Dead or alive, Claire Littleton will be once more be found on Lost when the series returns for its sixth season – but in the meantime, actress Emilie de Ravin has kept herself busy, costarring with Cybill Shepherd in Lifetime Networks’ adaptation of Nora Roberts’ High Noon premiering March 21, and with Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and a veritable who’s who of Hollywood talent in the upcoming gangster film Public Enemies.

But she’s most excited about playing a 12-year-old. With a beak.

“I am so excited right now – I just booked my first animated job!” de Ravin exclaims. “It’s this movie called The Guardians of Ga’hoole and Zack Snyder is directing it. It’s a movie about this group of Australian owls and it’s just a wonderful  story. It’s adapted from the  [Kathryn Lasky] books.”

And how does an actress devoted to throwing herself, heart and soul, into embodying her characters  prep to become an adolescent owl?

“That was the thing!” de Ravin laughs. “I was auditioning and I was, like, ‘Huh! What kind of voice?!’ So I just sat at home for a day and created some voices and went in and … yep!”

Watch for the premiere of The Guardians of Ga’Hoole in late 2009 or early 2010. 

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Leslie and Carl are setting up for tomorrow’s big promotion in which Greens & Grains customers can go into one of those money booths for a minute and grab all the flying cash they can. Amy from Super Value Mart storms into Greens & Grains wondering why there are “Free Money!” banners all over her parking lot. As a gesture of goodwill, Leslie lets Amy into the booth to grab a little cash for herself. (Amy loves money. And Leslie loves Amy loving money.) But the booth is filled with $5,000 in silver dollar coins that Leslie’s father stashed away in the store for years. Amy grabs handfuls and shoefuls of the coins, which, much to Leslie and Carl’s surprise, don’t fly anywhere. But the booth has a sticky lock, and Amy can’t get out. She panics, drops all her coins, and leaves with nothing. Leslie sends Carl and Buck to the bank to change the silver dollars into bills.

Meanwhile, Yolanda is making out with Jim, a produce guy from Super Value Mart. Leslie protests, claiming that Yolanda’s sleeping with the enemy and could divulge company produce secrets — like that Leslie buys the bananas from the weird guy in the van out back.

Suddenly two men with guns wearing pantyhose on their heads bust into Greens & Grains and hold the crew and customers hostage. One of them (Leslie will just call him “Pantyhose Man”) demands cash from the register, but all he gets is a coupon for 40 cents off popsicles. Pantyhose Man lets the customers go, but he keeps the crew at gunpoint.

The other gunman (Leslie just calls him Bad Guy No. 2) goes for the cash in the money booth. Leslie closes the door behind him and the booth locks. The lock sticks, and Bad Guy No. 2 panics, taking off his pantyhose to reveal that he’s Jim from Super Value Mart. It seems Jim was just making out with Yolanda so he could case the joint for the heist. So now that the Greens & Grains crew knows the true identity of Guy No. 2, they fear that they’re going to be killed. Leslie panics and pulls the fire alarm, which we’re pretty sure is not the smartest thing to do when you’re being held at gunpoint.

The store is soon surrounded by police, media and onlookers. Leslie, still at gunpoint, gives an interview to a TV reporter about how he was “scared like a little ninny” and in his head he was “a little girl peeing with fright” … before, you know, becoming all brave and manly and stuff. Leslie tells the reporter that the robber works for Super Value Mart, and that SVM’s poor treatment of its employees has led them to armed larceny. Amy hears this and runs over to protect her company’s image and disown Jim, who says he was desperate for money to pay for his mother’s heart transplant. Leslie says he’ll give him the silver dollars in the office.

Jim takes Leslie, Buck and Yolanda with him to the office upstairs, where Leslie pulls out the bags of silver dollars. But Leslie explains to Jim that $5,000 won’t even cover the anesthesia for a heart transplant operation, and suggests that Jim try something cheaper — like getting a book on heart transplants from the library and performing the surgery on his own. Jim has a breakdown (his mom’s going to be so mad at him tonight!) and Buck seizes the moment to steal Jim’s gun away from him. Leslie, now suddenly emboldened, rips his shirt off and vows to free his crew any way he can. And that way is by crawling into an air duct.

Meanwhile, Pantyhose Man has the rest of the G&G crew hostage. Todd the butcher notices a tattoo on Pantyhose Man’s arm, signifying that he’s also a butcher. Todd realizes that it’s Zach, the butcher from SVM, and claims that robbing another butcher is in violation of the Butcher’s Code … or something. The Butcher’s Code must also stipulate that all butchers must have similar hair and mustaches.

Ingrid has serious Stockholm Syndrome. She is not only sympathizing with her captors, but she’s starting to act like them, too. She brings “snacks for Zachs” and bullies her coworkers. That kind of behavior will get you banned from Decoupage Night at Richard’s house.

