Neil's Puppet Dreams (YouTube)

- The best present for the holidays? Ben Savage tweeting last night that he and Danielle Fishel are all in for a Boy Meets World sequel for Disney, titled Girl Meets World.

Topangaaaaa!

- Brad Pitt is not ashamed of that ridiculous Chanel No. 5 ad. In fact, he kind of liked how weird it was.

- Nicki Minaj is stirring up more trouble on American Idol, except this time she's gone after Steven Tyler, calling the Aerosmith singer racist for saying that she would have eliminated Bob Dylan from the show had he been auditioning. Um, to be fair? Dylan never would have made it past the first round, no matter who was judging. Though we're not sure if that makes Tyler racist.

-Neil Patrick Harris has a new web show, "Neil's Puppet Dreams." No, for real. And it is amazing.
http://youtu.be/q3bSbnAXrM4

Chris Brown and Rihanna: Back on track?

- Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj have caused producers to suspend American Idol auditions because the two new judges just can't get along. (Ms. Minaj said she'd knock the Glitter star "out.") Keith Urban is apparently staying out of this one.

- In addition to guest star Donald Glover, Girls creator Lena Dunham told Reuters that the second season of her HBO show will feature more women of color. "All I want to do is make women feel excited and included by the show," she said.

Stephen Colbert hangs with New York Cardinal Timothy Nolan (PatrickMcMullan)

- The Amazing Spider-Man's Andrew Garfield and girlfriend Emma Stone managed to turn an invasion on their privacy into a mitzvah when they used a weekend paparazzo swarm to show off handmade cardboard signs for the Worldwide Orphans Foundation and Gilda’s Club of New York City. Hopefully they weren't arrested as OWS protestors.

- Suri Cruise finished her very first week at Avenues, the new private school in NYC. Though "private" is a relative term when there are people waiting in the bushes to take photos of you during snack time.

- Nicki Minaj joined Keith Urban as an American Idol judge, spending her first days on the job fighting with Mariah Carey and beginning New York auditions. That's got to be worth $12 million, right?

- Stephen Colbert joined New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan onstage at Fordham University on Friday, telling the Jesuit school students that despite the flaws in the Roman Catholic hierarchy, he loved his Church, "warts and all." No, he wasn't in character. Stop being so cynical.

- Seth MacFarlane kicked off a "meh" premiere of Saturday Night Live, but maybe that's because his face just looks so damn punchable. The night's best sketch didn't involve the guest star at all, with an Obama-sponsored political ad.

Nicki Minaj/ President Barack Obama.

Last week, Nicki Minaj caused whiplash, turning our heads with her verse on on Lil Wayne’s latest mixtape, Dedication 4. "I’m a Republican voting for Mitt Romney/You lazy bitches is fucking up the economy,” she rapped, causing us to wonder whether this would hurt her chances for judging American Idol ... even if she was joking.

Now the hip-hop star is claiming that yes, she was just joking, especially when the POTUS gave her the benefit of the doubt on a recent radio shout-out.

When asked what he thought about Ms. Minaj's music, President Barack Obama told Orlando's Power 953, "I think she had a song on there, a little rap that said that, but she likes to play different characters. So I don’t know what’s going on there."

Ms. Minaj took this full-fledged support of her tunes, tweeting: "Ha! Thank you for understanding my creative humor & sarcasm Mr. President, the smart ones always do… *sends love & support*"

She followed this with several updates:
"Awesome! Now I can tell my grandchildren that the 1st black President of the United States took the time to address a Nicki Minaj question."
"My president is BLACK and my Fav is WINNING..... FUCKKKK YOUUUU!"
"Thanks haters! Lmaoooooooooooooooooooooooo. #BarbzWinAgain"
"ahahhahaahhahahahahhahahahhahahahahhahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Nicki Minaj and Mitt Romney. (YouTube)

Say what? Fans of Nicki Minaj might have thought they were beyond being shocked by the rap star's dirty lyrics and insanity garb. But that was before the Pink Friday singer came out on Lil Wayne's new mixtape ... as a Republican who plans on voting for Mitt Romney.

Ms. Minaj lent her vocals to the latest track, Dedication 4, singing: "I'm a Republican voting for Mitt Romney/You lazy bitches are fucking up the economy."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-jF6Fza1LFI

This kind of political statement is rare in the hip-hop community, and at first we assumed she meant the verse satirically. (Or perhaps the second line was meant as a response to the first.) But MTV News points out that the vocalist was tweeting her dissatisfaction with the president's policy toward health care long before this song dropped. (Though she might be confused over how Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan plan on dealing with the issue.)

