How do teen icons spell rebound? C-a-m-e-o.

Handlers of today's troubled pop stars know the way to make amends to fans is to appear less on the Los Angeles party circuit and more on TV sitcoms.

The Britney Spears rehabilitation tour continues tonight on CBS when the troubled 26-year-old pop star has her second make-nice gig on "How I Met Your Mother."

Britney's people called CBS's people to set up the first cameo. Because the ratings proved positive -- an extra 1 million people watched -- she's back as the dermatologist's receptionist, intent on demonstrating she's stable enough to handle the rigors of TV comedy.

The sight of Spears delivering lines without a meltdown apparently goes a long way toward undoing the damage she did her career during last year's MTV Video Awards.

The former Mouseketeer's ongoing child-custody hearings have been a pesky distraction. But the CBS connection is designed to put her earlier bizarre behaviors, documented by a passel of paparazzi, out of our collective memory.

Similarly hoping to counter bad publicity, Lindsay Lohan will appear on the "Ugly Betty" finale May 22 on (Disney-owned) ABC. She's also slated for five episodes next season, playing Betty's old school chum.

Seems like yesterday we were lauding Lohan's twin performances in the 1998 "Parent Trap" remake. That adorable kid is a distant memory after a run of arrests, car accidents, party-girl excesses and the requisite trip to rehab.

The star of "Mean Girls" and "Freaky Friday," Lohan was most recently seen in a police mug shot taken after her arrest on drunken-driving charges in Los Angeles, used in an advertisement by a group opposed to ignition locks aimed at halting intoxicated drivers.

But look, she can laugh at herself as a mean girl on "Ugly Betty."

Whatever else television may be, it's clearly the teen icon's favored route to restoration -- of credibility if not purity. It's the place for young girls' second chances.

Television welcomes young stars with paparazzi problems, police records, pubescent mistakes and something to prove.

On the infinitely forgiving medium, redemption is only a sitcom guest role away. (Joanne Ostrow, The Denver Post)

A journalism think tank studying "The Daily Show" doesn't believe many people get their news from Jon Stewart -- because otherwise they wouldn't get the jokes.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism also said it was surprised at how much the Comedy Central late-night program resembles "The O'Reilly Factor," "Hardball" and other cable news shows in content.

The Washington-based organization asked its researchers to study a year's worth of "The Daily Show" tapes -- hardly a grim assignment -- after hearing the frequent claim that many young people learn about the world from Stewart instead of more traditional news sources.

Tom Rosenstiel, the project's director, said he doubts this is the case. He considers "The Daily Show" more of a political satire in the tradition of newspapermen like Art Buchwald, H.L. Mencken and Russell Baker.

"They're not making jokes about Dan Quayle is dumb or Gerald Ford is clumsy," he said. "They're not making jokes that you could get if you live in the country but don't read the news. ... You can't get the jokes if you're not watching the news. The jokes are designed to make you think more about the news."

A Comedy Central representative had no immediate comment on the study. Stewart has consistently ridiculed the idea that he's somehow a newsman, saying he's just a comic.

Politics, government and the Bush administration's policies in Iraq accounted for about half of the show's content, making it quite similar to the focus of serious cable news shows, the study said.

About 8 percent of the show's time is spent looking at the behavior of the press.

The show is actually making some very serious political commentary, "but they use humor to do it," Rosenstiel said.

With some stories in no way conducive to humor, "The Daily Show" ignores certain big events. The Minnesota bridge collapse wasn't mentioned on the show, and the Virginia Tech massacre was largely ignored, the study said.

While Stewart aims most of his firepower at Republicans, the show is actually pretty balanced in its bookings, the study noted. Of the clearly partisan, 15 guests were conservative and 18 were liberal. Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain was a guest on Wednesday's show. (David Bauder, Associated Press)

Tim Gunn will "make it work" for the second season of his reality show with a new fashion accomplice by his side.

Fashion expert, personal stylist and salon/spa owner Gretta Monahan will join the "Project Runway" mentor for the upcoming season of Bravo's "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style." She replaces model Veronica Webb who aided Gunn in his freshman season.

In each episode, Gunn and Monahan will team up to help the self-proclaimed style-challenged make themselves over using Gunn's rules. Monahan will guide the women's choices on shopping challenges.(Zap2it.com)

"American Idol" judge Simon Cowell is never one to hold back, even about his own series.

"Things are too old-fashioned at the moment," says Cowell, reflecting on why the show's ratings have taken a slight dip recently. ("Idol" airs 8 p.m. Tuesdays and 9 p.m. Wednesdays on Fox.)

With a Kool cigarette in one hand and a small cup of coffee in the other, Cowell lives up to the swagger he presents each week on "Idol." And during an interview on the back lawn of a hotel, he's as direct as fans of the show have come to expect.

Cowell takes no prisoners. At this point, he can afford to make jabs at "Idol." Though the show has lost a few million viewers here and there -- going from 29 million earlier in the season to around 22.8 million recently -- it's still prime time's most-watched series by far.

Critics say the show may still have life, but it's lost its zing.

Cowell agrees. He sees "tweaks" that need to be made -- and hints some will be done in the next season. "Idol" has changed the format over its seven seasons. Cowell says it's time for that to happen again.

Among the problems:

• The theme nights need to be "more current," he says. While Neil Diamond and Andrew Lloyd Webber are legendary, they might not be the right fit for "Idol" to devote an entire evening to.

Of the recent Webber week in particular, in which contestants performed show tunes: "I didn't really see the point," he says. "We're not looking for a Broadway singer."

• Cowell points to this year's contestants as being another factor for the ratings wane.

"We haven't got the right personalities at the moment," he says. "They are not letting go enough."

They are "very media savvy," he says. "They say the right things. They don't argue with me. It's too safe at the moment."

Cowell does concede that when contestants sassed him earlier in the season he responded by chiding them.

What's a contestant to do? "Argue more," he says with a smile.

• "Idol" needs to be more unpredictable -- and not apologize when it is, he says.

"We have to stop being so [politically correct] about everything," he says. "It can't be so safe. We have to make a show that has you screaming at your television every week."

As an example, fellow judge Paula Abdul has no reason to apologize for her recent flub, Cowell says. She mistakenly criticized a contestant for a song he hadn't performed yet.

"It's all part of the craziness of the show," he says. "The year the show becomes normal is the year I will leave." (Terry Morrow, Scripps Howard News Service)