American Idol: Ellen DeGeneres Out with Jennifer Lopez Latest Possible Simon Cowell Replacement

Each day seems to have someone new being the Simon Cowell replacement on American Idol.

Yesterday the replacement was rumored to be Jessica Simpson. That seemed ridiculous. Before Jessica, Justin Timberlake was the supposed replacement. Timberlake made more sense than Simpson.

Today's rumored Simon Cowell replacement is Jennifer Lopez. Ms. Lopez has long had a reputation for being difficult, so maybe she'd be an entertaining judge.

Yesterday when I blogged about the bizarre Jessica Simpson rumor I mentioned that I thought Ellen DeGeneres had grown increasingly tiresome as last season's American Idol drug to its lackluster conclusion.

And now today the big American Idol news is that Ellen DeGeneres is out, having told the American Idol producers that she did not think she was a good fit for the show. I'd agree with that.

But Jennifer Lopez? Why don't the American Idol producers dangle the same big bucks they were giving to Simon Cowell in front of Harry Connick, Jr. and hope it entices him to replace Simon Cowell.

Supposedly Kara DioGuardi has not yet been signed for the coming season of American Idol. Good. Give her the boot too and bring back Paula Abdul.

Harry Connick, Jr., Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson might just be the mix that stops American Idol's ratings slide.

Then again, once a show Jumps the Shark and starts to slide, usually nothing reverses the inevitable slippage to eventual cancellation day.

Survivor Nicaragua: Young vs. Old or Kids vs. Geezers

The upcoming twenty-first season of Survivor, taking place in Nicaragua, is another Survivor with a gimmick.

This time there will be a young tribe of kids under 40 called the La Flor Tribe. The kids will be battling against the over 40 geriatrics in the Espada Tribe.

The Battle of the Generation Gap starts up at 8 Eastern/7 Central Time, Wednesday, September 15, which puts Survivor back in the time slot it occupied back in summer of 2000 for Survivor: Borneo.

Due to what Survivor producers call "The Russell Factor" Hidden Immunity Idols are going to be made more difficult for the kids and old folks to find.

Among the old Survivors will be a former coach of the Dallas Cowboys named Jimmy Johnson.

Is Jessica Simpson Replacing Simon Cowell on American Idol?

I thought it a ridiculous concept when I read this morning that Jessica Simpson is rumored to be the replacement for Simon Cowell on American Idol.

I like Jessica Simpson. She can be funny. Often not on purpose.

But, if American Idol has not already Jumped the Shark. And I think it has. Adding Jessica Simpson will surely be the final Jump of the Shark for this particular show.

Jessica Simpson would be like the anti-Simon Cowell. Where he was mean, snippy and, well, brutally honest, Jessica Simpson is just a sweet-natured nice Texas girl.

So, you'd have Jessica sitting next to the ever more annoying Kara DioGuardi, sitting next to the ever less amusing, borderline tiresome Ellen DeGeneres, sitting next to the only original left, Randy Jackson.

I just can't picture it. But, I guess I'd want to tune in, just to watch the absurdity of it.

Nielsen Rating's Top 20 for July 19 - July 25

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for July 19 - July 25. The first number is the ranking, the second number is the season average, then the show name and network. The last number represents the number of viewers in millions. An asterisk * indicates a tie.

NBC's America's Got Talent #1, three CBS Big Brother episodes in Top 20, ABC's The Bachelorette #2, FOX's Hell's Kitchen #13.

Rank	Show name	Network	Viewers in millions	Season-to-date average (in millions)
1.	America's Got Talent	NBC	10.5	12.2
2.	The Bachelorette	ABC	10.1	9.6
3.	America's Got Talent	NBC	10.0	12.3
4	NCIS	CBS	9.8	17.3
5.	Wipeout	Tues., ABC	8.3	9.2
6.	Wipeout	Thurs., ABC	7.9	8.6
7.	60 Minutes	CBS	7.8	12.4
*	The Big Bang Theory	CBS	7.8	13.6
9.	Two and a Half Men	CBS	7.7	13.9
10.	The Mentalist	CBS	7.3	15.0
11.	Big Brother	Sun., CBS	7.2	7.3
12.	NCIS: Los Angeles	CBS	7.1	14.5
13.	Hell's Kitchen	Fox	7.0	7.6
14.	Big Brother	Thurs., CBS	6.7	7.3
*	Criminal Minds	CBS	6.7	12.6
16.	CSI	CBS	6.6	13.8
17.	Big Brother	Wed., CBS	6.5	7.2
*	Rookie Blue	ABC	6.5	7.2
19.	20/20	ABC	6.2	6.2
*	Minute to Win It	NBC	6.2	5.5

The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All Tonight

I believe tonight is the infamous Men Tell All episode of The Bachelorette.

