Favorite TV Show

On a rainy October day at Sony Studios in Culver City, Calif., entrepreneurs hope to get funding to put their businesses on the fast track to success. But first, they must convince at least one of a panel of investors that they’re good bets.

On Friday, ABC premieres the second season of “Shark Tank,” adapted by reality mogul Mark Burnett from the British series “Dragons’ Den.” In both, investors consider whether to put their own money into businesses based on concepts ranging from brilliant to dubious.

For Burnett, who immigrated to Los Angeles as a young British military vet, this day has a personal connection.

“Around 2 p. m. today,” he sa

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Women are perusing creams for crow’s feet, pore shrinkers, and lash lengtheners, potions that promise complexion perfection. They wear shopping bags stacked on their arms like bangles. Brows furrowed, they frown into lighted mirrors as they apply unguents. This quest for beauty is stressing them out. Perhaps a visit to the restaurant at the end of the aisle is in order.

Daikanyama is located inside Bloomingdale’s, next to the cosmetics department. (If you have fragrance allergies, or shopping allergies, there’s a separate entrance from the parking lot.) The Japanese restaurant, named for a fashionable neighborhood in Tokyo, is as good as any spa. Green tea delivers antioxidants. Fat c

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American Idol may be having its best season … ever. Ratings are solid, contestants are terrific, and even Ryan Seacrest seems less annoying. How did this happen? Naturally, I have theories.

CONTESTANTS

This is a superlative group. The final 12 are all good, while the best of them -Pia Toscano, Casey Abrams and Jacob Lusk -are outstanding. The march to the finale has often revealed a contestant’s soft spots, lack of charisma or borderline talent, while Idol dressed up their failings and smothered them in production values. Not necessary so far.

JUDGES

Serious without the snark, lively without the silly and intelligent without the swagger.

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Was managing editor at KCBS L.A. for five years

Television news executive Patrick C. Casey, who was until recently executive news director of ABC22 WKEF and FOX45 WRGT in Dayton, Ohio, died Saturday, March 19, in Cincinnati after a 13-month battle with brain cancer. He was 54.

Casey, who spent 30 years working in TV news around the country, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, in February 2010 but continued working, stepping down only a few months ago.

“Pat was an extremely rare and talented news executive who understood and appreciated all aspects of the business,” said John Culliton, a former general manager of KCBS who worked with Casey. “He saw the big picture. Read more…

So Charlie Sheen says he is on a drug called Charlie Sheen. Can you imagine how long the commercial would have to be to list all the side effects of that?

One of them, apparently, is that those who talk to the “Two and a Half Men” star, whose hit CBS sitcom has shut down production for at least the rest of this season, seem to think they are the only ones doing it. It’s like some kind of Jedi mind trick. But maybe “exclusive” means something different when it concerns a guy with two live-in girlfriends.

“He’s on the air quite a bit these days,” CBS Corp. President and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves, one of the people with whom Sheen is publicly at odds, said Tuesday at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and

Telecom Conference in San Francisco. “I wish he woul

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