‘Modern Family’ Feuds, ‘American Idol’ Additions And More: What TV Taught Us This Week

Each week, outrageous, sad, shocking and hilarious pieces of TV news hit the web. Shows get canceled, directors get fired, casts get angry — and like anything in life, each news-worthy event usually comes with a lesson.

At HuffPost TV, we strive to dig up the best, most relevant pieces of news to share with our readers. From Mariah Carey’s decision to join the “American Idol” judges panel to the ongoing “Modern Family” legal feud, click through the slideshow below to see our favorite TV news moments from this week — and what we learned from them.

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  • Mariah Carey Signs On As An “American Idol” Judge

    strongThe Event:/strong a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/13/jennifer-lopez-leaving-american-idol_n_1671451.html” target=”_hplink”After Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez jumped the “American Idol” ship in the same week/a, fans of the singing competition series worried it was on its way out.

    But on Monday, a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/mariah-carey-american-idol-season-12_n_1695932.html?ir=Celebrity” target=”_hplink”Mariah Carey signed on to the show/a. “As a singer, songwriter and producer, it’s going to be fun and rewarding to help find new talent and give back with ‘American Idol,'” she said.

    strongThe Lesson:/strong There’s always another diva ready to replace you.

  • “Modern Family” Cast Sues 20th Century Fox

    strongThe Event:/strong On Tuesday, the Season 4 “Modern Family” table read was canceled because cast members Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sofia Vergara, and Ed O’Neill felt they weren’t being paid enough. After their request for $200,00 per episode was denied,a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/modern-family-lawsuit_n_1699238.html?utm_hp_ref=tv” target=”_hplink” the cast took the battle to court/a citing California’s “7 Year Rule,” which prohibits personal services contracts for longer than 7 years.

    strongThe Lesson:/strong You can never have enough money.

  • Scarves Aren’t Going Anywhere On “Smash.”

    strongThe Event:/strong Throughout Season 1 of “Smash,” the use of scarves in every episode and on practically every character was mercilessly mocked. a href=”http://www.vulture.com/2012/04/smash-debra-messing-costume.html#photo=3×00011″ target=”_hplink”Vulture had a blast tearing apart Debra Messing’s wardrobe/a (which included scarves upon scarves), and a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/08/smash-scarves-nbc-katharine-mcphee_n_1500878.html” target=”_hplink”HuffPost compiled an entire slideshow highlighting scarf appearances/a. There were 26 of them. 26!

    Unfortunately, NBC hasn’t shaken up the “Smash” style for Season 2. This week, Katharine McPhee was spotted on set wearing — you guessed it — a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/smash-season-2-scarves-katharine-mcphee_n_1702931.html” target=”_hplink”a scarf/a.

    strongThe Lesson:/strong Old fashion habits die hard.

  • “Downton Abbey” Will Say Goodbye

    strongThe Event:/strong Despite the critical success of “Downton Abbey,” producer Gareth Neame has quashed any rumors that we’ll be growing old with Lady Mary. “We have to balance between continuing to make it for audiences around the world that adore it and making sure that we don’t take it too far,” a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/downton-abbey-ending-prod_n_1702241.html?utm_hp_ref=tv” target=”_hplink”he explained to THR/a. “Which is not now and not next year, but likely five years or six years, not 10 years.”

    strongThe Lesson:/strong All good things must come to an end.

  • The Dwight Schrute “Office” Spinoff Is A Real Thing

    strongThe Event:/strong Despite the downward spiral of “The Office” — especially since Steve Carrell’s departure at the end of Season 7 — Fans are all for a spinoff show … especially where Dwight Schrute is concerned. On Wednesday, a href=”http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/press-tour-2012-nbc-president-on-the-office-dwight-spin-off-and-more” target=”_hplink”NBC president Jennifer Salke leaked a few details/a.

    “Rainn (Wilson) came in and talked about what he wanted to do with the spinoff,” she told Hitfix. “And they made the decision at the show to incorporate it as an episode.”

    strongThe Lesson:/strong Milk it for all its worth.

  • A Sleep Disorder Stops “Fringe” From Filming

    strongThe Event:/strong This week, Fox’s “Fringe” actor John Noble was diagnosed with a sleep disorder. While Noble’s illness was originally only supposed to put him out for three days, a href=”http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fringe-production-delay-extended-john-noble-354579″ target=”_hplink”THR reported that production would be halted until August/a.

    strongThe Lesson:/strong Sleep is more important than TV.

  • Dan Harmon Nears A Fox Pilot Deal

    strongThe Event:/strong After being a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/11/dan-harmon-firing-community_n_1664533.html” target=”_hplink”fired from “Community” for being difficult to work with/a, another network jumped on Dan Harmon’s creative genius: Fox is reportedly nearing a deal to develop a a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/26/dan-harmon-fox_n_1706739.html” target=”_hplink”multi-camera comedy pilo/at.

    strongThe Lesson:/strong Just because someone isn’t that into you, doesn’t mean you won’t find someone else who is.

  • Matthew Weiner Admits Peggy Will Be Back

    strongThe Event:/strong Revealing any details about upcoming “Mad Men” episodes is the most sacrilegious thing a cast member of the AMC series can do. Elisabeth Moss (Peggy Olson) skated around the question of whether she would be returning for Season 6 for months!

    But when push came to shove, creator Matthew Weiner couldn’t keep his mouth shut and a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/26/mad-men-elisabeth-moss-returning_n_1706791.html?utm_hp_ref=tv” target=”_hplink”admitted Peggy wasn’t going anywhere/a. “[Elisabeth Moss] is going to be on the show next year,” he revealed to TVLine on Thursday.

    strongThe Lesson:/strong Some secrets are too good to keep.

  • The Cast Of “Don’t Trust The B—-” Goes After Katie Holmes

    strongThe Event:/strong In the spirit of a Dawson-Joey reunion,a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/27/katie-holmes-dont-trust-the-b_n_1709649.html?utm_hp_ref=tv” target=”_hplink” James Van Der Beek expressed his interest in having Katie Holmes/a appear on his new show, “Don’t Trust The B—- In Apartment 23.” He told TV Guide he would to see her “saucier side.” Bring on the 30-something angst!

    strongThe Lesson: We do wanna wait for a /stronga href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/10/joshua-jackson-dawsons-creek-reunion_n_1663535.html” target=”_hplink”This “Dawson’s Creek” reunion/a (and always will).

  • “The Killing” Gets Canceled

    strongThe Event: /strong On Friday, AMC’s a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/27/the-killing-canceled-amc_n_1711288.html?utm_hp_ref=tv” target=”_hplink””The Killing” was canceled after two seasons/a. Despite a solid fan base, the show saw a huge amount of backlash after the question “Who killed Rosie Larsen?” wasn’t answered at the end of Season 1.

    strongThe Lesson:/strong Give the people what they want.

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