in Beverly Hills and is recognized as a certified fitness trainer by the American Fitness Association of America (AFAA) and the National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association (NESTA).

Michaels owns Empowered Media, LLC, and has written four books, Winning by Losing: Drop the Weight, Change Your Life, Making the Cut: The 30-Day Diet and Fitness Plan for the Strongest, Sexiest You, Master Your Metabolism: The 3 Diet Secrets to Naturally Balance Your Hormones for a Hot and Healthy Body and How to Get the Body You Want.

You can follow Michaels daily life, training secrets and her new television series on her Twitterfeed.

Baxter was born in South Pasadena, California, on June 24, 1947, and is the youngest of three children. She had a long string of male relationships, most notably David Cassidy, who she dated for a short time in the late ’60s, and husbands David Birney, Bob Bush and Michael Blodgett, before she outed herself as a lesbian in 2009.  The mother of five children explained her sexual change of heart this way:

“I am a lesbian and it was a later-in-life recognition. Some people would say, well, you’re living a lie and, you know, the truth is — not at all. This has only been for the past seven years.”

In the early ’70s, Baxter hit it big with the short-lived sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie. Not only did the series give her name recognition, but it provided her with husband number two, David Birney, and the temporarily-hyphenated name Meredith Baxter-Birney. The comedy was a stepping stone to her portrayal of daughter Nancy on the drama Family, and later as the free-spirited mother, Elyse Keaton, on the much-loved career-building sitcom, Family Ties.

Baxter has worn the hats of movie actress, guest performer, producer and television host, over the course of her career, and is a champion of breast cancer research, after having been given a breast cancer diagnosis in 1999.

Baxter is slated to play the role of President Harriet Franklin in the 2010 movie Airline Disaster, and is currently in a relationship with building contractor Nancy Locke.

Grey’s Anatomy is the Seattle Grace hospital drama that airs Thursdays on ABC. The title is a play on the name of the well-known anatomy bible, Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body, a 1918 publication by Henry Gray. Then again, it could really just refer to the female forms of Doctors Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and her half-sister Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh). In fact, shared anatomies are in abundance each week on the series, so let’s explore them.

The popular series spawned the nicknames of McDreamy and McSteamy, for its top hunky doctors, Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) and Mark Sloan, (Eric Dane) respectively. McDreamy is kind-of married to “dark and twisty” Meredith, after they exchanged marriage vows on post-it notes (who thinks up these story lines?), and McSteamy is hooking up with the innocent-looking intern Lexie.

Resident Izzie Stevens flaunted her body to several men during her employment at the hospital, most notably with her fiancé Denny Duquette, while he was dead (that was more than creepy), but also with her best friend George O’Malley and her husband Dr. Alex Karev (Justin Chambers).

Orthopedic surgeon Callie Torres (Sara Ramírez) had a fling with McSteamy, before he hooked up with Lexie Grey. She ended up marrying and divorcing George O’Malley, before he got smashed by a bus, and had a brief fling with cardiothoracic surgeon Erica Hahn. Dr. Torres is now in love with Pediatric surgeon Arizona Robbins, and one has to wonder if she ever figures out who she is or what she wants.

Trauma surgeon Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) is in love with throw-anyone-under-the-bus-to-get-a-surgical-case Dr. Christina Yang (Sandra Oh). He tries to kill her while she sleeps, as a result of post-traumatic stress, that occurred from events that took place while he served in Iraq. Before this current romance, Dr. Yang was almost married to renowned cardiothoracic surgeon Preston Burke, until he dumped her at the alter. She really knows how to pick her men, doesn’t she?

Although it seems that romance, physical attraction and relationships are the only focus of the show, the dramatic medical situations keep the viewers intrigued. The series has also been recognized by its peers, having been honored with two Emmy and two Golden Globe wins, as well as over 90 award nominations.

John Phillip Stamos was born in Cypress, California, on August 19, 1963, and is the oldest child of Loretta and Bill Stamos. Like many actors, he got his start on a daytime soap opera. His role of Blackie Parrish on General Hospital lasted from 1982–1984, and led to a bit role on Dreams, and as the son of Jack Klugman on the sitcom You Again?

His choice role as an uncle, on Full House, to three cute-as-a-button nieces, DJ (Candace Cameron), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and Michelle (Mary Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen), made him a star in the late 1980s. He also spent nearly five years honing his acting craft as Dr. Tony Gates on ER.

