DEAR STACY: With "House" off the air, what is Hugh Laurie going to do next? — Brenda L., Salt Lake City, Utah

DEAR BRENDA: Laurie is touring with his acclaimed blues and jazz band, Copper Bottom, this summer (he plays piano). They'll play in Seattle tomorrow (6/4), then head to South America for a June 8-9 stand in Buenos Aires. Then they fly to Europe for dates including Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt in July. Laurie has said he won't do another series, that topping "House" would be impossible. He'll continue to direct. His comedic collaborator and Cambridge chum, Stephen Fry, indicated via Twitter that the two have some sort of secret reunion project in the works, so perhaps we'll be seeing Laurie's silly side again before long.

DEAR STACY: Whatever happened so Sanjaya Malakar? — Ron W., Warren, Ohio

DEAR RON: The Season Six "American Idol" finalist has performance dates ahead for this summer, including Boston's Aug. 16-18 GreenFest. He also says on his Facebook page that he has new music coming out "soon," so we'll see. The Daily Beast recently reported that he's living in Queens, NYC, with two roommates, works as a bartender at a friend's establishment in the East Village and performs for small crowds. The much-imitated Sanjaya, now sporting very short hair, has had an eclectic career since "Idol" to say the least. You may have seen him on "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here" in 2009. He came in fifth on that show. He came out with an autobiography (Dancing to the Music in My Head: Memoirs of the People's Idol), did an insurance commercial in India, and worked as a singer for Seattle's Pagliacci's pizzeria.

DEAR STACY: Where is Linda Vester? She used to be terrific on Fox News. — D.B., San Antonio, Texas

DEAR D.B.: Vester, the former host of "Dayside with Linda Vester" on FNC, left for maternity leave in July 2005 and a year later informed the network she would be on the Mommy track for a while and not returning.

DEAR STACY: We enjoyed the performances of Victor French as Mr. Edward on "Little House on the Prairie." He died some time ago, but he must have been fairly young. What happened to him? — Joanna C., Cedar Rapids, Iowa

DEAR JOANNA: A heavy smoker, French succumbed to lung cancer at age 54 in 1989.

To find out more about Stacy Jenel Smith and read her past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.