The TV Zone

We’ve had a bellyful of TV lists (almost as big a bellyful as we’ve had of Lou Dobbs), but this one actually piqued our interest.

The Top 25 Gay TV Characters countdown was voted by users of the LOGO channel’s AfterElton.com media site, choosing from a list of nearly 150 male-only nominees (leaving the girls to sister site AfterEllen.com).

Billy Crystal’s Jodie Dallas of “Soap” [left in photo] is there, of course – he was a TV breakthrough – and so are Rickie Vazquez of “My So-Called Life,” Kevin Walker of “Brothers & Sisters,” and Jack Harkness of “Torchwood.” The site also notes that half the top characters are played by “out” gay men.

Take a look at the list here.

And if you haven’t had the bellyful we have, you can get more in the new “TV Guide Book of Lists” (Running Press, $15), which inventories 296 pages of great and/or memorable episodes, guest stars, cartoon characters, teen idols, wacky sidekicks, sci-fi legends, feuds, deaths, and much more.

Or some, anyway. Tim Sale, who does those prescient paintings for “Heroes” artist Isaac Mendez and the 9th Wonders comic books, appears this week on G4’s Saturday night “Heroes” post-show. It airs Saturday at 11 p.m.. after the channel’s 10 p.m. repeat of last Monday’s NBC “Heroes” episode. (Got that?)

Sale joins Kevin Pereira and Blair Butler for a live, interactive event incorporating video viewer mail, show trivia, and other "Heroes" hot topics.

Right: Tim Sale on the "Heroes" set, in NBC photo by Trae Patton.

The Writers Guild and studio and producers' alliance - AKA the AMPTP - ended talks late yesterday to take a four-day breather, but based on a pair of dueling press releases, the whole mess looks as bad as ever.

What a change from Monday when there was a sense - reflected mostly in the trade press and influential blogs like Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood - that this thing might actually be over by now.

In some ways, the situation looks as lousy as ever, though at least both sides are talking, which is better than not talking at all (presumably). Meanwhile, both sides ended their self-imposed news blackouts, which also (presumably) means more press releases and more recriminations. This thing is not looking good at all.

First, this key declaration from the AMPTP statement:

"The AMPTP today unveiled a New Economic Partnership to the WGA, which includes groundbreaking moves in several areas of new media, including streaming, content made for new media and programming delivered over digital broadcast channels. The entire value of the New Economic Partnership will deliver more than $130 million in additional compensation above and beyond the more than $1.3 billion writers already receive each year..."

Then this, from the writers, concerning that grandiloquent "New Economic Partnership: "Among the rumors [this week] was the assertion that the AMPTP had a groundbreaking proposal that would make this negotiation a 'done deal.' In fact, for the first three days of this week, the companies presented in essence their November 4 package with not an iota of movement on any of the issues that matter to writers.

"Thursday morning, the first new proposal was finally presented to us. It dealt only with streaming and made-for-Internet jurisdiction, and it amounts to a massive rollback."

The Guild called the producers' "intractability...dispiriting."

Both sides meet again Tuesday, and there was additional speculation - if you can believe any of that stuff now - that the producers may lay some additional cards on the table. We await.

In case you missed tonight's "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric," we now offer you one of the big interviews of the week: She and Rudy Giuliani mixed it up tonight, which is a heck of a night to mix it up, in light of the avalanche of stories (NYPD chauffers...Judith...and so on) that have suddenly piled over him. Our friends at CBS just provided a rush transcript, and here's an edited version:

Katie Couric: We were talking earlier, Mayor Giuliani, about the scrutiny that you have to endure when you run for public office, so much scrutiny that it really turns a lot of people off from participating in the process and throwing their hat in the ring. You experienced this recently where all of the papers today, I couldn’t help but notice are focused on the on your security detail which you dealt with last night during the debate but I am just curious, are you completely comfortable with the way it was handled and the way the billing was handled for example?

Rudy Giuliani: I was very comfortable with it and really upset that it was put out two hours before a debate with the suggestion that certain agencies were asked to bear the cost of my security. When you had a chance to look at it, it took about 3 to 4 hours to go through all of the records. The story turns out to be a totally false story. This practice was going on in my first term as mayor. It didn’t just happen in my second term as mayor. The police department paid for all of these expenses. But since the police department would sometimes can be slow in payment. City Hall would pay it first then the police department would reimburse every single penny of it and now we’ve been able to confirm that. So this was really, I know what this was. This story is five years old. It came out two hours before a debate. It’s a typical political hit job with only half the story told, not that second part told – that every single penny was reimbursed, that all of this was public. All of this was discoverable. It was not done in a way that nobody could see it. But it was a typical – this particular case – it was sort of a debate day dirty trick.

KC: But according to accounts, the bills were spread across, as you’re saying, several government agencies – from the NYC loft board to the office for people with disabilities and one former New York budget director said today there’s no good reason to do this except to have nobody know about it. . .

RG: He’s just wrong. And that’s probably a political opponent. The fact is, that by doing it that way, it was more discoverable. Had it been paid by the police department, it never would have been discovered because their records are security records and they can’t be discovered. The reality is, all those agencies that you’re talking about. All of it was fully reimbursed within that year. They’re all in the mayor’s office. This was a way of expediting payment. All of it ON the record, all of it discoverable, all of it going on for five or six years. And perfectly appropriate and three budget directors have asserted that but of course the press doesn’t cover that.

KC: Those 3 former budget directors have basically explained it according to the way you’re explaining it to me today.

RG: Every single penny repaid. And the first version of the story does not make that clear.

KC: Having said that mayor Giuliani, the report was in a political website. It wasn’t planted by your opposition and the records were gotten by a freedom of information act so the notion of it somehow being a political hit job, do you really believe that?

RG: It comes out two hours before a debate when the story is five years old – so do I believe that? Of course I believe that. Do I know who did it? No, I don’t know who did it. Plenty of time for the story to come out but to wait until 3 or 4 o’clock in the afternoon of the day of the debate – and it was very, very artfully done because there’s a very good explanation for this . . . which is it took 24 hours to go find the people who did it who explained that every single penny was reimbursed. All of this was on the record. None of it was against other practices that w used in situations like this but it took 24 hours to get that explanation so they’ll be more like this.

KC: Do you think the motive behind this story is to raise questions about your character because it involves a situation that is quite frankly, you know, probably one you’re not all that proud of.

RG: Look, did I expect it, yes. Did I expect exactly this one, no because it’s not true. And it took 12-14 hours to show that it’s not true. But they’ll be others like it.

KC: You have an explanation. Obviously your explanation is quite different than the original report. How do you think this will affect your candidacy? Or the way people perceive you?

RG: I think it will show that we do things honestly, honorably, above board. All of this is easily explained and all of this is easily discoverable. And none of it was hidden. It’s all there in records. And it is perfectly appropriate procedure. And the fact is, I had to have security. It wasn’t of my own desire. The reason I had to have security was because people have been threatening to kill me for quite some time going back to when I was a US attorney. So I had 24 hour security. The records were handled in a way that they’re all discoverable. The police department ultimately paid for everything. Nobody was put out at all and from my point of view I prefer not to have security but this wasn’t done because I wanted to have security. It was done because there were definable threats to kill me going back to when I was a US attorney.

KC When this came out mayor Giuliani, how did you feel?

RG: You know I take it very professionally. I say, ok well, two hours before a debate, three hours before a debate. . .

KC: Did it throw you at all during the debate?

RG: No, I don’t think so, go look at the debate.

KC: Well some have said they didn’t think it was your best debate.

RG: I think it was a good debate. I think I did a really good job.

KC: You didn’t really answer the question. You think it won’t matter in terms of the election itself—this story?

RG: Of course not. I mean there’ll be 100 more stories . . . and we’ll see.

Ten most fascinating people of the year? Ok, I suppose you could argue that Don Imus has to be one of them considering what took place last April AND considering his comeback this Monday.
In any event, Barbara Walters just announced that he'll officially join the list for next Thursday's big show (“Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2007,” 10:02-11:00 pm.) And no - he's not the most fascinating, per Babs. That selection is usually kept under wraps until after the last commercial break.

Babs calls this his "first" interview since his April firing from the Fan, though there are no details about exactly what will come out of this encounter; it'll air three days after his WABC debut, so one assumes he'll talk about his co-host, assuming their is one as many now believe, and about his other efforts to broaden - so to speak - his horizons about race matters in this country.

It’s Placido Domingo in your living room. Metropolitan Opera performances that have been beaming live to movie theaters around the world can come into your home in January, when the iN DEMAND cable service starts offering on-demand transmission.

Eight productions this season will be available in both HD and standard definition to cable systems choosing to offer them. (Check with your local provider.)

First up is Gounod's “Roméo et Juliette” with Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna, conducted by Domingo. It beams to theaters Saturday, Dec. 15, and hits iN DEMAND Jan. 16. Later productions include "Hansel and Gretel," Verdi's "Macbeth," Puccini's "Manon Lescaut" and "La Boheme," Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," Britten's "Peter Grimes" and Donizetti's "La Fille du Regiment."

The Met doesn’t mess around when it comes to the latest delivery systems. They’ve also made a deal with the Rhapsody digital music service to make 100 operas from 1937 to 2006 available online. And they’ll be releasing two of last season’s HD shows on DVD Dec. 18: Tchaikovsky's ''Eugene Onegin'' with Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Renee Fleming and Ramon Vargas, and Bellini's ''I Puritani'' with Netrebko.

It's now official: CBS News has dropped the Dec. 10 Democratic candidates debate due to the WGA strike. Here's the statement released minutes ago:

"CBS News regrets not being able to offer the Democratic presidential debate scheduled for Dec. 10 in Los Angeles. The possibility of picket lines set up by the Writers Guild of America and the unwillingness of many candidates to cross them made it necessary to allow the candidates to make other plans."

And...here's the Guild statement: “The Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West regret that the Democratic National Committee has had to cancel the December 10th Presidential Debate hosted by CBS. This was triggered by CBS' fear that the Democratic candidates would not cross a picket line by WGA-CBS News writers or WGA Film and TV writers to participate in the debate – a concern that could have been avoided entirely if CBS would simply sit down and negotiate a fair contract for its news and entertainment employees. Instead, CBS chose to make a decision that stifles the democratic process.”

By the way, we should also mention: This is a blow to Katie Couric too, because she was scheduled moderator - a very big deal, indeed.

Here's some biiig news in the morning TV realm: Hannah Storm has been dropped from "The Early Show."

We'd like to add "unceremoniously" dropped, but there was probably some ceremony involved. So what happened? Not sure: She's been on the program as co-anchor for five years and - unless you didn't know this but then how could you? - she is also one of the nicest people in the entire business. But niceness, I understand, doesn't ensure longevity.

CBS just sent out this press release and we'll let you read between the lines: "Hannah Storm, who has been co-anchor of 'The Early Show' for the past five years, will move into a new role at CBS News. Storm and Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports, are in discussions to determine the scope and depth of her new duties.

Said Hannah: “I have loved every minute of my five years...teaming up from the start with some of the best in the business. I am proud of my work at CBS News. We are in discussions regarding future opportunities across CBS.”

Etecera.

Keep this in mind: The notoriously tough ayam TV boss Shelley Ross took over "Early" not long ago with the express mission of boosting numbers. That's proven to be one of the most notoriously difficult jobs in television when it comes to CBS morning news ventures.

Storm is expected to be on the air in the morning; no one seems to be sure when her last day is.

One of the funniest moments this season took place two weeks ago when Jack and Liz extolled the virtues of Verizon Wireless phones, with Liz then turning to the camera and demanding, "Can we have our money now?"

It was a great send-up of product placement, of course... But now, we learn, it was a very calculated example of product placement, as this terrific story in the Hollywood Reporter explains.

Still, it was pretty darn funny, no?

Just as a teensy bit of light appears to be breaking through the clouds on the WGA/Producers' front, another weather front is moving into New York, and this occlusion (so to speak) could scuttle the Dec. 10 candidate debate on the network.

Per a report on CBS, newswriters - who voted to authorize a strike a week and half ago - are "strongly considering" a Dec. 10 walk-out. Here's the story from CBS's Chicago owned station, WBBM:

"News writers for CBS are ''strongly considering' a Dec. 10 strike date, casting doubt on whether the network will be able to air its planned presidential debate.

"The timing of the strike appears to be an attempt by union leadership to disrupt CBS plans for a presidential debate the same day. A spokeswoman for the writers guild said today that no date has been officially set, but that Dec. 10 'is a date that we are strongly considering.'"

"Several Democratic presidential candidates-including Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, John Edwards and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton--have said they would not cross a picket line to participate in a debate."

Also, check out Drudge, who's reporting that the network brass is meeting right now, and leaning to cancellation. And "Katie," Drudge confidently informs readers, "is not happy."

More details as they come...

When is enough enough? Apparently never. Here’s the latest brilliant brainstorm from VH1 – “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew,” due Jan. 10.

Brigitte Nielsen, Chyna, Daniel Baldwin, Jeff Conaway, Jessica Sierra, Jaimee Foxworth, Seth “Shifty” Binzer, Mary Carey and Ricco Rodriguez – and sorry, but I think the word “celebrity” is being abused in some of these cases – will detox and rehab at “a center in the Los Angeles area” described as “no-frills.”

Except for all those TV cameras celebs crave like another drug.

Eight episodes are promised, with Dr. Drew “aided in the process by his experienced and trusted staff of counselors,” VH1 says, “including registered nurses and other addiction experts.” I think “Maury” has those, too. Not impressed.

And is this some sort of trifecta for Brigitte? “The Surreal Life,” “Strange Love,” “Celebrity Rebab”? Is there a natural progression here? I’m suddenly ashamed to be a Dane.

Cable’s Hallmark Channel continues its pursuit of baby boomers — the same demographic coveted by TV Land.

The channel completed one of its biggest series acquisition deals this week, grabbing rights to "7th Heaven," "Cheers" and "I Love Lucy" along with additional episodes of "Matlock" and "Touched by an Angel," according to the Hollywood Reporter.

"7th Heaven" will be the first of the three newly acquired series available to the network, where it will launch as early as January, while "Cheers" will become available later next year and "Lucy" in January 2009. The deal includes rights to all episodes of all three series.

Hallmark already airs reruns of two Boomer-friendly shows, "M*A*S*H" and "Little House on the Prairie."

"Angel," which previously aired on the network, will return in January, while the newly acquired episodes of "Matlock" will join those already running on the channel.

Helio in the winner's circle - again.

I woke up this morning and went on a long run.

Actually, a run to the bathroom, which took me about five seconds. But in that span of time, many thoughts occurred to me about "Dancing with the Stars," and as I passed the mirror, it gave me an opportunity to continue that conversation I had with Myself yesterday. Here's an edited transcript:

ME: My God, what an awful show last night. Tacky, cheesy, gross. All those plugs for "Dance War." I think I counted fifty-nine. And the noise - Tom Bergeron shouted the whole bloody two hours. My ears still hurt. And imagine, Helio - the Mad Brazilian - winning. There's no justice in "Dancing" land, just voters who haven't got a clue.

