Bye-bye Robert Redford - Sundance Channel is being bought by Cablevision. Why "bye-bye"? Because even though Redford will remain "involved", he will not have an ownership stake and without ownership Redford will essentially be a figurehead. Hey, you thought you could move to a Caribbean island and join a start-up engaging in shady media practices like Valence Media's TorrentSpy and think you could get away with it indefinitely? TorrentSpy was one of those "we don't......

The New York Times says that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Screen Actors Guild will not be reaching an agreement anytime soon. In less than 60 days the SAG contract is up and all motion picture and TV production will stop on a dime with the exception of game shows, reality TV, and the news. I might actually get outside this summer! 8:00pm Death on the Nile TCM - (1978)......

"Lost" is back! Thursday night is truly the best night on TV, hands down. If you saw yesterday's TV Junkie you might have read that post about Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. taking over NYC media - today there's a story in the New York Times about News Corp. hiring a hacker to break into the DISH satellite network, steal codes and flood the market with pirated smart cards costing the network almost a billion dollars......

So while TV is still recovering from the writers' strike another strike looms on the horizon. According to Variety, the Screen Actors' Guild signed a pact with producers of indie films that will ensure that an indie film in production will be completed in the event that SAG goes on strike. This sounds like a good thing but it's being interpreted as a move to put pressure on major producers to get inline with SAG......

The above is a clip for tonight's "30 Rock" that hasn't even been posted on NBC.com, check it out. Before the writers' strike, Thursday was comedy night, with "30 Rock" vs. "Ugly Betty", etc., so I'm glad this dry spell is over. In local TV-related news, KCET is gets props from LA County for the production and broadcast of "Bracing for a Quake: A Survival Guide", which, as you might recall, the TV Junkie......

WGA Bests: Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Comedy Series, Drama Series The Writer's Guild of America (WGA) didn't hold a gala ceremony this year (who can afford a gown when you're not getting paid?) but they did take a break on the East coast from discussing the possible end of the strike to announce the winners of their annual awards. This year's very informal and somewhat unusual gathering "was decidedly looser than past ceremonies and......

Bright Umbrellas in Chinatown for a Less than Bright Day Crews are still working to restore power to some 3,600 Edison and DWP residents that lost power due to heavy rains and winds over the past two days. North Hollywood, Granada Hills, Porter Ranch, Pomona, Torrance, Stevenson Ranch and - gasp! - Beverly Hills residents were affected. Candles, people. More rain is on the way so gather ye umbrellas while ye may. Tons of......

It's becoming a task to find episodes of anything new and/or remarkable. Do I even mention that there's new episodes of Celebrity Apprentice, Make Me A Supermodel, and CSI? Am I supposed to be excited about informing you that there will be two (2!) new episodes of NBC's Chuck airing two weeks from tonight? 8:00pm Live From Lincoln Center: I Can't Believe It's Schoenberg! PBS/KCET - I can't believe it either. 8:15pm Wuthering Heights TCM......

So, here we are. Living in the crazy post-Office/Pushing Daisies/30 Rock world that none of us wanted, and of course it's only about to get worse. With shows falling off like Bud Selig's credibility (zing!), the time to start seeking out alternatives is now. Of course we've already given you a good start, but believe me when I say those recommendations are the tip of the television iceberg. Lucky for you, I have the......

The Guardian has an irritating blog post about LA writers. The gist: LA poet and novelist Rob Woodard wonders where all the good novelists in LA have gone. He points to the well-known "great" LA writers (Chandler, Nathaniel West, John Fante, Bukowski) and a few others, then deems LA literature mostly dead for the past thirty years. His reasoning? Would-be novelists have been lured by Hollywood into screenwriting and joke-writing for the late night shows.......

Dear PBS, eff you and your dumbass Doo-Wop shite - I'm sick of it! Grasping at straws here, no decent movies on tonight either, frickin' TCM has Show Boat (again) and IFC has Sid and Nancy (again). 8:00pm The Office NBC - Yeah, it's a rerun, but it's the hour-long one where they go to Benihana. 8:00pm Survivor: China CBS - Next to last episode of the season. The finale is on Sunday. 9:00pm 30......

