SueTube – Let’s talk TV with critic Susan Young

I’m getting a little tired of Katie Couric having to defend herself for having a sharp fashion sense.

Guess what people? You can be a serious journalist and rock the runway.

Unlike ABC’s Charlie Gibson, who prides himself on wearing “whatever is on the left when I reach into the closet,” La Couric always looks chic. As a person who generally picks out what I’m going to wear based on if I did laundry the night before, I admire that.

When she debuted on Tuesday, Katie looked smashing in her little white jacket and black dress. She showed off the legs a bit too much, however, to ever win the respect of hard news junkies. When she went for the pre-taped interview with the New York Times guy, the camera kept going back for the gam-shot.

Even Charlie Gibson could be distracting if he put on a pair of shorts to do an interview.

Of course, that might make for a more interesting broadcast.

Anyone hoping to get a second look at those Vanity Fair pictures of TomKat’s little dumpling Suri Cruise shown on Katie Couric’s evening news show on Tuesday were disappointed.

The network had been hyping the fact that if you couldn’t get home by 5:30 p.m., which is when the broadcast airs in the Bay Area, you could just click on the ol’ www.cbs.com news site and see the broadcast in its entirety.

Apparently, that didn’t include little Suri.

We’re wondering if it had anything to do with people being able to grab it to put out on the Internet. But we don’t know enough about those things to know for sure.

All we know is, where was YouTube when we needed them???

“The Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin has died from a sting ray barb to the chest.

The wacky host, best known for his catch-phrase “Crikey!” has entertained viewers with is close encounters with deadly critters from crocs to pit vipers.

Irwin, 44, was shooting a documentary in Queensland when the accident happened, reports say. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Irwin’s American-born wife Terri was trekking in Tasmania and was not immediately told of her husband’s death. She was later notified. The two have a son, Bob, 3 and a daughter, Bindi, 8. He had taken a break from filming his own documentary to shoot some footage for his daughter Bindi’s new TV series.

Irwin caught some flack in January 2004 when he shocked an audience at his Australia Zoo reptile park by carrying his 1-year-old son into the crocodile pen during a show and tossed the reptile a piece of meat. People thought he was putting his son in danger, which Irwin denied.

For years, there have been reports of Irwin’s death. So many that he has even written on his Website that he’s never been killed by any snakes, crocs, spiders or even a beetle crawling into his ear as one report said.

Jimmy Kimmel got Dave Navarro to sling some mud in K-Fed’s face on “The Jimmy Kimmel Show” tonight.

Jimmy asked if Dave had caught the Teen Choice performance by Kevin Federline, AKA Brit’s-making-daddy-a -star.

“I saw it on YouTube,” Dave confesses, which means he had a choice to avoid watching the train wreck. “He had acrobats and fire and all these people who were really, really talented around him.”

And if K-Fed was a contestant on Dave’s “Rock Star Supernova” show?

“He’d be packing his bags,” Dave says.

Kimmel, who got a lot of info for a five minute interview, asked about Navarro’s former band Jane’s Addiction getting back together.

“Never say never,” Dave says. “But when enough’s enough, it’s time to pack it in.”

I wonder if K-Fed will take that advice.

A naked, pixillated dwarf does not a Video Music Award Show make.

Tonight, MTV must have been praying for a wardrobe malfuction or at least a Bono f-bomb. But even Lil’ Kim kept her Dolly Parton’s hidden under her long locks.

Instead. all viewers got was a yawner of an evening. But MTV must have seen that coming when they decided to use the kid from “Little Miss Sunshine,” Abigail Breslin to present an award with Fergie.

Good god, the kid couldn’t even pronounce the winner’s name. Ever heard of a little thing called rehearsal?

Because everything on the show certainly was rehearsed until all the freshness was squeezed right out of it.

Except maybe when a zombie-like Jessica Simpson took the stage, fumbling her lines and looking like she was the one taking hits off the backstage bong instead of Snoop, who claimed he needed a smoke. But settled for the orange-colored drink he brought to the stage instead.