“That should be a God given right! Even with Obama Care, too much involved," she wrote to the president. "Just give FREE health care to all. @barackobama What can we do?” and “@BarackObama I wouldn’t mind the millions they took if it was going to healthcare. Why should a poor person struggle to pay for MEDS sir?"

Talib Kwali tweeted that he doubted Nicki Minaj was actually conservative:

I doubt Nicki seriously supports Romney. Her lyrics ain't political. She just wants y'all to talk about her & she winning cuz it's working!

Meanwhile, we're still waiting to hear if the singer has signed on to judge American Idol, A deal that TMZ said was "99% done" at the end of August. The new lyrics are sure to throw a wrench into the works: Whether Ms. Minaj was serious or not, she'd be adding a new element divisive to Idol viewers, with her brazen statement during an election year.

Simpler times.

There will not be a single judge returning to American Idol year-over-year; Randy Jackson has been practically axed from the cast, reports TMZ, with his role reduced to that of "mentor." Mr. Jackson has been with the show since its first season in the summer of 2002; more recent additions Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez both decided to leave the show of their own accord this year.

Only Mariah Carey has been announced as a judge for the series, which has traditionally held auditions with a full complement of judges during the summer months. TMZ reports that the series wants four judges, and names bandied about have included Nick Jonas, Enrique Iglesias, Keith Urban, Katy Perry (who has said she turned the series down), and rising rap star Nicki Minaj, who TMZ says is very close to a deal. With the current reality-TV judge arms race among divas (Christina Aguilera on The Voice, Britney Spears on The X-Factor), the onus is on the heavyweight in the category to pick someone with a bit more star power than music producer--and repetitive and unconvincing public speaker--Mr. Jackson.

Jane Carrey, no longer an 'Idol'

A lot of times it feels like we know too much about the children of celebrities. Like Blue Ivy Carter is only a month old, and we already know how many nannies she had, how much her birth cost, and that there's a strain of weed named after her. But sometimes the children of famous people stay out of the spotlight, waiting for the right moment to reveal themselves to the world. (Lily Atkinson, we're waiting for your starring role!)

Such was the case with Jim Carey's daughter, Jane Carrey, who is currently auditioning on American Idol, because she doesn't want to trade on her family name and wants to "make (her) place in the world," without people pressuring her to be better because her dad was in Dumb & Dumber, because under pressure, we learn, Ms. Carrey tends to choke.

Which is exactly what happened when she made it past the first round of Idol.

From the moment Ms. Carrey showed up on American Idol, auditioning with "Let's Give Them Something to Talk About," it was obvious that the biggest thing carrying her to the stage was nepotism.

She was okay? She wasn't great, she was fine, but after the way Jennifer Lopez fawned over the 24-year-old waitress ("Oh my god, do you remember me? I was a Fly Girl!" --What J.Lo says to every person who auditions, naturally) it was obvious that no matter how mediocre her talent was, Ms. Carrey was going on to the next level. And the next.

Or at least that's what we thought. They would have to keep Jane Carrey on until at least her father showed up to cheer her on, right? How could the world not vote for this previously unknown daughter of Ace Ventura? But tonight proved that even American Idol has some standards on how much it was willing to fame-whore itself out. Ms. Carrey's quavering rendition of "Lookin' Out My Backdoor" put her on the cutting block. And just like that, all that buzz that Jenny McCarthy was trying to bring to her ex's daughter (America text your votes!) was rendered moot. We did get to hear daddy Jim on the phone however, as he told his daughter over the phone that he's been told "no" a lot in his life. (Also, he lived in a trailer for a long time, which is a weird thing we always forget about him.)

Look: a ton of people get to be famous because their parents are famous, and it's commendable that Ms. Carrey put herself out there on a forum to be judged by America instead of just getting daddy to pay for a studio session. She has a real job, and a life. Even though she was cut from American Idol, she seems like a grounded, very nice young lady whose ego hasn't been blown out of proportion by people telling her what a great voice she has. She'll do fine.

"Idol" producer Nigel Lythgoe (right) with Lady Gaga and Bruce Paisner (Getty Images)

But the 62-year-old British personality isn't all smiles and free money; The Christian Science Monitor noted today that the last episode saw judge Jennifer Lopez repeatedly looking off camera for validation and occasionally making comments to an unseen individual.

