Lohan, despite her best “efforts,” to behave lately, has been no stranger to trouble. In the last few weeks, Lohan has been accused of attacking a woman in a nightclub and hitting someone with her car. Her much anticipated appearance on “Saturday Night Live” turned out to be more of an embarrassment than a comeback. She was recently chosen to play the coveted role of Elizabeth Taylor in a Lifetime movie… but that was much to the dismay of Elizabeth Taylor fans around the world.

And of course, who can forget all of her snarls along the way: drugs, DUIs, theft… the list goes on.

Yet Lindsay Lohan will be yukking it up with some of the most prestigious people in the world, including our president. Now, assuming Lohan is, in fact, a legitimately approved guest, and not just trying to stage a Salahi-style party crash, this dinner has disaster written all over it.

Oddly, this isn’t the first time van Susteren has brought an unlikely celebrity guest. In 2010, she invited Kim Kardashian to come with her to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, according to CNN.

We can’t help but wonder whether this is some sort of ploy on the part of FOX News. Is the network hoping Lohan will pull something completely outrageous (you know, like the time David Cross snorted cocaine mere feet away from President Obama), so they can be the first to break the story? If that’s the case, we must declare… this… could… be… genius.

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On Fox Business Network show, Dobbs asserted that The Lorax, adapted from a Dr. Seuss’ book, and Disney movie The Secret World of Arriety, based on Mary Norton’s series “The Borrowers,” are both politically charged with a liberal agenda.

He accused the new films of being part of Hollywood’s attempt to “indoctrinate our children.”

Dobbs went on to say that both films plainly demonize the 1% and are “espousing the virtue of green energy policies.”

In “The Lorax,” creatures like the brown barbaloots and hummingfish are losing their homes — truffula trees — to deforestation. “The Secret World of Arriety” is an anime movie about a community of miniature people who “borrow” necessities like food and soap from humans to survive.

Dobbs argued that the movies are essentially reflections of the messages of Occupy Wall Street and President Obama’s push that each American gets a “fair share.”

He accuses Obama’s “liberal friends in Hollywood” of targeting a younger demographic using animated movies to sell their agenda to children.

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The episode, titled “At Long Last Leave,” will find the Simpsons driven out of their beloved hometown of Springfield when their fellow neighbors finally give them the boot. They Simpsons join a community from the other side of the tracks and make an unsuccessful attempt to return to Springfield. Look for a cameo from Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, as himself. A special feature song by Alison Krauss will also be included.

We’ve rounded up a few classic “Simpsons” moments from the past 499 episodes. Did we leave out any of your favorites?

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Fox announced on Wednesday that the long-running medical drama starring Hugh Laurie as a brilliant, curmudgeonly doctor will end after this season.

“After much deliberation, the producers of ‘House M.D.’ have decided that this season of the show, the eighth, should be the last,” executive producers David Shore, Katie Jacobs and Hugh Laurie said in a statement. “By April this year they will have completed 177 episodes, which is about 175 more than anyone expected back in 2004. The decision to end the show now, or ever, is a painful one … but now that time is drawing to a close.”

The drama continues to draw an average of 9.8 million viewers, but cost is certainly a factor in the decision to end the series.

“The producers have always imagined House as an enigmatic creature; he should never be the last one to leave the party,” the producers’ statement continues. “How much better to disappear before the music stops, while there is still some promise and mystique in the air.” 

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Walter believes his gift as a “finder” is, in no small part, due to brain damage he suffered in an explosion while serving in the Army Military Police, which also left him with little in the way of etiquette. “It’s a great story engine for us to have a lead character who is never held back by social constraints,” series creator Hart Hanson said while promoting the show at the Television Critics Association in Pasadena, Calif., on Sunday. “He says what he thinks. He blurts. He’s insulting.
Sometimes he will shriek when he sees things, and other times he will attack a hit man. It depends on how threatened he feels and how much he’s understanding what’s happening around him.”

