Press tour: Tweeting to survive

Sarah Rodman is at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, eating hotel chicken, getting air-conditioned to within an inch of her life, and listening to TV talents talk and talk and talk. And talk some more.

At some point, the stars and producers may all sound like the "Peanuts" adults to her, but in the meantime she is tweeting their wisdom for our reading pleasure. Here are a few of her tweets so far, on Demi Lovato and Britney Spears as "The X Factor" judges, on Mariah Carey as "American Idol" judge, on the Fox sitcom "Ben and Kate" starring local boy and "Descendants" Oscar winner Nat Faxon (above), and Ken Burns of PBS's "The Dust Bowl."

"AMERICAN IDOL"

@GlobeRodman    Fox entertainment prez Kevin Reilly up now and announces that Mariah Carey is a new judge on "American Idol." He's calling her live. #FOX

@GlobeRodman    Mariah sends us a hello on speaker phone. She wishes she could've been here but says it all just happened. She wishes us a great TCA.#Idol

@GlobeRodman    I hope this means that no one will ever sing a Mariah song again since they will be too afraid to do it in front of her. #fingerscrossed

"BEN AND KATE"

@GlobeRodman    Fox TCA day & at the moment Oscar-winning screenwriter and Manchester native Nat Faxon onstage with the cast and creative of "Ben and Kate'

@GlobeRodman    He might be a genius but then you look at this face," says E.P. Dana Fox of Faxon whose lovable doofus character is based on her bro Ben.

@GlobeRodman    For the record: Nat Faxon has a Red Sox cell phone cover.#BenandKate #Fox

"GLEE"

@GlobeRodman    Reilly has read the first 3 scripts of "Glee" and likes how they're making the New York/Ohio situation work for next season.

@GlobeRodman    Some core actors will be back full time and others will show up as guest stars at holidays, school breaks, reunions etc. #Glee #Fox

"THE X FACTOR"

@GlobeRodman    Up now on Fox - "The X Factor." New judge Britney Spears was a fan of the show and says "I adore Simon."

@GlobeRodman    Simon says he was always "fascinated" by Britney and jokes that Lovato is a "brat" and that both bring something special to the show

@GlobeRodman    I think Simon might have just made a threesome joke.#familyprogramming

@GlobeRodman    Lovato says part of what she brings to the competition is her age: she's a representative of the current pop music fan demographic.

"THE DUST BOWL"

@GlobeRodman    The construction of Ken Burns' sentences is so solid I believe you might be able to move into one and take up residence. #erudition

@GlobeRodman    He's speaking eloquently about moving from a dusty childhood in the Great Plains to Burbank. "It's been culture shock ever since."

@GlobeRodman    "Dust Bowl" covers the "wild gyrations" of the era incl. infestations of jackrabbits & locusts & "dust pnemonia"#dontmesswithmothernature