This is when all the rejects, or those who had to leave due to having girl friends, like Canadian Justin, and Frank, show up to discuss the important issues regarding their failed romance with the current Bachelorette, the lush who goes by the name of Ali Fedotowsky.

I am sure the show's producers will make sure cocktails are flowing freely so the boys get into free-spirited feisty mode.

I'm also sure much fun will be made of that goofy weatherman guy out of Houston, who's name I forget, and that pathetic "guard Ali's heart" guy. I think his name was Casey.

I've read that neither Justin or Frank show up to tell all. I've also read that they do show up, due to being contractually obligated to do so. Justin getting grilled would be the amusing one. Frank, not so much.

I'm assuming Ali will get liquored up and make an appearance, slur some words, be obtuse about next week's most dramatic ending in the history of the show. And then be gone.

I'll likely be watching. If I remember, with the DVR giving me a headstart so I can make liberal use of the fast forward button.

Top Chef D.C.: Cold War Sends Tamesha Packing Her Knives

This week's episode of Top Chef ended the cooking for Tamesha Warren after she made badly cooked cold scallops and covered them with hot peppers and a rhubarb based liquid, all of which sort of made the eaters gag.

The Quickfire Challenge was interesting. Chefs chose from exotic proteins, like rattlesnake, gator, duck testicles (or was it some other critter's testicles, with it being the tongues of ducks? I don't remember), llama and ostrich loins, emu egg and other delectables.

Knives were drawn to determine the order of picking the exotic protein. Then the cooking began. Then Padma arrived to throw a twist, shift to cooking the protein of the chef to your right. Or was it left?

This put Kelly Liken on the emu egg, which she turned into an omelet, which celebrity guest judge, Michelle Bernstein, determined was the winner.

Then, with Kelly having immunity, it was off to the Cold War Challenge. Chefs drew knives again, a 1 or a 2, that divided them into two teams. Each team would judge the other's dishes, picking one as the best, one as the worst. With Kelly, having immunity, sitting on the judging side with both teams.

Then it was off to the Presidential yacht, Sequoia to plot strategy. I mean work on their dish. I'm not quite sure why this required floating on the Potomac. Angelo was seeming a bit bizarre, giving advice to others about what they should be cooking. It was not a team challenge. This was offputting to others, like Kevin, who thought all should just concern themselves with their own dishes.

Then it was off to Whole Foods, then back to the kitchen. I think the final prep and serving the dishes took place in a Hilton, but I'm not sure.

The first team presented their dishes to the team over which Angelo acted like leader. Pseudo-girl friend Tamesha Warren was also on Angelo's team. They were all quite hard on their peer's food. Apparently justifiably so, judging by the comments and bloggings of the real judges.

The first group picked Kenny Gilbert's as the worst and Kevin Sbraga as the best. The second group was not as hard with the critiquing. After sampling the plates, Tamesha's was unanimously judged the worst, with Kevin's being the best.

The real judges concurred on the Kevin judgment and gave him the win. Plus a trip to Hawaii. The judges also concurred about Tamesha's disaster dish and sent her to pack her knives and leave.

Top Chef seems to be being a bit more imaginative with the challenges and twists. Very entertaining. That and this episode I learned one can make hummus from dried peas. I love educational TV.

Nielsen Rating's Top 20 for July 12 - July 18

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for July 12- July 18. The first number is the ranking, the second number is the season average, then the show name and network. The last number represents the number of viewers in millions. An asterisk * indicates a tie.