MYSELF: Heh heh heh...well [head nodding], as a president once said, there you go again. An "awful" show? It was awe-inspiring! All that fog, and glitter. It felt like I was at the Blue Martini in Bally's Atlantic City.

ME: To each his own.

MYSELF: And what do you know about "DWTS?" You were the guy who predicted Sabrina would win. You were the guy who said a woman would win this time. You were the guy who said MARIE would win! I'm afraid there is what might be called a 'credibility gap' with your coverage of this fine program.

ME: Credibility gap!! Can I help it that the people who voted are idiots! I'm not the one who got Marie into the final rounds. Someone out there was voting for her. And if you or anyone else out there thinks Helio is a better dancer that Mel B., then there's no hope for any of you. And you've gotta be kidding about the Blue Martini, right? When were we even there...?

Dancing with the Stars photos

ME: Cynic.

MYSELF: Good. Left you speechless for a change. Now, I think I'll go and watch a repeat of this wonderful show on ABC.com. I wonder if writers will get paid residuals when I do that....

This is a fascinating development and possibly very good one as well: Carson Daly is taping new episodes of "Last Call" this week.

Why fascinating and "good"? Here's why: Because this could well mean that a strike resolution is in the offing as we speak, and that Daly has been told to get new shows in the can for next week when the strike - conceivably - is over.

Of course, this is a glass-half-full read, as opposed to a glass-half-empty one. For all I know, Daly could care less about his striking brethren, but a lot more about his support staff, which is facing the ax.

Shows like "Tonight" or "Daily" obviously don't have the luxury (or disadvantage, if you will) of "Last Call." They're live to tape, for day-in-date air. No way Jay can jump forward - he HAS to wait until the strike is officially over (unless, as widely reported, NBC decides to insert guest hosts.) "Last Call" tapes well in advance of airdate, however. (Taping's in L.A.)

Keep this in mind as well: Yesterday, NBC gave full-season orders to "Chuck" and "Life." Why would a network give a full-season order to a strike-crippled show unless it expected a resolution?

But I'm also hearing that Daly's going back to work for one very simple reason: To save his staff. Shows like this face a huge hurdle in the coming weeks: Hold on to valuable support staff or let them go, only to hire them back when the strike is over. David Letterman's paying for his support staff through the rest of this year. After that? Who knows.

Also, the huge crowd at Washington Square today didn't seem to think a resolution was at hand. The so-called Labor Community Solidarity rally drew - per WGA/East - this list of speakers/attendees, besides John Edwards: "Tim Robbins, Evan Handler, Aasif Mandvi, Gilbert Gottfried were among the celebrities that spoke at the podium. Other celebrities attending today's Rally included: Danny Glover, David Chase, Tony Goldwyn, Edie Falco, Michael Emerson, Kristen Davis, Joe Pantoliano, B.J. Novak, Michael Nouri; Julianna Margulies, Anthony Edwards, Eric Begosian, Nancy Giles, John Slattery, Richard Belzer, David Proval, and David Cross."

Here are some outtakes from the recent Associated Press story: "Daly is not the first talk-show host to go back into production. Ellen DeGeneres, who is a member of the union, has continued taping her daytime syndicated talk show after shutting down the first day of the strike. But 'Last Call' becomes the first to break ranks
among the late-night shows, which all had chosen to air repeat rather than tape new shows without their striking writers.

So it all comes down to this utterly ridiculously and improbable line: Marie Osmond is in the finals of "Dancing with the Stars."

My sources on the show tell me...who am I kidding? I have no sources on "Dancing with the Stars." Sourcing is immaterial. This whole show, at least this whole fifth edition, is so utterly counterintuitive that any opinion is pretty much valid (or irrelevant). Me? I discuss the show with Myself. Here's the conversation Me and Myself held this morning.

ME: Man, that Marie Osmond sure performed one of the strangest freestyle dances in the history of freestyle dancing last night.

MYSELF: Yes, pal! That's the genius of Marie Osmond. She's so bad she's good.

ME: What the hell are you talking about?

MYSELF: Let me explain, then. That part where Jonathan dumped her at the end like a sack of leaden potatoes, and where she almost trips over his leg and ends up on her head? Brilliant. You see, it just reinforced the rag doll motif. Oh, that Marie, she knows what she's doing.

ME: You have lost it. I guess watching this show week after week, and wondering how Marie Osmond is in the finals while Sabrina Bryan got slammed out weeks ago can do that to someone. You have my pity.

MYSELF: Whatever - I get the last word AND the last laugh because millions of people have already voted for her and she'll win this whole thing tonight. Why? Because the people who watch this show apparently love her, and because she's an American - the other two obviously ain't - and because they can relate to her. It's all about popularity, and maybe misguided nationalism (as nationalism can often be). Not talent.

And so it goes. Here's my wrap:

Scary: If there was justice in the topsy-turvy land of "DWTS," Mel B. would be the winner, hands-down - no ifs, no ands, no buts. But there is no justice, and frankly, last night was only OK. On the entertainment front, the first dance was kinda boring - proficient but boring. Then, the freestyle: The lifts, like that half-pivot-over-the-head-half-nelson-thingamajigee, were pretty amazing. But Len had it right - it didn't really flow.

Marie: Ya know, I actually liked her samba.Thought it was reasonably OK (for Marie), but best of all, actually a pretty lively and entertaining version. After that drab text-book performance by Scary, it even looked better. So Marie lucks out here. Then the rag doll: The judges despised it with a justifiable fury, and Bruno had his best line of the whole season ("it's Baby Jane and Bride of Chucky.."). But again, it was entertaining - bizarrely entertaining. I can see her fans out there rationalizing their vote for her on the basis of that alone. (Her fans have had to do a lot of rationalizing this season already, so why not a little more rationalizing?)

Meanwhile, I'm still sticking by this fearless prediction: Marie Osmond is the next winner of "DWTS."

Helio: Finally, Helio. My favorite male dancer of the season. Great to see you still here, Mario. That smile. That pizazz. The competitive streak a mile and a quarter wide. The guy's terrific. But he's not going to win tonight. First of all, his jive was pretty bad - even Me and Myself could tell his footwork was way off. And while the judges loved his freestyle, my mind kinda wandered during the routine.
I was thinking of Bette Davis, and grinning homicidal blood-spattered dolls, and "Bride of Chucky," which starred - per my faulty recollection - Katherine Heigl, who sure doesn't brag about that role these days, and...

Hillary Clinton hasn't done many major network interviews lately. In fact, none. Which makes tonight's Katie Couric encounter on "Evening News" of considerable interest. CBS recently sent out some outtakes, and we present them here unedited. Bottom line: No surprises.

CBS: "Polls in Iowa are showing the race could shape up to be very close. Couric asked Clinton if she’s lowering her expectations as the primary approaches...

CLINTON: I never raised them, when I got into the race, I was so far behind in Iowa it was embarrassing.

COURIC: Her campaign instead is “encouraged” she said, because “we're making progress - but I take nothing for granted, this is going to be a tight race.”

COURIC: Many of Obama’s supporters urged them to fight back. Some people interpreting that as your campaign being nervous.

CLINTON: Not case at all. Campaigns have rhythm and we're now down to end. We're going to have a mad-dash to Iowa caucuses, mad-dash to New Hampshire and then keep going,” she said.

COURIC: Has her campaign gotten more aggressive?

CLINTON: I have absorbed a lot of attacks, my opponents have basically had a free reign. After been attacked as often as have from several of my opponents, you can't just absorb it, you have to respond.

COURIC: Clinton said she wants voters to know how her plans - particularly health care - stack up against those of other candidates. She named Obama’s plan particularly.

CLINTON: It’s about time for me to draw a contrast. And that’s what I’m going to do.

COURIC: But it was announced today that Oprah Winfrey was campaigning with Obama in three key states.

CLINTON: I think it's great. I'm proud to have a lot of distinguished Americans [supporting me].

COURIC: Is she concerned Obama will get a major boost from Winfrey’s enthusiastic fan base?

CLINTON: No, at the end of the day…I’m proud to have my husband support me…with his knowledge, experience and incredible ability to vouch for me.

COURIC: And if Clinton is not the democratic nominee, wouldn’t she be disappointed?

CLINTON: Well, it will be me.

This is the great thing about Tarot cards: They tell you who will win "Dancing with the Stars." And thanks to AOL, which just sent me this highly important piece of news, the next winner of "DWTS" will be...Marie Osmond. (Note: I've already predicted this - twice now, I think - which given my iffy track record in these matters, may well mean that she won't win.) Here's the prediction from Jeff Jawer of Tarot.com, who gave AOL his pre-game-show wrap: "The winner may well turn out to be Marie Osmond, whose fainting spell on air has been this season's most dramatic moment. None of the stars have ideal astrological transits on the 27th, but the planets are extremely kind to Marie on Monday the 26th, which should carry her over the threshold."

Makes perfect sense to me. Now Jeff, about this writers' strike...

Nothing like jumping to conclusions long before they've been reached, but there is now word - let's call it a reliable word - that the strike that's crippled one of the world's most influential industries is about to end.

This word comes via Nikki Finke's indispensible Deadlinehollywooddaily.com, where she writes:

"As the WGA strike begins its 4th week, I've been told positive news about today's resumption of contract talks between the writers and the producers. So positive, in fact, that I'm almost fearful to post it. But here goes: a very reliable source tells me that there appears to be a deal seemingly in place between both sides.

"It's already done, basically," the insider describes.

Why believe Finke? Because she's been pretty much right about everything else with regards to this strike, the best I can tell. I've always been an admirer of her work, but that admiration has only grown over these last few weeks: Note, as an example, the fact that A-lister stars posted their amusing pro-writer videoblogs on her site over the weekend, which naturally proves that they think she's the go-to reporter on this stoppage as well.

But a resolution makes sense, and here's why: There's no reason to assume writers/producers would break bread again unless they have some reason for doing so. They already knew each other's positions BEFORE the walk-out began, so there must be a modification in those positions that would draw them back to the table.

Here’s a fun side note to TV’s ongoing writers strike (in which negotiations resume today, by the way).

Chuck Lorre and Tina Fey have gotten their licks in the sneaky way -- by writing them into the (sub)text of their shows.

The smart new website TV Worth Watching, run by our critic friend David Bianculli, spotted supportive messages in the most recent new episodes of Lorre’s “Two and a Half Men” and Fey’s “30 Rock.” Lorre tucked his into his end title card, where he’s been writing amusing missives weekly on all his shows since “Dharma & Greg.” Fey’s came in one of those screen-bottom news crawls parodied on “30 Rock.” Click here to see them both.

Keep your eyes peeled. Who knows what else those wacky TV writers will come up with?

High-def homes get a post-Thanksgiving treat to gnaw on. Cablevision iO is adding two more HD channels this week: Food Network on Ch. 766, and HGTV on Ch. 730.

A little late for last week’s gorge-fest, but in plenty of time for all the fancy holiday eats and décor.

Is Earth off its axis? After years of pay-for-it live sports telecasts dating back to the SportsChannel days, suddenly both the Rangers and the Knicks are hitting free airwaves again on local broadcast TV.

All it takes, apparently, is a network that can’t lure enough viewers to fill a taxicab. MyNetwork TV outlet WWOR/9 (and when’s the last time you watched something there?) has scheduled four local-team games this season, including three coming up in the next few weeks.

It all starts Sunday at 1 p.m. when Ch. 9 televises live the Nov. 25 hockey tilt with the Rangers hosting the Dallas Stars. Up next is the Rangers hosting the Phoenix Coyotes Sunday, Dec. 16 at 5 p.m.

The Knicks hit Sunday, Dec. 30 at noon vs. the Bulls on Ch. 9, and return March 30 at 4 p.m. visiting the Atlanta Hawks.

MSG, which normally carries the games, produces the telecasts in HD with their own announcers, and includes a half-hour postgame show.

I'm beginning to think Marie Osmond will win this whole thing. The way she keeps avoiding the hook. The way fans keep voting for her. She's a magician - not a dancer. Really, it would all make sense: Americans end up voting for the AMERICAN and not the Mad Brazilian or Mel B. "Scary." They've got accents. Marie doesn't. This could happen. It very well may.

Of course you know by now that Jennie Garth is gone. That was not unexpected, even if she did have her best night of this edition on Monday. And now, it's looking better and better for Marie O.

Before you hit the stores Black Friday in a shopping spree for Wii, XBOX or PS3 goodies, check out what Discovery Channel is calling its “pixel-by-pixel exploration of the history of video games” -- the five-part docuseries “Rise of the Videogame,” debuting Wednesday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m.

“Unlike other forms of entertainment,” notes Discovery’s description, “video games turn the viewer into a player who actively shapes the outcome of their experience. At first, video games and the creators were as misunderstood by the public as rock and roll in its infancy.”

That’s where “Rise of the Videogame” starts tonight with “It Started With a Twitch,” before moving next week to “The Rise of Mario” in the late 1970s and early ’80s, when idle Pong play gave way to creative characters and evolving journeys. Then it’s “The World Is Yours” (Dec. 5), in increasingly graphic 3-D worlds; “Power to the Players” (Dec. 12), about creative, educational and “god games” like SimCity; and “Can a Game Make You Cry?” (Dec. 19), led by PlayStation 2’s “emotion engine” and online virtual worlds.

Get into the game with Discovery’s “Rise of the Videogame” site, featuring an episode guide, history timeline, video clips and viewer voting.

Eat ’em up. Monsters HD talks turkey with the undead all Thanksgiving day. The no-edits no-ads zombie feast includes tasty faves from George Romero, Sam Raimi and other horror auteurs.

Romero’s 1985 “Day of the Dead” kicks it off Thursday at 11:10 a.m., followed by Peter Jackson’s “Dead Alive” at 12:55 p.m. and Raimi’s cult classic “The Evil Dead” at 2:35 p.m. And the rest: “Return of the Living Dead” at 4 p.m., “Return of the Living Dead Part 3/Director’s Cut” at 5:35 p.m., “Tombs of the Blind Dead” at 7:15 p.m., and the Monsters HD premiere of “The Undead” at 8:40 p.m.

Then at 10:20 p.m., the entire high-def lineup repeats through the night into Friday morning.

Preview some video clips here.

In case you missed it, the core cast of “30 Rock” did something really terrific Monday night.

They performed an upcoming script live at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Manhattan and donated all the proceeds from the admission and a special raffle to the recently laid-off production assistants for the show.

For an eye-witness report, go here.

And by the way, “30 Rock” won’t be on this week. NBC is airing “The Incredibles” from 8-10:30 p.m. But it will back on 11/29: The log line sounds beyond promising:

As part of his community service, Tracy (Tracy Morgan) takes on the duties of coaching an inner city little league team from Knuckle Beach, the worst neighborhood in New York. Jack (Alec Baldwin) has a special interest in the team and wants to turn these underprivileged kids into winners.

He showers them with gifts of a new scoreboard, backstop, a fresh pitcher’s mound and tuxedo uniforms, only to have the plan backfire with protests and uprising. To make matters worse, Jack fires Tracy as coach and hires Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) as the new team leader

That paroxysm of consumer hysteria, fantasy and very high-decibel audience noise levels - otherwise known as Oprah's fantasy show, where everyone in the audience gets a lot of stuff - is going on as we speak. But why watch and ruin your ear-drums? Here's a list of her favorite things right now, including the most expensive giveaway in "O" Show history - some sort of refrigerator that's as big as a Hummer - standing on end.

