With even more evidence of the population spending more time with programming and movies online, Lifetime, which I jokingly refer to as the most sexist network on the planet, is now launching programs on the web. If you weren't getting enough reality TV, first verify that you don't have testicles and then check out mylifetime.com and look for "That Magic Moment" which is about couples' first time in the sack and the "Clean Start Challenge”......

I was kind of unhappy at how PBS dropped off Super Tuesday coverage fairly early in the evening. Political sickos pretty much had to rely on CNN which was all tech-ed out: did you see that crazy stage Wolf Blitzer was on? How about the map with _way_ too much information? They didn't even know where to look on that thing and neither did I. Was I looking at specific precincts reporting, or was......

It's been going on all day as it is: election coverage. Obviously you have your choice to get this news all night: CBS, ABC, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, and probably the best news source, Comedy Central. For all other decent viewing options see below. And if elections aren't the equivalent of polling and monitoring then there's this recent bit about a challenge to the Nielsen ratings system. Looks like TNS Media Research is going to go......

Am in a post-Super Bowl stupor. The commercials were so-so, I wasn't unduly impressed, and the halftime show was terrible, they practically had to frickin' wheel Tom Petty and his aging cronies out there. Going for it on 4th and 13?? That made me almost as sick as the above clip. 8:30pm Duty Free TV: Unbeatable Banzuke/Super Big Product Fun Show G4 - Series Premiere. The series is a combination of Super Big Product......

In some TV news with local flavor, Santa Monica-based Ovation, "The Arts Network" (I thought this was Lifetime's tagline?), has announced a series of partnerships with cultural institutions across the country to produce and promote their content and collections. Local organizations include: the LA Opera, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and P.S. ARTS. Now if I could only get Ovation on local cable.... Also, despite our tailspin into recession and the lack of decent......

There's a few new shows and seasons starting this week, including the 2 hour premiere of "Lost" on Thursday but it all just feels like a build-up to the Super Bowl. 6:00pm State of the Union Address VARIOUS - Unless he gets the Constitution amended, this is his last one, time for a party. 9:00pm Intervention A&E - If you've been watching "Breaking Bad" the last couple weeks, here's the real deal on crystal meth......

If you care for "Just For Laughs", "According To Jim" and all things Tuesday ABC, they're new. We have a premiere tonight on Bravo, our new source of reality TV. This time they're launching Millionaire Matchmaker featuring Patti Stranger (right) who performs the very public service of hooking up desperate, misunderstood, and underprivileged millionaires with compatible mates - Patti, I hope someday a grateful society brings you the honors you deserve. 8:00pm American Idol FOX......

So I spent my Sunday sick as a dog on the couch watching, of all things, football, literally because I was too wiped to find the clicker and move on. I'd forgotten how obnoxious the graphics were and how pompous and full of itself football has become. Still, gotta watch the Super Bowl for the commercials so I still have some time to devote to that. Am dismayed that the talentless hack Ryan Seacrest is......

Conan O'Brien will soon leave NYC | Photo by Shiny Things via Flickr Conan O'Brien really isn't that funny as a talk show host. Nor is Jay Leno. We all know David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel are the kings of late-night (and to be fair, Craig Kilborn Ferguson has many great moments too). Nevertheless, in preparation of kicking Leno out in 2009, Conan has purchased a $10.5 million home in Brentwood:The newly built, gated......

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. In other newsies, I'm hoping that the Colbert vs.......

As you can see below it's slim pickins tonight. Last Friday the Wall Street Journal ran an article about all the smoke that the networks are blowing with their overuse of the word "new" as it applies to their programming. ABC's "all new (but partial) season of Lost" and the "all new funny" Carpoolers, which would be a welcome change for that sub par offering. I guess we're supposed to be excited about this and......

OK so now Oprah wants her own network and she's going to get it. Remember that she is one of the four founders of the Oxygen Network, you know, that paragon of programming that now includes: The Bad Girls Club, Snapped, and the Oxygen Original movie Husband for Hire. Now she's distancing herself from that loathsome swamp of bad TV because of her new altruistic endeavor, the modestly named OWN (The Oprah Winfrey Network) which......

In other news, a desperate NBC has ordered a pilot of the BBC's cars & celebs series, Top Gear. The show has been running on BBC America for a couple years now, I've seen a few episodes, notably one with Ewan McGregor. The show may be amusing depending upon which celebrities they line up, but it's no American Idol. Again, instead of coming up with something original, we're forced to watch rebranded concepts from overseas.......

At this point my whole week is focused on getting to AMC's Breaking Bad which debuts this upcoming Sunday. AMC scored a couple Golden Globes with Mad Men, let's see if they can repeat the success. On face value Breaking Bad is more interesting than anything the Big Four have planned for us. Late night is troubling me lately since NBC and Comedy Central aren't posting their guests into the news feeds or their websites......