Finding the right leading man to take on Walter’s quirky tendencies wasn’t an easy task, Hanson said — this definitely isn’t your straight-ahead, “CSI”-type detective. It’s hard to find “a guy as handsome as Geoff Stults who is willing to be a goof,” the producer said.

But Stults demurred the compliment, relishing in Walter’s offbeat ways. “The thing that drew me to the character and the show … was they created a character where a leading man can be quirky,” Stults said. “I love that Walter doesn’t take himself seriously.”

“The Finder” and his sidekicks

Walter doesn’t work alone in his quest to find what is lost. His team includes legal advisor Leo (Michael Clarke Duncan) and Isabel (Mercedes Masohn), his girlfriend who happens to be a Deputy U.S. Marshal. Both are concerned about Walter’s health and unbridled passion for the hunt.
   
“One thing that Leo and Isabel agree upon when it comes to Walter’s condition is that if he doesn’t find something, it could either kill him or put him in the loony bin,” said Hanson. “How to deal with that, they differ on. Leo says, ‘We have to help him find everything, and we can’t let him take any jobs where it’s impossible.’ Isabel would prefer that he went and got proper help.”
 
For more updates from TCA, follow Amber Ray on Twitter @amberatmetro

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Yesterday, the NYCLU filed a suit against the NCPD for what they say is unlawful censorship of public records.

The NYCLU filed the suit on behalf of Gawker reporter John Cook, who requested, among other things, the record for an internal investigation into the detective, as well as records of all call logs and correspondence between O’Reilly and former NCPD Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey.

The NCPD refused Cook’s Freedom of Information Law request to review police files, saying the documents were “personnel records” and therefore exempt from public scrutiny.

But the NYCLU is not buying it. “This type of secrecy is unacceptable,” said NYCLU Senior Staff Attorney Corey Stoughton. “The public has a right to know how government agencies use taxpayer dollars.”

The NYCLU will take their case to court tomorrow and ask that the records be released.

“The public has every right to know how the NCPD spends scarce law enforcement resources,” said Samantha Fredrickson, director of the NYCLU’s Nassau County chapter.

Police deny connection

Former NCPD Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey, who retired on April 1 of last year, told Gawker that O’Reilly never asked him for a personal favor.

“I was never contacted by Bill O’Reilly or anyone associated with him and asked to launch an investigation,” Mulvey told the website.

A spokeswoman for O’Reilly refused to comment on the matter when asked by Metro.
 

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyatMetro.

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“‘Idol’ is still the best TV show of its kind anywhere,” judge Randy Jackson said while promoting Season 11 at the Television Critics Association press tour on Sunday. “We kind of invented this whole game that everybody is now copying.”

Jackson was referring in large part to “The X Factor,” the vocal competition former “Idol” judge Simon Cowell brought to Fox. Before its premiere, Cowell boasted that “The X Factor” would topple “Idol” from its perch as the most-watched series in America. In reality, it drew about half the audience of “Idol.”

Why the lopsided success? “This is the show that produces the stars,” says “Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick. “There’s no other series … that has produced anything like the number of stars we have.”

Jackson saved even harsher words for the contestants of “The Voice,” which proved to be a hit for NBC, by calling them “second-chance people” since the 2011 winner, Javier Colon, had a failed contract with Capitol Records before appearing on the contest.

But not everyone associated with “Idol” views the crowded field of singing competitions as a bad thing. “It’s a more competitive marketplace, but in the end competition is good,” said “Idol” executive producer Cecile Frot Coutaz. In that spirit, “Idol” will change the format, featuring performance challenges that include a song from the late 1950s and a round stripping songs down to one voice, one instrument.

That still might not be enough for the show to sustain its track record. “I expect ‘Idol’ will be down [in ratings] this season,” Fox President of Entertainment Kevin Reilly said, “but mostly due to the fact it’s going to be an 11-year-old show.”

Seacrest out?

Rumors have been circulating that Ryan Seacrest, in the last year of his “American Idol” contract, may ditch the hosting gig to move over to the “Today” show on NBC (he already has a deal with NBC Universal). But Seacrest said he “can’t imagine life without the show.” “At this point, honestly, I only see myself as hosting ‘American Idol,’” he said. “I’m focused on that for this season.”

