We captured some of the Devo show at Whistler Medals Plaza for you that was broadcast live in Canada but not the US. We hope to get into the Roots... more ›

A couple weeks ago we wrote about Microsoft's insidious sponsorship of Seth MacFarlane's November special, Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show" on November 8th and it now appears that Microsoft can't handle MacFarlane's humor and has dropped the sponsorship. After Microsoft execs attended the October 16th taping, a Microsoft spokesperson stated "We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of 'Family Guy,' but after reviewing an early version of the variety show it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand." In a twist of reality the company is now behaving exactly like the John Hodgeman parody character. more ›

Another week, another bonehead network move: this week the non-"Tonight Show" launched on NBC, thus killing 5 hours of programming and lookit, CBS is putting Jenna Elfman back on the air. What have we done to deserve this? And lookit, something has impregnated her (again) in real life so now she's playing a pregnant character. Iran will have nukes and now this... Lord Xenu help us. more ›

Yesterday we wrote about the demise of 20th Century Props and the auction of their collection - today we can notify you of another auction occurring in..... 2010! If you are going to ComicCon you should check out the Profiles in History display of "Lost" props that will be auctioned in 2010 and start saving up for that Dharma Initiative bag of potato chips that escaped the clutches of Hurley. more ›

Hardcore classic film geeks (ourselves included) now have a place to go as Turner Classic Movies aka TCM has launched a fan site that includes social networking doo-dads, video clips, and rare photos. --- Fans of "The Shield" will be eagerly anticipating the next effort from series creator Shawn Ryan, an hour-long comedic private investigator series called "Terriers" co-penned by "Ocean's Eleven" writer Ted Griffin. The pilot has been green-lighted/lit? by FX but no word on air date. more ›

Thank you for the comments on yesterday's column - looks like Conan has created a winner with the new "Tonight Show". more ›

The TV Junkie is back from two weeks in France where we didn't watch much of any TV but we're still addicted, so here we are. What we missed was the debut of the new "Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien" - tell us how you think Conan is doing in the earlier time slot - Comment Please! Speaking of "The Tonight Show", the exceptional Bill Burr will be appearing tonight as the first stand-up comedian to grace the new version of "The Tonight Show". more ›

For people who like real news other than the BBC should know that there are huge changes happening over at PBS with regards to "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer". Starting in September, the show will change its name to "PBS NewsHour" and along with an online correspondent, will have two anchors move from a single-anchor format to one with two anchors. more ›

The AP has an interesting story today on local newscasters trimming their staff despite reports stating that local news is becoming a ratings leader compared to national news broadcasts. Having technology that allows only 1 or 2 people to go to a location shoot should mean more coverage, because that's what people want, not the same amount of coverage with less people. more ›

The TV Junkie Plan: "Better Off Ted", "Lost" (maybe), "MythBusters" (if not "Lost"), "South Park", "Reno 911!", Letterman, Fallon. more ›

Did any of you watch the Grammys? Did you enjoy it? OK, so you might actually like pop music but tell us what you specifically like about it. To us, the performances seem somewhat off and the staging heavy-handed. There was a 17% increase in viewership of the Grammys this year over last year with most folks watching during the 8:30-9:30pm hour. more ›

CBS head honcho, Les Moonves, says that the network TV model of programming and advertising "ain't broke" despite reports to the contrary as well as the evidence of the past decade. Moonves was confident in the easy bet that "CSI: Miami" will beat Jay Leno's new 10pm show on Monday night, he didn't offer much additional perspective on the 3 1/2 hours of nightly talk shows that NBC is planning in 2009. more ›

TNT is pulling out all the stops for its launch of their Timothy Hutton-driven action-thriller series "Leverage" (premieres on Sunday 12/07 @ 9:00pm). They've got a major press tour (more on that, Friday) and they're even launching an online game on Sunday where players can win $100,000. We haven't seen an effort this coordinated in a while. more ›

A couple season finales happen this Sunday on HBO. Ironically, "True Blood" finishes its first season on the weekend that the film "Twilight" premieres. Somehow the hype machine has ensured that "Twilight" will be a big hit this weekend even though it is nothing more than a teen romance movie with marginal acting and poor writing. In contrast, "True Blood" has been a rollercoaster with some great character development and performances, ensuring that we will eagerly await its return. more ›

Clear Channel is going private according to the NYTimes - what does it mean? Well who knows, but as a private company Clear Channel will not have to be as transparent about their investments and strategy and that could mean trouble for media markets that they target resulting in (even) less choice for consumers. more ›

We have a bit of TV on tonight but it's not much unless you like cooking, which I do. I'm waiting for Thursday and the return of some programming to NBC. more ›

Spike has a new, totally original show that is essentially 'Cops' for the Drug Enforcement Agency and it has the totally original name 'DEA'. “Television viewers will get the same unprecedented access to the inner workings of the DEA as our camera crews – the raids, the risk and the danger,” said Al Roker, executive producer (Al Roker??!! He's so effing hardcore). “When you watch ‘DEA,’ you will feel like you have gone undercover.” more ›

The WGA is engaging in talks but that doesn't mean that the Oscars still aren't in danger. For an idea of what the economic impact of a canceled Oscars will be check out the diagram to the right from the 01/28/2008 issue of Business Week. Obviously the entire dollar amount is not exclusive to Los Angeles but a significant portion of it is localized ($26.5 million on limos, security, and gifts??). After reading some comments about the WGA strike here at LAist it's obvious that a lot of people are in pain over this but it's seems silly to me to blame the writers for the situation - this is a chance for all the affected industries to put pressure on the producers, studios, and networks to be a little less greedy. more ›

href="http://londonist.com/2008/01/6_years_on_amne.php">Amnesty International bringing Guantanamo Bay to the American embassy to raise the profile of the continuing campaign to close the detention center.

The Mars Volta, not that I'm some kind of outraged fan, had terrible terrible sound on Letterman last night. I've noticed this over the last few years, yeah I'm slow, that the sound production on the live band performances (not "the CBS Orchestra") is always sub par on Letterman. All the other late night shows have better live sound, Late Night needs to figure this out. more ›

Hey check it, yours truly was invited to contribute some commentary to this ABCNEWS.com article (I'm on page 2). Thanks for your support! more ›

So The Colber(t) Repor(t) and The Daily Show are back and while Colbert, Stewart, Kimmel, and Conan are all nimble on their feet, and very funny and engaging, it's amazing how the success of all these shows really comes down to the writing. It's great to have them all back on the air and it does provide us all with some late night alternatives, but I hope NBC, ABC, and Viacom come to their senses and end this. The ball is in their court. more ›

I've managed to avoid watching NFL playoffs and college bowl games but I'm getting worn down, I'm tellin' ya. If I got the Fox Movie Channel I would watch Less Than Zero tonight at 7pm because I'm just about as strung out as Robert Downey Jr.was in that flick. I'm not begging for the writers to capitulate, I want them to win, I'm just begging the networks to send me some shite to write about. Didn't you guys put stuff out on DVDs for the holidays? I'm sure that there's plenty of folks walking around with unused balances on their gift cards that would drop some cash on some of your repackaged programming. more ›

David Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants, and the WGA have reached an interim agreement that will allow the host to return to the air next Wednesday WITH writers. more ›

It was a great year of new books, re-discovered books, and books we meant to get to last year but didn't. The end of the year is nearly here and before we look forward, we'll take a look back. LAist Editors share their favorite book they read this year: more ›

Check out artist Steve Keene's take on famous album covers in a show called "Covers of Covers" up now through next Friday at the Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank. more ›

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• Tribune Company CEO Dennis FitzSimons will be stepping down at the end of the year, letting Chicago businessman Sam Zell take over the company. The Tribune Company owns the Los Angeles Times.
• President Bush signed a huge Energy Bill yesterday, in hopes of "reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure."
• Looks like Sean Preston and, uh, the other little Chee-to whose name escapes us will have a little fucked up cousin very soon! Jamie Lynn Spears, following in her sister's dirty, unshod footsteps, got herself knocked up.
• California's population has grown by 11.5% since 2000 -- but the annual growth rate has slowed overall, possibly due to slower job growth: "Those who left... were fleeing an economy in which just 5,800 jobs per month were created -- down from more than 20,000 per month the previous year."
• Sean Penn's road-trip flick "Into the Wild" garnered four SAG Award nominations, including one Best Lead Actor nod for star Emile Hirsch. SAG has reached an agreement with the writers guild that will allow the ceremony to proceed as planned.
• This week's rainfall brings California's yearly total up to the seasonal norm. More relief may still be on the way.
• Approximately 25,000 residents in Northridge and other parts of the Valley were affected by power outages yesterday. Cal State Northridge shut down classes, but power has been restored to most customers.
• There may be hope yet for television in the New Year! Stephen Colbert & Jon Stewart will return to cable on January 7th without their writing staff. Stewart and Colbert commented: ""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."

Two more strikes against two power players in showbiz today as fallout from the WGA strike. According to a report on KTLA.com this morning, "The union representing striking Hollywood writers has denied requests to allow their members to write for the Oscars - Hollywood's biggest, most glamorous showcase - and the Golden Globes." more ›

From the Colbert Report writers. 'nuff said.... more ›