On a personal level, Stamos was involved romantically with actresses Tracie Childs and General Hospital co-star Demi Moore, and later, with singer Paula Abdul. In 1997, he settled down with actress Rebecca Romijn, in a marriage that ended just six years later.

Stamos made the news in 2007, after he acted erratically during a morning television interview in Sydney, Australia. He later admitted to using the drug Ambien, and cited the sleep aid as the cause of his strange behavior.

In 2009, Stamos helped the FBI catch a blackmailing Michigan nightclub owner, and his female employee, who threatened to expose nightclub photos of the actor that would compromise his career.

Stamos is currently busy twittering about his life, sporadically playing drums for the Beach Boys, and just completed performing as the lead in the Broadway revival of the Bye Bye Birdie musical.

Despite his name, his childhood took place in a working class neighborhood in the South Bronx. Born on August 25, 1931, Philbin was an only child for 20 years, until a baby boy named Frank joined the family. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, he followed his Marine father’s lead as a service man and joined the Navy.

After leaving the service, Philbin landed a job at KCOP-TV, and took it upon himself to critique, humorously, the newscasts. Studio execs recognized his talent, and promoted him to the position of a news and sports writer. Eventually his writing led to a local host position on The Regis Philbin Show, a position created to showcase his chatty style and wit.

Philbin entered the national talk arena on The Joey Bishop Show, but lost creative control and became the butt of Bishop’s jokes. When Bishop left the show, shortly before it was canceled, Philbin took over.

In 1983, Philbin packed his bags and crossed the country to New York City to host The Morning Show, where he eventually ended up sharing duties with Kathie Lee Gifford. The corny couple were a big hit and segued the show into the wildly popular Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee. When Kathie Lee left Philbin high and dry in 2000, to spend more time with her family, his wife Joy became his sidekick until spunky Kelly Ripa became a permanent co-host and fan favorite, on the newly named Live! With Regis and Kelly.

In between and during these gigs, Philbin became a mega game show host for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Million Dollar Password, as well as a reality show host for the initial season of America’s Got Talent.

To give you just a hint of the status and success Philbin attained with his dry wit, his peers have recognized him with 30 different award nominations, six of which he won, and New York gave him the distinguished honor of having a street named after him. Can’t you just see Kelly Ripa rolling her eyes?

Picture forensic science at its best, and you will be envisioning Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan (Emily Deschanel) studying the bones of dead people, to find clues to their demise. That’s right, that is the entire premise of the FOX drama Bones, a series based on the real-life inspiration of author and anthropologist Kathy Reichs.

“Bones” provides the FBI, and her professional partner, Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), with invaluable insight into the “who-done-it” to a murder victim. She has a vulnerable awkwardness, that some have said stems from symptoms of Asperger’s disease, such as having an intense interest in a certain subject, or a lack of social skills.

Cocky FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth, on the other hand, is known for his intuition and the ability to read people and emotions. He has had an on-and-off relationship with Dr. Camille Saroyan (Tamara Taylor), the head of the Forensic Division at the Jeffersonian. Both Booth and Dr. Brennan have become the surrogate family of Dr. Lance Sweets (John Francis Daley), the psychologist who was hired to study their underlying relationship, ie., conflicted and laced with sexual tension, and determine if they had what it took to remain team mates.

Dr. Brennan’s best friend and quirky forensic teammate is Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin). She is the heart of the scientific team and specializes in humanizing the victims by reconstructing their faces. Angela’s ex-fiancee is Dr. Jack Stanley Hodgins (T. J. Thyne) aka “Bug and Slime Guy.” He likes creepy-crawly things, and is enamored with conspiracy theories.

With over 15,000 votes, Bones earned its way to a 8.4/10 rating on IMDB, and was just renewed for a sixth season.

The captivating host was born Richard Wagstaff Clark, on November 30, 1929, in Mount Vernon, New York, to Julia and Richard Clark. He didn’t set out to be a television star, but decided early in his business career to join his father and uncle at the radio station where they worked.

He wore many hats in the profession, as he worked as a weatherman, disc jockey and news announcer. His first taste of television music hosting came when he began working at WKTV in Utica on the country music show Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders. He parlayed that experience into a gig in Philadelphia, Dick Clark’s Caravan of Music, and as a substitute host for Bob Horn on Bandstand. Due to a twist of fate in 1956-a drunk driving charge against Horn-he became top dog on the dance show, a position which he held until 1989.