There's only one 1/2 hour of TV I'm looking forward to tonight and it's on NBC. Out of some desperate need I've turned to Kenny vs. Spenny (which debuted on Comedy Central a couple weeks ago) but I scored the Season 3 DVDs which includes the hilarious "Who Can Make the Best Porno" competition which resulted in the first sketch comedy porno ever (although, it could be argued, that the majority of porn is sketch......

Even my beloved Thursdays are starting to fill up with reruns. We do have a great Fellini movie on tonight though, so open a fine Chianti (or my preference of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo) and drink it all in. Also kids, the Style Network notified me that they are looking for folks for a new reality show. Here's the deets: If your business, club, band, school, organization, or team is in need of a make-over then apply......

1. The Obvious- My parents and sister are the most important people in the world to me. They support me in every boneheaded endeavor I partake in, and believe me, there are tons. It's astonishing how many, actually. 2. My friends. Once again, totally obvious. Once again, they're totally awesome. Much love to Porter House, SLC, Shalhevet, AU, and everyone who fits into all, some, or none of those categories. World rockers, each and every......

Thursday night I almost invariably turn to NBC - what's gonna happen if we run out of new episodes of our fave shows? I might have to get creative, perish the thought. I apologize for writing the word "fashionistas" yesterday, I also apologize for saying that Kenny vs. Spenny was premiering - what we got last night was a sneak preview, not a premiere, the premiere happens on Sunday. 8:00pm Ugly Betty ABC - Betty......

Looks like we have a few more weeks of comedy and drama to enjoy before our shows start petering out due to the writers' strike. As we can see, late night TV is in repeats. TV Junkie will have an interview with a WGA card-carrying writer posted in the next couple days, as well as some DVD reviews (gotta feed the addiction). Thursday is comedy night in our book: 8:00pm Ugly Betty ABC - Tonight......

Baseball was fun last night since there wasn't much else on. Tonight we have more choices, except for late night which only offers us Kimmel. If you have the Sundance Channel you really ought to check out the series Iconoclasts, which pairs up incongruous individuals from sometimes completely disciplines to see what kinds of discussions result. Weird and fascinating. 5:00pm World Series: Game Deux FOX - For all you non-Francophiles or non-Naked Gun fans, Deux......

Yes, we have some new seasons and series awaiting us over the next couple months but it's remarkable that we've settled into a similar groove from the previous season. We know what's good and has held up over at least a season. It's a shame that 30 Rock continues to lag in the ratings despite being so consistently well-written and funny. We're nearing the end of the season for the remarkable program, Mad Men -......

If there are 30 minutes of television for you to watch tonight, then those 30 minutes should be 30 Rock. Tina Fey's American Express commercial has left me wanting more and finally I'm getting some. And hey lookie, they actually got Seinfeld back in a sitcom, for at least an episode. 8:30pm 30 Rock NBC - Season Premiere. TV Junkie Pick of the Night. 9:00pm Supernatural CW - Season Premiere. 9:00pm The Office NBC -......

From 8pm to It-Seems-Like-Eternity on Fox. But hey, whoa, this is the first carbon neutral Emmys, co-sponsored by Fox - but isn't acknowledging that they should attempt to become carbon neutral against the positions of every news and opinion personality in all Fox networks? I guess that's the kind of hypocrisy we like. HERE's the primetime awards website. Some nutty company called AirPlay lets you do live predictions of who might win, with trivia,......

With the fall TV season just around the corner, a flood of your favorite series hit the stores today. What better way to whet your appetite for what promises to be a long, great Season 4 of The Office, than to check out Season 3 again. I should finally catch up with Sunny in Philadelphia. 30 Rock would be even better without the unfunny Tracey Morgan and the creepy Jack McBrayer. Is Desperate Housewives......