For more TCA updates follow Amber Ray on Twitter @amberatmetro

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The fight marks UFC’s debut on network television.

“This is a throw-back to the old days of boxing. We are putting a big fight — a huge fight — on free TV to expose this thing to a new audience. Our goal has always been to bring big fights back to network television. We are thinking long-term for the future of this sport,” UFC president Dana White said in recent conference call with Velasquez and Dos Santos. “It is an investment in the future of the UFC. Fans that have never seen the UFC before will see this show and that’s why we decided to put Cain and Junior in this position.”

Despite it being a 10-fight card, the only fight that will be aired on the hour-long show will be for the heavyweight title. White explained that UFC will conduct locker room interviews with Velasquez and Dos Santos before the fight. Traditionally, UFC has cameras in the locker room as fighters prepare for their bouts, but the interview packages have been pre-recorded.

“This is going to be a different format than we’ve ever done before. Obviously this is a show featuring one fight so we’re doing a lot of things differently. We are going to be rehearsing for this from Thursday,” White said.

Velasquez, the reigning UFC heavyweight champion, is 9-0-0 in his MMA career. Eight of his nine wins have come by TKO, including a first-round devastation of then-champ Brock Lesnar at UFC 121. Velasquez’s lone non-TKO win was a unanimous decision over Cheick Kongo at UFC 99.  

Dos Santos has won 13 of his 14 professional fights. He has won three fights via submission, two unanimous decisions and eight TKOs. Dos Santos’ only loss was a first round submission to Joaquim Ferriera in the Mo Team League in San Paulo, Brazil, on Nov. 10, 2007.

“I don’t think this fight will go five rounds. I have trained for five rounds, but I don’t expect this to do the distance,” Dos Santos said.

“It was such a long wait for my title shot, but I am not sorry. This, right now, is the greatest opportunity I could have had, fighting for the world heavyweight title live on FOX for the very first time,” Dos Santos added. “I’m very happy in my life right now. I’m in such a good place mentally and physically. I’m proof that if you work hard, treat people right and don’t doubt yourself, you can achieve your dreams. I genuinely believe that Cain is the greatest heavyweight in the world and it is an honor to fight him.”

Dos Santos and Lesnar were scheduled to meet at UFC 131 at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena in June to determine the top contender for the heavyweight title. Both men had been coaches on 13th season of the Spike TV show The Ultimate Fighter. However, Lesnar suffered a re-occurrence of diverculitis and had to be replaced in the main event by former UFC interim Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin. Dos Santos decisively won a three-round unanimous decision over Carwin.

Lesnar will fight Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 on Dec. 30 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The fight is Overeem’s UFC debut and will be Lesnar’s first fight since losing to Velasquez. 

Follow Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

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The women could be sisters. At a press event before the show’s premiere, the pair both dress in a sophisticated-cool, “oh, I just found this at the vintage shop” style, exchanging rapid-fire compliments that make the other equally excited and adorably embarrassed.

“Liz and I are, like, connected. So when your souls are connected, you’re meant to do a show together,” Deschanel says.

“I didn’t think I could, you know, find somebody that’s as weird as I am,” Meriwether interjects. “The first time that she came in [to audition], the second she opened her mouth, everybody was, like, ‘This is a perfect match of character and actress.’”

“When I read it,” Deschanel adds, not missing a beat, “I was like, ‘I obviously need to play this part. This is me.’ I mean, not actually me, but it is a part of me, a secret part. … And if there’s any character I want to play forever and ever and ever, it’s this one. High five, Liz.”

“Ah, I’m going to cry,” Meriwether answers.

With a song in her heart:?Why Jess can’t stop singing

Zooey Deschanel’s other gig is as one half of the band She & Him (she sings and plays piano and ukulele). Music plays a big part in “New Girl” — the theme to “Dirty Dancing” is featured in the pilot episode, and Jess often breaks out into little ditties. But don’t expect to see Jess auditioning for an “X Factor”-like show in an upcoming episode.

