If you’re a “Glee” fan and you were going through withdrawal this week, take heart. Next week’s episode “Wheels” is about as good as it gets. Artie (Kevin McHale, the kid in the wheelchair) feels left out of the group because he has to travel separately to sectionals. The team, however, decides to see what it’s like in his wheels. They each spend three hours a day in a chair and, sure enough, get a sense of his world. As the topper, they perform “Proud Mary” in the chairs and the number more than rolls on the river.
Also, Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Rachel (Lea Michele) are determined to sing “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked.” They have a diva-off and, yup, they’re both good.
And then? You also get some insight into the family life of Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch). She softens considerably and when you see why you’ll never look at her the same way again.
The episode, written by producer Ryan Murphy, is so good it should be must-see-TV in high schools.
So, set the DVR, next week, you gotta get your “Gleek” on. It’s that good.

I’m a big David Letterman fan, but the latest news — that he had sexual relations with several of his staff members — kinda makes you wonder: What was he thinking?

Letterman shared the information Thursday night as a way to shift the focus to an extortion plot. Apparently, he contacted officials and alerted them that someone was trying to get $2 million to keep the dalliances a secret.

OK, we understand the desire not to be pressured to pay $2 million. But back to the affairs: How can he truly make fun of others — like John Edwards, for example — when his own laundry is hardly clean?

It’ll be interesting to see how this shakes down. But, for now, it’s sad that someone who had so much going for him had to resort to something that would get most people fired.

Oh, that live television. You never know if Justin Timberlake is going to rip Janet Jackson’s bra or if Bono is going to let loose with a certain word.
Well, Bono was around Saturday night but he wasn’t the one who dropped the F-bomb. That honor went to Jenny Slate, a new member of the “Saturday Night Live” cast. She was in a skit called “Biker Chick Chat” and the whole premise was built around tough women using a substitute word for “the” word. Since the dialogue was fast, it seemed likely someone was going to slip. But censors should have used more than a five-second delay on a skit like that.
That, or network television should reconsider its rules about profanity. Considering basic cable drops certain words with abandon, it’s not an even playing field.
I’m not advocating that standards go out the window, just a cold hard look at what’s acceptable at various hours of the night.
Interestingly, Bono and his band were bleeped during a closing number. Do you suppose someone roused the censor just in time?

Cable cleaned up at the Emmys Sunday night — which could explain why the broadcast networks are so freaked about the low audience it attracts.

Even tons of clips featuring shows that weren’t nominated and appearances by just about every star on CBS didn’t tip the scales. Instead, in category after category, you could see basic cable folks taking home the hardware.

In the categories where you thought a recognizable name might win, he or she didn’t.

Thankfully, host Neil Patrick Harris had a fun opening number and ribbed Jon Cryer enough to make the Best Supporting Actor loss resonate. (How, by the way, can Cryer win a supporting prize when he’s clearly one of the show’s leads?)

Clumping the awards by category was a good idea. And giving writers and directors a chance to speak was great (even though the Academy tried to cut them out).

The best acceptance speech? Ken Howard thanking his organ donor.

Best attempt at looking shocked: Kristen Chenoweth for “Pushing Daisies.”

Local ties: Michael Emerson from “Lost” won Best Supporting Actor/Drama. He’s from Iowa. January Jones, one of the stars of “Mad Men,” is from Sioux Falls. Her show won Best Drama.

Ho hum? Too many repeaters.

Old school? A bunch of former movie stars got TV gigs and won Emmys: Jessica Lange, Glenn Close and Ellen Burstyn, among them.

Biggest slight? Jim Parsons should have gotten Best Actor/Comedy. Watch “The Big Bang Theory.” You’ll see.

Repeat winners: “Mad Men,” “30 Rock,” “Daily Show,” “Amazing Race.” Enough already.

Repeat performance winners: Glenn Close, Bryan Cranston, Alec Baldwin, Jeff Probst. Ditto.

NPH catchphrases: Nice. Intense.

Retro look: Kevin Bacon was rocking his “Footloose” hair.

Worst idea: A stupid web vote for “Breakthrough Performance of the Year.” Oy. It went to “True Blood.”

Funniest loser: Sarah Silverman who wore a fake mustache.

Dumb idea: Having the PC guy talk about the winners as they made their way to the podium. Stupid.

Best clip line: “Family Guy” on Steve Buscemi: “Every one of this teeth is in business for itself.”

Fashion trend: Nerd glasses. Simon Baker wore ‘em. So did Jessica Lange, Justin Timberlake, Michael J. Fox and Dana Delany. (Say it ain’t so…not Dana!)

Biggest waste: Having Justin Timberlake present instead of perform.

Grade? C. And that’s being generous.

Sunday, you can see your favorite stars sweat it out at the Emmy Awards. Because there’s such a screwy voting system, it’s impossible to spot trends or guess winners. Just when you think something like “Grey Gardens” is going to pull off a sweep, a one-nomination film slips in and gets the Best Made-for-TV Movie prize.

