Seth

Going from fourth place to first on dry, flat land: Hard. Going from fourth to first careening down a tight, slushy course on a snowboard: Harder. Doing it at the Winter Olympics: Priceless. Improvisation, thy name is Seth Wescott. The 33-year-old Wescott went from last to first Monday afternoon in the men's snowboard cross final at Cypress Mountain, holding off crowd favorite Mike Robertson at the finish line to win the U.S.'s second gold medal. Wescott, of Sugarloaf, Maine, remains the only winner of this event at the Olympics, having captured the inaugural snowboard cross four years ago in Turin, Italy.

Now that Seth MacFarlane has tweeted that he simply can't find the time to host the Oscars again, is it too early to say: "Tina Fey, come on down!" "I think that's too hard," Fey tells The Times over the phone, when asked if she'd take the job. "Too many dresses to try on. " Really, Tina? You're going to go with the whole degree-of-difficulty dress thing as your primary reason to dodge the high-profile opportunity to flaunt your charm and talents in front of an audience of tens of millions of people?

He lunged forward, dived ahead, twisting his body and board down the snowy banks of Cypress Mountain, skidding into gold. And then Seth Wescott reached back. Back to a grandfather who taught him about patriotism, a father who taught him about strength, an heirloom that will connect them forever. Did you see the size of that American flag Wescott draped around his chilled body after winning his second consecutive gold medal in the men's snowboard cross Monday? It's not just big. It's three generations big. It's family big. It's the flag that was given to his grandfather Ben as a reward for service in the Army during World War II. It's the flag that was handed down to his father, Jim, upon Ben's death 22 years ago. It's the flag that Jim brought to Seth after the victory four years ago in Turin, Italy, the old man leaping over a barrier and rushing past the cops to give the kid a piece of his past.

If not Seth, who? With Seth MacFarlane's tweeted announcement  that he would not be returning as host of the Academy Awards after his controversial but highly rated turn earlier this year, the question becomes "Who next?" Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will have quite a challenge. The motion picture academy continues to strive for a certain respectful solemnity with a fizzy nod to old-school Hollywood glamour while also needing to attract younger viewers, grooming the next generation of Oscar watchers.

Disney's family comedy "Old Dogs" stars Robin Williams and John Travolta as aging bachelors, lifelong friends and business partners who have to take care of a pair of kids, perhaps at the peril of the biggest deal they've ever made. Is this light family comedy a surprising place to find the likes of . . . Seth Green? "I don't know, I don't know what people think of me! If you look at my filmography, I'm all over the place," says the Seth Green of "Can't Hardly Wait" and "Rat Race."

Forget ka-ching. Its all tap-tap these days. Restaurants and shop owners fed up with antiquated cash registers and expensive credit card terminals are switching to cheaper devices that plug into smartphones and tablets. And companies such as PayPal, Square Inc. and Groupon Inc. are rushing to meet them, developing sleeker stands to mount tablets running their software or hooking up with existing systems. The shift is happening as mobile devices permeate many facets of consumers' lives, including the way they shop and pay for everyday items.

Ted, the foul-mouthed animated star of Friday's R-rated buddy comedy of the same name, may smoke more marijuana than "Family Guy's" Peter Griffin, but the two sound awfully similar. Of course, both are voiced by writer-director Seth MacFarlane, so it's easy to understand why they are so alike. Or is it? MacFarlane also voices "Family Guy's" baby Stewie, the dog Brian, and the next-door neighbor Quagmire, and all three have completely different accents. MacFarlane said he tried to find a voice for Ted that would be distinct from Griffin's Rhode Island dialect, but was challenged by the task from the beginning.

Perez Hilton is now a father to a baby boy! The openly gay blogger, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira Jr., took to his eponymous blog Wednesday afternoon in a post titled "A Very Important Message from Perez" to share the news "directly from me, right here. " "I am ready to announce that earlier this month I was blessed with the birth of my first child, a beautiful and healthy baby boy - with lots of hair on his tiny head. My family is overjoyed at this newest and most cherished addition," the 34-year-old wrote.

Walt Disney Co.'s ABC is looking to become the first broadcast network to go live on the Internet on a full-time basis.  "Watch ABC" will debut this fall and allow viewers to watch the network from mobile devices and tablets when they are away from home. Watch ABC will basically be a live stream of the network's feed as well as local programming such as news. There are some catches. The service is only available to people who already have a pay-TV provider. Also, it will initially not be available in every market because ABC needs to reach distribution agreements for Watch ABC with all its local affiliates.

Brody Jenner is joining "Keeping Up With the Kardashians. " The son of Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner, patriarch of the Kardashian/Jenner clan, will be joining the E! series' season along with brother Brandon Jenner and his wife, Leah, according to stepsister Khloe Kardashian. "I'm always excited for each new season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians," Kardashian wrote on her blog Monday. "But I'm especially excited for this upcoming season because you're going to be seeing a lot more of the Kardashian/Jenner clan!

