Questions answered on `Lost,’ `Scrubs’ and `Gilmore Girls’

If it’s Thursday, this must be the TV mailbag...

Q: Nick Clooney and the late Rosemary Clooney are brother and sister, right? George Clooney is Nick Clooney’s son, right? Who is George Clooney’s mother?

A: Nina Warren Clooney, who has been described as a writer, TV host and inventor, is the mother of the former ER star.

Q: I see that NBC is changing the Thursday night lineup of comedies and that ``Joey’’ is not part of that lineup. Will ``Joey’’ be moved to Tuesdays with the returning ``Scrubs,’’ or is it being canceled?

A: It is going on the bench. In early January, NBC will run back-to-back episodes of Scrubs in the 9 p.m. hour on Tuesdays while moving My Name is Earl and The Office to Thursdays. Things will get bounced around again in February, when NBC has the Winter Olympics. But the network has said that Joey and The Apprentice will be back after the Olympics.

Q: My wife and I became interested in the series ``Lost’’ this fall. We rented videos of the previous year’s episodes and now we are current with the show. My wife claims we watched six different DVDs. I only remember that we rented four, with four or five episodes on each. That would bring the total to 16 or 20 episodes. Isn’t it common for a series to do 13 episodes for one season? Were there more for ``Lost?’’

A: The first-season DVD of Lost has 24 episodes on six discs, along with a seventh disc of bonus material. That’s not an unusual total for a prime-time, broadcast network series that lasts an entire season. (A flop may be gone much sooner.) But some nonbroadcast shows do far fewer; cable shows like The Sopranos and Rescue Me do about 13 episodes each season.

Q: There has not been a new episode of ``Gilmore Girls’’ on Tuesday night for several weeks now. Do you know why, and when we will ever get to see this season’s new shows? My daughter and I watch it faithfully.

A: With TV series running 22 to 24 episodes in a season that lasts more than 40 weeks, there have to be points where shows are either rerun or pre-empted. December is one of those points. Look for a new episode Jan. 10.

Q: In your article about supporting actors, how could you possibly have omitted James Marsters for his role as Professor Fine on ``Smallville’’ this season?! Talk about elevating a show and helping other actors rise to their best performances! Not only is he doing that now on ``Smallville,’’ but Marsters was the epitome of that for all his years on both ``Buffy’’ and ``Angel!’’

By the way, another Buffy vet, Seth Green, will be back in prime time on the NBC comedy Four Kings beginning Jan. 5.