Leslie, Yolanda and Buck fall through the air duct and land right in the middle of the hostage situation below. (Has anyone on TV crawled into an air duct without falling through?) Ingrid takes the gun from Leslie and kicks him in the ribs, taking command of the situation. Then Amy comes to the door and sees that Zach, her ex-boyfriend, is one of the robbers. She freaks out, causing Zach to freak out and threaten to kill the hostages. Leslie makes a move for Zach’s gun, and the gun goes off. The bullet ricochets off items in the store, and hits a sign on the wall. The sign falls off the wall, hits Ingrid in the head and causes her gun to go off. Ingrid shoots Leslie in the buttocks … and the hostage situation defuses itself somehow.

Everything’s back to normal at the G&G. Leslie’s butt is sore. It seems he has “so many holes in his butt, he could lace it up like a tennis shoe.” The crew even pooled their money together to buy Leslie a padded ring to sit on.

Not a bad start to Season 2. As John Lehr told us, they’re not going to take a huge departure from what they started in Season 1. And like Season 1, so much of the show’s humor doesn’t come from the story (which is usually pretty absurd), but in the subtle quirks of the characters. Like Leslie welcoming the guys with pantyhose on their heads to the store like they were normal customers. Or the look on Ingrid’s face when she starts finding Pantyhose Man attractive. Or Carl just pretending to know how to fix the wiring on the money booth. I realized that here’s so much good stuff that a show recap won’t be able to convey.

Best Moment: When the customers are set free, Leslie’s upset that they’re taking all their merchandise with them without paying for it. “Come on! At least do a quick checkout!”

Employee of the Week: Buck. He’s coolheaded during the whole ordeal, and is unusually confident with firearms for a grocery bagger.

Product Placements: Surprisingly none. There was a commercial for Herpecin-L during the show. Couldn’t they have figured a way to work that in somehow?

Photo: ™ & © Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Credit: Art Strieber

Last week, Simon Cowell told a group of TCA reporters that he’s sure talent has slipped through the American Idol cracks. However, none of those talents have made it big. Well, tonight begins the festival of thousands that will, inevitably, slip through the cracks. Talent or no.

We’re starting off with the required shots of folks in the crowds — some talented, some delusional. This, is American Idol.

And so begins the opening “theme” music that has such a Pavlovian effect on me. It makes me want to sit on my butt and eat Cheetos. I can’t eat Cheetos and blog at the same time, though, as it would mess up the keyboard and leave crumbs all over the couch. We’re beginning in Philadelphia.

First story of the day is a guy who lost over 200 pounds. Kudos to you — here’s hoping you can sing. Uh, oh, he said he doesn’t have to fake the funk. That’s not a good sign. But, actually, he’s not bad. He’s through, and was nice enough to ask before he went up to shake their hands. Simon says he looks hungry. Ryan is schmoozing his grandmothers. The preview for after the commercial promises me some folks of questionable mental health. Sweet.

We’ve begun this section of tonight’s auditions with an immigrant — Aala from Egypt. His English is ok, and he seems like a sweet guy. He gets schooled by a woman in a white boa — she asks if he’s got kids. He replies that he’s not married. She tells him that’s not necessary. He’s definitely not the worst singer that’s ever been on American Idol. I mean, he’s not good, but he’s one of the average bad. He’s on this show because Simon & Randy are torturing Paula as she struggles to be nice to him.

Melanie is up, and she’s claiming that she sung backup for Taylor Hicks. She sings the required Natasha Bedingfield song and makes it through.

We’ve got a tour guide up next. He’s been compared to Eddie Vedder and Paul Robeson. Oh, Lord. It’s not good. He’s singing “Go Down Moses” and, well, his voice is deep like Paul Robeson. The judges lose their composure completely. Randy tries the hand & papers in front of the face thing, which never works. So, of course James starts singing again. Because if at first you don’t succeed, keep singing until they say yes. Which they’ve never done. Do these people not watch the show?

They’ve just shown me a close-up of a Philly Cheese Steak. I just ate dinner, but I totally want one.

Oh, goody! Someone just butchered “Unchained Melody,” Simon’s favorite song! It’s the montage of bad singers! Bad screamer girl. Bad expressionless Chinese guy!

So you know a good singer or two are coming up. Good black guy, good Latin guy, good White guy — it’s a rainbow of good singin’.

And we meet Temptress Brown — a 16-year-old girl middle linebacker. She says if you make her mad enough, she’ll break your bones. She’s auditioning for her mom, who’s very sick, and Temptress has to take care of her many times. So I really hope she’s at least halfway decent. At 16 she’s got a lot of time to develop as a singer, if she’s good. She’s singing “I’m Not Going Nowhere” and she mistakenly credits it to Jennifer Hudson, who did sing it, but Jennifer Holliday sang it first. She’s 16, what are you gonna do?