The likely winners:
Best Drama: “Mad Men”
Best Comedy: “30 Rock” (although “The Office” had a great year and “Family Guy” is a dark horse)
Best TV Movie: “Grey Gardens”
Best Variety Show: “Saturday Night Live”
Best Actor/Movie: Kevin Bacon, “Taking Chance”
Best Actress/Movie: Which one? Jessica Lange or Drew Barrymore? You be the judge. “Grey Gardens.”
Best Actor/Drama: Hugh Laurie, “House” (please, please, please)
Best Actress/Drama: Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men”
Best Actor/Comedy: Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”
Best Actress/Comedy: Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Best Supporting Actor/Drama: Aaron Paul, “Breaking Bad”
Best Supporting Actress/Drama: Chandra Wilson, “Grey’s Anatomy”
Best Supporting Actor/Comedy: Neil Patrick Harris, “How I Met Your Mother”
Best Supporting Actress/Comedy: Amy Poehler, “Saturday Night Live”
Best Reality Show: It’s probably going to go to “Amazing Race,” AGAIN. But “American Idol” deserves to win sometime. And, besides, wouldn’t you like to see Paula Abdul get up there with her old peeps?

Move over, Barbara Walters.

Jay Leno is edging into your territory. On the first edition of “The Jay Leno Show,” the late-night host got rapper Kanye West to shut up for a few seconds while he considered what his mother might think of his behavior Sunday night at the MTV Video Music Awards. The moment wasn’t as electric as the one that inspired it (West jumped on stage when Taylor Swift was accepting the Best Female Video  prize and said Beyonce was robbed), but it did show the arrogant musician had a vulnerable side…and almost got him to cry.

After what seemed like a rehearsed apology to Swift (expect a duet in six months), West performed with Jay-Z and Rihanna. The number was good, suggesting Leno could be the new Ed Sullivan. But an earlier interview with Jerry Seinfeld seemed forced. Neither got many laughs but Seinfeld did play the “star” card by talking to Oprah via satellite (Jay said he tried to book her as the first guest but couldn’t get her). Seinfeld’s best nudge: “In the ’90s when we quit a show, we actually left.”

Leno and Seinfeld did the interview from two hotel chairs on a set that looked like the front of a New York Hugo Boss store.

He had trappings from his old “Tonight Show” — headlines, Kevin Eubanks and one of those cut-and-paste interviews (with Barack Obama). But he also had singer Dan Finnerty do some original music. Finnerty sang at a car wash and, considering the stuff that used to litter Leno’s late night, the bit wasn’t bad.

What can we make of this new gig? It’s a faster-paced show but the interviews are still sluggish (Jay isn’t good at conversation). The monologue is fine (and shorter, thank you). And the show’s prime time location has the ability to net the biggest guests in the business.

But the first night out? It wasn’t revolutionary. If there’s a good scripted show on another channel, expect it to win the battle. This is a hit-or-miss proposition that depends entirely on the wattage of the guests.

Jay works in prime time. But to keep an audience he just might have to work a little harder.

Sarah Palin, take a bow. You brought Tina Fey yet another Emmy.

Fey won Best Guest Performance in a Comedy for her surprise appearances as the vice presidential candidate on “Saturday Night Live.”

Justin Timberlake won the matching prize for his hosting chores on the same show.

They were two of the “creative craft” award winners honored Saturday in advance of next week’s “real” Emmys.

Also winning acting prizes:

Ellen Burstyn for “Law and Order,” Michael J. Fox for “Rescue Me” and Dan Castellaneta for Best Voice-Over for his work as Homer Simpson on “The Simpsons.”

Wow, you can tell daytime television is like sands through the hourglass. Sunday’s Emmy Awards show was so low-rent it was practically ghetto. Worse yet? Very few winners were there. The “Good Morning America” folks? Absent. “The View” women? Absent. Meredith Vieira? Gone.
Thankfully, the folks from “Sesame Street” showed up for a 40th anniversary tribute. And Rachael Ray was there to win Best Talk Show (over Ellen DeGeneres, who sat in the audience looking upset that she was going home with nothing). “Cash Cab” won Best Game Show (say what?) and “The Bold and the Beautiful” finally pulled out a Best Daytime Drama win. But, really, this show belonged on cable. Vanessa Williams hosted (badly) and sang so many numbers you kind of expected the audience to be holding drinks. In a couple of weeks the “real” Emmys will be dished out. We can only hope the show — and the winners — will be a little stronger.
This wasn’t even as good as the CableAce awards.

If you just can’t stop the feelin’ (and after spring’s preview, who can?), you’ve gotta see the new comedy “Glee.”

It’s available on Hulu.com (check this out) http://www.hulu.com/watch/73740/glee-pilot

And, there’s a Web site filled with “Glee” stuff (check this one) http://www.fox.com/glee

Then, check A&E Friday for stories about the series. It’s one of the best of the fall.

Trust me. And get your Glee-k on.

“Grey’s Anatomy” star Eric Dane has turned up on the Internet with a not-so-McSteamy nude tape that also features his wife (actress Rebecca Gayheart) and a former beauty queen (Kari Ann Peniche). Unlike the work of, say, Colin Farrell, it’s pretty bland stuff and it shows that Dane won’t be a director any time soon. (Gayheart won’t be winning any plumbing scholarships, either. She can’t figure out how to turn on a Jacuzzi.) The film is tame by celebrity sex scandal standards, but it’s out there.
Now the big question is — who leaked it? Could it be Peniche? Or does someone else need a little publicity boost?
Note to celebrities: Don’t make films you don’t want everyone to see. Eventually, they’ll make it to the Internet whether you want them to or not.