A Los Angeles woman kept it a secret from her husband for more than four months that she is smarter than a 5th grader, and more than that, she won $250,000 on a game show by proving how smart she is.

Elizabeth Deister taped an appearance earlier this year on “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” and she planned to watch it at home with her husband on Monday, when it aired on television. But those plans were interrupted and the Deisters were not going to get a chance to watch the broadcast, because it will be preempted by a telecast of the Los Angeles Dodgers versus Philadephia Phillies baseball playoff game.

So Deister did what any sensible woman would do. She invited a TV news crew into her house on Monday, and had them show her husband’s reaction live on the Fox “Good Day L.A.” morning newscast, as the couple watched a DVD copy of her appearance on the game show. Sure enough, he hollered when he saw her win. Watch a video of that moment from “Good Day L.A.” here.

“I thought it would be so much more exciting to have him watch it than to tell him,” Deister told the TV news reporter.

To win $250,000, Deister answered 10 questions in a row, and got the bonus question, “In 1804, an army composed mainly of former slaves defeated their colonial masters to form what modern Caribbean country?” The answer: Haiti.

Well, she did much better than this former contestant on the show who when asked by host Jeff Foxworthy which European country has its capital in Budapest said, “This may be a stupid question, but I thought Europe was a country.”

With episodes like that, it might not be long before the following show comes to a TV network across the pond, “Are You Smarter than an American?”

What's that? Jay Leno is moving to prime-time? You don't say!

Frankly, it's hard to remember the last time there was such hubbub about a TV show. It was, after all, the cover story in Time magazine. Not to be outdone, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, AP, and probably every local news outlet between New York and Hollywood had a story about the talk show host -- more often than not raising the question of whether he's going to save network TV.

(You've got to give it to the public-relations machine on this one. They really worked the story. Of course, their spinning was augmented by a huge marketing effort. Stuart Elliott of the New York Times today estimated that NBC put out more than $10 million in promoting the show).

But there is more to the fall TV season than Jay Leno. The media buyers and planners over at  RPA offer a useful road map to the season in a recent report.

Their take on the fall season is fairly upbeat (maybe network TV doesn't really need Leno to save it).

"For the first time in two years, network fortunes will not be held hostage to the industry's labor problems, but will be determined, as they used to be, by content quality and scheduling... Based on what we've seen, the overall quality of that content looks better than it has in the past two seasons," the report says.

Here, according to RPA, are some things to keep in mind heading into the season:

• The five broadcast networks will debut 21 shows, accounting for 22 percent of scheduling hours.

• Dramas and dramedies (a mix of comedy and drama) will increase from 43 percent to 48 percent of the schedule's hours. Comedies will rise from 10 percent to 17 percent.

• Not a single new fall show is a foreign co-production (which had been looking like a trend until now).

• Medicine is hot, with three hospital dramas debuting this fall and a fourth starting midseason ("Trauma," "Mercy", "Three Rivers," and "Miami Trauma").

• Paranormal is big, too. Four new shows built around that theme will land this fall ("V," "Eastwick," "Flash Forward," and "Vampire Diaries").

Oh, and Jay Leno is moving to prime-time.

It is fitting for director James Cameron that 20th Century Fox is pulling out all the stops to promote his new 3-D, effects-filled spectacle of a movie, “Avatar,” which will land in theaters on December 18. After all, Fox released Cameron’s “Titanic,” and 12 years after its release it continues to be the highest-grossing movie of all time with $1.8 billion in global ticket sales. Nothing else even comes close.

But Cameron hasn’t made a big-budget Hollywood flick since “Titanic,” so “Avatar” comes with some risk. To mitigate the possibilty of a big ol’ box office dud, Fox is promoting the heck out of “Avatar.” It was featured at the recent Comic-Con event in San Diego and on Monday, Fox said it is holding a worldwide “first look” day for “Avatar” anticipators on Friday, Aug. 21. That’s this coming Friday.

Fox will debut the movie’s promotional trailer’s in theaters around the world, and in some Imax and other venues equipped for 3D, Fox will show select scenes from the film in three dimensions.  The trailer will be in all formats and can be seen online. An upcoming video game and toy action figures will be unveiled, too. It’s an “Avatar” extravaganza – Fox style.

The studio describes the film by saying: “Avatar takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization.”

Fans can reserve tickets to the big day at http:www.avatarmovie.com. And if you’re lucky enough to get one, tell us what you think of the film clips. We’re dying to know what Cameron has cooked up, too.

It was a night of celebration and tears at the Kodak Theater as contemporary performer Jeanine Mason was crowned “America’s Favorite Dancer” on season five of Fox’s summer hit  “So You Think You Can Dance.”

“I never ever imagined this,” the 18-year-old said following the announcement, adding she never thought she would be giving an acceptance speech on the same stage that hosts the Academy Awards.