Why Macon? The show was shot there yesterday because the "O" Show gets its highest rating in the US here. So, rewards are due.

Here's the list: camcorder; Ugg boots; cupcakes; Melamine bowls; stand mixer; Planet Earth DVDs; Toywatch watches; Kai body butter; "Pillars of the Earth," by Ken Follett; fancy soaps; a panini press; the super duper frig that has a built-in TV set, tells you the weather outside, has Internet access, can float on water, and drive down the road (wheels are optional), and even fly (that's the deluxe edition) and...apparently keeps food cold as well (value? Something like $5,000); orange sorbet; turtlenecks; Scrabble; 90 DVD's from UA; "O's Guide to Life;" some Shaklee stuff; and a Josh Groban CD.

Phew.

Now the bad news: Everyone in the audience has to pay taxes on the gifts.

Everyone will be talking about Scary going into tonight's big vote-off, but let's talk briefly here about Jennie G. She had a terrific night last night - maybe her best in all these weeks, and what a surprise if she gets the ol' bump. It could happen, given what she's up again - aforementioned Mel B., Marie "I Should be Running for President" Osmond and Helio, the Mad Brazilian.

But of everyone, I kinda think she’s the one who best exemplifies the spirit of this show - that sort of can-do attitude and willingness to learn/experiment/take risks as you go along. It's paid off, but that said...

Anyway, my quick wrap:

Marie O: Clever girl. Very clever. Once again, in her opener, she worked her older fans with that routine danced to "Good Morning" from "Singin' in The Rain." But this time, I think she outsmarted herself: When you dance to one of the great musical numbers in MGM history, you've gotta realize that a few million viewers have the scene with Debbie Reynolds/Donald O'Connor/Gene Kelly permanently etched in their memories. As a result, Marie O and Jonathan looked slow, tired, lead-footed by comparison. I found her second routine interminable, but the judges loved it; she could still be in this race.

Scary: A couple of perfect tens pretty much buys a trip to the final, and Mel B. certainly deserves one and has since the first night of the season (as did Sabs, but that's another story.) Both her routines were great - entertaining, a little weird, forbidding, dazzling. A whip! What as that?! Four splits in a row! What was that?! Pure in-your-face-top-THAT-Marie-and-Jennie zeal and chutzpah. The winner. Almost.

Jennie: I've said my piece here, but let's say she does get tossed tonight - and that could happen. This is as good an opportunity to say something nice about her partner Derek Hough: That guy was just stunning. Jennie would never have gotten this far without him, and I think - watching them week after week - that he complemented her perfectly; he was near perfect Fred Astairian form, with a good actor's sense of timing and drama. What was that line about Astaire and Rogers? She gave him sex; he gave her class? Derek gave Jennie floor smarts, and she made him look even smarter in return.

Helio: He was so good last night and so pumped that I can't POSSIBLY imagine a vote-off tonight. His ballroom dance was perfect, best I could tell, and the cha-cha - that red thing that ended the show - was fine too. I imagine we have two women and a man going into next week.

OK, just when I think I’m out, “Heroes” pulls me back in with a whopper of an episode like last night’s. I think I’m still panting.

We had Claire with her dad doing that classic teen “I hate you!” thing. We had Hiro stopping time and tripping through it all over the place. We had heroes shooting each other, and saving each other, and controlling each other’s minds. AND we had two absolutely great reveals of breathtaking twists -- which you could see coming if you were halfway paying attention, but still they were great.

In fact, maybe they were better-great because you could anticipate them and then pat yourself on the back for being smart enough to follow the carefully laid clues.

Plus, the “Cautionary Tales” hour was laugh-out-loud funny in spots, which reminds us how much we miss that aspect of “Heroes” through episodes like last week’s morbid/morose flashback. Stephen Tobolowsky’s canny Company-man Bob continues to be not only intriguing but also amusing, with his Texas-drawl-dry delivery of lines like last night’s observation about gun-toting enemy H.R.G.: “He’s not big on the listening.” I’m not big on Kristen Bell’s too-cute executioner Elle, myself, but around big daddy Bob, this electric lady is a playful hoot.

And then there was Suresh’s nose getting broken again, and even Mr. Muggles playing a crucial role (or at least his doggie bathtub did) -- this is definitely an hour worth watching again. “Cautionary Tales” is online here, and with commentary here from Bell and Mrs. H.R.G., Ashley Crow, plus episode director Greg Yaitanes. It encores on TV Saturday at 10 p.m. and Sunday at 6 p.m. on G4. And in HD, Wednesday at 11 p.m. and Thursday at 8 p.m. on MOJO.

Now, “two episodes left” sounds like not just a threat but a promise. Of course, Peter will be back, with those other party poopers, the black-tears twins. But so will Niki, and Micah, and his cool new superhero cousin Monica.

You can revisit how we got from there to here with MOJO HD’s Thanksgiving weekend marathon of “Heroes” first season -- all 23 episodes, Friday noon-midnight and Saturday 1 p.m.-midnight.

[At top: Jack Coleman, Ashley Crow, Randall Bentley and Hayden Panettiere, in NBC photo by Chris Haston.]

The countdown-clock watch never stops.

This morning, I stumbled on another one. And boy did this come out of left field. And boy, did my blood pressure rise.

CNBC is counting down the minutes to the Federal Reserve’s forecast. (A little under three hours as I type this, by the way.)

I kid you not.

I wonder if Fed chairman Ben Bernanke gave the thumbs-up to this hare-brained countdown?

And speaking of fourth party candidates, how about a fifth party one? For that, I nominate Patrick Dempsey, who's also making the morning talk show rounds to pump "Enchanted." He's not a Dobbsian word-mincer, best I can tell, and when Reeg asked him this morning about the Writers' Strike, he sure didn't look and sound like a guy who was whole-heartedly in the writers' corner, like most every other big name actor who's appeared on picket lines on the left and right
coasts in recent weeks. All the combatants - writers and Big Bad Studio chiefs - "need to come to an understanding and get their egos out of the way," he declared, because some staffers at shows like "Grey's Anatomy" are "living pay check to paycheck. They [writers] deserve something [but] they should resolve this as soon as possible."

What self-styled-fire-breathing-border-closing-multimillionaire-CNN-anchor-populist emerged as a possible - emphasize "possible" - candidate for the '08 race after an online Wall Street Journal column by John Fund reported recently that "friends of Mr. Dobbs say he is seriously contemplating a race for the first time, although it’s still unlikely...?"

Lou, that's who. Such is the power of the on-line press. The spec couldn't come at a better time because he's just launched a new book tour - amazing how this stuff happens - for "Independents Day:Awakening the American Spirit." He's even written that maybe just maybe a fabulous dark horse could arrive at any minute though coyly says he's not that horse. Anyway, this morning, he denied his interest yet again to Diane Sawyer, which seems like an awfully lot of denials (and a little known rule of politics says that if you deny something three times, then it must be true; I do believe this is the third official denial): "What friends," he scoffed to Diane, would possibly tell Fund that he's interested!? Then this: "That's not where my interest lies right now...I doubt very seriously something like that [a Dobbs candidacy] could possibly emerge."

Note the words "now" and "doubt very seriously." Those prove that Lou is a master of Clintonian speak, with "now" meaning "right at this minute while I'm talking to you, Diane" and "doubt very seriously" means a door is open a crack that would allow someone to walk in and convince him. Who might that be? There is an on-line campaign to get him to run, and if Michael Bloomberg enters as a third party guy, then - goes the spec - Lou's right behind as a Fourth Party guy.

Maybe Lou should call Roger Ailes for some guidance.

Check this out: You too can turn up at the "historic" second (or is it third) act of one John Donald Imus when he kicks off his new WABC radio show on Dec. 3. Only conditions: You'll need to pay $100.

The show will launch from The Town Hall (on West 43rd Street, and not, of course, to be confused with City Hall a few dozen blocks further south...) with Levon Helm Band as special musical guest. Levon - as you know - was drummer for the Band, and is a DI favorite. Show starts at 6 a.m., and general admission is a hundred bucks. Donations go to Imus Ranch for Kids With Cancer. Arrive late - we're informed - and "you'll be seated during commercial breaks."

This just in (as Matt Drudge might say): CBS Newswriters overwhelmingly authorized their union to call a strike "at any time.

Per an announcement just minutes ago, some 81 percent of the newswriters - out of about 300 - gave the green light to the union for a strike in NY/LA/DC/Chicago. The vote was held late last week.

Now the big question: Will the WGA call for a work stoppage? If it does, it will have opened two battle fronts which seems like a lot of battle fronts. The CBSers haven't had a contract in a couple years and "our members at CBS News consistently have demonstrated their hard work and commitment to quality journalism, but have had their dedication and diligence rebuffed by management’s refusal to negotiate a fair, respectful contract,” said Michael Winship, prez of WGA East in a statement.

Oh, man - ANOTHER strike?

The world will know just about one hour from now whether the CBS News writers are going to hit the picket lines as well. Working without a contract for the last two and half years, they took a vote last week - Thursday to be exact - over whether to strike or not. If they do strike, it's hard to say what immediate on-air impact there will be; don't expect to see Katie Couric walking the picket lines in support, though. She'll be too busy writing her own copy. Writers for radio, network and local in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington took the vote. We'll let you know when official results are in.

One more reason to look forward to 2008:

“The Apprentice” will be back... Or should we say the show’s latest incarnation, “The Celebrity Apprentice,” which debuts Jan. 3 at 9 p.m.

The “celebs” just announced by NBC include: Trace Adkins, Carol Alt, Stephen Baldwin, Nadia Comaneci, Tiffany Fallon, Jennie Finch, Nely Galan, Marilu Henner, Lennox Lewis, Piers Morgan, Omarosa, Tito Ortiz, Vincent Pastore, and Gene Simmons.

They’ll all face off for charity, by the way.

In case you're just catching up to this news, the Writer's Guild and Producers' Alliance will be back at the bargaining table after Thanksgiving. Big news for all sorts of reasons - notwithstanding the fact that there's now the slightest glimmer of hope that"24" will actually be on the air next year.

See below for my read on what may have happened, but there are varying accounts about which side agreed to return. ("Blink" seems a little cliched...) Variety's respected veteran labor writer, Dave McNary writes that "amid mounting layoffs and the issuance of 'force majeure' notices" - those pink slips expected to be sent to hundreds of non-working and non-producing actors and writers - "talks between showrunners and their respective CEOs - such as Disney's Robert Iger, News Corp.'s Peter Chernin, CBS' Leslie Moonves and Warner's Barry Meyer - were also described as key in applying pressure. A handful of the town's top agents worked to nudge the two sides back to negotiations."

But here's what Nikki Finke - who's become the go-to reporter/blogger for a lot of strikin' writers who want to know what's going on - says in her post of the McNary account: "Uh, Earth To fabulist Dave McNary: It wasn't the WGA but the [Alliance] which kept refusing to go back into talks - that is until early last week when [Nick Counter, Alliance chief] quietly dropped a demand that his side wouldn't return to negotiations until the writers strike was stopped or at least suspended for a few days while talks proceeded. Either McNary is clueless - or being clued in by propagandists."

Whatever. Poor Variety, which I think has done a very good job covering this whole thing, has been a favorite whipping post for strikin' writers who think that its boss, former studio boss, Peter Bart, has nudged coverage to favor producers. But can't both today's accounts be right? That writers AND producers have to see the value in getting back to the table. That's to their mutual benefit, with the alternative being MAD - mutual assured destruction.

And just like that, a break in the clouds: The Writers Guild announced late yesterday that talks would resume with major producers, the first such move since some 12,000 writers went on strike over two weeks ago.

The Guild offered no time table, and few details beyond this statement: "Leaders from the WGA and the [Producers' Alliance] have mutually agreed to resume formal negotiations on November 26. No other details or press statements will be issued."

The latter line is especially meaningful: It indicates that that the WGA's war of words against the producers has been put on hiatus and what a verbal brawl it's been. The WGA has slammed the Alliance repeatedly and effectively for weeks, garnering enormous press attention and doubtless a lot of press sympathy. The Alliance, meanwhile, has taken it on the chin - portrayed as an evil, greedy pack of brigands intent on cheating the poor working man and woman (writers!) of their rightful due. While in fact that may well be true, the Alliance has simply lost the public relations war and doubtless knows that. (Also, note the proliferation of news stories showing Democratic prez candidates arm in arm with striking writers.)

Meanwhile, the Guild's under intense pressure too. Major talk show hosts will almost certainly return to the air after Thanksgiving, which is a break in ranks. Also, the Guild has to be under the gun from members who are seeing their livelihood slip right before their very eyes. In addition: The producers are about to enact force majeur clauses in actors' contracts, which means dozens of actors will get the ax too. They are also seeing their livelihoods imperiled.

So it's back to the table. What this possibly means: The producers are finally willing to discuss boosting residuals on DVD paybacks. If that door has opened, than it's just a matter of time before this strike ends, and my guess is probably before Christmas. The WGA may also be willing to adjust its sights, but one imagines only slightly. Don't forget: This whole thing started because they think they got screwed in a long prior deal on residuals for the ancient technology of home videos. They don't - and frankly shouldn't - make the same mistake again.

You knew they’d get around to the fifth borough eventually. And on Dec. 3 at 9:30 p.m., WNET premieres “A Walk Around Staten Island With David Hartman and Barry Lewis.”

That completes the engaging pair’s fact-packed walking tour of NYC. (They also did Newark and Hoboken.)

Some previous city strolls are repeating as an all-day Thanksgiving feast next Thursday on Ch. 13 -- "A Walk Around Brooklyn" (9 a.m.), “A Walk Through Harlem” (11:05 a.m.), “A Walk Through Queens” (12:50 p.m.), “A Walk Through the Bronx” (2:30 p.m.), and "A Walk Through Central Park" (Thursday at 4:05 p.m.).

Hey, WNET -- where’s the DVD set?

[Above: Lewis and Hartman in WNET photo by S. Isbell.]

Seems churlish to describe tomorrow night's History Channel special, "Baghdad Diary" (at 10) as a bait-and-switch, but a bait-and-switch it is: There's nothing about ABC News’ former anchor Bob Woodruff here, although he hosts and has been the public face on this broadcast for weeks, leading to at least ill-(in)formed impressions (like my own) that he'd have a greater role. He has virtually none at all.

Get past that and there are other problems: Though tracking events that happened a mere four and a half years ago, it feels like ancient history. Hardly irrelevant history - history never is - and hardly uninteresting, given the subject matter, but so much has happened and continues to happen in that tragic country and city that watching these video diaries following the war's outbreak sometimes gives one the impression of looking through a straw at some distant point: You know that a great deal is taking place, or has taken place, beyond your limited scope, and you feel a little slighted that your straw doesn't offer a wider angle view.

