THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• “American Idol” returned to Fox’s Wednesday night lineup, luring 17.9   million viewers, down about 19% from last January’s premiere.
• Pauline Friedman Phillips, who under the name of Abigail Van Buren, wrote   the long-running “Dear Abby” advice column, has died. She was 94.
• Former “American Idol” judge Kara Dioguardi is preparing to become a   first-time mom. The songwriter and her husband, Mike McCuddy, are expecting   a son via a gestational surrogate in the next few weeks.
• Once a year, Town and Country Magazine picks the world’s 50 most eligible   bachelors. At the top of the list this year, Britain’s Prince Harry.
• Jennifer Lawrence hosts SNL this weekend, with music from the Lumineers.
• Actor Conrad Bain has died at age 89. He was the dad on the old Gary   Colemen TV series, “Different Strokes.”
• “Inside Edition” has hired former Miss Alabama USA Katherine Webb — the   one Brett Musburger leered after — to do some reports for them, prior to   the Super Bowl game.
• The head of PBS says that Elmo isn’t going anywhere.