He helped E.T. phone home, and now former child actor Henry Thomas will be appearing on CSI as a convicted murderer that is serving a prison sentence. You keep hearing about child stars who go bad, but judging by his IMDB profile, Thomas has managed to keep out of trouble and keep working.

I'm glad Thomas had a more normal childhood than his movie co-star Drew Barrymore. Of course, Drew ended up becoming a bigger name in show biz, but the business is fickle and this appearance could set Thomas into more visible roles. Wouldn't that be a hoot if Thomas and Barrymore appeared once more together in a television show or movie (besides reunion shows)? If he's not done raping the stuff he made 20 years ago, perhaps Spielberg could do a sequel to E.T.

On second thought, that's a really bad idea. Let's leave the past in the past.

If you're over 30, you may remember the halcyon days of Studio 54 when, in the late 70s and early 80s, you couldn't snort a line in the ladies room without tripping over a wasted Drew Barrymore and a gaggle of those Annie orphans. Those Broadway babies were the toast of the town back in the day, and a new Showtime documentary - Life After Tomorrow - tracks down those former orphans to find out what happened to their showbiz aspirations. The most famous member of the cast - Sarah Jessica Parker - is on hand for the reminiscences, but so are the 39 other girls that didn't live the dream after their Annie success had come and gone.

The documentary promises some real ugly - eight shows a week, cat-fighting stage moms, salacious stagehands and a Menudo-style dismissal when puberty set-in. There's no business like show business when it comes to robbing childhoods and crushing dreams. Have your children watch this cautionary tale beginning on December 24th.

MediaBistro is reporting that E! True Hollywood Story may be going the way of a drug-addled former child star -- down the slow slide into oblivion.

E! is cutting 15 staff jobs and paring down the program -- having ordered only 21 episodes, less than half the typical order, for the year. I, of course, didn't realize that there were more than 50 original episodes of the show ordered every year. For some reason, I only catch the Blossom one.

While no one likes to see anyone lose their job, I'm sure E! will find a new way to edit together clips of pop culture detritus for our consumption.

This poll is from Stuff Magazine, which I read for the numerous pics of half naked or naked women posing on a bed or jumping around the surf investigative journalism. The mag polled readers about which former child star they'd like to punch in the face. The results:

Danny  Bonaduce - 38%
Corey Feldman - 38%
Dustin Diamond (Screech, Saved By The Bell) - 15%
Ron Howard - 9%

OK, I can understand some of those, but Opie? Opie?!