George Clooney learned a lot about television toiling away on The Facts of Life and E/R. The latter wasn't NBC medical drama that made him a star. I'm talking about the 1984 Elliott Gould sitcom on CBS that lasted a year, just 22 episodes.

But the point is this: he may be a major movie star today, but George knows and appreciates television. That could be why George Clooney's behind Delta Blues, a cop drama that TNT has just picked up.

I use the term drama loosely, because it's something goofier than a straight drama. The lead character is an Elvis Presley impersonator when he's not working for the Memphis Police Department. One more thing: Like Elvis, he honors his mother... and lives with her. Does that make him a mama's boy? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

If you're a fan of '70s and '80s TV, you've probably been having a bunch of a "wha the?" moments over the last year or so. When this particular little white-haired older lady shows up on a show, she doesn't look familiar, but then you hear the matronly but deep voice, and you realize who you've just seen on your screen.

It's Mrs. Garrett! Only by the time you realize it, she's gone, leaving you to wonder if you were imagining things.

Don't worry; you're not going insane. We've been seeing a lot of Charlotte Rae, who played Edna Garrett on Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life, on TV lately, mostly playing tiny roles that involve maybe a few lines at the most. In fact, just last night, she played a suspect's mother on an episode of Life.

This is a really clever idea.

Betamaxmas takes a bunch of Christmas specials and episodes of TV shows that you can find on YouTube and puts them on one site, inside an old-fashioned television. You can even change the channels and adjust the volume on an old remote control.

Beverly Hills, 90210 ... 21 Jump Street ... The Facts of Life ... see where they rank on our list.

The bad news? Summer's almost over and it's nearly time for school again.

The good news? We've got just the thing to ease you into back-to-school mode: Our countdown of TV's 21 best school shows ever.

So sharpen your No. 2 pencil and dive in to see which series just make the grade and which ones are at the top of the class.

Whatever happened to Tootie, Blair, Natalie and the other Eastland girls?

Quick -- how many '80s sitcoms can you name that featured three future Oscar winners amongst their cast and crew?

We're not talking about 'Charles in Charge;' it's 'The Facts of Life,' the 1979-1988 boarding school comedy that gave us wise-crackin' teens, a roller-skatin' Tootie and that trio of Oscar-caliber talent.

Who were those Academy Award-worthy 'Life'-ers? Read on.

To some people, George Clooney's affable good nature and sincerity comes off as smug over-confidence. I fall into the former rather than the latter category.

I think George is ambitious and grateful to be working in the business. I think he remembers the years of struggling to become a star -- those years on The Facts of Life and Riptide and E/R (the Elliott Gould sitcom, not the Emmy award-winning NBC medical drama).

Failures like Leatherheads have to keep him humble. Anyway, his efforts to expand as an actor and director and producer strike me as someone who is wisely not resting on his laurels. That said, today it was reported that Clooney's production company, Smoke House, is behind a new pilot for Showtime called The Fall of Bob.

Miley Cyrus is doing mea culpas all over the news about the racy photo shoot in Vanity Fair, basically saying she's embarrassed, but blaming Annie Leibovitz for the pictures. Umm, Miley, you were there. You could have said, "Oh, no, I won't do photos like that cause I'm a Disney girl and Hannah Montana can't do that, get it?" Whatever. Her story is getting press, but it's another Disney Channel star, Brenda Song, who's filed a lawsuit. She really has a reason to gripe.

Brenda Song, who co-stars on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody as London Tipton -- sort of a Blair Warner for today's teens (and if you don't know Blair Warner, you never watched The Facts of Life), has filed a lawsuit with a company that used her image in an escort service print ad that appeared in L.A. Weekly.