After Istook left Fort Worth, his home town, he worked for ESPN doing behind-the-scene graphics before heading to KTEN in Denison, where he was weekend sportscaster, an anchor and, finally, sports director.

But Hollywood was calling. Istook moved to Los Angeles in 2001 to pursue some other projects, including a local sports talk show. Then in 2007 Istook landed a spot as co-host of a Food Network program called "Gotta Get It," where he and co-host Sunny Anderson highlighted random kitchen gadgets, from a refrigerator with a TV in the door to an avocado slicer.

Istook, who describes himself as "an OK cook for a single guy," says he stumbled into the job randomly when he ran into one of the producers of the show in New York City.

After the Food Network show ended, he got a gig as a correspondent on a Direct TV show called "Hometown Heroes" highlighting positive things people were doing in their communities.

Now he's an entertainment reporter for the TV Guide Network, reporting for "Hollywood 411," and having tete-a-tetes with Eva Longoria, Reese Witherspoon, Katherine Heigl and Miley Cyrus.

His "Hollywood 411" correspondent's job is ongoing, but Istook is working on another project on the side, one that, at least nominally, returns him to TCU. He's started up University Drive, a production company that creates documentary-style videos about the college admissions process. The goal is for them to air on TV. 

"Over the course of my career, I've spent a lot of time behind the camera too, and I had the idea to do a how-to series for teens and I got together with a person who had a background in college administration and we came up with this," Istook says.

He's also just finished production on six DVD episodes called "College Admission. Simplified." The episodes, available through the Web site, guide teens through the process of choosing colleges, as well as applying, preparing and succeeding once they arrive.