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. Another slow night tonight but late night TV looks good - Jungle Jack Hanna on Letterman will be a blast as......

Looks like the SAG and studios have dropped negotiations without reaching a deal so look for a bunch more DVD reviews from me in the next few weeks because it's time to stock up for the summer. It's still springtime and finally my young-man's fancy is turning to love just in time to check out "The Love Boat" reruns on Joost - I can't get enough soft-focus of B and C list celebrities from 25......

It looks like Time Warner Inc. will be spinning off Time Warner Cable and announcing that sometime today. No word yet on how that might affect subscribers (like yours truly) of the TV, phone, and web services that the cable entity offers. 9:00pm MI-5 BBCA - This show kicks butt over any similar US show: "CSI", "NUMB3RS", etc. 9:15pm Brief Encounter TCM - (1945) Hey romantics, this tale of unrequited love directed by David Lean......

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......

If you saw my SNL post yesterday, you know I'm all high on live TV (always have been), and lookie, lo-and-behold, we're going to start getting live ads on TV: the Hollywood Reporter says that Jimmy Kimmel (featured below tonight) will start running at least one live ad per episode starting in May. Garmin ran a live ad on Leno a year ago and the "effectiveness and awareness" levels exceeded standard (dead?) ads enough for......

Comedy Central has started to establish some control over Wednesday nights. What's funny is that I started to go back to them on Wednesdays because of Lewis Black's excellent show "Root Of All Evil" (anyone catch him on Conan last week? He was great) and now I'm finding myself re-engaging with "South Park" but I'm sure that program directors at Comedy Central were planning for the flow to happen the other way. Whatever, it's working......

Thursdays have returned to boring-ness what with "Lost" on hiatus. Tonight we have the return of Earl which does look funny. Other than a couple season finales the evening is relatively empty. Supposedly MTV is celebrating the 20th anniversary of "Yo! MTV Raps" with all kind of reruns etc. but I can't find the goddam things in the online schedule in between all the reality programming. If you are looking for more music TV, I......

Is Fox TV above the law? The Washington Post reports that Fox is challenging a $91,000 fine levied against them by the FCC for a broadcast of "Married by America" back in 2003 that featured reality show cast members licking whipped cream off of strippers' "digitally obscured" body parts. Since the FCC is controlled by an administration that is full of Fox fans will the network get away with it? It should be noted that......

Is HBO really in trouble? (Speaking of HBO, check out this great movie from 1983 about the creation of the HBO Theater opening sequence). Business Week asks if the premium channel is in trouble now that "The Sopranos" are gone (also "The Wire", "deadwood", "Rome", etc.) with nothing on the horizon to step up. The fact is that Showtime, FX, and even AMC are coming up with more compelling shows as of this last year......

So can fans really make a difference? Word has it that enough fans got through to NBC for them to keep the high school football-romance-drama "Friday Night Lights" on the air through a partnership with DirecTV. This gives one hope that a group of people can make a difference but then disappointment that truly great shows like "Arrested Development" couldn't make the cut. Speaking of which, Will Arnett is on Jimmy Kimmel tonight - Arnett......

When you read something you like on LAist, we love it when you hit the "recommend" button, and we love it even more if you put your two cents' worth in the comments. Getting a dialog going with our readers and making sure we're giving you content you can use are top priorities for us. So here's this week's top posts, as endorsed by you via the recommend feature, or as indicated by the......

On Monday the NY Times reported that ABC and Cox Communications are collaborating on a video-on-demand service with disabled fast-forward, meaning, yeah, that you can't skip the commercials. This isn't that new an idea as Time Warner Cable has been doing the equivalent with two features called "Start Over" and "Look Back" (after using them IMHO they stink). This is another example of old media protectionist attitudes that think the strategy is to avoid being......

Do you think this is part of the Reno 911! marketing campaign? / Photo by Bernard Mickey Wrangle via flickr. COMEDY* Paging Reno 911! fans: Robert Ben Garant, who plays Deputy Travis Junior, hosts The Armando Show tonight. (It’s an hour-long improvised comedy show inspired by an audience suggestion). He’ll be joined by a few other Reno castmates: Carlos Alazraqui, Thomas Lennon, Niecy Nash, Kerri Kenney and Cedric Yarbrough. 8 pm // iO West......

Enough with the Oscar talk -- Kimmel's long-awaited response to "I'm Fuckin' Matt Damon" is here and it's chock-full of hilarity:......

Silverman came clean last night, honoring boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel's 5th anniversary on late night with a music video. The real surprise: Damon is actually funny in this video and he gets a little payback at Kimmel, whose show often closes with a gag along the lines of: "Apologies to Matt Damon, we've run out of time...."......

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......

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......

So tonight it's Leno vs. Letterman, Conan vs. Ferguson - potentially unfair matches since Letterman and Ferguson have reached an agreement with the writers' union and NBC hasn't. This will mean a further addition to my sleep deficit as I will be sitting up and flipping between these networks until 1:30am [no, I don't have some swank double-satellite-dish-to-Tivo setup like some of you, if you're interested in helping out, I can give you an address......

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......

Close, but not close enough: a 3.9 earthquake hit Baja California today at 1:50 p.m. Now that we think of it, getting yourself prepared for a major earthquake is a great New Year's resolution! Those rodes are slick, stay safe! This morning's crash on the 5 near the 170 left one dead and three others injured. Who loves the politics of hair? Pam Spaulding at Pandagon writes that Essense Magazine's Top Ten Celeb Hair......

Tuesdays are a slow day for the networks. Dancing With the Stars will soon require someone to pass out every week in order for the show to remain interesting and House seems like it jumped the shark a while ago. For satisfaction we'll have to delve deep into cableland or pay-TV. 8:00pm TCM Crime Drama Marathon TCM - Starting out with The Lineup and following on with Armored Car Robbery, and Follow Me Quietly 8:00pm......

Jay-Z w/ Rihanna - "Umbrella" Jay-Z @ House of Blues Hanson @ Avalon Backstreet Boys @ Jimmy Kimmel (out back) Stars of Track and Field @ The Roxy Architecture in Helsinki, Glass Candy, Panther @ The Troubadour Teaneck, On Blast, Pop Noir @ Key Club Tunng, Big Search, Karin Tatoyan @ The Echo......

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......

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......

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......

Tuesdays will be the worse for the lack of Damages until when, next Summer?!?! There seems to be just a couple worthy prime time choices tonight despite a full plate of new offerings that have, to me, seemed mediocre. Please tell me in the comments if you watch any of the following and why (I've got an open mind, I'll check them out again): Gossip Girl, Life, Dirty Sexy Money, Criminal Minds, Private Practice. 5:00pm......

The much anticipated Damages finale is tonight - since the series was so very good I'm already thinking beyond the finale and more about which players will remain for a second season. Ted Danson's Frobisher is so delightfully evil the airwaves will be much the poorer in his absence, if in this season marks his departure. 8:00pm Five Days HBO - Part 4 of 5. The only new drama programming on at 8pm tonight other......

Andy Milonakis jumped into public consciousness after making some freestyle rap videos on the web, which led to him appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and then getting his own MTV program. Andy's come full circle and is currently at work on a full length rap album, but despite all he's accomplished so far he remains hard on himself for not doing more. Milonakis finds inspiration in his roommate, a newcomer to the industry who......