What inspired American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson to sing Harry Nilsson's '70s hit "Without You" on the show? Donny Osmond says he did! "I sang it on a radio show in Dallas, where Kelly was also a guest," he tells TV Guide Online. "To be honest, I nailed it. Kelly said, 'What a beautiful song.' Next thing I knew, she sang it three days later on TV."

Turns out, Donny's an Idol fan. Hmm... Would the ex-teen heartthrob ever consider judging? While Simon Cowell is signed up for American Idol 2, the return of judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson is unconfirmed as yet. "I'd love to be a judge," he says. "Oh man, in a heartbeat.

In the '70s, Richard Thomas set teen hearts aflutter as "John Boy" Walton on The Waltons. Now that he's a 51-year-old married dad, we just have to ask: Does his wife ever say the show's classic line — "Good night, John Boy" — at bedtime? "No," he laughs to TV Guide Online. "But she's said, 'Shut up, John Boy' on several occasions!

"Everywhere I go," he says, "people ask me to say, 'Good night, Sally' or whatever their name is. I'm serious!" Fortunately, Thomas is no bitter ex-child star — he's genuinely pleased to meet Waltons fans. "I loved that show," he smiles. "It made me a television star and I owe it a lot. And it's nice to owe your success to such a quality show."

The residents of Walton's Mountain would likely scoff at Real Beverly Hillbillies — CBS's in-the-works reality series about rural hicks shacking up in a Beverly Hills mansion. What's John Boy's take? "Well, my grandmother grew up in the hills of Ohio and eastern Kentucky, right in Hatfield/McCoy country," Thomas says. "As she would say, that's where two fools meet. One to make the show, the other one to be in it."

As for Thomas, he's made his home at Pax. He's in his fourth year chronicling "mysterious, uplifting phenomena" as host of It's a Miracle. The actor also plays a WASPy, do-gooder attorney on the new series Just Cause (airing tonight at 9 pm/ET). Clearly inspired by Erin Brockovich — Lisa Lackey is the spunky legal protegee — it has been mockingly nicknamed Touched By a Lawyer.