Tuesday night was supposed to be a rare night off at the TV Critics Press Tour and most writers took advantage of it by ordering dinner in their rooms and dedicating the n ight to watching the "American Idol" premiere and Jay Leno. I had the same game plan in mind, but happy hour had another plan in mind. I joined St. Paul producer Naomi Boak at the hotel bar where I had a nice chat with "Masterpiece Theatre" producer Rebecca Eaton, but the bar was absent of big stars, with the exception of Sam Neill.

That soon changed. I was sitting at an outdoor table with PBS publicists when a gentlemen took the table next to us. It took me a few minutes, but I then realized that the solo diner was none other than Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme. The man behind "Slience of the Lambs," "Rachel Gets Married" and an upcoming PBS special with Tavis Smiley was too busy looking at scripts for a possible HBO series based on a Walter Mosely novel to join us immediately, but after he was done, he kindly took up our invitation to join us. What followed was a delightful hour-plus of conversation about movies, technology and, mostly, music (Demme has directed everything from "Stop Making Sense" to "Neil Young: Heart of Gold").

The night wouldn't be complete if I didn't have a boneheaded moment. At one point, I asked Demme if he had ever worked with Bruce Springsteen. Um, hello, Neal - remember a little film called "Philadelphia?" Demme was very kind about the question as he was throughout the night.

Speaking of music: Tonight an intimate performance by five-time Grammy winner Mary-Chapin Carpenter.