The TV Zone

The star of "Fantasy Island" passed away today at the age of 88.

Of course, he had a long Hollywood career before becoming Mr. Roarke, but Ricardo Montalban became a pop-culture icon 1970s for his commercials for the Chrysler Cordoba and its swank upholstery made from "soft Corinthian leather."

We have no idea whether such material existed, but this is not the time to quibble. In memory of Montalban, lets recall this typical Cordoba commercial:

It's now official: Former strippers CAN'T win "American Idol." Producers have to be happy about last night's results; Coke has to be happy too; as I think I pointed out before, "The Coke Side of Life" does not, under normal circumstances, include lap dancing. And most viewers - certainly the granny vote - aren't gonna warm to this past, ummm, vocation either. So it goes.

Oh, and how DID Coke - AI's most important sponsor by far - feel about our departee? Go to "American Idol's" site and check out the "behind the scenes" photo slide-show "Presented by Coke:" Not one, I repeat, there is not one shot of Hernandez (he appears off to the side in one picture). But there are half a dozen out of twenty with Brooke and Kristy.

Coke may not "cast a vote," but it's a more important presence on this show than any judge (Simon included) or producer. Money talks on TV, and Coke is the biggest money of all. They wanted Hernandez gone.

Nevertheless....nevertheless, Hernandez deserved another shot. Maybe another two shots. He massacred "Saw Her Standing There" on Tuesday, but oddly enough, did a pretty good rendition during the exit routine. He was a very good singer, and up until Tuesday, was maybe a top-sixer. But here's the thing: This top twelve - now eleven - is so good that one bad turn (with the exception of Archie) means that just about anyone can land in the bottom three week to week. David just happened to pick a bad time to be bad.

Gone. Too bad.

How about those Super Bowl ads, eh? Our very own colleague Verne Gay registered his judgments here, but viewers are having their say, too.

AOL’s sixth annual Super Sunday Ad Poll ranks these Super Bowl XLII commercials as viewer faves, voted by visitors to AOL Sports as of noon Monday, Feb. 4:

1 Budweiser: "Rocky"
2 Bridgestone: "Squirrel"
3 Coca-Cola: "Balloons"
4 Life Water: "Thriller"
5 E-Trade: "Baby"

The tally keeps getting updated because viewers can still register their votes (through Feb. 10) at AOL’s Super Bowl Ads page, where you can view the dozens of contenders and leave comments, too.

What commercial do viewers like most this month? And which do they recall best?

Advertising Age lists some different kinds of TV Top 10s here.

The most-liked spot streams here -- after you watch a “real” commercial!

OK, so it's just a parody of a TV commercial.

But still the smartest, funniest thing I've seen in ages.

Check out Microsoft's forthcoming (not) ZunePhone.