* If you've been missing ABC's "Defying Gravity," which disappeared from the schedule after Episode 8 aired Sept. 11, you can probably blame me.

Because that was just about the time that I'd spent a lost weekend catching up with the low-rated space soap on ABC.com and iTunes and had actually set my DVR to pick up the rest of the 13-episode season.

Back in August, I'd given the Canadian-filmed show a less than enthusiastic review, and to be honest, if I had it to do again, I still would.

Because as much as I love most of the cast - particularly Ron Livingston and Malik Yoba as veteran astronauts who shared a tragedy on Mars - it's a silly show, full of people I'd like to believe would never have passed the psychological testing required of people who get to tool around space.

It's also a sadly addictive one, and when it ended abruptly at a point where I'd thought the show's underlying mythology might finally be getting somewhere, I actually did miss it, and clung to reports that ABC was still planning to air the remaining five episodes at some point.

In the meantime, though, all mention of it seems to have disappeared from the network's press-only Web site, though not from ABC.com, where you can still watch the four most recent episodes.

A network spokeswoman said yesterday in an e-mail that there were no "additional episodes of 'Defying Gravity' scheduled at this time."

I'll let you know more when (or if) I hear it, and understand even better the next time someone tells me they're tired of networks that schedule serialized shows and then leave viewers hanging.

* Giving new shades of meaning to the title "Gone Too Far," MTV announced yesterday that next Monday it will begin airing the series in which Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein helps coach young addicts through recovery.

The intervention-style series, which consists of eight one-hour episodes, was created and hosted by the Philadelphia-born performer, who talked about his own struggles with addiction at an MTV news conference this summer, just weeks before he was found dead in his New York apartment in what was ultimately ruled an accidental overdose.

Since the accident reportedly involved a lethal combination of cocaine, Oxycodone, Vicodin, Ativan, Klonopin, Xanax, Benadryl and Levamisole, it could be argued that this is a case of "those who can't do, teach," and that MTV - which says the decision to air the show was made by Goldstein's family - is simply exploiting a tragedy.

Or, it could, I suppose, be sending an unintended, but truer message: that conquering addiction is far harder, and more complicated, than it sometimes looks on TV.

* Univision has joined the rush to get its programming onto smaller and smaller screens, with the announcement of the Univision Móvil Video App, which is now available free through Apple's App Store for iPhone/iPod Touch users.

The Spanish-language network notes that one in four U.S. Hispanic cell-phone users has a smart phone and that one in five mobile video users is Hispanic.

* Bill Clinton and John Edwards could both probably learn a thing or two from David Letterman, who so far seems to have defused his own sex scandal by being the first to mention it.

At least that's the impression one might get from a survey conducted late last week by Flemington, N.J.-based HCD Research of 505 TV viewers concerning their reactions to the CBS "Late Show" host's on-air confession Thursday night to having had sexual relationships with employees.

Of those polled after viewing Letterman's remarks, just 22 percent reported having a more negative perception than before of the late-night host, 23 percent reported a more positive perception and 55 percent reported no change whatsoever.

What's more, most apparently deemed Letterman sincere.

"While sincerity levels remained high throughout Letterman's confession, the curves spiked when he talked about protecting his family and the people involved in the situation," said Glenn Kessler, president and CEO, HCD Research, in a prepared statement.

If you want to see the video with the "sincerity curve" superimposed on it, it's at www.mediacurves.com.

And the next time I'm worrying about how little my job actually contributes to world peace, I'll remember that somewhere, someone is probably having to ask people about the sincerity of some late-night talk-show host talking about his sex life.

* Speaking of sex and, um, sincerity - and really, when aren't we? - Showtime announced yesterday that it had picked up a fourth season of the David Duchovny series "Californication," whose third season got under way Sept. 27, for next year. *

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