She’s not very good, but the judges to try to be kind to her. She’s 16, so of course she’s crying. She’s a sweet kid — she’s insisting she can’t go out to her family & say that she failed, so the judges go out with her. It’s genuinely sweet. It’s one of those moments that makes you realize there are folks who really bank on things like this to make a better life. Which is kind of a downer when you’re watching American Idol. Thankfully we’re not dwelling on it — look, there’s a guy who really can’t dance, and a girl who looks a bit rough if she’s really within the Idol age range who can’t stop flipping off the camera. I take it she doesn’t get a Golden Ticket.

Mark Hays can do a cricket impression. He can also sing…. really…. slowly…. There’s a bar here in Milwaukee called Angelo’s. If he were to go to Angelo’s on a Friday or Saturday night and sing with their keyboardist Norma, who is the older, tanned woman with fabulous blond hair, Norma would roll her eyes as she does with everyone who sings that slowly, even if they’re good.

The next guy likes to incorporate music in the workplace. He does financial work at an auto company. He thinks of dressing as MC Hammer as a creative way to lead a meeting. It’s David Brent bringing his guitar out at a staff meeting. Is it a spoiler if I tell you he can’t sing? Is it a spoiler to tell you that he actually questions the judges rejection? Is it?

The song everyone sings badly this episode is “I Love Rock & Roll.” There’s country-styled bad, rockin’ bad, drag queen bad, costumed freak bad, the entire stadium full of not-so-bad. We’re hoping somewhere Joan Jett is on a tour bus just raking in the cash off this.

And now we’re up to Alexis Cohen, who claims to be 23. Please, Stacey & Clinton from What Not to Wear, have an intervention. She wants to be a vet, but she’s also an artist. I actually like some of the pieces they showed. She’s all manic before she gets into the judges room. We know that she doesn’t stay that way. She claims she’s been compared to Janis Joplin, Grace Slick and Pat Benatar. She’s singing “Somebody to Love,” the Jefferson Airplane song. She’s pretty much learned how to copy Grace Slick. Simon calls her performance possessed. Simon actually says she’ll probably be a vet or be in a small-town band, but that this competition isn’t for her.

She actually holds it together in the room. When she leaves, Simon asks who the baddy was in Spider Man. He’s told Willem Dafoe, and Simon says ‘Yes!’
And then the meltdown, and it’s a good one. She ranks on Simon, who, from what we’re shown, didn’t really say anything rude to her. I’m assuming if he said something rude to her face, we would get to see it. We’ve seen him say some pretty rude things. She tells us where she’s going next, and next she’s going for “Actressing.” Her mother tells her that acting is the hardest thing of all and that Simon’s British. What that has to do with anything, I don’t know. Alexis rants, raves, flips off the camera and gets bleeped all the way out the door.

Angela Martin came all the way from Chicago with her family. Her daughter has Retts Syndrome, so will have problems for the rest of her life. Various family members are talking about her daughter & their love for her. She wants to make it to make a better life for her daughter. She talks about working full-time as a singer in Chicago. She sings “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and is quite good, but she does the little runs & other things that annoy Simon. He tells her to de-weddingize her singing. She makes it.

Simon marvels at the American ability to celebrate in a friend’s good news. I don’t know if that’s a British thing, or just a Simon thing.

We’re at the halfway point, so of course, we need to recap the first hour — just in case you missed one second.

Alyse is a dancing fiend in the waiting room, and a screaming fiend in the audition. Volume does not necessarily equal passion, folks, and we have the montage of really loud, awful singers.

We also have the old guy who wants to sing his song “No Sex Allowed” to the judges for the teenagers of the country. He’s a social worker & a songwriter. It’s all about a boy who’s being tempted by his girlfriend. “No Sex Allowed, I don’t want to be a part of your crowd!” Simon says in Britian, they call what he does creepy. I would have to agree. He’s happy he got to be on TV.

Kristy is a cute girl from Oregon. She sold a horse to get to the audition. She also kickboxes and does martial arts, and does a nice job with “Amazing Grace.” She’s a little country for my taste, but she’s sweet and could likely kick my butt. She’s through to Hollywood.

They’ve themed the next section Star Wars. Now, I’m a huge Star Wars fan, but I don’t have a Star Wars belt buckle. Even if I did, I wouldn’t wear it to American Idol auditions. I’ll admit it, though, I have done the Princess Leia buns when I had long hair. It was Halloween, though.

You know the producers knew what Ben had under his cape, since a guy in a cape can’t go anywhere without being searched. He reveals his Princess Leia Jabba the Hut captive bikini outfit. Yeah, he’s a guy, and he’s not in shape. Paula can’t get past the chest hair, so she tells him he can come back if he waxes his chest. He agrees & goes in search of a salon.

