Paula may visit ‘Idol,’ but she won’t stay

Paula Abdul might be returning to “American Idol” for Simon Cowell’s last show, but if she does, don’t consider it a sign that she’ll fill Cowell’s seat permanently.

“Paula is incredibly loyal to Simon, she always will be. She will always support him, no matter what,” said an Abdul source. “But, she’s not trying to go back to ‘Idol.’ She’s got no hard feelings toward the show, but she’s not interested in an ‘Idol’ comeback.”

Another source very close to the show said that odds are good that Abdul will appear for Cowell’s last show, since the finale “will be very, very Simon Cowell-centric.”

The source said it’s likely Abdul will attend the finale, “particularly in light of the fact that (Abdul and Cowell) are likely to be working together again, on Fox, on ‘X Factor.’ ”

But the source added the following caveat: “With Paula, nothing is a sure thing until they actually get her out of the dressing room and on the stage.”

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ learns nothing from Columbine
Warning: If you have not yet watched the “Grey’s Anatomy” finale , skip the rest of this item.

OK, if you’re still reading, then you know that the entire Seattle Grace staff was under attack by a single gunman, and its best chance for protection came from the worst SWAT team in the history of SWAT teams.

“Simply put, the episode ignored every lesson learned by police in the Columbine attack,” wrote Michael Roberts of Denver Westword. “The after-the-fact analysis of the Columbine massacre showed that the decision by law enforcement types to wait outside the school for a long stretch increased the body count substantially. Since then, police departments across the country have revised their tactics. Now, rather than lingering, SWAT teams and the like rush into crime scenes much sooner.”

Mike Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly asked “Grey’s” creator Shonda Rhimes, who also wrote the finale, what she thought of the opinion that the SWAT team left a lot to be desired, and she defended the show.

“That’s a shame because we have these super awesome SWAT guys who talked us through everything,” Rhimes told Ausiello. “And we had a meeting in which I said, ‘Seriously, it would be five guys in a group searching (the entire) hospital? That sounds crazy to me.’ And they said that’s how it works. And for me, it made it so much more horrible because that hospital is enormous. And the idea that just five guys are going to save them is ridiculous on so many levels, and yet, that’s how it works. When you’re looking for a shooter, you don’t have a bunch of people all spread out apparently.”

Ogre rules box office
“Shrek Forever After” was No. 1 at the box office this weekend, but the film’s total take of $71.2 million is cause for concern. Sure, $71 million is a considerable sum on the surface, but since this “Shrek” iteration was offered up with 3-D and IMAX premiums in many theaters, and “Shrek the Third” opened up to more than $120 million and “Shrek 2” opened to more than $108 million, its hard not to see “Forever After” as a slight disappointment.

Far more disappointing, however, was the sixth-place finish for “Saturday Night Live” sketch-turned-film “MacGruber.” “Wayne’s World,” it is not: According to early estimates, “MacGruber” made only $4.1 million from 2,551 screens for a per screen average of $1,607. In 1992, “Wayne’s World” made $18.1 million from 1,768 screens.

Courtney Hazlett delivers the Scoop Monday through Friday on today.msnbc.com. Follow Scoop on Twitter @courtneyatmsnbc