Harold Perrineau is returning to Lost.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- It's funny to think the head honcho of ABC should have learned something from Star Jones, but the truth hurts.

Stephen McPherson, the president of ABC entertainment, got himself into quicksand yesterday while talking about the drama series Lost as he met with a group of ornery reporters at the Television Critics Association tour.

Nothing makes reporters more angry than someone hinting they have information they are not willing to reveal, because that information is going to be released in a staged and structured way in the near future.

Jones, formerly of The View, found herself in a similar predicament earlier during the TCA tour.

McPherson yesterday was asked about rumours that a major announcement about Lost was going to be made today at the annual Comic-Con convention. McPherson confirmed that was true, but initially yesterday, he declined to provide details.

First McPherson was sarcastic, suggesting everyone should hop into their cars and head down to Comic-Con in San Diego. Sarcasm from a slick TV executive is like waving a red cape in front of reporters.

Then McPherson tried to joke his way out of it, saying he had added disgraced radio host Don Imus to the cast of Lost. Ha ha ha. The mood was not diffused. The reporters wouldn't drop it, and McPherson's face went from smug to concerned. His eyes widened a little bit as he slowly realized this was turning into a big deal.

He then tried to play down the coming announcement, saying, "It's not earth-shattering. It does not change the face of television."

Moments later, an ABC public-relations person walked onto the stage, interrupting the media conference. She whispered something into McPherson's ear. Apparently, as all this was being played out, someone had called Lost creator Damon Lindelof.

Still somewhat snippy, McPherson said that, given the "fury" in the room, he had been given the clearance to make the big announcement:

Harold Perrineau, who played Michael Dawson, is returning to Lost.

Well, whoop-de-freakin'-do.

McPherson was right in this sense: It wasn't exactly earth-shattering news, although Lost junkies and Comic-Con attendees will be freaking out. But why make a group of reporters so mad? McPherson did not have a proper read of the risk-reward scale on that one.

About a week and a half ago, Jones made the same error. On hand to discuss her new talk show, a barely recognizable Jones said all questions about her weight loss were going to be answered before her show airs, but not on that day.

The atmosphere turned ugly.

Star, you're a famous person who has shed a ton of weight, and you're here to promote your new TV show in a room full of reporters from across North America. If this isn't the appropriate forum to answer questions, what is?

Did you sell your story? Did you write a book? Are you talking to Larry King? Barbara Walters?

Finally, Star Jones relented, realizing -- as Steve McPherson did yesterday -- that she had made a huge public-relations mistake. As it turned out, she had written an article for an upcoming issue of Glamor magazine and didn't want to scoop herself.

How hard was that? Why not just say that right off the top?

Ultimately, McPherson really should have been prepared yesterday for what Star Jones learned the hard way.

Instead, in terms of common-sense PR, the president of entertainment at ABC looked, uh, "Lost."