Hey! It’s the woman who tried to school Aala! She runs all over “America the Beautiful.” We’ve got another swearing montage from bitter rejectees.

Then we’ve got a Paula stalker. He’s singing an original song he wrote for her — it’s all about stalking her, breaking into her house and other things that rhyme with the word “stalk.” He’s really, quite creepy. Man, I hope he was doing it just to get on TV, otherwise I fear for Paula’s safety.

Beth Stalker sings “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” and I really like her. Of course, I also really like the song, but she’s got a lovely voice. Simon doesn’t think she would stand out in a crowd, but Paula and Randy put her through.

Oh, man, I didn’t see this one coming. Of COURSE Idol cameras followed our weirdo Ben to the salon to get his chest waxed, so we get to witness the horror. Man, just from the little I’ve seen, Ben has selected an inexperienced waxing professional. Yikes!

So we’re back from break and Ben is back. He’s a little pink, but he’s not bleeding, so I guess he’s ok. Of course he’s going to sing “Dontcha.” He gets about 5 seconds into that song before he gets kicked out.

Wow, the next contestant is quite pretty. Chris is 20 with some nice dreadlocks. He’s singing an Uncle Kracker song, “Follow Me.” He’s got a good voice, but for me, he’s more confident & pretty than a good singer. Simon says that the girls will like him. I think Simon misses that some of the boys will like him, too. He’s not bad, and he’s through.

Christina is rockin’ the Princess Leia buns and Star Wars belt. She even gives a Star Trek rip. She believes in herself, but she’s a little Mary Katherine Gallagher. She’s singing “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me” and specifies the Roger Daltrey version. Of course she’s a little weird and a self-declared goofball. Of course, they don’t think she’s right for the competition. She’s convinced that it was her exterior that got her rejected. She’ll probably think that for a long time.

Our final contestant is Brooke and she’s a nanny for twins. She’s also never seen a rated R movie, drank or smoked, but she seems sincere. She is married though, and her husband hasn’t either. She’s 24. She’s got a good voice. Simon says he’s going to bring her over to the dark side. She dares him, but takes it back.

We leave with a preview of Texas auditions, where of course folks have to try and sing Kelly Clarkson songs. Do I even need to tell you that they’re sung badly?

Say goodbye to my productivity.

Oh no he di’int!

Was that our good and faithful Detective Jimmy McNulty rearranging a murder scene to make it look like a serial killer is on the loose in Baltimore? Well, what else can you do when city hall just won’t cough up enough cash to let the police do their job? As Freamon says, if it were 300 white people who were killed every year in the city, the National Guard would be deployed immediately. Don’t count on public outcry to help, either, because apparently the problems in Bodymore pale compared with a blonde girl who went missing in Aruba.

So you see where McNulty’s coming from and where he’s going. This victim was male, but perhaps they will be getting more tow-headed and female as time passes. It was enough to make the usually unflappable Bunk wash his hands of the situation and high-tail it out of there, but McNulty is betting that the media will eat it up. And based on what we’ve seen from the folks at The Sun, he’s probably right. They fell hook, line and sinker for a fishy lead about a 13-year-old kid in a wheelchair who tried to scalp tickets to see the Orioles play baseball on opening day. The objections from our lovable old Gus — the reporter provided no last name, no pictures — weren’t enough for Whiting to give up what promised to be a heart-tugging read.

I gotta say, I’m all on board for beating up on incompetence in authority positions, but Whiting has the be the most clueless editor ever put on film. I get the whole aiming-to-win-a-prize, not-write-a-good-story mentality they’re going after, but he seems a bit of a caricature, like something a spurned lover would portray. David Simon is merely a disgruntled former employee, but I expected a bit more depth than what we’ve gotten so far. It’s also implied that the reporter — the slimy and ambitious Scott Templeton — Stephen Glass-ed his way through the story, having come up empty in his canvassing of the opening-day crowd for a compelling angle. Which leads to the question that if a cop gives a made-up story to a reporter who makes things up, does that make it real on some level, using the two-negatives-make-a-positive theory?

As for those who more routinely break the law and flout ethics, Marlo finally managed to persuade Avon to broker for him a jailhouse meeting with Sergi. Not quite sure what they’re up to yet, only that it involves a power play with the Greeks and Prop Joe’s crowd. And probably a few caps going into a few a****. Speaking of which, Marlo ordered the killings of some of his naysayers, one of whom was only thought to have said something pertaining to Marlo’s oral fixations. This troubled one of the assassins, who let a young boy flee unharmed out the back door. Among Marlo’s hit list was Omar, who has yet to surface this season.

