'Lost' will last a little longer

If you're already preparing yourself for the departure of "Lost" in the spring of 2010, take heart. The series will go on a little longer than expected.

OK, it's only one hour longer, but we'll take what we can get.

An ABC rep confirmed Monday (June 29) that the final season of "Lost" will run 18 hours. That's an hour more than initially planned, although where that extra time fits in -- although a two-hour series finale seems pretty much like a given at this point -- is far from determined yet. "Lost" begins filming season six in Hawaii later this summer.

Considering the possibly game-changing events at the end of season five -- wherein Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) detonated a nuclear warhead in an effort to hit the Island's reset button and, in theory, prevent Oceanic 815 from crashing in the first place -- any extra time the show's creative team wants to take unraveling what happened could be welcome.

When ABC and executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof agreed to an end date for the show after season six, the network asked for three 16-episode seasons to wrap things up. The 2007-08 writers strike messed up that schedule somewhat, and only 14 episodes made it onto the air in the fourth season.

Last season ran 17 episodes (with the two-hour finale counting as two), and the final season was set to do the same thing. Adding the extra hour to the final season will bring the total number of episodes in the final three years to 49.

'Curb Your Enthusiasm': Meg Ryan to guest along with 'Seinfeld' cast, but there's a catch

We're just three months away from the seventh season debut of Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and the anticipation continues to build as the show has just added another big name guest star to their roster.

EW.com reports that America's rom com queen of yesteryear, Ms. Meg Ryan, will appear in an episode.

The cast of "Seinfeld," Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards, have also signed on to play themselves in a storyline that will span several eps.

This news was first reported by EW.com back in March, and was touted as the first time that all four actors will appear together in a scripted TV show since "Seinfeld" took its final bow more than a decade ago.

I am told that there is, however, a catch.

A source close to "Curb" says there isn't a single scene in the "Seinfeld" cast's entire "Curb" arc in which all four actors appear together.

So, yeah, that's not exactly the "reunion" we were expecting, is it?

Seinfeld, Louis-Dreyfus and Alexander have all made individual appearances on "Curb" -- which, of course, was created by and stars "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David -- in the past.

Colbert shaves head for troops

BAGHDAD - Wearing a camouflage suit and tie, Stephen Colbert took his show to Baghdad to entertain U.S. soldiers in Iraq. For openers, President Barack Obama appeared by video to thank the troops.

"You're welcome," the mock pundit answered.

"I wasn't talking to you," the president deadpanned.

To the roaring approval of hundreds of troops at Camp Victory, on the western edge of Baghdad, Colbert taped the first of four episodes of "The Colbert Report," in which he plays a pompous, blustering conservative TV host.

His first guest was the towering, bald Gen. Ray Odierno. When Obama and the U.S. commander suggested Colbert had to look like a soldier in order to be a soldier, the general took an electric razor to Colbert's perfectly parted cable-news coif.

The four shows are being taped in the domed marble hall at Saddam Hussein's former Al Faw Palace are to air this week starting Monday on Comedy Central.

Colbert has promoted the trip for weeks but only vaguely because the military urged caution. Instead, the pundit introduced segments with a jaunty theme: "Where in the World and When in Time is Stephen Colbert Going to Be in the Persian Gulf?"

At Camp Victory, Colbert was in typical, cluelessly egotistical form. He showed a clip pretending that he himself didn't know his destination until he got off the plane and somebody threw a shoe at him.

In another skit, he arrived at Fort Jackson, S.C., in a stretch limousine for "the full 10 hours" of basic training, then struggled to do push-ups and sit-ups while a drill sergeant barked at him.

And, concluding that the six-year war in Iraq must be over because nobody's talking about it anymore, Colbert said he would take it upon himself to make it official: "By the power vested in me by basic cable, I officially declare we have won the Iraq war!"

(To bolster his point, he offered a list of successes, including finding weapons of mass destruction - "easier than we thought" - and told the troops Obama should deploy them to General Motors.)

Odierno gently took issue with the self-sure pundit's suggestion the war had ended.

"We're not quite ready to declare victory," he said. "Things are moving forward but again, it's about bringing long-term stability."

Colbert, who sat at a desk propped up by sandbags painted to make up an American flag, responded by asking Odierno if he can bring long-term stability to the United States when he's done in Iraq.

The 45-year-old comedian, who travelled to Iraq from Kuwait on Friday on board a military transport plane, has said he decided make the trip when he noticed economic news coverage was eclipsing reports from Baghdad.

"It must be nice here in Iraq because I understand some of you keep coming back again and again," he joked. "You've earned so many frequent flier miles, you've earned a free ticket to Afghanistan."

He also joked about the economic crisis, congratulating one soldier in the audience who recently got his college degree while serving in Iraq for being the only 2009 graduate able to land a job.

Former Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain, chided by Colbert throughout the campaign for his advanced age, made a surprise appearance, thanking the troops in a video for their service and reminding them to clean their muskets.

Many celebrities have visited Iraq to entertain the troops. But Colbert's series - "Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando" - marks the first time anyone has broadcast a taped, non-news talk show fully produced and broadcast from Iraq as part of a USO tour.

USO senior official John Hanson said the production faced a major setback when a sandstorm grounded the crew on Saturday, forcing it to cancel plans for an outing.

Both the character and the real Colbert are ardent supporters of the troops. He has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which helps injured service members and their families, and is a board member of DonorsChoose.org, which is raising money for the education of children of military parents.

Colbert planned the trip after former Assistant Defence Secretary Bing West suggested it last summer following an interview "The Colbert Report." The show sent about 30 production workers, about a third of its regular staff, to Iraq.

Troops in the audience said they enjoyed Colbert's equal opportunity humour.

"Definitely the highlight was seeing him sacrifice his hair," said Spc. Ryan MacLeod, 35, of Greenville, S.C.

Conan O'Brien makes debut on 'The Tonight Show'

NEW YORK – Conan O'Brien debuted as host of "The Tonight Show" Monday with a "run" across the country to Los Angeles and other comedy bits emphasizing his entry into a strange new culture.

He joined a line of predecessors — Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and Jay Leno — on television's most historic late-night franchise.

"I think I've timed this move perfectly," he said in his opening monologue. "I'm on a last-place network, I moved to a state that's bankrupt and 'The Tonight Show' is sponsored by General Motors."

O'Brien spent 17 years as host of NBC's "Late Night" in New York, and the move up one hour has been in the works for five years. Leno, his immediate predecessor, will do a weeknight prime-time show on NBC. The workaholic Leno will start "in two days, three days tops," O'Brien joked. Actually, it's in September.

O'Brien christened a new studio on the Universal City lot with a handsome art deco look. The stage has a blue glass background for the opening monologue, before O'Brien retreats to a desk in front of a sparkling backdrop of Los Angeles.

From the top, O'Brien showed the silly comic style that sets him apart from Leno, with more comedy skits filmed earlier and less reliance on jokes in front of the studio audience. The first one showed O'Brien marking off a to-do list with "move to L.A." left undone, as a camera panned a New York skyline outside his window.

A frantic O'Brien went out in the street to find a cab. When he couldn't, he began running. He ran out of New York, and sprinted through various spots across the country — across Wrigley Field in Chicago, past the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, by the Rockies and through the desert to Las Vegas. Finally he arrived at the locked door to his new studio, only to realize he'd left his keys behind.

In other segments, O'Brien commandeered a tram filled with tourists on a Universal Studios lot tour and took his used green Ford Taurus for a ride into the car-obsessed culture. Fabio complimented him on his ride.

O'Brien appeared nervous at the long-awaited opening night, pacing onstage during his monologue and mugging with his red pompadour.

"I remember watching Johnny Carson when I was a kid and thinking: That's what I want to be when I grow up," O'Brien said. "I'm sure right now in America there is likely a kid watching me, thinking: 'What is wrong with that man's hair?'"
Longtime sidekick Andy Richter slid smoothly into the role Ed McMahon once played for Carson, standing at a podium to the side of the stage and loudly laughing at his boss' jokes.

Over at CBS, David Letterman slyly made mention of NBC's transition.

"I'm still here," he said. "I knocked off another competitor."

He said he got a call from his mom and she said, "Well, David, I see you didn't get 'The Tonight Show' again," a reference to Letterman losing out to Leno to become Carson's successor.

Comic Will Ferrell was O'Brien's first guest, his appearance less manic than some of his memorable "Late Night" visits. He offered O'Brien some "tips" for L.A. living, including a good burger joint in Pasadena "called Burger King."

Pearl Jam was the musical guest, debuting a song off an upcoming album.
Ferrell sang his own song in tribute to O'Brien, a version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" that "bewildered" the host. Why sing a goodbye song on the first night?

"Don't get me wrong," Ferrell said. "I'm pulling for you. But this little thing is a crapshoot at best."

Broadcast regulator tunes out private TV networks appeal

OTTAWA - The federal broadcast regulator is hanging tough against an aggressive public relations campaign mounted by CTV, saying Canada's networks will have to prove their commitment to local TV in exchange for financial relief.

CTV launched a "save local TV" campaign this month, complete with open houses at their stations, a petition and a rally on Parliament Hill.

Other networks are also lobbying the government behind the scenes at the highest levels.

The networks are urging the Conservative government to allow them to charge cable and satellite companies for their signals - called fee for carriage - or else see more local stations disappear. The cable industry says that will result in higher monthly bills for customers.

Konrad Von Finckenstein, chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), rejected the networks arguments Monday during an appearance before the Commons Heritage committee.

"Conventional broadcasters need to refocus on the core elements of their service - local news, local programming and programs of national interest," Von Finckenstein said.

"Rather than perceiving it as a cost of doing business, they need to see it as the central element of their survival and expend meaningful resources and energy on it."

Von Finckenstein did not dismiss the idea of fee for carriage, but rather the term, saying the industry should analyze instead the "value of a signal" depending on a variety of market factors.

He kicked the ball back into the broadcasters' court, pointing out they already manage to agree on the value of specialty channels.

"You are the players in the market. You negotiate. If you can't negotiate I'll arbitrate it for you if I have to," Von Finckenstein said in his characteristically blunt style.

An internal memo circulated by the Prime Minister's Office on Friday reminded Tory MPs that fee for carriage would wind up costing consumers, and that it was up to the CRTC to decide on the issue.

Von Finckenstein outlined two other possible revenue streams for broadcasters, including a local programming fund from which all networks could draw.

The second would be mechanisms for protecting Canadian broadcasters from unfair competition from American signals that carry the same programs. There would also be a mechanism for charging cable and satellite companies for transmitting a network's local TV signal into another Canadian market - called timeshifting.

But any of this help would be contingent on a "meaningful commitment" to local news, local programming and programs of national interest.

"That means we're going to hold your feet to the fire. You're not going get that stream of income unless you deliver."

Conservative, Liberal and NDP MPs on the committee all suggested the CRTC might need more teeth to force broadcasters to live up to their obligations.

"What were the consequences that we would look toward if you were to use your teeth to make sure you keep these people in lines?" asked Conservative MP Shelly Glover.

Von Finckenstein said the regulator's tools are "all or nothing," with revocation of a license after a court proceeding being the main hammer. He would also like the ability to fine violators.

The commission would also like broadcasters to submit group applications for TV licenses, which include their pay, speciality and conventional operations. This way, the regulator would get to see the whole picture of their viewership, their Canadian content and their financial situation.

Critics of the private networks say they're being disingenuous when they threaten to close local stations while at the same time reaping profits from other channels.

NDP MP Charlie Angus said the committee's main objective was to protect local TV, while making sure any new division of the revenue pie "doesn't end up with the broadcasters continuing to run their local stations into the ground and taking the money and spending it elsewhere..."

The battle between the cable companies and the broadcasters over the fee-for-carriage issue has heated up since the global financial crisis hit TV advertising hard.

Cable and satellite companies lodged a complaint with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council on Friday, saying CTV News' coverage of their corporation's "Save Local TV" campaign has been biased.

Von Finckenstein called the larger dispute "background noise."

"In the end, they need each other."

Biel Surprised By Timberlake's Raunchy Comedy Routine

Jessica Biel was stunned when boyfriend Justin Timberlake performed an sketch mocking his relationship with Britney Spears live on U.S. TV - because she knew nothing about the skit before it aired.

Timberlake made his third appearance on comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live at the weekend.

In one sketch the pop star dressed as his immigrant ancestor and predicted the future for his great-great grandson (Timberlake), making reference to his teenage romance with Spears.

He said: "He (Timberlake) will date a popular female singer (Spears). Publicly they'll claim to be virgins, but privately - he hit it."

And although Biel admits she was caught by surprise by the swipe at Timberlake's ex, she insists the sketch sent her into fits of laughter.

She tells the New York Daily News, "I thought that was really funny. I had heard a couple of things (about the show), but I didn't really know what it was actually going to be. It was all pretty much a surprise."

‘Corner Gas’ closing up shop

Brent Butt was asked what the viewing public can expect in the final episode of Corner Gas.

Will you laugh? Will you cry? Will you be angry? Will you get indigestion? All of the above?

“It will make you question your sexuality,” Butt said. “That’s what we were going for.”

Well, if that’s the case, it would be a different direction for Corner Gas, which wraps up its six-year run tomorrow on CTV.

We’re fairly sure that Butt, the creator and star, was just kidding about the sexuality thing. But please note, we said “fairly” sure.

Butt announced last year that this would be the final season for Corner Gas, which by all measures is the most successful sitcom in Canadian history. Actual shooting on the series was completed last fall, so for Butt and the rest of the cast — his wife Nancy Robertson (Wanda), Gabrielle Miller (Lacey), Fred Ewanuick (Hank), Eric Peterson (Oscar), Janet Wright (Emma), Tara Spencer-Nairn (Karen) and Lorne Cardinal (Davis) — Corner Gas already feels like quite a long time ago.

“I don’t watch it every week, because I’m doing a lot of stuff and I’m busy,” Butt said when asked if he follows along with the broadcast dates. “By the time they hit the air, I’ve seen each episode about 50 times, right? So I don’t feel a need to make sure I’m home to watch.

“But if I’m around, there’s something nice about watching it on TV as it airs, knowing that the rest of the country is watching it, too. It’s that shared experience thing. And it has commercials and everything, so it feels more like, ‘Hey, I’m on a TV show,’ as opposed to sitting in an edit suite by yourself.

“It does seem as if it was a while ago. But it was such a big part of my life, a lot of it still seems pretty fresh.”

Butt said he’s happy with the way the final episode turned out, in terms of it being simultaneously kind of the same and kind of different.

“My mandate was, I wanted it to feel like an episode of Corner Gas, but I still wanted to have a special element to it,” Butt said. “I’m very proud of it because I think that was nailed.

“If you’re a fan of Corner Gas, this feels like an episode of Corner Gas. But because it’s the finale, it has a little something different that you’ve never seen before, something we’ve never done, and it worked really well.

“I think it ends in a really good way.”

The pilot has been completed for Butt’s new show Hiccups, which stars Robertson, and he’s waiting to see if it will be picked up as a series by CTV. Butt also is working on a comedy special of his own.

But whatever Brent Butt does from now on, he already is Canadian TV royalty. How many people can say that?

Thanks for the laughs, Corner Gas.

NASA to announce module name on `Colbert Report'

NEW YORK – Stephen Colbert is still clinging to hope that NASA will name a new room at the international space station after him.

The space agency said Friday it would announce the name of the module Tuesday on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report." Astronaut Sunita Williams will appear on the program.

The agency held an online contest, letting the public vote on a name for a future addition to the station. "Colbert" beat out NASA's four suggested options: Serenity, Legacy, Earthrise and Venture.

The comedian said in a statement: "I certainly hope NASA does the right thing. Just kidding. I hope they name it after me."

Saskatchewan Declares 'Corner Gas Day'

REGINA - The Saskatchewan government is declaring April 13 "Corner Gas Day" to coincide with the airing of the sitcom's final episode.

The popular CTV show, shot in rural southern Saskatchewan, wrapped up production of its sixth and last season earlier this year.

The series about life in a small prairie town called Dog River has been described as the most successful Canadian comedy ever made.

The show has snagged numerous Gemini awards and airs in syndication in countries around the world, including the United States.

Premier Brad Wall plans to sign a proclamation at the legislature in Regina this Monday.

Also present will be the show's star and creator, Saskatchewan-born Brent Butt.

Boston doesn't want Jay Leno show

The first great NBC-affiliate battle over the new primetime Jay Leno show is poised to take place in Boston -- the host's hometown.

WHDH-TV, Boston's Peacock affiliate, announced via its website Thursday that it plans to launch an hour-long 10 p.m. newscast in the fall.

That would pre-empt Leno's new, still-untitled 10 p.m. series. NBC swiftly responded, warning WHDH that such a move would make them in breach of their pact with the net -- and that the Peacock wouldn't hesitate to yank the station's affiliation.

"WHDH's move is a flagrant violation of the terms of their contract with NBC," John Eck, NBC TV Network president, said in a statement. "If they persist, we will strip WHDH of its NBC affiliation. We have a number of other strong options in the Boston market, including using our existing broadcast license to launch an NBC-owned and operated station."

Insiders said NBC is already looking at contingencies in Boston should WHDH go ahead with its plans -- including turning its Telemundo station in the market, WNEU (Channel 60), into an NBC outlet.

Sunbeam chief Ed Ansin, who owns WHDH, told the Boston Globe that he decided to replace Leno with news because "it fundamentally is a better financial plan for us."

"We don't think the Leno show is going to be effective in primetime," Ansin said. "It will be detrimental to our 11 o'clock (newscast). It will be very adverse to our finances."

Ansin told the paper that WHDH had asked for permission to push Leno to 11 p.m., but the network said no. Instead, he has no plans to run Leno at all, and will continue to air an 11 p.m. newscast leading into "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" at 11:35.

Ansin also claimed that WHDH held a clause in its affiliation contract that would allow the station to dump the 10 p.m. Leno show -- an assertion that NBC also vehemently denied.

"That is absolutely wrong," said NBC general counsel Rick Cotton. "It is clear that WHDH is contractually required to air NBC programming as scheduled by the network."

The radical move by WHDH comes as several affils nervously wait to see how NBC's primetime Leno series evolves and ultimately impacts their business.

The Peacock affils have been conducting a study to see how viewers actually watch "The Tonight Show" -- and how there might be ways to produce and schedule Leno's new show in order to help out affiliates. NBC has also put a task force in place to work with the stations on the launch.

"We've been engaged in an open dialogue with NBC about the format of the show, and we're looking forward to working with Jay and the entire team," said NBC affiliate board chairman Michael Fiorile, who's also vice chairman of the Dispatch Group.

This isn't the first time NBC has faced the possibility of having to replace a major affiliate in a top market. After failing to come to terms in 2001 with its long-time San Francisco outlet KRON, NBC wound up affiliating with (and later purchasing) San Jose-based KNTV.

Like KNTV, which only covered part of San Francisco, WNEU only reaches a portion of the Boston market. But the Peacock has other options in Boston as well, including WSBK, a one-time superstation that is now an independent owned and operated by CBS.

After 72 years, TV's `Guiding Light' switching off

NEW YORK – CBS is pulling the plug on the soap opera "Guiding Light" after a 72-year run that predates television, the show a victim of the economy and changed viewing habits.

The drama's final episode will air on Sept. 18.

The Guinness Book of World Records has cited it as the longest-running television drama. It began as a 15-minute serial on NBC Radio on Jan. 25, 1937, and debuted on CBS TV in 1952, focusing on the fictional town of Springfield and the Spaulding, Lewis and Cooper families.

"For many of us, it was the first show we ever watched," said Lynn Leahey, editorial director of Soap Opera Digest. Unlike prime-time shows that came and went, it was a constant in people's lives. "It really is heartbreaking to see something like this go away."

Procter & Gamble Productions, which makes the show, informed cast and crew Wednesday at separate sets in New York and New Jersey. The company isn't giving up on the story, and will explore different ways to keep it going after September, a spokeswoman said.

Soap operas have been in a long, slow decline in popularity, primarily because many of the women who made up their loyal audiences are no longer at home at that hour. They're working, and can find the communal experience that their favorite soaps once gave them elsewhere.

"Guiding Light" had the lowest ratings of the eight daytime dramas on the air. When it leaves, CBS and ABC will have three weekday soap operas, with NBC having one.

"The numbers are really tough for all of these old dramas," said Ron Raines, the actor who portrayed the villain Alan Spaulding in "Guiding Light."

"I don't think any of the other shows want any of us to go off. We're all in this together," he said.

Many successful actors got their start on "Guiding Light," including James Earl Jones, Calista Flockhart, Hayden Panettiere, Kevin Bacon and Taye Diggs.

Faced with extinction a year ago, "Guiding Light" significantly revamped its operations. It ditched its fixed, three-camera set in favor of portable cameras that enabled producers to shoot in different locations. The move saved money and changed the show's look to make it seem more like the reality shows younger viewers are accustomed to.

It didn't work, at least enough for CBS. The network hasn't said what will replace "Guiding Light" on the schedule, but it will almost certainly be a talk or game show, which are much cheaper to make than dramas with a large cast.

The changes also made many of the fans and cast members unhappy, said Carolyn Hinsey, Soap Opera Digest columnist. Two of its biggest stars, Beth Ehlers and Ricky Paull Goldin, quit and now work on ABC's "All My Children."
For fans of the genre, Wednesday's move could be a peek into the future.

Ten years from now, "I absolutely think (daytime dramas) will still be around," Leahey said. "I don't know if you'll be able to watch them from noon to three o'clock on network television."

In fact, the cancellation could be an opportunity for "Guiding Light," she said. Perhaps there's a way to keep the show alive on cable or online; Procter & Gamble says it will have to evaluate whether there's a cost-effective way to do that.

For now, its cast and crew are in mourning.

"What is it? 72 years continuous?" Raines said. "That will never be touched. It's a very sad thing, but these are the times we live in. It's very tough out there."

Legendary British rocker Elvis Costello launches new TV show

TORONTO - Elvis Costello has never seemed a likely host for a television talk show.

Though as an artist he's been stubbornly impossible to pin down through his 30-plus years in the industry, on a personal level he has always seemed intense, nervy and fiercely intelligent - not necessarily the formula for a successful talk show host.

As he first began putting together his new show "Spectacle: Elvis Costello With..." - a Costello-hosted mixture of interviews with musicians and performances - he admits there was an adjustment period.

"Nobody's born to be a television presenter, you have to gather some skills and confidence about it over a matter of weeks," the legendary musician said over the phone from his Vancouver home. "If you went back and looked at the first appearances of the most practised and confident of TV performers now, you'd find the same thing. You'd find them being more hesitant.

"Little by little the process kind of educates you."

For "Spectacle," which premieres in Canada on Friday (CTV, 10 p.m. ET), Costello interviewed such heavyweights as the Police, Elton John, Tony Bennett and even former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

The show features laid-back interview segments peppered with performances, which often feature Costello himself.

Costello, who was warm, friendly and sharp-witted even when reached early in the morning for an interview, says his participation is important, because it reminds the guests that he too is a performer, not strictly an interviewer.

He opens each show by performing one of his guest's songs. In John's case, Costello performed "Bordertown," while he played a medley of "Please Stay" and "Every Breath You Take" for the Police.

Costello, however, said he ran into trouble when he had a certain Montreal-raised singer on the show.

"Rufus Wainwright's songs are all so difficult, I couldn't possibly sing any of them, you'd need to be as gifted as he is as a vocalist," he said.

Instead, Costello made reference to Wainwright's recreation of a Judy Garland concert by singing "If I Only Had a Brain" from "The Wizard of Oz."

"I thought (it) would amuse him," he said.

Costello has been on the other side of thousands of interviews over his career, and he also had a bit of experience on television, filling in for David Letterman in 2003 when the talk show host fell ill.

Still, it was a skill that Costello honed over the course of the first season.

So how does he describe his interview technique now?

"Like a lion tamer - it's a chair and a whip," he replied.

Costello said that his status as an artist has helped him draw his guests into some surprisingly candid conversations - "They shared a side of themselves where, in some cases, people were quite surprised about it," he said.

Specifically, Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed might have caught viewers off guard, Costello said.

"I think people were surprised that he was as enthusiastic about other people's music as he was," he said. "I think maybe because they have just one image of him, instead of thinking of him as a human being with different moods, you know?"

Costello, meanwhile, hasn't actually had the chance to sit down to a broadcast of the show. Since finishing production of the first season in New York, he's either been in Canada or the U.K., where the show wasn't available yet.

He says he's looking forward to getting to watch it.

"It'll all be new to me," he said. "I'll be sitting there with my cup of tea when it airs on CTV."

Costello also has a new album coming out in June called "Secret, Profane and Sugarcane."

T-Bone Burnett produced the record and co-wrote two songs with Costello, who also collaborated with Loretta Lynn on a track.

Costello said they recorded the album in three days in Nashville.

"People say it's live - of course, everything you do is live," he said. "But it wasn't an overdub record, it was a recording of performances. That's the best way to play the music we were playing.

"It's a really beautiful sounding record, I'm really happy with the way it sounds."

He says he plans to head out on the road between June and August to play some shows in conjunction with the album.

Of course, scheduling such trips isn't easy.

Costello is married to Vancouver singer Diana Krall, and the couple has twin two-year-old sons. He says that he and his wife are so busy, they need to be firm in trying to schedule time together.

"We've spent a lot of time heading in different directions, and there's a master plan of how we retain a sense of family life by grabbing all the available days that we have together, no matter how far flung they are on the map," he said. "We're pretty tenacious about finding the days that we can carve out of a very busy year."

It doesn't help that both need to travel so much, though Costello does note: "I regard Vancouver as close to a hometown as I can have as a travelling musician."

But he implies that they may need to put down roots more firmly in the coming years.

"It is a travelling life, you know," he said. "There might be some decisions to be made about our family in the next year or so because of having twin boys.

What the deuce? Stewie Griffin on 'Bones'?

You read that headline correctly -- FOX will do a rather unusual crossover in May when Stewie, the hell-raising, hyper-intelligent infant from "Family Guy," makes an appearance on "Bones."

Stewie completed his shooting recently and had this to say: "Oh, have you seen it? Was I good? Because I heard they said I was amazing and they want me to replace Emily [Deschanel], but that's just a rumor."

His scene partner, David Boreanaz, adds: "The guy was good during the actual scenes, which is the important thing. But between takes he literally vanished -- nowhere to be seen. I guess it's true that Brits and cartoons tend to be standoffish. Or maybe it was a method thing. I don't know."

In the episode, scheduled for May 7, Booth (Boreanaz) will have babies on the brain after Brennan (Deschanel) decides she wants to have a child -- and asks Booth to be the father. The idea consumes Booth -- as does an unrelated (and undiagnosed) health problem that lays him out and causes him to hallucinate. Stewie will "assess the situation" and offer his advice. (But will there be dancing?)

I'm thinking Stewie might tell Booth to take Brennan up on her offer, since my intrepid colleague Korbi has written at length about a Bones-Booth coupling (finally) in the season finale, which airs the following week.

The May 7 episode, by the way, is called "The Critic in the Cabernet." Body in a wine barrel, maybe? Jokes about the wine having a good nose?

Richard Dreyfuss finds "Happiness" on small screen

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss will star opposite Jason Biggs in "Happiness Isn't Everything," a comedy pilot for CBS.
"Happiness" revolves around adult siblings and their parents, who are over-involved in one another's lives.

Dreyfuss will play the pushy, loving and funny patriarch of the family, with Biggs playing his son.

Also cast in the pilot is Ben Schwartz as Biggs' explosive older brother.

Dreyfuss, who recently portrayed Dick Cheney in Oliver Stone's biopic "W," will next star opposite Nia Vardalos in the romantic comedy "My Life in Ruins."

George Clooney's Dr. Ross returns to `ER'

NEW YORK – George Clooney led a parade of old favorites back to "ER" on Thursday as the medical drama nears the end of its 15-year run.

Clooney, who left the show in 1999 to pursue movie stardom, reprised his character Dr. Doug Ross. Now in Seattle, Ross works with wife Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) to persuade a grandmother played by Susan Sarandon to donate the organs of her grandson.

One of those organs, the kidney, went to "some doctor in Chicago," Hathaway said. Neither she nor Ross knew the transplant patient was their old colleague John Carter, played by fellow "ER" original Noah Wyle.

The finale of the NBC drama is scheduled for April 2. Once television's most popular show, "ER" anchors a diminished NBC lineup with about one-quarter the audience it had during its peak. Next season, NBC will replace it with Jay Leno.

Thursday's episode, written and produced by "ER" executive producer John Wells, was a reminder of the show's glory days and perhaps an era of network television that is gone for good.

"Let's hope we didn't bring all of these people out here for nothing," Clooney's character said to a group of people waiting to transport donated organs. He may as well have been speaking to audience members tuning in to "ER" for the first time in years.

The show even poked fun at its revolving door of actors since the original cast left. When Ross learned that two of the people waiting for organs were from his old County General Hospital in Chicago, they questioned each other on colleagues each might have worked with. There were few matches.

As he waited for a transplant, Wyle's character was visited by Dr. Peter Benton, played by Eriq La Salle. Benton tormented Carter back in the day, but this time stood by him and watched his surgery, saving Carter from trouble caused by an impatient surgeon.

"You stayed here," Carter said upon waking from the surgery.

"I didn't want to miss all the fun," Benton said.

During its peak, in the 1995-96 season, "ER" was the most popular show on television and averaged 32 million viewers a week. To put that in perspective, only one entertainment program — ABC's broadcast of the Academy Awards — has gathered more than 32 million viewers this entire season.

"ER" was TV's No. 1 show for three seasons and, as late as 2000-01, was the top-rated scripted series after fare like "Survivor" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

This season, "ER" is limping along in 49th place, averaging 8.2 million viewers an episode, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Besides Clooney and Marguiles, other old favorites from the show's heyday have paid respects with returns this season.

Anthony Edwards, who played Dr. Mark Greene, returned even though his character had been killed off: He appeared in a flashback scene. Laura Innes, who played Dr. Kerry Weaver from the second season through 2006-07, made a guest appearance, as did Sherry Stringfield, Alex Kingston and Paul McCrane.

Clooney had led the parade of series originals out the door. Margulies left in 2000, Edwards and La Salle in 2002 and Wyle in 2005.

...Clooney checking back into 'ER'

Tonight is supposedly the night George Clooney returns to ER.

The long-running medical drama, which airs on CTV and NBC, is wrapping up for good on April 2, at the end of its 15th season. But tonight's instalment has been touted as a "reunion" episode, and we all know what that means.

Clooney played Dr. Doug Ross as a regular cast member on ER from 1994 to 1999, before leaving to pursue a big-time movie career.

Dr. Ross' love interest was nurse Carol Hathaway, played by Julianna Margulies. That character is coming back for sure tonight, since Margulies openly has been featured in promos for the episode.

Everyone is being more cagey about Clooney, but the inside buzz is deafening.

Clooney last was seen on ER in May 2000, when he showed up for the final scene of Margulies' last episode. Clooney had left the show a year before that.

On the set of ER in Los Angeles last summer, executive producer John Wells told television critics that Clooney always was a model citizen, both when he was on ER and when he departed the series.

"I think everybody knows this story, but (Clooney) never asked, as the show took off, to make a dime more than he was paid at the beginning," Wells said. "He completely fulfilled his contractual obligations to us over five years, stayed committed, did publicity, worked hard, and was just a completely standup guy.

"We see lots of examples where people have had those kinds of opportunities and they don't respond that way. So I have nothing other than admiration for him as a friend and a professional. He was a big part of what made the show successful at the beginning."

Tonight's episode initially was scheduled to be the last for ER, but NBC and Wells ultimately worked out a deal for three additional episodes.

All season, former ER cast-members have been coming back.

"I did not want anyone to leave the series at any point, to tell you the truth, particularly any of the original six actors," Wells said.

The "original six" in this case is not an NHL term. Rather, Wells was referring to Clooney, Margulies, Anthony Edwards as Dr. Mark Greene, Sherry Stringfield as Dr. Susan Lewis, Noah Wyle as Dr. John Carter and Eriq La Salle as Dr. Peter Benton.

Wyle currently is back for a multi-episode arc. Edwards has been back. And La Salle will be back tonight, too.

"We really didn't anticipate that we would be able to change casts, particularly after the sort of -- with all due modesty -- the extraordinary success we had at the beginning," Wells said. "We sort of felt like, 'Wow, as soon as people start to leave, that will be that.'

"But we were able to replace the actors who were leaving with really extraordinary actors. When we look back at the list, we've had 26 regulars on the show over 15 years."

Not many series are able to withstand that kind of turnover. The only other one that comes immediately to mind is Law & Order, and not coincidentally, ER and Law & Order are among the longest-running primetime dramas in TV history.

"I remember how we were talking when Sherry (Stringfield) was leaving the first time -- she was the first person to leave the cast, that was in year three," Wells said. "We all thought, 'Oh, well, here it comes, we'll be gone by year five.'

"But we were able to introduce characters slowly so we didn't have actors coming in to replace someone. I think the audience embraced that, because it's similar to their workplaces. People come and you care about them, they're friends, they leave, other people replace them, and they become your friends."

Of course, there are friends, and then there are FRIENDS.

Welcome back, Clooney.

Prince To Play Four Nights on 'Leno'

Prince will perform on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno three nights in a row, March 25-27, as he builds anticipation for the March 29 release of two new albums, "LOtUSFLOW3R" and "MPLSoUND." Prince will also perform a fourth night on the "Tonight Show," May 28th, in celebration of the end of Leno's run as host of the show.

Both CDs, along with a third by new artist Bria Valente, will be available as a three disc set exclusively through Target for a price of $11.98.

The "Tonight Show" performances are part of a larger roll-out for the CD package in Los Angeles. In an email message sent to fans who signed up for updates on lotusflow3r.com, Prince wrote, "From the 24th on, there will b a slew of NPG-related events happening around electric LAlaland.. we don't want 2 give away all the details yet, but b prepared 2 get yo groove on, numerous ways 4 numerous days. We know $ is tite but the adventures will b worth ur while! Stay 2ned 2 this outtaspacestation."

As previously reported, Prince is just the latest music legend to release new music exclusively through a major retailer. AC/DC and the Eagles were among the acts who sold millions of CDs through their partnership with Wal-Mart.

He's also the latest artist to promote new music with a multi-night run on a late night talk show. Last week, U2 performed five nights in a row on the "Late Show with David Letterman" as the band mounted a full court press for its newly released "No Line On The Horizon" disc and upcoming world tour. The White Stripes and the Strokes both did multiple nights of performances on the "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

Jewel, Nancy O'Dell drop `Dancing With the Stars'

LOS ANGELES – Pop star Jewel and TV host Nancy O'Dell have dropped out of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."

Both women sustained injuries during training for the show that prevent them from continuing the competition, the network announced Thursday. Jewel was diagnosed with a fractured tibia in both legs, while the "Access Hollywood" host will need surgery to repair a torn knee cartilage, the network said.

Jewel said in a telephone interview Thursday that she initially dismissed the pain in her legs as soreness from the show's six- to eight-hour daily rehearsals. She eventually sought treatment and was "completely shocked" by the diagnosis.

"The doctor just looked at me and said, 'You're done dancing,'" she said.

The 34-year-old singer-songwriter said she is in pain and using crutches and will have to be seated to perform her next two shows — set for Thursday near Los Angeles and Saturday in Seattle.

"It's my first time sitting down in a concert," she said.

Jewel and O'Dell are still slated to appear on the show's season premiere Monday, when "additional changes to the cast" will be announced.

Jewel's husband, rodeo champ Ty Murray, remains a contestant on the program, though he said it's "a huge bummer" that his wife had to withdraw.

"That's a big part of the reason why we did the show," he said. "It was chance for us to work together and go through this together."

Jewel said she will continue to support her husband and her professional dance partner, Dmitry Chaplin, and she expects to return to the show.

"I think I'll be able to sing this season, so I can sing for Ty on the show if I can't dance for him," she said. "And I hope to dance with Dmitry again and vindicate ourselves."

'Seinfeld' stars guest on `Curb Your Enthusiasm'

NEW YORK – "Seinfeld" isn't coming back, but its stars will be together again this fall on HBO.

The network says that Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards will appear in several episodes of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." The HBO comedy stars Larry David, who helped create "Seinfeld."

HBO wasn't giving out any other details about the appearances, which were first reported on the Entertainment Weekly Web site http://www.ew.com. But they are sure to be eagerly anticipated by fans of "Seinfeld," which continues to be shown frequently in syndication.

Jimmy Fallon begins his 'Late Night' adventure

Jimmy Fallon is prepared for whatever criticism he may get as the new host of NBC's Late Night. This is, after all, the man who starred in Taxi.

And besides, the former Saturday Night Live regular figures nothing he'll hear in the coming weeks will be as bad as what his predecessor, Conan O'Brien, went through when he took over for David Letterman in 1993.

"I don't think anyone could put up with what Conan was given when he first started," Fallon said on a conference call with reporters last week. "I mean, that poor guy went through the ringer ... that was insane. There wasn't anyone who liked him at first, and he stayed in the ring and stayed up, and you've got to respect him for that. So, I mean, as bad as a ribbing as I could get for this, I don't see it being that bad."

It's not that Fallon expects his first show on Monday night -- with guests Robert De Niro and Justin Timberlake and a musical performance from Van Morrison -- to go entirely smoothly. In fact, he assures us it won't. But as he's been doing test shows in recent weeks, he's been drawing on a piece of advice O'Brien (who will take over The Tonight Show in June) gave him.

"I think the thing he's repeated most is that you've just got to do it," he says. "Just do it, just keep doing it, because then that's how you learn how to do it. Just get up there and just start swinging and then you'll figure it out, which is good advice. And after the first two test shows I can tell you he's right.

"It's like you can prepare, you can get the great writers, you can get the great set and the great director, but if you don't get these interviews down it can get weird. And, you know, it can -- even a writer can't save you in those things. So I think the more I do it the more comfortable I'll be with talking to people."

Some highlights of the conversation:

Putting his stamp on the show: "I think ours will be different in the fact that we're younger, we're into tech stuff, gadgets, phones, video games. We'll treat a video game premiere like a movie premiere. I'm just going to be honest with what I like and what I do, what I enjoy. And we're not going to hide the fact that people are on the Internet all day. ... We're going to try to be as interactive as possible with our fans.

"I'm currently on Twitter and Facebook and Flickr and Digg; I'm on all that stuff. And I want to be as interactive as possible. I know we tape at 5:30 [ET], we air at 12:30, but I think my fans are smart enough to realize that we do tape early. And so we'll figure out some way to keep it interactive, either through Tweets or, you know, I'll tell you -- I can say on the show between 5:30 and 6:30 Eastern Standard Time, you know, please send in [comments]. I still have to figure out how that’s going to work. [The show will also have three bloggers posting during the day with clips and other items from the set and around the Internet.]

"And the fun thing is, if it doesn't work it's still fun to experiment and try stuff; it's 12:30 at night, I mean, honestly I just want to kind of keep people awake. Or at least give you one joke to go to bed with."

On becoming a better interviewer: "Every morning I sit my wife to the right of me, and I ask her what she's going to do that day. And then ... we run a clip and then we go to commercial.

"I realized after the first two test shows that it is tricky, it's hard. And I think the hardest part for me is you have these pre-interviews, these segment producers that pre-interview your guest. And they give you these bullet points of what funny stories they have.

"And your job as the host is to -- you hit on these bullet points to strike up a conversation with them. So, you know, the first couple I've done I've been a little nervous and I've been like, 'Hey, where you from? Connecticut, oh good. Do you do impressions? Oh great. I heard you went on vacation, and you had a hang gliding incident? Oh good. We'll be right back.' And I was like, 'Wait -- that was the worst conversation I've ever had in my life.'

"So I think the more calm, the looser I get and the more I make people feel at home and at ease and just have them not worry that they have to score, that I'll make sure they look good -- that's my job as the host is to make them shine. ... I'm just going to try to make my guests shine on my show. And I think between that and my house band it's going to be a good show."

About that house band, The Roots: "I got a lot to play with. I really, really, really struck gold and I'm so happy that they -- and honored -- that they would be my band. ... It should be something you want to go do [if you're in New York] because not even counting me, the band alone, will freak your bean. They're going to give you a heart attack. It is like going to see a concert for one hour. And they are so good, just so impressive."
---
The Jimmy Fallon era on Late Night begins at 12:35 a.m. ET Monday/Tuesday on NBC.

Jerry Seinfeld bringing reality series to NBC

NEW YORK – Jerry Seinfeld is headed back to NBC as the producer of a comic reality series about marriage.

The series, called "The Marriage Ref," will feature a real-life couple involved in a marital spat. A team of celebrities will provide commentary and a "referee," whose identity hasn't been determined, will give the final verdict on who is right and wrong.

Seinfeld, in a statement, stressed that it's a comedy show, not a therapy show.

His production partner, former "Oprah Winfrey" producer Ellen Rakieten, says it's not clear yet whether Seinfeld will appear on the air. It's also not clear when the series will start, but producers are shooting for next season.

Richter, O'Brien to reunite on `Tonight Show'

LOS ANGELES – NBC says Andy Richter and Conan O'Brien will be back together again on late-night TV.

Richter, who worked with O'Brien for seven years on NBC's "Late Night," will become the "Tonight" show announcer when O'Brien takes over from Jay Leno as host in June. NBC said Richter also will take part in comedy bits.

O'Brien called Richter a friend and one of the funniest people he knows, but couldn't resist a joke: O'Brien said he's looking forward to their reunion because Richter owes him $300.

After leaving "Late Night" in 2000, Richter starred in the TV series "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" and "Andy Barker, P.I.," and appeared in "Talladega Nights," "Blades of Glory" and other movies.

Meet the New 'Dancing with the Stars' Cast

A married couple, an Olympic champ, yet another former NFL star and the man who serves up "Chocolate News" will be "Dancing with the Stars" in a month's time.

ABC announced the cast for the eighth cyle of its popular dance-off on Sunday night (Feb. 8), dropping names during its prime-time schedule. The 13 stars will begin competing on Monday, March 9.

Singer Jewel and rodeo champion Ty Murray are not the first husband and wife to have been part of "Dancing with the Stars" -- that honor falls to Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin. They are, however, the first married couple to compete against one another in the same season (Rinna danced in the show's second season, and Hamlin followed her in season three).

The cast also includes NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor, who joins the likes of Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Jason Taylor and Warren Sapp in transitioning from the football field to the dance floor. Shawn Johnson, one of the stars of the U.S. gymnastics team at the 2008 Olympics, will also compete. So will comedian David Alan Grier, the host of Comedy Central's "Chocolate News."

Here's the full cast:

Name: Belinda Carlisle
Famous for: A music career with the Go-Go's and as a solo artist

Name: David Alan Grier
Famous for: " In Living Color," "Chocolate News"

Name: Jewel
Famous for: A Grammy-nominated music career, hosting "Nashville Star"; married to fellow competitor Ty Murray

Name: Shawn Johnson
Famous for: Her four-medal (one gold, three silver) performance in gymnastics at the 2008 Olympics

Name: Lil Kim
Famous for: A Grammy-winning hip-hop career, outrageous fashion choices

Name: Gilles Marini
Famous for: Making Samantha have impure thoughts in the "Sex and the City" movie

Name: Ty Murray
Famous for: Winning seven world all-around rodeo championships; married to fellow competitor Jewel

Name: Nancy O'Dell
Famous for: Hosting "Access Hollywood"

Name: Denise Richards
Famous for: "Wild Things," "The World Is Not Enough," a rocky marriage to Charlie Sheen and currently an E! reality show

Name: Steve-O
Famous for: Being a "Jackass"

Name: Lawrence Taylor
Famous for: Terrorizing quarterbacks in a Hall of Fame NFL career

Name: Chuck Wicks
Famous for: Country-music hit "Stealing Cinderella," dating "Dancing" pro Julianne Hough

Name: Steve Wozniak
Famous for: Co-founding Apple Computer

Bob Costas to MLB Network, leaving HBO

Bob Costas is going to work for Major League Baseball — by joining the MLB Network — and is leaving HBO.

Costas, will debut on the MLB-owned cable channel on Thursday with an interview with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre, and then go on to host specials as well as call an unspecified number of the channel's 26 regular-season TV games.

Costas had appeared since 2001 on HBO, where he hosted specials as well as his Costas Now talk show.

He also hosted HBO's Inside the NFL show until that show moved to the Showtime channel last season.

Says HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg: "Television is about change and we respect Bob's decision to move."

24 Liked the World Better Without Heroes

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Monday TV's Winners: Just about everything not named 24, including the 100th-episode-celebrating House (14.7 million, per Nielsen estimates), the rocking-the-women's-vote The Bachelor (11 million) and the coming-at-you-in-3D Chuck (8.3 million).

Heroes Watch: The show was retooled, rested and, well, on par with its season average in total viewers (8.5 million) and the 18-49 demo.

24 Watch: With Heroes back, the Fox series (11.3 million) fell to fourth in the 18-49 demo at 9 p.m.

Etc.: Two and a Half Men (night-best 16.5 million), The Big Bang Theory (10.9 million) and How I Met Your Mother (10.2 million) stayed strong. One Tree Hill (2.6 million) outdrew Gossip Girl (2.3 million). CSI: Miami (16 million) spoiled the premiere party for Medium (8.5 million).

The Arizona Cardinals, However, Still Lost: Absolute final numbers show Sunday's Super Bowl was record big.

What's up with Lost's Nestor Carbonell not aging? And the 'guyliner'?

Nestor Carbonell—who is again playing the mysterious, apparently ageless Richard Alpert in the fifth season of ABC's Lost—told SCI FI Wire that he understands if viewers are a little disoriented by the show's time-jumping storyline this year: So is he.

"I'm a little dizzy," Carbonell admitted in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. "Initially, it took me, in the first episode, [a moment to figure out] 'OK, when am I exactly? Where are we, and when am I?' But, no, it didn't take long. I think the viewers, after this episode [that aired Jan. 28], the show very much settles down, and you get the gist of the season, that you're going to be dealing with some elements of time travel."

Carbonell—who was initially hired in the third season for only a quick guest spot—will instead be appearing in the rest of season five and the balance of the show, which is set to wrap in 2010, executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse told reporters at this month's Television Critics Association winter press tour in Universal City, Calif.

Carbonell spoke with SCI FI Wire to promote the DVD release of the slasher film Killer Movie. The following Q&A features edited excerpts from that interview. Lost airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

It must be a great deal to be so sought after by the producers that they hire you for the rest of the show.