Nice try, dog. But it all reeked of corporate. We knew it was going to be a pathetic night when two of the most boring videos to be made last year, Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You” and James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” earned, respectively, the Best Female and Best Male Male Video Awards.

At least Clarkson had the good sense to pass on the ceremony.

Not even the Jackass clan could bring on the danger. Or any excitement from the aforementioned dwarf.

Angela, Ms. Buttons and Bows, it was time to go.

The challenge this week on “Project Runway” was for the designers to create a jet-setter outfit and then model the creation themselves. The lucky designers even got a trip to Paris, although Angela’s was just a layover on the way to Bootsville.

For too many weeks, Angela, you’ve missed the mark. But tonight was the worst ever with that odd little baggy shorts and tank top number. You had more rosettes hanging from you than a prime pig at the county fair.

And of course, we like you much better than Tat Boy Jeffrey. But the lout has talent, and he showed it when he won the challenge.

Although I would have given the first place spot to momma’s boy Michael. I mean, really, what other boy from the hood would think seersucker? It was an amazing mix of hip-hop meets Hamptons.

Uli remains my favorite, although she didn’t quite come up to the challenge this week. And snobby little Laura is starting to grow on me.

As for Kayne, Elvis apparently has never left your building. As sweet as you are, my Oklahoma cupcake, it’s time for you to start packing your bags. Vincent, get ready on deck.

For some juicy backstage gossip from Tim’s podcast, check out Chad Jones’ comment below. And Chad gives great theater blog at Theater Dogs

Here’s the way things work: When you are writing about a show, you tend to link the names to the project that people in the real world are going to recognize.

So when CBS’ new comedy series “The Class” was introduced, we all wrote about the seriesfrom the creator David Crane, who also did a little show called “Friends.” Crane co-created “The Class” with professional and life partner Jeffrey Klarik.

Klarik’s a swell guy with a sparse resume. So, of course, reporters linked Crane with “The Class” and left off Klarik in the spirit of saving some much-needed space.

Which caused the creators to bristle.

Which brings us to The Card.

Critics got a card from CBS this week with a picture of the cast of “The Class” and on the back, a nice little picture of Crane and Klarik. And a not-so-subtle line under the picture saying “created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik.”

Nice try. Bottom line is that there’s precious little space in the newspaper to list all the creators/producers and other people viewers don’t really care a flying Frito about.

So tag, Crane. You’re it. No matter how many postcards you send, we’re still going to say “The Class,” by “Friends” creator David Crane.

Oh, those wacky “Lost” people.

Today, an Apollo candy bar came in the mail from the Apollo Candy Company. Which is, of course, a subsidiary of The Hanso Group.

Stay with us.

As “Losties” all know, Hanso is behind the whole island experiments. Don’t tell us Hanso’s the evil empire. They saved the Apollo Candy Company from financial ruin.

The first Apollo Bars were distributed in San Francisco, but this is the last place to get the bars. They will be distributed on Sept. 20.

For people who want to get some free chocolate, and trust me it’s pretty yummy, and go to the official site and find out when the free giveaways will happen in your hometown.

And, as always, for more information on The Hanso Foundation, visit www.thehansofoundation.org.

Finally, Britney’s boy has a role he can really get into: a mouthy punk.

Kevin Federline’s been tapped for an upcoming episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” He’ll be playing Cole Tritt, an arrogant teen who hassles Nick and Warrick while they work a crime scene.

I’m still trying to figure out where the acting comes into play.

When it came time for Simon Cowell to choose his panel of judges for “Duets”, which debuts Aug. 29 on Fox, he knew he had to have Little Richard.

Little Richard, he’s an artist, he’s a personality. I’ve seen so many shows when the panel is boring, so when I heard Little Richard was interested in (being a judge), I said book him. (Judge) David Foster is very serious and Little Richard is a little more unpredictable. He’s not the obvious choice and that’s why I liked it.

The show teams singing legends from Clint Black to Gladys Knight with actors and other personalities not known for their singing ability.

So will the judges hold back on their snippy comments?

Cowell thinks not. But what will be more interesting is hearing what the celebrities have to say to the judges.

I think that celebrities tend to be, as I say it, a little more lippy.