Quite a bit of time was spent on Bubbles struggling with his sobriety. He goes to his group meetings, but can’t quite engage fully, still stinging over his role in the death of Sherrod. Not sure how he’ll end up, but there was a scene at the homeless shelter that consisted of little but Bubs washing dishes and doing a slow burn. Not sure what was going on, but it didn’t feel right.

Not much was revealed on the preview for next week, other than a few clips of the Greeks doing business and Bunk telling McNulty that his serial killer ruse is going to lead to his downfall. Probably, but McNulty seems to be preparing himself for ruination, reverting back to his alcoholic, womanizing ways, and alienating his girlfriend (poor Beatie!) and now his best friend. But seriously, you never thought “The Wire” was going to end with a surprise wedding, didja?

“Next week Kevin Federline guest stars on ‘One Tree Hill.’”

Do I even NEED to comment on this? Come on, folks — discuss!!!

SCI FI Channel‘s Ghost Hunters International debuted Wednesday night as the network’s No. 1 reality telecast in its history, and bested its broadcast time slot competition, including the dreadful, and dreadfully popular, Gossip Girl. The episode found a new team of Ghost Hunters — lead investigators Robb Demarest and Andy Andrews; Brian Harnois, Donna La Croix, Barry Fitzgerald (whom you may recall from the original Ghost Hunters’ frightening exploration of some Irish ruins) and newcomer Shannon Sylvia — traveling to England’s Chillingham Castle and Scotland’s Mary King’s Close to see what kind of spirits Europe can throw at us. As you might expect, the Old World did not disappoint. The Close was especially creepy, an underground series of tunnels and streets where many once died from the plague, including a little girl named Annie. Visitors now leave piles of toys and stuffed animals for Annie, and under the greenish glow of the Ghost Hunters’ cameras even these innocent items took on an air of sinister intent.

Next week we’ll see the team descending into the depths of the Abbey at Lucedio, near Turin, Italy, to unlock the secrets behind the legends that make up its 1,400-year-old history. Then, a trip to Wales takes them to the legendary Nanteos Mansion. Lore has it that this was the one-time resting place of the Holy Grail.

Last month I was able to talk with Robb and Donna in advance of the show, and here are some of their insights:

Q: Are you going to visit the more obvious, well-known haunted places in Europe, like the Tower of London, or some lesser-known areas?

Robb: I think it’s a combination. Certainly people want to see us go to some of the exciting, well-known places that they can recognize. At the same time, our job is to find the most active locations. If there’s evidence out there we certainly want to find it. Sometimes you have to go off the beaten path. I spent a couple of hours working with some friends of mine overseas on some locations that, unless you speak fluent Japanese, you’re probably not going to find. So it’s pretty exciting to get in there where no one else has been and see what we can find.

Donna: You’ll see us going to different parts of Eastern Europe, and possibly France and Germany.

Robb: Italy will be on the menu as well.

Q: Have you gotten any EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) that were in a different language? Did you have it translated?

Donna: One of our locations that we investigated was in Italy, and one of the EVPs that we captured … a response was not in English but Italian.

Robb: In this case it was actually fascinating because we play the voice for the client, and get their take on it, and we didn’t know what the meaning of it was before we approached the client with this phrase. And when we heard it, it brought the whole investigation together, and definitely was a moment that could send a chill up your spine.

Donna: It was an answer that made sense to the question being asked, which makes it even more profound.

Q: Have you also gotten any strong visual evidence in your investigations?

Donna: The fans won’t be disappointed in regards to [visuals]. We do have some exciting evidence.

Q: What is the most common reaction when you confirm to someone that their place is indeed haunted? Relief? Excitement? Fear?

Robb: Most of the reactions we have gotten have been overwhelmingly positive. Most of our clients believe that their locations are haunted. We come in and try to rule out the possibility of a haunting. Whatever is left over at that point indicates that there is paranormal activity. I think the client’s pretty happy when they believe it’s haunted, and we couldn’t rule everything out.

Donna: Robb and Andy are the lead investigators, so they also are responsible for taking all the evidence that we collect and bringing it to the client in the last segment, called the reveal.

Robb: Andy is an expert; he is terrific. He has a real analytical mind, so when he is presented with these reports of these paranormal happenings, his mind kicks in immediately and he starts looking for alternative explanations.

Q: European civilization is obviously much older than America. Based on the greater amount of history, have you found that leads to more ghosts in Europe than you’ve seen in your American investigations?

