With a special two-hour episode tonight, 'American Idol' (Wed., 8PM ET on FOX) took a little extra time to talk to some of the finalist's families out in the audience. Particular attention was paid to the youngest contestants and their parents.

After Scotty McCreery got rave reviews for tackling Kenny Rogers' 'She Believes in Me,' Ryan Seacrest threw it out to his dad in the audience to get a handle on what it's like as the father of a teenage boy to see your son competing at this level.

"Words really can't describe how proud we all are of him," his father said in a low voice much like his famous son's.

'American Idol' airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8PM ET on FOX.

Kelli Williams -- star of the drama 'Lie to Me' -- appeared on 'The Kilborn File' (weeknights, 7PM ET on Fox). There, she discussed her "normal" childhood, growing up in Beverly Hills as the daughter of an actress and a plastic surgeon.

Ms. Williams spoke of being a little kid in Hollywood, and having famous stars as her neighbors -- including Kenny Rogers, Sonny and Cher ... and Johnny Carson, who lived right across the street from her. Since tour buses stopped there to look at Johnny Carson's house, the young Ms. Williams opened up a business called "The Johnny Carson Lemonade Stand" -- in order to separate some of the tourists from their money.

The lemonade stand idea was Johnny Carson's own suggestion. While discussing the topic, host Craig Kilborn hinted that Johnny might have wanted a share of the profits from the lemonade. Ms. William neither confirmed nor denied this.

I know that The Muppet Show was for adults as much as kids, but this clip from the show is still rather odd. Guest Kenny Rogers sings "The Gambler" (which has lines about drinking whiskey and smoking cigarettes) and then one of the Muppets dies. It's all a bit surreal.

[via Pop Culture Junk Mail]

Sure, we all like sex, violence and cursing, but if you're like me, sometimes you like to pour yourself a nice cup of tea, settle into the couch, and watch something that's a bit more stimulating to the ol' gray matter. Therefore, here's a few shows coming up on PBS you might want to check out. Note that the first couple shows will air during the pledge period, so you'll have to check your listings for the exact date and time.

Kenny Rogers: The Journey (check local listings for date and time) - This combination concert and retrospective looks at forty years of Rogers' work, including interviews with the musician and singer.

This is the part of the season where Ryan gets creative with his elimination torture. Seacrest is the master of the long and tedious elimination. I wonder if, when he was in high school, he put his girl(?)friends through the same emotional rollercoaster ride before telling them that they would not be his prom date. Naw, no way. Seacrest was probably too nice a guy, too much of a dork to ask any girl to prom.

I will not put you through that same amount of torture -- Mandisa is out. I'm surprised, but not saddened by it. She was a great performer, but just didn't have enough personality to take her all the way. And what she lacked in personality, she made up for in big booty. Big boobs can get you to the top, but not a big butt. A big butt can only get you to about the middle. (Unless you're riding the coattails of P. Diddy...cough, cough....J.Lo) Plus, with Elliott and Paris joining her in the bottom three, no way was I rooting for Mandisa to stay.

You know who should have been in the bottom three? Kenny Rogers. He just doesn't have it anymore. I could make a lame he needs to "know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em" joke here, but I'm not. Instead, I'm going to abruptly change the subject, and even more abruptly end this post. When is it going to be Dolly Parton night on American Idol? How great would it be to have Dolly Parton on? Her and Kellie could have a calamari giggle-off.