We always encourage you to press that little recommend button at the bottom right hand corner of every post if you enjoyed it. For one, it tells us what you want more of here it LAist. So here's this week's five most recommended posts, as recommended by you: 1. LAist Interview: Matt Reeves, Director of Cloverfield: It was nice to have so many Cloverfield fan sites point to this in depth interview. Who knew that......

With both David Letterman and Conan O'Brien sporting beards, pop-culture talking heads have been all a buzz of late about the return of the beard. The return of the beard. Which brings us to this blog post from Best Week Ever called, The 10 Most Inspiring Beards Of All Time. We're as big of a fan of most of the list, snarky commentary and all, as the next person but we especially wanted to call......

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......

The AMPTP: Cowards, Cutthroats and Weasels......

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.......

Tomorrow is the first day California residents can apply for an absentee ballot - the 29th is the last day to submit a request. (Click here for the online absentee application). The first wave of Stormwatch 2008 has largely faded into nothingness today as sun peeked through clouds and puddles began to dry. But another storm of equal or lesser value could follow soon. Downtown received about 5.3 inches, well above its total last......

So what do you think of the beards on Letterman and Conan? I thought everyone did pretty well, particularly Conan. Leno's show was practically unchanged (same old crap) while Letterman gave lots of props to the WGA. If you don't have a TV with a built-in digital tuner you will need to get a converter box by February of 2009. It seems like a long way off but it will sneak up on you. Be......

Best way for LA to bring in the new year: win the Rose Bowl. USC killed Illini at 49-17, winning their 23rd Rose Bowl title. 750 bills go into effect this year and the minimum wage is now $8 per hour! The news battle in Santa Barbara continues: Wendy McCaw, owner of the Santa Barbara News-Press, has lost in court over illegal firings. She "must re-hire and give back pay — to at least......

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. Letterman, who has been an outspoken supporter of the writers since the strike began, made it clear that he wanted to return to the air, but stressed that it was important to him to work out a deal with the WGA, so that he could return......

Unless you are a hardcore devotee of the 3-camera sitcom format (How I Met Your Mother, etc.) then Monday has somehow turned into NBC night. Check out late night offerings as you can while the writer's strike gains traction - Letterman and Conan have good guests. 8:00pm Chuck NBC - TV Junkie 8:00pm Pick 9:00pm Carol Burnett: A Woman of Character PBS - For some she's an annoyance, for many she's a classic, if you're......

The big news this morning is that the Writers Guild is striking beginning today. Although LAist isn't part of the Guild, we are writers and we support our brethren. Not enough to strike with them, of course, but in spirit. Therefore above you will see Jon Stewart's take, and below David Letterman's. And after the jump you can see where the writers will be today from 9am-5pm so you can drive by and honk......

I'm hoping that no one had time for TV last night and if they did they had the class to watch the Boris Karloff marathon on TCM. 8:00pm Ugly Betty ABC - The Halloween Episode. TV Junkie 8:00pm Pick. 9:00pm To Die In Jerusalem HBO - Have heard enough about this documentary on NPR and elsewhere to know it's a good thing. TV Junkie Pick-O-The-Night 9:00pm The Office NBC - If you don't feel like......

Watching Nip/Tuck has always been a dirty and guilty pleasure. Season five of the show returns tonight on FX and McNamara/Troy are moving the business to our own Los Angeles (as if you haven't been pummeled incessantly by the promos for the last month, and particularly during the World Series). The overpromotion irritates me a bit because it can set up what has been a pretty good show for a fall. Since Nip/Tuck has always......

Hope you caught the season finale of Mad Men - it was excellent, especially the final pitch to Kodak (the finale will repeat tonight at 10:00pm on AMC). Am still bummed over the death of Deborah Kerr, of the King and I and From Here to Eternity fame (yeah, that was her rolling around in the surf with Burt Lancaster), she will be very much missed. We also lost the last remaining member of the......

Get learned-up with PBS tonight. Sarah's also on (thump-thumpa :-)), and late night TV is strong tonight. 8:00pm Wired Science PBS/KCET - This is a cool show. While I'm not enamored of the bizarre enormous set that the hosts saunter through, each of the pieces are very well done. In particular, tonight check out the "ball busters" segment which is about the testing and certification of baseballs for MLB. TV Junkie 8:00pm Pick 8:00pm Pushing......

Don't forget to check out my interview with Glenn Close if you haven't yet. Damages is the pick of the night of course, but there's some other gems out there. 8:00pm Matt Lauer Reports NBC - I'm not a huge fan of Matt Lauer or NBC news reporting but it should be interesting to see him grill Senator Larry Craig about his wide stance. 9:00pm Frontline: Cheney's Law PBS/KCET - A look at the Cheney......