Donna: The general thought is that Europe is a lot older in terms of development than the United States, so of course they would have much more active paranormal activity. In honesty, I don’t find a huge difference. I do find that the stories and fables associated with a certain location are a lot more embellished [in Europe]. But I do not find that they are any more “charged up” than what I have found in my investigations in the United States. These places we investigate are usually in the very least a couple of hundred years old. With them are associated a lot of stories and legends. My part of the research is to try and find any historical substance that either verifies or debunks these stories. Oftentimes they are just stories, but at times we come across other information that nobody knew about, and does relate to the investigation and the evidence. Sometimes it’s disappointing when you find out those popular ghost stories have no meaning historically, but that you did know that certain people that lived there back then are coming through on our EVPs.

Q: Do Europeans have a different attitude toward ghosts and the paranormal than Americans?

Donna: I think it’s real location-specific. Sometimes you have towns that are known to be haunted, and which attract a lot of tourists. A lot of the locals get resentful of that, so you get a lot of locals nay-saying the whole idea about the place being haunted. Then again, you go into a tavern or a hotel that proposes itself as being haunted and they welcome us with open arms. So it’s really location dependent. For the most part I would say, just talking with people … most people have a ghost story. Most people would tell you, you know what, I had this one experience when, dot dot dot.

Robb: [laughs] You’d be surprised how many times people come up with the opener: “Now, I don’t believe in ghosts, BUT … ” and then launch into this massive story about how they saw something that there was no other way to explain. But people feel safe once they’ve issued that kind of disclaimer for it.

Q: What was your most memorable or scariest encounter so far in your European investigations?

Donna: [not giving much away] We usually have teams of two investigators that go out with just a cameraman and a production assistant. Sometimes we’re put in somewhat spiritually dangerous situations, where we have to do our job, but still it’s hard to separate your feeling from all the activity you’ve heard about [in] this place. So psychologically it could take its toll on you. You’ve got to really close down that part of your brain that’s replaying all those ghost stories. Some of them are really grotesque, and dangerous.

Q: How have you found the places you’ve investigated?

Donna: There’s been instances where we’re scheduled to do a location and we’ve been sitting in a pub and talking to the owner or the bartender and they start telling us stories. And it’s a little place off the beaten path, but it’s a place full of activity that we try to get into. It takes a lot to get a place approved. … A lot of it has to do with government approval. There’s a couple places in Germany I guess we were supposed to be able to get into, but due to the government they just wouldn’t allow any investigators to come in. And then there was a place where the owner was really highly resistant against any group coming in because of a bad experience with a previous investigative group, but we were able to come in and ease his fears and be professional.

Robb: People see us coming, and say “ghost investigators,” “ghost hunters,” those sort of things, and they think we’re going to be holding a seance, breaking out a Ouija board. And it’s not that kind of party with us. We’re bringing in high-tech equipment. We come in with an open mind, but our first thing is to be skeptical and not just believe the claims and stories that we’ve heard.

Q: Most paranormal investigations, not just on your show, are conducted at night. Is this more conducive to activity, or just to help increase the creepiness factor?

Robb: On a personal level, one of the reasons that I like investigating at night, is that you get this quiet. You don’t have, necessarily, the cars going by, the passersby, so that’s useful for what we do. I also find that investigating at night, you’re more aware of your surroundings. Even though you may be in pitch darkness, you can hear things, you can make out things in the darkness, that in the light your eye might be drawn to certain things. Whereas in the dark, you’re totally in the moment, and it makes it easier for you to get an idea of what’s going on in a location.

Q: The original “Ghost Hunters” would occasionally delve into the human dramas among the team members. Are you going there with this series?

Robb: Six people together, we’re away from home, in foreign territory; there are going to be some tensions. But for the most part, I think that everyone on this team has respect for each other, each other’s abilities and backgrounds. It is kind of a family atmosphere. Will there be some sibling rivalry? Yeah, there probably will be. But at the end of the day we all go home from the investigation and maintain a high level of respect for each other.

Q: Robb, you mentioned earlier that you were looking into a haunting in Japan. Just how international is “Ghost Hunters International” going to get?

Robb: Nothing’s in the works on that yet, but what’s nice is that SCI FI has been open enough to take suggestions. Hopefully, this show is going to be as international as it possibly can be. We’d like to go anywhere and everywhere. If there’s paranormal activity, we’d like to chase it down.

Credit: Gareth Phillips/SCI FI Channel

Nothing stirs up the spirit of the Yule like watching a Christmas-related episode two weeks after Christmas. “Bad Earl” was originally scheduled for Dec. 13, but NBC pushed it way back, probably thinking it was best to not burn a new episode when the ratings probably weren’t going to be good.

Earl is out of prison (prison’s not quite out of him), but he’s finding it hard to celebrate during his release party at the Crab Shack. He has his list back, but he’s doubting the existence of karma. All of his good deeds have brought him nothing but misfortune. The mayor decided to hide the homeless for the holidays in their motel room, and Earl can’t find a job better than a delivery driver for Camden Foreign Foods (now serving gyros!). Making a delivery one day, Ralph (Giovanni Ribisi) answers the door dressed in old-man clothes.

