Television

Former U.S. vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor, Sarah Palin, made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Tuesday night.

Though Chris Golightly was seen making it through to the Top 24, he was noticeably absent at the end of Wednesday night's episode when the contestants were named individually -- and replaced by Tim Urban, whose entry into the Top 24 was not aired. That same day, however,

Comedy Central funnyman Stephen Colbert put Sarah Palin's "satire" defense over the word "retard" to the test Monday night - and used it to describe the former Alaska governor.

The peacock ruffled Conan O'Brien's feathers -- and now he's ready to fly the coop. The "Tonight Show" host feels like the redheaded stepchild of late-night TV after NBC's abrupt decision to cancel Jay Leno's10 p.m. experiment after just five months -- and return the car-loving comic to O'Brien's coveted 11:35 p.m. slot.

Alaina Reed Hall, a singer and actress who played Olivia Robinson on "Sesame Street" for a dozen years beginning in the mid-1970s and later played Rose Holloway on the situation comedy "227," has died. She was 63.