Terry Morrow's TeleBuddies Blog

According to this report, David Spade is -- probably -- a new daddy, but he's yet to see the baby and is waiting DNA results. Hmmm. He's not going to see the kid until he gets a break from work. (I guess I missed the news here: David Spade has found work!) Wow. Hey, at least Clay Aiken seems to be a proud papa. Weird, huh?

After nearly six years on the air, WBIR's "Style" will air its last live installment at 4 p.m. Friday. The show ends for good on Friday, Sept. 12. During the week of Sept. 8, "Style" will air best-of segments. The new "Live At Five" will begin at 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14.

Finally, we have some actual appointment television coming this weekend, thanks to HBO. First, we have the fifth season opener of "Entourage," coming at 10 p.m. Sunday. The story picks up six months after last season's finale, and Vince's career is in the dumps. He doesn't really care. He's on the beach and having fun. However, Ari and Eric are driven to distraction as they try to find a way to revive Vince's career. Earlier in the evening -- at 9 p.m. Sunday -- HBO is rolling out the quirky new series from Alan Ball (the creator of "Six Feet Under"). It's called "True Blood." The series focuses on a time in modern-day America when vampires have declared themselves (they've "come out of the coffin") and want equal rights. "True Blood" is set in a small Louisiana town, where the residents react to their first bona fide vampire moving in. Anna Paquin plays a local waitress who is intrigued by the stranger. It's not like Ball's better-known work. There's no overwhelming gloominess. It has an odd sense of humor. Worth checking out.

Though Michael Rosenbaum has left "Smallville" and Lex Luthor behind, he was at Dragon*Con in Atlanta over Labor Day weekend, appearing at panels for the show. He has let his hair grow out. He looks good. Spotted him in the lobby of the Marriott downtown around 3:30 a.m. with his entourage. Maybe "Smallville" has not seen the last of Lex.

While in Atlanta for Dragon*Con over the Labor Day weekend, I ran into actress Teri Polo, who was trying to keep a low profile. She succeeded. No one recognized her, but, then, Dragon*Con is a genre show, and she's not exactly known among the main demo that would go to the convention. Why she was there was a bit of a mystery. She attended an after-midnight independent film festival devoted to zombie short films. The next day she was roaming through a dealer's room, buying leather clothing. I heard a fan approach her and ask if she was, indeed, Teri Polo. She said no. She also said she was not an actress. However, she had on identification for "Teri" and was talking to one of the indy film directors about her latest acting projects. Ah, so much for denial! It's neither here nor there ... just thought I'd share.

HBO's "Entourage" is back on Sunday -- and I mean that in a creative sense, too. After sitting through one of the worst TV seasons in recent memory this year, I'm delighted to say that "Entourage" is at top form. It's easily one of the best shows of 2008. Just saw the first two episodes, and I have never enjoyed watching it more. The season opens 6 months after Vince's detour into an art house film that flopped. Vince and his buddies never saw it coming. Now, they're in retreat, especially Vince, who's not too interested in going back to work. Meanwhile, Eric and Ari are pondering if Vince has a future in Hollywood. Finally, after seasons of seeing Vince's star rise, we're watching it fall. The results make for a funny, challenging and enjoyable start of the new season. Ah, it's so good to see "Entourage" back.

Three University of Tennessee students are making like the guys in HBO's "Entourage" -- and now their short film is being featured on HBO's website.

Five Towns Extended Trailer from Scott Murphy on Vimeo.

Olympic fish Michael Phelps will host "Saturday Night Live," when the sketch series returns for its 34th season on Sept. 13. Musical guest: Lil Wayne.

CBS has released the names of the 18 contestants to play "Survivor:Gabon," premiering Sept. 25. We have an Olypmic medalist, a janitor, a hairdresser and a professional nerd gamer. From the desk at CBS ...

ABC is reviving its critically-acclaimed-but-no-one-watched-it-anyway series "Cupid," about a crazy guy who thinks he should bring romance to people. Plus they picked up 4 more shows for the 2008-2009 season. From the mouths at ABC ...