More than 3,000 screaming dance enthusiasts packed inside the iconic Hollywood theater to hear the fate of the final four — Mason, Evan Kasprzak, Kayla Radomski and Brandon Bryant – after what was the largest vote in the show’s history.

Judge Mary Murphy and executive producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe were joined by a full panel of guest judges including film producer Adam Shankman, krump master Lil C and dance legend Debbie Allen.

“I was absolutely delighted and I think it is justly deserved,” Lythgoe said of Mason’s win, which he said he learned of early Thursday afternoon.

But before the confetti and standing ovation, the finale revisited the judges’ favorite performances from this season, including the energetic Bollywood number “Jai Ho,” performed by Jason Glover and Caitlin Kinney, the “Butt Dance,” performed by Randi Evans and Kasprzak, and a Matrix-inspired Paso Doble, performed by Mason and first-runner up Bryant.

Special guests took to the stage, including Talia Fowler — the winner of “So You Think You Can Dance Australia” — and the junior dance troupe Rage Boyz Crew.  The judges themselves couldn’t resist the draw of the bright lights either as they donned white top hats and tails for a surprise appearance at the end of a top-eight performance of “One” from the iconic musical “A Chorus Line.”

“Dark horse” Mason faced a tight race on Wednesday night’s performance show, which was a feast for dance lovers as choreographers Mia Michaels, Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin, Tyce Diorio and Sonya Tayeh challenged the finalists to reach new heights for the $250,000 prize and the coveted title.

Mason and Kasprzak were the first couple to take the stage with a performance inspired by a woman who has fallen out of love. “I never saw Janine coming and you have dominated week after week,” Shankman said, “I so underestimated you and I will never forgive myself.”

Bryant, who began dancing at the age of seven, continued to wow the judges with his power and intensity. “You’re an extreme dancer. You’re like a super athlete,” Shankman said after he performed his final solo of the competition.  “You are athletic, you are dynamic, you defy gravity at times,” Murphy said, adding the 19-year-old was born to dance.

Despite making it to the final four, Kasprzak couldn’t shake the criticism dished out by the judges, who chided him for his natural sweetness and lovable face. “You have the character but it felt like a character,” Shankman said of the “Nasty” number where Kasprzak found himself dueling against Bryant. In retaliation, the entire Kodak Theater erupted in applause and chanted “Evan” in support of the short man who dances large.

Radomski, a darling of the judges from her audition straight through to the finale, continued to inspire a flood of compliments for her work.  Lythgoe compared the statuesque blond to a “thoroughbred” after the Mia Michaels number she performed with Mason. “There have been some of the best dancers I have ever seen of my life on this show, Travis Wall, Will, Danny, and Kayla you just joined them in that little special club,” Shankman said after she performed her final solo.

With tens of millions of votes tallied, do you think America got it right? Itching for more dance and a chance to have your say?  Stayed tuned for Season Six, which begins on Sept. 2.

Captions: (Top Left) Jeanine Mason, 18, is a contemporary dancer from Pinecrest, FL. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Mike Ruiz/FOX
(Center Right) Judges Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Mike Ruiz/FOX
(Bottom Center) “So You Think You Can Dance” host Cat Deeley ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Mike Ruiz/FOX

A year ago, the big story around Emmy nominations was the acclaim showered on cable programs like "Mad Men" and "Damages." A quick glance at today's nominations indicates little has changed.

Just look at the best drama category, where Fox's "House" and ABC's "Lost" will face stiff competition from cable's "Big Love" (HBO), "Mad Men" (AMC), "Damages" (FX), and "Breaking Bad" (AMC).

While the Emmy awards aren't everything -- ratings are still the holy grail -- they certainly don't hurt. Particularly when it comes to cable networks, which have built a reputation for developing more sophisticated, bolder programs than the broadcast counterparts.

While ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox are under heavy pressure from advertisers (and their corporate parents) to show immediate results, the cable networks can take more care with their programs. After all, they draw some revenue from carriage deals and subscriptions, which buys shows like "Breaking Bad" some time to develop.

That seems to be paying dividends -- and not only when it comes to awards. While broadcast TV advertising rates are still at a sizable premium to cable, most advertising executives say the gap is shrinking. Couple that with carriage fees and a generally lower cost structure and you see why TV executives like NBC Universal's Jeff Zucker spend so much time talking up their cable assets.

Keep an eye on:

• Google will be under the spotlight when it reports second quarter earnings later today. How much of a toll has the downturn in advertising and the competition from Microsoft taken on the web leader? (Reuters)

• Speaking of Microsoft, its share of the U.S. market increased in June as it rolled out Bing (Reuters). And its not just focussed on search and Google -- the company plans to open some retail stores "right next door" to those of Apple Inc. (Reuters)

• Don't get too comfortable watching your favorite TV show on the web with only a few commercials. Media companies are pressing ahead with plans to put more ads in web videos. (Wall Street Journal)

The lovelorn vampires of “Twilight” will vie for top honors at the Teen Choice Awards on Aug. 9 with the singing stars of “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.”