"Diaries" never does, never attempts to, and - in fairness – couldn’t possibly, as these "diaries" are based on you-are-there accounts by different people with different perspectives, including NBC cameraman Craig White - who accompanied David Bloom across the desert and, after Bloom's death, went straight into the heart of Baghdad himself - and Fadil Kadom, a 36-year-old Iraqi taxi driver who was given a hand-held videocam by a Norwegian journalist so he would track the movements of ordinary Iraqis at the war's outset.

"BD," as such, has an immediacy that seems ill-placed: This isn't quite history and it isn't quite journalism, but something in between. The footage is occasionally riveting, but it also feels terribly familiar. There are scenes of great carnage and great tragedy - but we've actually seen worse in the intervening years, if that's possible. Maybe we've - maybe I'VE - become spoiled, or maybe I've just become numb, but when you see fields strewn with Iraqi remains or bullets whizzing through a Baghdad underpass, you want to look away, or close your eyes. After all, some of these men you see fighting in "real time" four years ago, may no longer even be alive. The same with the Iraqis. It's all the first act of a terrible tragedy, and we haven't even reached the final act.

If you do decide to sit through this, maybe you'll come away with a couple of other impressions, as I did: Admiration for the courage and professionalism of people like White and Kadom, but (especially) admiration for the average Iraqi citizens and the U.S. soldiers thrown into their midst.

Because we know you’re absolutely dying to see which shows have Thanksgiving-themed episodes, too . . .

Friday, Nov. 16 – “Roseanne” (5:30 p.m. on Oxygen).

Saturday, Nov. 17 – “The Lawrence Welk Show” (6 p.m. on WLIW/21).

Monday, Nov. 19 – “Everybody Loves Raymond” (6:30 p.m. and midnight on WPIX/11), “Home Improvement” (9 p.m. on Nick at Nite).

Tuesday, Nov. 20 – “Everybody Loves Raymond” (6:30 p.m. and midnight on WPIX/11), “Home Improvement” (9 p.m. on Nick at Nite).

Wednesday, Nov. 21 – “Malcolm in the Middle” (7 a.m. and 3 p.m. on FX), “Dharma & Greg” (8 and 8:30 a.m. on FX), “Full House” (3:30 p.m. on ABC Family; 8:30 p.m. on Nickelodeon), “That ’70s Show” (4 and 4:30 p.m., and midnight and 12:30 a.m. on FX), “Everybody Loves Raymond” (6:30 p.m. and midnight on WPIX/11), “Reba” (8 and 8:30 p.m. on Lifetime), “Home Improvement” (9:30 p.m. on Nick at Nite), “Home Improvement” (midnight and 12:30 a.m. on Nick at Nite), “Friends” (1 a.m. on WPIX/11).

Thursday, Nov. 22 – “Frasier” (10 a.m. on Lifetime), “Full House” (12:30 p.m. on ABC Family), “7th Heaven” (4 p.m. on ABC Family), “Gilmore Girls” (5 p.m. on ABC Family), “Friends” (6 p.m. on WPIX/11), “Everybody Loves Raymond” (6:30 p.m. and midnight on WPIX/11), "Two and a Half Men" (7 p.m. on WPIX/11), “Moesha” (9:30 and 10 p.m. on The N), “Malcolm in the Middle” (12:30 a.m. on WWOR/9), “That ’70s Show” (1 and 1:30 a.m. on WNYW/5), "Will & Grace" (1:30 a.m. on WPIX/11), "Frasier" (2 a.m. on WPIX/11), "George Lopez" (2:30 a.m. on WPIX/11).

And then there’s “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” (Tuesday at 8 p.m. on ABC).

And, of course, “South Park’s” Helen Keller: The Musical (Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. on Comedy Central and Wednesday night/Thursday morning at 3 a.m. on WPIX/11). And the adventures of Starvin’ Marvin (Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. on Comedy Central and Thursday night/Friday morning at 3 a.m., WPIX/11).

Send an “Everybody Loves Raymond” Thanksgiving e-card here.

Another great episode: Jack goes to a party, meets a woman there and has a wild tumble in the sack with her. She turns out to be — yikes — a Democratic congresswoman (brilliantly played by Edie Falco) and subject of a Lifetime TV movie. Politics be damned, they can’t keep their hands off each other.

Meanwhile, Liz is suspicious of Raheem, her new neighbor. She reports him to Homeland Security — and as it turns out, all his “suspicious” activity involved his attempt to get on “The Amazing Race.”

Here are the five things I loved:

1. Boy, was it great to see Edie Falco on TV again, playing it for laughs this time. (Her character will stick around for the next two episodes.)

2. Liz’ relentless touting of Verizon Wireless phones, followed by her maniacally grinning into the camera, demanding, “Can we have our money now?” (On the other hand, product placement is product placement, no matter how ingeniously concealed. Oh, by the way, did I mention how much I love my Verizon Wireless phone?)

3. Jack tells Liz that he’s going to be at a party attended by John McCain and Jack Bauer. “He’s not real,” Liz informs Jack about one of those guests. Responds Jack: “I can assure you John McCain is very real.”

4. More fun facts about Kenneth’s family: “We Parcells are neither wealthy nor circumcised...”

5. When Liz calls the super-secret Homeland Security hotline to report her neighbor, a voice answers immediately: “Who is he and where can we find him?”

We got the numbers right here for Wednesday's premiere of "Project Runway:" The fourth season opener was seen by 2.89 million "PR" fashionistas, which is some kind of record, we're told. That's 20 percent more than last year's premiere, which must be some kind of record too. Whatever. ALL THE HYPE AND PRESS HAS PAID OFF! Take a bow, Klum and Gunn, and - I suppose - poor Simone LeBlanc, who made that very shoddy and poorly sewn whatever. (But it looked OK to me.)

Here's just the latest sign that the Writers' strike could last for a long long time. Two works: "Big Brother."

As my colleague Diane Werts, notes below, the show will launch national casting calls this Saturday, which seems like an awful early casting call for a summer series. It is. "BB" does do casting calls throughout the year (I'm told) but this is still a solid indication that the pipeline is about to run dry for CBS. And when "CSI" or "Without a Trace" are into their third repeats? Who you gonna call?

Yes, sigh. "Big Brother." I'm also reliably told that CBS may - and likely will - set a February launch.

Now, I’m really mad at CNN.

Yesterday, I blogged about how much I hate inappropriate countdown clocks — something that should be reserved only for space launches and New Year’s Eve.

I specifically cited CNN’s beyond-unnecessary countdown clock for its “Planet in Peril” special last month.

Well, those Annoying Atlantans have done it again.

As I write this, they’re running another countdown clock for.... tonight’s Democratic Presidential Debate! (four hours and counting.)

Why do you persist in tormenting me so?

Reality TV marches on, strike or no writers strike. After all, the participants of shows like “Big Brother” MAKE IT ALL UP, don’t they?

So CBS is holding local casting calls for next year’s ninth edition of the locked-in-a-house-with-cameras smackdown. You, too, can try for TV infamy, with New York auditions coming up this weekend and next month:

Sunday, Nov. 18, noon-8 p.m., at NY Castings, 243 W. 30th, 3rd floor, Manhattan.

Saturday, Dec. 1, 7-10 p.m., at Duff’s Brooklyn, N. 3rd Street and Kent Avenue, Brooklyn.

Applicants must be 21 or older, American citizens and not running for public office. (As if.) Be sure to read the eligibility requirements and application form at this web site.

Other casting calls take place in such cities as Boston, Tampa, Houston, Chicago, Charlotte, Kansas City and Columbus.

CBS normally runs “Big Brother” several times weekly in the summer, but considering the strike, this reliable ratings-getter could return to the air sooner. Start packing.

Man, where would the writers on strike be without YouTube? Just lonely wanderers on the picket line, wielding signs with prose like "Why Should We Work for Free?"

Instead, they've gone where everyone else has. No official count yet, but I'm guessing there are least a couple dozen YouTube protest videos out there - many posted on Unitedhollywood.com - that offer a wide and varying palette of wit, wisdom, and outrage. I haven't sampled them all, but I offer two right now for a dose of distraction.

First this one - where WOULD the world be without writers?

And this: "The Daily Show" has taken to the streets along with everyone else, but that doesn't mean the guys just let the laptops grow mold. Amusement must be had, and this clever "Daily-Show-on-the-Streets" 'tubecast offers a compelling argument. Why WOULD Sumner Redstone sue Google for a billion bucks for using Viacom product but stiff writers over exactly the same issue? They don't call e'm the Big Bad Studios for nothing...

Watch tonight's "CSI" and you too will understand why Jorja Fox - Sara Sidle - quit.

Murders, suicide, a drag and dump (whatever that is), woman with knife in back, pre-pubescent homicidal insanity...all within 44 minutes. You'd quit too. One wonders what kind of toll this takes on an intelligent sensitive actress like Fox - year after year of it. She told "EW" that she wanted to start a family, but starting families requires a certain frame of mind, and "optimism" has to be a basic minimum requirement – optimism about life, your life, and the life of your unborn children. How could Fox be optimistic in a role that almost certainly bled into her off-screen psyche? (And how could it not?) "I spent almost my entire life with ghosts," she tells Grissom in her goodbye-and-good-luck note. Nice line, and given this role, accurate. Time to move on and more credit to Fox for having the courage to forsake a very good paycheck for doing so.

As "CSI's" go, tonight is merely average - which isn't to say it's bad, just merely average by “CSI” standards which would be high by anyone else’s. The B, C and D stories almost don't matter here: The inevitability of her departure is etched into every scene and line, so the end comes as no surprise whatsoever (and of course everyone's known it's been coming for months anyway so no surprise was expected.) Even the episode title tips off the ending: “Goodbye and Good Luck.” It’s dry with just a touch of hope. And of course Sara lives. Of course.

There’s a flashback case here - fans will remember it well from last season, in the episode where the girl genius, Hannah West - Juliette Goglia of "Joan of Arcadia" - lies to save her brother, Marlon (Douglas Smith). The deranged duo is back, and poor little smart girl Hannah is up to her old tricks, plus she crawls right back into Sara’s head and messes it all up again. There's no reason to go into any more detail, but the case is probably an appropriate one to end with because it serves to not only remind Sidle of her many ghosts but also of the fact that you can't really bury them - they just keep coming back to haunt you. I've got to say, this departure is hardly suffused with optimism or the aforementioned hope: Sidle goes off into the figurative sunset with the harsh neon glow of the Vegas strip reflecting off her achingly sober face. Will Sara find happiness? Will Jorja? One certainly hopes they both do.

And speaking of picks, TV Land and EW would very much like me to remind you about its "The 50 Greatest TV Icons" two-hour special that will air this Friday at 8. You can go right here right now to this nice website to check out their picks, and of course quibble. But here's a very little question to go with this very little picture. Everyone knows who the No. 1 pick is. Can you guess No. 100? Here's the clue...

For someone who almost completely dumped her book club after snooty writer Jonathan Franzen had the temerity to rebuff her largess a few years ago, Oprah is sure doing a lot of reading lately. For the second time in as many months, she's anointed yet another book. Only problem - if that's the right word - for the publishing industry is that this book is already a huge best-seller which begs the question that has intrigued publishers for generations: How much more best-selling can a best-seller be? It's Ken Follett's "The Pillars of the Earth," a medieval epic about a cathedral and (as mentioned) hugely popular - selling about 100,000 paperback copies a year in the U.S. alone. One imagines, though, that Follett is still keenly disappointed the Queen didn't pick the sequel, published just last month. When Oprah told her audience that her pick was 973 pages long, there was an audible groan.
Big reader.

In lieu of any meaningful strikin' writer news today, we go to the ratings front and - who else? - "SpongeBob." As everyone with a TV set knows, "SpongeBob Atlantis SquarePantis," aired Monday, after what seemed like the noisiest promotion binge since Nick launched "I Carley."
And yes, 'Sbob scored. Nick this morning said the 40-minute special episode was seen by nearly 9 million viewers (8.8 to be exactly) which is far and away the largest audience ever for a single episode of "'Sbob," which launched in '99. Special was notable for the fact that one character was voiced by David Bowie, but - believe me - you would never have guessed it was Bowie. The character? Here's a pix. Does this mean a spin-off is far behind?

I love watching reruns and unexpectedly seeing well-known performers Before They Were Stars.

Last night, I stumbled yet again on a “White Shadow” rerun on YES and discovered a very young future Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell, then billed as “Brian Mitchell.”

Mitchell played a thuggish student named Lucius Robinson, who provoked Coach Reeves (Ken Howard) into a fight. Ever the earnest liberal, Ken tried to “understand” Lucius (the kid said his dad was an absent alcoholic, the family was on welfare and he lived in a slum), so he wouldn’t press charges.

But Ken changed his mind after seeing Lucius’ permanent record card, and cemented it by visiting his “slum” house, which turned ou to be a nice, middle-class ranch and meeting the boy's parents, including his hard-working postman father. The parents admitted Lucius was the bad seed in the family, and couldn’t understand why.

The bad seed part was certainly true — the episode ended when Lucius attempted to rape the vice-principal in her office, only to be interrupted and pummelled by Coach Reeves, who then commanded her to call the cops.

Mitchell showed great acting chops here, and of course, in the ensuing three decades, went on to a distinguished acting career, especially on Broadway. He won a 2000 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for a revival of Cole Porter's “Kiss Me, Kate.”

He later added the “Stokes” to his name because there were too many other Brian Mitchells in Hollywood. Stokes, by the way, is his mother's maiden name.

With not-bad-dancer Soap Guy Cameron Mathison now gone, the big question - duh! - is who's next? I predicted (in Sunday's Fanfare) that Helio "The Mad Brazilian" Castroneves would be the next to pack his bags, and also predicted weeks ago that Sabs Bryan would win the whole thing. So I strongly advise that you don't believe a single thing I write or say about this show.

But I now believe that it will come down to Mel B. (Scary) and Helio. Why? Because TV Guide recently put the two of them on their cover (while the other contestants were tucked away inside the cover fold.) Maybe TV Guide knows something we don't know. Maybe not. But if it all comes down to Marie O and Jennie G, then this will be the silliest "DWTS" is world history (and the show's - what? - only four seasons old?) I do stick by my fearless prediction, however, that a woman will win this edition.

Anyway, sorry to see Cam go, while Marie is still around. Marie has taken this show to a whole new place - where raw celebrity and playing to the camera trumps anything you do on the dance floor. Cam had the strongest growth curve of anyone, with maybe the exception of Jennie. He had a lot of spirit too. Seems like a good guy, as well, based on his gracious departing words to partner Edyta Sliwinska.

And you thought the networks were kidding about adding reality shows to the schedule as their scripted dramas wither away because of the writers' strike?

NBC has just scheduled "Clash of the Choirs," a four-night live “sing off” event (Dec. 17-20).

OK, I know you're probably thinking that it will be awfully cool to see a bunch of folks in white robes bash each other over the heads with chairs.

Alas. that's some other program, no doubt incubating, as I write this, in some mad programmers' mind.

This "Clash of the Choirs" features five top musical acts -- Michael Bolton, Patti LaBelle, Nick Lachey, Kelly Rowland and Blake Shelton -- going back to their hometowns, assembling 20 talented local singers into a kick-butt choir and then throwing the songbirds into live competition. Each night, another choir will be voted off until one remains.

What will they think of next? Don't ask

The actor are attacking!! The actors are attacking!!

