by Michael Lever, director of affiliate relations

Must See TV is Back!

Well, for sure at least a half hour of it. Do not miss the hilarious NBC show (yeah, it's the company I work for, but tough tookie....it's a great.) "30 ROCK", written by and starring one of television's funniest ladies, Miss Tina Fey. (Hollah Philly girl!) It's a comical take on the goings on at an "SNL" -esque show and the wacky characters that inhabit the halls at NBC's East Coast headquarters.

Alec Baldwin is so smart and sharp you could julienne fries with every line reading. The rest of the ensemble is great too and make for 30 minutes (well, 23 sans commercials) of silly fun. I just love it when a TV show sets out and succeeds in being FUNNYsimply for the sake of comedy. No intricate premise, no artsy film noir look, no overt and inappropriate drama thrown in. ("Tonight on a very special episode of 'Blossom'"...run screaming from the room!)

So, it's been a busy weekend for me. First, I jetted up to Las Vegas where Paula Abdul was being honored by the Nevada Ballet company as their Woman of The Year. Then I jetted back to LA for the SAG awards. Then it was back to Vegas where I was the exclusive reporter backstage at the Miss America Pageant.

Poor Paula has been put through the ringer these past couple of weeks. So, I asked her if considering the hits she has been taking recently in the press, if this honor held special meaning for her, "It is nice to be honored and the hits are absolutely ridiculous."

And I'm really happy that my co-worker Simon Cowell took most of them blame for them and fessed up and said 'this is getting ridiculous"

T.R. Knight, who plays Dr. George O'Malley on "Grey's Anatomy," is not hanging up his scrubs.

Despite the wildfire on the Web, sparked by an MSNBC.com post, claiming he's quitting the hit drama, Knight is going nowhere.

According to the MSNBC.com story, after Isaiah Washington's homophobic comment on the set -- and later denial -- Knight became "'so upset about the situation and so disgusted by how it was all handled,' that he's planning to leave the show, says a source."

We are heading into Week Three of American Idol. As the auditions roll on into Birmingham, Alabama and San Antonio, TX now it's time to check in with the contestants from Season Two.

By far this has been the hardest group to track down. While many of them have had great success, others have had troubles with the law.

Ruben Studdard - The Velvet Teddy Bear, as he was referred to on the show, took some time out of his busy schedule to actually drop by Season Six's Birmingham auditions last September. He surprised a huge slew of auditioners and then took us on a tour of his favorite hotspots around town. Ruben spent the back half of 2006 promoting his third album, "The Return." While his first album after Idol, "Soulful", went Platinum and sold over 1.7 million copies, "The Return" did not sell as well with less than 200,000 copies so far.

by Scott Mantz, film critic

I'm still up at Sundance, but I just had to weigh in on an issue that's been bugging me for days.

By now, everyone who reads the trades has heard of the controversial movie "Hounddog," starring 12-year-old Dakota Fanning as a poverty-stricken southern girl who is raped by a teenage boy. Most of the articles I've read state that the rape scene was "tastefully done."

Pardon me, but when was the last time you ever heard the word "tasteful" used to describe a rape scene? Sorry, but there's nothing tasteful about it, whether the woman in question being raped is 8 or 80.

But that's beside the point, since the rape scene is tame compared to the fact that "Hounddog" is quite simply one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

I can't stop walking around the offices here today singing "Gloria, Gloria" in a thick New York accent. That's the desired effect I imagine 26- year-old Ian Benardo was going for when he auditioned for American Idol.

Actually, the whole thing started yesterday because I had seen a preview clip of Ian's segment, which we then used on Thursday's night show to promote that nights American Idol episode.

The producers must have known they had a gem because Ian was the first auditioner out of the gate last night. Within minutes of his segment airing we were on the phone tracking Ian down. Thinking he might be a bit flaky we decided to send a car service for him asking that he to not speak to any other TV shows tomorrow. Yeah right.

Seconds after he finished our interview another TV show was right there waiting for him. Can you blame the kid? He just wants to milk his 15 minutes of fame like anyone else.

by Kim Anastasia, Director

Wayne, our A2, is retiring from NBC and from Access. Here is a lo-res camera grab of him with his "Good Luck" fruit tart cake. We gave it to him prematurely, as he is still wading through the paperwork required to depart, and he will be here for a while, but no matter. It gives us an opportunity to give him more cakes as his real departure date approaches. I’m all for more cake!

Wayne has been an A2 (audio assistant) on our show for many years, and he has many talents and abilities beyond that. He's worked on a number of shows during his over 30 years in the business. I just want to take a moment to thank him for all he has contributed to Access, and also for being such a good sport. He's born the brunt of a few jokes over the years!

Getting back to food, today we had a first at Access. We've done many shoots on our stage and in the field - from music to fashion to penguins to romps in the Italian Alps to Greece/"Grease", but today we had our first cooking segment! Cooking at Access you say? Yup! Cooking at Access!

by Scott Mantz

There was a lot of back-and-forth as to whether or not Lindsay Lohan would take time off from rehab to promote "Chapter 27" at Sundance, but there's no reason for her to be here in the first place. She has a very small role, and no one would have asked her about it anyway.

I saw the movie last night. Lindsay has a small role, she's only in it for about 20 minutes. Jared Leto is in every scene, and he put on a LOT of weight.

Honestly, I don't know who this movie is for. It's not very good. Jared obviously put a lot into his role (he's also listed as Executive Producer), but it's a one-note performance.

by John Murphy

I recently shot a set visit on the film stage of "Law & Order: SVU." While shooting b-roll, I could see that both Mariska Hargitay and Kim Delaney were in happy places.

Mariska especially beamed because of her newborn son, August. Kim, perhaps, showed movement from her personal tribulations finding solace in her work. Both were smiling on set and joked often with the crew.

Mariska had a jovial moment with the crew about her recent, “Got Milk” campaign, which she truly endorses. One could see how she also enjoys working with the SVU crew as she genuinely asked a crew member about how a vacation went. Between “takes” Kim gave my camera many smiles and at one point gave the Access Hollywood audience a quick wave.

Is it us or have John Mayer’s groupies gotten hot lately?

On closer inspection – whoops! That’s no groupie, it’s Jessica Simpson whose boots apparently, were made for touring.

Photo: Splash

After denying a relationship last year, the two have been spotted getting super cozy (remember those pics from New Year’s?) of late – here they are leaving an intimate dinner Monday night at Nobu in Miami.

Photo: Splash

Apparently their “special” friendship has grown so much, Jessica is forgoing her usual pop star perks and jumping on the tour bus of an adult alternative star.

No word yet if their on-board plans include swapping hair tips.

Photo: Splash