SueTube – Let’s talk TV with critic Susan Young

You would have thought journalists would pounce on the chance to ask Anne “I think I’m an alien” Heche if she was a bit more grounded these days.

Instead, when Heche showed up at the summer TV press tour to pump up interest in her ABC series “Men in Trees,” there was more curiosity in raccoons.

The series, with Heche as a self-help guru who just got dumped by her boyfriend after she arrives for a gig in Alaska, has a lot of wildlife.

Turns out the raccoon Elvis has a dog as a stunt double. And he sleeps at night. And they wake him up to go to work.

Finally, a reporter stumbled out a question about her mentally unstable past, saying something like is she now…

“Sane?” asked Heche.

Heche says she’s now very blessed, although she still has some quirks. Like covering her ears and do the LA-LA-LA whenever anyone asked about where the series was going.

“Anne doesn’t want to hear about what’s happening in the future,” explained creator Jenny Bicks, like this was perfectly reasonable behavior.

Later, when asked if anyone could relate to Heche’s character, she quipped, “Clearly, I never used a life coach.”

“Lost” producer Bryan Burk doesn’t want you to think of this coming fall season of “Lost” as season 3.

“It’s more like ‘Lost’ 2.5,” Burk says. “This fall is like a miniseries, then in the spring you’ll have season three.”

ABC announced today that the series would be coming back for only six episodes on Oct. 4, then do a “Sopranos” disappearance until 2007.

Taking the “Lost” slot will be a “Groundhog Day”-like drama starring Taye Diggs as a guy reliving each day while trying to prevent his girlfriend from being murdered in “Day Break.”

Then “Lost” comes back for a spring run that would not include any reruns.

“There’s going to be more romance on the series this season,” promises ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson. “The only note I give that show is character-character-character because I believe that’s what brings people back.”

Burk says to expect more issues addressed and, of course, what the heck becomes of Sawyer, Jack and Kate left in the hands of The Others and the tribe back home trying to cope without their leader Jack.

And let’s not forget those guys sitting in the artic monitoring some activity.

“Yeah. What’s up with that?” says Burk.

Well, at least we know where the polar bear came from.

“Gilmore Girls” has a new producer since the exit of creator Amy Sherman Palladino and her husband Daniel.

And David S. Rosenthal has a rather shaky past.

Six years ago, the former “Spin City” writer fixated on Heidi Klum after the model appeared on the series as a guest. He left his wife and began obsessing about having sex with Klum. He even wrote a profane play “Love” about it all.

When his rabbi dad read the play, he had his son committed to a mental hospital.

So now Rosenthal is the showrunner for a series about the close relationship between mother and daughter.

Great.

When asked during a press session on Monday how his past makes him the right guy to lead “Gilmore Girls,” the air was sucked right out of the room.

“My personal life is not an issue here,” said Rosenthal who looked like he just took a punch to the gut. “It’s not worth getting into. I’m just here to talk about the show.”

Star Lauren Graham quickly shut down any follow up questions on the subject by saying, “It has nothing to do with anything. Next?”

It’s no secret that Lauren Graham isn’t co-star Scott Patterson’s greatest fan.

Earlier in the “Gilmore Girls” press session, Graham also admitted that she doesn’t like working with the dog, named Paul Anka on the show. Not that she doesn’t love dogs, mind you. She just doesn’t like doing dog dialogue with the hound.

“I have made no secret of the fact that I do not enjoy working with the actor Paul Anka, although the person Paul Anka was joyful and a delight and gave me a stack of CDs, I just am not a fan of dog comedy.”

So is Paul Anka returning?

“Yes. See? I have no power here. No one cares if I don’t like working with Paul Anka,” Graham says.

Was that just a thinly veiled reference to dog or Patterson?

All we know is afterwards during the rush to the stage, she was asked if she would try to get rid of Patterson.
“I can’t get the dog killed,” she says jokingly. “How can I do that?”

Here’s the episode you’ll never see on “Everybody Hates Chris”:

“You’ll never see the episode where Chris’ dad dies,” says Rock, who named the dad character Julius after his real father, who died in 1989. “We’re not ever going there.”

One critic asked Rock during the press session here to explain why there are no dramas featuring all-African American casts.

“I’d say you gotta ask the white people that,” quipped Rock. “I mean, I wouldn’t ask the bat boy ‘How come the Yankees can’t get a better pitcher?’ “

Let’s chat about the best Web sites for “Lost” fans _ and if you’ve had a chance to read “Bad Twin.”

It’s not like hanging with Hurley, but at least it’s something to bide the time before “Lost” comes back on the air.

Charles Gibsonwill take over the reins at ABC’s World News Tonight”beginning Monday, May 29.

The nightly news has had a bad run lately. First, anchor Peter Jennings left the desk after discovering he had lung cancer in April 2005. He died last August.

Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargasofficially took over the anchor duties in January. Later that month, while covering the war in Iraq, Woodruff was seriously injured in an attack. He’s recovering, but won’t be returning to work in the near future. Then Vargas announced she was going to have another baby and would be out on maternity leave.

When Vargas returns, she won’t be going back to the anchor desk. Instead, she will limit herself to the “20/20” anchor desk and doing specials.

Gibson will continue as a co-anchor of “Good Morning America” until June 30.

Could it be that my beloved “House” isn’t quite on the cutting edge of medicine?

My pal Elizabeth Jardina sent me this link, which she claims is the best thing to happen on the Internet since cuteoverload.com. And I’ve got to agree.

At http://politedissent.com/archives/1184, a doctor watches “House” and analyzes what’s realistic and what’s not.

I could read these things all day, which is probably why the blog hasn’t been updated as often as it should be..

For those you don’t remember Chevy Chase and his late-night Fox talk show, say a little prayer for dodging that bullet.

Chase did a legendary crash-and-burn.

But Fox is ready to test the waters again with “Talk Show with Spike Feresten” beginning Sept. 16, following “MADtv.”

This one actually looks promising: a combination of talk and comedy sketches

ABC anchor Bob Woodruff issued the following message to his friends and colleagues about being released for outpatient treatment:

I am moving on to outpatient treatment and I can