» Nicholas White

When all the ribs and racks of meats were prepared to perfection, Philadelphia chef Jose Garces, known for his Latin flavors, emerged victorious from Sunday's season finale of 'The Next Iron Chef.'

Garces beat runner-up Jehangir Mehta, a New York chef flashy in his personality and inclined towards Indian food. While for millions of Americans backyard ribs may sound easy, for these perfectionist chefs, when this red meat mainstay was announced on Sunday's finale, a blast of anxiety shot through the room. Garces opted for carnitas tacos (slow cooking his meat with cloves and beer), buffalo steak tartare and buffalo rib steak cooked au poivre, all fairly safe dishes. Garces said he drew on his Chicago background for the "American melting pot" theme of the show.

Sometimes it's easy to see when a TV show has jumped the shark.

Amaury Nolasco, star of Fox's highly budgeted 'Prison Break,' says he thinks his show ended at the right time, after its series finale this past May.

"I think it just ran its course," Nolasco told Inside TV at Monday's 'Star Trek' DVD and Blu-Ray premiere party in Hollywood. "I mean, how many more prisons can we actually break from? I think we got out on a high, before it became, 'Oh, really?'"

ABC's 'FlashForward' is like '24' in that it's always unclear if a lead actor will be iced by the Grim Reaper.

Series star John Cho says the show's uncertainty keeps him anxious, but that he enjoys the anxiety.

"It's definitely a unique scenario -- there are things that are exciting about it," Cho says of his character's ever-impending doom on 'FlashForward.'

"That part, not knowing, is always part of being an actor that I hate, not knowing what's up next year," Cho told Inside TV at Monday's 'Star Trek' DVD and Blu-Ray premiere party in Hollywood. "That's just a continuing thing ... This is since I don't know what's coming, it's forced me to act in the moment and accept the pages given to me. That's been interesting. I have liked it much more than I thought I would."

Unexpected dish from 'Lost' creator Damon Lindelof falls like manna from heaven.

You never know when it's coming. When it does, you have all the answers you were seeking. Such was the case in Hollywood at Paramount's DVD launch party for 'Star Trek,' which Lindelof produced with his old 'Lost' friend J.J. Abrams.

"We have written 112 episodes, with about 9 more to go. We have come this far, so just trying not to screw it up," Lindelof told AOL at the 'Star Trek' event. "We really want the focus in the last year to be on the original castaways that we have been following since the beginning. But that doesn't mean there won't be a couple new flavors in the mélange. There are a couple new faces, but not as many as there have been in past seasons."

After a disastrous appearance on CNN's Larry King Live last week, Carrie Prejean is drawing heat from critics as well as her fellow pageant competitors.

"It just goes to show you how much respect she has, and how disrespectful she is," Chelsea Gilligan, 2009's Miss California Teen USA, said over the weekend.

"Larry King is amazing, he is so sweet. He is the nicest, most easiest interviewer," Gilligan told Inside TV at the 'Planet 51' premiere in Westwood, Calif. "The fact that she would disrespect him on national television, an elder -- I mean, I don't know."

In an unpredictable world, it may be safe to expect one thing: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will be back on 'Saturday Night Live' as his popular character "The Rock Obama."

"Yeah, you bet," Johnson told Inside TV at Saturday's 'Planet 51' premiere in Westwood, Calif. "I love going on that show, and I have a great time."

The Rock Obama, who appeared on Oct. 17's 'SNL' in a sketch about the health care debate in Congress, is the hot-tempered, Incredible Hulk-like alter-ego (played by Johnson) of the mild-mannered Pres. Barack Obama, played by Fred Armisen. When egged on, he morphs into a muscular monster that attacks his opponents, tearing off limbs and throwing them out windows.

Make that another of the original 'Girls Next Door' who doesn't watch the new 'Girls Next Door.'

"I don't watch it," Bridget Marquardt told Inside TV at Thursday's Nu Pop Movement launch party in Beverly Hills, hosted by Jermaine Dupri, adding that she has no interest in 'The Girls Next Door,' on E!

"I had trouble watching it even when we were on it," the Playboy model says. "I was just weird about watching myself on TV. Now, I don't want to watch it because I feel like it was our thing. And I don't want to go there."

It will be a magical Muggles wonderland -- some of it never seen before -- the first weekend in December on ABC Family.

During a 'Harry Potter' weekend Dec. 4-6, new footage from the kids' movie mega-franchise will show scenes from 'Creating the World of Harry Potter,' an eight-hour documentary series of behind-the-scenes footage that'll be available on the 'Harry Potter Ultimate Edition' DVD and Blu-Ray starting Dec. 8.

Included are screen tests, cast and filmmaker stories, and directors' explanations behind critical decisions.

Also airing that weekend on ABC Family are two extras from the upcoming 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' two-disc special edition DVD/Blu-ray combo pack, which is in stores Dec. 8.