I hate to start off on a rant, but I just can't wait until after the jump. Seriously, why is 90210 2.0 going to get rid of Dustin Milligan, who plays Ethan? He's one of the few characters on that show I can even tolerate. The pentapus? Kinda cute. The fact that they think he's run his course is stupid. Really? Just hook him up with a new girl. I always thought he was supposed to be the Dylan in this scenario. Which means he's got a couple more seasons of life in him yet. Instead, the powers that be are trying to find ways to make watching this show an even more painful experience than it already is (it is my job to watch it... I would have stopped long ago if I could have). Since this apparently means more screen time for the dude playing Liam, and not a promotion for the awesomely underrated Navid, I'm not happy. Okay, now on to the rest of your regularly scheduled, and less rant-filled, news.

The man had one of the most dangerous jobs in America, and he wanted to be on American Idol? What does he have, a death wish? Former oil rigger Michael Sarver got voted off last week after singing "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," and while he won't be returning to the drilling platform any time soon, he did take some time to do a conference call with inquiring journalists who wanted to talk about Simon Cowell's damning comment the night before his elimination. Plus: Michael's basketball diaries, starring Anoop-dog.

It's spring and upfronts are on the way, which means that it's time for the networks to decide which shows they want to keep and which get cut. Chuck falls into the "bubble" show category -- series that do passably well, but haven't gotten a pick-up for next year yet, meaning that the outlook is uncertain. Which is a shame, especially since it's NBC, a network that will have five less hours of primetime programming available next year (given that it decided to give Jay Leno that plum 10 PM spot), so finding space for its existing slate of shows, as well as new pilots in the works, is going to be difficult. We're concerned for Chuck's chances, but we've got all our fingers crossed, hoping that it will work out. Here's why.

In the Motherhood orphaned?

Ben-Hur born again? The Mentalist challenged? American Inventor re-invented? These news stories and more on today's TWoP News, filmed before a live studio audience, with special guest-star Mary Steenburgen.

TGIF, TV fans! Not too much to report today, except that Dancing with Stars is without question the most dangerous show on television. Seriously, does a day go by that we don't have to update you some horrible-sounding injury or almost-tragedy befalling one of the contestants? If I were a fake celebrity and ABC asked me to be on that show, I would 1.) try to figure out who in my life wanted me dead and 2.) move to Antarctica, where the only stars that dance are actually in the sky during the aurora australis. It would be cold, but my Achilles tendons would be safer than they've ever been.

Dear American Idol producers,

I appreciate you trying to switch things up this season by adding in the judges' power of veto and all. It was exactly the thing you needed to do to get me to suffer through the needlessly long results show, which I only ever watched two minutes a week in seasons prior. (Although I do feel like I distinctly remember "shorter results shows" being part of the promised shake-ups this season.) But since I've already been conned into watching this hour, can you at least make it less painful? Seriously. And end it on time?

It's pilot season, which means there's a lot of buzz about people we like getting cast in shows that may or may not ever make it to air. The studios are busy ordering pilots to see if they'll fly, and then selecting a rare few to actually make it to their lineups. But we're hopeful that a few of these shows get picked up, mostly because they feature some of our favorite stars, so they stand out from the sea of medical, legal and cop pilots out there. Here are the ones we'd most like to see hitting the airwaves next fall (or even winter).

The In the Motherhood premiere just made me sad, everybody. Why get some of the best comedic talent on television together just to make something so inoffensive and mediocre? It's such a waste of everything. Cheryl Hines, Jessica St. Clair, Megan Mullally, Ken Marino, Rachael Harris, skinny Horatio Sanz and Kenny Powers' best friend/the nudie cokehead from Reno 911! are all so good it almost made up for the largely flat jokes (to be fair, there were one or two jokes that did work, but the rest weren't even awful, they were just meh, which is almost worse) and contrived, unoriginal situations (getting caught having sex at work, getting caught faking a pregnancy, how to tell the kids -- spoiler alert, six-year-olds reading this! -- Santa's not real -- such groaners), but I don't think even they make it worth watching a second episode of this.

It's a mixed bag today in the land of TV news -- we've got something disturbing (especially if you're Shawn Johnson), something completely obvious (if you've ever watched American Idol), something hilarious/nauseating (depending on how you feel about Padma Lakshmi dripping Thickburger onto herself), and a whole hell of a lot of Isaiah Washington. Because why not?

Surprisingly, even though Idol wasn't on last night, there's a heck of a lot of talk about it today. Not that any of it amounts to much of anything, but hey, it's a slow news day (again), and I'll take what I can get. If that means random Idol speculation from Simon Cowell, so be it. Also, there's some news on that Gossip Girl spinoff that's making this TV nerd pretty happy.