TV

• CHUCK BARNEY: Here's hoping MTV can help make newspapers cool again

  God bless Amanda Lorber, a senior at Cypress Bay High School in Weston, Fla., who says "Journalists are the most important part of the world."

• Study of 'Daily Show': It's a lot like O'Reilly

  A journalism think tank studying "The Daily Show" doesn't believe many people get their news from Jon Stewart - because otherwise they wouldn't get the jokes.

• A mother and child reunion for TV actors in mom's day salute

  Not every one of these Mother's Day celebrants is really a mom - but they play one on TV.

• Jeff Probst: Surviving 16 seasons of `Survivor'

  After all this time, you don't associate Jeff Probst with traffic gridlock, yowling sirens, or office towers crowding the sky.

• `American Idol' boots another finalist; 3 singers remain

  Simon Cowell once told Jason Castro that his face would save him from elimination. Not this time. The dreadlocked heartthrob was voted off "American Idol" Wednesday as the show narrowed the competition to three finalists: David Cook, David Archuleta and Syesha Mercado.

• NBA playoff matchup No. 1 on cable for April 28-May 4

  Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of April 28-May 4. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:

• They forgot to end the war?

  Q: The Civil War films Gettysburg and Gods and Generals from Turner Entertainment were to have a third part, The Last Full Measure. What became of it? I heard battle scenes were filmed at the same time as the filming of Gods and Generals, but that was quite awhile back.

• Yet another `American Idol' hopeful flubs lyrics to a song

  "American Idol" hopeful Jason Castro became at least the third contestant this season to flub lyrics to a song.

• `Dancing With the Stars' eliminates another celebrity

  It was the 100th episode of "Dancing With the Stars" - but the last for Mario.

• RICK KUSHMAN: Wake up! The fall TV lineup is being announced

  Starting next week, the broadcast networks will announce their fall season lineups, and can't you just feel the excitement? Me, I'm all tingly.

• Cablevision buys Sundance Channel for almost $500M

  Cablevision Systems Corp. is buying the Sundance Channel, a cable network founded by Robert Redford, for $496 million, the New York-area cable TV company announced Wednesday.

• Young audience abandoning 'Idol'

  The fevered response to the latest loopy Paula Abdul episode, where she judged a phantom performance, just goes to show how American Idol continues to dominate television in its seventh season. Yet while Idol is still a hit, it's no longer necessarily hip.

• Pop culture Q&A: Civil War film series falls short of trilogy

  Q: The Civil War films "Gettysburg" and "Gods and Generals" from Turner Entertainment were to have a third part, "The Last Full Measure." What became of it? I heard battle scenes were filmed at the same time as the filming of "Gods and Generals;" that was quite awhile back.

• Cristian de la Fuente is a one-armed `Dancing' bandit

  It may always take two to tango, but it apparently only takes one arm to tango and mambo.

• Several big network shows hit low marks in the ratings

  The May "sweeps" is precisely the wrong time to hit low marks in the ratings. But several big shows did last week.

• Sue Johanson ending `Talk Sex' on Oxygen after six seasons

  Sunday night is getting less steamy.

• Clinton jokes about her top 10 reasons for loving America

  Crisp bacon, TiVo and round-the-clock Internet service are just a few of the reasons why Hillary Rodham Clinton loves America.

• TELEVISION

  'Medium' star gives spirited performance

  ''Sweet dreams'' is an alien notion to Allison DuBois. As viewers of the NBC drama Medium know, she rarely gets a night of undisturbed sleep. And when she wakes up with a gasp -- another nightmarish warning of someone's death -- she isn't alone.

• TCM pays tribute to Frank Sinatra through the month of May

  It will be 10 years on May 14 since Frank Sinatra closed his ol' blue eyes for the last time. The singer who started as the swoon king to bobby soxers of the '40s became the legendary entertainer with more than 70 movies and hundreds of evergreen songs to his credit.