Carbonell: Oh, it was great, and I never know what's going to happen. It just started out as an audition for a guest spot, third season. Even though I was told it was possibly recurring, they called me about six episodes after I shot that, kind of out of the blue for me, and told me they wanted me to go to the island for about five episodes. The role grew from there. You just never know, but, yes, it was great. It was great that they were so enthusiastic. I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled to be a part of it. ...

It appears that Alpert is ageless. Does it affect the way you play him?

Carbonell: I'm not playing him as if he's 100 years old or several hundred years old. It's very clear, obviously, that the guy doesn't age, but I think there is something to being a guy who's been around, a guy with some wisdom, a shrewd man who's seen a lot in his times here on this island and abroad. I hope that carries in some way into the character. ...

At the TV Critics Association press tour, some reporters asked if you wore eyeliner, which Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse denied. What do you think of this?

Carbonell: My brother sent me this link about the TCA, where you guys were at. Someone had asked about whether I was wearing eyeliner. I think Carlton came to my defense, and he said, "He's 100 percent sans makeup" or something like that. I could see why some people would think I have eyeliner on because [my eyelashes] are dark. Especially the bottom row, they're pretty dark. I've been dealing with it since I was a little kid, and so to me it's very funny when it comes up, especially at TCA. My brother told me to look online and sort of Google something about that, and my name came up as a couple things. One of them was Maybelline Man. I've been dubbed by some people as Guyliner. It's very amusing.

Have any of your Dark Knight friends called you to be their plus-one for the Oscars? [Carbonell appeared in the movie in the role of Gotham City mayor Anthony Garcia.]

Carbonell: Oh, the plus-one thing? No, not yet. I have a plus-one, so I couldn't be someone else's plus-one, but no. I haven't been anybody's plus-one yet. I'll be watching. Hey, I may be in Hawaii [where Lost shoots].

George Clooney Scrubbing Into ER

Los Angeles (E! Online) – ER paged Dr. Ross—and he answered.

Sources tell E! News that George Clooney will be shooting scenes this week for an upcoming episode of the hit medical series, which is in its 15th and final season on NBC.

The network recently ordered up another three episodes of its stalwart Thursday-night drama, raising hopes that nabbing Clooney for a guest spot was one of the reasons for the extension.

Aw, George. Is there any humanitarian cause he won't support?

The Oscar winner last appeared on ER for an uncredited minute in 2000, a year after taking off to make movies fulltime, to help tie up the storyline for Julianna Margulies' departing character, Nurse Carol Hathaway, who had twin daughters with Clooney's Dr. Doug Ross.

Whether or not Clooney would pop up one last time has been up in the air for months, despite Noah Wyle's past assurance that his former costar would return, "schedule permitting."

The Michael Clayton star's publicist didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. An ER rep would not confirm other reports that Clooney would be shooting his scenes Thursday and Friday.

ER's series finale airs April 2 on NBC.

Series is Conchords' flight from reality

The best thing to come out of New Zealand since the kiwi is back for another session of surreal merriment.

Yes, Flight of the Conchords, the series that dares to ask the question "How clueless can two musicians be?" starts its second season tonight at 10 p.m. on HBO Canada.

When it first appeared in June 2007, viewers were initially caught off-guard and then instantly pleased by the show's desert-dry humour, endless self-mockery and deliciously tasteless music videos.

The saga of the feckless folk duo Flight of the Conchords and its inept attempts to make it in the Big Apple became a favourite of critics and viewers alike, winding up with four Emmy nominations in 2008.

There have probably never been two anti-heroes as decidedly anti-heroic as Jemaine and Bret, played – with marvellously coincidental symmetry – by Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie.

Clement's the one with the black-framed glasses and unruly hair that make him seem like a Down-Under cousin of Garrison Keillor, while McKenzie's wispy beard and waif-like physique would qualify him for a role as a slightly anorexic hobbit in Peter Jackson's next movie (he was actually in two Lord of the Rings movies).

They're on the phone from Los Angeles, cracking wise about the unlikely success of their determinedly quirky series.

"I think it's due to my winning personality," deadpans McKenzie.

"And to Bret's not wearing any pants," adds Clement.

McKenzie suggests he's not worried about whether the audience will take to the second season, "but I'm nervous I won't like it myself."

The gents guard the details of the show's minimal plot as though they were pictures of Jennifer Aniston's Brangelina voodoo doll, but they still let some details slip out.

"There's quite a few romantic moments," offers Clement. "I get involved with a few different women." Pause. "Nothing lasts, I'm afraid."

"Ah, yes," sighs McKenzie. "We tap into real pain all the time."

"Especially for our songs," adds Clement. "They're all about our true life moments. Girls breaking up with us, awkward social situations."

"When our feelings are being hurt," continues McKenzie, enjoying the masochistic duet they're improvising.

"Yeah, like when you don't get invited to the birthday party," Clement sighs.

That stops McKenzie short. "What birthday party?"

At moments like that it becomes clear these aren't guys playing roles, but a tightly knit pair that has been working on this off-the-wall synergy for many years.

Clement is 35, McKenzie 32. They met at Victoria University of Wellington, while working on an educational production called Body Play, about body consciousness and image issues.

"It had a cast of 25," remembers McKenzie, "and we were all dressed in black pants with Velcro-detachable penises."

The guffaw that escapes from Clement at this point suggests that his partner might be embroidering the truth, an element at the heart of the Conchords' comedy style.

They formed a comedy duo in 1998, but weren't an instant success. Far from it.

"I did one of those real-life advertisements where I had to wear a suit that was really a boat to publicize a local ferry service in New Zealand," McKenzie recalls. "I was walking up and down the street wearing it and I kept running into friends who were successful lawyers."

"My low point was a gig at a cricket club in New Zealand," offers Clement.

"Yeah," remembers McKenzie with a shiver. "We weren't playing any songs they knew and so they got angry. It was kind of a Blues Brothers moment."

"Bret finally decided to humour them and play `The Gambler' while I was packing," Clement laughs.

"Yeah," McKenzie concurs, "but I didn't know the lyrics and I could only remember one chord."

He then launches into a desperate, tuneless rendition of a man moaning, "You gotta know when to gamble, know when to ramble," and it's easy to see where the tacky songs that dot the Conchords' TV show today had their origins.

One of the highlights of Season 1 was their take on every saccharine French love ballad that haunted the scene in the late 1960s. Their version was a bit of nonsense entitled "Foux du Fafa," and it was accompanied by a video that was Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at its very worst.

"I had just come back from a holiday in France, so I was moved to write it," declares Clement with ersatz passion.

"And by then I had learned a second chord," adds McKenzie, "so we were good to go."

They started appearing on New Zealand TV in 2000, but it was their appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2003 and 2004 that really jump-started their careers. "Antipodean comedy goes down well in the U.K.," McKenzie says.

"They're laughing at our accents," suggests Clement.

"Yeah," McKenzie agrees. "They already think we're stupid."

But, whether they wanted it or not, their star was in the ascendant.

An HBO special led to an appearance at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin in 2006, which in turned spawned a mock documentary entitled Flight of the Conchords: A Texan Odyssey.

They next wound up on David Letterman's show, where their antics prompted HBO execs to wonder if they could sustain a comedy series.

"We like some TV comedy series," says McKenzie cautiously. "The Black Adder. Garry Shandling."

"But we never saw ourselves doing one week after week," Clement observes with horror. "We ran out of ideas after the first episode of Series 1. We just keep disguising the fact."

They even enjoy the trappings of their cultish fame. "Groupies now show up at our concerts and seem quite determined," Clement notes.

"And our fans give us home crafts that have our names on them," preens McKenzie. But the ultimate secret is something Clement gives away at the end of the conversation.

"Every horrible experience in the show is something we've been through in our lives 10 or 15 years ago and we just dig it up and relive it on TV."

Does this mean that the bad times are all over?

"Not at all," insists McKenzie. "We go back every night and compare notes about the awful things that happened to us during the day and we use it as material."

"And then," chuckles Clement, "we turn the rest into songs."

NBC announces `30 Rock,' `The Office' renewals

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – NBC is renewing Tina Fey's "30 Rock" for the 2009-10 season, along with "The Office" and "The Biggest Loser."

Besides the return of the comedies and the weight-loss reality show, NBC announced Thursday that it has set a premiere date for Amy Poehler's new comedy, a mockumentary about local government. The show, yet to get a title, will debut 8:30 p.m. EST April 9.

"Southland," a new police drama from "ER" executive producer John Wells, also will debut April 9, at 10 p.m. EST.

NBC said that fans of "ER" will get three more episodes than previously announced before the show ends for good, a total of 23. That will push its two-hour finale to April 2.

Angela Bromstad, new president of prime-time entertainment for NBC, weighed in on the fate of other series at a meeting of the Television Critics Association.

Despite a drop in ratings, "Heroes" is secure, Bromstad said. The sci-fi drama, in its third season, "may have taken on too much in terms of characters and multiple story lines," she added.

Bromstad said the network feels "very strongly" about "Life," "Friday Night Lights" and "Lipstick Jungle." She denied reports that "Lipstick Jungle," which stars Brooke Shields, has been canceled.

The network executive's enthusiasm doesn't extend to the new sitcom "Kath & Kim" and "Knight Rider." The two shows were "fair tries" but aren't holding up in the ratings, she said. She called them "indicative of shows that may or may not be coming back."

Bromstad, who was named to her position in December, also oversees production at NBC and Universal Media Studios.

The network finished last season in fourth place and continues to struggle with its scripted programs. None of NBC's four new fall series clicked with viewers, including the already canceled drama "My Own Worst Enemy."

'Law & Order: SVU' star rips NBC

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- Actor/comedian Richard Belzer blasted NBC for giving its Monday-to-Friday 10 p.m. slot to Jay Leno, describing the situation as "a tragedy" and "the last gasp of a dying network."

Belzer has nothing against Leno personally. But the subject came up when Belzer was asked about his own NBC show, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, being forced to move to 9 p.m.

"Jay Leno, of course, is going to be on every night, meaning that thousands of people will be out of work -- actors, producers, writers, wardrobe people," Belzer said. "It may be good for comedy in a limited way, but it's a terrible, terrible trend for network television to take five hours of primetime.

"I'm not denigrating Jay or his show. I just think it's a network that is desperate."

Belzer then prompted laughter by adding, "I'm already signed so they can't really ... "

Belzer, 64, acknowledged the Leno move may be a bottom-line success for NBC.

"It's the last gasp of a dying network that could turn out to be brilliant financially," Belzer said. "But in terms of actors, writers, producers and all these people, I think it's a tragedy, frankly."

Leno currently is the host of The Tonight Show. But back in 2004, NBC was desperate not to lose the then-hot Conan O'Brien to another network, so it promised O'Brien, the host of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, that he could take over The Tonight Show in 2009.

Since then, O'Brien's stock has fallen, while Leno's popularity in the ratings remains strong. Since NBC is having trouble coming up with new scripted or reality shows that people want to watch anyway, it announced last month that Leno would be given a new 10 p.m. talk show, Monday to Friday.

That way, the network gets to keep Leno; it still keeps its promise to O'Brien for The Tonight Show at 11:35 p.m.; and it clears the way for Jimmy Fallon to take over O'Brien's show at 12:35 a.m.

That's a lot of talking every night, though. As Belzer said, if may work financially, but creatively and philosophically, it could be another nail in the coffin of network TV.

Law & Order: SVU certainly deals with some disturbing subject matter, so Belzer was asked if he thinks NBC will ask the creators to lighten up a little for a 9 p.m. audience.

"That's actually a good question because we do deal with some very dark issues of human sexuality," Belzer said. "Unfortunately people never stop doing bad things to each other so we never run out of stories.

"We haven't heard anything from the network about toning it down. I doubt if we will, but it's certainly a legitimate question."

O'Brien takes over The Tonight Show on June 1. The new Leno show will debut in the fall.

Belzer was on hand at the Television Critics Association tour to promote a PBS special titled George Carlin: The Mark Twain Prize, which airs Feb. 4.

Ken Burns adding a 10th inning to 'Baseball'

LOS ANGELES – Filmmaker Ken Burns is adding a tenth inning to his nine-part "Baseball" documentary series that aired in the '90s on public television.

PBS said Wednesday that the new film, titled "The Tenth Inning," will air in spring 2010, along with a rebroadcast of the original nine-part "Baseball" documentary series that debuted in 1994. Meanwhile, the series is running Tuesday nights on the new MLB Network.

The new film will track baseball history from 1993 through 2008, beginning where the original series ended, and feature interviews with Felipe Alou, Joe Torre and other baseball figures.

'24's' Jack Bauer relocates to Washington

WASHINGTON – Early one cold November morning, actress Annie Wersching leads Kiefer Sutherland to an "armored" SUV with dark windows parked outside the U.S. Department of Agriculture building.

After director Brad Turner yells "Cut," onlookers snap photos of the star. Sutherland spots a participant in a charity run for Lupus on the Washington Mall and comments, "Why is that guy wearing shorts? It's cold."

Where Sutherland normally works, people wear shorts year round. Welcome to Washington, Jack Bauer.

A little over a year ago, Sutherland and the crew of his popular Fox TV series, "24," came to the nation's capital to film segments of the show's seventh season. The completion of that season was delayed a year by the Writers Guild strike, but it finally makes its debut in a two-night premiere beginning Sunday, Jan. 11 (8 p.m. EST).

Jack Bauer actually returned to the screen this past November in the Fox TV movie "24: Redemption," a series prequel that was set in Africa. Now, the series' new season begins with the intrepid agent for the fictional federal Counter-Terrorist Unit (CTU) forced to return to Washington to face a Senate investigation into his conduct.

"He's called to face charges of abuse of power and torturing certain individuals in an unlawful manner," Sutherland says. "For the first time, he's put in a position to have to confront a lot of the things that he's done."

However, Bauer is pulled from the hearings by FBI agent Renee Walker (Wersching) to help with a more pressing matter — the reappearance of Bauer's thought-to-be-dead fellow agent, Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), who is apparently is no longer one of the good guys.

After six years of making "24" mainly in Los Angeles, the production thought it was finally time to take the show to the home of oft-seen presidents in the series. "We wondered if that was starting to bother people," laughs director Turner.

While filming in Washington isn't new for fed-themed action series, it was a welcome change for the "24" team. "It was kind of like going on a field trip," Bernard says.

Shooting here lends the show a sense of realism impossible to produce by simply intercutting stock "plate" shots of Washington with scenes shot in Hollywood. "To have the Washington Monument in the background of a drive-up, and in a simple, incidental way, just tells you you're in Washington," explains cinematographer Rodney Charters. "That's a pretty hard thing to fake."

Turner and his crew searched the season's early scripts for opportunities to make use of recognizable Washington locales. "It was a matter of finding moments to get scenes on the street, and do it naturally so that it's seamless," the director says. Adds Sutherland, "If you can take advantage of getting iconic places like the Capitol or the Lincoln Memorial in a shot, you try and do that. It's like a postcard for us."

Yet doing so isn't a simple matter of setting up a camera and taking pictures, particularly in a security-sensitive city such as Washington. "There are 17 different jurisdictions to deal with, some with their own police forces," says Jon Pare, the show's production manager. "Sometimes, when you leave a curb and step into a street, you've just crossed a jurisdiction."

But an OK from the District of Columbia to film on a sidewalk and one from the National Park Service for the grass beyond may still not be enough.

"There's one place I can think of specifically where the sidewalk is divided into three different jurisdictions," says local location manager John Latenser. Simply put, "Washington, D.C. is the most difficult city in the United States to film in."
But for the actors, it's worth all the trouble. "You're constantly aware you're in a capital city," says Sutherland. "You can feel the power of it, the sense of responsibility that's in the air all the time. Somehow it felt like more was at stake."

Even a visit to the Capital Grille, a stylish restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue, left an impression on the actor. "Three tables over, there were three men that were talking about something that was going to have an impact on our lives," he says.

Among the many loyal fans of "24" is Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, whose office said he was thrilled to see Sutherland's acting and stunts in person when he visited the set the following day.

"He's a fan of the show and checked out what we were doing. He's always been really gracious and kind with us," Sutherland says. The crew even visited the real CTU — the National Counterterrorism Center — while in Washington.

Meanwhile, fans greet Sutherland as he arrives in the toney Georgetown section of Washington to film a scene at a house once occupied by John F. Kennedy.

"I'm just waiting for (Sutherland) to break into Jack Bauer mode and start neck-punching people," says bystander Kim Sandlin. "I'm looking forward to having Jack Bauer's blood on our sidewalk!"

Star Zach Braff is moving on, but 'Scrubs' may not

On Tuesday night, Scrubs enters its final year — at least in its current form.
For its eighth season, the modestly rated but critically praised hospital comedy gets new life on ABC (two episodes Tuesday, 9 ET/PT), which picked it up when it ended its NBC run in May.

With the impending departure of Zach Braff, who plays Dr. John "J.D." Dorian, Scrubs is approaching this season as its last, resolving the characters' stories and answering long-running questions along the way.

"The end of the show was always about J.D. moving on and whether you can hold on to your youthful relationships," creator Bill Lawrence says. "We've had the finale outlined for four years." However, he says, if the show performs well, the comedy could return, but in some altered form.

The move to ABC reinvigorated the writers, cast and crew of the show, which Lawrence says had gotten broader, sillier and further from its roots. "This show only works if it's grounded enough that (it can) switch gears and be dramatic and really about something."

When ABC program chief Stephen McPherson proposed the network switch, a rare move, "we said, 'If we're going to do this, we're going to go back tonally to what the show was and … try to make it have emotional resonance,' " Lawrence says.

Scrubs is produced by ABC's studio, which McPherson used to run, so the network has more to gain financially than NBC did. ABC has been more involved and provided more promotion, Lawrence says.

Although the tone will be less silly, Scrubs won't lose its oddball moments and fantasies.

Tonight's episodes feature Courteney Cox guest-starring as the new chief of medicine and the arrival of fresh interns.

If Scrubs were to return for a ninth season, the loss of J.D. would mean shifting the focus, possibly toward the interns. Lawrence, who would be involved to a lesser degree, hopes that it could be akin to Frasier growing out of Cheers and that at least some series regulars return.

For now, eight seasons is enough, says Braff, who had feared that the show might end with a fairy-tale episode on NBC that wasn't intended to be the finale.

"It's been almost the last season for us for so many years," he says. "We're all really grateful that we have a chance to end the show on our own terms."

TV reminds you to drink responsibly this New Year's

Today is New Year's Eve -- or, as some call it, Amateur Drunk Night. As we close the books on 2008, it's likely that a fair number of us will be knocking back a glass of champagne or five, or perhaps a couple of nice cocktails.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, provided you're not driving and provided you don't overdo it and end up with a tongue-fuzzing, eye-reddening, dear-lord-why-won't-everyone-just-be-quiet hangover.

I'm not going to go all The More You Know on you or anything, but I thought it might be helpful to share a few examples from recent TV history about what happens when you overindulge.

Beverly Hills, 90210 - "U4EA"

The story: This Very Special Episode of the original 90210 finds the gang heading to a rave that Emily Valentine (in one of her earlier appearances, before she came back with the really weird haircut) knows about. She slips a mickey -- the Ecstasy stand-in referenced in the episode title -- into Brandon's drink, which causes him to get so loopy that he has to leave his beloved car at the club, where it's vandalized. Also, David downs a bottle of whiskey, but only Kelly seems appalled. (Link is to the full episode, which has some embedded ads.)

The lesson: While at an underground club populated by your new friend's sketchy acquaintances, make sure you keep your drink in your hands. Plus, make sure you bring your egg to the right convenience store.

Gilmore Girls - "To Live and Let Diorama"

The story: While Stars Hollow wonders (OK, snickers) at the new town museum, Rory, Paris and Lane -- each of them feeling down on love -- partake of a few cups of Miss Patty's leftover Founder's Day punch, which Rory says "is used to remove tar from construction sites." Paris ends up wandering the streets barefoot, Lane discovers Zach is in a bluegrass band, and Rory finds herself on Lorelai's bathroom floor, still despondent. Kirk, meanwhile, gets sideways on sugar and needs a Pop-Tart hair of the dog the next day.

The lesson: Stay away from any beverage that can also be used as a solvent, but if you don't, greasy food will help.

The Bachelor: London Calling - "Episode 1"

The story: Opening-night jitters have gotten the better of several Bachelor contestants over the years, causing them to overdo it on the champagne and make slurry spectacles of themselves on national television. Few have done that as spectacularly, though, as Stacey Elza, who got very handsy with Matt Grant, shoved her underwear into his hands and babbled on about discovering a drug to cure a disease no one even knows about yet -- before passing out. The relevant clips are about seven minutes in here and at the start of this one.

The lesson: Eat something before the limo picks you up. And don't go on The Bachelor.

Friends - "The One in Vegas"/"The One After Vegas"

The story: Before "What happens in Vegas ..." became a tourism-board tagline and an Ashton Kutcher movie vehicle, this season finale/season premiere two-parter put the lie to that, while also illustrating a lesser-known maxim: It's all fun and games until someone with a fake beard drawn on her face gets married to the guy who said her name when he was marrying someone else. (Although I do love the "Hello, Mrs. Ross!" "Hello, Mr. Rachel!" exchange.)

The lesson: When you're married in Las Vegas, you're married everywhere.

The Simpsons - "Boy Scoutz 'N the Hood"

The story: After finding $20, Bart and Milhouse go on a Squishee- and candy-fueled bender (Broadway style!) that ends with the two of them enrolled in the Junior Campers. I'm actually not a fan of the episode's second half -- despite the presence of Ernest Borgnine, Homer is a little too aggressively stupid for my taste -- but the first part is absolutely brilliant. The Squishee scenes can be found here, as well as below.

The lesson: You need to cut your Squishee syrup with some kind of mixer, and never, ever go camping with Homer.

Happy New Year, everyone!!

BNL's 'HNIC' to debut on New Year's Eve

TORONTO - The Barenaked Ladies' cover of the old "Hockey Night in Canada" theme song will debut on TSN on New Year's Eve.

The bluegrass version of the song - which includes vocals - will air during the first intermission of a game between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames at 10 p.m. ET.

The group recorded their version of the song last month, following Simple Plan's rock recording of the iconic tune in October.

Barenaked Ladies drummer Tyler Stewart says it was a thrill for him as a die-hard hockey fan to play the song.

In June, CTV acquired the rights to the song, which is officially called, "The Hockey Theme."

It was created by Vancouver-born Dolores Claman in 1968 and was heard on the CBC for decades on "Hockey Night in Canada" broadcasts.

It is now heard on TSN and RDS and will be used during CTV's hockey coverage of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Dick Clark, 79, is still rockin' New Year's Eve

LOS ANGELES – Four years after a stroke, Dick Clark is relishing the prospect of another New Year's Eve celebration, determined to appear for his 36th year in Times Square. And he's hardly surprised by the current state of the music industry he helped build — he predicted this, after all.

Clark, who turned 79 last month and has been in front of the cameras for 61 years, said in a recent interview by e-mail that his involvement in "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009," diminished though it may be, is a labor of love and "not really a job."

"Obviously, I'm not able to be as actively involved as I used to be out on the street, up on a platform and interacting with the crowds in Times Square" in New York, Clark wrote. "Thank goodness my friend Ryan Seacrest is able to handle that end of the activity on the show these days.

ABC-TV's 3 1/2-hour live extravaganza will include performances by Natasha Bedingfield, Fall Out Boy, Jesse McCartney, Ne-Yo, Pussycat Dolls, Solange and Robin Thicke. Fergie hosts the Hollywood segments.

Clark woke up with right-side paralysis on Dec. 6, 2004 — "Your life changes overnight," he said. (Regis Philbin filled in for Clark on the New Year's Eve show that year.) Clark still uses a walker or wheelchair, and speaking is difficult.

"I am one of the fortunate ones who survived and have been minimally impaired, so I'm just thankful I'm still able to enjoy this once-a-year treat of bringing in the New Year."

The "American Bandstand" icon and longtime producer of the American Music Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards and Golden Globes has long considered them "my television kids."

He's also watched their ratings plummet in recent years.

"There was a time when they attracted a huge audience," Clark wrote. "The audiences have dropped off as the years have gone by because of increasing television competition.

"What we are seeing is more and more talent and less emphasis on people getting awards. Television's award shows have now become gigantic showcases for variety."

Clark was there at the birth of rock 'n' roll ("American Bandstand" kicked off July 9, 1956), and he's watched dramatic changes in the music industry. Not that those changes would come as much of a surprise.

"I can remember writing an article several years ago where I let my imagination run wild," Clark wrote. "I said we'd see the day when music is delivered directly to our homes, and delivered to us in some form of wireless communication.

"The fun of actually holding a record in our hands will disappear and we'll all have our own individual library of our favorite songs that we'll listen to at home, at work, in the car wherever we happen to go."

These days, Clark divides his time between his Malibu home and Burbank office. There's an hourlong therapy session each morning, then he answers mail and phone calls, attends meetings and reads.

The day ends with his devoted wife Kari.

"My wife and I may join friends for dinner at a restaurant, attend a movie or just grab a bite to eat by ourselves away from home," Clark wrote. "Occasionally, we'll attend a music concert. Recently we've seen Barry Manilow, Bette Midler, Frankie Valli and Cher."

Winter TV Premiere Dates Calendar!

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Is winter secretly the best season?

TV-wise, it just might be, what with the return of Lost and 24, plus the premiere of much-anticipated series like Dollhouse, Castle and Amy Poeher, Beyond Thunderdome.

Want to know when your faves are back on the air?

Read on for the complete premiere dates calendar!

WINTER PREMIERES

* Denotes series returning from a winter break, rather than season or series premiere.

Monday, Dec. 29
The City (MTV)

Monday, Jan. 5
The Bachelor (ABC)
Gossip Girl (CW)*
Momma's Boys (NBC)
One Tree Hill (CW)*
Secret Life of the American Teenager (ABC Family)
True Beauty (ABC)

Tuesday, Jan. 6
90210 (CW)*
According to Jim (ABC)*
The Biggest Loser: Couples (NBC)
Law & Order: SVU (NBC)*
Nip/Tuck (FX)
Privileged (CW)*
Scrubs (ABC)

Wednesday, Jan. 7
13: The Fear Is Real (CW)
Damages (FX)
Knight Rider (NBC)*
Law & Order (NBC)*

Thursday, Jan. 8
30 Rock (NBC)*
ER (NBC)*
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)*
Kath & Kim (NBC)*
My Name Is Earl (NBC)*
The Office (NBC)*
Private Practice (ABC)*
Ugly Betty (ABC)*

Friday, Jan. 9
Flashpoint (CBS)
Monk (USA)*
Psych (USA)*

Sunday, Jan. 11
24 (Fox)

Monday, Jan. 12
Samantha Who? (ABC)*

Tuesday, Jan. 13
American Idol (Fox)

Wednesday, Jan. 14
Wonderland (DTV 101)

Thursday, Jan. 15
Bones (Fox)*
Smallville (CW)*
Supernatural (CW)*

Friday, Jan. 16
Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi)
Friday Night Lights (NBC)

Sunday, Jan. 18
American Dad (Fox)*
Big Love (HBO)
Family Guy (Fox)*
Flight of the Conchords (HBO)
King of the Hill (Fox)*
The L Word (Showtime)
Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Showtime)
The Simpsons (Fox)*
United States of Tara (Showtime)

Monday, Jan. 19
House (Fox)*

Tuesday, Jan. 20
Fringe (Fox)*

Wednesday, Jan. 21
Lie to Me (Fox)
Lost (ABC), two-hour premiere

Thursday, Jan. 22
Burn Notice (USA)*

Monday, Jan. 26
The Closer (TNT)
Trust Me (TNT)

Wednesday, Jan. 28
Life on Mars (ABC)*

Thursday, Jan. 29
Hell's Kitchen (Fox)

Monday, Feb. 2
Chuck (NBC),* 3-D episode
Heroes, Vol. IV: Fugitives (NBC)*
Medium (NBC)

Thursday, Feb. 12
Survivor (CBS)

Friday, Feb. 13
Dollhouse (Fox)
Terminator (Fox)*

Sunday, Feb. 15
The Amazing Race (CBS)

Sunday, March 8
Breaking Bad (AMC)

Monday, March 9
Castle (ABC)

Tuesday, March 17
Reaper (CW)

Thursday, March 19
Kings (NBC)

Tuesday, March 24
Cupid (ABC)

Wednesday, April 8
The Unusuals (ABC)

Thursday, April 9
Harper's Island (CBS)

EXACT DATES To Be Determined
• Amy Poehler, Beyond Thunderdome premieres on NBC in April.
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent returns to USA in March or April.
• Life returns to NBC in February.
• Prison Break and 'Til Death return to Fox in the spring.
• Rescue Me returns to FX in March or April.
• Rules of Engagement returns to CBS in the spring.
• Saving Grace returns to TNT in March.
• The Tudors returns to Showtime in April.

Jack Black to guest-star on `The Office'

NEW YORK – Jack Black is headed to "The Office," guest-starring in an episode slated to air during a ratings-rich time slot: after the Super Bowl.

The Feb. 1 episode of the sitcom, titled "Stress Relief," will follow the office drones as they try to secretly watch a bootlegged Hollywood movie at work. The network did not say how Black will factor into the story line.

Black recently starred in "Tropic Thunder." His other film credits include "King Kong," "High Fidelity" and the voice of the main character in the animated "Kung Fu Panda."

Jon Stewart lampoons Canada's parliamentary crisis

Canada's parliamentary crisis is now fodder for jokes south of the border.

On Monday night, comedian Jon Stewart addressed our current problems in Ottawa on his satirical news show, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, saying Canadians are facing the biggest political challenge since the "controversial decision to reshape bacon."

Stewart appeared incredulous that a coalition of opposition politicians tried to oust Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"Force him from office? You can do that?" he asked. "Because we've had no confidence in our guy for quite some time now, and he's taking forever to leave."

He also seemed puzzled by the crisis in light of Harper's numbers in political polls.

"I mean, this guy — his approval rating is 46 per cent and they're trying to kick him out," he said. "You know what we call a 46 per cent approval rating down here? President Clinton."

Canadian voters were also the butts of Stewart's jokes. He showed video footage of a protester shouting, "What are you afraid of, sir?" at Harper.

"Sir?" Stewart said. "You're heckling him. It's not a job interview! Do you Canadians save all your obnoxiousness for hockey games?"

And he wondered aloud why Americans should care about Canadian politics, noting that Canada isn't a nuclear state and our chief export is "jokes that they are the butt of."

Stewart has hosted The Daily Show on Comedy Central since 1999.

Jay Leno staying on NBC in prime time

NEW YORK – Jay Leno is staying at NBC, and he's moving to prime time.

The network announced Tuesday that Leno will host a show five nights a week at 10 p.m. Eastern, after he leaves the "Tonight" show next year. The network had announced nearly five years ago that Conan O'Brien would move to "Tonight" and succeed Leno.

The deal not only prevents Leno from moving to another network and competing with O'Brien, it also has the potential to be a big cost savings for NBC. A talk show is considerably cheaper to produce than the dramas that usually air at 10 p.m. Eastern.

Leno could now deliver his nightly monologue and sketches to more viewers. Generally about 50 percent more people are watching TV at 10 p.m. than at 11:30 p.m.

Dramas used to be a mainstay of network schedules, and NBC's own history at the time slot includes "ER," "Hill Street Blues," "Law & Order" and "L.A. Law."
Yet dramas have been fading in recent years. One reason is digital video recorders; more people are watching shows they taped earlier than the live 10 p.m. shows.

Ten years ago, "ER" was the top-rated show in television, with an average of 25.4 million viewers. This season, its last, "ER" is averaging 9.9 million viewers and is ranked No. 33 in prime time.

Besides "ER," NBC this season airs "Law & Order" and its "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" spinoff in the 10 p.m. time slot — both shows that could easily move to an earlier hour. "My Own Worst Enemy" and "Lipstick Jungle," shows in the 10 p.m. hour on Monday and Friday, have already been canceled.

NBC had said last summer that Leno's last "Tonight" show would be on Friday, May 29, and that O'Brien would take over the following Monday, June 1.

Jimmy Fallon is taking over the 12:30 a.m. time slot that O'Brien is vacating.

Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica gets full season go-ahead

The final episodes of Battlestar Galactica will air in the new year, but a new prequel series to the hit sci-fi show is already on the horizon.

U.S. network Sci-Fi Channel has given the go-ahead for production of a full season of Caprica, a spin-off series to the critically acclaimed BSG, according to Hollywood trade press.

Though producers had originally planned to broadcast a two-hour Caprica TV movie this year, it will now serve as a pilot for the new series, which is slated to debut in early 2010.

The final 10 episodes of BSG begin in mid-January, with a two-hour movie entitled Battlestar Galactica: The Plan slated for broadcast next summer.

The prequel tale Caprica will be set 50 years before the plot of BSG, focusing on two rival families, one of whom is pushing artificial intelligence forward by developing living robots called Cylons. The cast includes Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales and Polly Walker, with the series to be executive produced by BSG creators Ronald Moore and David Eick.

Filmed in Vancouver and featuring a host of Canadian actors, the reimagined Battlestar Galactica got underway with a miniseries in 2003 and a regular TV series in 2004.

Though some originally believed the show would simply revamp the 1970s series, the latest BSG — always slated to last just four seasons — became a hit, garnering praise from both viewers and critics. Its accolades include winning a prestigious Peabody Award in 2006 and two outstanding program trophies from the American Film Institute in 2005 and 2006.

'Scrubs' returns with a 'friend' as its guest star

NEW YORK – "Scrubs" will have a new medical plan when it returns next month. After seven seasons on NBC, the hospital comedy will air on ABC starting Jan. 6, with Courteney Cox Arquette in a guest role as Sacred Heart's new chief of medicine.

The former "Friends" star will be on duty for a three-episode arc, joining series regulars including Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison and John C. McGinley.

"Scrubs" marks a comedy encore for the 44-year-old Arquette, who, after the long-running "Friends," more recently starred as a tabloid-magazine boss on the FX network melodrama, "Dirt."

Elvis Costello's new TV show 'Spectacle' offers different look at music

NEW YORK - During an interview with Elton John for the debut of his new television show "Spectacle," Elvis Costello didn't ask about stage costumes, boyfriends or "Island Girl." Instead, the conversation turned to Laura Nyro, Leon Russell and David Ackles.

The two men closed the show performing the obscure British songwriter Ackles' "Down River."

"For all of his successes, people don't realize that he's a great fan of music," Costello said of John. "They assume that he's this flamboyant guy who has hit records. They don't know that it's grounded in a great love and tremendous knowledge about music."

Costello could as easily have been talking about himself. That background, his experience on the other side of interviews and a natural rapport with people in similar jobs more than make up for any deficits as a trained TV prober.

They give "Spectacle," a mix of music and talk, heft along with entertainment value. Although conceived in Canada and airing at some point on CTV, "Spectacle" debuts Wednesday at 9 p.m. on the U.S. Sundance Channel. Costello is married to Canadian jazz singer Diana Krall and they have a home on Vancouver Island.

Besides John, who is an executive producer of the 13-episode series, future guests include Lou Reed, James Taylor, The Police, Rufus Wainwright, Norah Jones, Herbie Hancock, Renee Fleming and Costello's wife Diana Krall (interviewed by John).

As the first episode's interview revealed, Costello's goal was to get his guests talking about their enthusiasms, hoping they'd reveal more of themselves in the process.

During his session with a clearly nervous Taylor, Costello mentioned hearing a Gene Autry record recently that reminded him of Paul McCartney, and Taylor began talking about his days at Apple Records.

Reed picked up a guitar to show the proper way of playing "Sweet Jane."

"It was funny because he wouldn't seem to be a guy who would do an instruction thing," Costello said. "He was in good humour throughout the show, contrary to a lot of people's expectations about him. Maybe they approach him through a lens of darkness, solely concentrating on the image that is projected through a very limited slice of his repertoire."

The Police's show had an end-of-tour frankness and frivolity. It also illustrated another highlight of "Spectacle" - the music - when they and Costello played a version of "Watching the Detectives" that morphed into "Walking on the Moon."

An amateur saxophone player who served two terms in the White House is on Dec. 17th's show. Former President Bill Clinton talked about music, not politics, saying how he gave up the dream of being a professional musician when he looked in the mirror and realized he'd never be good enough to be the best.

Costello's closest experience to "Spectacle" was a few nights subbing for David Letterman. He's not sure whether there will be a second season, noting the difficulty juggling his family and guests' schedules, without neglecting his day job.

The freedom to be flexible with format, and to talk in-depth with heroes like Smokey Robinson, made it a good experience.

"For every frustration, for every idiotic suggestion that you get when you work in television, the great moments far outweigh the minor frustrations," he said.

Station takes call letters of TV show

CINCINNATI – WKRP is back on the air in Cincinnati — but this time it's for real.

A low-power TV station has changed its call letters to WKRP, the same as the fictional radio station in the 1970s hit series "WKRP in Cincinnati."

The station changed its call letters to promote its new digital TV signal. It formerly went by WBQC-TV.

General Manager Elliott Block says the new call letters give the station recognition because so many people remember the television sit-com.

CTV confirms 105 layoffs in Toronto

A little more than a week after CTV chief Ivan Fecan warned staff of impending layoffs, the private broadcaster has announced it is cutting "approximately" 105 positions.

"Virtually all of these positions are here in Toronto," spokeswoman Bonnie Brownlee said about the cuts on Thursday.

Brownlee added that she doesn't "have the full breakdown" of the divisions affected.

CTV Inc. owns and operates 27 conventional television stations across the country and has news bureaus across Canada and internationally, including in Washington, London and Beijing.

Its parent company, CTVglobemedia Inc., owns sports channel TSN, music network Much Music, arts and culture channel Bravo and more than two dozen other specialty TV channels.

CTVglobemedia also owns the Globe and Mail newspaper as well as 34 CHUM radio stations across the country.

"No further reductions will be taken for the balance of this year," according to an e-mail staff received on Thursday from Dawn Fell, CTVglobemedia's executive vice president of human resources and operations.

Last week, Fecan — who serves as chief executive officer of CTV as well as president and CEO of CTVglobemedia — informed employees that layoffs, a hiring freeze and other operational changes were pending because of declining ad revenues, in part because of the global economic downturn.

Earlier this month, media giant Canwest announced it was cutting 560 jobs — about five per cent of its workforce — including 210 jobs on its broadcast side.

Conventional TV broadcasters have complained of declining revenues in the face of rising competition from pay and speciality services.

In July, Statistics Canada reported that revenue for conventional television fell by 5.3 per cent, slipping to $1.267 billion in 2007 from 2006. By comparison, pay television revenue in Canada rose by 13.5 per cent for the same period, hitting $547 million in 2007.

In the spring, CTV and Canwest Global teamed up to call on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to enact a controversial carriage fees proposal to help traditional broadcasters. The CRTC rejected the idea.

The CBC, which was also calling for the introduction of carriage fees, will be carrying out its own cost-cutting plan, given the current economic climate.

However, in his note to staff on Friday, CBC/Radio-Canada president Hubert Lacroix said "where others are contemplating and predicting layoffs, we are looking to put in place and push forward with solutions that won't involve cutting jobs."

DVR usage making big changes in television viewing

NEW YORK (AP) — Figuring out a prime-time schedule is usually one of CW network chief Dawn Ostroff's most important duties. Never, however, has it seemed to matter less.

The promise inherent in digital video recorders — that viewers can be in control of their own TV schedules — is rapidly being fulfilled this fall, and the business is changing around it. Nearly 30% of the nation's TV homes have at least one.

Nowhere is the impact more apparent than at the CW, where recording the shows and watching them later account for nearly 17% of the network's viewership over a one-week period. Two years ago, it was less than 5%, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The time-shifting is more dramatic for individual shows. The CW even had a week where the audience of 18-to-34-year-old women for 90210 increased by a stunning 79% over the live broadcast.

Viewing for ABC, CBS and NBC programs are all more than 10% time-shifted now, too. Fox's programming is only 8% time-shifted this fall, in large part because it has shown postseason baseball, which very few people watch later.

"More and more people are changing the way they consume television," said Alan Wurtzel, NBC's chief research executive. "In the next few years, we will rewrite all the rules."

The most time-shifted show is NBC's The Office, where 28% of its audience watched it sometime other than Thursdays at 9 p.m, Nielsen said. Action shows and serialized dramas, like Fringe,Heroes and Grey's Anatomy, have big time-shifted audiences. Not surprisingly, young people are the quickest to adapt to new technology.

Among the least time-shifted shows this fall were Deal or No Deal,60 Minutes and King of the Hill.

With The Office, time-shifting has kept alive a show that might otherwise be dead. The comedy has the week's toughest time slot, competing directly against CBS' more popular CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and ABC's Grey's Anatomy.

The flip side is that DVRs make it harder for new shows like NBC's just-canceled My Own Worst Enemy to get established. Given the choice of trying something new or watching a recorded version of a favorite show, the DVR usually wins out.

"I call the DVR our frien-emy," Wurtzel said.

Time-shifting has played a prominent part in the decline of the 10 p.m. time slot, where a powerhouse like NBC's ER ruled television not too long ago. Only three of Nielsen's top 20 prime-time shows a week ago started at that hour, all of them on CBS.

Many viewers are recording shows from 8 or 9 p.m. and watching them later, after dinner or when the kids go to bed, instead of what's on live at 10 p.m. This phenomenon hurts late-night programming, too.

"The biggest single competitor to network programming in any time slot now is (pre-recorded) network programming," said David Poltrack, chief researcher at CBS.

Networks will likely continue to concentrate their top shows in an earlier hour. Some executives can even see a day when networks stop putting high-cost scripted series at 10 p.m. altogether, although there's pressure from local stations to provide strong lead-ins to their late-night news shows.

There was a time, not too long ago, when network executives slept with laptops or fax machines by their beds so they could rise before dawn to check the previous night's ratings.

Now, Ostroff said, "it's a system that's no longer relevant."

She got a peek at the new TV world last spring. CW executives were getting an anecdotal sense that Gossip Girl was catching on, even though it wasn't reflected in the overnight ratings. It had a big DVR pickup, and many young fans watched free video streams. The CW briefly stopped streaming the show in order to increase the TV ratings, but fans quickly found illegal versions online, so CW streamed again.

The problem: the CW isn't earning as much from the show as it should, considering how many people are watching it.

"We've got to figure out a way to monetize this content being consumed," Ostroff said.

The networks' weekly ratings scorecard, a traditional psychic barometer, also means less. It's based on live viewing, plus playbacks within 24 hours. One recent week the broadcast networks were down 10% from the previous year — an alarming sign of failure on its face — but add in a week's worth of time-shifters and the decline was only 3%, Poltrack said.

Asked whether the increased time-shifting helped the networks, Fox chief scheduler Preston Beckman was as ambivalent as Wurtzel.

"It's a little of both," he said. It's always encouraging that viewers watch the shows, whenever they do it. But advertising rates are calculated based on people who watch a show within three days of its original airing. So if you tape House on Tuesday to watch Saturday night, Fox gets nothing for it.

He worries that the ease of DVRs may get people out of the habit of watching their favorite shows. First, they don't have to worry about being at the TV at a certain hour because their shows are being recorded. Then they forget to watch the playback. Before you know it, they've stopped seeing the shows regularly.

It isn't simply more houses getting DVRs that is making a difference these days, it's houses getting their second or third DVRs, the experts said.

CBS' Poltrack believes that DVR usage will continue to grow until the machines are in about half of the nation's homes with TVs. He expects the technology to become obsolete soon after that, because more people will have televisions and computers working together to give them even more freedom to program their personal networks.

"We basically have reached the point now where everyone realizes that it's in everyone's best interests to make popular programming available so people can watch it any time they want to watch it," he said.

Sutherland back as Bauer

Kiefer Sutherland is back as Jack Bauer this weekend and, as usual, he's surrounded by Canadians.

Jon Cassar, a native of Malta who grew up in Ottawa and is a graduate of that city's Algonquin College, has directed "24" since it went on the air in 2002. Often, he does so sporting a Toronto Maple Leafs cap.

A veteran who paid his dues in Canadian television, he is now an executive producer on "24," winning an Emmy for directing the series in 2006.

Cassar's allegiances to his homeland remain strong, notes Vancouver native Gil Bellows, who is in the new TV movie "24: Redemption" (airing Sunday at 8 p.m. on Global and Fox).

"Jon's a homer," says Bellows. "If he worked with somebody in Toronto, and he thought they were really good, he would fight for them to get a job on the show."

During the late '90s, Cassar perfected his run-and-gun, one-or-two-takes-tops shooting style on the action series "La Femme Nikita" in Toronto.

That series was produced by "24" co-creator Joel Surnow. Many of the Canadian actors who passed through "Nikita," including Alberta Watson and Carlo Rota, were later brought into the "24" mix.

Another of Cassar's past jobs was directing "Forever Knight." The star of that series, Geraint Wyn Davies, has had some face time on "24."

Cassar is still reaching across the border for Canadian talent. Colm Feore, who Cassar worked with years ago while directing episodes of "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues," plays the White House's "First Gentleman" in the TV movie and in upcoming episodes of the series.

Shooting in South Africa really energized the cast and crew, says Cassar. Gone are the computer-crammed CTU crime labs and other spy gadgets.

"It's all very low tech," he says. "We wanted it to look different. There's almost a period kind of feel to it."

At first, Cassar was against sticking to the strict, real-time format for the TV movie.

"I said to them, 'Guys, we don't really need to do this,"' he said.

The writers, however, came up with a story that worked as a real-time, two hour adventure, complete with "24"-style tension.

The story finds Bauer, devastated and alone when we last saw him on the side of a cliff at the end of the sixth season, searching the world for some answers.

"He was so disillusioned by not only what he had done with his life, but circumstances that he had been confronted with here in the States," Sutherland told reporters last July in Los Angeles .

In Africa, he stumbles across an old Special Forces buddy (played by Robert Carlyle) and throws himself into his pal's project, providing a safe haven for children caught up in war.

"There was something wonderful about beginning in South Africa , that he had actually found a kind of peace and calm there with his friend," said Sutherland.

Shooting during the African winter proved a challenge. There was only eight hours of sunlight a day, and conditions were often windy.

This didn't curtail Cassar and his breakneck shooting pace. While an entire season of "24" unfolds in sequence, with one episode always directly leading to the next, Cassar has worked out a production system allowing the cast and crew to shoot two episodes at once. The "24: Redemption" TV movie was shot and banked in a little over three weeks.

The TV movie could be a dry run for an eventual "24" theatrical release.

Cassar says it is a project he and Sutherland and fellow executive producers Surnow and Howard Shore have discussed in the past.

"Doing the series takes 10, 11 months out of my year," he says, "so there never seemed to be a way to work in a movie until the series was finished.

This year, with the writers strike forcing a full year delay in getting to a seventh season (starting Jan. 11 and 12 in a four hour block on Fox and Global), they finally had a chance.

"Now we're back talking about a feature again," says Cassar.

Sources: Daisies, Stone and Dirty Sexy Canceled

Los Angeles (E! Online) – ABC has canceled Pushing Daisies, executive producer Bryan Fuller confirms to me exclusively.

According to reports, Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money have also been canceled, but reps for both shows have declined to comment.

Bryan Fuller tells me, "[ABC president] Steve McPherson called me, and said 'We gave it the best shot we could.' "

According to Fuller, the facts are these: "It's very likely that Pushing Daisies will end after episode 13, which as you know, is a cliffhanger. But we are talking to DC Comics about doing comic books that will wrap up our storylines, and I already have a pitch for a movie ready to go.

"To be honest, I'm really not feeling very boo-hoo about it. I am so proud of the show. We put together 22 really good episodes, and there is a lot to be proud of. I'm sure I'll be working with a lot of these people again, and I would love to do so."

Hark! Colbert sings in new Christmas special

NEW YORK – The permanently suit-clad Stephen Colbert has traded in his pinstripes for a cardigan sweater, red turtleneck and furry boots.

Following the tradition of Andy Williams and Bing Crosby, Colbert hosts his own holiday special in "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All." The hour-long special airs Sunday at 10 p.m. EST on Comedy Central, and will on Tuesday be released as a DVD, complete with a Yule log of burning books.

Clearly in the Christmas spirit, at the first mention of old holiday specials, Colbert launches into renditions of Williams' "Little Altar Boy" and Crosby and David Bowie's "Little Drummer Boy."

The latter was the inspiration for a duet between Colbert and Willie Nelson, who appears — in one of the more bizarre numbers — as a tiny wise man in a miniature nativity scene.

"This is just some good fun to watch during your eggnog-induced dementia," Colbert joked in an interview Wednesday.

The special finds Colbert far from his "Colbert Report" set in an obviously made-for-TV room of a mountain cabin dressed for Christmas. Hanging by the fireplace are two stockings, one labeled "Stephen," the other "Colbert."

While he's snowed in and a bear lurks outside, Colbert is visited by Nelson, Toby Keith, Jon Stewart, John Legend, Feist and Elvis Costello to sing Christmas songs that were penned by "Daily Show" executive producer David Javerbaum and composed by Adam Schlesinger.

"I had a clear, clear command to everyone involved: 'No cynicism,'" said Colbert. "We're not mocking Christmas specials. We're doing MY Christmas special. And that was the aesthetic we tried to bring into it. Like, we're really doing this. I want people to see this every year."

The special was originally planned for last Christmas but was delayed a year when Colbert became swamped during his brief run for president in the South Carolina primary. Instead, the special was taped mostly over a three-week period in August.

The 44-year-old comedian, who lives in New Jersey with his wife and three children, is a practicing Catholic who has taught Sunday school at his church. The special concludes on a positive note, with Colbert and Costello singing that "there are much worse things" than believing in Christmas.

Costume pieces from the special are being auctioned to benefit Feeding America, and a percentage of the DVD proceeds will also go to the charity.

Conservative pundits, of course, were the basis of Colbert's character — and there is some allusion to the "war on Christmas" that various commentators have waged in recent years.

But while Colbert still remains in character, the special is ultimately mostly free of politics. During the nonstop campaign, Colbert looked forward to the special like a "gift box," completely removed from the election.

"See, no politics," said Colbert proudly, as if proving his versatility.

Though fodder from the campaign was a boon to "The Report," Colbert says he feels greater freedom now that the election is over.

"I've actually had a better time than I've had in a long time," he said about the last few weeks. "I was strapped to someone else's galloping horse. There was no escaping how fast the news was changing. We were completely in a responsive comedy."

But there is nothing reactive about the unique "A Colbert Christmas."

"I'm so proud that we made something that is sincerely strange," said Colbert, "but also strangely sincere."

Tim McGraw to host 'SNL'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tim McGraw's spokeswoman says the singer will host "Saturday Night Live" on Nov. 22, joining a short list of country stars to host the popular show.

Garth Brooks was the last one, and that was back in 1999. Other country singers to host SNL include Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.

McGraw - who is married to country star Faith Hill - says he isn't exactly known for comedy in his movies but fans who come to his concerts at least know he has a sense of humour.

Hanging out with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon might help. McGraw appears with them in the holiday comedy "Four Christmases" out later this month.

His many hits include "Live Like You Were Dying," "Where the Green Grass Grows" and his latest, "Let it Go."

'Law & Order' boss slams TV lineup

Law & Order creator Dick Wolf didn't hide behind legal lingo when asked about the current TV season.

"You want one word? Disastrous," Wolf said.

"Have I missed something? Is there a new breakout hit? This is the second year in a row where nothing has gotten traction and it's November. That's not good for the business."

In an effort to save the business at NBC, Law & Order is being brought back this week, moved up from its original "early 2009" start-date in an effort to stop the bleeding in the ratings.

"Scheduling choices are something I have absolutely nothing to do with and no say in," the 61-year-old Wolf said about being brought in off the bench early. "I'm glad to be back is the bottom line. I wish we had some more promo time. The episodes are just fine, but I wish more people knew we were coming, because it's a daunting promotional climate now.

"But this is like complaining about global warming. Everybody is having a lousy year. My fondest hope is Law & Order is going to carry the water here and help the network, because for better or worse, a rising tide raises all boats."

Olbermann gives Affleck an 'A+'

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and a "flattered" Keith Olbermann is giving Ben Affleck high marks for his Saturday Night Live impersonation. "As a technical achievement, it was an A+," Olbermann told TV Newser's Gail Shister. "Ben got most of the facial expressions right, and the camera turns were hilarious."

He adds, "From the moment I heard about it as they rehearsed on Friday, I was flattered. I might nitpick the details, but there is a status implied by this. Especially running it before midnight. Especially having the host doing the impression. Also, you can kvetch now and again about criticism, and Lord knows I do, but if you are insulted by something like this, it's time to become a Park Ranger."

Edwards discusses his cameo as Dr. Greene on `ER'

NEW YORK – Anthony Edwards says it's easy being Greene.

The actor, who left "ER" six years ago, said in a telephone news conference Monday that he had no problem getting back into the swing of things while reprising his role as Dr. Mark Greene for the Nov. 13 episode of the NBC medical drama.

Said Edwards: "It was really like going back to high school, in the best way. It was like going back to your favorite class and having your favorite teacher. ... It took about a half an hour — and after about a half an hour, I really felt like I'd never left."

Dr. Greene, who died of a brain tumor at the end of the 2002 season, appears in flashback scenes with former County General Drs. Kerry Weaver and Robert Romano (portrayed by Laura Innes and Paul McCrane, respectively).

He also has an encounter with series newcomer Dr. Cate Banfield (Angela Bassett), an attending physician at the hospital, after she brings in her sick son. The flashbacks are interwoven with a present-day story line that shows Banfield helping in the rescue of a young girl who falls into a lake.

Discussing the character's passion for medicine, Edwards said: "When you get on an airplane, you hope that the pilot really loves flying — I think that's what Greene had. You do want to go to a hospital and have a good doctor who loves being a doctor there."

Edwards' appearance comes in the 15th and final season of "ER," which debuted in 1994 and launched the careers of George Clooney, who left the show in 1999, and others in the ensemble cast.

Like many "ER" fans, Edwards hopes for the return of Clooney's character, Dr. Doug Ross. He has said Clooney would be a fool not to make a cameo.

Said Edwards: "I would never judge anybody else. All I can do is share that I had a good experience, and I hope that whoever gets asked and has the opportunity does do it."

'Heroes' duo get the ax

Big shakeup on the staff of NBC's "Heroes" came down on Sunday with the axing of co-exec producers Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb.

Both scribe-producers had been with the show since its first season and were known to have led the day-to-day production operation under the direction of creator/exec producer Tim Kring.

"Heroes," produced by Universal Media Studios, has struggled in the ratings its third season. It's understood that Alexander and Loeb were let go because of Peacock execs' frustration with the creative direction of the show. The show is also said to have been grappling with hefty budget overruns this season, that are going well beyond its already sizable $4 million per-seg pricetag.

Reps for NBC and UMS declined comment.

Fox Counts Down to 24 Premiere

Los Angeles (E! Online) – For those suffering from Jack Bauer withdrawals, Fox has the cure for what ails you: a firm premiere date for the long-awaited, delay-plagued seventh-season premiere of 24.

The network today announced that Kiefer Sutherland and his terrorism-fighting costars will return to kick off their new run with a two-night, four-hour premiere Jan. 11 and 12.

The fourth hour of the premiere will mark the series' milestone 150th episode. The season will run without interruption through to May.

This time around, the seventh-worst day of Bauer's life will revolve around—wait for it—a national security crisis that unfolds as the protagonist's presumed-dead former colleague Tony Almeida returns.

For fans unwilling to wait until January—and who have already been waiting for about 18 months, as the season-six finale aired in spring 2007—Fox will air a two-hour TV-movie prequel that bridges the gap between seasons six and seven.

24: Redemption takes place on Inauguration Day and sees Bauer attempting to save the world from South Africa, his first ever non-L.A. location. Jon Voight stars as the requisite bad guy.

The special airs Nov. 23.

Can 'Law & Order' outlive 'Gunsmoke'?

NEW YORK - "POPPA DON'T TAKE NO MESS!"

The outburst comes from Anthony Anderson, who is describing the essential qualities of Kevin Bernard, the latest detective to join NBC-TV's long-running "Law & Order." The fun-loving and funny Anderson debuted last season as Bernard and resumes busting bad guys on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 10 p.m. EST (in Canada the premiere airs Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 9 p.m.).

If Anderson has an off-camera "off switch," it's nowhere to be found this day as he shoots scenes inside Silver Screen Studios at Chelsea Piers, which houses the crime drama's precinct, district attorney's office, courthouse, prison and morgue. He bellows throughout the day, at one point jokingly scolding a crew member, "GET OFF THE TELEPHONE, WOMAN!" And he even speaks in tongues - "TELEMUNDO! OH, THIS IS A TELENOVELA!" - to describe an episode's plot twist involving double murder, DNA evidence and an illicit affair.

Anderson's outsized personality doubtless proved a draw for show creator Dick Wolf, who cast him as Detective Cyrus Lupo's (Jeremy Sisto) partner. Wolf hand-picks each police detective and prosecutor on "Law & Order," and deemed Anderson a "natural" successor to Detective Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin), citing his comic timing, screen presence and acting chops.

Another factor? Youth.

Anderson, 38, follows Sisto, 34, and Linus Roache, 44, as the third in a swift succession of young actors - well, young by "Law & Order" standards - recruited by Wolf for the 18th season, which concluded in May. The venerable series is a recent victim of near-cancellation, and fresh blood could be just the bait needed to lure the younger viewers that advertisers love and keep the show going for another two decades.

"Law & Order" is returning to the air earlier than the announced date of early 2009, the result of an NBC schedule reshuffling to shore up the network's ratings as sweeps month begins. After almost two decades, this durable old veteran still has the juice to help rescue NBC's prime-time.

The new season has S. Epatha Merkerson (Lieut. Anita Van Buren) remaining on duty, overseeing Sisto and Anderson; Roache as Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter, who succeeded Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), the newly promoted district attorney. And Alana De La Garza (Executive Assistant District Attorney Connie Rubirosa) resumes her role.

But it remains to be seen whether the cast reshuffling will achieve Wolf's greatest ambition: to surpass "Gunsmoke" as the longest-running prime-time drama in the history of television.

Wolf, 61, has long voiced his desire to overtake the classic Western, which ran from 1955-1975 on CBS; Wednesday's season premiere will herald 19 years for "Law & Order." "It's one to tie and two to win. I think after that, (we'll do) another 20," Wolf said.

But the TV mogul, who oversees the spinoffs "Law & Order: SVU" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," nearly lost his chance when NBC threatened to cancel after a sharp ratings drop last season.

Any plug-pulling seems preposterous, given the series' enduring status as the mother ship of one of the strongest franchises on TV. Wolf struck a last-minute deal to save the show in May 2007 by trading "Criminal Intent" to the NBC-owned USA Network in exchange for another year of "Law & Order" on the Peacock Network.

As it happens, the original series fared well in its 18th season: It debuted in January amid the writers strike with fresh episodes, and averaged a total 10.7 million viewers. That's a major jump, up 19 per cent from the previous season (nine million average viewers), according to NBC ratings expert Tom Bierbaum.

It's also a positive sign for a show that peaked in its 2001-02 season with an average viewership of 18.7 million, and has steadily decreased in the ratings as TV began losing viewers to the Internet and other digital phenomena.

Waterston attributed the audience bump to the show's move to Wednesday from Friday, one of the least-watched nights on TV, and to Wolf's talents at keeping it fresh without tinkering too visibly with a tried-and-true format.

"He's a magician. ... He changed the look of the show, he changed the way it's lit, he changed the way it's shot and the way it's edited, but not so that you go, 'Oh this is not the same show.' But it's all refreshed," said the 67-year-old actor, citing the increased practice of shooting scenes from different angles and lighting scenarios to provide more options in the editing room.

Waterston, a series veteran alongside Merkerson, takes a laissez-faire approach to the health of the show ("I'm fine with whatever happens") but he'd like to beat the "Gunsmoke" record.

"The only reason for me to care about whether this show lasts or not is the absurd goal of beating 'Gunsmoke,' and that's too much fun as an idea to want it to be defeated by the fact that there's a temporary dip in the ratings here and there," he said, with a laugh.

Dipping into the fountain of youthful actors could help Wolf achieve that goal.

If "Law & Order" has a weakness, it's that its core audience - boomers who value a good whodunit - skews outside the target 18-49 demographic coveted by advertisers, said TV historian Tim Brooks, who compared the show to non-glitzy, well-written mysteries such as "Matlock" and "Murder, She Wrote" - and "a comfortable old shoe."

That's not a bad thing, though. It provides stability for NBC, which continues to struggle in the ratings, and has also grown a following in syndication on cable; on any given night, viewers can find "Law & Order" on TNT, and "SVU" and "Criminal Intent" on the USA and Bravo networks.

"Law & Order" pioneered the concept of the TV franchise by extending the brand to "SVU," "Criminal Intent" and the short-lived "Trial by Jury." It inspired copycats including CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

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Wolf is the Great Oz behind the business model. The New York-born guru started as an East Coast ad man, writing commercials for brands that included Crest toothpaste, before heading to Hollywood to pursue a career in entertainment. He eventually became one of the industry's biggest players, producing feature films and writing for "Hill Street Blues"; in 1988, he formed his own production company, Wolf Films, and debuted "Law & Order" two years later.

Wolf, who milked a TV empire from the show, said the reason it has remained on the air so long rests with its self-contained, plot-driven formula.

"You don't have to see it for a week, a month, a year," said Wolf, who's based in Los Angeles. "You come back into a totally complete hour of television with a beginning, middle and an end, and hopefully, a satisfying conclusion. And you can go on your merry way and, if you catch it two years later, it can be a completely different cast. But it still works as exactly the same."

Despite cast turnover, "Law & Order" has retained its tradition of using real-life headlines and twisting them into dramatic plot lines. Wednesday's show delivers a thriller of messy elegance as the detectives and attorneys clash over McCoy's bold move to classify a bloody street fight as a terrorist attack; in this case, the viewer is treated as a jury member, forced to decide between two convincing arguments.

The first victim: A stockbroker beaten to death in broad daylight. "In this economy, this is the kind of thing that might catch on," quips Bernard upon inspecting the body.

The episode could easily be one of the show's greatest hits, with strong writing that continues the creative momentum of last season's finale in which McCoy wrestled with a prostitution scandal involving a New York governor (hints of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer).

The final word on cast changes rests with Wolf, who reserves the power to hire - and veto - the actors and actresses working full-time in the 27th Precinct and the DA's office.

But he couldn't control the nine-year itch of Martin, who decided to depart his popular role in the middle of last season because he "was just feeling really burned out," Wolf said.

Enter Anderson. The actor makes No. 11 in a long succession of police detectives: George Dzundza, Chris Noth, Paul Sorvino, Jerry Orbach, Benjamin Bratt, Martin, Dennis Farina, Michael Imperioli, Milena Govich and Sisto. Anderson grabbed Wolf's attention playing tough cops in the Oscar-winning film "The Departed," the former Fox series "K-Ville" and in a guest spot on "SVU."

Once Martin backed out, Wolf made a play last fall for Anderson, wooing the actor over lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel amid the Hollywood writers strike. Anderson's police drama "K-Ville," set in New Orleans, shuttered production during the strike, and lasted half a season before Fox pulled it from the schedule.

By the end of the meeting, Anderson recalled Wolf dispensing advice on moving his family from Los Angeles to New York - without so much as a "you're hired."

"And I was like, 'Did he? Was this like a Jedi mind trick? Did he just tell me I got the job without telling me the job is mine?' I think he did,"' says Anderson, who has also appeared in "Transformers," "Hustle & Flow" and TV's "The Shield."

Wolf likened Anderson to the late Jerry Orbach, who delivered one-liners with a wink as Detective Lennie Briscoe from 1991-2004.

"He has the ability in terms of his wry observations to bring the same type of rhythm to certain scenes that Jerry did," he said. "And not to compare them as actors, but it's great to have somebody who has mastered the art of comic timing."

But while Orbach's Briscoe was warm and comforting, Anderson's Bernard can be cool and combative.

"There's something innately likable about him and, at the same time, innately tough and innately 'cop,"' said executive producer Fred Berner. "And that combination is kind of fun to watch and dangerous all at the same time. As a human being and an actor, he's a total joy. And as a character, he's beginning to find his sea legs."

His chemistry with the understated Sisto is a plus.

"The secret of partners is always to have ideally one be the yang to somebody else's yin, and I think that they are really very complementary to each other," Wolf said.

Wolf also sees a good yin-yang balance between De La Garza, 32, and new hire Roache, who has shown off Cutter's cocky side.

"He's a huge find," Wolf said of the British actor, who has big shoes to fill following Waterston. "He has really brought Alana into a whole other level. The dynamic between the two of them is terrific."

Waterston, meanwhile, has settled nicely into his new gig as district attorney. Initially, he wasn't so sure he'd enjoy the upgrade after standing up to the lions of injustice for 13 years as Jack McCoy.

"I pretty categorically had said I was never going to (accept the job)," said Waterston, who envisioned he'd portray the Executive Assistant District Attorney as long as the show ran or until he wanted out.

He also thought McCoy himself might disapprove, given the character's strong moral compass and disdain for the politics that come with the high-level position.

But Wolf and executive producer Rene Balcer persuaded him to take the bigger office.

"They were both extremely generous and very smart with me," Waterston recalled. "They said that it was up to me, I could do whatever I wanted. And then they sort of dangled the enticement of more free time in front of me and made it sound like that might be kind of nice."

When asked if his seniority had anything to do with his promotion, Waterston laughed and said: "The word 'age' didn't cross anybody's lips."

Wolf said it's a natural progression for McCoy - and for Waterston.

"(He) said, 'I don't know. I'm not killing the bull every week,"' Wolf recalled. "But I said, 'Look, Sam, it's the same thing that all of us face at some point. It's intergenerational. It's believable.' You know, I think playing that note is incredibly interesting. It's handing over power to the next generation."

-

Plasma computer screens sit atop desks cluttered with papers, folders, coffee cups and tired old books. A series of hallways leads from the den of offices to a courtroom scattered with wooden witness boxes that the crew will clear for later scenes. Even more passageways lead to the morgue, which contains the requisite storage spaces for dead bodies. The Rikers Island jail is recreated, complete with an admissions office and steely gates through which inmates pass to enter the slammer.

The true star of the set, though, is the squad room, a virtual museum of "Law & Order" nostalgia. Though some NYPD precincts updated their look following the Sept. 11 attacks, Wolf left it alone "because it actually is so emblematic of the show," Berner said.

Computers displaying screen grabs of Web sites and fingerprint scans are flourishes of the new, yet the old-school grit continues: a retro typewriter; peeling green paint; the worn look of a sign that reads, "N.Y.C. Detectives: the greatest detectives in the WORLD."

An American flag hangs above a doorway. An empty holding cell, big enough for one, stands next to a bulletin board littered with "Wanted" posters. A coffee pot awaits a refill - and, oddly, there are no doughnuts.

Here, like so many before them, detectives Bernard and Lupo crack cases.

"Ted Sanderson - he did nine years for killing his wife until DNA evidence cleared him last year," Bernard, wearing a grey suit and stern expression, informs Van Buren as cameras roll for the third take of a one-minute scene in her office.

Bernard, who thinks Sanderson murdered his wife's ex, tells the boss the suspect drives a white Suffolk County truck (which may be the vehicle that ran over the victim); Lupo, who's not so sure Sanderson is the guy, stands in the doorway.

Van Buren directs the duo to "take a closer look."

They file out, and that's a wrap.

Anderson becomes himself again, laughing boisterously at a personal joke between him and Sisto.

The race to outlive "Gunsmoke" was never so much fun.

'Mad Men' flying high -- except in the ratings

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- "Mad Men" draws a slice of viewers as slender as Don Draper's 1960s neckties, yet the TV drama unquestionably is all the rage.

There was a "Mad Men"-themed category last week on "Jeopardy!" along with an online game. A "Mad Men" homage is tucked like a fancy chocolate treat into the November 2 Halloween episode of "The Simpsons."

Fashion designer Michael Kors cited "Mad Men" as an inspiration. The show's beautifully retro-styled stars are on magazine covers. A "Mad Men" DVD was spotted at the elbow of Barack Obama aboard his campaign plane.

Jon Hamm, who stars as New York ad man Draper, was picked to host NBC's "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, the night before the AMC series concludes its second season (10 p.m. EDT Sunday).

And, no small point, "Mad Men" was crowned best drama at this year's Emmy Awards, the first basic cable show to claim top series honors. Shy of being pumped into the water supply, "Mad Men" is everywhere -- except on most people's TV sets.

About 1.5 million U.S. viewers tune in weekly, with another half-million watching later on DVRs. That compares with the 19 million-plus audience for last week's No. 1 program, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" on CBS.

Doesn't matter. It's "Mad Men" that's permeating the zeitgeist.

"It's been great. It's been amazing. Do you have a theory about why it is?" asks series creator and executive producer Matthew Weiner, sounding both delighted and overwhelmed.

"It's hard to break out from basic cable. ... I had no foresight I would get articles sent to me from friends where it's become an adjective, or involved in the presidential election," Weiner said. "And there's the rest of it: 'Why don't we dress that way? Why don't people have better manners?' "

So how does a period drama -- albeit a really cool one with a great-looking cast -- end up being so influential? Let's check with an expert for answers (caution: references to both "elite" and "intellectual" follow).

It's a recurring phenomenon, said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.

"It happens in literature all the time," Thompson said. "Everyone knows about Herman Melville's 'Moby-Dick,' but a tiny percentage of the population has read it. But we all know about it and it's highly influential in American literature."

Television isn't exempt. Consider the 1987-91 drama "thirtysomething," which never attained hit ratings but influenced fashion, language and the look of commercials. Or "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," which Thompson calls an important part of the civic conversation despite its small audience.

"You get one of those programs that grip the elite intellectual minority, the people that are writing and about talking about culture, and the influence extends a lot further than the actual audience would indicate," he said.

In the case of "Mad Men," it's deserved: Thompson calls the show "brilliant" and a gift to television (both here and abroad, where it's widely distributed).

Al Jean, executive producer of Fox's "The Simpsons," pronounces himself a "Mad Men" devotee.

"My wife and I were huge 'Sopranos' fans," Jean said, citing the HBO show that Weiner wrote for. "When 'The Sopranos' ended, we were really jonesing for a show like that."

It was Jean's inspiration to adapt the animated title sequence of "Mad Men" for a segment of The Simpsons" annual Halloween trilogy titled "How to Get Ahead in Dead-Vertising."

In the drama's opening, a sleek, silhouetted figure (presumably Draper) carries a briefcase into his high-rise office and then is seen tumbling in free-fall past images of ads and slogans ("Enjoy the best America has to offer").

"The Simpsons" version plays to the haunting theme music of "Mad Men." A rotund, lunchbox-carrying figure, undoubtedly Homer Simpson, enters a living room and then floats past windows bearing Springfield-centric displays that include a Duff Beer ad.

The long-running animated show always is laden with pop culture references but, says Jean, only those with heft.

"We want to make sure that when people watch these shows 10 years in the future" they'll get the joke, Jean said. He's convinced "Mad Men" will be "well-remembered. It's just a great show."

Rewarding followers, AMC's drama has become even more dramatically and emotionally rich in its second season as its vibrant characters push against self-imposed and social limits. Meanwhile, the world quivers with approaching change.

"Mad Men," which started in 1960, fast-fowarded in season two to 1962, the year that Marilyn Monroe died (the secretarial pool at the Sterling Cooper agency was in tears) and nuclear destruction loomed.

When he planned the season and its finale, Weiner decided it was "going to be about the end of the world," a theme he knew would echo with viewers even before the economic crisis hit.

But "Mad Men" is more than social commentary; it's a dazzling and intimate chronicle of specific lives and a visual tour de force.

"If you're lucky, (a show) resonates on more than one level. If it's just, `I wish I could dress like that, 'I hate Pete Campbell,' 'Jon Hamm is so handsome,' " that's OK, Weiner said. "I'd love to have people welcome it on any level they want to."

All they have to do is watch.

From Scranton to Winnipeg: The Office goes north

Winnipeg is about to take a star turn in the offbeat TV comedy The Office.

An episode scheduled to air Nov. 13 has star Steve Carell, in his role as office manager Michael Scott, taking a business trip to the windy capital of Manitoba.

Emmy-winning writer Brent Forrester chose Winnipeg as a suitable destination for the cringe-inducing boss of fictional paper firm Dunder Mifflin.

"It seemed like Montreal was maybe too exotic and Vancouver also a little maybe too conventionally sexy, and Winnipeg seemed to strike the right balance between exotic and obscure," he told CBC News in an interview from Los Angeles.

"In fact, some people on our staff have named it the Scranton of Canada in a way — a nice kind of analogy to where Michael is from."

Office underling characters Oscar Nunez and Andy Bernard make the trip to Winnipeg with Michael. The episode centres around Michael having an affair with the concierge at a hotel in the city.

"Michael Scott is trying to turn Winnipeg into a city of international intrigue in his mind so much that he wants this business trip to be all it's cracked up to be. We sort of imagined that Winnipeg in November was not Paris in summer, so it's a little colder and a little lonelier than he hopes," Forrester said.

Episode shot in California

Carell and the rest of the cast and crew actually never set foot on Canadian soil.

The whole episode was shot in the Los Angeles area, with the aid of some background footage and a shipment of Canadiana from Destination Winnipeg.

The show's propmaster contacted the Winnipeg tourism promotion agency, which sent along airport baggage tags, shopping bags from The Bay, Old Dutch potato chips, Fort Garry brewing company paraphernalia and other distinctive items.

In consolation to fans of The Office who had hoped to see its stars in Winnipeg, Los Angeles also stands in for Scranton, Penn., the supposed location of the office featured in the NBC sitcom.

Forrester says the show, the U.S. version of a British sitcom of the same name, has too tight a budget to move locations.

"We know it's cold and we know, if we had the budget, we would have put a lot more snow in the shots," he said.

"The episode is supposed to represent Michael travelling in November, when presumably you would have a bit of snow there, but it turns out snow is incredibly expensive and difficult to create, especially in downtown Los Angeles, which is where we filmed our fake Winnipeg."

The show is known for its irreverent humour and improvisational acting.

"I would think there would be a joke or two at our expense, but I think we'll laugh," said Jody Tresoor of Destination Winnipeg, who helped send Winnipeg artifacts to Los Angeles for the shoot.

"We have a really good sense of humour over here and we're willing to accept the jokes, but we're really curious," she told CBC News.

After playin' Palin, Tina Fey returns in '30 Rock'

NEW YORK – This couldn't be better if Tina Fey had written it herself. And she's an Emmy-winning writer.

Here's how it unfolds: Fey is the creator-star of "30 Rock," an NBC comedy series that everybody loves (though a few more viewers wouldn't hurt). Then, shortly after the show starts shooting its third season, a presidential candidate announces as his running mate the governor of a large state you can see Russia from. And the would-be Republican veep happens to look a lot like Fey.

Can you see where this is going — uh, went?

Fey makes several guest appearances spoofing the candidate on the late-night satire show where she used to be a regular, and she's a smash. Then the real-life candidate does a much-anticipated walk-on, doing her version of how Fey has been doing her. Spoofing the spoof. About 17 million tune in for this spectacle of twice-removed reality.

Then everyone on "30 Rock" awaits its season premiere Oct. 30, riding this powerful publicity wave. On the big night, the whole country is watching, bless its heart. And faster than you can say "you betcha," "30 Rock" explodes as the hit it was destined to be.

"I hope this ends up helping `30 Rock,'" allows Fey, referring to her Sarah Palin sideline the past few weeks on "Saturday Night Live." But she's keeping her expectations modest. "I would like the audience to go up just enough so that people don't have to refer to it as 'the ratings-challenged "30 Rock'" anymore."

Never mind those doggone ratings. Last year "30 Rock" averaged about 6 million viewers every week. But that's just pointing backwards. As the new season nears, Fey is giving everyone a shout-out who hasn't been watching.

"If they want to try a fun comedy show," she says, "then we'll be there."

Over coffee last week around the corner from the Manhattan apartment she shares with husband Jeff Richmond (music director of "30 Rock") and Alice, their 3-year-old daughter, Fey is enjoying a rare morning off from the studio. She's clad in jeans, T-shirt and tennies, and looks relaxed, noting happily she got to sleep late.

But it's been a jam-packed autumn, which, along with her "SNL" gig, entailed a whirlwind trip to Los Angeles to collect a new batch of Emmy Awards, adding to the Peabody and Golden Globe earlier this year.

And then word leaked about Fey's book deal.

"I don't know much yet," she said when asked for details, "except it would be a humor book and not a memoir, and that my mom has already pre-ordered 50 of them."

In short, Fey, 38, seems as busy as her fictitious "30 Rock" alter ego.
Along with serving as a writer and producer, she plays Liz Lemon, the overextended producer of an NBC comedy inspired by "SNL" (where Fey toiled for nine seasons, the last six as head writer as well as cast member).

But "30 Rock" is a finely crafted marvel of looniness concerned with lampooning more than the TV world. It also mines humor from absurd corporate scheming and from Liz's nonstarter romantic life, plus (in the spirit of "Seinfeld") skewering the solipsistic vanities of being a Manhattanite.

Liz is surrounded by kookie comrades like company boss Jack Donaghy (played with purring megalomania by Alec Baldwin) and Tracy Jordan (portrayed by Tracy Morgan), Liz's boisterously unhinged star.

Jane Krakowski, Scott Adsit, Jack McBrayer, Judah Friedlander and Keith Powell richly complete the ensemble, supplemented by frequent guest stars. Oprah Winfrey, Steve Martin and Jennifer Aniston will appear on future episodes, as well as Salma Hayek as Jack's new love interest.

In the season premiere (which Fey wrote) Liz wants to adopt a child. But Liz's screwball workplace could raise questions about her fitness as a parent when the agency's counselor (guest star Megan Mullally) pays a visit.

Wait — isn't something about Mullally's appearance familiar?

"It's funny: Megan chose a very Sarah Palin hairstyle for her character," says Fey. "It may look purposeful now, but it's not. The episode was shot before any of that." Fey makes no claims to prophesy. It was only when she saw TV coverage of Palin at a rally nearly two weeks after teaming with John McCain that she began to see the possibilities. "That was the first time I thought, `Well, I kinda do look like her. I'd better really listen to how this lady talks.'"

Apparently, she did. Just a few days later, she greeted "SNL" viewers with her funny-mirror debut as Palin. It created a sensation, and made clear: Through some sort of accident of timing, genes and public mandate, Fey and Palin had occupied adjoining berths in the zeitgeist.

"The `SNL' stuff has certainly changed things for me," says Fey. "A lot more people seem to know who I am."

And it's been fun. But with a political race as harsh and divisive as this one, her prominence within it "has made me feel weird and vulnerable."

It's not that she hadn't mimicked or otherwise mocked politicians before, sometimes creating a stir. "But this is at a different level," she says. "It will settle down after the election — whoever wins."

And far beyond the election — far beyond it, she hopes — "30 Rock" will keep her at full throttle.

"We're so in the thick of it," says Fey, looking pleased and, come to think of it, not so much like Palin. "We're spending all day every day trying to figure out ways to make stuff funny. That's the business at hand."

Chase Not Tickled By Palin's SNL Appearance

Comedian Chevy Chase wasn't laughing at U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's guest appearance on sketch show Saturday Night Live this weekend (18/19Oct08), insisting TV bosses made a "big mistake" inviting her on.

The National Lampoon's Vacation star, a former SNL alum, was not impressed by Palin's lack of improvisation skills on Saturday's programme, which was hosted by W star Josh Brolin and featured Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin.

Palin appeared in an opening skit with staunch Democrat Baldwin, and again in the Weekend Update segment, when she nodded along to a rap song by SNL's Amy Poehler.

But the Alaska Governor's performance failed to crack a smile from Chase.

He tells Access Hollywood, "Quite frankly, it's a big mistake to let her go on. What was brilliant about (SNL producer) Lorne (Michaels) was that he had nothing written for Sarah and that apparently she cannot improvise herself out of a paper bag!

"On Weekend Update, that was her big chance. Nothing."

And Chase has no doubt that Palin's performance has had a negative effect on the campaign of her running mate, White House hopeful John McCain.

He adds, "The management behind McCain's campaign has been dumb. This has only helped accentuate the problem of his judgement in choosing, in such a cynical way, a candidate like Sarah Palin for vice president. I think the last thing that they would want right about now is to have the rest of America knowing all that... to have her be seen on SNL, certainly never there... If anything, you just want her to be seen just from a distance."

'Battlestar Galactica' Begins Swan Song January 16

Mid-January marks the beginning of the end for " Battlestar Galactica" fans.

The acclaimed Sci Fi Channel show will return with the second half of its fourth and final season on Friday, Jan. 16 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

So that means just before our new president takes office, "Battlestar" will pick up from June's cliffhanger, during which the Colonial fleet and their Cylon allies finally discover Earth, only to find it a barren nuclear wasteland.

The final 10 episodes of the Peabody-winning show will end with the ultimate finale on March 20.

Those wanting just a bit more "Battlestar" can also look forward to the previously announced "Battlestar Galactica" two-hour special next year starring Michael Trucco, Aaron Douglas and Dean Stockwell reprising their roles as Sam T. Anders, Chief Galen Tyrol and Cavil.

Leapin' Lizards! V Gets Rebooted

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Hide the hamsters...the Visitors are baaack!

Hoping to do for V what the Sci Fi Channel did for Battlestar Galactica, ABC has given the go-ahead on a reboot of the hit 1980s franchise about alien lizards from another planet who take over Earth.

Scott Peters, the brain behind The 4400, will write and executive produce the update with Warner Bros. TV, per Variety. Warners shepherded the 1983 NBC TV movie, its sequel and a standalone series that ran during the 1984-85 season.

The new version will completely revamp the original, including changing the allusions from the Holocaust to 9/11.

Original V mastermind Kenneth Johnson, the über-producer who also created The Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk and Alien Nation, had previously tried to get a new V off the ground, but he is not involved in the new incarnation.

"I was convinced that V should be a movie," he tells E! News. "I discovered that Warner controlled the TV rights. I, as the creator, own the motion picture rights to V. Virtually all the majors wanted to do it...and pay me a lot of money to write and produce a $200 million tentpole."

Back in the '80s, Johnson was shunted aside by NBC and Warners and had nothing to do with V: The Final Battle or the subsequent TV series, both of which failed to match the critical or commercial success of the original. Still smarting, he has been reluctant to hand over the reins to a movie version, preferring to do it himself.

Enter Peters.

"Warners felt they wanted to develop [a new TV project] and had Scott write a script. And now they announced they have a development deal with ABC for a potential pilot for a potential series. But that's what it is, development for a potential," says Johnson. "In the meantime, I've been trying to get V done the way I want it done so I can...make sure the integrity, quality and substance of the original is maintained."

Should he manage to get financing for his big-screen vision, Johnson also has plans for a sequel, V: The Second Generation, which would pick up with Earth's freedom fighters 20 years later and possibly feature castmembers from the 1980s edition, including Marc "Beastmaster" Singer and Faye Grant.

"It'd be a real treat for the fans and the cast of V to be reunited again," says Johnson. "So that's the game plan."

A Fey-Palin comedy summit? Stay tuned

NEW YORK - It seems like the inevitable comedic summit of this fall's presidential campaign: the real Sarah Palin coming on "Saturday Night Live" to meet her look-alike impersonator, Tina Fey.

"All in good time," said a cagey Lorne Michaels, longtime executive producer of NBC's "Saturday Night Live," which has been rejuvenated this fall by Fey's three skits as the Republican vice presidential candidate.

Michaels said on Wednesday he wasn't actively seeking Palin, but that the McCain campaign called after the first skit, when Fey's Palin appeared with Amy Poehler's Hillary Clinton on the show's Sept. 13 season premiere, to say they enjoyed it.

"Saturday Night Live" has a long history of political walk-ons. Michaels prefers keeping this sort of news a surprise until it happens, an opinion reinforced when word leaked that Barack Obama would be on that same show and the Democratic presidential candidate had to cancel at the last minute. "I think we looked stupid," he said.

There are three more first-run "Saturday Night Live" episodes before the election. Starting Thursday, NBC is also airing three prime-time editions of the show at 9:30 p.m. EDT.

Palin told reporters on Tuesday she'd love to appear on the show with Fey.

"I love her, she's a hoot and she's so talented," Palin said. "It would be fun to meet her, imitate her and keep on giving her new material."

From the moment Palin was selected as John McCain's running mate, Michaels said he barely had time to consider the idea of Fey impersonating her. Others did it for him.

"The next day the doorman in my building said, `What a gift, you're going to have so much fun with Tina Fey,'" he said.

Fey needed some convincing, primarily because she was busy with her Emmy Award-winning role as harried late-night show producer on "30 Rock." The day of "SNL's" season premiere, she was shooting an episode of "30 Rock" with Oprah Winfrey as guest.

"There are certainly people here who could have played her and played her well," Michaels said. "But the audience would have been disappointed if it had not been Tina. They cast her."

During that first impersonation, Fey got laughs simply by nailing Palin's accent. She described global warming as "just God hugging us closer."

Michaels knew he wanted Fey back for the Oct. 4 show, two days after the vice presidential debate. But Palin's interview with CBS' Katie Couric was so priceless, they had to write a sketch around that, he said.

In one answer to a question by Couric, played by Poehler, Fey gives a circular response of campaign cliches that reaches a dead end. Asked for specifics on how a McCain administration would spread democracy, Fey's Palin said, "Katie, I'd like to use one of my lifelines."

Through the first three weeks of the season, "Saturday Night Live" has averaged 8.3 million viewers, or 49 percent more than last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. The skits have also drawn tremendous Web traffic, with 9.3 million people watching an online clip of the "Clinton-Palin" segment. The "Couric interview" has been seen by nearly 7 million people, NBC said.

"She's made `Saturday Night Live' look, for the first time in a long time, like it's playing in the same satire league as Comedy Central, said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.

Fey has been off "Saturday Night Live" for two years, but was the guest host last winter in the first show back from the writers strike, where she made a vivid defense of Hillary Clinton.

"With all her years on `Weekend Update' and even more as Liz Lemon on `30 Rock,' she's become someone the audience trusts," Michaels said. "She's credible. And I think none of that would have mattered if her take on Sarah Palin hadn't been fresh and funny."

While the comic impersonation is tough, Fey's character is likable, much like Will Ferrell was in his days talking about "strategery" as George W. Bush, he said.

Richard Greene, a public speaking coach and author of "Words That Shook the World: 100 Years of Unforgettable Speeches and Events," said if he were a Democratic official, he'd be pulling any favor he could to keep Palin off "Saturday Night Live."

"She is so charming and so media savvy," Greene said. "When she has a script, she will completely seduce America."

Michaels is enjoying the ride, letting Fey know that she only has to impersonate Palin through Nov. 4.

But what if she is elected the next vice president?

"I think we'll find somebody else to play Sarah Palin," he said. "I don't think she's going to be playing Sarah Palin for the rest of her life."

Cop drama "Life on Mars" a trip

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Life on Mars," a British cop show with a twist, has had two extreme makeovers.

The first time, producer David E. Kelley set it in Los Angeles. The second time, a new team of producers relocated the show to New York. Through it all, only Jason O'Mara, who plays Detective Sam Tyler, survived.

In the case of ABC's "Life on Mars," what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Tax incentives aside, the show truly belongs in New York. Also, not only is O'Mara able to carry the drama, but the new cast members are, without exception, well-chosen.

For those who missed the original when it played on BBC America, the show is about a police officer (Tyler) who is hit by a car while chasing down the guy who abducted his work and romantic partner, Maya (guest star Lisa Bonet). The next thing he knows, he is back in 1973. He's still a cop, but nothing -- from fashion to technology -- is the same.

In the British version, Tyler is convinced he is insane, in a coma or time-traveling. The American version spells out other options but deliberately refrains from becoming enmeshed in the science fiction aspect of the story. Tyler does not go back and forth, and no consideration is given to theories about the future impact of his actions in the past.

Part of the pleasure of watching is seeing how much things have changed in a relatively short time. Tyler grabs for his cell phone, asks for his computer and orders a Diet Coke, all to no avail. On a TV screen, William Conrad plays "Cannon." In the streets, wide collars and stripes are everywhere.

Equally stunning are the social attitudes of the day. The commander of Tyler's precinct, Lt. Gene Hunt (Harvey Keitel), has no patience for warrants or Miranda rights. The only woman in the precinct, Annie (Gretchen Mol), tolerates the nickname "No Nuts" to blaze a trail for future female cops.

The premiere mostly sets everything in motion, particularly the relationships between Tyler and the others on the force. The script, from Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg, is true to the spirit of the original and exciting enough to make you swallow the premise and beg for more.

If it holds its own against the final season of NBC's "ER," "Mars" might be orbiting the schedule for years.

China state TV to air 50-part Bruce Lee biography

BEIJING - Bruce Lee is getting a belated hero's welcome in China, with the country's state broadcaster set to air a 50-part prime-time series on the late kung fu star.

Lee became a chest-thumping source of nationalistic pride to Chinese around the world with his characters who defended the Chinese against oppressors in a series of movies in the early 1970s. But his influence wasn't felt immediately in China, which was then a closed communist country.

Lee's films started surfacing in China on video in the 1980s — years after his death in 1973 from swelling of the brain.

China's official China Central Television hopes to fill the void with the exhaustive 50 million Chinese yuan (US$7.3 million) biography, "The Legend of Bruce Lee" — the country's first movie or TV series on the actor, according to producer Yu Shengli.

Shot in China, Hong Kong, Macau, the U.S., Italy and Thailand over nine months, the series, starting Sunday in prime-time, will air daily on the CCTV's flagship channel, with two episodes airing consecutively every night in a two-hour slot.

Unlike past films about Lee, "The Legend of Bruce Lee" is unusually detailed in tracing Lee's life, from his teenage years in Hong Kong to his move to the U.S., where he studied and taught martial arts, to his movie career and early death at 32, the Hong Kong actor who plays Lee told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday.

"We've only seen the glorious side of Bruce Lee — he comes out all guns blazing, his films are entertaining. But very few people know what injuries he suffered and what grievances he suffered," Danny Chan said, noting the series even reveals that Lee was afraid of cockroaches.

The 33-year-old actor, whose best known work is Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu Hustle" and "Shaolin Soccer," makes up for his lack of star power with his uncanny resemblance to Lee with his thick eyebrows and slender body.

Lee's message of Chinese strength in movies like "The Chinese Connection" and "Return of the Dragon" also matches that of the Chinese government.

"Lee had strength, agility, pride, intelligence, not to mention charisma to burn, which coupled with the pro-Chinese rhetoric in his films have made him a potent symbol for the powerful new China that is now rising," said Michael Berry, a professor in contemporary Chinese cultural studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

"He wrote the word 'kung fu' into English dictionaries. He made people aware of China," CCTV official Zhang Xiaohai said at a news conference Tuesday.

Lee is shown bursting with Chinese pride in a trailer shown at the news conference, bellowing "I am Chinese" to spectators after defeating a foreign opponent.

In an apparent effort to boost racial pride, the series was originally scheduled to be aired before the Beijing Olympics in August, but was pushed back in keeping with the period of mourning for the deadly earthquake in China's central Sichuan province on May 12, which killed 70,000 people.

The series was authorized by the Lee family. Producer Yu said Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee Keasler, approved the script and is credited as an executive producer. It's unclear, however, how Lee himself, who spent his time in the U.S. and then-British colony Hong Kong, felt about the communist Chinese regime. The Lee family didn't respond to requests for comment from the AP sent through intermediaries.

Berry said China is also catching up on pop culture that it missed when it was a closed country, such as kung fu films, noting the emergence of martial arts epics in recent years. When Lee died in 1973, China was still in the middle of the ultra-leftist Cultural Revolution, when millions of people suspected of opposing the communist government were persecuted.

Top young director Jia Zhangke told the AP he was one of the Chinese youngsters that belatedly found out about Lee by watching his movies on tape in the early 1980s at "video-watching parlors," which he describes as "a room with 15 or 20 chairs."

"I really liked them. He fights with great style. Boys like violence. There is nationalism in his movies — he's always fighting foreigners. I was very happy watching the movies," he said.

'Entourage' Earns Another Season

Vinny Chase and his boys will continue living the Hollywood dream for at least one more season.

HBO has picked up "Entourage" for a sixth season, meaning Vince (Adrian Grenier) will have that much more time to rebuild his fallen star image. Production on the new season is scheduled to begin early next year, with episodes scheduled to air during the summer.

"'Entourage' is that rare phenomenon in TV: a smart, sharp comedy series that continues to evolve," HBO Programming Group chief Michael Lombardo says. "[Creator] Doug Ellin and his remarkable team consistently deliver a show that's must-see viewing."

The show has undergone something of a creative revival this season after a fourth year that had a lot of critics down on the show. Early episodes this fall have focused on Vince's efforts to rebuild his career after the disastrous "Medellin," while his friend and manager Eric (Kevin Connolly) tries to expand his business.

Jeremy Piven, who plays Vince's shark agent Ari Gold, recently won his third consecutive Emmy for the role.

"We're thrilled to be back for another season," Ellin says. "HBO has been amazing in allowing the show to grow and mature. I never imagined when we started that we would make it to six seasons."

Brent Butt to create pilot for new series Hiccups

When Corner Gas wraps up at the end of this season, Brent Butt will have Hiccups.

The star of the popular TV sitcom has agreed to create a pilot for a new half-hour comedy series called Hiccups for CTV and Comedy Central.

He won't be in front of the camera. Instead, the series will star his wife and Corner Gas co-star Nancy Robertson.

She'll play Millie Upton, a children's author who's normally a happy person, but has fits of depression, rage or euphoric highs. She hires an inept life coach to help her overcome this handicap.

Butt is creator, writer, show runner and executive producer for Hiccups. Corner Gas producer David Storey directs.

The pilot starts shooting in Vancouver later this month. Butt announced earlier this year that the 2009 season would be the last for Corner Gas.

New channel offers Canadians more HBO shows

A new pay channel with a slate of HBO programs never before seen on this side of the border is to be launched in Canada in October.

Astral Media and Corus Entertainment are jointly launching a channel that will be known as HBO Canada, they announced Monday.

It will be available at no extra charge to those who already subscribe to the Movie Network and Movie Central.

HBO is the U.S. network Canadians most often say they would like to see offered in Canada.

But the federal broadcast regulator has blocked attempts to launch U.S. pay channels, such as HBO and USA Network, in Canada saying Canadian players are not well enough developed to withstand the competition.

The Movie Network and Movie Central already carry a large slate of HBO programs such as Entourage, True Blood and Flight of the Conchords.

But Corus and Astral said this will be the first chance for Canadians to get programs such as Real Time with Bill Maher, Def Comedy Jam and Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger.

The network will also carry older HBO series such as OZ and Da Ali G Show, movies Gia, The Late Shift and If These Walls Could Talk and older miniseries including From the Earth to the Moon and Angels in America.

"For years, HBO's dramatic programming has been available on The Movie Network and Movie Central. But even with all of the HBO titles we offered, Canadians still wanted more," John Riley, president of Astral Television Networks, said in a release Monday.

HBO, backed by Time Warner, will have no business interest in the new channel, but Astral Media and Corus Entertainment have expanded their long-term programming deal with the U.S. network.

HBO Canada, like all other Canadian stations, will be required to carry Canadian content, and that will include the series Durham County and Terminal City.

TMN, owned by Astral, is available only in eastern Canada while Movie Central, owned by Corus, is available in western Canada.

Clooney and 'ER' return? Thanks, but no thanks

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The producers of hospital drama "ER" are hoping to entice George Clooney back for the show's upcoming final season, even though Clooney has said he's not interested in putting his scrubs on one more time.

"ER" executive producer David Zabel told TV Guide that story lines had been dreamed up for the show's 15th and last season for all major past characters, including Clooney's Dr. Ross and his old flame, nurse Carol Hathaway, played by Julianna Margulies.

In an interview with TV Guide released on Monday, Zabel told the magazine he was "optimistic that we might be able to get them all. We have a really good story line for every (major) character from the past to show (the actors) what we want to do."

Anthony Edwards, whose character, Dr. Mark Greene, died of brain cancer in May 2002, has already agreed to return in flashback scenes this season, along with Laura Innes (Dr. Weaver), Paul McCrane (Dr. Romano, who also died) and Noah Wyle (Dr. John Carter).

But Clooney hasn't been tempted yet.

"He is on record as saying he is not coming back," said Clooney's publicist, Stan Rosenfield, on Monday. "It is something he has already done. He is busy making movies."

"ER" launched the career of Clooney as a matinee idol after he left the regular cast in 1999 to pursue his movie career full time. He returned for a surprise cameo in May 2000 marking the departure of Margulies from the show after six seasons.

The groundbreaking series, set in the emergency room of the fictional Chicago-based County General Hospital, was the top-rated drama on U.S. television for several years but ratings have slipped in recent years.

The series will end with a two-hour finale in May 2009, preceded by a one-hour retrospective.

'Flight of the Conchords' may ground itself after season two

Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, the New Zealand duo whose HBO comedy became a cult favorite last year, say the show's second season will likely be its last. The duo are still working on songs for season two and say they've had some struggles in putting the music and the narratives that build from them together.

"We've got a lot of half-songs. We've got an album's worth of beginnings of songs," Clement tells the British music magazine Q. McKenzie adds that the second season "seems to me like it would be a good end to the show."

Flight of the Conchords was not a huge hit for HBO last summer -- it hovered around the million-viewer mark for most of its run. It did, however, attract a devoted cult of fans and a good chunk of critical praise. It's also up for four Emmys, one each for writing and directing for a comedy series and two in the original music category for the songs "The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room)" and "Inner City Pressure."

The show also helped raise Clement and McKenzie's profile as they toured and propelled their first full-length album to a top-five debut on the Billboard charts earlier this year.

There's no word yet on when the show's second season will premiere.

Vampire novels adapted for HBO's 'True Blood'

CALABASAS, Calif. - As fictional lovers go, bubbly blond Sookie Stackhouse and tall, pale Bill Compton are as massively mismatched as they come. After all, Sookie (Anna Paquin) is exuberantly human and Bill (Stephen Moyer) is, well, totally undead in HBO's flamboyant new vampire saga, "True Blood."

"Bill is really genteel but that doesn't stop him from being blood-hungry," Moyer says of his menacing 173-year-old character in "True Blood," adapted for television by Alan Ball ("Six Feet Under") from the popular series of Southern vampire novels by Charlaine Harris.

"The tension between Bill and Sookie is quite palpable," Moyer says in between scenes in which the courtly vampire, who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, escorts his lady friend Sookie, a telepathic roadhouse waitress, home on a dark and eerie night.

That sexually suggestive tension is key to "True Blood," premiering 9 p.m. EDT Sunday. Set in a small Louisiana town (actually the Santa Monica Mountains northwest of Los Angeles), the edgy series chronicles a time when synthetic blood supplies enable Bill and other vampires to live openly among humans, without necessarily feeding on them.

Like Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) in the classic vampire soap opera "Dark Shadows" (1966-1971), Bill has returned to his ancestral home, where he woos Sookie and tries to fit into human society. Like Frid's Barnabas, Moyer's Bill is an unresolved paradox — part seductive protagonist, part menacing monster.

"He's not typically vampiric," says Moyer, who played a vampire in the Brit miniseries "Ultraviolet." No long black cape and ghoulish grin for Bill, who dresses yuppie-casual. "But we do get to see him sort of sex-starved at one point," Moyer says. "And there are moments when he is quite confrontational with other vampires, when other people are predatory with Sookie."

"True Blood" also pushes the content boundaries of premium cable, with plenty of extravagantly gushing arteries and over-the-top bedroom antics to rival Showtime's "Californication" — all mixed with a good dose of Southern gothic goofiness.

Ball was looking to produce "lighter" fare after the life-and-death introspection of critically acclaimed "Six Feet Under."

"Charlaine has just created this amazing world that's funny and vibrant and scary and also a sort of social treatise, you know what I mean?" Ball says.

"The books are violent and that's part of the appeal," he says. "It's visceral and predatory and unapologetically sexual. And it's unapologetically romantic in the sense of an old-fashioned romance novel."

The centuries-old vampire metaphor is "also about the terrors of intimacy, and about any kind of misunderstood, hated, feared minority — homosexuals, other cultures," Ball says. "When I first pitched 'True Blood' to HBO, I called it 'popcorn TV for smart people.' "

Still, vampire series are not always surefire. Last season, CBS spiked "Moonlight," despite its loyal following for undead hero Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin).

Like "Moonlight," "True Blood" plays on the thrill of a vampire-human hookup. But the mechanics of Bill and Sookie's romance proved tricky for Moyer and Paquin during filming.

"You do get fangs caught in places," Paquin says, remembering her first lip lock with Bill's lethal teeth, which pop down when he's lost in bloodlust. "Perhaps it's like people with braces trying to make it work. Puncture wounds aside, one gets used to it," she teases.

Although Ball says his series "is true to the spirit of the novels," there are differences. "True Blood" takes the powerful and ruthless nature of vampire clans a little further than the novels do, he says. Sookie narrates the Harris books but not "True Blood." Instead, Ball has given Sookie a female best friend and confidante named Tara (Rutina Wesley).

The events in the 12 episodes play out over a fast and furious two-week period, like they do in Harris' first vampire novel, "Dead Until Dark." As in the novels, Sookie's mysterious boss Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) is very much in evidence, keeping close to Sookie.

But Ball has greatly expanded the characters of the roadhouse's gay short-order cook, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), and Sookie's bumbling and sexually indefatigable brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten).

"They've given me some really outrageous story lines," Kwanten says. "Jason just jumps into things before he thinks about them. He thinks he's Louisiana's answer to Casanova. Any reservations or inhibitions I had before starting the show have well and truly gone now in a good way," he says of his sex scenes. Then he laughs. "One of the grips jokes that he sees me naked more than he does his girlfriend."

What the `frak'? Faux curse seeping into language

NEW YORK - Lee Goldberg thinks Glen A. Larson is a genius, and not because the prolific television writer and producer gave us "Knight Rider" and "B.J. and the Bear."

It was Larson who first used the faux curse word "frak" in the original "Battlestar Galactica." The word was mostly overlooked back in the '70s series but is working its way into popular vocabulary as SciFi's modern update winds down production.

"All joking aside, say what you will about what you might call the lowbrow nature of many of his shows, he did something truly amazing and subversive, up there with what Steven Bochco gets credit for, with 'frak,'" Goldberg said.

There's no question what the word stands for and it's used gleefully, as many as 20 times in some episodes.

"And he was saying it 30 years ago in the original goofy, god-awful 'Battlestar Galactica,'" said Goldberg, a television writer and novelist whose credits include "Monk" and "Diagnosis Murder."

The word is showing up everywhere — on T-shirts, in sit-coms, best-selling novels and regular conversation.

"I have to start by saying that I'm drinking coffee out of a mug that says 'frak off' on the side of it, so much has it seeped into my life," "Galactica" star Jamie Bamber said.

The word is insinuating its way into popular vocabulary for a simple reason.

You can't get in trouble. It's a made-up word.

"It may have been the great George Carlin who talked about these things so cleverly," Larson said. "He'd say, 'Mother would say shoot, but she meant ... when she reached in and burned her fingers on the crocker.' And the child says, 'I know what you meant mom.'"

The word has slipped the bonds that tethered other pretenders like Mork's "shazbot" in "Mork & Mindy" or Col. Sherman T. Potter's "horse hockey" in "M.A.S.H." Its usage has moved from the small but fervent group of "Galactica" fans into everyday language. It's shown up in very mainstream shows like "The Office," "Gossip Girl" and "Scrubs." One YouTube posting has 2 minutes of sound bites that cover the gamut.

"I'm in my own little cocoon of science fictiondom, but it is certainly used around here and amongst the people I know," said Irene Gallo, art director at the sci-fi imprint Tor Books where employees held a "frak party" to watch the season premiere. "It's sort of a way to be able to use a four-letter word without really getting into any kind of HR trouble or with people you're really not quite comfortable being yourself with."

The word has even appeared in the funny pages where Dilbert muttered a disconsolate "frack" — the original spelling before producers of the current show changed it to a four-letter word — after a particularly dumb order from his evil twit of a boss.

"Dilbert" creator Scott Adams calls the word "pure genius."

"At first I thought 'frak' was too contrived and it bothered me to hear it," Adams said. "Over time it merged in my mind with its coarser cousin and totally worked. The creators ingeniously found a way to make viewers curse in their own heads — you tend to translate the word — and yet the show is not profane."

Best-selling novelist Robert Crais slips the word into the prologue of his latest Elvis Cole mystery, "Chasing Darkness." He did it because "Galactica" is his favorite show, like calling out in the wilderness to his fellow fans. But he sees the word popping up everywhere, even among those who have never watched the show.

"It's viral, it spreads like a virus," Crais said. "That first wave of people who use it are all fans. They use it because they're tickled by it and like me they're paying an homage to the show. When they're using it, they're probably doing it with a sly wink. But as it gets heard and people use it, it spreads."

The re-imagined "Battlestar Galactica" tells the story of the human survivors of a war with a robotic race known as the Cylons. Fewer than 40,000 humans remain in a ragtag fleet being pursued across space by the Cylons, who wiped out the 12 colonies in a surprise nuclear holocaust.

Their destination is the mythical planet Earth, a legend passed down in religious texts. Shooting wrapped in July and the final 10 episodes will appear beginning in January.

Larson, one of television's most prolific and successful writers, doesn't much care for the new series. He used "frack" and its cousin "feldergarb" as alternates for curse words because the original "Battlestar" was family friendly and appeared on Sunday nights. The words fit in with his philosophy that while the show was about humans, it shouldn't have an Earthly feel.

In what he said was his first interview about the series, Larson says there were no red fire extinguishers on his Battlestar Galactica and characters wore original costumes, not suits and ties.

"Our point was to whenever possible make it a departure like you're visiting somewhere else," Larson said. "And we did coin certain phrases for use in expletive situations, but we tried to carry that over into a lot of other stuff, even push brooms and the coin of the realm."

When new series producer Ron Moore first introduced "frak" in early scripts, Bamber said the actors were dubious. But as writers expanded its use, they caught on to the possibilities.

"I mean why are we not offended by `frak' because it means exactly the same thing as the other thing?" said Bamber, who plays fighter pilot-turned-president Lee "Apollo" Adama. "So it raises questions about language and why certain words are offensive. Is it their meaning? ... Clearly it's not their meaning. Clearly it's literally their sound."

Co-executive producer and writer Michael Angeli, an Emmy nominee for the episode "Six of One," said using the word in scripts is satisfying for anyone who's been censored over the years.

"It's a great way to do something naughty and get away with it," Angeli said. "One of the things that television shows do constantly is they battle with Standards and Practices over what can be seen and what can't be seen, what can be said and what can't be said.

"A lot of our characters are soldiers. That whole sort of view and that subculture, that's how they speak. They're rough and tumble, and they're bawdy and they swear."

He said producers have gotten no complaints from SciFi owner NBC Universal or the Federal Communications Commission.

Goldberg believes Larson should get more credit for "frak" and has posted an appreciation on his Web site. He even sought out Larson to let him know how he feels: "I told him, 'Frak is fraking brilliant, Glen.'"

Carla Bruni scheduled to jam with McCartney, Metallica on BBC show

France's first lady, is expected to jam on British television with Paul McCartney and Metallica.

Former supermodel Carla Bruni, who married French President Nicolas Sarkozy in February, is slated to appear on BBC's Later … With Jools Holland on September 16th.

In July, Bruni released her latest album, Comme si de Rien N'était (As If Nothing Happened), which raised a few eyebrows with its risqué lyrics concerning her paramour, Sarkozy.

As she sings in Ta Tienne (Yours): "You are my lord, you're my darling, you're my orgy … my charming Prince I am yours … I who always sought fire, am burning for you like a pagan woman."

And in My Drug, she croons that her lover is her drug, "more deadly than Afghan heroin, more dangerous than Colombian white [powder]."

A BBC statement says Bruni, 40, will perform "a song or two from her recently released third album."

Sharing the spotlight will be heavy rockers Metallica, making their first appearance on the show in 12 years, who will play new songs from their ninth album, Death Magnetic.

Ex-Beatle McCartney will team up with record producer and bassist Martin Glover under the name The Fireman.

Tradition usually has Holland's guests jamming together after the opening credits.

Jennifer Aniston will make a return visit to NBC

NEW YORK - Jennifer Aniston will return home to NBC, the TV network where she became a breakout star on the hit sitcom "Friends."

She's currently filming a guest appearance on the network's "30 Rock," Aniston publicist Stephen Huvane confirmed Friday.

There were no immediate details on the role Aniston will play — as herself or a fictitious character — or the episode's planned air date.

The New York-based series, which begins its third season in October, stars Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin in a behind-the-scenes, sometimes self-directed spoof of a television network and the huge corporation that owns it. The show has won a modest but devoted following, and critical raves. Awards include Golden Globes, a Peabody and last year's Emmy for outstanding comedy series.

With its show-biz slant, it has become a haven for guest appearances by big names from entertainment — even politics, including Al Gore.

Another of the six-member "Friends" troupe, David Schwimmer, had a "30 Rock" guest shot last season.

Since "Friends" concluded its highly successful 10-year run in 2004, Aniston has concentrated on films, including "Friends with Money," "The Break-Up."

SNL Plucks Michael Phelps Out of the Hosting Pool

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Saturday Night Live is looking to make a splash this season.

The series has tapped Olympic golden boy Michael Phelps to host its 34th-season premiere Sept. 13 on NBC, which probably wouldn't mind basking in the glow from its history-making coverage of the Beijing Games a little longer.

Aside from all the commercials and inevitable talk-show spots, this will be the first "acting" role for Phelps, whose world-record-smashing, eight-gold-medal-winning performance at the Summer Olympics made him the poster boy of U.S. swimming for generations to come and won him the hearts of millions of admiring fans.

Lil Wayne, who, appropriately enough, has also had the most successful year of his career in 2008, will be the musical guest.

Meanwhile, the MTV Video Music Awards has also capitalized on (or is helping to wear out the welcome of) the Phelps juggernaut, securing an appearance by the 23-year-old Baltimore native at the Sept. 9 kudosfest.

But considering we already know that teenage girls dig him, it's the SNL gig that will be the gangly lad's chance to prove he's more than a superhuman swimming machine with abs on which he can wash his own Speedo.

Assuming, however, that he'll leave the LAZR Racer® at home (although, if they're smart, he'll be wearing it in at least one sketch), the question remains: Can Phelps duplicate his poolside appeal while wearing everyguy gear?

CBS Pushes Back 'Survivor: Gabon' Premiere

Scrap those "Survivor" viewing parties for Thursday, Sept. 18, but get ready to schedule an extra-long gala for the following week.

CBS announced Monday (Aug. 25) that "Survivor: Gabon -- Earth's Last Eden" will now premiere on Thursday, Sept. 25 with what will be the first two-hour premiere in "Survivor" history.

As has been well-documented, the franchise's second trip to Africa will also be its first season broadcast in high definition.

The "Survivor" premiere will be followed by a rebroadcast of last season's cliffhanger finale to "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

A fall TV season with questions in the air

NEW YORK - With fall in sight, ABC is inviting viewers to stay home and watch ABC as an energy-saving measure.

For this tongue-in-cheek promotion, National Stay at Home Week begins Sept. 21 — also the official start of the 2008-09 TV season.

If only sky-high gas prices would guarantee ABC a captive audience!

Alas, it's hard to make an argument that viewers are breathlessly awaiting ABC's fall season — or any other network's. Audience buzz remains at a hush.

With the networks still reeling from the disruption of last winter's strike by screenwriters, only 17 new series have been slotted for fall — about half the usual number.

And most of them have been unavailable for preview. As the networks continue to play catch-up, few new shows have been put in front of critics, who, in other years, would have been warming up the crowd.

Not that there isn't plenty going on. Broadcast networks were already dogged by audience erosion, growing competition from cable and the Internet, and TiVo-equipped viewers who blow off the commercials.

These challenges are only intensifying now. So whatever the programming networks air this fall, there is likely to be drama, suspense and pratfalls as the networks race to adapt to a medium in flux.

Beyond that near-certainty, mostly questions prevail.

• For starters: Will viewers surprise the networks (and themselves) by discovering a hit among the limited fall prospects?

The most eagerly awaited entry is "Fringe," Fox's paranormal thriller from J.J. Abrams ("Lost," "Alias"). It also happens to be an exception to all the new shows no one's seen yet: Its 90-minute pilot was screened for critics way back in June and for fans at Comic-Con in July. For weeks, it could be downloaded by anybody else to sample from the Internet.

No one will be sampling "90210" beforehand — by design. The premiere will be kept under wraps until its Sept. 2 airing as a "strategic marketing decision," the CW network recently announced. Thanks to that strategy, any buzz about "90210" is free to dwell on the likelihood it will fall far short of "Beverly Hills, 90210," the 1990s cultural phenomenon that spawned it.

ABC is introducing just two new series. One, "Opportunity Knocks," is a trivia-based game show. The other, a cop drama with a time-travel twist called "Life on Mars," began life as a British series. But it's not the only transplant this fall.

• Will global imports tighten their grip on the networks?

CBS' wedding woes comedy, "Worst Week," and its sci-fi crime drama, "Eleventh Hour," also have been adapted from British TV. NBC's mother-daughter comedy, "Kath & Kim," sprang from an Australian hit. CBS' "The Ex List," a romantic comedy, was inspired by an Israeli series.

They will take their place with successful imports such as NBC's British-born "The Office" and ABC's "Ugly Betty," which originated as a Spanish-language telenovela.

It's worth remembering that last fall, CBS belly-flopped with its version of the British hit "Viva Blackpool," which, transformed into "Viva Laughlin," lasted two weeks.

But for a decade, the networks have been mining reality and game-show formats from around the world with spectacular success ("Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," "Survivor" and "Big Brother" are early examples). This fall, Fox is introducing a game show called "Hole in the Wall," from Japan.

If any of the networks were to strike gold this year with scripted imports, it would likely spur an even bigger global shopping spree.

• But will more imports, or anything else, do the trick for NBC and its entertainment czar, Ben Silverman?

A 36-year-old wunderkind producer when he came to NBC Universal 16 months ago, Silverman inherited a fourth-place network whose Fall 2007 schedule was already announced.

Today, NBC, thanks to the Beijing Olympics, has crept ahead of ABC to claim third place in total viewers. But the Olympics and their explosive ratings are just a beautiful memory as NBC heads into a brand-new season, its fall schedule crafted by Silverman's team.

Although he champions an inventive multimedia-platform approach to programming, his vision of what viewers want to see is oddly derivative: "Simple themes reinvented, accessible entry points, universality," he rhapsodized when pitching the schedule last April.

But it remains to be seen whether Silverman's stated mission — providing a video respite from the harsh modern world — will placate the restless channel surfer. Or whether other networks will convert to a similar gospel.

His new fall shows include "Kath & Kim"; a remake of the 1980s man-and-his-car hit "Knight Rider"; the self-explanatory "Crusoe"; and "My Own Worst Enemy," an action drama about a family man with a split personality.

At the same time NBC unveiled its fall schedule, it also presented a schedule for midseason, reinvigorated with more new and returning series.

Other networks are also adopting this strategy of prearranged replenishment. It's aimed at minimizing reruns and refreshing the lineup in an orderly way to keep viewers on board.

• But does alerting them this far ahead to all the shows awaiting them come winter undercut the effort to excite them about fall? Will the audience suspect the networks of holding out their best stuff for midseason, stuff like Fox's spinoff from "Family Guy," an NBC comedy starring "Saturday Night Live" alum Amy Poehler, and the return of ABC's "Lost" and Fox's "24"?

Long before then, the audience will be sizing up fall entries that also include a Fox comedy about a luxury Manhattan hotel, "Do Not Disturb," and "Gary Unmarried," a CBS comedy about a guy navigating his recent divorce. CBS' drama "The Mentalist" focuses on a consultant to the cops who has a keen eye for clues but a dubious past. CW weighs in with "Privileged," about a sexy live-in tutor in posh Palm Beach, and "Stylista," a reality show where competitors vie for a job at a fashion magazine.

Still, it won't be new shows that determine the outcome of the networks' ratings race. The pivotal factor: Which network has the strongest slate of veteran series.

Several proven hits — Fox's "House," NBC's "Heroes," ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy" — are now awaited by viewers with eagerness that nothing new can match.

Whether returning shows like ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money," "Pushing Daisies" and "Samantha Who?" can reclaim their initial popularity after months on ice — that's less certain.

But is anything certain as ABC sets the stage for Stay at Home Week? Right now, the networks' biggest show is a guessing game, the one they're trying to win.

A Bronze Fonz Hits Brew Town

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Finally, a Fonzie that's incapable of jumping the shark. If only he existed 30 years ago.

A statue of Arthur Fonzarelli was unveiled to a Happy Days-loving crowd on Wisconsin's Milwaukee River today, commemorating the 10-year run of the classic sitcom and its most iconic character in the city where the series was set (but, alas, never shot).

Fonzie alter ego Henry Winkler was on hand for the invite-only occasion, as were show creator-director-producer Garry Marshall, stars Anson Williams (Potsie), Don Most (Ralph), Marion Ross (Mrs. Cunningham), Tom Bosley (Mr. Cunningham) and Erin Moran (Joanie), as well as Laverne & Shirley leads Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams. Ron Howard was on location and unable to make the unveiling.

Winkler took quite a liking to his life-size leather-jacketed likeness, giving it the ultimate seal of approval: two thumbs up.

"I hope that this statue really represents in the way that this city deserves," Winkler said.

"This is one of the great cities in the United States of America and everyone should actually come here to enjoy the theater, enjoy the good food, enjoy the warmth of the people and the Fonz!"

Just 34 hours left for TV's "Lost"

SAN DIEGO - "Lost" fans can start expecting some answers.

Writer-producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof said Friday that they know exactly how the ABC series will end.

"We have 34 hours left for you guys to see — seasons five and six," Lindelof told the Comic-Con crowd. "We owe answers. We know the answers that we owe. The questions have to begin to diminish."

"We know where we're going and we know how long we have left to tell the story," Cuse added. "There's also an organic process that goes on."

They compared the process to a road trip, which can often include alternate routes and unexpected stops.

The showrunners said they will continue to supplement their storytelling with Webisodes, mobisodes (on mobile devices) and games.

"We're doing it primarily for the die-hard fans of the show," Lindelof said.

They offered no spoilers at Entertainment Weekly's panel dedicated to visionary TV producers. But they did reveal they'd like to see the return of Mr. Eko.

"Mr. Eko was a character we really loved," Cuse said of the role played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Turns out the British actor didn't like living and working on an island.

"Hawaii was not his bag," Cuse continued. "Real life intervened and forced us to end the arc of that character much sooner than we would have liked."

No word on whether Mr. Eko will come back when "Lost" returns this fall.

Keitel Set For Life On Mars

Movie tough guy Harvey Keitel has signed up to star in his first TV series after joining the cast of U.S. drama Life On Mars.

The hit British show, which has been recast for American TV audiences, will also feature Jason O'Mara and The Sopranos star Michael Imperioli.

The Piano star Keitel will play the leader of a no-nonsense homicide task force.

The show revolves around O'Mara's cop character, who wakes up in the 1970s after he's knocked unconscious in a traffic accident.

New At the Movies Cohosts: Bens There, Done That

Los Angeles (E! Online) - A day after Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper announced they were vacating their aisle seats on At the Movies, producer Disney has given two thumbs-up to a couple of new hosts for the venerable movie-review show.

Producers have tapped E!'s resident movie buff Ben Lyons and Turner Classic Movies go-to man Ben Mankiewicz as the new cinematic tastemakers on the weekend show.

"I am incredibly excited to be involved with such a prestigious show," Lyons said. "Reviewing films for a living is a thrill, and now that I will be a critic for At the Movies, it is an honor and huge responsibility that I look forward to."

As for their first review—that is, of their new joint gig—the two critics are unanimous.

"I am thrilled and honored beyond words to be joining the series," Mankiewicz said. "As a movie fanatic, this is my dream job. Without question, I certainly have big shoes to fill."

In addition to the new hosts, the show will also be introducing several new segments come its September relaunch.

The signature "cross-talk" reviews will continue, but the series will also introduce a "Critics Roundup," where the Bens are joined via satellite by reviewers across the nation to discuss new releases.

Both hosts will also chime in for a new "3 to See" segment, where, as the title would suggest, Lyons and Mankiewicz give viewers their recommendations for new features.

Film critics Ebert, Roeper leaving their TV show

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Influential film critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper are departing the movie-review show that bears their names, the two announced separately, leaving the program's future unclear.

Ebert, 66, who has been sidelined as co-host of "At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper" since 2006 due to health problems, said in a statement posted on Monday on the Web site of the Chicago Sun-Times that he was ending his relationship with the show.

He had no explanation for his departure, but said producers had decided to "take the program in a new direction." Ebert, arguably America's best-known film critic, had remained active behind the scenes despite losing his voice to cancer.

His announcement came a day after Roeper, 48, said his last appearance on the show would be an episode airing August 17. Both Ebert and Roeper are columnists for the Sun-Times.

The show's production company, Disney-ABC Domestic Television, had no immediate comment on the future of the long-running program, which Ebert launched 33 years ago with late Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel.

Ebert said he and Siskel's widow, Marlene Iglitzen, will retain the show's trademarked catch-phrase "two thumbs up" for some future use.

"After 33 years on the air, 23 of them with Disney, the studio has decided to take the program named 'Siskel & Ebert' and then 'Ebert & Roeper' in a new direction. I will no longer be associated with it," Ebert's statement said.

Roeper joined the show eight years ago, after Siskel died of complications from a surgery to remove a brain tumor.

Roeper said in his statement that Disney had offered to extend his contract several months ago, but ultimately he and the company did not come to terms.

"Much transpired after that behind the scenes, but an agreement was never reached, and we are all moving on," Roeper said.

Roeper said he intends to "proceed elsewhere" and co-host another film review show that "honors the standards established by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert more than 30 years ago."

"I will be free to share the details on that program in the near future," he said.

Leno's last 'Tonight' is May 29; O'Brien in June 1

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Conan O'Brien will take over the "Tonight" Show next June — and what happens to deposed host Jay Leno after that is anybody's guess.

Leno's last show will be Friday, May 29, and O'Brien will start the following Monday, June 1, NBC executives told a Television Critics Association meeting Monday.

NBC is angling to keep Leno with the network but the late-night king has indicated he's ready to jump ship. Eager NBC competitors, including other networks and syndicators, are eager to help him make the leap.

Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff, NBC Entertainment co-chairmen, were asked about the specter of Leno being hired by ABC and overpowering O'Brien in the ratings.

"We really believe in the decisions we've made with our partners, including Jay" and are standing by them, Silverman replied.

Jimmy Fallon is poised to take over O'Brien's "Late Night" in March or April of 2009, after honing his approach in brief Internet shows, Silverman and Graboff said.

O'Brien will wrap his "Late Night" run sometime in the first quarter of the year, with exact dates to be determined, the executives said. O'Brien reruns will fill the gap until Fallon takes over.

Brenda Lives! Doherty Zips Back to 90210

Los Angeles (E! Online) - The beeyotch is back.

The CW has confirmed that erstwhile Brenda Walsh Shannen Doherty will be reprising her role as one-half of Beverly Hills' best-loved Minnesota twins for a multiple-episode stint when the 90210 spinoff hits small screens this fall.

Doherty's reprisal marks the fourth official return from a Beverly Hills, 90210 regular to the spinoff, joining Tori Spelling, whose Donna Martin is now an upscale boutique owner, Joe E. Tata, whose Nat is still the owner of the Peach Pit, and—cue the maniacal moustache-twirling—Jennie Garth, whose Kelly Taylor is now the guidance counselor at West Beverly High.

It remains to be seen whether she—Taylor or Garth—also reprises her role as a certain brunette's mortal frenemy.

Though murmurs of such a casting coup have been circulating for weeks, with E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos reporting earlier this month that Doherty's appearance was a done deal, the network only made it official this morning, with an announcement at the Television Critics Association conference.

As for Doherty, she will apparently remain the show's resident drama queen.

Since leaving West Bev, Brenda has become a successful theater actress and director who divides her much-sought-after time between the London and New York stages. She is dragged back into the high school fray when her alma mater approaches her to direct a musical production for the students.

For more details on what's in store for the gang come the Sept. 2 premiere, jump over to our Watch With Kristin TV blog.

Larry David primed for more "Curb"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Larry David is bringing back "Curb Your Enthusiasm" for a seventh season, HBO said on Thursday.

The premium cable network hopes the latest installment of the edgy comedy series will premiere at the beginning of 2009, marking a gap of more than a year since the sixth season ended in November 2007.

David, the show's star and creator, is "excited about it," HBO West Coast president Michael Lombardo said during the network's portion of the Television Critics Assn.'s summer press tour in Beverly Hills.

Meet the 'Big Brother 10' cast

STUDIO CITY, Calif. - "Big Brother 10" is returning to its roots.

The claustrophobic CBS reality show is sealing 13 actual strangers — no ex lovers, secret twin partners or long-lost siblings this time — inside a makeshift house on a Studio City soundstage for the chance to be the last houseguest standing and take home the $500,000 grand prize.

"There's somebody for everyone in this cast," executive producer Allison Grodner recently told The Associated Press at CBS Radford Studios. "It's going to be interesting to see people that come from such opposite worlds living together, which has always been a part of this show, but this season, we really do have our most diverse group ever."

The contestants — which will include a gay bull rider, a Hooters waitress, a professional bodybuilder and a 75-year-old former Marine — will spend the summer competing in challenges and evicting each other while being monitored by over 50 cameras. It's the first time since the show's third season that the houseguests are all strangers.

"When approaching this season, we wanted to look at what made this spark and last for 10 seasons," said Grodner, who's worked on "Big Brother" since the second season. "Every season had its unique twist. I think, in a way, going back to basics and having the cast be all strangers is part of the twist of '10.' Of course, there will be more."

In last season's first-ever winter edition of "Big Brother," which was quickly put into production because of the writers strike, contestants were partnered with each other and evicted as pairs for the first four weeks of competition. Grodner said a new "Big Brother 10" gameplay twist would be introduced during the premiere episode on July 13.

"It's really a power-play," teased Grodner. "The game will actually start before they enter the house."

In recent seasons, contestants have come under fire outside the house for controversial remarks made inside the house. During the eighth season, Amber Siyavus said that Jewish people tend to be "really money-hungry" and "selfish." Last season's winner Adam Jasinski was fired by a nonprofit autism organization because he used the word "retards."

"Those types of comments are not something we want to happen," said Grodner. "It's a live show. It's not censored on the Internet. These are real people. We aren't telling them what to say, but we're not telling them what not to say either. Things do happen. We, of course, can choose what we put in the show, and we do so carefully."

This season's contestants seem to be more aware of the repercussions of their actions from the outset. Before meeting their competitors or entering the house, the "Big Brother 10" cast was individually interviewed by the AP while they were voluntarily sequestered — no television, newspapers or telephones — from the outside world in a Studio City hotel.

"If you make a mistake and say the wrong things, you may offend people and be known for that forever," said Steven Daigle, a 35-year-old geographic consultant and gay rodeo competitor from Dallas. "People make mistakes. If I do make a mistake, I hope I can learn from it and know that was some part of my life that I was ignorant or uneducated about."

The rooms inside the "Big Brother" house this season will be themed to different decades. The kitchen, for example, resembles a '50s diner while one of the bedrooms is filled with '70s-inspired furnishings. The timeliness extends to this season's crop of contestants. At 75, Jerry MacDonald will be the oldest "Big Brother" houseguest ever.

"Age does not bother me," MacDonald told the AP. "I hope it doesn't bother them."

Libra Thompson, a married 31-year-old human resources representative from Spring, Texas, left behind her husband and three children — including 4-month-old twins — to participate in "Big Brother 10." During production, Thompson and the other "Big Brother" contestants are prohibited from communicating with the outside world.

"It's better for me that they're younger," said Thompson of her newborns. "At four months old, they're not going to remember much. It's probably going to be a little bit more difficult for my 4-year-old. However, I'm going to stay focused and remember the reason I'm here, and that's the cash. That will help me."

Prize money talks.

"I'm motivated because I'm a big fan of the show, but I'm more motivated that I have a chance to win $500,000," said Angie Swindell, a 29-year-old pharmaceutical sales representative from Orlando, Fla. "I just have to keep telling myself that if I start feeling all queasy about the 24-7 thing, there's an end to the means."

April Dowling, a 30-year-old car dealership finance manager from Higley, Ariz., said she doesn't think the "Big Brother" experience will be any more difficult than the time she had to spend 15 days in a "tent city" jail for drunk-driving charges. She also believes living in the house may remedy some of her obsessive-compulsive behaviors.

"I have seen a therapist," said Dowling. "They tried to put me on anti-anxiety medication, but I'm not big on prescription medication. I just don't like to take it. I'm actually hoping the 'Big Brother' experience will be therapeutic. My life will not end if the green beans aren't behind the corn in the pantry."

The 13 contestants of "Big Brother 10" are:

• Michelle Costa, 28, real estate agent from Cumberland, R.I.

• Steven Daigle, 35, geographic consultant from Dallas

• April Dowling, 30, finance manager from Higley, Ariz.

• Robert "Memphis" Garrett, 25, mixologist and party planner from Los Angeles

• Dan Gheesling, 24, high school teacher from Dearborn, Mich.

• Jessie Godderz, 22, bodybuilder from Huntington Beach, Calif.

• Brian Hart, 27, telecommunication account manager from San Francisco

• Jerry MacDonald, 75, retired marketing executive from Magnolia, Texas

• Renny Martyn, 53, hair salon owner from Metairie, La.

• Bryan Ollie, 27, marketing sales representative from Bloomington, Minn.

• Keesha Smith, 29, waitress from Burbank, Calif.

• Angie Swindell, 29, pharmaceutical sales representative from Orlando, Fla.

• Libra Thompson, 31, human resources representative from Spring, Texas

Stars Line Up For Elvis Costello TV Show

Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed and former U.S. President Bill Clinton will be among the heavy hitters appearing on Elvis Costello's new variety show.

The show, called "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...," has taped four one-hour episodes of a planned 13-program run. The series is being co-produced by CTV in Canada and Channel 4 in the U.K., as well as the Sundance Channel in the U.S. A broadcast schedule has yet to be announced.

The format for the series will see Costello have conversations and collaborations with his guests. According to the production company, one of the early episodes will see Costello perform with John.

"I'm hoping that future shows continue to embody the great joy, passion and celebration of music we've had thus far, mixed with rare poignant and powerful moments," Costello said in a statement. "It's early to say too much about 'Spectacle' other than it has been a wonderful and surprising experience."

Additional guests confirmed for this season include musicians Davey Faragher, Pete Thomas and Steve Nieve of the Imposters; guitarist James Burton, who played with Elvis Presley; legendary producer, pianist, writer, arranger and singer Allen Toussaint; jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, winner of 17 Grammy Awards; as well as others.

Mr. Big out, Goldblum in for `Criminal Intent'

LOS ANGELES - Mr. Big is out, and Mr. Goldblum is in.

Jeff Goldblum will be joining "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" while Chris Noth — Mr. Big in the "Sex and the City" TV show and movie — is leaving after three seasons, a series spokeswoman said Thursday.

"Criminal Intent," part of the "Law & Order" franchise that includes the original series and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," recently was picked up for a 16-episode eighth season by USA Network.

"Jeff's presence will add a new dimension to an already successful show," series creator Dick Wolf said.

Noth's character, New York police Detective Mike Logan, was a member of the "Law & Order" family since the start, Wolf noted, adding, "We all wish him the best."

Noth played Logan on the original NBC series from 1990 to '95, in a "Law & Order" TV movie and then on "Criminal Intent" starting in 2005. The show's seventh season airs Sundays on USA.

A call requesting comment from Noth was not immediately returned by his representative.

Goldblum recently starred in the short-lived NBC series "Raines" but is mostly known as a film actor with credits that include "Jurassic Park," "The Lost World," "Independence Day" and "The Fly."

He shared an Academy Award nomination in 2005 for the live-action short film "Little Surprises."

"Criminal Intent" originally aired on NBC. But when the network decided that last season's schedule had room for only two of the shows a deal was struck to air "Criminal Intent" first on USA, then on NBC.

NBC and USA are corporate cousins within NBC Universal, and "Criminal Intent" reruns on USA already had proved among its most popular programming.

"Criminal Intent," which looks at cases from both the perspective of police and lawbreakers, stars Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe and Eric Bogosian.

Saturday Night Live Rewinds For Carlin Tribute

Saturday Night Live will pay tribute to late comedian George Carlin this coming weekend by re-airing the programme's 1975 debut, which the funnyman hosted.

Carlin died after suffering a heart attack on Sunday. He was 71.

In a tribute to the comic, SNL creator Lorne Michaels says, "He was gracious, fearless, and most of all, funny."

Albert Brooks is high on his `Weeds' role

LOS ANGELES - Albert Brooks' mordant on-screen neuroticism has lifted his films and characters to comedic heights, with "Defending Your Life," "Lost in America" and his Oscar-nominated turn in "Broadcast News" among the prime examples.

But it's difficult to find evidence of personal torment during an interview prompted by Brooks' guest role on Showtime's "Weeds." He's relaxed, congenial and wears no furrowed brow, looking younger than any true worrywart has a right to.

"I'll be honest with you," offers Brooks, 60, in that familiar, rhythmically whiny cadence that can presage a riff, or a meltdown. "I've always felt that the word `neurotic' was really `Jew.' ... It's a legal way of saying, `That Jew over there,'" he said, with a mild chuckle.

He's on a roll: "I thought of it years ago, when someone said, `You dirty neurotic. Get the hell out of here.' Then there was the sign at the Los Angeles Country Club: `No neurotics allowed.' I knew what that meant."

Brooks, who is Jewish, is busting up now and it's impossible not to do the same. He's an ex-comic who still revels in leaving 'em laughing, even when he's got an audience of one.

Brooks' reputation, as recently and lovingly detailed in "Comedy at the Edge," Richard Zoglin's book on groundbreaking 1970s comedians, is of a brilliant standup whose departure from the field left a void.

It's a talent Brooks acknowledges but when he pursued to get what he really wanted. Watch "Weeds," which features him in a four-episode arc starting with Monday's season premiere (10 p.m. EDT), and you see where his heart lies.

An actor, he says, "is all I wanted to be."

"Weeds" marks Brooks' first return to series TV since he made short films for the inaugural 1975-76 season of "Saturday Night Live," excepting a handful of voice-over turns on "The Simpsons." (He also had voice roles in "The Simpsons" movie and in "Finding Nemo.")

As Lenny Botwin, father-in-law of single mom and pot merchant Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker), Brooks is a key part of the drama's relocation from suburbia to the fictional Southern California border town of Ren Mar.

His work on "Weeds" was as satisfying as being in a fine independent film, Brooks said. He's a fan of the show's writing and the cast, especially Parker ("at the top of her game; everything she does is interesting") and Justin Kirk, who plays brother-in-law Andy Botwin.

And, he said, the role of the grizzled Lenny was a welcome change.

"He's not the part I normally play," he says. "He's a gambler, a guy who never made anything of his life and hates his son. He's a fusty curmudgeon. If you isolated the part and said, `Is this going to be a movie, or on Showtime?' it doesn't matter because the part is great."

He'd like to find such roles on the big screen as well, but current fare doesn't lend itself to that possibility. Studios are too busy cultivating projects that pass what Brooks calls the "14-year-old/Korea test."

"This is a generalization, because there are always good movies that pop up, but for the most part movies need to appeal to very young people and to foreign people, and that's not a dynamite combination for smart, intellectual comedy," he said.

Which is exactly what writer-director Brooks traffics in; not blockbusters but films with distinctly singular themes that have the added bonus of showcasing familiar actors in new, sometimes startling ways (think Debbie Reynolds as the overbearing parent in 1996's "Mother").

Besides 1991's "Defending Your Life," in which he and Meryl Streep explore a Brooksian vision of the afterlife, and 1985's "Lost in America," a skewering of yuppiedom, there's his latest, "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" (2005).

His big-screen directorial debut was 1979's "Real Life," a prescient take on then-nascent reality TV — PBS, of all things, was the groundbreaker in 1973 with its "An American Family" documentary series. In "Real Life," a filmmaker (played by Brooks, who wrote the script with Harry Shearer and Monica Johnson) persuades a family to let him record their daily life and ends up a home-wrecker, literally; he burns their house down for a big finish.

His movies often tap into the zeitgeist or even foreshadow it, and his comedy was the same. One Brooks routine recounted in Zoglin's book is "Rewriting the National Anthem," in which open auditions are held for average Americans to warble their proposed replacement.

"American Idol" come to mind?

"I was friends with (singer-songwriter) Harry Nilsson, who said the job of the artist is to get way ahead and sort of scout," Brooks said. "It's like Davy Crockett."

"Not all entertainment does that," he continued. "And, by the way, the entertainment that makes the most money is entertainment that doesn't do that. Somebody said to me, `You're always ahead of your time.' I said, `Go to the bank. There's no window there for that.'"

His next film project?

"I'm going to think of something done 10 years ago," he jokes.

Brooks said he enjoys the luxury of working in a movie without being responsible for it as a director. But the pull of a story idea, once born, often won't let go. He turned down "Big" after his "Broadcast News" role because "Defending Your Life" had begun gestating.

He admits to routinely letting obsession take hold.

"So much so that when my wife and I bought a new mattress a number of years ago — and I'm not proud of this — but I think I knew more about mattresses than the guys at Sit 'n Sleep," Brooks said. "I went to a mattress store and in four minutes the salesman was afraid of me."

The comic patter flows so easily in conversation it provokes the idea that he might someday want to give standup another try. He abruptly exited the game in the mid-'70s, with his many appearances on Johnny Carson's "Tonight" show and two comedy albums, "Comedy Minus One" from 1973 and "A Star Is Bought" from 1975, serving as evidence of his artistry.

Turns out that his buddy, Richard Lewis, has suggested that Brooks stroll in sometime and share one of Lewis' gigs.

But Lewis "is another guy more worried about life than I am," Brooks said, then imagines how their pairing would be billed: "Spend an extra-neurotic evening. Or, as we call them, Orthodox neurotics!"

British beauty Billie Piper is Showtime's Belle de Jour

LICKFOLK, England - On an early summer evening, Billie Piper is sitting in the back garden of a pub near her country home.

She's talking about sex and a city girl — the London-based professional escort Belle, whom she portrays in the Showtime series "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," premiering 10:30 p.m. EDT June 16.

"I was thinking it was quite racy for America," says Piper as she ponders just how the series will come across in the U.S.

In the United Kingdom, it aired last September and was blasted in the media for glamorizing prostitution.

"I thought it was a side to prostitution that we are not normally exposed to, and I thought there was a story worth telling there," Piper says in defense. "I kind of knew it was going to cause a bit of an uproar, especially because I was playing the part. People are always so used to me doing children's shows or family drama."

As a teenager, Piper became a star in England in 1998 with the chart-topping pop song "Because We Want To." And she has been a popular subject for the British tabloid press.

She was previously married at 18 to popular DJ Chris Evans. Now 25, she's married to Laurence Fox, who plays Detective James Hathaway in "Inspector Lewis," airing on PBS' "Masterpiece Mystery" beginning June 22 (9 p.m. EDT).

Piper and Fox married on New Year's Eve, about a year after meeting while acting together in the play "Treats," and they recently moved from London to the country.

Piper has had recurring roles in the popular sci-fi series "Doctor Who," and has starred in several British made-for-TV movies. Yet never has the actress revealed more of herself than in the sexy "Call Girl."

The series is based on the Belle de Jour blog, which was written by a young woman who enjoys being a sex worker yet pretends to family and friends she's just Hannah, a legal secretary.

Doubts have been raised about whether Belle really exists or whether the blog was simply the fictitious concoction of some clever minds.

However, Piper says: "I met her and she was quite a character and she was the most useful part of my research."

"I started asking really simple, mundane questions — like `What's your favorite song?' `What kind of films do you watch?' Often those very simple details can be really useful. They tell you a lot about the human side of things," says Piper, explaining that because Belle's way of life was "so far removed from anything I know, I had to make her more human in my head."

She also consulted several other professional escorts and went to their apartments "where all these intimate moments take place" to see "step by step, how it's done."

How it's done, of course, meant strong language and nudity. But Piper counters criticism by saying that's just part of the acting challenge of honestly portraying the lifestyle.

Showtime is running the eight half-hour episodes uncut as part of an hourlong block with the fourth season of the hit series "Weeds."

Undaunted by the media criticism, Piper has begun filming a second series as Belle, and a third series has been ordered. But she may soon need a body double, she says, because she's pregnant.

Newhart mulls 'Corner Gas' cameo

Theoretically speaking, Bob Newhart is intrigued by the possibility of making a cameo appearance in the Corner Gas series-finale.

"I'd have to see the script, but I've heard of it, yeah," the legendary comedian said of Corner Gas, the creator of which, Brent Butt, jokingly broached the subject of using Newhart in an interview with Sun Media in April.

In a more recent interview with Sun Media, Newhart laughed quite hard -- in a good way, not a sarcastic way -- when told about the door to Corner Gas possibly being open. The series-finale for Newhart's self-titled sitcom Newhart, of course, is the most famous exit in TV history.

"Right now there's an illness in the family that is kind of my focus, unfortunately, so I'm trying to stay at home as much as I can," said Newhart, who is making a very quick trip to Canada this week for two shows at Casino Rama, north of Toronto. "So I don't know. It would depend on when it was, whether it would fit into the time."

But if it merely were a cameo appearance, Newhart might even be able to tape it at home, right?

"Yeah, that's true," said Newhart, 78.

The final moments of the Newhart finale featured Newhart waking up in bed with actress Suzanne Pleshette, who died earlier this year. Pleshette had played Newhart's wife in his earlier series, The Bob Newhart Show, so the joke was that the entire eight-year run of Newhart had been a dream.

Back in April, a day after announcing his decision to shut down Corner Gas, Butt fondly recalled the Newhart finale.

"I don't have a previous series to tap into," said Butt, who also stars in Corner Gas. "But maybe I'll end it with Bob Newhart."

Well, all kidding aside, Bob isn't against the idea.

"Law & Order: CI" is returning for 8th season

LOS ANGELES - "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" will remain on the case for another season on USA Network.

The show has been renewed for a 16-episode eighth year, the network said Thursday.

Part of the three-series "Law & Order" franchise created by Dick Wolf, "Criminal Intent" originally aired on NBC. But when the network decided that this season's schedule had room for only two of the shows, a deal was struck to air "Criminal Intent" first on USA, then on NBC.

NBC and USA are corporate cousins within NBC Universal, and "Criminal Intent" reruns on USA already had proved among its most popular programming.

"We're thrilled to have 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' for another season," Bonnie Hammer, president of NBCU Cable Entertainment & Cable Studio, said in a statement, adding that USA "forged new ground" by debuting what had been an established network series.

Wolf, executive producer of the "Law & Order" shows, said in a statement that "Criminal Intent" has "thrived in its new home on USA and will for years to come."

The new order from USA trims the series from the 22 episodes that were ordered for the seventh season. The show returns Sunday, June 8, after a break.

"Criminal Intent," which looks at cases from both the perspective of police and lawbreakers, stars Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Julianne Nicholson and Eric Bogosian. Chris Noth, of the "Sex and the City" TV show and movie, also stars.

Both "Law & Order" and spinoff "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" will return to NBC next season.

It will be season 19 for the original series, second only to "Gunsmoke," which aired from 1955 to 1975, as the longest-running network TV drama series. "Special Victims Unit" will be in its 10th year.

Cook triumphs over Archuleta on 'American Idol'

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The grown-up rocker triumphed over the smooth-voiced kid as David Cook claimed the "American Idol" title Wednedsay, and it wasn't as much of a surprise as it seemed.

While 17-year-old Archuleta was heaped with praise by the judges the night before, the voters decided otherwise — and did they ever. Host Ryan Seacrest said during Wednesday's show that 12 million votes was the difference, and they broke in the favor of the 25-year-old from Blue Springs, Mo.

Cook was overcome by emotion, bending toward the stage after his name was announced.

"This is amazing," he said. "This is all your fault," he added, addressing the brother who Cook had accompanied to the "Idol" audition that started it all.

Cook immediately took the microphone and began to sing "Time of my Life," which won the annual "Idol songwriting competition, to close out season seven.

Cook refused to bow to the conventional during his three-song set Tuesday, with Collective Soul's "The World I Know" as his pick for a closing performance. He also sang U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and the power ballad "Dream Big," his choice from the songwriting competition's finalists.

"If I had to choose between playing a song that not a whole lot of people know that I could get behind, or the opposite, I'll choose the lesser-known every time," Cook told The Associated Press backstage Tuesday.

Judge Simon Cowell said at the time that the song choices sunk him, and told Archuleta that he'd scored a "knockout" performance in the boxing-themed performance finale.

Cook was unshaken, and now his choices are vindicated.

With a record 97.5 million audience votes cast by phone and text, the split between the two contestants was 56 percent for one David and 44 percent for the other, Seacrest announced at the start of the show.

Only 2 new shows on Fox network in the fall

NEW YORK - Fox is launching only two new series in the fall, traditionally its slow season, but the network plans flashy two-hour premieres of four shows during the same week as the Democratic National Convention.

The network's biggest priorities next season will be launching two new science fiction series by the creative forces behind "Lost" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Despite some audience erosion from "American Idol," Fox will end the current television season as the nation's most popular network among all viewers, not just young ones. That's the first time Fox has achieved this in its 20-year history, and it breaks CBS' five-year winning streak.

Its edgy strategy hasn't changed, though.

"We're just looking for good, noisy shows," said Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly.

"Fringe," "Bones," "Prison Break" and "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" will open the fall season the week of Aug. 25.

They should not conflict with major moments of the convention because political planners try to time them after 10 p.m. on the East Coast, when the shows will be over, said Peter Liguori, Fox entertainment chairman. Fox is avoiding any conflict on Thursday, when the party's nominee gives an acceptance speech.

Producer J.J. Abrams ("Lost") is behind "Fringe," a drama about an airplane flight whose passengers meet untimely ends. "Fringe" will be paired on the schedule with "House" on Tuesdays in the fall and "American Idol" in the spring.

A comedy, tentatively titled "Do Not Disturb" and set in a trendy Manhattan hotel, is the only other new fall show.

Fox executives said their series development was hurt by the writers strike, one factor in the small number of new fall shows. But the new season on Fox usually starts slowly and kicks in when "American Idol" and "24" join the schedule in January.

Some network rivals are being conservative in introducing shows this fall "by default," Reilly said. "We're doing it by strategy."

Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") is the creator of midseason entry "Dollhouse," about an underground group whose members have their personalities erased so they can be given others. Two animated and one alternative series will debut in midseason.

Fox is reintroducing viewers to "24," which wasn't shown this year because of the strike, with a two-hour prequel Nov. 23.

Fox executives introduced their schedule to advertisers a week after "Idol," TV's biggest show, had its smallest Tuesday audience in five years. Fox was satisfied with the show creatively but not with its performance, Liguori said.

"The network and producers really want to take a look at the show next year and see what we can do to inject it with new levels of energy and greater storytelling," he said. The Wednesday results show will be cut from an hour to 30 minutes.

And, yes, Paula Abdul will be back, he said.

The network canceled "Back to You," the sitcom with Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. Reilly said the show didn't seem to be striking a chord and he wasn't confident of its future direction. The comedy "'Til Death" will be back but revamped to expand the cast, he said.

The two animated shows are Seth MacFarlane's "The Cleveland Show," about a man who marries his high school sweetheart, and "Sit Down, Shut Up," about staff members at a high school. The alternative series is "Secret Millionaire," which takes some rich folks and puts them undercover in poor neighborhoods.

Jennie Garth Moves Back to 'Beverly Hills, 90210'

Kelly Taylor is back.

Jennie Garth, who was rumored to return to her old stomping grounds at West Beverly High, will indeed join the cast of The CW's spinoff of "Beverly Hills, 90210," reports People.

Garth, 36, will make special guest appearances as a guidance counselor at her alma mater. She is the first original cast member to hitch herself to the project and the second person to be cast as part of the faculty after Ryan Eggold, who will play an English lit teacher.

The show will center on the experiences of the Mills family when they move to Beverly Hills because of the latest drunken exploits of grandmother Tabitha Mills (Jessica Walter), a has-been Hollywood starlet. Lori Loughlin will play her daughter-in-law Celia, while granddaughter Annie (Shenae Grimes) and adopted grandson Dixon (Tristan Wilds) maneuver through the hallways of West Beverly High.

Also previously cast are Jessica Stroup, AnnaLynne McCord and Dustin Milligan.

Garth recently exited the CBS pilot "My Best Friend's Girl," sparking rumors that she was freeing herself up for appearances on the as-yet untitled "90210" project. Although she made a name for herself on the original show, she also enjoyed a run on "What I Like About You" and performed honorably on "Dancing With the Stars."

Person close to talks: NBC installing Fallon on 'Late Night'

NEW YORK - Jimmy Fallon will officially be given the keys to NBC's "Late Night" franchise following Conan O'Brien's exit.

A person close to the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement hadn't been made confirmed the widely rumored change Sunday and said a news conference was planned for Monday.

All that's left is an official date for NBC's transition: O'Brien moving out West to take over for Jay Leno on the "Tonight" show and Fallon following in the next time slot.

Fallon was a "Saturday Night Live" cast member before leaving for a movie career in 2004. He has had mixed success, with his most notable role as a childlike Boston Red Sox fan and Drew Barrymore's paramour in "Fever Pitch."

He signed a deal with NBC in 2007 that was widely seen as a way to keep him in the fold until the time came for Monday's announcement.

It would be hard for him to have a rockier transition than O'Brien had when he took over from David Letterman in the mid-1990s. O'Brien was a writer with a quick sense of humor but a mystery to the television audience, and he was savaged in early reviews. NBC nearly fired him but persevered, and O'Brien grew into the role.

It was in large part to keep O'Brien happy that NBC announced four years ago that he would replace Leno next year.

While Leno went along with the plan, there are reports that the workaholic comic is not eager to leave. NBC Universal is trying to find a job that would satisfy him and avoid having Leno move to ABC or Fox to compete directly against O'Brien.

NBC could decide to back out of the plan and keep Leno on "Tonight," but O'Brien's contract calls for a penalty fee reportedly close to $40 million.

It all amounts to a roll of the dice in late-night, where NBC has stayed on top despite the network's prime-time problems.

NBC's announcement opens network television's "upfront" week, when fall schedules are set and presented to advertisers. NBC took the unusual step of announcing its schedule a month ago, and it has invited advertisers for a Monday sales presentation emphasizing all of NBC Universal's properties.

ABC Makes Up for Lost 'Lost'

ABC is making official what the producers of "Lost" have been saying for some time: Fans of the show won't be shortchanged any episodes.

The show will film 17 episodes for each of its final two seasons, instead of the 16 initially planned when ABC and the show's creative team hammered out a three-seasons-and-that's-it deal last year.

The extra shows in 2009 and 2010 will make up for the two episodes lost to the writers' strike this season, meaning the total number of episodes (48) isn't changing.

Executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have been saying as much for a while. In a conference call with reporters last month, Lindelof said they expected to deliver the two shows they couldn't this year in the future.

"I think it means there will be 34 left," he said. "We did 14 this year because of the strike, but we promised 16, which means we owe two more hours."

"We're not actually shortening the total number of episodes," Cuse added. "We're just deferring them into seasons five and six."

"Lost" has three episodes left this season, all of which Lindelof and Cuse consider part of the season finale. The first part airs Thursday, May 15, and the conclusion airs as a two-hour show on May 29. The show is taking May 22 off to make room for a two-hour "Grey's Anatomy" finale.

50 years since she said, 'Julie, don't go!'

Fifty years ago this Sunday night, Canada successfully invaded America, or more precisely, Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster made their legendary first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show.

They performed "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga," a wry historical parody of the type they excelled at. In tough detective-story style, private eye Flavius Maximus (Wayne) pursued Brutus (Shuster) for the murder of Julius Caesar.

And although they scored a hit, the biggest laughs of the evening went to another member of the cast.

It was Sylvia Lennick who brought the house down as Caesar's wife, Calpurnia, with her oft-repeated lament: "I told him, `Julie, don't go!'"

Lennick is 92 now, still living in Toronto. She's the only surviving member of the company from that historic night and she remembers it well, although the sharp-as-a-tack showbiz veteran begins her reminiscences with a vintage ham-on-wry quip.

"I don't know how it can be 50 years ago," she deadpans, "when I'm only 52."

Back in the 1950s, Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town, which appeared on CBS-TV every Sunday night at 8 p.m., was one of the most influential media showcases in America.

Each week, an assortment of talent ranging from rock idols (Elvis Presley appeared, from the waist up) to novelty acts (remember Topio Gigo, the Italian mouse?) to stars of the latest Broadway shows (Mary Martin, Ethel Merman) would fight to be on Sullivan's show. A successful appearance could turn a career around overnight. It was a very big deal.

So was Lennick nervous about appearing on such a prestigious show?

"You're always a little nervous when you're performing," she ho-hums. "Without nerves, you might as well stay home. You work on those nerves."

She did have one major area of concern. "I was doing the part in a heavy Bronx accent and I thought to myself, `Here I am going where everybody talks like that!'"

But her mind was soon put at ease.

"In those days," she recalls, "they did two rehearsals the day of the show and all the actors in New York would come to the first one in the morning.

"I said my first line and they roared with laughter. Then when I made my exit, they applauded. That's when I knew I'd be fine."

The same thing happened at the afternoon's dress rehearsal and the live evening broadcast brought Lennick her biggest response of all.

The next day, all of America was buzzing about the show and "I told him, `Julie don't go!'" became an instant catchphrase.

Lennick was initially unaware of all the fuss.

"All I knew was I had gotten three hands on the same day with the same material. It was like I had gone to heaven."

It even made up for the fact that appearing on the Sullivan show had forced her to postpone her son David's bar mitzvah.

"And it all shows you how much I know," laughs Lennick.

"When I read the script, I never thought `Julie don't go,' was my big laugh line.

"I thought I was going to kill them when I said, `It's the Ides of March, already.'"

'The Sarah Connor Chronicles' Will Be Back

Judgment Day won't come for at least one more season.

FOX has picked up its freshman series "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" for 2008-09. The show earned a 13-episode order for 2008-09, on the heels of its strike-shortened and reasonably successful nine-episode run earlier this year.

The pickup isn't a big surprise; FOX Entertainment chief Kevin Reilly said in an interview last week that the show was already hiring staff.

"The Sarah Connor Chronicles" enjoyed a big premiere in January following an NFL playoff game, drawing better than 18 million viewers. The show's ratings fell off in its regular home on Mondays, but it still averaged 10.8 million viewers and a 4.5 rating among adults 18-49. In the latter category it's the top-rated new scripted series this season.

The series stars Lena Headey as the title character, who's obsessed with protecting her son John ( Thomas Dekker), the future leader of the human resistance against the machines that will one day wipe out most humanity. Summer Glau and Richard T. Jones also star, and Brian Austin Green, who appeared in five episodes this season, will be a regular next year.

FOX has several shows in development that could form a sci fi-tinged block with "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," including Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" and "Fringe," from J.J. Abrams' company.

Reports: Fallon to succeed Conan on 'Late Night'

NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Fallon appears to be inching closer to Conan O'Brien's "Late Night" chair. For months, Fallon has been widely considered the top choice to succeed O'Brien when he steps down next year. On Thursday, published reports said Fallon has signed, or soon will sign, a deal with NBC.

NBC had no comment Thursday on the stories by The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. The network had been expected to announce its choice of host within the next few weeks, possibly at its May 12 presentation for advertisers.

A former regular on "Saturday Night Live," Fallon, 33, would take over sometime next year as host of the 12:30 a.m. talk show. O'Brien is to replace Jay Leno on NBC's "Tonight" show, aired at 11:30 p.m. each weeknight.

Fallon taking over "Late Night" is the only part of this talk-show turnover that remained in any doubt. The succession plan at the "Tonight" show, including Leno's departure, was announced by NBC in 2004.

But as long ago as last summer, NBC late-night boss Rick Ludwin was quoted as saying that Fallon "is at the top of our short list."

'Corner Gas' pumped for finale

Corner Gas has only two finales left, and one of them is tonight.

The popular Canadian sitcom will air its fifth-season finale this evening on CTV. This comes on the heels of the announcement that season No. 6 will be the last for the show.

Fans can expect something special tonight, as regularly has been the case with the previous season-finales of Corner Gas.

Remember last year when we all were set up to believe that massive changes had occurred? And then, well, nothing actually changed. It was all a dream, and life went on as usual in Dog River.

As things begin tonight, it's 30 minutes before midnight, at which point Brent -- played by series creator Brent Butt -- will turn 40.

As you would expect, the other seven main characters -- Lacey, Wanda, Hank, Oscar, Emma, Davis and Karen -- are planning a big bash. But as you equally would expect, those party plans go awry.

With the final season set to begin shooting next month in Saskatchewan, Butt said he has taken the time to appreciate what a unique endeavour Corner Gas has been. After all, Canadian sitcoms usually stink; and even when they're good, usually nobody watches; so to have one that doesn't stink and people actually watch it, too? Well, sound the trumpets.

"It was an anomaly and the likelihood of having a million and a half people watch whatever I do next is pretty slim," admitted Butt, who presumably will continue to develop other projects for CTV.

'SMELL THE AUTHENTICITY'

"So I am kind of intellectually aware of that aspect. But the idea isn't to create Corner Gas again. The idea is to do the same thing I did with Corner Gas, which is, not worry about what the response is or how many people watch. Just worry about doing a funny show, and then no matter what happens, you can walk away with your head held high."

Corner Gas also has benefited from the fact that it isn't directed at any specific portion of the TV audience.

"One of the things I was most appreciative of was that CTV never gave me a demographic to write to, or any type of agenda," Butt said. "And I think people smell the authenticity of that, or felt it, you know?

"They knew we weren't trying to be something we weren't. A lot of shows try to be hip and edgy and adult, and generally fail, right? I always have found it kind of ironic that shows that consider themselves 'adult' are often the same type of show somebody in Grade 7 would write. 'And then they jump into bed and have sex, and then they go skateboarding.' "

Hmmm ... have you copyrighted that one, Brent?

In any event, tonight isn't the end of Corner Gas, but merely the beginning of the end.

"It's one of those things, kind of a no-win situation in a way," Butt said of the decision to stamp an expiry date on his pride and joy. "But I have no doubt this was the right time.

"That's the rock I'm hanging onto through all this. Whenever I seriously ask myself, 'Was this the right time?' the answer always comes back, 'Yes.' "

'Lost,' 'Grey's Anatomy' Tack on Episodes

Fans of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost" will get a little more of the shows they love this season. Eventually.

ABC announced Monday (April 14) that it's adding another episode to each show's season, allowing both to have two-hour season finales. That will make for 17 total episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" for the season and 14 of "Lost" (two short of the initially planned 16).

However, because ABC had scheduled its post-writers' strike episodes so tightly, the finale of "Grey's Anatomy" will force "Lost" off the air for a week in May.

Both shows had been scheduled to end their seasons on Thursday, May 22. Now, though, "Lost" will cede its place on the schedule that night to make room for the two-hour "Grey's Anatomy" finale. It will return on Thursday, May 29 for its own two-hour finale. (Both finales, incidentally, will fall outside Nielsen's May sweeps period, which ends Wednesday, May 21.)

ABC's other Thursday show, "Ugly Betty," will also have its season finale on May 22, as planned.

The network initially ordered five episodes of both series when the strike ended. Once the shows were up and running again, a combination of the ABC wanting the extra hours and the producers of the two shows believing they had more stories to tell resulted in the additional episodes.

Ferguson tops O'Brien for first time

NEW YORK - Recently sworn-in U.S. citizen Craig Ferguson is being embraced by his new countrymen: The late-night comic hit a ratings milestone last week with his first victory over NBC's Conan O'Brien.

The CBS "Late Late Show" averaged more viewers than O'Brien's "Late Night" (1.88 million to 1.77 million) for the first week during which they each competed with all-original shows since Ferguson started in January 2005.

It caps a slow and steady climb for Ferguson and raises a red flag for future "Tonight" show host O'Brien, although NBC says it is still happy with O'Brien's audience.

"He's getting looser and looser all the time and for the last few months it's clear that he's having such a good time that you can't resist it as a viewer," said veteran late-night hand Peter Lassally, Ferguson's executive producer.

Ferguson, a Scotsman, passed an American citizenship test and was formally sworn in on Feb. 1. He'll be host of the annual White House correspondents' dinner in Washington later this month, a high-profile gig for a comic.

Although Ferguson had slowly become more competitive with O'Brien in the ratings, the writers strike was crucial to the surge, said producer Michael Naidus.

"It was a tough thing but for us it just let us play with the show in a looser way," Naidus said. "We threw out everything and now just have our writers doing a comedy show."

The strike also put a brighter spotlight on late-night programming and Ferguson benefited from the attention, with correspondents from newspapers and magazines writing flattering stories about him, Naidus said.

NBC acknowledged Ferguson's victory but noted O'Brien — the designated successor to Jay Leno when Leno steps down next year — still led among viewers aged 18-49, the youthful demographic the network bases its advertising sales on. Among the younger half of that demographic, O'Brien gets more viewers than David Letterman, NBC said.

NBC also noted that CBS got a boost by having all-original shows at the 10 p.m. hour last week, possibly increasing its audience in late-night, while NBC was still in reruns.

'Corner Gas' calling it quits

TORONTO - After six years of pumping gas, pouring coffee and pontificating about life and love, the "Corner Gas" gang is packing it in.

The hit CTV comedy, one of the most successful Canadian sitcoms ever made, is coming to an end after the upcoming sixth season, the show's star and creator, Brent Butt, said Thursday.

The final 19-episode season, about the hijinks at a small-town gas station in the fictional town of Dog River, Sask., begins shooting next month in Saskatchewan, with the series' finale airing some time in the spring of 2009.

"It's a very difficult decision, but the right decision, and one I felt I had to make," Butt said in a news release.

"When I told CTV about my decision, they made it clear that they were keen to do more seasons. They didn't want it to end yet. But for the good of the show, I wanted to exit gracefully, on top of our game, when we're at our prime - because that's how I want viewers to remember 'Corner Gas': at its very best."

"Corner Gas" has been a ratings winner for CTV for years and has won numerous Gemini awards. It also airs in syndication in countries around the world, including Australia and the United States, where it outperforms shows like "Heroes" and "Prison Break" on the cable channel Superstation WGN.

CTV's Susanne Boyce lauded the show.

"This is not goodbye, it's see you later," she said. "Brent and his team have accomplished something that has never been achieved before. They said it couldn't be done, but 'Corner Gas' did it anyway. The series has paved the way for other Canadian productions by proving that if you make great TV, Canadians will watch."

"Corner Gas," which also stars Eric Peterson, is shot entirely in Saskatchewan and will end its run on its 107th episode.

-

'Corner Gas' chronology

June 2003 Production begins on Season 1 of "Corner Gas."

Jan. 22, 2004 - More than a million viewers tune into the series premiere.

Oct. 4, 2004 - "Corner Gas" is nominated for an International Emmy Award.

Oct. 5, 2004 - More than 1.5 million viewers tune into Season 2 premiere.

Oct. 1, 2005 - Finland becomes the first of 26 countries around the world to purchase the show for broadcast outside of Canada.

Oct. 31, 2005 - Prime Minister Paul Martin makes cameo appearance on "Corner Gas," attracting a record audience of 2.2 million viewers. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson, Darryl Sittler and Ben Mulroney, among many other notable Canadians, also make appearances in later episodes.

Nov. 19, 2005 - "Corner Gas" wins two Gemini Awards.

Dec. 12, 2005 - "Merry Gasmas," a "Corner Gas" holiday special, attracts record-setting audience of 2.43 million viewers.

Nov. 4, 2006 - "Tales from Dog River: The Complete Corner Gas Guide" is released and becomes a bestselling book across Canada.

Nov. 4, 2006 - "Corner Gas" wins its second Gemini Award for best comedy series.

Nov. 24, 2006 - "Corner Gas" secures U.S. broadcast deal with Superstation WGN.

Sept. 17, 2007 - "Corner Gas" premieres on Superstation WGN in the U.S.

Oct. 28, 2007 - "Corner Gas" takes home three Gemini Awards including its third for best comedy series.

April 10, 2008 - Brent Butt announces that "Corner Gas" will end at the conclusion of Season 6 in 2009.

Source: Prairie Pants Productions.

'Galactica' set for final showdown

Like all good things -- life, love, that particularly good chorizo empanada you had for lunch -- even Battlestar Galactica must come to an end.

The Peabody Award-winning series, hailed as one of the decade's finest TV offerings, is spooling up the faster-than-light drive for its fourth and final season, premiering tomorrow night on sci-fi channel Space.

It's the beginning of a bittersweet last leg for the cast and crew, including stars Katee Sackhoff and Grace Park. On screen, there's been much friction between their characters; Sackhoff plays tough-but-vulnerable ace pilot Kara (Starbuck) Thrace, while Park's Sharon (Boomer) Valerii (please, we call her Athena now) is a Cylon, the race of androids who destroyed humanity's homeworlds.

But in person during a recent visit to Toronto, they're as close and comfortable as sisters, alternating between finishing each others' sentences and ragging on each other without mercy.

"It's like having friends without trying," Vancouver native Park said of shooting a series as tight-knit and intense as Battlestar. "You see some of these people more often than you see your own family, and you have experiences that are deeper than the things you'll have with most of your friends."

What began as a huge TV gamble -- resurrecting the name and premise of a cheeseball 1970s Star Wars ripoff and giving it a gritty, politically aware edge -- has paid off with mainstream recognition, a ferociously devoted fanbase and significant fame for its stars.

Fame that includes a recent GQ magazine photo shoot featuring Sackhoff, Park and Canadian former supermodel Tricia Helfer (who plays smokin' hot Cylon Number Six) posing on motorcycles. In leather chaps. And bikinis.

"You get close. Literally," said Park, turning to coo at Sackhoff: "Your skin is so soft."

"Grace is laying on my back and Tricia's ass is my face," recalled Sackhoff. Fans, enjoy the mental image. GQ, enjoy the readership spike.

Between talk of how the writers' strike had some fearing Battlestar wouldn't come back ("We were drinking Irish whiskey at 9:30 a.m. on the last day because we pretty much thought it was the end," said Park) and a wild tangent about Sackhoff's brother biting the head off a crab that attacked him ("Do you think that crab was like, 'What the f---! Normally I go in the pot first!' "), we revisit the inevitable question: Why does political and religious commentary like Battlestar's have to be cloaked in a shield of sci-fi?

"It allows people a sense of comfort, to be talking about heavy issues but in the back of their minds to be able to dismiss their emotion toward the issue as science fiction," said Sackhoff.

"Everyone talks about it, but not addressing it directly," said Park. "And being able to do it in green flight suits and jetting off into space and FTL drives makes it that much easier.

"If someone gets their back up too much, someone else says, 'Look, it's called Battlestar Galactica.' "

It's not all metaphysics and Iraq war pokes, of course. But fans tuning in tomorrow night to discover what's up with Starbuck's miraculous return, find out whether or not the fleet will locate Earth and learn the identity of the final Cylon are going to have to wait awhile.

Sackhoff and Park, who were shooting Episode 14 of 20 at the time of our talk, said even they don't know the answers yet. They will come, though. All in good time.

"I think there's a tremendous freedom in what (the show's creators) want to say, but they know that they need to wrap it up, and they've got a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up," Sackhoff said.

"There's no way that we're going to be disappointed."

The last Cylon? Even the writers might not know

It is this TV season's "Who shot J.R.?" or "Which Simpsons character is gay?" Who is the last, yet-to-be-revealed Cylon in the Battlestar Galactica universe?

Of the 12 models of androids who've infiltrated human society, seven were identified over the first two seasons, and another four in Season 3's shocking finale, including crusty Col. Tigh and goodhearted Chief Tyrol.

But who is the final Cylon? Is it Admiral William Adama? President Laura Roslin? Apollo? Starbuck? Baltar? Some Viper pilot who has only been half-glimpsed in a couple of episodes?

Forget about prying the secret out of series stars Katee Sackhoff and Grace Park, though. They can't even agree with each other about who it is.

"We're already fighting about it," Park said. "She (Sackhoff) thinks she knows, and I think it's not true."

"Oh, I think it's not true, too," Sackhoff countered. "But I know. We all know. You think it's not real, I think it's real but they're going to have to change their minds."

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on a second. Change their minds? About one of the series' biggest surprises?

"I think they're going to have to just pick a person out of thin air when we get to that episode, and make it make sense, or everyone's going to find out," Sackhoff said.

Plugging ears now! Don't want to hear that something so significant to the Galactica story arc could be decided on a whim at a writers meeting!

"It's not that casual, and you want to believe that something so great was contrived, that they meant to do it," Sackhoff said. "But I think that sometimes the things that are so great in life are by accident."

Spinoff of "The Office" highlights new NBC shows

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC will launch a spinoff of its popular workplace comedy "The Office" following the broadcast of the National Football League's Super Bowl championship next February, the network said on Wednesday.

The announcement came as NBC unveiled its upcoming programming lineup, including plans to bring back the acclaimed hospital drama "ER," which launched the career of movie star George Clooney, for a 15th and final season next fall.

Another returning show is the low-rated but critically acclaimed series "Friday Night Lights," a drama centered on football in a small Texas town that will be back next winter.

Among new shows set to debut next season in a prime-time schedule heavy on fantasy and action fare is a remake of the 1980s hit "Knight Rider," a series titled "Merlin" and a modern warrior drama called "Kings," inspired by the themes in David and Goliath.

Other highlights include new dramas "The Philanthropist," about a renegade billionaire who uses his wealth to help people, and "My Worst Enemy," starring Christian Slater as a suburban dad who lives a secret life as a spy.

NBC Entertainment Co-Chairman Ben Silverman, hired last year to help the network recover from a long ratings slump, said we wanted to bring "inspirational, heroic, escapist" drama to the schedule.

"We've watched a lot of dark stuff not work -- and we've learned from that," he said.

NBC, majority-owned by General Electric Co, took the wraps off its programming plans six weeks ahead of the other major broadcast networks, saying it wanted to give advertisers time to plan long-term campaigns and build their marketing around the programs.

In all, the major TV networks will sign about $9 billion worth of advertising deals in the coming weeks, as they unveil their new schedules after a miserable 2007-2008 season. Prime-time ratings are down about 12 percent from a year ago.

NBC UNDER PRESSURE

NBC, struggling since favorites "Friends" and "Frasier" ended their runs four years ago, is facing particularly intense pressure to rebound. It could again finish the season last in the ratings race behind Fox, ABC and CBS, and its poor performance in recent years has given rise to talk that GE may consider selling NBC Universal.

In one notable programming move for next season, NBC said it would air four half-hour editions of the late-night sketch comedy series "Saturday Night Live" in prime time on Thursdays, with plans to schedule at least some of them the same weeks as U.S. presidential debates.

But the long-rumored spinoff of "The Office," the comedy starring Steve Carell as a cluelessly offensive boss at a Pennsylvania paper company, drew the most attention from journalists and advertisers gathered in New York for NBC's "upfront" presentation of its new shows.

In a bid to give the spinoff the widest possible exposure, the new series will premiere back-to-back with an episode of the parent show following NBC's coverage of the Super Bowl, which ranks as the most watched U.S. telecast every year.

However, executives offered no information about the casting or premise of the new series, other than to say it is from the same creative team as the original NBC show.

Indeed, details about all the new shows announced by NBC were extremely sketchy given that the network lacked any promotional trailers or pilots to showcase them.

"We've got so many terrific plans already in place, there was no reason to wait," said Marc Graboff, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment.

Since NBC announced its schedule before competitors, however, there could be changes in coming weeks and months.

"We always obviously have to react to the three-dimensional chess game we're playing," Silverman said. "Clearly, if something happens that requires us to make an adjustment, we'll make that adjustment."

Walt Disney Co's ABC, News Corp's Fox and CBS Corp's CBS will unveil their lineups in May, the traditional month of the upfronts, when negotiations between networks and advertisers hit full stride.

Jimmy Kimmel marks milestone show

LOS ANGELES - Ben Affleck might be history. Jimmy Kimmel is trying for video magic with someone else to mark the 1,000th episode of his late-night talk show Thursday.

"This morning I woke up with Richard Simmons in my bedroom for something we're preparing for the show. I don't want to give too many details, but suffice it to say that Sam Elliot and Richard Simmons were hovering over me," Kimmel told The Associated Press earlier this week.

Whether the taped bit can top Kimmel's video duel with girlfriend Sarah Silverman remains to be seen. Kimmel himself marvels at the online popularity of the comic films, one in which Silverman and Matt Damon sing of their faux hot love affair and the other with Kimmel striking back by claiming a romance with Damon's pal Affleck.

Last time Kimmel checked, he said, 25 million people had viewed the videos online. "I guess this Internet is useful for something other than pornography," he said.

There's a chance Silverman might contribute to the 90-minute "Jimmy Kimmel Live" anniversary special, airing at 11:35 p.m. EDT Thursday on ABC (a half-hour ahead of its usual start time). Eva Longoria Parker and Kid Rock are among the scheduled guests.

"I'm aware there are plans being laid I'm not supposed to know about," Kimmel said. He has mixed feelings about a possible surprise, he said, "but it usually works out OK."

Kimmel recalled his early ambitions for the show.

"When I started, I said I won't stand up and do a monologue, I won't wear a tie. ... Most of that didn't work out," he said, and the show ended up reverting to "tried and true" conventions.

But he prides himself on bringing his own twists to the format, such as showcasing unexpected talent like the parking lot guard who has become a show staple.

"No one is too small to put on TV. If someone makes us all laugh around the office, then they'll make the audience laugh, too," he said.

The late-night scene is facing upheaval in 2009, when NBC has said Jay Leno will turn "Tonight" over to Conan O'Brien. There has been speculation that ABC might make a bid for Leno and fit him into its late-night lineup.

Does Kimmel ponder how that scenario might affect him?

"I try not to worry about it too much," he said. "It seems like every year something like that comes up. I used to obsess about it. ... But five years later, we're still here."

He attributes that to dedication, among other factors.

"We've been on long enough and proven that we can put a pretty good show on. That's pretty rare, when you look around. It takes a combination of things to be a talk show host — one is being a good host and committing your life to that completely."

No one is good enough to do the job just by breezing in, he said, pointing to Chevy Chase's short-lived 1993 talk show as a cautionary tale.

But if Kimmel finds himself hit by fallout from late-night's coming changes, he's ready.

"I'm planning to open a bait and tackle shop," he quipped.

CBS Pilot Lures Elisha Cuthbert Back to TV

Elisha Cuthbert has booked a new TV gig, one that ought to keep her safe from mountain lions, terrorists and nuclear attacks. Whew.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cuthbert has landed the female lead in CBS' one-hour romantic-comedy pilot "Ny-Lon," marking the actress' first potential regular television gig since "24."

Based on a 2004 Channel 4 series, "Ny-Lon" focuses on a New York based record store clerk (Cuthbert) and a London stock broker who meet in London and begin a cross-continental romance (hence the show's title).

Rashida Jones and Stephen Moyer played the leads in the original.

The trade reports that Caterina Scorsone ("1-800-Missing") and Johnny Whitworth ("CSI: Miami") have also landed roles in the CBS pilot as the roommate and ex-boyfriend of Cuthbert's character.

Best known as Kim Bauer from "24," Cuthbert has transitioned into roles in films including "The Girl Next Door" and "Captivity."

In other CBS pilot casting news, Rachel Boston will appear in the network's "Mythological X," about a young woman who learns from a psychic that she's already met and dated the man she's supposed to marry.

Boston ("American Dreams") will play the main character's younger sister, a sassy dancer.

Eick: Bionic Is Dead

David Eick, co-executive producer of NBC's SF series Bionic Woman, confirmed to SCI FI Wire that the network has indeed canceled the show, though the network has not yet officially said as much.

"I just felt that the process was so frustrating, and the conditions under which we were making that show never really came to fruition in such a way that I felt like we could make the show well," Eick said in an interview at SCI FI Channel's upfront presentation to advertisers in New York on March 18. "The actress [Michelle Ryan] we found was wonderful. Some of the writing was good."

But, he added: "We just didn't ever bring it all together like we did with Battlestar. At a certain point, when it becomes that frustrating, I think you're better off to say, 'Let's try again another time,' and let it go."

Bionic Woman, a reboot of the 1970s series of the same name, debuted to strong ratings last fall, but its numbers dropped precipitously after that, and behind-the-scenes problems persisted. Cancellation was expected after the network failed to order additional episodes once the writers' strike ended.

Sci Fi keeps fight going with 'Battlestar' prequel

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" will live on with "Caprica." At its "upfront" presentation to advertisers Tuesday in New York, the cable channel said that it has green-lighted a two-hour pilot for the prequel, which had been in development for two years.

Sci Fi also has given the go-ahead to "True Believer," a two-hour back-door pilot created by Rosario Dawson and David Atchinson -- who co-wrote the comic book series "Occult Crimes Task Force" -- about a comic book enthusiast who hires a former superhero to teach him about crime-fighting. It joins "The Stranded," a two-hour pilot of a Sci Fi/Virgin Comics joint venture.

The network also plans an "Alice in Wonderland"-based six-hour miniseries titled "Alice." A two-hour comedy-drama pilot, "Deputized," follows a man who fights crime around the galaxy after getting super powers.

"Caprica," which is set 50 years before the events in the departing "Battlestar," will begin production in the spring. It hails from the "Battlestar" masterminds Ronald D. Moore and David Eick.

As for "Battlestar," the series' final-season premiere will debut online nine hours before it airs on TV.

Sci Fi's reality slate includes "Estate of Panic," a series about seven people who compete to find millions of dollars at an estate, and "Brain Trust," in which geniuses bands together to solve problems. The channel also announced new seasons of "Scare Tactics," now hosted by "30 Rock's" Tracy Morgan; "Mind Control With Derren Brown"; and "Ghost Hunters International." And a May 18 special by NBC News correspondent Lester Holt will feature "Mystery of the Crystal Skulls," about the real-life search for what the objects at the center of the latest "Indiana Jones" movie.

The channel also will expand its digital offerings with a game site launching in mid-April as well as "Battlestar" webisodes and a social game based on the show. An original Web series, "Starcrossed," is planned to debut in the fourth quarter.

Robin Williams set for `Law & Order'

LOS ANGELES - Robin Williams will guest star on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," but don't expect him to bring laughs to the NBC crime drama.

Williams is playing an "engineer whose life has gone terribly wrong" and who faces serious repercussions, series spokeswoman Pam Golum said Tuesday. The episode, which films later this month, is scheduled to air April 29.

After his breakthrough role on the 1980s sitcom "Mork & Mindy," Williams' career has mostly centered on a mix of movies, including "Good Morning, Vietnam," "Dead Poets Society" and "Patch Adams." He won an Academy Award for 1997's "Good Will Hunting."

The "Special Victims Unit" episode with Williams, titled "Authority," is the show's 200th, Golum said.

"Big Brother" feels summer love

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Big Brother" is going back-to-back.

CBS is gearing up for a summer edition of its voyeuristic reality series to follow the winter run that's still on the air.

The network has aired "Brother" the past three summers. Once the Hollywood writers strike kicked in last November, CBS opted for the show's first in-season edition, which premiered in February.

Although a summer season of "Brother" always has been likely, the prospect of the series' first back-to-back run has been tempered by the current edition's modest ratings.

Season-to-date, the winter run has averaged just 6.6 million viewers, according to a Nielsen Media Research, despite some video outtakes of lurid bedroom (and bathroom) coupling that have made entertainment blog headlines.

Given the numbers, it was unclear whether CBS might opt to give the show a breather before bringing it back. But some "Brother" episodes have gone up against Fox's "American Idol," which offsets the larger audience benefits of airing in-season. And fans contend that the sun-drenched summer atmosphere is ideal for the show.

CBS has not announced a premiere date for the summer edition.

Reality fans also could face another unprecedented back-to-back series run because of the strike: With Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" to premiere in-season for the first time next month, the show also might have its regular summer version. The network has a second run on tap, having ordered two editions shot during the show's recent production cycle.

Mariah fills in for sick Janet on `SNL'

NEW YORK - "Saturday Night Live" has replaced a flu-ridden Janet Jackson with another diva: Mariah Carey.

Carey, 37, will fill in for Jackson on the March 15 "SNL" telecast, NBC announced Wednesday.

Jackson, 41, was scheduled to perform live Saturday night in support of her latest album, "Discipline," which was released last month. The singer's publicist, Patti Webster, said Tuesday she dropped out because she has the flu and "needs some time to get better."

Carey's latest album, EMC2, arrives April 15.

"Cleveland" on map as "Family Guy" spin-off

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Family Guy's" henpecked husband Cleveland Brown might be getting his own show.

The Fox network and the show's producer, 20th Century Fox TV, are developing a spin-off from their hit animated series centered on Peter Griffin's bathtub-accident-prone neighbor, sources said.

The project, tentatively titled "Cleveland," is being written by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry -- a writer/producer who voices Cleveland -- and Rich Appel, an executive producer on MacFarlane's other Fox cartoon, "American Dad."

Cleveland, who plays off black stereotypes, is the most levelheaded among Griffin's trio of friends. He's also pushed around by his wife.

Once canceled by Fox, "Family Guy" triumphantly returned on the network in 2005. It is Fox's top-rated comedy and has grown into a $1 billion franchise with red-hot DVD and merchandise sales.

Fox executives have made it a priority to find another hit animated comedy to complement their Sunday comedy lineup. They have several cartoons in the works, including an animated version of the 2003 short-lived live-action comedy "The Pitts." In addition to "Cleveland," Fox is also developing a spin-off of the drama series "Prison Break," set at a female prison.

...here are the best Oscar alternatives on TV

When someone says "Juno," do you say, "Awards"?

When someone says "3:10 to Yuma," do you say, "Air Canada totally has screwed up my itinerary?"

When someone says "No Country For Old Men," do you say, "Are the Rolling Stones touring again?"

When someone says "There Will Be Blood," do you say, "Yeah, I'm really looking forward to the next federal election"?

And when someone says "Ratatouille," do you say, "There's no way I'm eating that goulash"?

If any of those examples rings a bell, then maybe the Academy Awards, which will be televised tonight on CTV and ABC, aren't for you.

Luckily, there always are TV alternatives. Among them:

Intruders: Aliens Speak Out (Space)

In some previous years, you could categorize the Oscar acceptance speeches this way, couldn't you? Anyway, this Canadian-produced documentary digs into the phenomenon of so-called alien abductions by featuring the stories of five alleged abductees. If this all sounds quite reasonable to you, then hey, tear yourself away from your $11,000 worth of video games and enjoy!

On Screen (Bravo)

The presentation tonight looks at the movie Kissed, which is Lynne Stopkewich's 1996 film about necrophilia. Hey, we said there were alternatives. We didn't say they'd all be suitable for the whole family.

The Godfather Part II (AMC)

OK, this movie officially has replaced The Blues Brothers as the most frequently seen movie on TV. Rarely while clicking around does one come across the original version of The Godfather, nor do we encounter the largely dreadful Godfather III. It's always Part II. Sheesh, if we knew anyone named Fredo, we'd take him fishing, if you know what we mean.

Big Brother: 'Til Death Do You Part (Global, CBS)

The nomination ceremony and food competition take place. Hmmm, hopefully no one is serving ratatouille.

Cheerleader Nation (CMT)

America's bizarre and borderline creepy fascination with cheerleading continues as tryouts start for the Dunbar High School Varsity and Junior Varsity squads. "Gimme a C. Gimme an R. Gimme an A. Gimme a P. What's that spell?"

Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work (CBC)

The third and final instalment of this documentary series sees the Queen's children discussing the lifetime jobs into which they were born. Wait a minute, the Queen's kids have jobs? We've never seen any of those positions posted on Workopolis.

Hannah Montana (Family)

Okay, this whole Miley Cyrus craze caught us totally off guard. Of course, when we look in the mirror, we don't see a 9-year-old girl, either. Anyway, with an episode called "She's a Super Sneak" (Rick James is rolling in his grave), here's a chance to investigate what all the fuss is about. By the way, Miley Cyrus will be one of Barbara Walters' victims tonight on her annual Oscar "Let's see who I can make cry" interrogation special on CTV and ABC, along with Vanessa Williams, Harrison Ford and Canuck Ellen Page.

Trailer Park Boys (Showcase)

Two words: Bubbles wrestles.

Cast changes in store for 'Law & Order'

LOS ANGELES - Jesse L. Martin is putting down his "Law & Order" detective's shield, and Anthony Anderson is in negotiations to pick it up.

Martin, who has been with the NBC drama since fall 1999, will film an episode to air this spring explaining the departure of his character, New York police Detective Ed Green, a person familiar with the show said Wednesday.

Anderson is concluding negotiations to join the cast as a new partner for Detective Cyrus Lupo, played by Jeremy Sisto, said the person, who wasn't authorized to announce the change and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Martin is set to play Marvin Gaye in "Sexual Healing," a movie biography of the ill-fated singer, with James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos") costarring. Filming on the project from Gandolfini's production company is to begin this spring, according to trade paper reports.

Anderson recently starred in the Fox TV series "K-Ville." His other credits include FX's "The Shield" and the films "The Departed" and "Transformers."

Martin once took a break from "Law & Order" to star in the 2005 film version of "Rent," the Broadway version of which he appeared in.

Jenna Fischer back at the 'Office'

LOS ANGELES -- Cue the water-cooler chatter.

It turns out fans of The Office may have doubly good reason to rejoice when the Emmy-winning comedy returns in April, says Jenna Fischer.

The actress, better known as girl-next-door and office receptionist Pam, tells Sun Media the drones of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company were working on a series-best installment when the work stoppage by Hollywood's scribes mothballed production.

"The episode we were shooting when we got shut down is maybe the funniest episode I've ever read. It's a plotline the writers have been talking about for two years and it planted all the seeds that would pay off for the rest of the season ... It's a great, great episode where (Steve Carell's Michael Scott) throws a dinner party."

Fischer made the remarks during a recent mid-strike interview.

The Office had completed 12 of 28 episodes before film and TV scribes swapped their pens for pickets last November. The first post-strike The Office will air April 10, along with fellow NBC Thursday-night series 30 Rock, Scrubs and ER. My Name is Earl returns to the peacock network a week earlier with its first post-strike episode set for April 3.

Yet even as Hollywood continues to deal with the fallout from the work stoppage, attention has turned to the potential walkout by the Screen Actors Guild this summer.

Last week, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro took out an ad in Variety urging union bosses to begin contract negotiations immediately and avoid another industry-crippling labour action in June.

Still, Fischer says the issue the writers battled over -- namely residual payments from new media revenue streams -- is just as critical to actors.

"Most people in SAG, they live mainly on their residuals. I think of myself and I'm doing very well right now and you can feel very financially secure because I have work and I have a job and I try not to get too doomsday about it, but I think about shows that were really popular 15 years ago -- and what are those actors doing these days? You can be hot one minute and not the next and in 15 or 20 years I might really need those residual cheques to get by."

In the meantime, the U.S. broadcast networks continue to set post-strike return dates.

On March 17, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men will be back. Also announced by CBS: Cold Case (March 30); CSI and Without a Trace (April 3); Ghost Whisperer (April 4).

ABC and the producers of Lost have announced their current run of new episodes will end March 13 with the seventh episode of the fourth season.

The show will then go off the air for six weeks and return April 24 with the eighth episode that was shot pre-strike to be followed by five post-strike episodes.

As well on May 1, Lost moves back one hour on Thursdays to make room for the return of Grey's Anatomy (for five post-strike episodes).

Over at The CW, executives have also finalized their post-strike schedule. Everybody Loves Chris returns March 2 with new episodes that were filmed before the strike. Other notable dates on the fledging youth-centric network: Gossip Girl (April 21, for nine new episodes); One Tree Hill (April 22, for six new episodes); Reaper (April 22, for five more episodes), Smallville (April 17, for five more episodes) and Supernatural (April 24, for four more episodes).

Also, it has been confirmed by NBC that Heroes and Chuck won't re-appear until the fall, while 24 isn't back on the clock for the Fox network until January.

Matlin on `Dancing With the Stars'

LOS ANGELES - Priscilla Presley, Kristi Yamaguchi and Marlee Matlin are catching dance fever.

They are among the dozen celebrities who will compete on the next season of "Dancing With the Stars," ABC announced Monday night.

The other contestants are Adam Carolla, Shannon Elizabeth, Steve Guttenberg, Monica Seles, Penn Jillette, Mario, Jason Taylor, Cristian De La Fuente and Marissa Jaret Winokur.

"Dancing" returns March 17.

'24' fans must wait until Jan. 2009

NEW YORK - Fans of the Fox drama "24" will have to wait until next January to see Jack Bauer again, this television season's most prominent casualty of the Hollywood writers strike. The network has committed to air a full season on consecutive weeks, and had been planning to start last month.

But if it had started airing new episodes soon, the season finale would not have taken place until the summer, when TV networks rarely show their high-profile programs.

Even though eight episodes for this season had already been filmed before the beginning of the writers strike, producers would have had to ramp up production soon to complete the season.

A January 2009 start seemed the best way to comply with viewers' wishes that a season's episodes run without interruption to conclusion, Fox said on Thursday.

The company that produces the series, 20th Century Fox Television, also confirmed that creator Joel Surnow was leaving as one of the executive producers. Fox is owned by News Corp.

Surnow told Daily Variety that he had "decided it was time to see if there were other opportunities I wanted to pursue."

Surnow leaves '24'

"24" co-creator/executive producer Joel Surnow is leaving the Emmy-winning Fox drama.

Surnow's departure is effective immediately. He served as an executive producer on the first eight episodes of the real-time thriller's seventh season that were produced before and into the strike but will not be creatively involved in the remaining 16 episodes, slated to begin filming shortly.

Surnow's overall deal with "24" producer 20th Century Fox TV was up April 30. This week, the writer-producer asked the studio to release him early, and it agreed.

Instead of signing a show deal to continue providing services on "24," Surnow decided to go for "a clean break" and leave altogether to focus on new projects. ("24" co-creator/executive producer Robert Cochran's overall pact with 20th TV also expired last year, but he continues to work on the series.)

Surnow began contemplating an exit from "24" in the summer, when the show was starting production on Season 7, but made the final decision during the strike.

"I did some soul-searching," Surnow said. "I took it as an opportunity to write on my own and do other things."

Surnow said he is not sure what exactly he will do next, but one thing is certain: "24" will be a tough act to follow.

"After doing '24,' I don't know if I want to do a mainstream show again," he said. "I like what's going on in cable; there is an opportunity to stretch dramatically there, which is something I'm trying to do."

As for his departure, Surnow said it was hard to leave the show that had been "a life- and career-changing experience" but knowing that "24" was in "the capable hands of Howard Gordon" made it easier. Gordon has run "24" since Season 6.

'Saturday Night Live' to return Feb. 23

NEW YORK (AP) — NBC's Saturday Night Live, the only late-night show completely shelved by the writers' strike, is planning a Feb. 23 return if the writers ratify a contract agreement and head back to work.

No host guests or guests have been announced for the return.

How long has Saturday Night Live been gone? So long that it opened its second-to-last show before the strike with a skit about a Halloween party at presumed president-in-waiting Hillary Clinton's house. The real Barack Obama made a cameo.

"It's been a long dry spell without Saturday Night Live on the air," Rick Ludwin, head of late-night entertainment at NBC, said Tuesday. "They've been sitting on the sidelines watching all this happening in politics and the primaries. SNL thrives during an election year, and they can't wait to get back on."

While the Tonight show and Conan O'Brien's Late Night returned in January without writers and did shows with skeleton crews, SNL is so dependent on its writers that it couldn't return without them.

When Your Favorites Will Return!

At long last, a strike chart you can get excited about!

With an end to the three-month-old WGA strike imminent (yay!), the networks have quietly begun outlining plans to salvage what's left of the current TV season. At the same time, I've been quietly picking at my moles to get a preview of those plans — the results of which appear in chart form below.

Keep in mind that the following information remains extremely tentative and is subject to change (and probably will). In other words, I strongly suggest you refresh your browser at least once an hour to ensure that you're getting the most up-to-date scoop possible.

24
Expected to return this fall or January '09.

30 Rock
Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

Back to You
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Future TBD*.

The Big Bang Theory
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Big Love
Expected to go into production on Season 3 in March. Airdate info is TBD.

Big Shots
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Bionic Woman
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Bones
Four pre-strike episodes left. Unclear whether additional episodes will be produced for this season.

Boston Legal
Expected to shoot 4 or 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Brothers & Sisters
One pre-strike episode remains. Expected to shoot 4 or 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Burn Notice
Production on Season 2 expected to get underway in late April. New episodes could start airing as early as July.

Chuck
No new episodes until fall.

The Closer
Expected to kick off its fourth season this summer.

Cold Case
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Criminal Minds
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

CSI
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

CSI: Miami
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

CSI: NY
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Desperate Housewives
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Dirty Sexy Money
No new episodes planned until fall; three remaining pre-strike episodes will undergo some tweaking and kick off fall run.

ER
TBD.

Everybody Hates Chris
Twelve pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Friday Night Lights
No new episodes expected for this season. Future TBD.

Ghost Whisperer
TBD.

Gossip Girl
Expected to shoot up to 9 new episodes to air in April/May/June.

Greek
Kicks off second half of Season 1 on March 24. Still awaiting Season 2 pickup.

Grey's Anatomy
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May

Heroes
TBD.

House
Expected to shoot 4 to 6 new episodes to air in April/May.

How I Met Your Mother
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Jericho
Seven episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Journeyman
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Las Vegas
Two pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Law & Order
TBD.

Law & Order: CI
TBD.

Law & Order: SVU
Production resumes in early March. Remains unclear whether episodes produced will be for this season or next.

Life
No new episodes expected until fall.

Life Is Wild
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Lost
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Six additional episodes could air this season.

Medium
Six pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

Men in Trees
Eleven pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

Moonlight
No new episodes expected until fall.

My Name Is Earl
Expected to shoot 8 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

NCIS
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes, only three of which may air this season.

The New Adventures of Old Christine
Seven pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

Nip/Tuck
Season 5 concludes Feb. 19. Production on the show's eight-episode sixth season expected to start up this summer. Airdate TBD.

Numbers
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes, only three of which may air this season.

October Road
Five pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

The Office
Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

One Tree Hill
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Prison Break
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Private Practice
Slim chance it could return with 4 or 5 new episodes this season. Either way, it'll be back in the fall.

Pushing Daisies
No new episodes until fall.

Reaper
Three pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Samantha Who?
Three remaining pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot an additional 4 to 8 episodes to air after the new season of Dancing with the Stars.

Saturday Night Live
Could be back on the air as early as Feb. 16.

Scrubs
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Four additional episodes will likely be shot; unclear whether they'll air on NBC or go straight to DVD.

Smallville
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 3 to 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Supernatural
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 3 to 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Five pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Two and a Half Men
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Ugly Betty
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Without a Trace
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Women's Murder Club
Shocking development: A deal to bring the show back this season is being hammered out as I write this. Stay tuned...

* TBD = To be determined

Here Comes Mike Judge to ABC

ABC has picked up an animated series from "King of the Hill" co-creator Mike Judge, even though not a word has been written yet.

The network has ordered 13 episodes of an animated comedy called "The Goode Family" from Judge ("Office Space," "Idiocracy") and fellow "Hill" veterans John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. The show is being produced by Media Rights Capital, which recently signed an interim deal with the Writers Guild that will allow scripting on the show to begin.

It hasn't yet, however -- ABC bought the show based on a pitch, the showbiz trade papers report. In a normal year, that would be a pretty rare occurrence, but the writers' strike is causing networks to shake up the way they order new product.

"The Goode Family" will tell the story of a family that's obsessed with doing the right thing, politically, socially and otherwise. It being a comedy, their good intentions tend to have unforeseen consequences.

As he does on "King of the Hill," Judge will also provide voices for some of the characters on "The Goode Family."

ABC's recent history with prime-time animation has been spotty, to say the least. The network last tried its hand at the genre with "Clerks," which lasted only a few weeks in the summer of 2000; prior to that, it aired the first season of "The Critic" in 1994-95.

KITT Gets a New Voice: Val Kilmer

NBC is making some last-minute changes under the hood of its "Knight Rider" update, bringing in Val Kilmer as the voice of KITT.

The "Top Gun" and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" star is taking over voice-over duties from Will Arnett ("Arrested Development"). Instead of the usual "creative differences," though, Arnett's departure was caused by the fact that he's already the voice of a different kind of vehicle.

In the new "Knight Rider," which NBC is calling a sequel to the 1980s series, KITT is a Ford Mustang. Arnett, however, has done commercial voice-overs for GMC Trucks for several years, and General Motors asked him to withdraw from the project, in which Ford is a marketing partner.

"I was very excited at the prospect of playing the part of KITT in the new 'Knight Rider' movie," Arnett tells Variety. "However, because of a long relationship with General Motors as the voice of GMC Trucks, I had to respectfully withdraw from the project."

Kilmer has done a fair amount of voice-over work in his career. He starred in the 1998 animated movie "The Prince of Egypt" and has lent his pipes to several commercials. His recent on-screen credits include "Comanche Moon," "Alexander" and "Wonderland."

"Knight Rider" is scheduled to air Sunday, Feb. 17 on NBC, and if the movie does well it could become a weekly series.

Meet Your 'Big Brother 9' Cast

For the first-ever winter edition of "Big Brother," CBS has assembled the show's biggest cast ever -- and they're all looking to hook up.

In fact, they'll have no choice but to do so. All 16 players are single, but the wrinkle in the game this season is that when they enter the house, each will be paired with a "soul mate." Whether they end up liking one another or not, their fate in the house will be tied to their partner.

Each pair will also live together as a couple -- which means, per CBS, that they will "sleep in the same bed, hold Head of Household as a couple, be nominated for eviction as a pair, and if the time comes, say their goodbyes together upon eviction."

"Big Brother" has eschewed its more typical mix of ages for this season; all but one of the houseguests is under 30. The only exception is Sheila, a former model and self-professed cougar who's 45.

The crew includes a couple of students, a paparazzo (26-year-old Parker), an electrician and a "bikini barista." What's that? Pretty much what it sounds like -- someone (in this case, 28-year-old Natalie) who serves coffee while wearing a bikini. Finally, there's 21-year-old James, a Floridian who says he's riding his bicycle around the world.

Julie Chen will be back as host of the show, which premieres Tuesday, Feb. 12 and will air Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday nights, with Wednesdays being eviction episodes starting Feb. 20.

Your contestants are:

Name: Adam
Age: 29
Hometown: Delray Beach, Fla. via Cherry Hill, N.J.
Occupation: Public relations manager

Name: Amanda
Age: 23
Hometown: Fridley, Minn.
Occupation: Paralegal

Name: Alex
Age: 24
Hometown: Staten Island, N.Y.
Occupation: DJ company owner

Name: Allison
Age: 28
Hometown: Boston
Occupation: Pharmaceutical sales rep

Name: Chelsia
Age: 21
Hometown: Cedar Falls, Iowa
Occupation: College student

Name: Jacob
Age: 23
Hometown: Dallas, Ga.
Occupation: Electrician

Name: James
Age: 21
Hometown: Sarasota, Fla.
Occupation: Riding bicycle around the world

Name: Jen
Age: 26
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Occupation: Bartender

Name: Joshuah
Age: 25
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Occupation: Advertising media buyer

Name: Matt
Age: 23
Hometown: Charleston, Mass.
Occupation: Roofing foreman

Name: Natalie
Age: 28
Hometown: Salem, Ore.
Occupation: Bikini barista

Name: Neil
Age: 29
Hometown: Los Angeles
Occupation: Realtor

Name: Parker
Age: 26
Hometown: Northridge, Calif.
Occupation: Paparazzo

Name: Ryan
Age: 27
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Occupation: College student

Name: Sharon
Age: 23
Hometown: Realtor
Occupation: Olathe, Kan.

Name: Sheila
Age: 45
Hometown: Reseda, Calif., via Memphis, Tenn.
Occupation: Former model

Television gearing up for post-strike return

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With a deal taking shape to end a three-month walkout by Hollywood writers, the strike-hobbled television industry is scrambling to get back on its feet and salvage what remains of the broadcast season.

Churning out fresh episodes of hit dramas and comedies after a lengthy production shutdown is more complicated than simply hitting the "power-on" button of a remote control.

Industry executives say it will likely take eight weeks to restore favorite shows like "House," "CSI," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Desperate Housewives" to prime time once the strike ends.

Even if the labor dispute were settled by next week, as some have anticipated, viewers would be unlikely to see original episodes of returning hourlong dramas before early April. The same is true for single-camera comedies such as "The Office" or "Scrubs," which like dramas, are shot more like a film and without live audiences.

Multi-camera sitcoms like "Two and a Half Men" and "Back to You" take less time to make -- three to four weeks from start to finish -- and could be on the air before mid-March.

The film industry, which operates on a production cycle of months or years, has seen a handful of projects put on hold by the strike but otherwise has so far been relatively unscathed.

The television industry has been harder hit since 10,500 members of the Writers Guild of America walked off the job on November 5. Studio executives and WGA leaders are said to have agreed on the outlines of a settlement, raising hopes the strike could be lifted as early as next week.

The immediacy of TV makes it more vulnerable to a work stoppage, and with most dramas and comedies halted since mid-December, productions must be ramped up from a standstill.

"The writing process itself tends to take a couple of weeks for a script to be ready to shoot, and that's just the beginning. Then you have to get it out to directors, scout locations, cast it and build sets," said one studio executive.

Filming a drama generally takes about eight days, with another week and a half needed for editing and other post-production work, he said.

ONLY HITS WILL RETURN

Not all of the roughly 65 scripted series bumped off prime time by the writers' strike will come back this year.

With dramas and single-camera comedies unlikely to get more than six weeks on the air from the time they return until the end of the broadcast season in late May, network programmers have some tough choices to make.

Hits like "CSI," "House" and "Grey's Anatomy," are "no-brainers" to bring back this spring, one network executive told Reuters.

Lower-rated shows whose futures already were in doubt will either be placed on hold for possible relaunch in the future or be canceled altogether, in part because networks lack the time to build up marketing campaigns for them, he said.

Scripted series that come back will share the airwaves with many of the reality TV and game shows that have flooded the networks in recent weeks as strike-proof programming.

There is little for networks and studios to do until the strike actually ends, but planning which shows should return and how to schedule them is well under way.

"Those conversations are happening," one insider said.

The strike also has cut into networks' winter-spring development cycle for new shows, when dozens of "pilot" episodes of potential prime-time offerings for the fall are traditionally put into production.

Top executives from the corporate parents of NBC, ABC and Fox have already said they plan to order far fewer pilots this year. Instead, networks will choose more new shows from scripts or video presentations, and that is one change that may carry into future years as networks search for ways to curb costs.

Late-night hosts feud over Huckabee

NEW YORK - With teleprompters emptied by the writers strike, Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have been transformed into a bloodthirsty, if well-dressed mob.

The trio appeared on each other's late-night TV shows Monday in a mock feud over who "made" Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

The fight began weeks ago, when O'Brien claimed responsibility for any success of Huckabee's campaign after the former Arkansas governor appeared on his "Late Night" show. Colbert took offence, having frequently touted the effect of the "Colbert bump" in the polls.

Debating - as Colbert called it - the "transitive property of Huckabee," Stewart was eventually roped in, having hosted O'Brien on his MTV program "The Jon Stewart Show" in 1994.

And after too many slights (O'Brien called Colbert the "temporary host" of "The Colbert Report"), the trio congregated Monday, roaming across three shows and two networks.

Eventually, blowtorches, bricks, stunt doubles and even a little dancing were employed.

"My favourite comedy is comedy where nothing is achieved and there is no point," O'Brien said in a phone interview Tuesday. "That this whole Huckabee fight turned into an insane Marx brothers dance was fitting somehow."

Pooling the hosts' combined talents had the intended upshot of filling time. NBC's "Late Night" and Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" are working without writers because of the strike.

"Nonsense! That was never, ever the point!" contradicted O'Brien before relenting. "Certainly it was a source of inspiration. The fight itself is three people with a box full of props playing for about an hour."

First, they got together on "The Daily Show," which airs earliest at 11 p.m. (EST), followed by "Colbert" 30 minutes later and "Late Night" at 12:35 a.m.

"You want to tangle, Red?" Colbert snarled at O'Brien.

Arranging it so they could make guest appearances and still host their own shows took some slight fiddling, O'Brien said. All the shows tape around the same time in various locations in Manhattan - though on Monday night's shows, the studios were shown as being down a single hallway.

The trio put off the tussle until Stewart finished his show, only to reunite on "Colbert." Again, the fight needed to be postponed while interviews were attended to by the TV hosts.

Later, across town at "Late Night," the feud culminated in an elaborate fight that ended only when the trio appeared to simultaneously knock each other out - the image frozen in a LeRoy Neiman-like painting.

"Conan's claims on Mike Huckabee could not go unanswered," Stewart and Colbert said in a joint statement Tuesday. "We just hope the kids out there learned that sometimes the best way to resolve a conflict is with violence."

For anyone watching, it was clear the three hosts share a certain comedic sensibility. Such playfulness would seem impossible with other late-night talk-show hosts; CBS' David Letterman and NBC's Jay Leno, for instance, have long had icy relations.

"The three of us have come along in the same comedic environment," said O'Brien. "Our shows all probably have their distinct flavour, but this happened because the three of us knew we would like doing this with each other."

While the rubble settled, Huckabee appeared by satellite to have the last word.

"Let's be clear: None of these guys made me. This great nation made me," declared Huckabee. "So vote for me. God bless America and forget these three idiots."

Giants-Patriots most-watched Super Bowl

NEW YORK - The New York Giants' thrilling win over New England was the most-watched Super Bowl ever with 97.5 million viewers, a total that is second only to the "M-A-S-H" finale audience, Nielsen Media Research said Monday.

The game eclipsed the previous Super Bowl record of 94.08 million, set when Dallas defeated Pittsburgh in 1996. The final "M-A-S-H" episode, which drew 106 million viewers in 1983, is the only other show in American broadcast history watched by more people.

Sunday's game had almost all the ingredients Fox could have hoped for: a tight contest with an exciting finish involving a team that was attempting to make history as the NFL's first unbeaten team since 1972.

But the Giants ended New England's bid for perfection, 17-14. Throughout the game, the teams were never separated by more than a touchdown.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who was to appear on David Letterman's "Late Show" on Monday, also won bragging rights over his brother: Last year's win by Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts was seen by 93.2 million people, now the third most popular Super Bowl.

Fox, a division of News Corp., charged $2.7 million for 30 seconds of advertising time on the game.

An eye-popping 81 percent of all TV sets on in the Boston area Sunday were tuned in to the game. In New York, the audience share was 67 percent.

The audience peaked between 9:30 and 10 p.m. ET — the fourth quarter — with 105.7 million people watching, Nielsen said.

There were signs even before gametime that Fox could be headed for a record. The opportunity for a team to make history with football's first 19-0 record was a powerful draw. The Giants and Patriots also had a tight contest in late December that drew strong ratings.

The Giants' underdog run had also captivated the nation's largest media market, making up for the only potential weakness in the event as a drawing card: the lack of geographical diversity in the competing teams.

There were past Super Bowl games with higher ratings, topped by the 1982 game between San Francisco and Cincinnati (49.1 rating, 73 share). That indicates that a larger percentage of homes with televisions were watching the game. But since the American population has increased, along with the number of people with TVs, the actual number of people watching this year was higher.

The Giants-Patriots game's actual rating (43.3 rating, 65 share) was the highest for any Super Bowl since 1997. That means 43 percent of the nation's TV sets were tuned in to the game, and 65 percent of the TV sets that were turned on were watching football.

CBS picking up CTV drama

TORONTO - American broadcaster CBS, apparently looking for options amid a prolonged Hollywood screenwriters strike, has picked up an original CTV show to be broadcast later this year in the United States.

"Flashpoint," a police drama with the working title "Sniper," is currently in pre-production. CTV says it will become the first Canadian series since "Due South" to air on both American and Canadian network TV.

CBS has picked up 13 episodes of the one-hour drama series, which was green-lit by CTV in December. Production begins in Toronto in April.

The show will star Enrico Colantoni of "Veronica Mars" fame, Hugh Dillon, the former punk rocker-turned-actor who starred in the gritty "Durham County" and David Paekau of CTV's "Whistler."

They play cops on a highly skilled tactical team.

"Today's announcement is a significant achievement for CTV's development team and Canada's independent production community," CTV's Susanne Boyce said in a statement.

New season of `Lost' is found Thursday

NEW YORK - Are the island castaways of "Lost" mere hours from rescue? Or will their latest chance at freedom turn to dust, like all the others?

That's a no-brainer. The title of the ABC series isn't "Found." And as the long-awaited new season of "Lost" begins Thursday (9 p.m. EST), the first episode strongly suggests the castaways are about to lose again.

They're awaiting help from a rescue party from a freighter anchored offshore. But as they wait, the chilling likelihood takes hold that their potential saviors could instead spell their doom.

There are no shockers in the episode, the first of eight in the series' truncated fourth season. But this is a gripping hour involving all the principal characters that sets the stage for the season ahead. And after eight long months' absence, it's a welcome sight. (Relax: No spoilers ahead.)

From last season's finale, we already know that rock star Charlie (played by Dominic Monaghan) made a perilous quest to disable a jamming device that had prevented the group from summoning help from a just-acquired satellite telephone. He died carrying out his mission, but not before relaying a warning to his comrades to beware of the so-called freighter people.

The next step in the rescue plan was for the group to make a trek to the radio tower and shut off a tape-loop rescue plea that also was interfering with any other transmissions.

There Ben (Michael Emerson), the less-than-trustworthy overlord of the Others, implored Jack (Matthew Fox), the survivors' reluctant leader, not to place the call to the freighter people.

Jack sneered at Ben's words. The call was made, and the new episode begins, much as last season's finale did, with Jack somewhere in the future — drinking. With this recently added flash-forward storytelling feature, Jack is seen in his Los Angeles kitchen mixing a morning cocktail when his eye falls on TV coverage of police in hot pursuit of a speeding motorist.

The car crashes and the driver is arrested. Jack realizes it's one of his fellow former castaways, who is haunted by the past and sees visions of the dead. Jack, who himself is plagued by substance abuse,unrequited love for Kate (Evangeline Lily), and other demons, pays this person a visit. There is mention of a dreaded secret they share.

In a scene back on the island (and back in time), the portly Hurley (Jorge Garcia) runs into Locke (Terry O'Quinn), who long ago had "gone native" and has no desire to ever leave the island.

"It's gonna be hard to talk (Jack) into thinking they're not coming here to rescue us," says Hurley, who, with Locke, shares Ben's alarm for what the freighter people might do.

"We're just gonna have to try our best," says Locke, "because if we can't talk him out of it, then Charlie died for nothing."

By the end of the hour, the castaways are split into two factions — those aligned with Ben and Locke who believe the freighter people represent a mortal threat and Jack's group, still holding out hope for rescue, even as they start to fear the worst.

Thursday's new episode will be preceded by "`Lost': Past, Present & Future," a recap hour of the saga of the Oceanic flight 815 crash (8 p.m. EST). And Wednesday, last season's splendid two-hour finale will be repeated (9 p.m. EST) in "enhanced" form, with on-screen text containing commentary and clues.

In short, "Lost" fans should be rejoicing. And even with just eight episodes currently on tap thanks to the writers strike, ABC has promised another 40 will eventually follow, leading up to the series' finale in 2010.

Companies banking on Super Bowl ads

NEW YORK (AP) — The story lines are unabashedly goofy. Cavemen invent the wheel to transport a beer cooler made of stone, and a car buyer enlists the help of a tribal warrior in case he needs some extra negotiating leverage at the dealership.

For most of us, Super Bowl ads make fine entertainment. But for the advertisers who make and buy them, Sunday is white-knuckle time.

The blogging boom has created crowds of armchair critics; the price for a 30-second spot is up again, to $2.7 million; and a writers strike has wiped out many other opportunities to reach mass audiences by putting scripted dramas like "Desperate Housewives" on hold.

Even against odds like these, many major marketing powers and even a few first-timers couldn't resist the opportunity of reaching more than 90 million people in a single shot — something that's increasingly hard to do in any medium.

Advertisers still love the Internet for its ability to deliver measured results from click-throughs and carve audiences into tiny segments. But only the largest of television's "events" — such as the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the Oscars and the Grammys — have the muscle to pull in tens of millions of people in real time.

"There are so few media vehicles out there that reach that size audience that there's still a big value in not only reaching so many people but in such an engaging manner," said Andy Donchin, director of national broadcast at Carat, a major buyer and planner of advertising.

Add the extra buzz created by the possibility of the New England Patriots making history with an undefeated season, and advertisers have a lot on the line. The placement is great if they have a winning ad, not so great if the ad tanks. Last year's viewership of 93.2 million was close to the all-time record of 94.1 million set in 1996, and many believe that record could be surpassed this year.

The results from online advertising often confirm the value of hitting big audiences with TV, Donchin said, because advertisers can measure the upswing in traffic to Web sites after an ad is broadcast.

The Super Bowl continues to draw new advertisers, including Planters packaged nut company, part of Kraft Foods Inc., as well as Cars.com, an online auto classified advertising company co-owned by the newspaper publishers Gannett Co., McClatchy Co., Tribune Co., Washington Post Co. and Belo Corp.

No neophyte in the advertising world, Kraft decided a Super Bowl spot was well worth the money last year as it began repositioning Planters beyond the $3 billion packaged nuts business to compete in the $20 billion market of salted snacks, which includes potato chips, pretzels and popcorn.

Those attract fairly different age and gender groups, says Allan Lindsay, senior director of marketing for salty snacks at Kraft. Nuts tend to be bought by adults 45 and older, while salty snacks tend to be bought by people ages 35-55, and men more than women — just the kind of people who watch the Super Bowl.

"If we really wanted to accelerate our growth, we needed to think bigger," Lindsay said. "We wanted the big platform to get our message out there ... and it's a natural venue to do that."

Lindsay, like many other advertisers, offered hints about his ad, but not the full story line. It will feature men being "drawn" to Planters' nuts, he said.

Tire maker Bridgestone Firestone North America, another first-timer, is jumping in with two spots and sponsorship of the halftime show. One ad features a car accelerating toward Richard Simmons as he dances on a road at night. In the other, a woman screams as the car she's riding in approaches a squirrel nibbling on an acorn.

Other big advertisers are venturing back to the Super Bowl after long absences. Audi, a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, is coming back to the game after nearly 20 years, with a Godfather-themed spot. And Coca-Cola Co., whose main brand was back in the game last year for the first time since 1998, will have three or four spots this year.

Katie Bayne, chief marketing officer for Coca-Cola Co. in North America, declined to divulge details but said the company is currently testing 11 ads with viewers and will pick a winner to run on game day — a strategy that's also used by Anheuser-Busch Inc., traditionally the biggest advertiser in the game.

Bayne said Coke viewed TV events like the Super Bowl, big NASCAR races and the NCAA college basketball tournament as "critical" for getting the company's marketing message out.

Another theme cropping up again this year is amateur talent. The NFL itself ran a contest among fans last year to come up with ad ideas, and this year solicited league players to pitch ideas for a spot based on how they got into the sport. Likewise Doritos, which charmed viewers last year with spots made by amateur filmmakers, is running a contest where undiscovered musicians submit video performances of original songs. And Pepsico used its own employees in its Super Bowl ad.

Ratings from the game, being broadcast from Phoenix, are sure to boost News Corp.'s Fox network, which is already well-positioned thanks to football and "American Idol," a ratings powerhouse unaffected by the writers strike because it's not scripted.

Fox is getting as much as $2.7 million for a 30-second a spot, up from the $2.6 million CBS Corp.'s CBS network got last year.

Live 'Buffy' Reunion Set for March

David Boreanaz and Sarah Michelle Gellar on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'
Expect the Hellmouth to reopen in Hollywood this March when the cast of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" gathers for a reunion.

The Paley Center for Media (formerly The Museum of Television & Radio) announced Wednesday (Jan. 23) that a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" reunion is one of the centerpieces for the PaleyFest08, an annual pop-culture event bringing fans together with the stars and creators of both new and classic TV shows.

This year's Paley event will run from March 14-27, with the venue shifting from the Directors Guild of America to the Cinerama Dome. Except long lines regardless of the location.

No cast members or producers have yet to be announced for the "Buffy" event, celebrating the cult favorite that ran on the now-deceased WB and UPN.

The Paley Center also announced panels for current network hits "Chuck," "Dancing with the Stars" and "Dirty Sexy Money," as well as AMC's Golden Globe-winning hit "Mad Men."

Previously revealed sessions include "Gossip Girl," "Pushing Daisies," "An Evening With Judd Apatow" and a night dedicated to the 40th anniversary salute to Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special with Priscilla Presley in attendance.

Tickets for the PaleyFest will go on sale in Premium Ticket Packages on Monday, Feb. 4. Paley Center members can start snagging tickets on Feb. 7 and if there are any ducats left, the general public can scoop them up starting Feb. 10.

Will eight be enough?

Viewers will have to decide whether Lost is half-empty or half-full when the ABC adventure-drama returns for its fourth season Thursday (9 ET/PT). Because of the Hollywood writers' strike, only eight of 16 planned episodes have been produced.

Cast members say that ABC's decision to provide some Lost rather than none is smart and that they are pleased with a quickened pace and more answers to Lost's mysteries.

"We're all going to be disappointed that there are only eight instead of 16, but the eight episodes are amazing, and I think fans will be very satisfied," says Yunjin Kim, who plays Sun, the pregnant wife of Jin (Daniel Dae Kim). "I feel like this season all the episodes are self-contained. The speed of the story is faster. Each episode contains a question and an answer, finally. So there's a lot of satisfaction."

That approach may be the result of the unusual decision to set an end date for a hit series, with 48 episodes over three seasons. Knowing when the story concludes (which may be reflected in the title of the one-hour season-opener, "The Beginning of the End") has helped writers map out a faster, more focused pace, says Matthew Fox, who plays Jack Shephard, the reluctant leader of the survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.

"Lost is a story with a beginning and an end. Knowing he's got 48, (co-creator Damon Lindelof) can make each installment move the narrative forward to that conclusion with momentum," Fox says.

Based on Lost's previous production schedule, five or six more episodes likely could be produced by the end of May if the writers' strike is settled by mid-February.

Lost ended last May with a jolt, opening the door to the castaways' possible rescue while adding a twist, a first flash-forward after three seasons of signature character flashbacks.

•The island update: Hurley (Hugo Reyes) saved three survivor colleagues from the Others, a mysterious island group at odds with the Oceanic passengers. Jack contacted an offshore freighter, and he and other stranded island dwellers were waiting for its crew to rescue them. And, just before drowning, another colleague, Charlie (Dominic Monaghan), passed on the message that the boat people weren't who the islanders thought.

That leads to a big season-opening question, one that will divide the islanders as four strangers arrive: Are they coming to hurt or to help?

•The future revelation: In a surprise directional change praised by cast and TV critics, Lost's May finale looked ahead to find that Jack and Kate (Evangeline Lilly), and possibly some others from the island, made it back to civilization.

The episode ended with a bearded, substance-abusing Jack raising more questions by imploring Kate: "We were not supposed to leave. … We have to go back, Kate."

Other questions hover: Who will leave the island, and who will stay? What will become of the pregnant Sun on an island where expectant mothers die? How will the romantic possibilities play out? Of course, Lost's big questions — what and where is the island, and why are these people there? — remain. (ABC will repeat the two-hour finale Wednesday at 9 ET/PT and air a series recap Thursday at 8.)

After averaging 15.9 million and 15.4 million viewers in its first two years, Lost fell to 13.8 million last season. (Lost is the top show in time-shifted viewing, ABC says.)

A complex, serialized show such as Lost loses some of its audience via attrition, but many viewers and critics blamed a six-episode fall 2006 arc they say had too much of the Others, not enough of the first-year regulars and too little in the way of action and answers.

A longer episode allotment in the spring received a much better critical response, and the season finale (13.9 million viewers) gave Lost its largest audience in more than three months. That led to the decision to run its 16 episodes consecutively this season.

But if this season also ends up divided, cast members say, the eight episodes will stand up better because they have lots of action and all the regulars are featured. (Lost's writers would not discuss the season because of the strike; ABC execs declined to be interviewed.)

Elizabeth Mitchell, who plays Juliet, one of the Others, likens the literature-referencing series to a novel. "I'm reading this book, Orley Farm. The first 150 pages are all setup. You're like, 'Where are the people I care about?' Then, all of a sudden, the book takes off. I feel that's what happened in Season 3. The writers laid their groundwork. And it hits the ground running" this season.

Lost could benefit from the strike, too, since there is less scripted competition. With time slots available because other shows have only reruns, it was moved from Wednesday, American Idol's regular night, to Thursday, and from 10 ET/PT to 9, an hour with more viewers.

In addition to new characters from the freighter, Michael (Harold Perrineau), who left the island with son Walt earlier, will return. Some on the island, most recently Locke (Terry O'Quinn) in the season finale, have seen a vision of Walt (Malcolm David Kelley).

Michael Emerson, who plays the spooky Others leader Ben, says that this season not only keeps up last season's momentum, but that the flash-forward opens great creative opportunities. "None of us knew what was going on until we saw the broadcast. I thought 'Hallelujah! This is going to make this show.' "

The future perspective is "how they're going to spin it out to be suspenseful and dramatic. Who has gotten off the island and at what price?" he says. "Now, there are these bittersweet notes of regret and missed opportunity that will come into play. To the extent the island was some crucible in which people could hope for redemption, maybe not everyone was redeemed, at least not happily."

Timberlake appearing in Super Bowl ad

SEATTLE - Come Super Bowl Sunday, Amazon.com will get a leg up in the digital music race it's running against Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store. And not just any leg: Justin Timberlake's leg.

The boy band heartthrob turned Grammy-winning R&B singer will appear in a spot for Pepsi, kicking off a yearlong $1 billion giveaway of MP3s, CDs, videos, consumer electronics and other items on Amazon.

Back in 2004, PepsiCo Inc. and Apple forged a similar partnership, which started with an iTunes Super Bowl commercial promoting legal music downloads, to the tune of Green Day's version of "I Fought the Law." The companies gave away 100 million free iTunes downloads that, with rising iPod sales, helped push Apple to the forefront of the digital music industry.

Working with Amazon this year is big deal for Pepsi, which said it will spend more on its "Pepsi Stuff" advertising campaign than on any past marketing effort.

For Amazon.com Inc., the arrangement could mean even more.

In September 2007, Amazon launched a digital music store and committed to sell only MP3-format tunes, which can be copied to multiple computers, burned onto an unlimited number of CDs and played on most portable devices, including Apple's iPod and Microsoft Corp.'s Zune.

Thousands of independent music labels signed deals with Amazon, but EMI Music Group PLC, which already offered songs without digital rights management coding on iTunes, was the only major label to agree to DRM-free sales on Amazon.

But as a rise in sales of digital tracks in 2007 failed to offset the overall decline in album sales, the three big labels have rapidly begun retooling their digital strategies. When Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony BMG signed on to sell DRM-free songs, they chose to do so on Amazon and not iTunes, where more than 70 percent of digital music is sold.

"The record labels are quite annoyed with Apple for the situation — CD sales are declining, and digital sales are not making up for it," said Philip Leigh, a senior analyst with the research group Inside Digital Media.

Leigh said the record companies want more flexibility in the way digital music prices are set. Amazon allows some flexibility, but Apple's 99-cents-a-song pricing still dominates the market. By working with Amazon, the labels are fostering competition and potentially gaining more control over how much a song is worth.

While the companies would not disclose financial terms of the deal, teaming up with Pepsi has the potential to transform Amazon from a niche seller to a major player. Leigh said music consumers who may not think about copy protection today will quickly embrace DRM-free music as they buy new computers and devices and face the hassle of moving libraries full of DRM-protected songs.

"The mass market consumer doesn't want these complications," he said.

Danny Socolof, president of Mega Inc., the Las Vegas marketing firm behind "Pepsi Stuff," said Amazon's decision to sell MP3s meshed nicely with one of Pepsi's brand values: choice.

"As we looked at the landscape of the music business, we realized, many other people realized that trying to lock up music with various different digital rights management schemes was failing miserably," he said, confusing consumers or driving them to music piracy.

The major music labels that will participate — EMI, Warner and Sony BMG, but not Universal — responded to the deal because Pepsi and Amazon could bring millions of new digital music shoppers online, he said.

Socolof, who helped Pepsi forge the music partnership with Apple several years ago, would not say whether he explored a new Apple deal this year.

"I think it's pretty obvious to everyone that it's important that this marketplace grow and that there be many players in it," Socolof said in an interview.

We'd never get Monty Python onto television today: Jones

LISBON (Reuters) - Terry Jones says being funny as a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus was just a byproduct of the real aim: subversion.

The 64-year-old writer, director and actor told Reuters in Lisbon ahead of the world premiere of his new musical "Evil Machines" that he is still surprised by the popularity of the Monty Python series of television shows and films.

"I think one reason was that with Python we purely wrote for the six of us," he said. "Our message was: don't believe anything people say."

Jones, who co-wrote and performed in the British television series during the late 1960s and early 1970s alongside Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle said their absurd brand of humor would never make it past today's television programmers.

"Nowadays it would be impossible to do that. You really have to satisfy the needs of television stations which carry out audience surveys before they commission shows," he said.

Jones -- whose many madcap characters include the lynch-mob happy mother in "Life of Brian" and the obscenely obese diner Mr. Creosote who explodes after a touch too much supper in "The Meaning of Life" -- said he doesn't see himself as a comedian and would hate to do a stand-up routine.

"I'm not really that funny, but I do like to laugh."

Python's original name -- "Bun, Whackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot" -- was rejected by the BBC, which urged Jones and his friends to come up with an easier name for viewers to digest.

"We spent ages discussing names," he said, adding that other proposals included A Horse, a Spoon and A Basin, before the group eventually settled on Monty Python's Flying Circus.

EVIL MACHINES

Jones's new show, which features singing telephones, ovens and parking meters, may prove that he is still closely in touch with the innovative humor that has made the Pythons famous.

The show derides the modern world's disposable culture.

"We have come into an age of a throw-away culture and it has reached machines," he said. "Evil Machines is about machines realizing this and deciding to take matters into their own hands."

He hopes to take "Evil Machines" to London and New York, adding that a New York orchestra has shown interest.

"The music is great. The show is quite original and the sound is very particular," he said.

Jones recently underwent surgery for colon cancer but said he was now doing fine.

"Unfortunately, my illness is not nearly bad enough to sell many newspapers, and the prognosis is even more disappointing," he said in a message on his website www.terry-jones.net.

Not only is he in improving health, he also plans to carry on writing, directing and acting as long as he can.

"I hope I never retire. I hope to die in harness."

Stewart and Colbert return Monday night

NEW YORK - Not a moment too soon to help make sense of things, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will be back on duty Monday, ready to mock everything in sight.

The New Hampshire presidential primary scheduled for the next day? A likely topic!

The woes of Jamie Lynn and Britney Spears? Why the heck not?

And they'll surely make hay of the writers strike that has kept them off the air, and kept their viewers satire-starved, since Nov. 5.

But how will they carry out their mission without writers?

The returning "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert" face a challenge even greater than that of writer-deprived Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel, late-night hosts with a shared task of injecting humor into what are basically interview shows.

"The Daily Show" and "Colbert," which air weeknights back-to-back on Comedy Central at 11 p.m. EST, are something else. Each is a topical half-hour that lampoons human foibles, as well as the excesses of TV journalism. They may find it far more demanding to adapt to the mandates of the striking Writers Guild of America.

Sidelined the past nine weeks, Stewart (in his role as fake-news anchorman) and Colbert (playing the blowhard pundit) have been conspicuous in their absence from the bubbling brew of cultural discourse. Meanwhile, because both series are so news-driven, their stretch of reruns has taken a cruel toll on viewership. "The Daily Show" (which, pre-strike, averaged 1.6 million viewers) and "Colbert" (1.3 million) have seen their audience shrink by as much as 50 percent.

What would have happened had America been forced to go any longer unreplenished by fresh doses of Stewart's arch "reporting" and Colbert's I-am-the-way "commentary"?

The answer became moot two weeks ago, when both shows announced their imminent return, then added, in typically ironic fashion: "We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence."

Ambivalence aside, one of the most popular features on both shows is conveniently unscripted: the interview segment. But this could present another set of problems (difficulties already being felt by Leno, O'Brien and Kimmel, in marked contrast to David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, who have an interim agreement with the guild). Among the favorite guests on "The Daily Show" and "Colbert" are politicians, some of whom, along with A-list celebrities, may refrain from crossing picket lines to appear.

It's unlikely the shows will be completely off-the-cuff. Performers who don't belong to the guild will be free to write material for themselves, although it's not clear who on either series that might include.

But WGA members Stewart and Colbert are barred from writing anything.

That is, unless they're not. At week's end, the guild and "Tonight Show" host Leno were locked in a dispute over just such an issue: whether he, as a guild member, is permitted to write his own monologue. Leno insisted he had gained approval from the guild. He continued to deliver nightly monologues he said he'd crafted himself. The guild, crying foul, vowed to take some form of action, as yet unspecified.

"Leno will not get a pass. The guild has told him he can't write his monologues," said Sherry Goldman, a spokeswoman for the Writers Guild of America East.

Guild rules will surely result in a different "Daily Show" and "Colbert" than their fans are used to. But as viewers try to predict what the necessary changes will be, it's worth remembering that Colbert is an improv whiz who, script or no script, seems to channel his "Stephen Colbert" alter ego from some parallel world inspired by Bill O'Reilly. Stewart is witty and fast on his feet, befitting his background as a standup comic.

Will it suffice for this pair as the strike drags on? No one from either program was available Friday to respond to questions or offer a hint of what Colbert and Stewart have in mind for the audience.

Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox said, "Stephen and Jon are still figuring out what they're going to do on Monday night's show."

Probably so. But the nation's ruling class, presidential hopefuls and others ripe for ridicule should be all too aware of what's going to happen. Their two-month respite is coming to an end. Stewart and Colbert are on their case again.

Leno, Kimmel to go on each other's shows

NEW YORK (AP) — For one night, Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel will solve the problem of booking guests during the writers' strike by appearing on each other's show.

The swap comes Thursday, with Kimmel traveling to Leno's studio in Burbank, Calif., and Leno returning the favor in Hollywood. Both shows are taped on the same day they air.

"There are only a few people in the world that know how tough this job is," Leno said Sunday. "Jimmy is one of them. It will be fun to discuss who's a good guest, who's a difficult guest and everything else that comes with sitting behind these desks."

Joked Kimmel: "If Jay and I can come together and guest on each other's shows, then surely there is hope for peace in the Middle East."

ABC's Kimmel came to Leno's defense on the air Wednesday, urging picketing writers to back off the "Tonight Show" host.

Both men's programs returned to the air last week without writers due to the ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America. Their jobs were made even more difficult with the reluctance of stars to cross picket lines. The Screen Actors Guild has encouraged its members to appear on David Letterman's "Late Show" and Craig Ferguson's "Late Late Show," where writers have gone back to work.

Leno's NBC "Tonight Show" featured comic Howie Mandel, host of NBC's "Deal or No Deal," on Thursday, with an animal expert and comedian on Friday.

Besides Kimmel, Leno's only other announced future guest is Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on Monday night.

Kimmel's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Monday will feature Kathy Griffin and Scott Baio, two actors more popular recently on reality shows, and the rock band Velvet Revolver.

Without such booking problems, Letterman has lined up actors Tom Hanks, Lucy Liu and Morgan Freeman for shows this week.

Leno is involved in a separate dispute with the writers union. The guild contends Leno, who is a member, cannot write his own jokes and perform them in a monologue; Leno and NBC say the guild's own contract allows this. The writers have threatened disciplinary action against Leno, but a spokeswoman said Sunday no decision had been made on what to do.

No Sask stop for 'Canadian Idol'

REGINA - A move to drop Saskatchewan from the list of "Canadian Idol" audition locations has generated outrage in the Prairie province and even has the premier calling on fans to speak out.

The province of one million people has produced three top five performers in the first five seasons of the show, including Season 2 runner-up Theresa Sokyrka, but producers of the CTV hit say there wasn't room on the schedule this year for a Saskatchewan stop.

With the Juno Awards for the best in Canadian music being held in Calgary this year, supervising producer Mark Lysakowski said the show wanted to have auditions in that city as well as Edmonton.

Saskatchewan ended up on the bubble.

"We only have so much we can do in the allotted time from when we start our auditions and when we need to have the show on the air," Lysakowski said.

"We will be back. This is not to say that Saskatchewan has fallen off the 'Canadian Idol' radar forever. It's a place we want to come back to - we need to come back to."

It's the first time since Season 1 that an audition has not been held in either Regina or Saskatoon.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall was outraged when word of the change reached his office.

"I think it's more than a little bit ironic that we are apparently good enough for the Rolling Stones, but no longer good enough apparently for 'Canadian Idol,"' Wall said in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press.

In the fall of 2006, the Stones played two sold-out shows in Regina, thrilling thousands of diehard fans who felt privileged that the iconic rock band would stop in such a small Prairie city.

Wall encouraged Saskatchewan fans of "Canadian Idol" to voice their displeasure through the show's website. He predicted they would turn out in the same numbers they do when someone from Saskatchewan is in the top 10.

Equally outraged was Jackie Rapley, mother of Regina's Matt Rapley, who made it to No. 5 on the show last season.

"Maybe that is not their intent, but my feeling on it is that they are saying there is no talent in Saskatchewan - that is how I am taking it," she said. "I personally consider it a bit of an insult."

It's unlikely Rapley's son - a shy 18-year-old who was encouraged to audition by his music teacher - would have vied for a spot on the show had there not been a tryout in Saskatoon last year, she said.

Rapley himself said he also considers the move an"insult."

"I do take it personally a little," Rapley said. "I know a lot of talent came out of Saskatchewan in the last five years."

Producers may have dropped Saskatchewan because, outside of people like Rapley, the talent pool in the province was rather shallow during last year's auditions, Sokyrka said.

"I know there are a lot of people that have an extreme amount of talent, but I do know that a lot of people that had the talent last year were pretty freaked out about going and trying it out," she said.

Sokyrka is hopeful that anyone in Saskatchewan who thinks they can make will make the trek to one of the other cities. In Season 2, she said she was first turned down after going to Edmonton to audition and ended up making it when she came back to Saskatchewan.

"I know that even though they are not coming here, there will be someone in the top 10 from Saskatchewan. There is no question of it."

Without a Saskatchewan stop, hopefuls will have to make the trek to Edmonton, Calgary or Winnipeg to try out for the show. That means a day's travel each way.

Aside from Sokyrka and Rapley, Tyler Lewis of Rockglen, Sask., made it all the way to No. 3 on Season 4 of the show.

Peggy Pilsner runs a cafe in Rockglen and said the atmosphere in the town was electric when Lewis was making his run. You could buy buttons, window stickers, posters, T-shirts, mouse pads and pillow cases with Lewis's picture on them. Pilsner served up a hamburger in her cafe bearing his name.

"I don't really think it's fair," Pilsner said of the show's decision not to stop in Saskatchewan. "I'm sure they could make a stop somewhere in the province, especially when they are stopping on either side of us."

The 10-city audition tour begins Jan. 26 in Edmonton, and would-be stars are once again being invited to bring musical instruments.

Hamilton, Ont., the hometown of reigning Canadian Idol Brian Melo, will be among the stops.

It's the second year that performers can accompany themselves at the auditions. In 2007, almost half of the contestants who made it past the initial stage of competition chose to do so.

The show, which will return to the air in June, is hosted by Ben Mulroney, son of former prime minister Brian Mulroney.

CTV recently announced the younger Mulroney is engaged to Montreal clothing designer Jessica Brownstein.

Here are the cities, dates and locations, where available, of auditions:

-Edmonton, Jan. 26-27, West Edmonton Mall.

-Calgary, Feb 2-3, Sunridge Mall.

-Vancouver, Feb. 9-10, Metropolis at Metrotown.

-Winnipeg, Feb. 23-24, St. Vital Centre.

-Hamilton, March 1-2.

-Ottawa, March 8-9.

-Montreal, March 15-16.

-Halifax, March 29-30.

-St. John's, N.L., April 12.

-Toronto, April 19-20.

Auditions for "Canadian Idol" are open to all Canadians between the ages of 16 and 28 as of Jan. 25. For more information, registration forms, rules and regulations, visit idol.CTV.ca.

Is Jay Leno subverting his union?

NEW YORK - The striking writers union told member Jay Leno on Thursday that he violated its rules by penning and delivering punch lines in his first "Tonight" show monologue in two months on NBC the night before.

The union did not immediately say what, if anything, it intended to do about it.

The scolding came despite Leno's own public support for the union, including delivering doughnuts to a picket line. Leno also paid his employees' salaries — except for the writers — while he was off the air and "Tonight" writers were pointedly absent from a picket line outside his studio Wednesday.

Leno is "busying himself with the show," his publicist, Dick Guttman, said Thursday when asked if the comedian had any comment.

Meanwhile, viewers thirsting for laughs welcomed their favorites back in their first shows since the strike took them off the air Nov. 5. Late-night leader Leno's "Tonight" show on NBC was seen by 7.2 million viewers while David Letterman had 5.5 million people watch the "Late Show" on CBS. For Letterman, the audience was 45 percent more than his pre-strike average this season; for Leno, it was a 43 percent bump and his biggest audience in two years, Nielsen Media Research said.

Much of Leno's first monologue discussed the strike that kept him absent, and he poked fun at NBC Universal boss Jeff Zucker's "mansion." But there were also standard monologue jokes about Paul McCartney's divorce, the weather in Iowa and Britney Spears.

Leno said he wrote his own jokes and that he didn't turn to "outside guys."

"I'm doing what I did the day I started," he said. "I write jokes and wake my wife up in the middle of the night and say, `Honey, is this funny?' So if this monologue doesn't work it's my wife's fault."

He maintained: "We are following the guild thing. We can write for ourselves."

The East and West Coast chapters of the Writers Guild adopted strike rules that prohibit guild members from "performing any writing services during a strike for any and all struck companies." Leno's 19 writers remain on strike.

"This prohibition includes all writing by any guild member that would be performed on-air by that member, including monologues, characters and featured appearances, if any portion of that written material is customarily written by striking writers," the rules state.

Jonathan Handel, an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles and a former counsel to the writers' guild, said the guild's contract "is notoriously difficult to interpret."

For instance, past contracts have specifically allowed people to perform their own material, he said. He's unsure if the issue has been brought before a guild arbitration board, which could fine a member or throw the person out of the union.

It's doubtful that would happen to Leno, he said.

"That would probably be an outrage," he said. "It is not something as a matter of policy that you're going to want to do — throw one of the highest-profile guys out of the guild."

The union rules could present a host of issues: if a guild member is prohibited from performing in a character for which writers normally provide material, what to do about Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert, who performs his entire show in character? Colbert's program, and "The Daily Show," return to the air without writers on Monday.

Leno received support from fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who criticized WGA members for picketing Leno and NBC's Conan O'Brien. "I don't want to depart too much from the party line, but I think it's ridiculous," Kimmel said on Wednesday's show. "Jay Leno, he paid his staff while they were out. Conan did the same thing. I don't know. I just think at a certain point you back off a little bit."

While Leno's writers are on strike, Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company reached a separate deal to bring writers back. Through the deal, writers were also back at work at Craig Ferguson's "Late Late Show" on CBS.

At least on opening night, viewers were more intrigued by O'Brien's attempt to navigate without writers than Ferguson's work with his full staff. O'Brien's "Late Night" had 2.8 million viewers, up 37 percent from his pre-strike average, Nielsen said. Ferguson was seen by 2.2 million people, up 28 percent.

The night was essentially a wash for Kimmel, who is working without writers. His ABC audience of 1.8 million was slightly down from his season average.

Late night TV hosts back after 2 months

NEW YORK - Late-night TV hosts returned to the air Wednesday after a two-month hiatus, showing support for their striking writers, plenty of creative stretch marks — and at least two scruffy beards.

David Letterman walked onstage amid dancing girls holding picket signs supporting striking writers. His writers are back on the job, but NBC's Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel returned without theirs.

Filler was immediately evident on the shows without writers. O'Brien, sporting facial growth to match his red hair, showed off Christmas cards, danced on his table as his band played the Clash's "The Magnificent Seven" and tried to see how long he could spin his wedding ring on his desk. Leno took questions from his audience.

"I want to make this clear. I support their cause," O'Brien said of the writers. "These are very talented, very creative people who work extremely hard. I believe what they're asking for is fair."

Letterman, who had grown a mostly white beard, brought writers on to recite a top 10 list of their strike demands. They included "complimentary tote bag with next insulting contract offer" and "Hazard pay for breaking up fights on `The View.'"

"You're watching the only show on the air that has jokes written by union writers," Letterman said. "I hear you at home thinking to yourself, `This crap is written?'"

Guest Robin Williams teased Letterman unmercifully about his beard, alternately comparing him to Gen. Robert E. Lee, a rabbi and an Iraqi mullah.

Presidential politics intruded on the eve of the Iowa caucus: Republican Mike Huckabee appeared on Leno despite his apparent confusion about the strike and a bid by picketers to keep him away, and Democrat Hillary Clinton taped a cameo introducing Letterman.

"Dave has been off the air for eight long weeks because of the writers strike," she said. "Tonight, he's back. Oh, well, all good things come to an end."

Huckabee said he supports the writers and did not think he would be crossing a picket line, because he believed the writers had made an agreement to allow late-night shows on the air. But that's not the case with Leno; "Huckabee is a scab," read one picket sign outside Leno's Burbank, Calif., studio.

The writers guild urged Huckabee not to cross their picket line after he flew out to California. But Huckabee appeared on Leno, even showing off his electric guitar playing with the band.

"Huckabee claims he didn't know," chief union negotiator John Bowman said. "I don't know what that means in terms of trusting him as a future president."

For fans of the late-night hosts, the controversy was secondary to seeing their favorites again. Chuck Gunther of Grand Junction, Colo., stood on a sidewalk outside of Letterman's New York studio on a frigid night hoping to get into the audience.

"When Dave is live, it's fresh and new every night — instead of watching reruns of `Seinfeld,'" he said.

Letterman had writers because his production company, Worldwide Pants, struck a separate deal with the guild. The deal also allowed writers to return to Craig Ferguson's "Late Late Show" on CBS.

Picketing writers outside of O'Brien's studio in New York's Rockefeller Center said they were hoping to encourage people not to appear on the shows where writers weren't working. Michael Winship, president of the WGA East, said he expected Letterman's "Late Show" to be a "bully pulpit" for striking writers and their issues.

Leno's staff writers, who regularly picket at one of the gates to NBC studios, did not show up on Wednesday. Writers insist they're demonstrating against NBC, not Leno, who was supportive of his writers in the strike's early days.

"It must be difficult for them to picket their own boss," said Allan Katz, a veteran sitcom writer. "Probably Jay Leno understands."

Besides depriving the nation of punch lines, the two months of reruns have been devastating for the networks — particularly NBC.

Late-night leader Leno is averaging 4.4 million viewers this season, losing a quarter of his audience from last season. Before the strike, his audience was off 10 percent, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Letterman's average of 3.6 million viewers is 15 percent off last season. Before the strike, his viewership was down 9 percent. Leno's audience was obviously far less interested in reruns or — even worse for NBC — decided to sample Letterman instead.

Kimmel's audience of 1.8 million viewers is slightly up from last season, because it follows "Nightline," which has been making fresh shows.

O'Brien's audience is down 29 percent from last season and he's been running virtually neck and neck with Ferguson: O'Brien has 1.8 million viewers, Ferguson 1.7 million. Now Ferguson returns with writers and O'Brien without.

How big the advantage might be for CBS likely depends on how long the strike lasts. At least at the beginning, the writer-less shows may draw viewers curious to see how the hosts respond.

The CBS programs will also probably have bigger-name guests. The Screen Actors Guild has urged its members to appear with Letterman and Ferguson. It's unclear whether Hollywood's glitterati will be willing to cross picket lines for face time on national television.

Besides being without writers, Leno, O'Brien and Kimmel will be unable to perform many familiar comic bits, including traditional monologues, because of strike rules.

Comedy Central's topical nightly comedies, "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report," will return Monday without striking writers.

Return of late night, or train-wreck TV?

NEW YORK - Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and Jon Stewart all plan returns to late-night television the next two weeks, but aside from their familiar faces, viewers may not recognize much.

After two months away because of the still-unresolved writers strike, NBC's Leno and O'Brien, and ABC's Kimmel, resume their programs next Wednesday, Jan. 2. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert come back to Comedy Central the following Monday, Jan. 7.

Barring a New Year's miracle, none of their writers will be joining them.

David Letterman is also pushing to return Jan. 2, but his Worldwide Pants production company is still trying to reach its own deal to bring his show's writers back onboard.

The hosts — with the exception of NBC's Carson Daly — are also members of the striking Writer's Guild of America, making them subject to union rules that would severely limit what they can do.

The union's strike rules say members cannot write or perform any material that would normally be written for them. Under this interpretation, for example, Jay Leno couldn't perform a monologue, because his staff of writers normally crafts his jokes.

The comic skits that are a part of several late-night shows would also be off-limits without writers.

"I think that people will see some interesting television," said Chris Albers, former president of Writer's Guild of America East and a comedy writer for O'Brien. "Obviously, these are some of the funniest people in the country so they're probably going to do a very good job. It's just a different animal than what they're used to and what we're used to."

In a conference call with reporters last week, producers of NBC's "Tonight" and "Late Night" said they were still trying to figure out what their shows would look like. They weren't willing to talk further this week, a spokesman said.

Comic ad-libbing, musical performances and lengthier appearances by interview subjects willing to cross picket lines are the most likely recourse.

"I don't know what they're going to do," said Mike Sweeney, head writer for O'Brien's NBC show. "My obvious speculation would be more guests, and maybe talk to them more slowly."

Stewart and Stephen Colbert would appear to have the toughest time reconfiguring their programs, which have a large amount of scripted material. By a strict interpretation of the guild's rules, a member would be prohibited from performing as a character if union writers normally write material for the character.

Colbert performs his entire show in the character of a blowhard political commentator.

"We don't know how he's going to do it," said Sherry Goldman, spokeswoman for the Writers Guild of America East, "and I'm not so sure that he's figured it out yet."

Comedy Central would not let its executives talk about planning for the shows' returns.

Only two late-night shows were affected when writers went on strike in 1988: Johnny Carson's "Tonight" show and Letterman's program, both on NBC. Carson was not a writer's guild member, so he wrote his monologue himself for the few weeks that he worked without writers.

His monologue, part of the fabric of American life, was welcomed back but Carson's writer-less debut in May 1988 didn't draw raves: "The whole show seemed lame," wrote the Washington Post's Tom Shales at the time, "unfunny comic Joe Piscopo, Ed McMahon showing photos of his little girl, a hackneyed arrangement of Irving Berlin tunes by the band and film of mating condors."

Letterman's "Late Night" substituted comedy with freewheeling filler. One gag had the show's associate director playing "Lady of Spain" on the accordion, night after night.

"Fifty-five minutes, ladies and gentlemen, 55 minutes to go!" he said early in one show. "That's all we're really trying to accomplish, is to eat up valuable network time."

Letterman weighed in frequently on the strike, calling network management "money-grubbing scum."

While the strike raises the possibility of train-wreck television, some performers may thrive in without-a-net circumstances. A critic in The New York Times wrote that Letterman's strike programs were often "downright exciting," a throwback to the early years of late-night television when there was more improvisation.

It's uncertain whether Letterman will get the chance to repeat the experience. His representatives were still talking with the union on Thursday. Donald Trump and Shooter Jennings are booked as a guest for Letterman's Jan. 2 show — if there is one.

There's a difference of opinion among union members about whether cutting a separate deal with Letterman is wise, Albers said. Some believe it would put pressure on NBC to settle the strike because Leno would be at a competitive disadvantage; others think it would be wrong to effectively reward CBS with a show using the services of writers, he said.

Sweeney has his own secret wish for O'Brien if he returns without writers.

"I hope he tries to hold a telethon to raise money for us," he said.

Stewart, Colbert returning to the air

NEW YORK - "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" will resume production on Jan. 7 without their striking writers, the Comedy Central network announced Thursday.

Both late-night shows were shuttered after the Hollywood writers strike began seven weeks ago. The comedy duo are the latest late-night hosts to announce their return to the air while the ongoing writers strike continues to devastate much television and film production. Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel have all recently said that they will resume their programs on Jan. 2 with or without their writing staffs.

On Friday, leaders of striking television writers plan to meet with David Letterman's production company in an attempt to reach a separate deal that could return the "Late Show" to the air with its writing staff.

But "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" rely far more on scripted material than those shows, which are more centered around interviews and musical guests.

In a joint statement, Stewart and Colbert said: "We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence."

A spokesman for Comedy Central said neither the network, Stewart nor Colbert would have any further comment. A call to the Writers Guild of America was not immediately returned late Thursday.

Leno, O'Brien return without writers

NEW YORK - NBC's two late-night franchises are coming back. Will the laughs come with them?

Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien plan a Jan. 2 return with fresh episodes, ending two months of reruns brought on by the writers' strike, the network said Monday. But until the strike is settled, the hosts will be on their own.

While late night TV will forge ahead without joke writers, they won't be far from anyone's mind.

"I will make clear, on the program, my support for the writers and I'll do the best version of `Late Night' I can under the circumstances," O'Brien said in a written statement. "Of course, my show will not be as good. In fact, in moments it may very well be terrible."

Both NBC hosts indicated it was a tortuous decision for them to come back, torn by their support for the writers and knowledge that several dozen other staff members would be laid off if the shows remained dark. Some of the late-night stars covered employees' salaries during the holiday season.

Leno said that with talks breaking down and no further negotiations scheduled, he felt it was his responsibility to get his 100 non-writing staff members back to work.

Mike Sweeney, chief of the "Late Night" staff of 14 writers, said "we all know what a difficult position Conan is in. He's been incredibly supportive of us."

Sweeney said he didn't want to comment on his boss' decision to come back without the writers. The "Tonight" show's chief writer, walking the picket line in Burbank, Calif., was similary reluctant to criticize his boss' decision.

"I'm happy that he's been able to hold out this long," said Joe Madeiros. "He's not the only one. There's a lot of pressure on late-night hosts.

The union itself offered no reaction.

The strike has left the nation's public discourse without its laugh track as the baseball steroids scandal spread, pop stars Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears continued to spiral out of control and the presidential campaign heated up in anticipation of the first votes.

NBC's announcement could make it easier for other programs like Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" or "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on ABC to return. Also, the WGA is talking about a separate deal with David Letterman's production company so his CBS show can return with its writers.

The development could cut both ways for the union. Suspended late-night programming has been the most visible sign of the strike for the viewing public, and bringing the shows back could remove a significant piece of leverage. At the same time, the hosts could come back and pepper their network bosses with ridicule in support of the writers' cause.

That's what Johnny Carson did in 1988, when he similarly returned to the air after two months off during a writers' strike then. Carson worked without writers for three weeks, then reached a separate deal with the union to bring his staff back.

"We've been taking shots at NBC for 15 years," noted Jeff Ross, "Late Night" executive producer.

The networks have been suffering in the ratings without the live programming, giving ABC's "Nightline" its biggest boost since the days of Ted Koppel.

Both Ross and Debbie Vickers, executive producer of "Tonight," said they are beginning to contemplate how their shows will be different. It's not even clear whether Leno will open the show with a traditional monologue, Vickers said, although she noted that Carson kept that element even without his joke writers by writing his own.

But Carson was not a guild member, whereas Leno and O'Brien are. For that and other practical reasons, they may be forced to return to an old-fashioned notion of a talk show by spending more time with guests. In recent years, the late-night programs have relied much more heavily on prepared comedy bits.

"There are a lot of ways we can go with this," Ross said. "Now we have to be serious and figure it out."

If Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company strikes a separate deal, it raises the prospect of a Letterman show with its writers competing for a prolonged period against Leno without writers. It could give Letterman a competitive edge in a time slot where Leno has dominated in the ratings for the past decade.

A similar imbalance is possible an hour later: Worldwide Pants owns Craig Ferguson's CBS talk show that airs directly opposite O'Brien.

"It certainly isn't our first choice to go against them with writers," Vickers said. "But this is beyond our control."

With Kimmel's show ultimately controlled by the Walt Disney Co. and Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" by Viacom, it's far less likely they would strike separate deals with writers.

Both the NBC show executives said that many potential guests privately expressed a reluctance to cross picket lines to appear. But as the strike has continued, that opposition is melting, they said. Neither of the programs has announced any bookings for their returns.

On Monday, the writers guild said it would meet with the Directors Guild of America to discuss new media and DGA studies on the issue. The directors guild has said it could begin its own contract talks with the alliance as early as January, which could increase pressure on the writers to reach a deal.

Canadian actor voices KITT for new Knight Rider

The studio behind an upcoming TV movie revamp of 1980s cult TV series Knight Rider unveiled some details about the project this week, including a new car and the casting of Canadian comic actor Will Arnett.

Arnett, best known for his role on the critically acclaimed but short-lived series Arrested Development, has signed on as the voice of the smooth-talking, artificially intelligent sports car KITT (short for Knight Industries Two Thousand) — voiced in the original series by veteran actor William Daniels.

The Toronto-born actor, whose recent credits include stints on TV's 30 Rock and a supporting role in the comedy Blades of Glory, has also developed a sideline as a voice actor recording for animated shows, network promotions, movie trailers and advertisements.

Producers have also changed KITT from the slickly modified Pontiac Trans Am of the original series to a suped-up Ford Mustang Shelby.

Actor Justin Bruening, whose short list of credits includes appearing on the soap All My Children, has been enlisted to star in the upcoming two-hour TV movie as the son of Michael Knight, the main character portrayed by David Hasselhoff in the original series.

Bruening's casting echoes that of Hasselhoff's, who had few credits other than daytime soap The Young and the Restless under his belt when he was originally cast as the Knight Rider lead.

Also appearing in the film will be Sydney Tamiia Poitier, the daughter of acclaimed actor Sidney Poitier, while Hasselhoff is slated to make a cameo.

The film, set to air on NBC in mid-February, holds the possibility of a series spin-off if it proves successful. The U.S. network recently revived another of a former TV hit with its darker remake of its 1970s show The Bionic Woman.

TV's Knight Rider, which ran from 1982 to 1986, starred Hasselhoff as crime-fighter Knight, who was assisted by his heroic sports car/sidekick KITT in foiling evildoers.

The car's amazing abilities included the ability to jump across rivers, rocket to speeds of 300 mph and eject flares, tear gas, smoke bombs or oil slicks all in the name of catching criminals.

ABC Moves 'Lost' to Thursdays

ABC unveiled a midseason slate on Friday (Dec. 14) that includes scheduling moves both thrilling ("Lost" moving to Thursdays!) and not-so-thrilling ("According to Jim" returns!).

Entering its fourth season with a pre-ordained end in sight, "Lost" will premiere on Thursday, Jan. 31, taking over the competitive Thursday 9 p.m. time slot from "Grey's Anatomy." Eight episodes of the Emmy-winning series were reportedly finished before the writers strike hit, which ought to be enough to at least temporarily placate a rabid fanbase that's been scratching its collective head since the show's third season finale included a shocking flash-forward.

"Lost" will lead into the midseason drama "Eli Stone," from producer Greg Berlanti. "Eli Stone" will replace "Big Shots," which should burn off its remaining original episodes in January.

"Eli Stone" is one of four new shows to premiere for ABC this spring.

"Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann" will kick off on Monday, Jan. 7 and will air in the 8 p.m. time period until a new edition of "Dancing with the Stars" is ready to go on Monday, March 17 (the same night as the premiere of the latest installment of "The Bachelor").

The soapy drama "Cashmere Mafia" will have a special Thursday premiere on Jan. 3 and will move into its regular Wednesday 10 p.m. slot on Jan. 9.

Finally, "Oprah's Big Give" will air Sunday nights at 9 p.m. starting on March 2, when "Desperate Housewives" will go down to the 10 p.m. hour, giving "Brothers & Sisters" a breather.

On the returning front, new seasons of "Just for Laughs" and "According to Jim" will begin on Tuesday, Jan. 1, while "Wife Swap" and "Supernanny" will be back on on Wednesday, Jan. 2.

A somewhat confusing run-down of ABC's spring:

MONDAY (JAN)
8:00 p.m. "Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann"
9:30 p.m. "Notes from the Underbelly"
10:00 p.m. "October Road"

MONDAY (FEB)
8:00 p.m. "Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann"
9:00 p.m. "Samantha Who?"
9:30 p.m. "Notes from the Underbelly"
10:00 p.m. "October Road"

MONDAY (MAR)
8:00 p.m. "Dancing with the Stars"
9:30 p.m. "Samantha Who?"
10:00 p.m. "The Bachelor"

TUESDAY
8:00 p.m. "Just for Laughs"
8:30 p.m. "Just for Laughs"
9:00 p.m. "According to Jim"
9:30 p.m. "Carpoolers"
10:00 p.m. "Boston Legal"

TUESDAY (MAR)
8:00 p.m. "Just for Laughs"
8:30 p.m. "Just for Laughs"
9:00 p.m. "Dancing with the Stars the Results Show"
10:00 p.m. "Boston Legal"

WEDNESDAY
8:00 p.m. "Wife Swap"
9:00 p.m. "Supernanny"
10:00 p.m. "Cashmere Mafia" ("Men in Trees" beginning Feb. 27)

THURSDAY (JAN)
8:00 p.m. "Ugly Betty"
9:00 p.m. "Grey's Anatomy"
10:00 p.m. "Big Shots" (after special premiere of "Cashmere Mafia" on Jan 3)

THURSDAY (FEB)
8:00 p.m. "Ugly Betty"
9:00 p.m. "Lost"
10:00 p.m. "Eli Stone"

FRIDAY
8:00 p.m. Drama encores
9:00 p.m. Drama encores
10:00 p.m. "20/20"

SUNDAY (MAR)
7:00 p.m "America's Funniest Home Videos
8:00 p.m. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00 p.m. "Oprah's Big Give"
10:00 p.m."Desperate Housewives"

TV talk-show hosts eye January return: report

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Idled television talk-show hosts Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien are likely to return to work in early January, even if the Hollywood writers strike is not settled by then, Daily Variety reported in its Friday edition.

Most of the late-night shows have been airing reruns since the Writers Guild of America went out on strike for the first time in almost two decades on Nov 5.

NBC stars Leno and O'Brien, along with CBS's David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel refused to cross the picket lines in deference to their writers. But their ratings have suffered.

The networks laid off the shows' production staff, although most of them are still receiving pay checks thanks to the personal largess of O'Brien, Letterman and Kimmel.

Letterman's production company also produces Ferguson's show.

With no end in sight to the strike, several hosts are nearing the conclusion that it's time to return, Daily Variety said, citing unidentified sources close to the situation.

The trade paper said Leno, O'Brien, Letterman and Ferguson may all return around the same time, but that the NBC duo was "most likely to return in early January" no matter what Letterman decides. Some late-night observers believe Kimmel may also be preparing to go back soon, Daily Variety said.

On the other hand, with none of the hosts eager to be the first to return to work and risk the union's ire, Daily Variety said the hosts may yet still decide to stay home.

When the guild last went on strike, for 22 weeks in 1988, Leno's predecessor Johnny Carson returned to work about two months into the stoppage, and Letterman followed him more than a month later.

Officials from the networks were not immediately available for comment.

As new episodes fade, TV facing a long winter

A writers' strike that has slowed the flow of new TV shows is threatening to linger well into next year — and force more lasting changes in Hollywood that determine what we watch and when, at home and in theaters.

The 5-week-old walkout by 10,500 members of the Writers Guild of America took a turn for the worse last week, when talks between writers and industry executives collapsed amid harsh words. Now both sides are bracing for a long standoff.

If the strike isn't settled by early in the new year, the absence of new scripts will narrow the pipeline of movies headed to theaters starting in late 2008. For the top broadcast networks, the impact would be more immediate: The rest of this TV season could be a virtual washout, cluttered with reality shows and repeats as the networks run out of fresh episodes of sitcoms and dramas.

The development of new shows for next season already has come to a standstill, jeopardizing the calendars for networks' lucrative ad-selling ritual in the spring and their traditional rollout of new shows in September. Meanwhile, a wide swath of the entertainment business in Hollywood and beyond is — or soon will be — unemployed, with tens of thousands of makeup artists, truck drivers and others caught in the strike's crossfire.

"It'll hurt us all," Oscar-winning writer/director Paul Haggis (Crash), who was on the picket line Monday at Sony Studios, says of the strike's impact. He says studios are repeating their playbook from the last writers' strike, which lasted 22 weeks in 1988 until they "broke us and we took a huge rollback" in pay for syndicated series.

With so much at stake, can cooler heads prevail soon? "I'm not real hopeful," says Denis Leary, who writes and stars in the FX firefighter drama Rescue Me. The show, with no completed scripts, has delayed plans to begin filming its fifth season next month.

With talks at an impasse, networks this week resorted to long-range plans for alternative — and cheap-to-produce — programming. There has been talk of running repeats of cable series, shows produced overseas and even mixed martial-arts competitions to fill what could be a lengthy void. NBC has picked up Quarterlife, a drama series about twentysomethings that has appeared on the Internet. The show initially was a failed pilot at ABC.

"This is the time to look past March," NBC scheduling chief Vince Manze says. "You have to come up with plans now, because the news coming out of negotiations was not good."

The dispute causing all the turmoil focuses largely on a demand by writers: They want a guaranteed cut of the revenue resulting from Internet streaming and downloads, a tiny but rapidly growing segment of show business.

Top writers on TV shows and movies can make $1 million a year or more. But for most TV and movie writers, job security is traditionally low; half of those on strike typically are unemployed at any given time. The guild says that overall, its members make an average of $62,000 a year.

As the strike wears on, here's what to look for:

1. A cold winter

The strike's effect on prime-time TV has been minimal so far, but viewers of most shows will see a falloff in new episodes after New Year's.

Top series such as ABC's Grey's Anatomy and CBS' CSI have one or two new episodes left to air, while most comedies — including NBC's The Office and CBS's Two and a Half Men— have run out.

Networks are hastily assembling replacement schedules heavy on reality programming, but they have a few scripted series that were held for midseason, including ABC's Lost, NBC's Law & Order and Medium, and CBS' The New Adventures of Old Christine. However, such shows will have fewer episodes than initially planned.

Network programmers are preparing for the worst. Apart from the occasional megahit such as Fox's American Idol, reality shows and TV newsmagazines have proved less attractive to viewers recently than the more expensive sitcoms and dramas they'll replace.

A taste of what's to come: An ABC game show called Here Come the Newlyweds; a new NBC show, The Baby Borrowers, in which teen couples "adopt" tykes as a test of parenting skills; and NBC's revival of American Gladiators, the 1990s sports competition show that included spandex-clad contestants in jousting matches

So far, advertisers haven't bailed out of buying ad time from networks; they have few other options to reach large numbers of TV viewers. But declining ratings likely will force networks to cut ad rates and offer bonus spots or refunds when audiences dip below previously guaranteed levels. That scenario could cost the networks tens of millions of dollars.

Magna Global USA predicts total TV audience levels will decline by 5% in January compared with last year and by 13% in May, assuming the walkout eliminates the rest of the traditional TV season.

The decline will be more severe among some top broadcast networks, as the supply of original scripted series dwindles. But that could be good news for American Idol, which remains TV's top series going into its seventh year but saw its ratings dip last season.

The impact on cable will be milder: Most channels rely heavily on unscripted programming, repeats of network series or movies. Those that air original series will see seasons delayed or shortened.

Some observers wonder whether viewers, already distracted by the Internet, video games and other media and entertainment outlets, will be lost for good.

"There's been a lot of talk about how … this is the worst time for a strike, the YouTubes and MySpaces of the world will get a major boost, that viewers will develop other habits and many will not return," says Magna analyst Steve Sternberg. He calls the fears "nonsense" and says that "the impact on TV viewing, even during a lengthy strike, will be negligible."

John Rash, head ad buyer at Campbell-Mithun in Minneapolis, says TV "is a long-ingrained habit for many," so viewers simply will choose other programming to embrace. But they could further erode the dominance of the major networks.

2. The return of the late shows

The strike's first fallout was felt on late-night talk shows, which are produced daily and shut down when the strike began Nov. 5. The shows, or their hosts, have been paying most of the shows' non-writing staffs since then.

But that won't continue indefinitely, and hosts including Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien will have to decide whether to side with writers by staying on the sidelines or return to work to keep their non-writing staffers employed.

Late-night producers say they initially made no plans to return to the air while striking writers were negotiating, but now that talks are at a standstill, all bets are off. They soon will decide on a return date, and some top shows are eyeing Jan. 7 on their calendars.

Some will have an easier time than others: Comedy Central's The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, favorites among coveted young viewers, rely heavily on scripted material and would be difficult to restart without their staff writers. On the other hand, O'Brien and Letterman lean more on improvisation and could simply dispense with monologues and expand celebrity interviews.

NBC's little-watched Last Call With Carson Daly resumed with new episodes last week, without the show's four writers. Daly's return was met with picketers.

3. A calendar in turmoil

Just as viewers start sampling new series each fall, the networks busily begin the process of developing newer shows that eventually will replace them. The pilot season kicks into high gear in winter, as sample episodes are written, ordered, cast, shot and delivered to the networks. The networks choose which shows to air and assemble a fall schedule to be touted to advertisers at lavish presentations each May.

Now that already chaotic process is threatened. Networks say a strike lasting past mid-February would upend their calendar and delay plans to pick a new schedule in May and then sell the bulk of ad time "upfront" in June.

It could create a year-round development cycle, which networks have talked about for years. If so, they'd ditch or scale back the lavish spring presentations for advertisers in New York.

"With each passing week, it looks more likely that the conventional way we've done business becomes more and more in jeopardy," says Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly.

"One of the few potentially positive outcomes of this is that the business can benefit from shaking up a process that could use shaking up."

"Advertisers in general would appreciate" such a move, says Tim Spengler, a top ad buyer at Initiative Media. "Moving the process to a calendar year would give marketers more time to get their budgets set."

4. Season starts … whenever

Strike or no, summer probably would look much like this winter, with a load of reality TV. But such shows could suffer after so much exposure in winter and spring. Starting in February, for example, CBS plans to air Big Brother — until now a summer-only staple — three nights a week.

Cable networks, which use summer to launch original series such as TNT's The Closer, USA's Monk and FX's Rescue Me, won't have them by then, either.

But unlike past years, a long strike means viewers won't see the usual mid-September flood of network newcomers.

Under one scenario, several holdover series with less-than-hit ratings — such as NBC's Chuck and Life or ABC's Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money —would get the go-ahead for more episodes after a strike settlement, for airing in late spring or early fall.

Then the "new" season would be pushed back several months as fewer episodes of new series are cycled in.

Fox has a version of this plan in place. For the past few years, its performance has been weak each fall, then rebounded with the arrival of Idol (and shows that ride its coattails) in January.

5. Movies to feel it in late '08

The long lead times required to produce, edit and market films means there'll be little disruption on that front until late next year.

Major studios are expected to snap up independent films from the festival circuit to plug holes in release schedules as development of new projects is delayed further.

Even so, as the strike drags on, "It's going to start affecting people very seriously after the beginning of the year," says Frank Marshall, producer of the Indiana Jones and Bourne franchises.

He predicts a feeding frenzy once the strike ends, as filmmakers compete for in-demand actors to refuel their pipeline.

"There will be a lot of movies starting up that have great parts," Marshall says, "and it will be an interesting race to see who will get who."

They might get none: Screen Actors Guild members' contracts expire in June, and they're fighting industry executives over the same issues.

Gillian Anderson to host `Masterpiece'

NEW YORK - After 37 years, PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre" is getting spruced up.

The revered anthology series will be split into three mini-seasons, each with its own theme and host — one of whom is Gillian Anderson, already familiar to "Masterpiece" fans for her 2006 performance as Lady Dedlock in "Bleak House."

Anderson, even better known as Agent Dana Scully from the Fox series "The X-Files," will make her debut as host of the renamed "Masterpiece Classic" on Jan. 13. Through May, she will present 10 programs that include adaptations of all six of Jane Austen's novels plus a new biopic; "Cranford," a three-part miniseries starring Judi Dench; "My Boy Jack," starring Daniel Radcliffe and Kim Cattrall; and a new adaptation of E.M. Forster's "A Room with a View" by Andrew Davies.

In the summer, "Masterpiece Mystery!" will absorb the "Mystery!" anthology series, a PBS fixture since 1980. Then, in the fall, "Masterpiece Contemporary" will focus on dramas set in the present day. Hosts for these two "Masterpiece" cycles will be announced later.

"Masterpiece Theatre," which premiered in Jan. 1971, was closely identified with its drawing-room host, Alistair Cooke, until he retired in 1992. The series has not had a host since his successor, New York Times writer Russell Baker, stepped down in 2004.

"Our viewers told us that they miss having a host to lead them into the programs," said executive producer Rebecca Eaton.

The series, which has been without corporate underwriting since 2004, when ExxonMobil ended its decades-long support, has since been funded by PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Ricky Gervais: It's a wrap for `Extras'

NEW YORK - It feels like an actual scene from HBO's "Extras."

Ricky Gervais, the writer-director-star of the critically acclaimed showbiz lampoon, is sitting on the set of "Ghost Town," a 2008 release and his first feature film as a leading man. A few feet away, a group of real-world extras are stationed on the other side of a flimsy retractable rope line.

"They're not allowed to mix with me. That's electrified," he boasts, not breaking from the signature deadpan that helped him win a best actor Emmy for "Extras" earlier this year. "If they get anywhere near me, 40,000 volts go through them. It's true."

He's kidding. Right?

Either way, Gervais' transition to the big screen is leaving no room for Andy Millman on the small one.

The movie-extra-turned-sitcom-star character will soon join embarrassing boss David Brent from the British triumph "The Office" in retirement. Gervais and comedy partner Stephen Merchant, who also plays Millman's hilariously amateurish agent, are ending "Extras" with an 80-minute Christmas special, just like they did with "The Office" four years ago.

"It probably won't capture the zeitgeist like `The Office' did, but I think this is the best work we've ever done," Gervais told The Associated Press during an interview on the "Ghost Town" set.

In the surprisingly emotional finale, airing Dec. 16 at 9 p.m. EST, Millman quits his silly sitcom "When the Whistle Blows" in hopes of working on more meaningful projects. Of course, in the forlorn fashion of "Extras," Millman instead fades further into obscurity, forced to accept such bit parts as an alien slug on an episode of "Doctor Who" and appear as a contestant on a particularly washed-up edition of "Celebrity Big Brother."

Don't expect a happy ending for Millman. Do expect to "be havin' a laff."

"We wanted it to be a standalone movie," Gervais says. "It was practice for my possible future career. I did want it to be more filmic, not just another episode. I wanted it to properly end the series. Most of all, if you've never seen `Extras,' I wanted you to be able to watch it and know what's going on. It has a beginning, middle and end."

It also has some shrewd cameos from George Michael, Gordon Ramsay and Clive Owen as themselves.

Since its debut on the BBC in 2005, "Extras" has attracted a cadre of A-list celebrities willing to unabashedly defame themselves in the name of comedy. Looking back, Gervais counts David Bowie, Samuel L. Jackson, Kate Winslet and Robert De Niro among the series' most memorable guest stars.

Gervais says a pivotal scene in the finale, in which Clive Owen petitions perennial background actress Maggie Jacobs (played by Ashley Jensen) to smear the nastiest of special effects cocktails on her face, is the series' funniest.

"I think the sketch with Clive Owen is the most perfect comedy sketch ever," Gervais says. "He's brilliant in it."

HBO is billing the "Extras" Christmas special as the series finale. However, unlike "The Office," Gervais could envision returning for more. He already knows what he wants Millman to do next: come to America.

"I can imagine it," Gervais reasons. "With `The Office,' I couldn't imagine it. I've never gone back to it, and I never will. If we ever did another `Extras,' which we almost certainly won't, I think it would be about Andy trying to make it in Hollywood and failing miserably. Obviously."

Perhaps, by then, Gervais will be A-list enough to cameo as himself.

'Law & Order' Back in Old Home

NBC's old standby "Law & Order" will return to its familiar surroundings in January.

The network says the long-running show, which is about to begin its 18th season, will premiere at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday, Jan. 2 with a two-hour episode before settling back into its long-time 10 p.m. home the following week.

It will be joined on Jan. 9 by "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." It will move into the spot currently occupied by "Bionic Woman," which has already aired its last episode completed before the writers' strike. ("Life," which currently airs at 10 p.m. Wednesdays, finishes its string this week.) "Criminal Intent" moved to USA for original episodes this season, but NBC retained the right to rebroadcast the episodes on its airwaves.

The original "Law & Order" will welcome two new cast members, both of whom starred in "Kidnapped" last season. Jeremy Sisto will play Detective Cyrus Lupo, Ed Green's (Jesse L. Martin) new partner, and Linus Roache will play Michael Cutter, the new chief assistant district attorney paired with Alana De La Garza's Connie Rubirosa. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), meanwhile, has moved up to the post of Manhattan's district attorney.

Behind the scenes, long-time executive producer Rene Balcer is returning as showrunner.

"The last time Rene Balcer was showrunner of 'Law & Order' we won the Emmy for outstanding drama series. I am thrilled he is back," "L&O" creator Dick Wolf says. "Jeremy and Linus bring a new energy to the cast, and we hope the return to our long-time timeslot of Wednesday at 10 will bring renewed success to the show."

"Law & Order" was initially scheduled to air on Sundays following the end of NBC's NFL coverage. The network hasn't finalized its midseason Sunday-night plans yet.

CBS sets return dates for 'Big Brother,' 'Christine'

Though the WGA is set to resume negotiations tomorrow with the AMPTP, CBS isn't taking any chances in case a deal isn't forged before Christmas. The network just announced a new lineup for January and February, which includes the return of The New Adventures of Old Christine on Jan. 28 and a first-ever winter edition of Big Brother on Feb. 12.

Other debuts: The Power of 10 with Drew Carey is back Jan. 2, the next Survivor bows on Feb. 7 and Jericho returns on Feb. 12.

The eye also plans to unveil The Captain, a new comedy starring Jeffrey Tambor and Raquel Welch about a group of people living in a prominent Hollywood apartment building, on Jan. 28.

Until those picketing scribes make a deal and get back in the writers' rooms, CBS will continue to air repeats of its sitcoms and dramas in their regular time periods, including How I Met Your Mother and Two and A Half Men on Mondays, NCIS on Tuesdays, CSI: NY on Wednesdays, CSI and Without a Trace on Thursdays, and Ghost Whisperer, Moonlight, and Numb3rs on Fridays.

O'Brien to pay nonstriking staffers

NEW YORK - With his nonstriking "Late Night" staffers facing layoffs after Friday, Conan O'Brien has promised to cover their salaries next week, an NBC spokeswoman said Thursday.

"He's paying the staffers' salaries out of his own pocket," NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks said. She said O'Brien had informed his staffers earlier in the day. The nonwriting staff numbers about 75.

Production of "Late Night" has been suspended since the writers strike began Nov. 5.

Through this week, NBC had been covering the salaries of its nonwriting staffers, along with those of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Last Call with Carson Daly," which are also in reruns.

But the network thus far has not said whether it intends to continue paying employees of any show on hiatus. All three programs are owned by Universal Media Studios, which, like NBC, is owned by General Electric.

Two weeks ago, before NBC made its initial arrangement, O'Brien had pledged to pay his staffers should the need arise. O'Brien is a member of the striking Writers Guild of America, as are fellow hosts Leno, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel and CBS's David Letterman.

About the same time, staffers of "Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" were promised continued payment at least through December by Letterman, whose production company, Worldwide Pants, owns both shows. They continue in reruns.

Staffers for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" continue to be paid by ABC, according to a network spokesperson.

Earlier this week, Daly, who is not a WGA member, announced "Last Call" was resuming production, with new shows to begin airing next week.

Defending his decision to return to work, Carson said in a statement that, otherwise, "roughly 75 staff and crew would have lost their jobs."

"As a non-WGA member I feel I have supported my four Guild writers and their strike by suspending production for a month," he said.

Negotiations between striking TV and movie writers and producers continued Thursday.

TV episodes dwindle in writers strike

NEW YORK - The writers strike is in its fourth week, with chilly prospects for viewing ahead.

During December, the schedule will be dominated by holiday specials and series repeats (not unlike any other year).

But come January, a prolonged strike could be all too obvious to viewers, with continuing episodic reruns interspersed with new reality shows.

Even so, a few scripted dramas and comedies are warming up the schedule:

___

A FEW TO GO:

• Fox airs a fresh "House" Tuesday. After that, only three more new episodes remain, slotted for January — one of them following Fox's Super Bowl broadcast.

• ABC's new hit comedy "Samantha Who?" has six more episodes in the can.

• Fox's "Family Guy" has scheduled a normal mix of new and repeat episodes at least through January.

• The "Crime Scene Investigation" trio, "NCIS," "Criminal Minds," "Without a Trace" and "Cold Case" are down to four or fewer new episodes apiece on CBS.

___

END IN SIGHT:

• ABC's "Ugly Betty," "Pushing Daisies" and "Grey's Anatomy" each have two new episodes to go.

• ABC's "Desperate Housewives" airs the last of its current stock of new episodes Sunday.

• The final new episode of NBC's "Heroes" airs Dec. 3.

• Fox's "K-Ville" has two new episodes left, with dim prospects for production to resume on this low-rated freshman drama.

___

STUCK IN REPEATS:

• NBC's "The Office" is closed for business until the strike's end, with only reruns on deck.

• CBS' new hit sitcom "Big Bang Theory" has similarly run dry, along with "How I Met Your Mother," "Two And a Half Men" and "Rules of Engagement."

___

WHO KNOWS WHEN?:

• The planned January return of Fox's "24" has been postponed indefinitely. Since only some of the series' 24 episodes have been shot, Fox didn't want to risk beginning a new season that might be interrupted.

___

MIDSEASON RELIEF:

• Fox's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" will have a two-night premiere Jan. 13-14. This new drama, a reinvention of the "Terminator" film franchise, arrives with 13 episodes completed.

• Also in January, NBC's "Medium" will return with nine episodes in the can.

• "The New Adventures of Old Christine" will be back with at least eight episodes of this CBS sitcom, and the apocalyptic drama "Jericho" returns with seven episodes.

• "Cashmere Mafia," ABC's new comedy-drama starring Lucy Liu, will arrive with seven episodes completed.

HBO Books 'Extras' Finale

HBO has a little pre-Christmas present for fans of its show "Extras": The final episode of the series.

As they did with their version of "The Office," Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are sending "Extras" out with a special episode titled "The Extra Special Series Finale." The 80-minute special, which checks back in with background actor-turned-sitcom star Andy Millman (Gervais), is scheduled to air Sunday, Dec. 16.

He's found success on a widely viewed but critically savaged sitcom, but Andy still finds he wants something more -- respect. His quest to be taken seriously leads him to take "drastic measures that will turn his life upside down."

Gervais Plans 'Extras'-Special Conclusion

Fellow regulars Merchant, Ashley Jensen and Shaun Williamson (Barry off "EastEnders") will be back for the finale, along with a host of guest stars. Among the famous faces appearing in the special are Clive Owen ("Elizabeth: The Golden Age"), David Tennant ("Doctor Who"), George Michael and TV chef Gordon Ramsay.

Gervais hardly lacks for respect in real life. He won the Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a comedy earlier this year, and both "Extras" and "The Office" have won numerous awards in the U.K.

City TV sportcaster leaving!

Kathryn Humphreys is leaving City TV.

The well-known sportscaster failed to come to terms on a new contract with City TV and she will be parting ways with the station after 10 years, Sun Media has learned.

When reached, Humphreys confirmed she is leaving City TV, but she didn't want to get into the specific details of her departure or where she now is headed in the TV world.

"I'm not running off to join a nunnery -- they wouldn't have me," said Humphreys, displaying the typical irreverent humour that has endeared her to TV viewers. "But rest assured, I will be back on TV."

Stephen Hurlbut, City TV's national vice-president of news, also confirmed that Humphreys is leaving.

"She is such a unique and gifted personality, she is going to be difficult to replace," Hurlbut said. "But we do have some proficiency in finding characters and personalities. So the search is on.

"But if you're wondering if we have someone in the wings and this was all part of a grand plan, absolutely not. We wanted a happy ending. But it'll really, really work out for Kathryn. She's a great girl."

Hurlbut admitted it's a sad day for City TV, which is losing one of its most recognizable faces. The 37-year-old Humphreys, who is married to Tragically Hip drummer Johnny Fay, had a knack for attracting viewers who weren't necessarily sports junkies but who enjoyed Humphreys' fun approach.

"We absolutely think Kathryn is a unique and special talent," Hurlbut said. "She had been a part of our newsroom for 10 years. We shouldn't forget the fact that we were the first people to put her on television and develop that talent. But in the course of people's careers and ongoing professional development, perhaps City TV wasn't a big enough stage for Kathryn and where she wanted to be."

The five City TV stations across Canada were to have been part of CTV's $1.7-billion purchase of the CHUM empire. However earlier this year, the CRTC ruled that the City TV stations could not remain with CTV, and subsequently CTV sold them to Rogers for $375 million.

"In our minds, we would have been very happy to have Kathryn with us for another 10 years," Hurlbut added. "But we've had a very clear understanding of our positions and she thanked me very much for everything, and she has a very, very bright future. She leaves with nothing but our best wishes."

'24' takes a bullet

The clock has stopped on 24.

USA TODAY reports that Fox confirmed the real-time thriller's seventh season, which was to have run from January through May, will be delayed indefinitely.

It is the first major casualty of the writers' strike, in its third day Wednesday.

The series expects to complete just eight of its 24 episodes, and Fox opted to delay it rather than leave viewers hanging. "We made a pact with fans; this is a show best enjoyed in non-stop fashion," says Fox program planning chief Preston Beckman, adding the network could change its plans with a quick strike settlement.

In 24's place, new drama Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, spun off from the film franchise, will air Mondays at 9 ET/PT beginning Jan. 14. American Idol returns Jan. 15.

Reports: Strike May Rush 'Big Brother'

Are Julie Chen and her band of summer shut-ins ready for primetime in the regular TV season?

According to Variety and Entertainment Weekly, CBS has already begun casting on the sly for a new season of "Big Brother," which could be rushed to the air as soon as February.

With the Writers Guild strike threatening to impact scripted programs for the spring, "Big Brother" would be a major asset for CBS. The Chen-hosted voyeuristic favorite has traditionally occupied three primetime hours per week during CBS' summer months, bringing in a regular stream of young viewers. The show is filmed in a camera-studded box on the CBS lot, so it would require relatively little production prep (though a spring shoot could impact the show's bikini-filled hot tub scenes).

The Variety story mentions the possibility (buzzed in different online circles for years) that the new "Big Brother" season might be a celebrity edition, capitalizing on the number of TV stars left potentially unemployed by a strike.

The show's eighth installment wrapped in mid-September with Dick Donato topping daughter Daniele Donato for the crown.

CBS' already has episodes of "Jericho" in the can, plus additional installments of the game show "The Power of 10." It's unclear how many episodes of other midseason offerings, like the drama "Swingtown," are finished and available to be plugged into the network's schedule depending on how long a strike were to go.

Canadian discontent in TV land

Canadians want more Canada on Canadian television.

That's the message 200 angry members of ACTRA, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television and Radio Artists, from Ottawa and Toronto delivered loud and clear during a demonstration outside a Canadian Association of Broadcasters' (CAB) convention at the Westin Hotel.

Canadian broadcasters, including CBC, CTV and Global, spent $479 million on U.S. shows in 2006, and just $40 million on Canadian-made English-language dramas. CTV and Global didn't add a single Canadian-made series to their schedules last year.

ACTRA, which primarily represents actors and directors, wants the CRTC to do for television producers what it did for the radio and recording industry when it set Canadian content requirements at 25% in the 1970s, rising to 30% in the 1980s and 35% in the 1990s and helped cultivate an international market for Canadian singer-songwriters.

In 1999, the CRTC relaxed those requirements, hoping to give Canadian producers more opportunities to create Canadian television. Instead, they flooded the market with cheap-to-produce news and reality-based serials.

DESPERATE SITUATION

"We're here to tell some of Canada's richest television corporations in the CAB that they have a shameful record of not giving back to the community," said ACTRA president Karl Pruner. "We're here to tell the CAB that the Canadian airwaves belong to the Canadian people and they're not a licence to print money."

Pruner noted that it's "cheaper for a Canadian network to buy Desperate Housewives from ABC than it is to buy the licence for the Canadian-made Regenesis.

"Americans can dump their shows here more cheaply than it costs us to make and license our own. And now that the Canadian dollar is hitting $1.07 US, we're seeing more work head south. Canadian television is in crisis and we have to do something about it now."

Robb Wells, who plays the dope-smoking schemer Ricky on Trailer Park Boys, flew in from Halifax to lend his voice to the day of action.

"In 1999, there were 12 one-hour Canadian dramas airing every week," said Wells. "Today, that's down to eight half-hour shows. Of the 87 hours they have to fill on their schedule, CTV and Global added zero Canadian shows. None. Big surprise it's getting harder to make a living as an actor in Canadian television. I'm worried. Canadians aren't aware of how much of our culture is going south of the border."

"Canadian broadcasters is an oxymoron," laughed Corner Gas star Eric Peterson.

"How can you be a Canadian broadcaster when you don't broadcast Canadian-made prime-time television, and you spend pennies on the dollar for Canadian programs, while lavishing millions on American shows?

"The CRTC should live up to its obligations and do something to encourage Canadian television production."

Hollywood strike could hit Canuck TV

TORONTO - Private broadcasters CTV and Global spend a lot of PR dollars heralding the ratings successes of the prime-time American blockbusters that are their top moneymakers - "Grey's Anatomy," "Desperate Housewives" and "House" among them.

But there won't be any new episodes of those fan favourites much past January if Hollywood screenwriters go on strike Wednesday night for a prolonged period of time, a headache for Canadian networks as they try to determine how to fill the potential gaps in their schedules.

Will Canadian audiences be inundated with reruns or the same glut of reality shows that are expected to flood the American networks if the strike drags on? Or will there be a sudden appearance of homemade programming on CTV and Global?

Both private broadcasters said Tuesday they were watching the situation closely.

"We're talking internally about a range of scenarios - we're planning for the worst but hoping for the best," said Mike Cosentino, senior vice-president of program scheduling for CTV. "We're talking about it, we're planning for contingencies, we're hoping that our schedule can remain vibrant."

Barbara Williams, senior vice-president of programming and production for CanWest MediaWorks, said Global wasn't overly concerned about the long-term impact of a strike.

"We're a long way from facing those problems," she said. "We don't even know if this strike is going to happen. If it does, we'll deal with it then and we'll see how things play out and we'll make some decisions as we go ... first we'll see what the American networks are doing, but they don't know either."

But others suggest a lengthy strike could present golden opportunities for all sorts of players in Canada, from the private broadcasters to CBC and homegrown production companies.

Both Global and CTV have long been criticized for a dearth of homemade programming on their airwaves, and some suggest a long strike could provide them with a captive audience for made-in-Canada shows.

"Gosh, do you think they might actually have to start creating some Canadian product?" Ken Ferguson, head of Toronto Film Studios, a film and television production company, said of Global and CTV.

"This should be an opportunity - it should be the opportunity for Canadians to produce product that would probably find a ready market in the United States as well. But I'll be pleasantly surprised if any of them do that."

While Global said it had no plans to trot out any Canadian programming in the event of a prolonged strike, Cosentino said CTV had plenty of Canadian shows that were slated to air in the months to come - from "Degrassi: The Next Generation" to "Robson Arms."

He added that the network was committed to producing Canadian programming regardless of the strike.

"Is it our intention to run Canadian programming to replace American content? Not exactly. Our strategy with Canadian programming is to run it in the best possible slot we can to deliver it to the right audience," he said. "The reality is, these shows are going to debut with or without a strike and we're going to put our muscle behind them anyway."

For the CBC, a protracted strike could put the public broadcaster in the unusual position of not having to compete every night against new episodes of huge U.S. blockbusters.

"It will be an interesting opportunity for the CBC to not necessarily be up against the American juggernauts," said Kirstine Layfield, head of programming for the network.

"If their shows get affected by the strike and their inventory dries up a bit, it creates a great opportunity for people to check in with the CBC and see what we have, because whenever people do check in with us lately, they like what they see."

Layfield also said she's hearing from Canadian writers and other talent in the U.S. who are pondering a move back home due in part to the strike.

"For a lot of people, it's just sort of the final straw," she said. "It's yet another reason why it might be good to come back home."

Mary Darling, head of Westwind Pictures, the production company behind the CBC hit "Little Mosque on the Prairie," says such a reverse brain drain to the north can only be good for the Canadian industry.

"We've heard some whispers from some talent down in Los Angeles, people trying to cover their butts who shall remain nameless," she said.

"This strike could end up spilling a little bit of sparkle dust on the Canadian community. There's so much Canadian talent down there ... there may be some really interesting, wonderful opportunities for Canadian producers as they draw on the experiences of people who have done volumes and volumes and volumes of writing in L.A. who are coming back home and want to stay home."

'Sopranos' creator defends famous finale

NEW YORK - Just when we had made our peace with "The Sopranos" finale and moved on with our lives, David Chase has stirred things up again.

Breaking his silence months after the HBO mob drama ended its run, he is offering a belated explanation for that blackout at the restaurant. He strongly suggests that, no, Tony Soprano didn't get whacked moments later as he munched onion rings with his family at Holsten's. And mostly Chase wonders why so many viewers got so worked up over the series' non-finish.

"There WAS a war going on that week, and attempted terror attacks in London," says Chase. "But these people were talking about onion rings."

The interview, included in "`The Sopranos': The Complete Book," published this week, finds Chase exasperated by viewers who were upset that Tony didn't meet explicit doom.

Chase says the New Jersey mob boss "had been people's alter ego. They had gleefully watched him rob, kill, pillage, lie and cheat. They had cheered him on. And then, all of a sudden, they wanted to see him punished for all that. They wanted 'justice'...

"The pathetic thing — to me — was how much they wanted HIS blood, after cheering him on for eight years."

In the days, and even weeks, after the finale aired June 10, "Sopranos" wonks combed that episode for buried clues, concocting wild theories. (Was this some sort of "Last Supper" reimagined with Tony, wife Carmela, son A.J. and daughter Meadow?)

Chase insists that what you saw (and didn't see) is what you get.

"There are no esoteric clues in there. No `Da Vinci Code,'" he declares.

He says it's "just great" if fans tried to find a deeper meaning, but "most of them, most of us, should have done this kind of thing in high school English class and didn't."

He defends the bleak, seemingly inconclusive ending as appropriate — and even a little hopeful.

A.J. will "probably be a low-level movie producer. But he's not going to be a killer like his father, is he? Meadow may not become a pediatrician or even a lawyer ... but she'll learn to operate in the world in ways that Carmela never did.

"It's not ideal. It's not what the parents dreamed of. But it's better than it was," Chase says.

And as for that notorious blackout in the middle of the Journey power ballad, "Don't Stop Believin'"?

"Originally, I didn't want any credits at all," says Chase. "I just wanted the black screen to go the length of the credits — all the way to the HBO `whoosh' sound. But the Directors Guild wouldn't give us a waiver."

And while this unexpected finish left lots of viewers thinking their cable service was on the fritz, Chase insists it wasn't meant as a prank.

"Why would we want to do that?" he asks. "Why would we entertain people for eight years only to give them the finger?"

Larry David's divorce mirrored on 'Curb'

NEW YORK - In the exaggerated mirror to Larry David's life that is "Curb Your Enthusiasm," even the comedian's own divorce is fodder for comedy.

Sunday night's episode of the HBO show was a classic case of art imitating life with the announcement by David's fictional spouse, played by Cheryl Hines, that she was leaving. It was just in June that David and his real-life wife, Laurie David, separated after 14 years of marriage.

The real-life divorce was filed by Laurie David, citing "irreconcilable differences." Their spokesman has called the split "very amicable." On "Curb," the breakup was set off when Cheryl called hysterically from a potentially crashing airplane. Larry told her to "call back in 10 minutes" because he was having their Tivo fixed by a cable guy.

Safe but still rattled, Cheryl returned to declare: "I'm leaving, Larry. I can't do this anymore."

"People ask me all the time, `How do you stay with him?'" she explained. "I always tell them, `There's another side to Larry that you don't see.' And then I just realized today, there's no other side."

Larry argued to no avail that the phone reception was bad and, besides, he was able to save her Tivoed shows like "Top Chef" and "Project Runway." The rest of the episode finds the couple's friends (some of whom are the REAL couple's friends), choosing sides between either Larry or Cheryl.

David has always pursued a realistic brand of comedy that pulls directly from life. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the NBC classic "Seinfeld" one night at a New York grocery, where they decided that their casual banter should be the show — famously referred to as "a show about nothing."

Even that moment was eventually portrayed on "Seinfeld" when Jerry and George (the character based on David, played by Jason Alexander) decide to create a sitcom for NBC.

The origins of "Curb" were similar. While preparing for a comedy special on HBO, David's friend and comedian Jeff Garlin suggested that David have the entire process filmed.

A loosely scripted, naturalistic approach is now the "Curb" signature. Though his character bears his name and much of his life, David has always said it's an exaggeration — who he might be if he had no manners or restraint.

Whether David's divorce would be reflected on "Curb" had been a matter of speculation. In an interview with The Associated Press in early September (after the season wrapped but before it hit the air), David played cagy when asked if his marital woes would seep into the show.

"Can't fire Cheryl," he replied.

Asked if perhaps the fictional couple might feel increased discord, if not collapse, David said: "There's something there, obviously. I wouldn't shy away from dealing with it, if I do another year."

Now David's divorce has made its presence felt, and the following episodes will help determine whether his on-screen marriage still has any chance. A spokesman for HBO said the split would indeed constitute a full arc.

Both Larry and Laurie David, in real life, declined to comment.

CBS cancels Jackman's 'Viva Laughlin'

LOS ANGELES - The music has stopped for "Viva Laughlin," an offbeat song-and-dance drama that drew such low ratings it was canceled by CBS after two airings.

Even having film star Hugh Jackman ("X-Men") aboard as executive producer and cast member couldn't save the series. It was the second cancellation of the young season, after CW's "Online Nation," and the first scripted show to be yanked.

"Viva Laughlin," based on the hit British series "Viva Blackpool," debuted last Thursday with 8.4 million viewers — a pittance compared to the 21.2 million viewers that watched the CBS show preceding it, top-rated "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

Moving to what was intended as its regular time slot, 8 p.m. EST Sunday, "Viva Laughlin" dropped to an estimated 6.8 million viewers. The show starring Lloyd Owen as a small-time gambler caught up in a murder investigation drew mostly drew largely poor reviews.

It will be replaced next Sunday by a "CSI" rerun, with reality series "The Amazing Race" then taking over the time period, CBS (part of CBS Corp.) said Monday.

Colbert announces presidential pursuit

NEW YORK - Stephen Colbert has announced his candidacy for president on "The Colbert Report," tossing his satirical hat into the ring of an already crowded race.

"I shall seek the office of the president of the United States," Colbert said Tuesday on his Comedy Central show as red, white and blue balloons fell around him.

Colbert, 43, had recently satirized the coyness of would-be presidential candidates by refusing to disclose whether he would seek the country's highest office — a refusal that often came without any prompting.

Shortly before making the announcement, Colbert appeared on "The Daily Show" (the show that spawned Colbert's spin-off) and played cagey, claiming he was only ready to consider a White House bid. He entered the studio set pulled by a bicycle pedaled by Uncle Sam and quickly pulled out a bale of hay and a bottle of beer to show that he was "an Average Joe."

Colbert said his final decision would be announced on a "more prestigious show," which turned out to be his own.

"After nearly 15 minutes of soul-searching, I have heard the call," said Colbert.

His recent best-seller, "I Am America (And So Can You!)," allowed him to mock the now-standard approach to a White House run, complete with a high-profile book tour.

Colbert said he planned to run in South Carolina, "and South Carolina alone." The state, one of the key early primaries, is also Colbert's native state. Earlier this week, South Carolina public television station ETV invited Colbert to announce his candidacy on its air.

Exactly how far the mock conservative pundit planned to stretch his impression of a presidential candidate wasn't clear. Colbert rarely breaks character on camera, including at his memorable speech at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner last year.

The Comedy Central host has often mobilized his fans ("Colbert Nation"), encouraging them to vote to have a Hungarian bridge named after him, for example, or to vandalize Web site Wikipedia.com with his version of "truthiness" and "wikiality."

Colbert said he would run as both a Democrat and Republican. He earlier explained the strategy: "I can lose twice." He claimed three running mate possibilities: Colbert-Huckabee, Colbert-Putin or Colbert-Colbert.

Minutes after announcing his presidential pursuit, Colbert welcomed CBS political analyst Jeff Greenfield to ask how he had changed the race.

"This is going to be one for the books," said Greenfield.

A spokesman for Colbert said he would be unavailable for further comment Tuesday evening.

In a guest column for Maureen Dowd in Sunday's New York Times, Colbert wrote: "I am not ready to announce yet — even though it's clear that the voters are desperate for a white, male, middle-aged, Jesus-trumpeting alternative."

Jorja Fox quitting role on CBS hit 'CSI'

NEW YORK - Jorja Fox is waving goodbye to "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." Fox, 39, tells EW.com she has quit the Las Vegas-based forensics drama, saying she wants to explore other opportunities.

"There are all these things I want to do," she said in a story posted Monday on the Web site. "Some are personal. Some are professional. And I really need to do some of them before I get too old."

Fox has wrapped up filming on the hit CBS series, and will make her last appearance as Sara Sidle in an episode to air next month, according to the Web site.

CBS publicist Kate Fisher had no comment Tuesday.

Fox's run on "CSI" nearly ended in 2004 when she and co-star George Eads were fired during tense contract negotiations. They were later hired back.

"If I thought the show were on its last legs, I would have tried harder to stay the course," said Fox, whose contract expired in May. "But I feel like it's going to be around for a while, so if I don't want some of those dreams to pass me by, I have to get off the ride for a while."

Fox has been a cast member since "CSI" premiered in 2000.

Leave it to Jerry 'Beaver' Mathers, Tony Dow

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Fifty years after they first appeared on TV as Wally and Theodore "the Beaver" Cleaver on Oct. 4. 1957, Leave It to Beaver stars Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers are still going at it like real brothers.

Discussing the plot of their 1980s reunion series, Still the Beaver, Mathers, 59, recalls that "Wally was doing very well in his architectural business."

"No, no," corrects Dow, 62. "Wally was an attorney. Since I hate attorneys, they made me an attorney."

The two friends laugh, making it clear that they also share another brotherly quality: deep affection.

"Fifty is a milestone, like a wedding anniversary," boasts Mathers, seated next to Dow in the posh TV Land offices where they have come to talk up this weekend's 24-hour 50th anniversary marathon (TV Land, Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/PT).

Mathers, the divorced father of two daughters and a son, just concluded a three-month run in Broadway's Hairspray playing the father, Wilbur. Dow tells Mathers he feels "really bad" that he missed his performance.

"I've been busy," Dow says.

Sounding very much like the Beav, always in awe of his big bro, Mathers prods Dow: "Tell him what you do."

With an aw-shucks sort of humility, Dow reveals he is building luxury condominiums.

"Tell him what else you do," Mathers says. (You can almost hear him say: "Go on, Wally. Tell 'em. Tell 'em.")

Turns out Dow is a sculptor of modern art, and one of his bronze pieces is on display in the backyard garden of their former TV mom, Barbara Billingsley, whose June Cleaver will always be remembered for vacuuming the Cleaver living room in high heels and pearls.

Dow, now a grandfather, and his wife, Lauren, live close to Billingsley. "I talk to her quite a bit," he says. "We have dinner once a month or so."

"She was singing at my mom's 80th birthday party about three months ago," Mathers pipes in. "It was the night before I left for Broadway."

Calling from her home in Los Angeles, Billingsley, her voice quivering just a bit, still sounds like a proud mama at age 91.

"They were always good kids," she says of her TV sons. "Tony had an exhibit of his artwork and sold 18 pieces. Pretty darn good, isn't it?"

Not leaving Mathers out, she adds: "Jerry told me it had been a dream of his always to be able to go to New York and be in a Broadway show. So all we have to do is decide what we want to do. You have to have a dream."

Ten years ago, a big-screen Beaver remake was produced, and only Billingsley accepted an invitation to cameo. (TV dad Hugh Beaumont died in 1982.)

"Tony and Jerry didn't want to be in it," Billingsley says. "They were crazy. But it really didn't turn out very good."

The two also turned down numerous celebrity reality show offers, Mathers says. "They thought they could throw more money at us and have us do it, but we said, 'No, it's not about that.' When you denigrate (Beaver) in any way, it's not worth it."

"I think it depreciated the value of (the brand)," agrees Dow, who even dodged an opportunity to direct the film.

Says Mathers: "There were a lot of inneundos and such. And the Eddie Haskell character was more sexual than anything else."

Funny enough, all these years later, the original Eddie Haskell, Ken Osmond, is still in the thick of things. He has filed a multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit seeking unpaid royalties from the Screen Actors Guild.

"This suit is on behalf of all actors," Osmond, 64, says in an e-mail. "SAG should have paid this money out that it has been collecting for over 11 years."

Asked about Osmond's lawsuit, Dow groans and defends Osmond just as Wally always stood up for troublemaker Eddie: "I spoke to Ken, and I doubt it was his idea."

Global laying off 200 across Canada

Global Television is cutting 200 jobs across Canada as it develops new "state of the art" broadcast centres in four cities, CanWest announced on Thursday.

The company said the centres, to be located in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto, will use the latest in broadcast technology. It will also mean local news programs can immediately begin the transition to high definition, CanWest MediaWorks Inc. said.

Although CanWest is adding 50 positions as part of the process, it will lose 250 jobs, meaning a net loss of 200.

Across the Maritimes, 30 positions in Halifax and 11 in New Brunswick are being cut.

Network employees in Halifax said they were shocked by the news.

"It came as a complete surprise. There was no warning," said Paul Saulnier, a union leader with CEP and a technical director who's losing his job.

The layoffs take effect next spring around the time the first centre is planned to be opened in Vancouver. The other three are expected to be operational over the next 18 months.

Seinfeld stars in season opener of "30 Rock"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The freshly anointed best comedy on television (according to the Emmys) kicks off its second season with a rip-roaring opener featuring Jerry Seinfeld in an inspired guest turn.

The charmingly written and superbly acted episode intersperses a trio of plotlines that never trample one another. The A-story involves a boffo idea from network boss Jack (Alec Baldwin): Use all of that NBC-owned footage featuring Seinfeld to digitally insert him into every NBC primetime show imaginable (introducing "SeinfeldVision!") and capitalize on the network's intellectual property. It goes less than swell. Big shockeroo, that.

The show-within-the-show has been on summertime hiatus, and what a tumultuous hiatus it has been. Liz's (Tina Fey) boyfriend Floyd has split up with her. Jenna (Jane Krakowski) has put on a zillion pounds while starring in "Mystic Pizza: The Musical" because of all the actual pizza she had to eat. And Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) becomes Tracy's (Tracy Morgan) office wife after his actual wife boots him out of the house, forcing him to take up full-time residence in his office.

The stories are interwoven with seamless ease, all joined at the hip by the bouncy soundtrack. Fey is superb as a lovelorn control freak in transparent denial, and Baldwin . . . well, he's a flat-out revelation, leaving us wondering how it was again that Ricky Gervais beat him out for the lead comedy actor award at the Emmys. The academy certainly has some explaining to do. Then again, so does the TV audience for failing to support such a grand comedic exercise.

Canadian stars to appear on 'Little Mosque'

TORONTO - "Little Mosque on the Prairie" kicks off its second season Wednesday on a definite high.

The show is starting to air in countries around the globe while a roster of beloved Canadian personalities are showing up this year in the fictional Prairie town of Mercy.

Dave Foley of "Kids in the Hall" and "Newsradio" fame is slated to appear on the popular CBC sitcom, as is Samantha Bee from "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and Darcy Tucker, the pugnacious Toronto Maple Leaf winger who will appear as himself.

At a recent lunch at a Moroccan restaurant in downtown Toronto, the cast was relaxed and chatty after just wrapping up season two in Regina and Toronto.

"It's been the most fun I've ever had in my life," said Sheila McCarthy, who plays Sarah Hamoudi, a convert to Islam who's turned out to be more devout than her husband, Yasir.

That's quite a compliment coming from one of Canada's most celebrated actresses - McCarthy has won two Geminis, two Genies and two Doras throughout her prolific 25-year acting career on stage and screen.

"When these little projects come up from out of the blue that are completely different from anything you've ever done, it's just great," says McCarthy, who will soon be seen in the "The Stone Angel," which premiered at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.

McCarthy, 51, says she's proud to be in a TV show with a gentle message of tolerance and understanding as it's poised to air in some of the world's most troubled hotspots, including Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

"My mother knows what Ramadan is now," McCarthy says with a laugh. "I feel very lucky to be the visible minority in this show, and I'm proud to be in something that has a little bit of weight.

"We're knocking down stereotypes, and the show is growing and developing in good ways, and I think it's a wonderful thing."

"Little Mosque" proved to be a prime-time ratings saviour for the struggling CBC last winter, routinely drawing an audience of about a million people per show for its truncated eight-episode season.

The network poached two key writing and production figures from CTV's "Corner Gas" in the spring, and has high hopes the show will sustain its audience this season with a full 20-show slate.

Season two will feature not only cameos from Canadian personalities but also a Christmas Eve special and a look at the back stories of some favourite "Little Mosque" characters, including Amaar's complex relationship with his mother back in Toronto.

"There will also be a quick glimpse into something hilarious that happened in his past," says Zaib Shaikh who, as the only Muslim in the cast, was observing Ramadan and forgoing feasting on lamb and chicken with the rest of his castmates on a warm September afternoon.

For Carlo Rota, who also plays Morris on the dark and intense American megahit "24," "Little Mosque" offers him some sweet relief.

"It's the absolute best; it's the best of all worlds," said the 46-year-old Rota, who was born in London but spent many years working as an actor in Toronto. "The adage 'to those that have much is given' is applying to me right now.

"I just hope it lasts and I can continue to appreciate it. Life is fleeting, and your fame is fleeting too."

'South Park' creators back new series

NEW YORK - The current kings of juvenile humor on Comedy Central, "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, are pitching in to bring a series of silly competitions to the cable channel.

Comedy Central has acquired rights to a Canadian series, "Kenny vs. Spenny," and fans Parker and Stone agreed to help produce new episodes.

The series essentially consists of two friends, Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice, who engage in all manner of silly competitions for bragging rights. Some of the challenges: Who can stay naked the longest? Who can sell more Bibles? Who do gay guys like more? Who can wear a dead octopus on their heads the longest?

An episode about which man could stay awake the longest — Spenny ate health food for help, Kenny (the winner) kept gobbling caffeine — caught Parker and Stone's eyes as they were pulling all-nighters to finish the movie "Team America: World Police."

"It touched our hearts because we had just gone through that," Stone told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Parker and Stone essentially gave Hotz and Rice advice on which ideas would work best and are lending their comedy cachet.

"I'd like to make a joke about how we made them understand the differences between the Canadian and American senses of humor, but it was really just letting them make their own show," Stone said.

The two buddies can't stand to lose to each other, no matter what the competition, and many guys will see themselves in it, he said.

"It's what guys do," he said. "Guys will sit around and ask, `can you throw that beer can into the waste basket?' and before you know it they've created an intricate competition."

Comedy Central has agreed to make 10 new episodes of the series and acquired 10 old ones. It will premiere Nov. 14.

Meanwhile, Parker and Stone are at work making another episode of "South Park." One new episode to look forward to: Cartman pretending he has Tourette's syndrome.

"That one seems so natural," Stone said, "we wondered why we hadn't thought of it before."

Ontario rocker wins 'Canadian Idol'

Hats off to Brian Melo. The raspy Hamilton rocker with a thing for headwear can add the Canadian Idol crown to his wardrobe.

Melo, 25, got the better of five million votes to beat out twangy teen Jaydee Bixby and become the fifth Idol last night. In other words, his life is now complete.

"This is incredible. I didn't think a year ago I'd be standing here," said the construction worker who undoubtedly won't be reporting back to the job site this week.

A glowing Melo embraced family and friends after singing the CTV karaoke competition's victory song, All I Ever Wanted. The track will instantly become his first single this morning, when it hits airwaves across the country. After last night's show, Melo signed a contract with Sony BMG, and will soon be off to the recording studio to work on his album, due out in fall. Not a second to waste here, folks.

Despite having been done wrong on national TV, there were no tears in Drumheller, Alta. native Bixby's beer for a couple of reasons: 1) He's only 17 and can't legally drink; and, 2) He'll have a music career regardless -- or at least a regular casino stint impersonating his beloved Elvis.

"No matter what, Jaydee wins because he's just created such a buzz about himself," judge Zack Werner said before the final results came in.

A consistently strong Melo clearly had this one in the bag -- especially after Bixby "completely bombed" (the singer's own words) a cover of Bon Jovi's Who Says You Can't Go Home and the aforementioned winners single on Monday's performance show. Hamilton's Melo continued to pick the right tunes for his hoarse rocker voice -- notably Radiohead's Karma Police -- and Canada totally dug it.

But of course, his moments of glory were a measly six minutes at the tail end of a two-hour-long show. If it wasn't a commercial break, it was a bad cover song. Or worse: a castoff singing a bad cover song. First case in point is the loooong opening Bon Jovi medley, which called on Martha Joy, Dwight d'Eon, Greg Neufeld, and the rest of this year's Top 10 to give love a bad name, live on a prayer, be there for us, etc. The castoffs returned just 40 minutes later -- and 20 minutes after that - to reprise our, uh, favourite performances from the past 10 weeks. Good times.

On the celebrity side of things, Avril Lavigne was first up to perform singles Hot and When You're Gone off her latest disc, The Best Damn Thing, before making herself scarce. After showing Bixby and Melo a thing or two on Monday's episode, Bon Jovi returned to tout new album Lost Highway with a performance of the title track. They also revisited the past -- not just with their hairdos -- but with 1999 single It's My Life.

And in true Idol tradition, last year's winner Eva Avila returned to prove she's still got it. She sang her latest single Fallin' For You and gave a word of warning to the two possible winners: "You don't know what you're into." Compared to some reality competition finales we've seen (cough cough, So You Think You Can Dance), Canuck Idol's wrap held back on totally pointless filler. Instead of running an hour of clips, producers closed off the season with live hits from Bixby and Melo's hometowns, a glimpse at this year's Media Idol competition, a recap of the celeb appearances (yes, more Umbrella-ella-ella) and pre-recorded interviews from the Top 10.

And, just when you thought it was over, CTV yesterday announced a 15-city concert tour starring Melo, Bixby and fellow finalist Carly Rae Jepsen. It kicks off Nov. 18 in Charlottetown and wraps Dec. 12 in Edmonton. Tickets are on sale now. Hurry! If you're lucky, the trio will make it to your city before they reach their Best Before dates. But not likely. Congrats Brian.

Fall TV: Uphill climb for major networks

NEW YORK - Here's one of the safest bets you'll find this fall: one month into the new television season the media will be filled with stories about how poorly the networks are doing.

What's a little less certain is whether those stories will actually be true.

The broadcast networks are trying hard to get your attention for a season that kicks off on Sept. 23. ABC is passing out daisies to pedestrians to hawk its new series "Pushing Daisies." CBS is advertising its Miami-set "Cane" with an ad that smells like mojitos. Every new NBC series can be seen online before they air on television.

They're talking tough, too. "Our fall is like the summer motion-picture blockbuster time and we are really confident that we will get a big audience," said Ben Silverman, NBC entertainment president.

Yet if there's a faint odor of desperation in the air, that's understandable.

The networks suffered through an alarming spring of poor ratings, followed by a lackluster summer. And it's not like the factors driving those problems have gone away.

Last spring was a benchmark in large numbers of TV viewers beginning to take control of their schedules. Through digital video recorders, video on demand and streaming of programs on iTunes and elsewhere, there's no reason to fear anymore if you can't be in front of the TV Thursday to watch "Grey's Anatomy" live.

The problem is the TV business is used to instant results. Network executives have faxes in their bedrooms, or can call a special number before dawn to hear how many people watched their prime-time shows the night before.

An estimated one in five American TV homes now have digital video recorders, a sharp jump from the 12 percent last September, researchers say. Those numbers alone tell you more people will be taping their favorite programs to watch later.

That's bound to make those initial ratings ugly compared to the year before, fueling the notion that viewers are abandoning network television.

To get a truer sense of how the industry is doing, it's probably better to wait for Nielsen Media Research's measurement of who watches a program within seven days of its first airing. Network suits would also be very interested in ratings for commercial minutes, and they take three weeks.

But who wants to wait that long when there are snap judgments to be made?

"The technology of measuring how many people watch TV has not caught up with how people are watching TV," said Sarah Bunting, co-founder of the Web site Television Without Pity. "They watch. They're just not making appointment television, because that's not really necessary."

Add in DVR viewing, broadband streaming, video on demand and, eventually, DVDs and more people may see certain shows than they have in the past — even if that's not the public perception, said Jeff Bader, scheduling chief for ABC.

Perhaps. Or there could be less people interested in what the networks have to offer.

The networks largely dismiss the summer months, but there were still some disturbing signs this year. Viewership on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox was down 9 percent this summer compared to 2006, even though they aired twice as many new shows, said Jack Wakshlag, chief researcher for the Turner Networks.

That's a loss of 1.5 million households, or about the size of the Tampa-St. Petersburg market.

Viewers abandoned reruns in droves, particularly drama reruns, and increasingly sought out fresh series on cable like TNT's "The Closer." Television's biggest event of the summer, the premiere of "High School Musical 2," was on cable's Disney Channel.

Broadcasters suggest there will be little carryover into the fall. But when the average American home has more than 100 channels, it's probably not a good idea to so willingly cede ground. They may not come back.

"This makes people shift around more," said Steve Sternberg, an analyst for the Madison Avenue firm Magna Global. "It's not, `let's just see what's on cable.' People are becoming more familiar with the individual networks."

Some network executives are worried that DVR usage also may make it tougher for new series to catch on. If people have a choice of trying out something new, or catching a "Heroes" episode they have taped, the unfamiliar may lose out.

It would help if there were intense curiosity among the public — call it buzz — about new shows like NBC's "Bionic Woman" remake, ABC's "Cavemen" or CBS' "Kid Nation."

The online media marketing firm BrandIntel suggests there is. Its measurement of "buzz," essentially how much Internet chatter there is about upcoming network series, is up over last year, the company reported. Others who watch the industry are suspicious.

"There are several interesting pilots," said veteran television critic Frazier Moore of The Associated Press, who's watched them all. "It is hard to say if the series will be interesting. But there is less buzz about them than any recent season I can recall."

The whole idea of whether a series is buzzed about is pretty meaningless anyway, Sternberg said. There's no correlation between buzz and success: far more people were talking late last summer about "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" than "Heroes," for example, he said.

"Every two or three years you have excitement at the start of a season," he said. "Most of the time people say there's nothing on the schedule. I remember the year `ER' and `Friends' came out — that was considered one of the blandest schedules I'd ever seen."

TMZ.com makes jump from online to on-air

LOS ANGELES - Wander through TMZ.com at any given moment and it's easy to grasp what the Web site is gleefully pushing. There are stars smooching. Stars sunning. Stars looking hot, or not. And, always, there are stars misbehaving.

TMZ broke the news of Mel Gibson's DUI arrest and Michael Richards' comedy-club tirade. Looking for "new pics" about a car crash involving Hulk Hogan's son? Or of Lindsay Lohan in any number of interesting activities? They're here.

It all adds up to the most popular online entertainment site and, starting Monday, a television show. "TMZ," joining the crowded field of entertainment news magazines, will test the bounds of the TV audience's fascination with celebrity.

The new venture also is a groundbreaking bid to turn an online success into an even more lucrative TV commodity, a tantalizing possibility that has yet to be realized.

Harvey Levin, managing editor of TMZ.com and host and executive producer of the syndicated series, says he isn't thinking about being a crossover pioneer. He's just preoccupied with getting "TMZ" going.

"I am so charged right now. ... We've been running test shows for a month now and I just want to put the show on the air," said Levin, a lawyer who became a TV reporter, commentator and producer ("Celebrity Justice," "The People's Court").

"TMZ," which will be carried on Fox-owned stations as well as on a mix of other network outlets, is to air as a half-hour show on weekdays (mostly within the 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. window) and in an hourlong version on the weekend.

When TMZ.com launched in November 2005 as a joint venture of Telepictures Productions and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, it was with the intent of eventually translating it to TV, said Hilary Estey McLoughlin, president of Telepictures.

TMZ.com's success was the prerequisite. According to comScore Media Metrix, it's the leading celebrity-news site, with 120 million-plus monthly page views and more than 9 million unique visitors.

(The name is based on the phrase "thirty mile zone," coined in the 1960s for a part of Los Angeles used for location shooting and subject to studio production rules.)

"TMZ" the show is "an important launch for us and a great way to tout that you can brand new projects other than on television and succeed," McLoughlin said. "Part of our strategy is to incubate all kinds of formats and talents and bring them to television."

Jim Paratore, the former Telepictures president who launched TMZ.com and who's producing the TV series with Levin, said they are "trying to do what others are, find the voice that crosses over" from online to on-air.

The program has a good shot at making it, said Bill Carroll, an expert in syndication for Katz Television.

"In a million years, I never would have believed that the national conversation would have been Paris, Britney and Lindsay," Carroll said. "No organization is better at covering that than TMZ. If they can take the tongue-in-cheek sensibility that the Web site has and translate it to broadcast, I'd be very surprised if it's not a success."

It's an interesting test case, said David Card, senior analyst at JupiterResearch.

Whether a show can be launched from a Web site "and then make money and get big audiences" has yet to be seen, Card said. But, he added, "I can't believe it won't happen."

Lew Leone, general manager of WNYW Fox 5 in New York, figures he has solid evidence that "TMZ" will prove a hit for his station.

"I get all the gossip magazines at work, and I get in trouble with my wife if I don't bring them home," Leone said. "It's all the same pictures, same people, but she doesn't tire of looking at them over and over. She's probably typical of viewers out there when it comes to celebrities."

He's also enthusiastic about what's packaged with "TMZ": visitors to WNYW's news Web site can find breaking stories from TMZ.com and promos for the show, which is being distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television.

"It will work for us, it will work for TMZ.com and it will work for the show. I think it's a very powerful way to launch a show and to reach an audience," Leone said.

The competition for "TMZ" includes "Entertainment Tonight," the elder statesman of the Hollywood news shows, along with "The Insider," "Access Hollywood" and, also from Telepictures, "Extra."

"Celebrity Expose," an hour-long weekly program profiling one star at a time, starting with Lohan, debuts Oct. 1 on MyNetworkTV.

Levin is unfazed by the list. In rapid-fire remarks, he asserts that "TMZ" is in a league of its own.

"It doesn't feel like the other shows ... We're not sucking up (to stars). We're not doing junkets. We're not doing red carpets," Levin said.

Humor will be part of the mix because TMZ.com has demonstrated that people enjoy seeing Hollywood covered with irreverence, he said. But he acknowledged that the online vibe — which can veer from snarky to off-color — and that of the show will differ.

"There are obviously things we can do on the Web site that we can't do on TV, and we're not trying to do that. So it's finding the right tone and the right personality," Levin said. "But I know what people want: They want different and they want humor."

Bring it on, said "TMZ's" rivals, including sibling Telepictures entry "Extra," returning for its 14th season Monday.

"The way I look at it, we're in the limo with the stars. They're chasing the limo," said Lisa Gregorisch-Dempsey, "Extra" senior executive producer (and Levin's former colleague on "Celebrity Justice"). "It's a completely different point of view."

Linda Bell Blue, executive producer for "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider," adopted an equally confident posture in an e-mailed comment.

"With 26 years under `ET's' belt, we have the best connections in the entertainment business and the best connection with our audience. We're excited that people's interest in celebrity journalism remains very high ...." Bell Blue said.

As yet another show joins the fray, however, consumer fatigue seems to be a possibility.

"I don't see any signs of it. The television marketplace has an insatiable appetite for celebrity news," said Greg Meidel, president of MyNetworkTV.

Offers Gregorisch-Dempsey of "Extra": "All this guilty pleasure stuff that people want to talk about ... they have to get it somewhere."

Jerry Lewis' telethon hits new record

LAS VEGAS - Showman Jerry Lewis raised nearly $64 million on Monday during his annual Labor Day Telethon to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association, topping last year's event by $3 million.

"We did it. We did it. I got my buck more. And more. We can go shopping," a jubilant Lewis said as the tote board topped $63.7 million for his 42nd telethon. Last year's record was $61 million.

As in the past, the International Association of Fire Fighters anchored the donations from local fill-the-boot drives with $25.2 million, eclipsing last year's $23.5 million.

"Whoa, whoa firefighters. They're all my heroes — every firefighter you see," Lewis said.

Harold Schaitberger, the union's general president, replied, "Jerry, you care about them and we care about you. We'll be with you every year."

Lewis, who has conquered both age and illness to anchor every telethon for more than half of his 81 years, showed no signs of slowing as he asked for pledges on Monday. While he spent many of the final hours of the 21 1/2-hour show behind a desk, his forays on stage to greet guests were spry and witty.

"We'll be here every year as long as I'm breathing in and out," Lewis said.

The telecast has raised $1.46 billion to fight the disease since it began in 1966 on a single television station in New York City. This year's telecast was carried by 190 stations in the United States and Canada and carried worldwide on the Internet.

The broadcast returned to Lewis' home town of Las Vegas last year after 11 years in Los Angeles.

"We're back in Vegas!'" he said. "It's the best location we could ask for to send out MDA's message of hope."

Canadian City Featured In 'Heroes' Storyline

A "major city" in Canada will be part of the story line in the new season of Heroes.

Tim Kring, the creator of the popular TV series which airs on Global and NBC, made the announcement today through a pre-taped video message that was played to fans at a public gathering in Toronto.

"Actually, the story line is going to take us to a certain part of Canada," Kring said.

"Obviously, we're going to shoot it here in L.A. But the story line will take us to a major city in Canada."

Jeph Loeb, the executive producer of Heroes, has been in Toronto for the past two days, along with cast members Zachary Quinto (Sylar), James Kyson Lee (Ando), Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah) and newcomer Dania Ramirez (Maya).

"Well, if (Kring) didn't reveal (specifically which Canadian city it's going to be), then I can't do that yet," Loeb said. "But it is a major metropolis, and it actually is important.
"It's one of the many mysteries that you'll have."

The new season of Heroes debuts on Sept. 24.

New 'Seinfeld' Reunion on 'Old Christine'

Jason Alexander will join his fellow former "Seinfeld" co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus on "The New Adventures of Old Christine."

CBS is holding "The New Adventures of Old Christine" for midseason, so it's unclear when Alexander's episode will air.

He's set to play a lizard handler for children's birthday party who somehow gets a date with Christine.

Louis-Dreyfus won an Emmy for "Old Christine" last year, adding that trophy to the one she won for "Seinfeld." Although Alexander w