Clark was an astute businessman, as well as  tv personality, and dabbled in music publishing until narrowly escaping government payola charges for “bribing” radio deejays for airtime. With his name cleared of any wrong doing, he picked himself up and formed a film production company, Dick Clark Productions, and shortly thereafter began a game show career that culminated in him hosting the popular $25,000 Pyramid. His varied career also included the almost-40-year stint of counting down the minutes until the New Year, as host of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. A stroke took Clark out of the game for a few years, but he valiantly returned to the telecast in 2005, with Ryan Seacrest by his side.

Known as “America’s Oldest Teenager,” Dick Clark was bestowed the honor of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, earned four Emmy Awards and was awarded the coveted Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award, and rightly so. Dick Clark brought acceptability to the music of my youth, music which helped cement together the memories of my life. Clark explains it this way, “Think of all the songs you have listened to all your life. Popular music is the soundtrack of our individual lives. Anything that ever happened to you, good or bad, was scored with the music you listened to.”

Smallville fans got a springtime gift, after hearing  The CW announcement in March, that their beloved superhero, Clark Kent, would be returning for a tenth season.

For the very few uninitiated people who know nothing about the series, Smallville follows the growing-up years of the Superman-comic-character Clark Kent (Tom Welling), before he becomes the superhero that we all know and love. Clark became a resident of Smallville, Kansas, hence the name of the series, after Earth became his destiny. He struggles with his other-earthly Kryptonian origins, and evil villains, while ‘working it’ with his girlfriend Lois Lane (Erica Durance). One such evil villain is another fellow Kryptonian by the name of Major Zod (Callum Blue). Major Zod is the younger version of General Zod, who spent much of his time trying to destroy Clark’s father Jor-El and the Krypton community.

Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) is a high school editor and journalist, who didn’t let her friendship with Clark get in the way of the unearthing of his secret identity. She thrives on rescuing the Smallville citizens from kryptonite mutants.

Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman) is antagonist Lex Luthor’s appointed fertilizer company CEO, who had a brief fling with billionaire Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley), otherwise known as the vigilante “Green Arrow.” Hartley is responsible for bombing Luthor’s hidden location (was he annihilated?).

Good versus evil reigns supreme, in the Superman fantasy that lives on in Smallville, to the joy of DC Comic book fans everywhere.

Chuck is both a NBC action comedy, and the name of the protagonist of the show, Chuck Bartowski, (Zachary Levi). He carries around embedded government secrets in his brain. Chuck didn’t ask to be a super-spy operative, but  has gradually become a willing participant in the games of the CIA and NSA. He can thank his former college roomie, Bryce, who infected Chuck’s brain, when he sent him an e-mail that subliminally implanted the entire database from the government’s Intersect supercomputer.

Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez) is Chuck’s best friend and support system, who also harbors a long-standing nineteen-year crush on Chuck’s sister Ellie Woodcomb (Sarah Lancaster). He works, or pretends to work, at the Buy More electronics store with Chuck, and despite their close relationship was clueless about Chuck’s secret life, until recently.

Ellie is a neurologist, who is married to cardiologist Devon Woodcomb, and let’s just say, she does not, and never has, reciprocated any feelings at all for Morgan, although she is not above enlisting his aid to snoop on her brother.

Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin) is a former Marine sniper, CIA agent and partner of agent Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski). He was under NSA assignment to protect Chuck, or kill him, as confusing as that may sound. He worked undercover as an employee at Buy More, until getting released to civilian life.

Sarah Walker is Chuck’s “pretend” girlfriend, that morphs into his “real” love interest. She is Chuck’s CIA protector and operative, for Operation Bartowski.

Life is not easy for a computer geek/NSA spy, and after two years, it looked like life might not be easy for the series either. Just when fans suspected that the series would be canned, they sprang into action
and began a campaign to get the show renewed for a third season. Led by ChuckTV.net and GiveMeMyRemote.com aka GiveMeMyChuck.com, the fans won out and kept the show alive for a few more months. Kudos to the Internet.

If you are reading this article, chances are that you are already one of 9.2 million people with a serious 24 addiction. What is the draw of the show, or should I say who? Well first and foremost, the draw is Kiefer Sutherland, in the role of Jack Bower, an agent in the Los Angeles Counter-Terrorist Unit. The Fox message board, for the espionage thriller, has a forum for this character alone, that has 159,149 posts in 4,907 threads. But no man is an island, so they say, and Jack is no exception. Jack relies on many people to watch his back, as he tortures terrorists and faces many dangers, each 24-hour time period that he lives and breathes.