Now this strike is starting to get really interesting. Just about 28 minutes ago, about half the known television actors in Hollywood stormed the gates of the Bastille. Or, more specifically, the main gates at Universal Studios in Universal City (in the land where the sun never stops shining.)

I mean, you have to SEE this list. Dozens and dozens of actors at Universal - and not a hairdresser in sight! Lord, I wish I was there to witness this preening, primping preponderance of currently unemployed thespians. At least I hope "Extra's" on hand. Here's the list just released by the WGA; check it out and see if YOU can tell who isn't on the picket line right now. It's like trying to find Waldo. Also, check out the last line of this WGA bulletin: It says "more" actors are showing up too. "More?!" I'd sure hate to be a Big Bad Studio right about now...

"12 Miles of Bad Road" – Lily Tomlin, Mary Kay Place, Leslie Jordan, Katherine LaNasa, Leigh Allyn Baker, Tara Karsian; The 4400 – Jenni Baird, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Richard Kahan, Kaj Eriksen; "According to Jim" – Jim Belushi; "Army Wives" – Kim Delaney, Brian McNamara, Sally Pressman, Drew Fuller, Wendy Davis, Sterling K. Brown, Brigid Brannagh; "Back to You" – Patricia Heaton, Fred Willard; "The Big Bang Theory" – Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Jim Parsons; "Big Love" – Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn; "Brotherhood" – Ethan Embry, Fionnula Flanagan, Kevin Chapman; "Brothers & Sisters" – Rachel Griffiths, Pattricia Wettig, Ron Rifkin; "Burn Notice" – Gabrielle Anwar, Seth Peterson, Tony Starke, Guri Weinberg, China Chow; "Corey in the House" – Rondell Sheridan, Madison Pettis, Lisa Arch, Maira Walsh; "Cold Case" – Thom Barry, John Finn, Tracie Thoms, Meredith Stiehm, Danny Pino; "Criminal Minds" – A.J. Cook, Kirstin Vangess; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" – William Petersen, Marg Helgenberger, Archie Kao, Marc Vann, Wallace Langham, Liz Vassey, David Berman, John Wellner; "Desperate Housewives" – Doug Savant, Nicollette Sheridan, Dana Delany, Tuc Watkins; "Dexter" – Keith Carradine, James Remar, C.S. Lee; "Dirt" – Ian Hurt, Josh Stewart; "Eli Stone" – Victor Garber, James Saito, Sam Jaeger; "Entourage" – Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara; "Everybody Loves Raymond" – Ray Romano; "Everybody Hates Chris" – Vincent Martella, Tequan Richmond, Imani Hakim, Jacqueline Mazarella, Travis Flory, Todd Bridges; "Family Guy" – Seth McFarlane, Mila Kunis, Alex Borstein, Seth Green; "The Game" – Tia Mowry, Pooch Hall, Brittany Daniel, Coby Bell, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Hosea Sanchez; "George Lopez Show" – George Lopez, Constance Marie, Valente Rodriguez
"Grey’s Anatomy" – Katherine Heigl, T.R. Knight, Justin Chambers; "Jericho" – Ashley Scott, Bob Stephenson; "Kyle XY" – Jamie Alexander, April Matson, Chris Olivero, Bruce Thomas; "Las Vegas" – Vanessa Marcil; "Lincoln Heights" – Nicki Micheaux; "Mad Men" – January Jones, Vincent Kartheiser, Rich Sommer; "My Boys" – James Kaler; "New Adventures of Old Christine" – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Clark Gregg, Hamish Linklater, Alex Kapp Horner, Tricia O’Kelley; "Numb3rs" – Dylan Bruno, Diane Farr;;"Private Practice" – Amy Brenneman, Paul Adelstein, KaDee Strickland; "The Riches" – Minnie Driver; "Rules of Engagement" – David Spade, Patrick Warburton, Megyn Price, Oliver Hudson, Bianca Kajlich; "Samantha Who?" – Christina Applegate, Kevin Dunn, Tim Russ; "Sarah Silverman Program" – Sarah Silverman, Laura Silverman, Steve Agee, Brian Posehn; "The Shield: – Walton Goggins, Cathy Cahlin Ryan; "Smallville" – John Glover, Phil Morris; "Tell Me You Love Me" – Tim Dekay, Sonya Walger, Michelle Borth; "Til Death" – Brad Garrett, Kat Foster; "True Blood" – Anna Paquin, Sam Trammell; "The Unit" – Robert Patrick, Demore Barnes; "Wildfire" – Lori Loughlin; "Without A Trace" – Poppy Montgomery, Enrique Murciano; "Women’s Murder Club" – Scott Gemmill, Paula Newsome, Laura Harris;

"Other celebrities slated attend to support the WGA include: Ben Stiller, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Jason Alexander, Frances Fisher, Camryn Manheim, Edie McClurg, Susan Savage, Mimi Kennedy, and more."

Lily for the WGA: Had enough yet, Big Bad Studios?

I haven't yet gotten in the habit of co-opting other people's words for this blog - believe me, it's much easier than writing my own - but am happy to make an exception this afternoon. Dave Letterman's writing guys have put together a blog where their thoughts, eloquence, discarded or unused jokes are on display. And I have to say: I love the one about "Classic Movie Scenes if There Were No Writers" (the "Casablanca" version.) Here's the place to check it out. Meanwhile, last week, Bill Scheft, a veteran "Late Show with David Letterman" scribbler, posted one of the more cogent, forceful, and clear-sighted views on the writers' strike that I've seen anywhere. He lays out the arguments, explains why this a reasonably big deal to people in the business, AND gives it an emotional wallop that brings it all home. This was on the "Late Show" site. Take it away, Bill:

"I am the union rep for the show, and felt compelled to bring you up to date on the writers strike. Day Four on the picket line. Our guys have been so much better represented out there than all the other NY shows. I am really proud of them.

Quickly, lest you think we are a bunch of spoiled brats just looking for a raise, the big issue, money from original content shown on the Internet and other new media, is our way of replacing the money we are losing over the disappearing residuals. Residuals are not a bonus. They are the way writers live when they are between jobs. The standard writers contact is up for renewal every 13 weeks. You can have a five- year contract, but they can let you go every 13 weeks without paying you any more as long as they give you a month's notice. That is the deal we all enter into. There are 12,000 writers in the guild. You need to make $30,000 a year in guild earnings to keep your health insurance. Last year, 6000 didn't reach that figure. Half.

I have been lucky enough to have a job for 16 years. That simply does not happen. So this is what we are fighting for. Believe me, we would love to be in the office, writing fun facts, actives with Rupert, illegally doctoring footage or downloading porn, but this is the frontline fight for all the other union contracts that come after us. The late night writers are the first ones affected by a strike, and the ONLY ones who will never recoup the money we lose because we do 10 times as many new shows per year as any drama or sitcom. But we go out in support of our fellow union members and pray this thing ends soon.

One more thing. To a man, all of the writers are deeply concerned about the collateral damage if we stay out too long. We think of the 150 people who work at the Late Show whose fight this is not and believe they will be taken care of. They are all embarrassingly supportive of us. No one any more so than Dave. It is quite humbling.

Sorry to be so serious, but this is serious business. I wanted to write you people because this site has loyally and relentlessly followed the show since we came to CBS. I felt you were owed as much of an explanation as anyone outside the negotiation room can give.

Feel free to ask any questions and I will try to respond. Thanks.

Bill Scheft

“Strangely unmoved.”

That’s what it says in the notes I took watching last night’s “Heroes,” and it pretty much sums up this whole second season for me.

The show’s storyline does this and that, and jumps through hoops and back again, and yet -- so what? Remember how much we all wanted them to “save the world” last year? Seems like memories are all we have.

Last night’s “Four Months Ago” flashback hour provided one big indication why. The show’s two single most compelling characters -- Hiro and Claire -- were MIA. Daddy H.R.G. wasn’t around, either. Nor Matt or Mohinder. And the episode’s limp progress (re-gress?) made it clear the others are definitely second-stringers: Niki and D.L., Peter and Nathan, and as always bringing up the rear, Maya and Alejandro. (What was with that stupid bride-cheats-at-her-wedding storyline? Straight out of a novela. Sheesh.)

Sure, “Heroes” had a lot of ’splainin’ to do after jumping forward in time at the start of this second season. How did Nathan get disfigured and Peter marooned in a shipping container bound for Ireland? What happened to D.L.? And Kristen Bell’s Elle character was never properly introduced.

OK, so mission accomplished. But that’s about it. Even with last night’s episode written by series creator Tim Kring, there was no real, well, spark -- unless you count those shock encounters between powered Peter and electric Elle. Which were another “so what” event.

I’m still intrigued by Stephen Tobolowsky’s evil-or-is-he Bob, commander of The Company [above in NBC photo], and now, too, by actor David Anders, currently named Adam Monroe after being introduced as Kensei back in 18th century Japan. He comes across as a canny guy -- frankly, I wish we’d seen him and Bob at the loggerheads he mentioned (or made up?) -- with an immortal story worth telling.

So, for that matter, does The Haitian [Jimmy Jean-Louis, left in NBC photo], who’s gotten slighted by this series most of all. “Heroes” only has another month to make things right in this “volume” of the tale, before holiday hiatus and whatever the writers’ strike brings.

Or what would bring us back whenever that ends?

I have a new pet peeve about TV.

You know what’s really bugging me? Countdown clocks.

Or should I say, inappropriate countdown clocks.

Once these were reserved for space launches or New Year’s Eve programs. OK, I’ll buy that.

But lately, the silent tick-tock has gotten a little too out of control.

My angst started a couple of weeks ago when CNN began counting down several days ahead of air time to its ecology special, “Planet in Peril.” The idiotic countdown clock in the corner (not to mention the newly green CNN logo) ensured that I wouldn’t, on general principles, watch one minute of the program, no matter how noble its intentions.

But what really pushed me over the edge was Monday night’s broadcast of “Atlantis SquarePantis,” the new SpongeBob mini-movie. Did I or my kids (who have been counting down the days to the broadcast anyway) have to be reminded as the SpongeBob marathon unreeled on Nickelodeon that “Atlantis” was just a mere 6:45:12 away?

It’s time to take action. If I see another countdown clock — and I don’t care if it’s on Dec. 31 — I am going to tape a piece of black construction paper in the corner of my TV set and happily go on with my life.

What bugs you about TV? Post a comment here.

A couple weeks from the finals and Mel B. and Maksim have clearly and unequivocally cut to the front of the dance line. What does that mean? Really, nothing much because voters do what voters do, and already there's been one travesty this season (Sabs.) But by bringing up the shank end of last night's show - and an excellent end at that - I think these guys are safe. Plus, they almost scored a third perfect ten.

Here's my run-down:

Jennie: Oh boy. Ohhh boy. Not a good night, and I really don't know why. She started off with that foxtrot, which was a blur of elbows and knees, plus that He-Tarzan-Me-Jane sequined outfit didn't help. The second dance, the waltz, again didn't work for me, either, even though it did theoretically play to her number one (and two) strengths - poise and elegance. I fear she's vulnerable tonight.

Cam: Oh boy. Ohhh boy. Not a good night as well. This one's not so much a mystery because Cam, who's been the single biggest surprise in this comp, was straight-jacketed by the waltz; Len described the second outing as "paint by numbers." Good line. Wished I'd thought of it.

Marie: She continues to fascinate me, this Marie. "Dad taught me the show must go on...this is for my dad. It truly is for my dad..." Amazing! Your father dies just days ago and you still pull out show biz cliches that are so old that even the hair has fallen off of them. And then Donny in the audience with tears: My God, they're a team and he's not even on the dance floor. Despite two incredibly ho-hum outings, though, Marie is safer than Fort Knox. No one's gonna dump her after THAT performance. Really, she's a master performer: It's not about the dance but about the camera, and she knows exactly how to play to it.

Helio: A split decision. The first dance, the paso doble, hardly stirred anyone from their seats, while the second - the quick step, or Bruno's "blazing banana" - helped somewhat. But it was still a strange ending - a whole new dance routine called the "Kiss and Dump," in which one partner is kissed and quite literally dumped. Julianne almost bounced off the dance floor, poor thing.

Scary: As mentioned, the front runner and a good night. That is, IF voters judge merely by what's on the dance floor alone. At this stage, what's off the floor is almost equally important and I wonder about the wisdom of bringing in her boorish husband (at least boorish for this segment) for the pre-dance segment. Nevertheless, she had an excellent cap, and that's what the voters (hopefully) will remember.

Offering a helping hand. (Courtesy: GMA.)

Rest easy, Glenn Close fans. After dithering and delaying, FX has ordered not one but two additional 13-episode seasons of the legal thriller “Damages.”

Production of the New York-filmed series is “slated to begin early next year,” says the FX release. But that depends, of course, on resolution of the ongoing writers’ strike.

Close is joined in Season 2’s regulars ranks by returnees Rose Byrne [above with Close in FX photo] and Tate Donovan.

An interesting new wrinkle in the on-going Writers Strike: Scribes are taking their case straight to the Internet, where bystanders - you and me - can hear or read their words directly. It's another weapon in their arsenal against the Big Bad Studios, and as I learn of more instances, I'll share them. I bring you now this "straight-talk" segment from superstar TV scribblers Damon Lindelof ("Lost") and Marc Cherry ("Housewives"). (Lindelof also wrote something for the NYT.) It's a pretty good wrap of the WGA gripes though, I guess I'd add, most people working the picket lines aren't millionaires like these two. So more credit to both of them for taking this stand...

Meanwhile, the WGA - which is showering the grateful press with releases like leaves from that maple outside your window - just noted that striking writers have started their own blog (of course - what took 'em so long?) You can check it out here. WGA promises that it'll be updated often, and will likely be a good place for news. Also, I've started checking out yet another good blog that's full of info called "United Hollywood." Here's the link for that one.
And finally, here's another YouTube special that goes after the Big Bad Studios. It's called "Fade to Black:"

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” ended its season Sunday night with another near-brilliant episode. (And thankfully, there's Hollywood scuttlebutt that Larry David wants to bring the show back for another season).

Here are the five things I loved

1. The ending: A fantasy (we think) in which Larry and Loretta (Vivica A. Fox), who was Larry’s last-minute date to Sammi’s bat mitzvah, have become in item. Loved that holiday card proclaiming greetings from “Larry and the Blacks.”

2. The guest turn by the always-oily Michael McKean as a hack TV director (he directed the cancer episode of “Home Improvement” and thus got stereotyped as the guy who only does “ticker” episodes) who spreads the rumor that Larry has a gerbil up his rear end.

3. Larry’s “toast” at the bat mitzvah, which devolved into a rant against said director and a rage-filled denial about the gerbil rumor.

4. Larry’s uncomfortableness (mirroring our own) in a doctor’s office has provided many memorable moments over the years. In an earlier episode, he railed about putting his name on the patients’ sign-in list, and he did it again Sunday — this time with a “Curbish” twist.

5. Cheryl and Larry did not get back together.
.

He’s baaaack -- the eternal American teenager, despite having had a Social Security-age stroke. The familiar face from rock and roll’s classic tubefest “American Bandstand” returns to cohost with Ryan Seacrest on this year’s 36th edition of ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” Monday, Dec. 31.