Rank	Show name	Network	Viewers in millions	Season-to-date average (in millions)
1.	All-Star Game	Fox	12.1	--
2.	America's Got Talent (Tues.)	NBC	11.6	12.3
3.	America's Got Talent (Wed.)	NBC	11.4	12.5
4	NCIS	CBS	10.2	17.5
5.	The Bachelorette	ABC	9.6	9.5
6.	All-Star Pregame Show	Fox	9.2	--
7.	NCIS: Los Angeles	CBS	8.2	14.6
8.	60 Minutes	CBS	7.8	12.5
*	The Big Bang Theory	CBS	7.8	13.7
*	Two and a Half Men	CBS	7.8	14.0
*	Wipeout (Thurs.)	ABC	7.8	8.6
*	Wipeout (Tues.)	ABC	7.8	9.1
13.	The Mentalist	CBS	7.5	15.2
14.	Big Brother (Thurs.)	CBS	7.1	7.2
15.	20/20	ABC	6.9	6.2
*	Big Brother (Sun.)	CBS	6.9	7.0
17.	CSI	CBS	6.7	14.0
*	Minute to Win It	NBC	6.7	5.4
19.	CSI: Miami	CBS	6.5	12.1
20.	Big Brother (Wed.)	CBS	6.4	6.4
*	Rookie Blue	ABC	6.4	7.1

Hell's Kitchen: Ed & Jason Sent Home While Holli & Jay Romance

Ed Battaglia got sent home in the first hour of Tuesday's night's Hell's Kitchen. Ed got overwhelmed by seafood.

Prior to Ed having seafood woes, Ben Knack won the reward challenge by making the most attractive and tasty dish, which earned him a much needed makeover and being on the cover of a magazine, the name of which I don't remember.

Ben did look marginally better with a new haircut and his eyebrows plucked. Unfortunately the makeover did not include a personality adjustment.

In the second hour Holli won the reward by making the highest valued dish from $10 bucks of ingredients, with the dish value judged by 3, apparently, well known restaurateurs.

Holli's reward was going to a restaurant with Jean Phillipe, with $1,000 to spend at a cooking supply store. Holli also got to take along one other chef.

Holli chose Jay. Also known as Blue Jay. Due to his disturbing blue hair.

Holli Ugalde is a very attractive 24 year old. With a tramp stamp on her back, losing major beauty points with me. Jay Santos is 33. Almost 10 years older than Holli. Holli is quite good-looking. Jay, is well, not quite good-looking. And a bit of a chunk.

During lunch, with Jean-Phillipe, there was some double-entendre-ing going on. Flirting between Holli and Jay. At one point Jean-Phillipe inquired about getting a room for the lovebirds.

Later, back at Hell's Kitchen, in the dorm, Holli and Jay get in the hot tub. It was getting quite, well, uh, adult, when Autumn showed up and, well, ruined the mood. I think this is when I saw Holli's tramp stamp. It seemed a very appropriate stamp at the time.

The previews for next week seem to indicate there will be some romance drama regarding Holli and Jay which sends Gordon Ramsay into one of his furies. That should be amusing and entertaining.

I forgot to mention. Jason Ellis was the second boot of the night. He did seem to be at a point where he had reached the limit of his talent. I liked Jason, he grew on me. Ramsay was quite nice to him after booting him, very encouraging. And Jason was quite articulate and good-natured about reaching the end of his Hell's Kitchen road.

Tom Cruise Considering a Reality TV Show?

You're looking at the infamous iconic image of Tom Cruise Jumping the Couch on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

It is widely believed it was at this point that the dimming of the Tom Cruise star began.

Made even dimmer by subsequent displays of disturbing behavior.

Tom Cruise has made attempts to fix his damaged reputation, without a lot of luck.

I think the only route to recovery for Tom Cruise would be to finally wise up and get out of the Scientology Cult.

But, in the news today I see that Tom Cruise is considering a different tactic to re-connect with his once adoring public. That being a Reality TV Show showing Tom's private life with wife, Katie Holmes and baby, Suri.

Apparently Tom Cruise has been shooting a lot of footage of his private life at home with the wife and kid.

Unless Tom Cruise has gotten some sort of good judgment transplant that now has him realizing how he comes across when he is in real person mode, well, I'm thinking this is not a great plan for Tom.

I'm guessing it would be a trainwreck, with Tom Cruise not realizing he's making matters worse. Just like Britney Spears with her extremely embarrassing Reality TV Show, shot with then husband to be, now ex-husband, Kevin Federline.

And then there was Paula Abdul's Hey Paula Reality TV Show. Major, major trainwreck. Paula seems to have survived her Reality TV Show trainwreck better than Britney Spears Reality TV Show trainwreck, which seemed to be the start of Britney's spiral into, well, madness.

So, it is going to be interesting to see if Tom Cruise goes ahead with sharing his home movies. I suspect someone in his orbit will caution him that this is not a good idea.

Below is an amusing version of Tom Cruise's infamous Oprah Winfrey performance on her couch....