It seems that six months ago, after Ralph escaped from prison in his undies and hitched a ride (and perhaps more) with Gay Kenny, Ralph ended up at the door of an old woman, Doris, who took him in and offered him pants. It seems Doris saved her dead husband’s clothes, and Ralph dressed up in them. Doris confused Ralph for her dead husband Stan, and Ralph realized he’s now on Easy Street. He’s got a sugar grandma!

Ralph’s good life dispirits Earl even more, but Randy convinces him to do something on his list. So Earl makes amends with a stripper he once injured with a laser pointer — she makes Earl dance at Club Chubby, complete with tassels! Earl’s pissed, and he tosses his belief in karma, and his list, out on the street.

Bad Earl is back. After boozing and picking up some girls from Club Chubby, they break into Joy’s trailer and take turns trying to tip it over. Eventually they succeed.

In the morning, Earl wonders why Ralph has it so good, and he has to bathe in a bird bath. So while Ralph’s in the shower, Earl swipes the Stan clothes, and instantly becomes Doris’ dead husband. Ralph is tossed out of the house in his skivvies. Earl spends Christmas Eve inside with Doris, while Ralph and Randy spend Christmas Eve outside in the El Camino, singing “Silent Night.”

Christmas morning, Earl finds all his friends in Doris’ house. They’re throwing him an intervention, begging for the good Earl to come back. But he’ll have none of it, and he walks out the door.

But on the street, Earl is followed by a yellow piece of paper blowing in the breeze. It seems karma has come looking for him. Or maybe it’s just a cheeseburger wrapper. Earl denies the existence of karma … and is subsequently hit by a car. But the car is driven by Billie (Alyssa Milano), who we figured would be coming back at some point after the “Frank’s Girl” episode. Earl has a thing for Billie, and maybe getting hit by her car is finally the good thing Earl was waiting for. He passes out in a state of bliss, unaware that as Billie goes to get help, she too is hit by a car. Nice.

Coincidentally, my colleague Mike interviewed Milano last night about a Lifetime original movie she’s in in March, and asked about her status on Earl. It seems she signed on for three more post-strike episodes, and that’s it. She’s focusing on pilot season. So if there’s going to be a romance between Billie and Earl, it’s not going to last long.

What we learned:

A margarita with an egg in it does not constitute eggnog.

You look like you could use some pants.

There’s a new Stan in town.

A laser pointer is a tiny green hand you can put wherever you want.

Life is rough. Things get stuck places.

That spring in your step may be caused by an actual spring.

Men are only interested in one thing: raping your mother.

Wisdom From Randy: The candy corn stuck in his ear since he was 9 sometimes attracts ants.

Crab Man Chronicles: Sadness falls on us all, like food from a sideways refrigerator.

Photo: Copyright © 2007 NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. Credit: Michael Yarish

A quick note for you All My Children fans: ABC has announced that Mario Van Peebles (our second favorite Mario, after Lopez) will be joining the daytime drama’s cast starting January 29. The award-winning director, writer and actor brings more talent and credentials than are often seen on a soap, and will play Samuel Woods, a U.S. District Attorney who is running for the Senate. Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) takes special notice of Woods, primarily as a guest on her talk show. But he will soon become a nightmare — albeit one with romantic possibilities.

Luckily for Van Peebles, he was brought aboard too late to be asked to sing along with the other ABC soap stars on the A Love Affair CD.

Again, the models of Project Runway have the week off. How crappy it must be to get ‘eliminated’ for a week when you didn’t actually do anything.

Heidi does her usual “Good morning, designers” spiel and instead of the usual models coming onto the runway, a group of gawky teenagers in uniforms come trudging out. Heidi explains that the designers will be working with these teenagers to create their prom dresses. Christian is justifiably horrified at the idea. The other twist for this week is that the girls have gone through the designer’s portfolios and have selected who they will work with, instead of the other way around.

Ok, so if I were 16 again, and God-willing that bit of time travel will never happen, I would totally LOVE that a Project Runway designer was making my prom dress. How did the girls of St. John Vianney in Jersey rank to get such a sweet deal? Was there some sort of essay contest involved?

Chris wonders what poor girl picked him, given the fact that his portfolio is filled of pictures of him in drag. Let me tell you Chris, my 16-year-old theatre geek self would’ve picked you in a heartbeat. Put viking horns on me — let’s do it!

During this episode, we are also treated to pictures of the current crop of designers at their prom. Hilarious. Kevin is from Jersey & understands the whole Jersey prom scene — tanning beds and all. He promises to put a chastity belt in his creation.