A Word or 157: It's all about the Prime Time tonight. The Office and 30 Rock have a real chance at getting some serious viewership since both Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy are simply rehash episodes (even though they are billed as 'New'). Tina Fey has been hitting everything from Good Morning America to Conan (and Baldwin made an appearance on Letterman last night) in an attempt to push 30 Rock more - it's......

A Word or 46: Boy what a hubbub over this American Idol dreck - didn't the show producers see what a joke Howard Stern made of People magazine's "Most Beautiful People" contest back in '98? That's what you get for inexperience and idiocy, watch the guy with bad hair win. Tonight - Thursday - April 5th, 2007 The Office (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) Supersized 40+ minute version Survivor: Fiji/CSI: Crime Scene Investigation/Shark (CBS, 8-11:00 p.m.)......

Set your Tivo's. One of the mid-season pickups that we have been hearing great buzz over premiers tomorrow night and stars Andy Richter, the one-time sidekick of Conan O'Brien, in his very own sitcom called "Andy Barker P.I." Replacing "30 Rock" in the 9:30 time slot on NBC, this show does have to battle March Madness, but hello, that's what Tivo is for! Conan O'Brien is the series co-creator and executive producer and Andy......

Tonight - Thursday - March 8th, 2007 The Yakuza Papers (IFC, 5:00 p.m.) All 5 flicks from the gangster saga. Survivor: Fiji (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) More shenanigans from paradise. American Idol (Fox, 8:00 p.m.) Carrie Underwood performs, top 12 finalists revealed. Scrubs (NBC, 9:00 p.m.) Sad news for the Army guy. Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? (Fox, 9:00 p.m.) Well, are you? 30 Rock (NBC, 9:30 p.m.) Last one before show goes......

Today - Thursday - March 1st, 2007 Ducks @ Kings (Fox Sports, 7:30 p.m.) College Basketball: UCLA @ Washington State (PRIME, 7:30 p.m.) Survivor: Fiji (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) Someone has a tantrum on the island. Swinging (ABC, 9:00 p.m.) Series premiere Scrubs/30 Rock (NBC, 8-9:00 p.m.) New episodes. Larry King Live (CNN, 9:00 p.m.) Reporter Bob Woodruff Ace of Cakes (Food Network, 10:30 p.m.) Off to Baltimore. If only this show had the balls......

A Word Or approx. 60: Goodbye O.C., a shame that the show is better now than it has been for the last couple seasons. Hey, who is the amazing Thai girl that was in Lost last night? Lots of new shows tonight, am going to have to order that second Tivo. Tonight - Thursday - February 22nd, 2007 Ben Hur (TCM, 5:00 p.m.) Saddle up for the long haul with this epic classic, cast......

A Word or 36: Hopefully the jerkoff session over the Aqua Teen Hunger Force is winding down and we can get back to real topics like: is Paula Abdul getting replaced by Courtney Love on Idol? And other such ilk. Tonight - Thursday - February 1st, 2007 College Basketball: Oregon @ UCLA (PRIME, 7:30 p.m.) Ugly Betty (ABC, 8:00 p.m.) With cameos from Tim Gunn and Katharine McPhee My Name Is Earl/The Office/Scrubs (NBC,......

A Word or 51: So last night it was either Klaus Kinski or American Idol - they're both abject and base pornography but Kinski won. Get home early today to check out the Winter X Games; other than some The Office reruns the CW seems to have the most new programming but that's not saying much. Tonight - Thursday - January 25th, 2007 The Caddy (TCM, 5:00 p.m.) Classic Jerry Lewis & Dean Martin......

A Word Or 78: Last night I didn't watch anything that I had listed or even Tivoed. I ended up watching "Monster In a Box" on IFC because I had the privelege of seeing Spalding Gray a couple times and there he was again on TV. Wile watching the movie I found it extraordinarily sad to both hear this amazing person talk about his mother's suicide as well as allude to committing suicide himself.......