The press release says 78-year-old Dick Clark will count down to midnight “during the three-and-a-half hours of specials from Times Square in New York City.” We’ll assume that means he'll make the trip from California to Manhattan again to oversee the proceedings from a Square-side studio.

Clark has missed only the 2004 broadcast, which took place just days after he suffered a stroke. (Regis Philbin filled in that year.) He made his triumphant, if less than optimum, return to the tradition on Dec. 31, 2005, and appeared last year, too, his speech still weak but improving. It’s left to Seacrest these days to actually head outside into the winter cold where for so many years Clark and wife Kari previously shared their traditional New Year’s kiss.

The Writers Guild is now calling out the dogs on Ellen! She was back on the air after a one-day hiatus this week - not nearly long enough to suit the powers-that-be at the WGA, and now they're gonna start banging on her door, and...attempt to disrupt production of her show with it comes to NYC on November 18 and 19.

The union said she's in clear violation of "strike rules that were clearly explained to all of the comedy/variety shows [and] we certainly intend to let Ellen know our dissatisfaction in person if she decides to proceed with the shows she has scheduled in New York on November 19th and 20th. We will also make our voices heard the preceding week if she tries to pre-tape comedy segments on location."

And here's a little more WGA fire: "We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn't even stand by writers for more than one day - writers who have helped make her extremely successful."

Courtesy: Imagecache

As the strike heads to its second week, the big guys - Dave and Jay - are maintaining support for their colleagues, which means no shows for the foreseeable future.

But Broadcasting & Cable magazine recently posted this interesting item: What about guest hosts? The mag quotes Leno show chief, Debbie Vickers, saying "all sorts of things are being discussed, including guest hosts [but] our preference is that we return to production." Apparently that's HER preference, however, because Leno's top writer, Joe Medeiros, told B&C; that "I talk to Jay every day, and he will not be the first [late-night host] to cross the picket line. So they are looking at guest hosts as one possibility so all those people don’t have to lose their jobs.”

"Those people" - by the way - are the many of the non-union "Tonight Show" employees who have reportedly been told by NBC that they will be laid off by the end of next week.

Won't cross picketlines.

I’m the first to admit that my life has been extremely influenced by Rolling Stone, to which I faithfully subscribed from 1967 to 1982.

Growing up on Long Island, I used RS as my biweekly ticket to the counterculture I so desperately wanted to be a part of. It influenced everything from my vocabulary to my musical tastes to writing style. (And no, I’m not bitter beacause I was turned down for a job there as a copy editor in 1978.)

But honestly, it hasn’t really been a part of my life for quite awhile, except as a nostalgic artifact.

In fact, I’d guess most boomers haven’t perused a copy of RS since the beginning of the Reagan administration, unless they happen to pick up their kids' (or grandkids') copy.

So I was a little skeptical when I sat down to watch the Paul Shaffer-hosted “Rolling Stone Magazine: Voice of Our Generation,” which airs Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on WLIW/21 (PBS loves boomers, as we all know.)

Celebrating RS' 40th anniversary, the show re-traces yet again the mag’s journey from counterculture San Francisco-based rag
into slick Manhattan periodical. A worthy tale, but one told many times.

And what about that “Voice of Our Generation?” ... well, maybe up to a point. It’s more likely that AARP, the magazine, with its articles about when to apply for Social Security or best arthritis cures, is today’s voice of our generation.

Nevertheless, title aside , this special does contain lots of fun clips to watch, ranging from the Beatles doing “We Can Work It Out” to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Down on the Corner” and Bruce Springsteen performing “Glory Days.” All those and John Denver and the Carpenters, too.

For those alone, I’d recommend tuning in.

If you want to get a fix on where your favorite show stands right now, Zap2it.com has one of the best overall strike wraps that I've come across. Go here and then scroll down to see a laundry list of TV productions; most appear headed towards an early December break, though a handful have enough episodes in the bank to last into early January. One very curious omission on this list: "CSI," probably TV's single most important show. There's been almost an absolute silence from the Bill Petersen camp, which is eye-brow raising to say the least.
He's arguably the most powerful "hyphenate" - producer/actor - in television, though not technically a "writer," I'm pretty certain. This much I do know: Each of the "CSI's" remain in production - in fact, every drama from CBSParamount, from "NCIS" to "Ghost Whisperer" remains in production - which means that producers are working off of scripts (of course) that have already been completed. The key question is, for how much longer? The network's not saying... On the late night front, CBS just announced that both "Late Show" and "Late Late Show" will air repeats next week as well. That douses earlier press reports that Dave et al might jump-start their shows as early as next week.
Meanwhile, Newsday.com has put together a comprehensive package of strike-related matters. Check it out here.

Thursday night’s episode was not as brilliant as the plot description hinted at (even though it was written by Steve Carell). But considering that production has now halted on future episodes, we’re grateful for what we can watch.

Check out the show's staff marching on the picket lines here.

The 411: Michael is peeved that he wasn’t asked by Ryan to go with him, Toby and a coupla other guys into the woods on an male-bonding corporate retreat. So he decides on his own version of “Survivor” by plunging into “the vast Pennsylvania wilderness” by himself with just the suit on his back (plus a roll of duct tape and a knife). Meanwhile, back at D-M, Jim’s temporarily in charge and he immediately alienates his co-workers by consolidating each month’s birthday celebrations into one big one.

Here are the five things I loved:
1. Michael dismissing Ryan’s male-bonding adventure as “Broken Mountain.”

2. Dwight showing off his cache of weapons he has hidden in the office, including a blow gun in a toilet tank.

3. Michael cutting up his suit to become a do-rag and a tent. Jeff Probst would be proud.

4. Michael’s rationale for not being so gung-ho about the natural world. “I don’t hate the woods... I have a wood desk” and “I don’t need fresh air... I have A/C.”

5. Creed sure loved that peach cobbler, didn’t he?

What did we learn from last night's "Grey's Anatomy?"

Let's see. That: George pecks like a chicken, and Izzy is starting to have second thoughts, and that Chief's a slob and Shepherd's a neatnik, and Sloan has a thing for Hahn (figures) but that she doesn't for him (and to understand why, see an earlier blog entry), and that Torres really shouldn't be boss and that Bailey should (and now is), and - most shocking of all - Bailey cries! Who saw that coming?

But I think there's something else that we're - or at least I'm - starting to realize. With the strike five days old, and with months - conceivably - to go, who has time, energy or passion to become invested in all of this when you know that in just about four weeks, maybe less, the spigot will be turned off? As the LA Times reported yesterday, "Grey's" is now filming its last episode - though how even that's possible with Shonda Rhimes electing to become fellow travel with other striking writers is a mystery. Meanwhile, "The Office" is gone in two weeks, "The Big Bang Theory" is over this Monday, "Desperate Housewives" is outtahere in early December, and same with "Grey's." I'm sure there are others, many others too.

But serials like "Grey's" and "Desperate" - I suspect - are already feeling the cold shoulder of viewer indifference, either consciously or subconsciously. Who cares whether Lexie or Mere patch things up when we'll be in a "Groundhog Day" loop of endless re-runs, or endless fill-in reality shows? The passion for shows runs cold when you know they are about to be stuffed into the deep freeze, for weeks or maybe even - yes - months? The writers' strike is terrible business - especially for the writers and thousands of support personnel now on the streets too - but the franchises themselves stand to suffer in ways we are only now beginning to understand.

Of course “30 Rock” had to sign on with the NBC/Universal’s mandate to do “green”-themed programming this week. Of course, “30 Rock” proceeded to take a big bite out of the hand that feeds it. (Along with a great B-story about Kenneth’s sad-sack party evolving, thanks to word of mouth, into the A-list event of the century.)

The five things we loved most:

1. David Schwimmer — back on NBC Thursday night — as “Greenzo,” the NBC-goes-green mascot who takes his job just a little too seriously. (Like when he hectors Liz: “Do you even compost your own feces?”)

2. Greenzo’s most recent “show-biz” gig was doing a commercial for Rick Lazio, New York’s unsuccessful GOP senatorial candidate in 2000. The commercial attacked "Hillary Clinton's plans for an all-homosexual army." (Needless to say, if you’re not from New York or your memory bank doesn't go back past 2003, you’d have no clue who Rick Lazio is.)

3. A throwaway line, but one that cracked me up: While riding in an elevator, Jenna has a hush-hush cell-phone conversation with her publicist: “Could you kill the story about my mom being homeless?”

4. Two things I never knew: Jack was an intern for Sen. Kennedy and Sonny Crockett is the name of Kenneth’s parrot.

5. Good-sport award to Al Gore, who put in a cameo appearance and then beats a quick retreat, saying in his best Adam West/Principal Skinner voice: “Quiet.. a whale is in trouble.. I’ve got to go...”

It’s either a huge money-saving opportunity for viewers, or one big fat commercial.

"The Radio City Christmas Spectacular" comes to TV for the first time, airing on NBC Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. in a one-hour special hosted by “Today’s” Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira, the network just announced.

This 75th anniversary show is promised to be the most “dynamic and re-imagined” ever, with “glamorous new costumes and eye-popping new numbers performed by the world-famous Radio City Rockettes, as well as traditional fan favorites including the famed ‘Parade of the Wooden Soldiers’ and ‘The Living Nativity.’ The stage itself will be brought alive with state-of-the art special effects, including fireworks, delicate snowfall and Santa flying over Radio City's great stage.”

Discovery’s eye-popping, award-winning portrait “Planet Earth” starts an encore this Sunday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m., airing two episodes each week for six weeks.

This weekend’s repeat leads into the premiere of “Fearless Planet” Sunday at 10 p.m., described as “a thrill ride through the earth’s most awesome natural wonders, taking extreme filmmaking to a whole new level.” Paragliding record holder Will Gadd visits Hawaii [in Discovery photo above], Alaska, the Grand Canyon, the Sahara and the Great Barrier Reef, exploring “the geological processes that created these natural wonders.”

If you’ve ever attended a New York or Hollywood TV taping -- or wish you had -- there’s cool nostalgia to be found at the Old TV Tickets website.

Did you know that David Letterman appeared on a 1978 game/talk show called “The Love Experts”? (With “Laugh-In” loudmouth JoAnne Worley?) Or that ’70s sportscaster Howard Cosell hosted a completely different ABC prime-time variety showcase called “Saturday Night Live”?

The site shows you a scan of the stub, then fleshes out info on the show it represents, from sitcom faves like “I Love Lucy” and “All in the Family” to talkfests like “The Dick Cavett Show” to song-and-dance hours like “Tony Orlando & Dawn.” (That last ticket advises Television City guests, “Audience will be seen on camera. Please dress accordingly.”) Also detailed are such cult-fave obscurities as Jackie Mason’s 1989 sitcom “Chicken Soup.”

For New Yorkers who attended early-days-of-TV programs like “Mister Peepers” or “Beat the Clock” when the industry was city-based in the 1950s, it’s also a time trip back through local theater history -- revisiting shows staged at the Ziegfeld, Colonial, Hudson and Ritz Theatres, in addition to CBS’ west side studios and NBC’s Radio City tower, plus NBC’s Brooklyn facility (1960s rockfest “Hullabaloo”).

The site also reveals that tube assistants don’t necessarily know how to spell celebs’ names -- not with “Jimmie” Durante and “Cindy” Lauper among the stars hyped in ticket printings.

Ah Rosie, that poet. What will she say next? Last weekend in Miami, she said she had an MSNBC show. Today, the show is no-go.

Her blog - rosie.com - pretty much says the proposed MSNBC show is DOA. But why not quote Ro in full. Here's the full poem, posted on her website just about an hour and a half ago. I do believe it needs little to no explanation, but I should add that I've learned separately that - yes indeed - there is no show. What happened? Sometimes discretion is the better part of deal-making...

"msnbc
one hour
live
following keith olbermann

we were close to a deal
almost done
i let it slip in miami
causing panic on the studio end

well
what can u do

2day there is no deal
poof
my career as a pundit is over
b4 it began

just as well
i figure
everything happens for a reason
bashert - as we say

and on we go"

Who needs a talk show anyway?

So much for “Day 7” with Cherry Jones and Janeane Garofalo. In view of the current Writers Guild strike, the Fox network announced late Wednesday it’s postponing the planned January launch of “24” until it knows the entire seventh season can run “non-stop.” (Oh, well. We can watch the trailer over and over. And over.)

The first WGA-strike-prompted wholesale lineup revision also includes premiere dates for new Fox shows, along with some other shakeups: “Bones” moves to Friday at 8 on Jan. 4 to make way for “American Idol” (back Jan. 15-16), while “Prison Break” picks up on Monday, Jan. 14 at 8.

New arrivals announced include the action movie spinoff “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” which previews Sunday, Jan. 13 at 8, before moving the next night to its regular Monday 9 p.m. slot (where “24” was supposed to run).

Other shows are slated further down the line, which means their premiere dates could well shift depending on strike resolution (or lack thereof). “New Amsterdam” (due Feb. 22) is about an immortal New York homicide detective, while “The Return of Jezebel James” (March 7) is a city-shot comedy from “Gilmore Girls” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose as estranged sisters.

The gritty Denis Leary-produced drama “Canterbury’s Law” (April 11) also shoots in New York, but was already delayed due to the pregnancy of Julianna Margulies, starring as a tough defense attorney.

Also slated: the single-camera comedy “Unhitched” (March 2), from the Farrelly brothers, about thirtysomethings who include Craig Bierko and Rashida Jones.

Fox’ strike-reflecting lineup loads up on game/reality/“unscripted” offerings. Mark L. Walberg hosts the lie-detecting hour “The Moment of Truth” (Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 9). “When Women Rule the World” (March 3) eavesdrops on women in charge of men in a “primitive, remote location.” Gordon Ramsay’s competition “Hell’s Kitchen” is back April 1.

Remember Steve Bartelstein? How could you not: He was one of New York's best-known local anchors, and was all over WABC/7's air for half a dozen years or so - until he got fired not too long ago, reportedly for sleeping on the gig. He's back, and fully awake. WCBS/2 just announced that it's hired him as weekend anchor. “Steve has proven to be a likeable, well recognized and successful news personality in the New York market,” said Peter Dunn, chief of the Deuce. “With his on-air experience and achievements within the industry and in the community, we are thrilled he is joining our thriving news team.” Bartelstein's quick history - he was at CNN before Ch. 7, and was substitute host of "Talkback Live."

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Fearing "Daily Show" withdrawal with the ongoing Hollywood writers strike?

Get a double dose of host/anchor Jon Stewart in tonight's new "Biography" hour (Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. on BIO digital channel). Sneak a peek here.

Then check out Jerry Seinfeld as the guest on tonight's "Daily Show" repeat (11 p.m. on Comedy Central).

Hey sports fans: Bored with watching the NFL on Turkey Day?

We have the sport for you: competitive eating, one of my guilty pleasures (watching it, not participating in it, mind you).