Jack has the hots for beautiful FBI Special Agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching), even after she stabbed him. So far many fans are not going for the connection, but at least one considers her a “female Jack.”

Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub) is a computer genius who has unspoken feelings for Jack, and will do nearly anything for him, even to the point of risking her job, to aid him.

Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) didn’t happen along until season seven, but plays the first female President of the United States of America, with enough honesty and courage to turn her own daughter over to the authorities, after discovering her daughter ordered revenge for her brother’s death. Rob Weiss (Chris Diamantopoulos) is her Chief of Staff.

Kamistan President Omar Hassan (Anil Kapoor) came to the United States to negotiate a peace treaty with President Allison Taylor and narrowly escaped an assassination attempt during the process.

Season eight additions to the cast are CTU data analyst Dana Walsh (Katee Sackhoff), CTU operative Cole Ortiz (Freddie Prinze Jr.), special agent Brian Hastings (Mykelti Williamson) and Arlo Glass (John Boyd).

Word has it that even though Kiefer Sutherland’s 24 contract is over after eight seasons, he has expressed interest in continuing the role. Could it be that with all the late additions to the series, that the show will go on? 9.2 million fans hope so.

George Robert Newhart was born on September 5, 1929, in Oak Park, Illinois, to Julia and George Newhart. He served in the Korean War and landed jobs in accounting and as a copywriter, after his tour of duty ended. In 1959, Newhart came to the attention of Warner Bros. after he sent numerous recorded comedy routines to radio deejay Dan Sorkin, who passed them along to the studio. In the following years, Newhart began a stand-up comedy routine, a film career and an NBC variety show, before hitting the big time with sitcoms.

His comedy album, The Button-Downed Mind of Bob Newhart, rose to the top of the Billboard charts in 1961, and earned Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards, when Newhart was also honored as Best New Artist.
Although primarily known for his television roles, Newhart acted in such notable films as On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Catch-22, Elf, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde and First Family.

The funny man, who is known for his stammer and one-sided phone call shtick,  is also a family man, who made his marriage work despite living and working in Tinseltown, the land of celebrity divorces. He points to laughter as the reason for the longevity of his marriage, and credits comedian Buddy Hackett with introducing him to his wife Virginia, after he set them up on a blind date.
Newhart has not just entertained us for all these years, but has also garnered the highest approval of his peers, with six Emmy nominations and seven Golden Globe nods, including his win in 1962 for Best Male TV Star. At the age of 80, Newhart shows no sign of slowing down, which is a good thing for all of us.

If you have an inexplicable disease that baffles even the best doctors, who would you want on your side? You guessed it, the eccentric and brilliant Sherlock Holmes of the medical community, Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie). The Fox medical drama, House, is based on the idiosyncrasies and disease sleuthing abilities of this unconventional and, often times, lawbreaking doctor and his colleagues.

The Dean of Medicine, Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein), spends much of her time in a state of frustration over Dr. House’s ways of practicing medicine, but deep down inside she admires him and his ability to ferret out the medical truth, and save lives. Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) is an Oncologist who epitomizes a friend, as he alternately speaks truth to his buddy House, or has his back.

Spicing things up a bit in the hospital, was Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison). She loved both Dr. House and one of the diagnostic team members, Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer), that is, until she was written out of the show.

Secretive and bisexual Dr. Remy Hadley, aka Thirteen, (Olivia Wilde) joined the diagnostic team and was then diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. She is known to act out in self-destructive ways with drugs and one-nighters.

Columbia University graduate and John-Hopkins-trained Neurologist, Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps), spends his days hoping against hope that he will not turn into the second Dr. House, in terms of his personality. Sadly, sometimes it appears that he is losing the battle.

Rounding out the hospital gang is cosmetic surgeon Dr. Chris Taub (Peter Jacobson), who doesn’t hesitate to challenge Dr. House if needed. He otherwise explains who he is in the “Mirror Mirror” episode, when he matter of factly stated, “Some people pop pills. I cheat. We all have our vices.”

This interesting team of doctors has captured the audience with their personalities and brilliance, and the superb actors, writers and producers have seduced their peers, and rightly so,  into granting them numerous awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes.

Vampires are a major hit this year, and the CW’s Vampire Diaries, aka Twilight Lite, is a smashing fan sensation. The supernatural drama received powerful early ratings, which earned it a full 22-episode first season, and a People’s Choice award.

