Taylor Takes Title; Season Schedules

May 2006 TV News

Hicks is victorious: chalk up another American Idol win for Southern singers. Taylor Hicks, famous for his soulful singing, exuberant dancing and (according to some) horrendous outfits, beat out L.A.'s Katharine McPhee to win this year's competition. According to host Ryan Seacrest, over 63 million votes were cast for the finale, "more than any president in the history of our country has received." Hicks in 2008, anyone?

Primetime programs: American Idol isn't the only show with talent. In mid-May, the networks announced their 2006-2007 primetime schedules, which read like a Who's Who of directors/executive producers (Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Aaron Sorkin, Kevin Williamson) and actors (John Lithgow, Ted Danson, James Woods, Jeff Goldblum, Dana Delany). Not all of these shows will succeed (with 40 new series, it's statistically impossible), but the star power gives most of them a fighting chance.

Network overviews: ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox, NBC

Cooper chips in: CBS hopes that some of Anderson Cooper's cachet rubs off on 60 Minutes. Starting next season, the CNN anchor will contribute up to five reports a year to the Sunday news magazine. In exchange, CNN will get the rights to rebroadcast his reports on Anderson Cooper 360.

FCC denies appeal: In other CBS news, the Federal Communications Commission rejected the network's second appeal of its $550,000 fine for Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. CBS executives, who disagree with the commission's application of federal indecency standards, haven't said yet whether they'll turn to the courts.

The mobsters' method?: John Ventimiglia (drunken driving, drug possession) and Louis Gross (criminal mischief) were the latest Sopranos cast members to get into trouble with the law. Ventimiglia was remorseful, but Gross expressed sentiments more in keeping with the HBO show: "I don't know nothing ... I'm innocent. I'm always innocent." The jury's still out on that one.

In memoriam: Robert Sterling, veteran character actor for film and TV, passed away of natural causes on May 30. And in Iraq, CBS crewmen Paul Douglas and James Brolan were killed by a roadside bomb, which also left correspondent Kimberly Dozier in critical condition.

-- A. Wu