On Thanksgiving day (Nov. 22), Spike TV will air "MLE Chowdown: The Turkey Bowl" in which the world's top eaters attempt to down an entire 20-pound turkey in 8 minutes. Major League Eating’s top two stars, Joey Chestnut (the current Nathan’s Hot Dog-eating champ) and Kobayashi (the Barry Bonds of the overstuffed set), will battle it out with six top eaters, among them Plainview’s Allen Goldstein. It’ll air at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

The record for whole turkey consumption — I thought you’d never ask — is held by Patrick Bertoletti, who ate 4.8 lbs of turkey in 12 minutes last November.

Burp!

Is there anything left to say about "The Sopranos" ending?

Of course there is. There will always be. That's the genius of it (even though I STILL don’t like it): Without resolution, there is endless speculation, and anyone's speculation can be right and anyone's can be wrong. It's kind of what - and please forgive the highfalutin' reference here - physicists might refer to as a Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle paradox applied to my favorite TV show: Tony either lived or Tony died, or he's alive AND dead at the same time. (There's another famous physicist paradox called Shroedinger's Cat, which means that a cat hidden inside a box is both alive AND dead...and what this means…oh forget it.)

If I haven't turned you off thoroughly at this point, then read on. Last week, "American Gangster" premiered – how’s that for a segue! - and there's an actor who appears here but who also labors in the long shadows of Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. (He plays McCann, opposite Josh Brolin's Trupo.) That would be Bobby Funaro - a terrific character actor who also appeared over the years in "Sopranos" as Eugene Pontecorvo, a harrowing member of Christopher's crew who inherited a million bucks from his aunt and decided he wanted out of the family. Tony said no way, and Gene began cooperating with the Feds. Finally, realizing there was no way out of his predicament, he killed himself in the episode entitled "Members Only." Bobby Funaro – in other words – soared in one of the finest episodes of maybe the greatest “Sopranos” season. It was also a pivotal episode, and here’s why:

Whachoo looking at? Funaro: Scary guy, fine actor.

“Members Only” was not only the premiere episode of the final season, but it also mirrored some elements of the finale as well, including the (famous) moment when someone wanders in to the diner wearing a "Members Only" jacket. Signifying? That there's no way out for Tony e la sua famiglia.

Whether he's alive or dead, his fate is an endless loop. There is simply no escape from this peculiar kind of hell.

Anyway, I had a long chat with Funaro recently; he's a good guy, smart, and like a lot (if not all) "Sopranos'" regulars harbors - I suspect – just the slightest ambivalence about starring in the greatest drama in TV history. His – their - professional fortunes will be forged by “The Sopranos” from this day forward. That's good, but also troubling (if from now on, the only roles they can get are mobster ones…)

We had along talk about his recent career (he starred in an off-off-Broadway production, called "The Lady Swims Today"), his hometown (Brooklyn/ Coney Island), and his future (he's using - what else? - the Internet to market himself. Here's the official website.)

So, Bobby, your thoughts on The Ending? "I enjoyed the ambiguity....and it gave it that kind of twist that was open ended. It was thrilling to watch [and] I was rooting for Tony, that he didn't get killed and that he pulled through the whole thing. He's a survivor, the ultimate carnivore. He's one of the guys that gets by. A lot of people wanted some sort of finish, but even David Chase said, 'how can I kill this guy...? He gave the audience such a thrill...’ But if you look at crime, it goes on.

Funaro said there was a screening for cast and crew at the HBO building, and people later gathered at the Hard Rock Cafe for a party. "When I walked out, I was surrounded by the press and everyone was looking for a reaction. I was one of the first to walk out...It was kind of surreal. I said 'I loved it [the ending] and the press was like, ‘get outta here! We wanted to hear that you hated it...’[Chase and producers] told us don't even try to defend it, and we shouldn't have to defend it because it ends the way it ends...”

He said Peter Bogdanovich (Dr. Elliot Kupferberg) offered the best defense: If "you look at the final scene [with] all those symbols of America, that's a whole collection of who we are...that there isn't any security, there isn't any sanctuary for anyone…We have this sense that as we grow up in TV world and watch TV, that there's always a happy ending. But when you get to be an adult, there’s something entirely different. You’re really hungry the next day - happiness is ephemeral, short-lived. Tony's happiness? It's there one second, but look what’s around him? The guy with the Members Only jacket...You can never get out of there. The last scene at first suggests that he has it all back together, but he doesn't have it all back together at all."

Got five minutes? Then you’ve got time to watch an entire episode of faves like “Charlie’s Angels,” “Married With Children,” “Fantasy Island,” “The Facts of Life” or “Starsky & Hutch.” Even if you’re not at home.

Pick up that Verizon V CAST phone, and click to on-demand video of The Minisode Network (under the TV & Film category). The online site launched last June has spun off into cell-land, offering quick pick-me-ups from eight vintage tube series even when you’re on the go.

You get the whole kit and kaboodle per episode, including the entire plot and credits (and, yes, commercials) in about one-tenth the time. (And it’s not like you miss much, either.)

Halloween episodes are still up on V CAST now (under the subcategory What’s Hot), which must mean -- we pray, we pray -- that Christmas episodes are soon to follow. New episodes arrive each week. Minisode’s online site ups the count to 15 Sony-produced series including “Dilbert,” “Ricki Lake” and “Police Woman.”

On the off chance you missed last night's "Dancing with the Stars," we offer once again our weekly public service "DWTS" news flash: In this instance, the news is not good for Jane Seymour. Yes, she was voted off last night and judging from the absolute silence of the audience - no gasps, no shrieks, no one yelling out "this cannot BE!! - I have to assume that the ejection was expected. But not by me. Like Marie O, she's been a shrewd judge of this show and its audience minions, and seems to understand that celebrity always trumps talent. Anyway, here's to Jane: Over the last two months, she's displayed some surprising athleticism (and poise.) Sure, in comparison to Sabs she performed in slow-mo, but then, who didn't?

Courtesy: Lifetime

In case you haven't heard, Marie Osmond's father, George, died early this morning. He was 90. Here's the AP account, "George Osmond, father of the famous singing family The Osmond Brothers, has died.Osmond passed away Tuesday morning in Utah. He was 90-years-old.A cause of death was not immediately available.The death was first reported by 'Entertainment Tonight's' Web site and was confirmed by The Associated Press through a spokeswoman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which Osmond was a member.Donny Osmond was in the ET studio getting ready to tape a segment for a show when he learned of his father's death. Marie Osmond performed Monday night on 'Dancing With the Stars.'"

Suffice it to say, she'll be off tonight's results show; Jane Seymour's mother died Oct. 1. She was 92. I'll leave it to tacky culture vultures (like AOL) to talk about some "curse."

Could it be? Sure it could be. But maybe just maybe Dave, Conan, Jay et al will only be taking a week's vacation as opposed to a year's one (the Writers Strike, you know.) The Washington Post's fine Reporter Who Covers Television (her line), Lisa De Moraes, wrote today that the boys could be out only a week. And I quote: "But unlike the last time the writers struck, nearly 20 years ago, when the late-night shows stayed dark for months, this time around, industry sources with knowledge of the situation say, they're expected to stay out for only a week or two. While the late-night stars want to show support for their writers, they also feel allegiance to the production staffers, who do not get paid if they do not work." She adds, "Expect no scripted bits, but lots more celebrity interviews. Oh goody."

Yes, oh goody...

With Sabs gone, "Dancing with the Stars" is no longer about the best dancer but about the best politician: Who can con the audience into making it THINK they are the best, or at least the most desirable or deserving. Also, who can pull those many millions off their duffs to the phone to vote for them.

What a strange show.

And another observation about the now-Sabrina-Bryan-less "DWTS:" It feels very very old, even with Scary still around. In demographic terms, "DWTS" was always the polar opposite of "American Idol" (broadbased audience that nonetheless aged slightly last season). It really appeals to the 55-plus crowd, which pretty much explains why I now realize that anyone under 35 - or at least any WOMAN under 35 for some inexplicable reason - stands little to no chance of winning this thing. I guess all this means is that Jane Seymour is the front-runner now, while Scary B (32) is a goner, no matter how good she is.

Last night's two-fer show was strange too. The first half was blearingly dull; the second half (Latin dance) was better but still, "DWTS" is feeling creaky to me now. Sabs...Albert...Floyd. The young, no matter how good they are, are being penalized simply because older viewers won't vote for them, and young viewers really don't watch this show.

My wrap:

Helio: The first dance was clipped, the second much better. But I think Helio's had much better weeks than this one. In my book, only a middling night.

Marie: What a tough, calculating, show biz pro this woman is! Shrewd as they come, too. No wonder Marie Osmond's kept herself in the spotlight for so many years; she's got a spine of steel, even if she's got the dancing talent of....ME! That "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" number - you're not fooling anyone, Marie. Pulling the heartstrings of your geriatric fans. And planting that big one on Len! Oh, you're good, girl. You're good.

Scary: The first outing was merely OK, and Carrie Ann got it exactly right when she observed that it was slightly out of sync, explaining why this thing seemed clunky even when it was forcefully elegant. The second dance was the salvation - perfect tens. But don't be complacent, Mel. You don't want fans to think you're the frontrunner, or they won't vote for you. (The Sabs principle.) I now fear they won't vote for you anyway.

Jane: Another tough, cagey show biz veteran., Jane knows exactly what she's doing and saying. She's a master. (You don't stay in the TV game all these years by being shy and demure.) I thought her dances were dull - but, in the taste category, far superior to the Turkish belly romp she attempted last week.

Jennie: The judges hated both dances; I thought both were wonderful. But what do I know?

Cam: I'm Cam's biggest fan. He's terrific. The guy can do no wrong, and his last outing of the night was absolutely - far and away - the most enjoyable two minutes of the entire night.
Which is another way of saying: Cam, you better start getting worried...

Imagine, if you will, that in watching last night’s “Heroes” episode you were a brand-new viewer trying to figure out what was going on.

Heck, I’m a certified “Heroes”-head, and I’m not sure I know.

Yes, it’s a good thing that more of our familiar favorite characters are coming together than being far-flung off in 18th century Japan or some Irish pub or the snowy Ukraine. But the show is also adding characters like mad to its already confusing roster: Kristen Bell as the electric chick who seems to be doing the bidding of her Company daddy, Alan Blumenfeld as Matt’s mind-controlling absentee father, and now the seemingly key character of Adam Monroe, a “visionary”/“God” renegade from the earlier generation of heroes, who seems to be -- wait -- Hiro’s feudal Japan pal Kensei? Sure looked like David Anders in both roles to me.

It’s all starting to feel a bit too curlicued and contrived somehow, with that and Claire’s boyfriend having been once abducted by her dad and Sylar stumbling into the black-tears twins and all that time-shifting mumbo jumbo and other handy twists of fate. I miss last season’s sense of individual discovery and character evolution. How can a character evolve this season when each gets about 25 seconds of screen time till we have to move on? When Nathan complained last night about the Company’s “half-truths and constant manipulation,” he might well have been discussing “Heroes” itself.

The only one really overcoming that for me is Hiro, who seems to finally be done with his solo samurai time trip. It was indeed getting old, and yet I suddenly sense I’m going to miss it greatly. I don’t know if it was the old-time Japan setting or the formality of so many subtitles there, but Hiro’s been getting away with a lot of fable-like aphorisms that lift the show into soulful flight above its expository mechanics. “Pain has made him cruel, but he is good, inside,” Hiro said of the turncoat Kensei last night, radiating faith, nobility and heart.

Actor Masi Oka truly is the show’s breakout star, and probably its best actor. That’s going aways with veterans like Greg Grunberg (Matt) and now Stephen Tobolowsky (Bob) on board. But Oka has been given the opportunity to play it all -- from gravitas to playfulness, with adventure heroics and romantic yearning in between -- and he’s made it all sing. He’s just a warm, glowing, affecting presence that lights up the screen every time he hits it.

Now that Hiro is back in the thick of things, in the present day, he may be able to lift the show along with him. He should have help from its other key hearttugger, Hayden Panettiere, after Bob informed us last night “Claire is the key.”

But oops, next week (Nov. 12), “Heroes” goes all temporal shift again, bouncing back four months to explain what happened to Nathan, how Peter survived the blast, the fate of D.L. and more. Sure, we want the questions answered. But do we like being jerked all over the place like this? Pain has made “Heroes” cruel. But the show is good, inside there. Somewhere.

Watch last night's and other Season 2 "Heroes" episodes online here, or here with commentary.

[Above: Masi Oka in NBC photo by Paul Drinkwater.]

Well, well (and well): Rosie O'Donnell may be heading to MSNBC, where she'll host a 9 p.m. talk show that will feature her own, ummm, unique brand of talk.

Now I say "may be," and I do think those are the correct words. But if you check out this website and the rather interesting top posting, then you'll realize that Ro already thinks it's a done deal. And I quote from the site, LyingOnTheBeach.com, which was covering some appearance of her's in Miami: "She was dishing pretty hard at her so called 'family' on The View when all of a sudden she blurted out that she just signed a deal (the ink is still wet) to host her own TV talk show competing with the guy with the suspenders and the long face." Presumably that would be one Larry King.

I've learned that there have been talks between Ro and MSNBC but that nothing is finalized, and that the deal may never be finalized. Both sides are apparently an ocean apart in terms of a pact (How to interpret this? She likely wants a ton of money, and MSNBC - like the rest of NBC, which is in the throes of 2.0 - may not be in such a generous mood these days.)

She's long been rumored - or rumored since leaving "The View" anyway - to be under consideration for an MSNBC gig similar to the one Phil Donahue once held, as the network's resident Liberal opposite the red state lions on Fox. Ro could use this slot to wreak havoc, reward friends and, naturally, exact revenge. The latter alone would give her enough topics to fill a slate of broadcasts for an entire year. Or maybe she could recite poetry AND exact revenge, like this bit of priceless verse posted on her website in reference to those Bill O'Reilly producers who crashed the recent Huntington book-signing:

"BO ass-----
showed up at my book signing
camera in hand
cocky young white men

darkness always
fights the light

they were bullied out
not soon enuf
4 my liking
eye 2 eye - turn it off.."

Now, people, close your eyes and imagine an MSNBC show with THIS stuff...

Oh Donald dear, guess what I'VE got?! Yoohoo, Bill! I'm coming...

Should the world be outraged over Brian Williams' host stint on "Saturday Night Live?" Only if he was not funny - or grotesquely unfunny. He was neither. As hosts go, BW was perfectly adequate: Poised, droll, and not even remotely embarrassing, to either himself or the still relatively well-rated broadcast he represents ("Nightly"). All of which is good.

Best skit: As "Principal Jeffries," on some finale of a CW drama, who can't absorb the fact that he wasn't invited to star in the sequel. And worst: Almost certainly the first he was in, as the New York firefighter on "Bronx Beat," for which he served - inadequately and with one of the least convincing New York accents I think I've ever heard - as straight man to Betty (Amy Poehler) and Jodi (Maya Rudolph.).

His opening monologue: A solid B, and considering how perilous this water can be, that's quite an accomplishment. "When I agreed to host 'SNL,' I believed I was hosting in this long tradition of icons [like Walter Cronkite and Peter Jennings] - heroes of mine who have also appeared on this show. It wasn't until rehearsal this morning when I realized those were not the actual newsmen but cast members doing impressions.." (OK - sounded more amusing when he told it...)