Bad news for those of you eagerly anticipating "We Saw Your Boobs: Part Two. " Seth MacFarlane will not reprise his role as the host of the Academy Awards next March, the comedian announced on his Twitter account Monday. "Traumatized critics exhale: I'm unable to do the Oscars again. Tried to make it work schedule-wise, but I need sleep," wrote "The Family Guy" creator. "However, I highly  recommend the job, as Zadan and Meron are two of the most talented producers in the business.

"Townies," an upcoming comedy starring Seth Rogen and Zac Efron, is giving some comic relief to Los Angeles. The Universal Pictures movie , in which Rogen plays a regular family man whose life is upended by the raucous behavior of his frat boy neighbor (Efron), has been lighting up local feature production. The timing couldn't be better for L.A., where location filming for feature films dropped nearly 12% in April compared with the same period last year after a 26% surge in the first quarter, according to data from FilmL.A.

Fox is looking to the stars - literally. At their upfront presentation Monday at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, the network announced plans to reboot “Cosmos,” Carl Sagan's massively popular documentary series. The new, 13-episode version will air sometime in 2014. In one of the more unlikely pairings in recent memory, it is produced by Seth MacFarlane and will be hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium and a popular recurring guest on “The Daily Show.” VIDEO: New fall TV shows When it aired 33 years ago, “Cosmos” became the highest-rated series on PBS (a benchmark surpassed 10 years later by Ken Burns' “The Civil War”)

Seth Meyers has been tapped to be the host of NBC's "Late Night" after Jimmy Fallon takes over for Jay Leno as host of "The Tonight Show" next year. The appointment of Meyers, a cast member and head writer on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," had been expected for weeks. Lorne Michaels, the producer of "Saturday Night Live," will oversee Meyers' show, which airs at about 12:30 a.m., after "The Tonight Show. " Michaels also will be executive producer of "The Tonight Show" after it moves to New York with Fallon as host.

Portland Winterhawks defenseman Seth Jones, the son of former NBA player Popeye Jones, was rated the top North American skater for the NHL entry draft by the league's Central Scouting Bureau. Aleksander Barkov of the Finnish team Tappara was rated the top European skater in advance of the draft, which will be held June 30 in Newark, N.J. The weighted draft lottery will be held next Monday. Jones was born in Arlington, Texas, while his father played for the Dallas Mavericks. Popeye Jones is now an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets.

Convincing a rising Broadway star to star in a small, 99-seat Los Angeles stage production can be a real casting coup. But the producers of "Slipping," now running at the Lillian Theatre in Hollywood, have learned that it can also create a major headache. Seth Numrich - already a Broadway veteran at age 26, having played the lead roles in "War Horse" in 2011 and "Golden Boy" this winter - began performances in "Slipping" on Saturday. He plays the main role of Eli, a moody high school student adjusting to life in a small, Midwestern town.

Michael Weatherly and his wife are investigating parenthood once again: They're expecting their second baby together. "We're expanding the brand ... We're very excited," the "NCIS" actor told "Entertainment Tonight. "  He said they would find out the sex of the child in advance, but was coy about whether they'd share. The baby is due "early in the fall," he said. Weatherly, who plays Special Agent Tony DiNozzo in the top-rated TV drama, married Bojana Jankovic in 2009.

Ending weeks of gossip and speculation, NBC confirmed that Jimmy Fallon will succeed Jay Leno as host of "The Tonight Show" in the spring of 2014. Although Leno is still the most-watched late-night television host, NBC is making the move because it thinks Fallon will do better with younger viewers in the years to come. This is not the first time NBC has announced a plan to replace Leno. In 2009, NBC put Conan O'Brien in as host of "The Tonight Show" only to see ratings decline.

Maybe it's not farewell for Cleveland Brown after all. Fox is denying a report that its "Family Guy" spinoff "The Cleveland Show" has been axed after four seasons. While not saying anything on the record, Fox sources say the show -- about black patriarch Cleveland Brown and his family -- hasn't been canceled, although the network hasn't ordered any new episodes, either. It's possible that the show could go on hiatus for awhile as Fox focuses on "The Simpsons," "Family Guy," "Bob's Burgers" and other animated shows for next season.

Eli (played by rising theater star Seth Numrich) is an openly gay high school student who has been transplanted from the San Francisco Bay Area to Iowa after the tragic death of his father. His English professor mother (a gritty Wendy vanden Heuvel) has accepted a job in the Midwest and is eager to start a new life with her son. Eli, feeling like the freak newcomer at his school, resents her for inflicting this culture shock on him but even more he resents her for trying to be happy.