Wednesday night's show made viewers aware that producer Nigel Lythgoe himself was sitting off-stage monitoring the performances. While it could be intimidating having your boss watch as you try and justify a salary that no mere mortal should ever earn, JLo's constant offstage glances and comments are distracting. Besides, no one wants to be reminded that this little audition room is just a small part of a huge set.

Mr. Lythgoe is certainly a force to be reckoned with, and knowing that he's just off screen during the episodes lends a big brother (not the show) air to the proceedings. After all, the producer's most famous communiqué to the press was in response to Adam Levine's claim in Out magazine that AI keeps its gay contestants in the closet: specifically season 8's runner-up Adam Lambert, who came out right after the show ended. (Let the military allusions begin!)

The Mr. Lythgoe's response to these charges?

"When does privacy stop in this country? ... I don't go into my dentist and say, 'Are you gay?' I don't say to contestants on 'So You Think You Can Dance,' 'Are you gay?' What does it got to do with me? What does it got to do with anybody?"

"He must have come out before being on Idol, he just didn't talk about it on 'Idol.' And why should he? Is every actor going on television going to say, 'I'm only playing the part of a straight man, I'm really gay'? There's no reason that I would see why anybody that goes on television should start coming out with who they are, what they are, what they're sexuality is, who they're going to vote for or what their religion is."

Of course, forcing a contestant to keep mum about their sexuality on live TV is a little different than an individual's choice to tell their dentist if they're gay, but this might explain why Mr. Seacrest would keep up the illusion for so long...if that is in fact what he's doing.

Jennifer Lopez.

We’re here to tell you just how to set your DVR before heading out for drinks or dinner–or just watching something better on TV!

Say what you will of 1990s female stars--and we'll say they were a lot more fun than your Emma Stones!--but they've proven quite adept at holding onto the spotlight. Gwyneth Paltrow made email-lifestyle-guru the role in which we didn't know we'd always envisioned her; Winona Ryder resurfaced to steal away Black Swan from younger pretenders; Madeleine Stowe, ill-served by the movie biz, dipped her face in a bowl of fillers and got herself a terrific nighttime soap (Revenge, on ABC tonight at 10pm). But the nineties' master of the comeback is, was, and shall be Jennifer Lopez, whose second season as nice-lady judge on American Idol begins tonight.

After catalyzing the modern tabloid era with her greatest role as the "ennifer" in "Bennifer," Ms. Lopez took some time very much away from the spotlight, and her splashy attempt at a comeback in 2010 with a simultaneous album and movie release (remember The Back-Up Plan?) got her an SNL hosting gig but little of the adulation she'd been surely craving, holed up in that weird Gatsby mansion in Long Island. Lesser stars would have returned to their hideaways after such a resounding pair of flops (consider the case of Meg Ryan). But Jennifer Lopez, a career actress who'd recorded a series of albums as an ancillary income stream, finagled her way onto television's top show as a judge of others' musical talents, and simultaneously changed her image (she's so nice!) and reminded America of the good clean tabloidy mania that'd always been there. The predatory manipulation of the media Ms. Lopez exerts, now through Idol, exists without any of the Kardashianian ick of the present-day gossip trade; despite yourself, you root for her more than for any 17-year-old chanteuse out of West Texas.

Ms. Lopez's second season begins tonight--we're setting a countdown clock to see how long it takes before she cries over a competitor's God-given talent, and another one to see how long it takes before she's spotted in Paris with Ryan Gosling.

Set your DVR for Fox at 8pm to catch American Idol.

'The Hollywood Reporter' Loves 'American Idol.'

The Hollywood Reporter has posted a gallery of its covers since its reinvention as a glossy. Of the thirty covers included, three feature Ryan Seacrest (two of those with his American Idol castmates). One features the cast of the Idol-alike reality show The Voice. Two feature the cast of Glee. In thirty issues, these six represent twenty percent of cover real estate devoted to television shows about singing. (Four covers, of Transformers director Michael Bay, Pirates of the Caribbean star Penélope Cruz, the cast and director of Thor, and The Beaver director Jodie Foster, could be said to be promoting new or upcoming film projects; five were tied to the traditional province of Hollywood trade rags, the Oscars.)

ddaddario@observer.com :: @DPD_