Why even bother to glance back at this minor performance on a day when writers have gone on strike and next week's "Saturday Night Live" will be a repeat? Because there was actually some internal industry controversy last week over the propriety of a major anchor appearing as host on "SNL" (or whether some double standard would bar, say, Katie Couric from "SNL," etc.) Howard Kurtz's "Reliable Sources" even contributed a segment yesterday to the appearance.

Should the world be outraged? No, and honestly it shouldn't even care. Williams is a fine anchor and an "SNL" stint will not alter that in the least. No big deal, in other words.

It's now official: The Writers Guild announced moments ago that it will strike producers, networks and major studios on Monday at 12:01 a.m. And that means? Pretty much an immediate end to late night talk shows here and in L.A., and much much else (see blog entry below.)

Here's a partial transcript of the statement just released by Patric Verrone, chief of the WGA:

"Good afternoon.

"The Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America, West and the Council of the Writers Guild of America, East, acting upon the authority granted them by the members, have voted unanimously to call a strike effective 12:01 AM, Monday, November 5.

"As many of you know, three weeks ago the Members of the Writers Guild of America voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if we could not reach a fair and reasonable deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

"To avoid this outcome, we have been engaged in negotiations for more than three months to resolve our differences.

"Over that time, we dropped nine of our proposals in the interest of reaching a resolution.

"However, the studios have not responded to a single one of our important proposals. Every issue that matters to writers, including Internet reuse, original writing for new media, DVDs, and jurisdiction, has been ignored.

"In recent years, these conglomerates have enjoyed tremendous financial success off the backs of literally tens of thousands of people – including members of the creative community. One part of that community is the writers, whose work serves as the blueprint for programs and movies.

"And, although the industry’s pie is continually growing, our share continues to shrink.

Well, that didn't take very long.

After Duane "Dog" Chapman was heard earlier this week blasting the N word in a phone call with his son, Multichannel News reports A&E; has decided to yank all episodes of "Dog the Bounty Hunter" until channel officials can figure out what the bleep is going on with the Hawaii bail enforcer.

A&E; had already noted its earlier production halt on the show's web site.

“Desperate Housewives” extends the costume craziness to Sunday (Nov. 4 at 9 p.m. on ABC) as the neighborhood Halloween party offers an unexpected delivery. Sneek some peeks at the trick-or-treat here. [Above: Marcia Cross and Kyle MacLachlan in ABC photo by Ron Tom.]

Tune in an hour earlier to catch the annual “Treehouse of Horror” installment of “The Simpsons,” at 8 p.m. on Fox.

Denis Leary’s New York firefighters drama “Rescue Me” will return for a fifth season next year, and a fifth-and-a-half, too. FX has ordered 22 more episodes, to be aired in two separate cycles.

That’s good news not only for Leary and fans, but for NYC film crews, since the show shoots in a Queens studio and other city environs. Production is scheduled to restart in the spring.

That’s if and when we get past the threatened writers’ strike, of course.

Another stellar "Office episode."

Long story short: Karen, now running the Utica branch, recruits Stanley to leave Scranton by promising him a large raise. Michael and Dwight concoct a scheme to stop her by traveling undercover and sabotaging the Utica branch. They drag along a highly reluctant Jim (Karen’s ex).

My 5 Things to Love:

1. “Mo Money. Mo’ Problems — You of all people should know that,” says Michael (I’m Really a Black Man Trapped in a White Man’s Body) to Stanley, trying to dissaude him from taking the offer.

2. Dwight and Michael chanting “Utica! Utica! Utica!” as they roll in Michael’s PT Cruiser. Great send-up of Al Pacino in “Dog Day Afternoon.”

3. Those fake moustaches — especially Dwight’s Rollie Fingers special.

4. The whole concept of the Finer Things Club — an attempt by Oscar, Pam and Toby to bring a tad of refinement to Dunder Mifflin -- was priceless. But why was Toby wearing a bowtie in one scene and a full tie in the next?

5. And speaking of that gaggle of cultural elitists, Oscar had the best line of the night: "Besides having sex with men, I'd say the Finer Things Club is the gayest thing about me."

What did you think of the episode? Send me a comment.

So, fellow couch potatoes, what to expect?

When the Writers Guild strike starts - in all likelihood - on Monday, the immediate impact might not be all that noticeable at first. Oh, sure, as reported here and elsewhere, the major entertainment talk shows - from "Daily Show" to "Late Night with Conan O" to "Late Show with DL"- will go into repeats, but that's about it. Tourists who booked trips to NYC to see Dave or Conan will be bummed, but to viewers, it will seem like one of those dark weeks in the middle of summer, when jokes about (say) Mel Gibson seem a little stale simply because they were fresh six months earlier.

There are 4,000 members of the Writers Guild East - 2,500 who are affected by the stoppage. Many, in fact most, of them in New York, and there are plenty of shows that will grind to a stop: "Law & Order"..."Gossip Girl"..."30 Rock"..."Madmen"...These are just some of the New York-based shows affected. There are a total of thirty.

But the rest of television should proceed pretty much as normal. Here's a quick run-down of genres, and the likely immediate impact, as far as I know at this minute. As I get additional details throughout the day, I'll fill them in.

Local news: No, there should be no immediate impact here at all even though there are WGA members throughout TV newsrooms in the city (Channel 5 recently sought to get WGA membership for some of its producers.) Why? Simply because they're working under a separate contract. Nevertheless, WGA members at CBS - local and network - could authorize a strike vote in two weeks; they've been working without a contract for some time, and the WGA wants to get that resolved. Could that mean Katie Couric will have to write her own stories for "The Evening News" if CBS is struck? We'll see...

Late Night: Yeah, gone. And quickly at that. And per my understanding, don't expect someone like Jon Stewart to do a Johnny Carson - who left the air in the '88 strike, but returned a few months later in May of that year. Stewart's a member of the Guild and it's inconceivable that he'd break ranks with fellow scribes. Where does this leave, meanwhile, Stephen Colbert? Maybe more time to pursue his faux-presidential aspirations.

Animation: Hey, what about "SpongeBob" or "The Fairly Odd Parents?" We need these shows to preoccupy the kiddies. Well, as you know, animation is repeated over and over and over. Kids barely notice, even if parents do. Some of these shows are not covered under Guild contracts, I imagine, so there may be no impact. But a show like "The Naked Brothers Band" - produced in NYC - is impacted.

Reality: Of course, no impact, but this is trickier than it seems. Are there no Guild writers under contract at, say, "Project Runway," which begins its fourth season in a couple weeks? Not that I'm aware of, but believe it or not, a show like "Dancing with the Stars" does have Guild writers. I suppose this means Tom Bergeron will have to - gulp - write his own quips from now on.

Primetime: Contrary to what you've read elsewhere, I'm gonna step out on a limb here and say there will in fact be an impact. As you know, shows are often produced in cycles, whereas a hit like "Desperate Housewives" may have completed its first cycle of thirteen episodes by this point, the final thirteen of a 26-episode order have yet to be completed (this, by the way, is a hypothetical example only.) ABC may say to itself: Well, if we're not going to get the final thirteen, we better plan ahead. This could mean - for example - that a onetime special, or a reality show, fills a Sunday 9 p.m. timeslot once this month. That allows ABC to bank an episode for a later time, like the February sweeps.

Daytime: Yes, soaps, wonderful soaps. They burn up writing like a fire burns up dry brush. And this brush supply should be exhausted by December. That means repeats of your favorites thereafter.

Cable: This, of course, is not a genre, but a vast industry, and there are many, many, many shows - many on MTV or VH1 - that will not be affected in the slightest. But the LA Times has put together a handy - if hardly exhaustive - chart of what will be affected. Check it out here.

It now looks like it's just about official: The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the negotiating committee of the Writers Guild will tell members in just about two hours that their recommendation is to go on strike. Because Guild members have already authorized the Guild leadership to give the green light for a walk-out, then it's a go.

I can't begin to emphasize to any readers who happen upon this blog entry at this moment just how momentous - and potentially calamitous - this strike will be. In New York, production will be shut down from one end of town to the other, and the late night shows, from "Late Show with DL" to "Saturday Night Live" will go cold in a matter of minutes. There will be no shows, quite literally, and the financial/human/emotional impact on hundreds of people involved in the New York production community will be incalculable. And in Hollywood...?

Mary Tyler Moore remembers being cast on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” Tina Fey talks about creating “30 Rock.” Anderson Cooper explains how he became a reporter. “The Sopranos” creator David Chase faces off with “whacked Sopranos” like Steve Buscemi and Drea de Matteo. Conan O’Brien riffs with his writers.

They’re all on the souped-up website of The Paley Center for Media, the Manhattan archive that used to be called The Museum of Television & Radio. Under either name, the facility frequently hosts panel discussions with TV’s top creators, performers, journalists, executives and other experts. Excerpts from more than 40 of those are now online. (If you want to watch entire usually-90-minutes events, you can head to The Paley Center at 25 W. 52nd Street. Or to the Paley's Beverly Hills offshoot.)

Recent events now streaming include Roger Daltrey talking about “Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who” (which debuts on VH1 Saturday, Nov. 3 at 9 p.m.) and a discussion of HBO’s new female suicide bomber documentary “To Die in Jerusalem” (airing tonight at 9, as well as Sunday, Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. and Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 8:30 a.m.).

This is terrible news, Colbert fans. Terrible news.

Your man didn't make the ballot for the January primary in South Carolina - a state (or at least state party) which evidently has no sense of humor, or at least minimal willingness to part with the twenty grand it would have cost to put him on the ballot.

CNN reported not too long ago that the state party bigwigs voted to keep him off the ballot, because "he does not appear to be campaigning to win if he is only running in one state," the network quoted State Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler Wednesday just before he put his name in the hat.

(Well, she was right...but SO?!) According to CNN, he lost a roll call vote, 13-3. You're right - not exactly a tight vote. Amazingly, Dennis Kucinich WAS allowed on the ballot; he's the candidate who sees UFOs and is apparently considered more "serious" than Colbert.

What does this mean for the Colbert candidacy? It's not good, not good at all. My suggestion: Apply to get on the ballot in other states, so that at least he can circumvent the argument that he's "not serious." Besides, if there's a writers strike - which there will be - what else is he gonna do when "The Colbert Report" goes dark?

I'm hearing, by the way, that shows like "The Daily Show" and "Colbert" will - in fact - go dark instantly in the event of a strike. For viewers, it'll be like those weeks when the hosts go on vacation - only this "vacation" could last many weeks. There's talk that Comedy Central might continue running repeat telecasts that would be grouped into "theme weeks." What does that mean? I'm not entirely sure, but possible themes, I suppose, could be "Political" or "Movies" or "Britney...."

Big news! Stephen Colbert last night confirmed that he had entered the race in South Carolina as a Democrat.

That's right, Democrat.

But consider this not an indication of party affiliation as much as an indication of financial resources. To enter the race in SC as a Dem required a $2,500 payout, while the cost to enter as a Republican cost $35,000. Easy decision.

Meanwhile, Colbert and "The Report" should hear in, oh, just about an hour from now whether he'll actually get on the ballot, and that is by no means certain. There's plenty of noise out there that S.C. Democratic party leaders are torn on the "joke candidacy." Some think it's simply that - a joke that'd cost the party $20,000 just to add him to the ballot. Others apparently think it'd bring people to the polls, draw interest, etc. So this would be a good thing. (And fans simply want to see the guy in the debates - now THAT is a debate that would get a decent rating.)

Let's play hypothetical: If Colbert doesn't get on the ballot (the primary will be held late January), then what? Another state, maybe? He's given no indication that he wants to go to, say, New Hampshire, and don't expect him to enter the Georgia primary either - I think he's promised to invade Georgia if he wins in South Carolina.

So it's South Carolina or bust. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

What commercial do viewers like most this month? And which do they recall best?

Advertising Age lists some different kinds of TV Top 10s here.

The most-liked spot streams here -- after you watch a “real” commercial!

Are you ready for an “Office” spinoff?

A couple of trade reports, in TV Guide online and TV Week, have suggested that NBC is mulling the creation of a show spun off of what is becoming one of the network’s few solid performers.

But before you salivate over the thought of “Dwight Schrute, Dark Knight” or “Touched by an Angela,” please stop.

NBC isn’t going the “Private Practice” or “Frasier” route and spinning off a series regular. Rather, the reports indicate that a new character or characters will be introduced in a future episode, and he, she or they will then go onto their own series. (Hey, it worked for Robin Williams when Mork first showed up on “Happy Days.”)

Not sure if that’s the right way to go, but what do I know? That’s why Ben Silverman makes the big bucks.

Anyway, tonight’s show brings back one of my favorite characters, the alluring Karen (Rashida Jones). Apparently, she’s going to try and spirit Stanley (Leslie David Baker) away from Scranton. Stay tuned for a report tomorrow.

Woke up this morning, got myself a coffee ("...mama always said...")

And still no word of a strike.

But we don't need a word anymore. It's a fait accompli. There will be a strike. The only questions now: When, and for how long?

A couple of overnight developments: The Writers Guild and studios broke off talks yesterday hours before the WGA contract expired at midnight, and none are rescheduled. This is worse than ominous, whatever that might be. The WGA also posted word of a meeting on its website yesterday, telling members to show up at the LA Convention Center tonight (10 p.m., NYC time.) There's every expectation writers will be told a.) why they're going on strike; and b.) how to prepare for something that could, quite literally, extend months, if the '88 walkout is any guide.

Yes, it's bad, very bad, and you don't need to cruise the trade paper websites this morning to know that. There's a deja-vu-all-over-again element to this, because the writers want to double their coin received from DVD sales, and the studios have told them what cliff to jump off of. (It was pretty much the same issue that lead to the '88 strike - a fight over videocassette sales.) In these brutal standoffs, it's always easy to glimpse the future because protagonists are providing one. Foremost, studios/writers see a vast profit center in DVD sales - and one that probably will dwarf the nice revenue stream they're getting now. Second, studios/writers also know that the TV set - that nice old fashioned toaster in your living room - will recede into the past while New Media and its minions will crowd the future. Take the simple notion of watching, let's say, a show on your computer: "Won't happen," the All-knowing Pundits once said. "People will never watch TV on their computer."

Yeah, right. And they'll never read newspapers on them either. (The picture to your right, by the way, is of Patric Verrone, boss of the WGA/West and longtime "Futurama" scribe who will soon have another credit - as the man who called the strike of 2007.)

Fact is, the networks (ABC in particular) have established marvelous web components, where watching a show is simply far preferable to watching it in "real time" on the tube. It's a great model and it's growing - rapidly. The networks know it. Writers know it. Everyone knows it. Now, the writers want a piece of the action - and who can blame them? (By the way, don't scorn all TV writers - a few certainly are millionaires, but many, if not most, are waitering on the side.)

The Studios have dug in their heels because the Studios - to a large extent - will control that future. They'll lose control of it (or think they will) if they boost writers' residuals from this realm - a Writers Guild pact, by the way, will also serve as a template for forthcoming actor and director contracts as well, which is another reason why they're gonna let this strike happen.

So the strike will come. Tomorrow? Maybe? Next week? Bet on it.