Christian’s client has ‘designed’ before. She took a couple of classes, see, so she knows what she wants, to the point of taking the pencil out of Christian’s hand and starting to sketch something herself. She’s just as confident as he’s been, so their pairing gets interesting. We get to see Christian’s prom picture where he’s looking very Flock of Seagulls to me. He says he won best dressed. He probably felt fierce then, but he’s not feeling fierce now.

Kit was the prom princess at her prom. Ricky’s mom was a seamstress and made all of his sister’s prom dresses. Do I even need to tell you that he cries? This episode is high on the Ricky cry-o-meter.

Sweet P looked very sweet & 70′s at her prom and she lets us know that she’s not going home because she listened to a teenager. Good strategy, Sweet P. She also tells us that she too went to a Catholic high school, so she knows how wild these girls can get. So did I Sweet P, so did I.

The designers are about halfway through their allotted time when Tim says that he’s going to bring in the clients and their mothers to review what has been done so far. Personally, I would’ve thought dealing with the mothers would’ve been worse than dealing with the teenagers, but some designers are using the mother’s approval as a way to back up their designs and tone down the volume on the hootchie requested by their clients.

Chris asks his client’s mother what she thought of his portfolio, since the whole thing is him in drag. She had no idea it was him, but is laughing hysterically that she didn’t see it. Christian isn’t really talking to his client anymore, and she’s not happy. We may be witness to the first time that someone didn’t completely adore what Christian was creating and give him complete artistic license. It’s good for him, like cough syrup. I must say, in Christian’s defense, that most of his problem was probably his age. He’s only 4 years older than his client, which has got to be weird on some level.

Sweet P laments in the sewing room that she’s feeling really pressured as she’s been in the bottom two so many times. Chris reminds her that he’s actually been voted off the show, in case she needed some perspective on things.

Back in the design room, Kevin decides that he doesn’t want to hem his dress. Why, I’m not really sure. I mean, to me the end of the dress looked fine, but I have no idea what I’m looking at and I don’t have HD. Kevin is reminded by others that the judges are kind of into the whole finishing details thing, but he thinks it’ll be fine.

Ricky tells us that he made his girlfriend’s prom dress. He also states the obvious & says that should’ve been a clue. Oh, Ricky, there are girls among us who are the designated prom dates for the boys who are gay, or haven’t figured out yet are gay. It’s a service, you don’t have to thank us. We already knew.

It’s runway day and all the high school girls come running in! Squeal! Jillian looks like she’s like to wring every little neck she sees just to make the noise stop. Christian’s model keeps trying to walk away from him & get the shoes she wants. He’s trying to finish the dress while she does this. The dress is on her. I would’ve wanted to kill her too at this point.

Let’s start the show.

Man, models, I know from watching America’s Next Top Model that modeling isn’t the cakewalk of a job most think it is, and watching these girls, it shows. They’re stiff & gangly, but most of them look like they’re having fun. Most of the dresses, too, look pretty good, although Rami’s dress just looks like a green version of the silver dress he made in the first challenge.

Kit, Jillian and Chris have been given the pass this week — they’re safe to sew another day. Sweet P and Victorya get the most compliments. Sweet P’s dress is long & elegant while Victorya’s is bright & blue. I love the color of Victorya’s dress, but I hate the ‘no-shape-is-a-shape’ style dress. I mean, I’ve worked my butt off to lose weight & get fit. I don’t want a dress that starts to flare out right under my armpits, and I really wouldn’t have wanted that in high school. But that’s my hang-up.

Kevin gets slammed — his dress isn’t youthful enough & they totally catch the hem thing. They get to Christian & he immediately goes into how difficult his client was. With her standing next to him. Heidi says she actually liked the dress, but now that he’s opened his big mouth Nina calls him on ratting out his client.

Ricky says that the girl inside him would totally wear his dress. Isn’t that sweet? Ricky forgets that he is Latino and would look good in the light pink-peachy color. His pale client, however, looks a little washed out, and he gets called on that. Rami also gets the displeased judges as they tell him his dress is too sophisticated for a prom dress.

When the judges leave, Kevin’s dress is called the $29.95 prom dress. Ouch. That’s harsh. Like getting your prom dress from Deb.

Victorya wins with Sweet P a close second. I’m bummed Sweet P didn’t pull out a win, but I do like the color of Victorya’s dress. Ricky is also in, as is Rami which leaves Kevin & Christian in the bottom 2.

Kevin is slammed for being cheap & unflattering. Christian’s blaming the client is called inexcusable and now his construction is called poor too.

However, this is Project Runway, and cheap is one of the dirtiest C words on the show. Kevin, surprisingly, is out.

Next week, Tim has a special announcement for the designers. This announcement makes Christian want to throw up, and by the looks of the preview, I think we’re in store for another group project. These poor people — and we’re only about halfway to the final Bryant Park runway show…

Photos: © Bravo Credit: Barbara Nitke