Hollywood Headlines: A crazy week in review

Chris Brown resurfaced this week, attending a basketball game with Usher and making a YouTube video claiming, “I ain’t a monster.” Apparently there’s no better time to issue a cheesy denial than the week a ruling on your assault case is made!  (Phelan M. Ebenhack / Associated Press)

After becoming a worldwide media sensation just over a month and a half ago, the bloom began to come off the Susan Boyle rose this week when the “ Britain’s Got Talent” contestant managed to blow her stack not once, but twice. All this while her previous frontrunner status on the contest seems to be slipping away. Poor, poor Susan Boyle. We knew the media would eventually turn on her, but it doesn’t make it any less sad when it happens.  (AFP/Getty Images)

Sometimes when a series adds a major new character late in the game, it’s a sign of desperation (see Leonardo DiCaprio’s stint on “Growing Pains”). But sometimes, the casting is just right. Everybody loves John Lithgow, even people who can’t quite remember his name. But “Dexter” fans everywhere surely swooned when it was announced that he was joining the cast as a BTK-style serial killer for Season 4. Meanwhile, “24” fans met the news that “Scooby Doo” star Freddie Prinze Jr. was joining their show with a collective shrug. No one can compete with the Bauer! No one!  (Getty Images / Los Angeles Times)

In the wake of reports of infidelity and a possible divorce, TLC’s “Jon & Kate Plus 8” premiered with almost 10 million viewers. Unfortunately, it seems at least one of those viewers was from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor. Like these two don’t have enough issues to deal with!  (Mark Arbeit / Associated Press)

Variety reported Monday that the executives behind Twitter are developing a TV series based on the popular social networking site. Twitter denied the reports but have already ticked off celebrity tweeters such as Ashton Kutcher, as the show would supposedly encourage contestants to follow celebrities who tweet. Kutcher is now threatening to take a Twitter hiatus. A world without aplusk?! *Yawn*  (Stew Milne / Associated Press)