“Twilight” garnered 12 nominations, ahead of 10 for “High School Musical 3.” Miley Cyrus and the teen soap “Gossip Girl” also scored 10 each, while event hosts the Jonas Brothers snagged nine.

The ceremony will be held at the Gibson Amphithreatre near Hollywood, and will be broadcast on Fox the next day. Fans aged 13 to 19 can each vote once daily for their top picks at teenchoiceawards.com.

“Twilight” stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were respectively nominated for choice movie actor and actress in the drama category. The film’s other nods included choice movie in both the drama and romance catgories. Taylor Lautner, Nikki Reed and Ashley Greene will compete for fresh face awards, and Cam Gigandet for the villain award.

The only head-to-head competition between “Twilight” and “High School Musical 3″ in the movie category was in the liplock category: Stewart and Pattinson vs. Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron. Cyrus was also nominated, along with her “Hannah Montana 3″ co-star Lucas Till.

Efron was also nominated for choice movie actor in the music/dance category, alongside co-star Corbin Bleu. Till and “Hannah Montana” co-star Jason Earles will also compete. In the actress race, Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale were up against Cyrus. Cyrus also picked up nominations in the TV and music races, and in random races such as choice female hottie.

Actor David Carradine, who police said on Thursday was found hanged in his Bangkok hotel room, is best known for playing Shaolin martial arts master Caine in the 1970s television series  “Kung Fu,” but he had shining moments in a number of more artistically challenging projects, such as the 1976 movie  “Bound for Glory” that saw him play folk legend Woody Guthrie and as an expatriate American watching Germany go fascist in the 1977 film  “The Serpent’s Egg”.

Reviewing “Bound for Glory,” film critic Roger Ebert of newspaper the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, “David Carradine’s performance as Guthrie finds just the right balance between his pride and innate simplicity.”

Film website IMDB says Carradine was the only actor ever to have appeared in films directed by Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Quentin Tarantino, a trio of acclaimed directors with very different perspectives. Carradine played a drunk in Scorsese’s 1973 “Mean Streets,” Bergman directed him in “The Serpent’s Egg” and he was the title character in Tarantino’s 2003 movie “Kill Bill: Vol. 1″ and the 2004 follow-up “Kill Bill: Vol. 2.” 

But after his 1970s rise to fame, Carradine faded from view, appearing in a number of low-budget productions but always staying on the screen. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly magazine in 2004, he described himself as a “renegade” in the movie industry who had suffered from a bad reputation. Tarantino put Carradine in the spotlight again, first with a flattering mention in his 1994 movie “Pulp Fiction,” when Samuel L. Jackson’s character talked about planning to “walk the earth … like Caine in ‘Kung Fu.’” Then came the roles in Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” movies.

By that point, Carradine had starred in more than 100 films. Many of them had gone straight to video. But Carradine said in an interview with British newspaper The Independent that Tarantino told him he had seen nearly all of the actor’s movies. “He was lying, but he’s certainly seen a bunch of them,” Carradine wryly added.

Here’s the update. Carradine on Tuesday will guest star in the television drama “Mental” on U.S. network Fox. Carradine plays a famous professor who was struck by lightning and fell into a catatonic state, in the episode taped a year ago.

In the high stakes battle over piracy in Hollywood, a Fox News columnist lost his job on Monday after he reviewed a pirated copy of the upcoming movie “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” Roger Friedman is a big name in Hollywood entertainment news, but media reports say that fact did not protect his job when his corporate colleagues at 20th Century Fox called for his head, nor did it help that Friedman wrote a positive review of the movie (which has since been removed from the Fox website).

The New York Daily News reports that an estimated 75,000 people have downloaded the free, illegal copy of “Wolverine,” which stars Hugh Jackman, and the studio is concerned that the high interest in the film online could slash its box office appeal. But no one is saying that Friedman leaked the movie, he just reviewed it. In that sense, was his punishment too harsh?

The case is interesting because it illustrates how high the stakes are for piracy in Hollywood. As in past piracy cases, the studio has enlisted the help of the FBI, which is investigating the leak. This comes as federal lawmakers consider ratcheting up the pressure on movie pirates. On Monday in Los Angeles, members of the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing in Los Angeles, where eager entertainment industry executives and filmmakers called for harsher penalties to prevent piracy, trade paper Variety reported. ”Che” director Steven Soderbergh told the congressional committee that showbiz types like himself should be “deputized” to track down pirates on their own. What would socialist revolutionary Che Guevara think?

With Hollywood increasingly flexing its muscles to go after movie pirates, Friedman is one of many in the future who will be forced to walk the plank.