The Idol-Olympics Back-and-Forth Continues

... The Winter Olympics and American Idol hate each other. Probably. Last night went to the Olympics, as American Idol posted a season-low in the ratings. And listen to this trash talk from NBC Sports' Dick Ebersol: "I never thought we would have the good fortune to beat the incredibly well-produced and enduring phenomenon of American Idol even once." Whoa! Easy there, tiger! [The Live Feed]

... Speaking of the Olympics, Nielsen did its census of Olympic viewers and found that they are overwhelmingly older and female. The number of Olympics viewers age 55 or older is 82 percent higher than the national average. Women make up 56 percent of the audience. So be a man! Watch American Idol instead! [THR]

... Congressperson Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) bitch-slapped NBC boss Jeff Zucker for his network's lack of African-American actors. She asked Zucker why none of NBC's shows were aimed at an African-American audience, and Zucker then cried like a little baby. At least, that's how it goes in my imagination. [LA Times]

... Malcolm McDowell making the rounds of CBS procedurals. The Clockwork Orange star will appear in the March 1 episode of CSI: Miami, and now he's booked a guest stint on The Mentalist. [TV Guide]

... Dennis Farina, who knows only one speed—awesome—is being perfectly cast in David Milch's new HBO project Luck. Farina will play a shifty chauffeur who doubles as the muscle in a brain-and-brawn operation that's trying to hustle a horse-racing track. [THR]

... Spike (when did they drop the "TV"?) has renewed its sports comedy Blue Mountain State for a second season, because men also need a place to call their own. [THR]