With a tagline of  “love sucks,” I assure you, in this series it really does. Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Jeremy Gilbert (Steven R. McQueen) are siblings who lost their parents in a tragic car accident while still in their teens.  They are taken in and raised by their aunt in the aptly-named town of Mystic Falls, Virginia. Bonnie Bennett (Katerina Graham) tries her best to be a strong tower of support for Elena, while Caroline Forbes (Candice Accola) hangs somewhere on the opposite end of the friendship spectrum, not quite an enemy, but not quite a friend.

No vampire story is complete without the push and pull of good versus evil. This age-old drama is played out in vampires Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) and his older brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder). Stefan has rejected the chaos and destruction of the vampire legacy and vows to be the protector of Elena and the townies, while Damon would like nothing better than to destroy them and their souls.

While all of that drama is taking place, Jeremy is running from the painful loss of his parents by using drugs and hanging out with undesirables, and Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino), has it in for the mysterious Stefan Salvatore. I wonder who wins that battle, and then ultimately the souls of Mystic Falls.

What makes her so special to me is the fact that she is the single original cast member on All My Children, that began in 1970, and also that she kept her cool after 18 failed Emmy nominations, for that role. The fact of the matter is that those losses actually made her more well known, as year after year the press would publish that the “Queen of Daytime Television” had no crown. Most of us root for the underdog, and Lucci was no exception. Lucci rose above the Emmy slights and finally won in 1999, making her friends and fans weep with joy.

Lucci is native to New York, and was born on December 23, 1946, to Jeanette and Victor Lucci.  After graduating from Marymount College, she married Helmut Huber and they became the parents of Andreas and Liza Huber (soaps fans may remember Liza as Gwen Hotchkiss from the soap opera Passions).

Lucci is not only a gorgeous actress, but can carry a tune. On top of her talents, she also has brains, and has used them to create a successful line of hair care products (Susan Lucci Collection) and a fragrance line that includes Susan Lucci Invitation and the light and airy LaLucci. As an entrepreneur, she continues to market jewelry, shoes, lingerie and accessories, yet she still has time to support Feed the Children, Little Flower Children & Family Services of New York, March of Dimes and The New York Cancer Project, to name just a few.

Lucci is intriguing for a number of reasons. First, her career as a nasty woman never overtook her true personality, and after forty years, that is an incredible feat. Second, her talent and perseverance are admirable, in spite of the past slights, even leading to her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Last of all, she has compassion for those who have less than she has, which allows us a glimpse into the heart of an icon.

But couldn’t they all be wrong? Vienna may just be misunderstood, and only Jake possesses the real insight into her true beauty and moral character. Don’t forget that Ali Fedotowsky, on “The Women Tell All” episode, apologized for the venom that she spewed all over Vienna.

But ultimately there were no surprises for me on the finale tonight, not only because I read the spoilers, but because I watched as the two were clinging together upside down, kissing in relief and disbelief, after bungee jumping together on their first date. I’m told that there is an incredible bonding experience when a couple suffers fear, survival and ultimate trust together, so in light of that, Jake’s choice was a no-brainer.

So the true surprise will come if the two marry and live happily ever after, but my gut says “let the bets begin.” How many months will go by until the couple realize that they are doomed to fail? How many days did it take Jake to realize his mistake? How long will it be until Vienna cheats on Jake, while he is busy flying the friendly skies? Make a bet and ante up.

Tune in for The Bachelorette in May, when we may have an update, and if you haven’t seen enough of Jake, you can catch him on the next season of Dancing With the Stars.

Lost is a Golden-Globe-winning drama about plane crash survivors who, for some mysterious reason, land on a freaky-deaky island that is either out to kill them or heal them, I’m still not sure which it is. The island is full of mysteries, the Dharma Initiative, and strange people called the Others, as well as an evil force disguised as black smoke. The show reminds me of a sinister Wizard of Oz, with its own “lions and tigers and bears, oh my.”

The “Losties” are not random either, and all of the survivors are connected in some way. Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) is a fugitive from the law, because she killed her mother’s abusive husband Wayne. Kate’s heart is torn between the psychologically-haunted surgeon Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) and the hunk of a con-man James Ford, aka Sawyer (Josh Holloway).

Miles Straume (Ken Leung) is a ghost whisperer who finds his Dharma Initiative father, Dr. Pierre Chang, on the island, and comes to the realization that he was actually born there. Ilana (Zuleikha Robinson) is a mysterious temptress who has a connection to the Island’s authority Jacob.  She seduced Iraqi Special Republican Guard Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews) in a bar and then attempted to kill him.

Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim) is the daughter of a Korean mob leader and the wife of one of his mobsters, Jin-Soo Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim). So many of these characters have been a party to brutality, but then we meet John Locke (Terry O’Quinn). He appears to be a strong-but-gentle spiritual soul, that is, until his dead body is overtaken by the smoke monster. Hugo “Hurley” Reyes (Jorge Garcia) is another gentle soul, but was tormented by the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42, and self doubt—that is until the final season, when he suddenly turned into the luckiest man alive.

Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin) is Jack’s half-sister, a fact that escaped him until meeting her on the island. And who knows who Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) is?  On the surface, it is clear that he is one of the cold-blooded villains on the series, who can make the inhumane  seem so humane (He also has diabolical eyes, if that is possible). Ben was once the leader of the Others and killed John Locke so that he could return to power once he found his way back to the island.

If you have never watched the show, much of what I’ve written seems ludicrous, but I promise, much of it makes perfect sense, or at least I hope it will by the end of this season.

Herbert Walton Gleason, Jr., aka John Herbert Gleason, was born into an alcoholic home in Brooklyn, New York, on February 26, 1916. His father left the family when Gleason was nine, and just six years after Gleason’s older brother Clement died. His humble beginnings led him to drop out of school and found him earning money as a pool hustler, carnival worker and boxer. At the age of 15, he decided that he was more interested in performing for an audience, and became a stand-up comic.

Loss came again to Gleason, when at the age of 19, his mother Mae Kelly Gleason died. Shortly after her funeral he married Genevieve Halford, a marriage which lasted 34 on-again-off-again years and produced two daughters. After divorcing in 1970, he had a short-lived marriage to Beverly McKittrick, and eventually made June Taylor’s sister Marilyn his third and final bride.

After paying his dues as a house comic at The Empire and various other outlets, and performing on Broadway, he made his way to Hollywood and was rewarded with a role in the television series The Life of Riley. That series eventually led to his big break as the host of the variety show, Cavalcade of Stars, and on to The Jackie Gleason Show and The Honeymooners.

What many people don’t realize is that Gleason was more than just a comedian. He acted in more than a handful of films, most notably The Hustler, as Minnesota Fats, and Smokey and the Bandit I, II, and III. He was also an accomplished musician who recorded 43 albums.

Sadly, in 1987, colon cancer took from us “The Great One,” as he was so aptly named by Orson Welles, after a night of drinking together.

O’Donnell was born in New York, on March 21, 1962, to Roseann and Edward Joseph O’Donnell, and has four siblings. Tragedy struck the family when her mother died of breast cancer, and was buried on O’Donnell’s 11th birthday. Despite the loss of her beloved mother, O’Donnell went on to become a popular cut-up in high school, who was serious long enough to be elected as the senior class president.

O’Donnell was a college drop-out who, in 1984, made the big time on Star Search as a comedian. Her discovery, by Ed McMahon’s daughter, and her success in the competition, led her to Los Angeles, the city of the stars. Just two years later, she debuted on television in a supporting role on Gimme a Break. A movie career followed a few years later, with a lead-off role as a 1940s baseball player in A League of Their Own.

On a more personal note, O’Donnell adopted son, Parker Jaren in 1995, and with a desire to spend more time with her child, she persuaded Warner Bros. to let her host and executive produce a variety show named after herself. She not only was a success, but in 2002, she also trumped Oprah Winfrey in Emmy wins when she won her sixth successive Emmy as outstanding talk show host.

In 1997, Chelsea Belle was added to the family and O’Donnell began to quietly date Kelli Carpenter, a marketing executive. The two adopted son Blake Christopher just a few years after beginning their relationship, but did not publicly come out of the closet until 2002. Shortly before Carpenter delivered daughter Vivienne Rose,  O’Donnell revealed the truth of her sexuality to Diane Sawyer in an interview. The couple married in California in 2004, but by 2007, the relationship had crumbled, although the rumors were not confirmed until two years later.

In 2006, O’Donnell returned to daytime television when she replaced Meredith Viera on The View. Her hostile behavior with her co-hosts lead to her quick demise as “one of the girls,” but left her with enough time on her hands to write her memoir Celebrity Detox.

O’Donnell has already jumped back into dating and is currently involved with Open Arms Campaign activist and mother of six, Tracy Kachtick-Anders. Her latest work is the HBO documentary, A Family Is A Family Is A Family: A Rosie O’Donnell Celebration.