Can a ten-year-old show still hold some surprises? American Idol unpredictably began on Tuesday night without much fanfare -- just a black screen with white text. “American Idol would like to apologize for last week’s outrageous behavior by Steven Tyler.” The next screen read, “Mr. Tyler has been warned and assures us it will never happen again.”

This inevitably led into a clip of Steven Tyler acting “outrageous” in the audition room. Tyler has been the talk of the series, though that’s because there’s been very little to latch onto thus far. If Idol wanted to issue a serious apology, it would be for sending so many lackluster singers onto Hollywood (which is rumored to stretch to a mind-numbing 4 episodes this year).

Fewer than 10,000 showed up for the auditions in Austin, Texas, the state’s capital. Tyler arrived to the auditions in a horse and buggy, while his less flashy panel-mates pulled up in chauffeured cars. Mark Anthony, J-Lo’s hubby, was also in town -- evidently to hang around the Idol audition room. Eventually, they even got around to listening to some singers.

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(Make sure to check out TV Envy's Programming Schedule.)

MONDAY (1/31)

• 90210 (CW, 8 P.M.): “Dixon interrupts Debbie and Ryan’s romantic dinner.” The embarrassment forces the new couple to leave town.
• Lie to Me (FOX, 9 P.M.): “Cal probes the death of a social-network cofounder who had feared that she was being squeezed out by her partner.” Witnesses reported hearing someone screaming, “This is My Space!”
• Harry’s Law (NBC, 10 P.M.): “Harry (Kathy Bates) defends and inmate whom she believes is unjustly imprisoned for a murder he didn’t commit.” She hates to see a man in misery.

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Nearly 20,000 turned up for American Idol's Nashville auditions. The city is home to the Grand Ole Opry, and it's acknowledged as the undisputed capital of country music. The episode started quickly, launching viewers immediately into auditions.

Here’s the best part: they started with a bad one. Christine McCaffrey treated the new panel to one of the oddest Idol auditions on record. Randy Jackson repeated “really?” several times, clearly annoyed. “That’s not serious,” he told the other two. It was a good start to an episode that moved along fairly quickly, unlike the one that came the day before. How does the new panel stack up against the old? Have some singers already started to shine? Maybe Nashville provided the answers.

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Past American Idol contestant Danny Gokey showed up to please the crowd at the Milwaukee auditions, as it’s his own hometown (and he’s not that busy with music right now). The show spent a lot of time on the city and the judges (Randy Jackson isn’t familiar with Aerosmith banner hit “Sweet Emotion”) before introducing us to the first contestant of the day.

Did any of them stand out? Will one of them be the next Idol? Tuesday's was a long episode … but did it provide a big payoff?

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The cast of MTV’s Jersey Shore is about to become representative of Italian Americans to actual Italians. For Season 4, the cable channel is sending its reality stars to the Old World.

Why the switch? “Europe is a fresh spin on a show that continues to reach new heights for us,” said MTV programming vice president Chris Linn.

Read More | Yahoo! News

Gallery: MTV Moves Jersey Shore to Italy

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(Make sure to check out TV Envy's Programming Schedule.)

MONDAY (1/24)

• Chuck (NBC, 8 P.M.): "Sarah sets out on a perilous undercover mission by assisting Mary Bartowski (Linda Hamilton) in a bid to finally crush criminal mastermind Volkoff (Timothy Dalton)." They vow to beat the living daylights out of him.
• 90210 (CW, 8 P.M.): "Ivy doubts her ability to compete in a surf competition after a wicked wipeout." She completely overestimated her ability to get past the Big Balls.
• 19 Kids and Counting (TLC, 10:30 P.M.): Season premiere. "Michelle takes a pregnancy test." Fortunately, it didn't require her to study very hard.

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The New Orleans auditions of American Idol opened predictably -- meaning, slowly. The show celebrated the city and itself before it got around to featuring any singing. Outtakes and footage of the judges was at last followed by the episode’s first auditioner.

There were few bright spots in New Orleans, though with the kinder panel it’s easier than ever for Idol hopefuls to score that golden ticket that will take them all the way to Hollywood. We’re hearing that the Hollywood Rounds will be longer than ever before, and it’s no wonder why. But there were a few in New Orleans who may manage to become more memorable than your run-of-the-mill Idol hopeful.

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Wednesday night was epic for number-crunchers.

Paula Abdul’s new reality series Live to Dance competed for the same viewers in the same time slot as reality standard American Idol -- which no longer has Simon Cowell behind it. So, which reality series fared better?

Sadly, Abdul didn’t do too well. Live to Dance scored about 1 million in the key 18-49 demographic, compared to Idol’s 9.7.

The reality juggernaut is still down among its target audience, continuing its steady decline. But Idol isn't in serious trouble yet . . . and the same can't be said for Paula's Dance act. In the same time slot last year, sitcom reruns managed to pull down more viewers than Abdul’s reality contest.

Gallery: Ratings: Paula Abdul’s Dance Against Cowell-Less American Idol

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Here’s an update on the shows you'll be seeing more of in the months to come:

RENEWALS

• The A-List: New York (Logo) – Season 2
• Bethenny Ever After (Bravo) – Season 2
• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) – Three more seasons
• Cake Boss: The Next Great Baker (TLC) – Season 2
• Californication (Showtime) – Season 5
• Flipping Out (Bravo) – Season 5

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American Idol kicked off its tenth season in New Jersey. And how did the show start? How else? With a montage. Because, despite all the casting changes and media back-and-forth, Idol wanted to prove that it hasn't really changed at all. If the Ford ads plastered everywhere didn't already convince you, that is.

So it began, with a fast-paced montage of news coverage following the shake-ups after Season 9. Everything was hyped to the line “Because the best … is yet to come.”

Good one . . . but that remains to be seen. After America was introduced to the new judges (“I decided to become a judge because we can actually take somebody and change their life,” Jennifer Lopez, "I took this gig because I love music," Steven Tyler and “Wow. It’s a different table. But you know what? It’s hot. Let’s go, baby,” Randy Jackson), America was given a melange of audition clips. And then a few more. Some shots of the judges. . . and a few more.

It only took nine minutes to get through the recaps, get-to-know-yours and montages and see a few actual auditions.

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