“Jess is not a singer because she … thinks she’s, like, a great singer,” Deschanel explains. “It’s just part of how she expresses herself.”

“She sings when she doesn’t know what to say,” series creator Liz Meriwether adds. “We kind of play with it, like she likes to sing in different styles depending upon her mood and the moment.”

Examples? “Ethel Merman, a little jazz standard, a little heavy metal,” Deschanel hints.

The plot

Zooey Deschanel plays Jess, a smart, goofy girl who moves in with three guys after a bad breakup. The men welcome their new roomie in a little sister kind of way, trying to help her tone down her dorky tendencies and get back in the dating game.
   
“[Jess is] someone who expresses her emotions all the time … which I think is a really great contrast with the other characters, who are less in touch with their emotions,” Deschanel says. “A lot of the comedy comes out of that juxtaposition.”

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“We got a visual effects team together that has literally created new technologies to make it possible,” executive producer Brannon Braga says of the effort required to make dinos come to life week-to-week on the small screen.

“A lot of visual effects houses that were approached about the project said, ‘Can’t be done. Not on time, not on the schedule you’re looking for, no matter how much money you have,’” adds executive producer Rene Echevarria. “Even five years ago, this show would not have been possible.”

The pair credits advances in motion capture and new software for the effects wizardry. They’ve also got Steven Spielberg — who wowed audiences with cutting-edge special effects in “Jurassic Park” — on board as a producer. Remember those Velociraptors? Just wait ‘til you meet the Acceraptor terrorizing Terra Nova.

“The Slashers [the colonists’ nickname for Acceraptors] that you see in hour two are spectacular,” promises Echevarria. “They really do represent the latest paleontological thinking of what dinosaurs might have actually looked like. And you’ve never seen anything like them.”

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The UFC and FOX officially announced a seven-year television deal, putting regular events on broadcast TV for the first time — as well as lining the promotion’s pockets with a reported $90
million a year.

White, who’s never been shy about his aspirations of making mixed martial arts “the biggest sport in the world,” called it “the pinnacle.”

“This was it for me,” White said in an afternoon press conference at FOX Sports’ studios. “This is what I always wanted. This is what I always felt was the pinnacle for us here in the United States.”

Later, he told Metro the UFC won’t be shy about putting its top stars on the broadcast television cards. He wouldn’t rule out using heavyweight Brock Lesnar, probably the promotion’s No. 1 pay-per-view draw.

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“I remember coming out of my hotel room and seeing my face on the cover of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and USA Today,” Williams says. “I was thinking, ‘What did I do? Did I kill somebody?’”

What he did was to admit feeling nervous when he saw people dressed in Muslim garb at airports in the aftermath of 9/11. Despite going on to say that no one, regardless of religion, should be discriminated against, it was that comment that made headlines and led to his being fired from NPR.
That experience serves as the basis for his new book, “Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate.”

The book traces the stifling effect of political correctness and the insistence on clinging to extreme positions by figures on both the left and the right. “The middle has to reassert itself,” he offers as a solution. “People have to say, ‘I’m not afraid to speak my mind. I’m not going to be intimidated or bullied by those who tell me to stand in line and obey their orthodoxy.’ Honest debate is the first step toward honest ideas and good solutions for the betterment of our country.”

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Though pickups of Fox pilots, including the Zooey Deschanel-led sitcom “New Girl” and J.J. Abrams thriller “Alcatraz,” were leaked last week, the confirmed schedule announced yesterday includes a total of four new comedies, three new dramas and the most anticipated new unscripted series of the year, Simon Cowell’s “The X Factor.”

NBC is adding 12 new series next season: six dramas, including an adaptation of John Grisham’s “The Firm”; and six comedies, including “Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea,” inspired by the Chelsea Handler book.

For full coverage of the Fox and NBC schedules, video previews and all the broadcast networks’ upfront announcements, read Amber’s blog, TV Picks.

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