Former "Monster Garage" star Jesse James will headline a weekly series for Spike TV. "Jesse James Is A Dead Man," launching in February of 2009, will have the husband of Sandra Bullock subjecting himself to death-defying stunts. CGI graphics will show how events like the Baja 500 add tremendous stress to his body. Here are the deets from Spike TV.

< -- Troy and his mom

On WE's new reality series "The Locator," debuting Sept. 6, professional locator Troy Dunn is reuniting folks who have broken ties. He got started doing this 18 years ago when his mother, Katie Dunn of Pigeon Forge, wanted to find her biological mother. Katie tells me he was able to locate her mom in less than 45 minutes. I just talked to Troy, and he's fascinating. In 18 years, he and his network have been able to reunite more than 44,000 people. His mom is now part of his investigation team. WE is accepting location requests for Troy and his team at wetv.com. Interesting sidebar: Troy admits he gets lost a lot while driving, and he does lose his car keys a lot. The irony: The locator can't locate his own keys.

Well, how often can you say that about this season's "Weeds"? The half-hour comedy-drama has delivered its worst season to date this time, and what a time for it to come along. The current TV landscape is very dry. The whole Mexico adventure has been dull, and Nancy is sleeping with yet another gangster. Her children are running around without any kind of supervision or parental role model. At this point, Nancy has developed into a self-involved lout. But, Monday night's episode was actually the best of the season. It was "Weeds" back at the top of form. The episode had Nancy stopping for a moment, considering where her life has gone and actually feeling guilty. She sees her children acting out of control and knows why: She's a bad parent. "Weeds" may have lost its way this season, but the current episode shows it's finding its way back.

Camera crews from PBS's "Bill Moyer's Journal" were at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville over the past weekend. They were documenting the church in which a gunman in July killed two people and injured six others. A spokesman for the "Bill Moyer" confirmed a report is in the works: "We did have a crew there last weekend covering this story. This report is in production, and we have not fixed an airdate for it." Another unconfirmed report indicates "Bill Moyer" may also touch on last week's shooting at Central High School in which a student was shot to death.

"Deal or No Deal" is claiming it's giving away the $1 million prize for the first time on Monday's show (Sept. 1). After 4 seasons, do we care anymore? Have the previews given away too much? Will you watch? I'm tempted, but I don't know if I care enough to make it appointment television at this point.

Is "Dancing with the Stars" going all Bravo on us? When the cast list for the show was announced Monday, upcoming hoofer Lance Bass's partner was not named. Lance is a former member of N*Sync who has said he is gay. Not naming Lance's dance partner is fueling speculation that ABC may cast a male dancer with him. What do you think? Is it needed? Will you watch? What's for lunch?

Look around the dial: "Scrubs" is leaving Comedy Central and going to TV Land (which is owned by the same parent company) as of Sept. 1. TV Land will mark the move with a Labor Day marathon, which is great news because this is a wonderful series. (By the way, in case you didn't remember, all-new "Scrubs" episodes can be seen on ABC in early 2009.) Meanwhile, "Golden Girls" -- which has been on Lifetime for a lifetime -- is moving to the Hallmark Channel.

CBS is taking a page out of NBC's notebook. The Eye net is rolling out a supersized edition of "Survivor: Gabon" with a 2-hour premiere on Sept. 25, a week later than previously announced. This will mark the first time a "Survivor" premiere has been two hours.

< -- Watch out, Paula. If you get out of hand, Fox can fire you and replace you with this lady.

Fox has announced today that "American Idol" is adding a fourth judge to the proceedings starting with the next season (starting in January of 2009). She's a Grammy winning songwriter. What do you think Is this needed? Is this an act of desperation for a show that's slowly losing its audience? Is this new person "Idol's" version of cousin Oliver? (OK, that's an old TV reference ... but some of you will get it.) Here are the deets.

< --- Susan Lucci ... not Cloris Leachman or Ruth Buzzi's daughter

Phyllis Lindstrom -- the beloved Cloris Leachman -- is joining the cast of "Dancing with the Stars" as is Erica Kane (Susan Lucci)! We have a former N*Sync member, a Summer Olympic athlete and a current reality show star. Plus: Julianne Hough is back. Here's the list of the upcoming season of "Dancing." It's truly the best cast to date: