TV Junkie: "A Christmas Story"; "Battlestar" Finale; Stern, Whitaker, and Nas on Kimmel; Sly Stallone on Conan

Last Night Summary: So 50 Cent cancelled his appearance on Conan a couple hours before the show because he felt he was coming down with a cold? Stern and Gaffigan were good as usual on Conan. Also: "The Office" was fantastic; I was amazed at how long Colbert allowed his druggie guest to ramble; kid scientists on Letterman were typically cute and funny and I'm hoping for a new set of stupid human tricks soon. I'm interested in what fellow LAistas (writers and readers) felt about last night's "30 Rock" treatment of the n-word scandal.

Tonight - Friday

"A Christmas Story" (TCM, 5:00 p.m.) The overplayed classic is presented here without commercials.

"New Rose Hotel" (IFC, 6:45 p.m.) OK, so this is supposedly a terrible flick but look, it's got: Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe, John Lurie, and Asia Argento!

Clippers @ Trail Blazers (PRIME, 7:00 p.m.)

Rockets @ Lakers (ESPN, 7:00 p.m.)

"Ghost Whisperer"/"Close to Home"/"NUMB3RS" (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) All new episodes.

"Battlestar Galactica" (Sci Fi, 9:00 p.m.) Season finale! Show will be back towards the tail end of January.

"20/20" (ABC, 9:00 p.m.) 2-hour death march regarding Christmas.

"Late Night With David Letterman" (CBS, 11:30 p.m.) Clint Eastwood and his war flicks, Matthew Fox performs

"The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" (NBC, 11:35 p.m.) Spiderman Tobey Maguire, spider expert Jules Sylvester, Sarah McLachlan performs

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (ABC, 12:05 a.m.) Howard Stern(!) continues his late night marathon, Forest Whitaker(!) Nas(!) performs

"Late Night With Conan O'Brien" (NBC, 12:35 a.m.) Sly Stallone(!), Carla Gugino pushing "Ngiht at the Museum", Mat Mays & El Torpedo perform

Battlestar Galactica promo pic from SciFi Channel