Hey hipsters, did you catch the "30 Rock" season finale last night? If you didn't, be happy and secure in knowing that NBC has formatted it (along with "The Office") for streaming on your iPhone - they're not waiting for Apple on this one. It looks like a lot is on TV but it's slim pickins - shockingly no decent oldie movie selections on TCM this weekend. Tonight 9:00pm Man vs. Wild DISCOVERY - Bear......

Fans of "Project Runway" might want to know more details about its move/death to the Lifetime Networks as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Some fans might say, "Oh no, 'Runway' is going to totally make it on Lifetime - I'm still going to have viewing parties at my house, etc." Be aware that the producers that created the show, Weinstein Co., are not moving with the show to Lifetime - can one safely assume......

Advertising Age is reporting on the possible end of the nightly network newscast as another 1.2 million viewers in the US stopped tuning in last year. The article points out that the reason why people aren't tuning in at 6pm is because.... they are still at work. Hey networks, instead of constantly going off on red herrings like Terri Schiavo and WMD in Iraq, how about creating a frenzy over the fact that Americans work......

This weekend it's all about BBC America's programming with new seasons of "Robin Hood", "The Graham Norton Show", and "Wire In The Blood". I've seen previews of "Robin Hood" and it's a more than worthy replacement for "Torchwood" whose season (dramatically) ended last Saturday with the (supposed) deaths of at least two main characters. Of course, you'll have to be able to emotionally handle the incredible switch from science fiction to fantasy in order to......

New York City may be all the way across the country, but if Rupert Murdoch gets his way there you can bet he will cast his gaze upon all other major metropolitan areas: the New York Times reports that Murdoch wants to obtain a permanent FCC waiver to acquire two TV NYC stations in addition to his three newspapers and radio assets. Will this be a last hurrah while the friendly Bush Administration still controls......

It's Earth Day on (some of) TV. Below are some marked programming that is Earth Day-related and of course there's plenty online, including web "TV" properties like Joost who have launched an Earth Day Channel. 8:00pm Nova: Car of the Future PBS/KCET - Tom and Ray Magliozzi of NPR's ``Car Talk'' examine new technologies and ideas for transportation, including alternative fuel sources. Earth Day!......

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......

The TV Junkie is in New York City and will be at the above SNL taping! Tonight 9:00pm Miss USA NBC - Donnie and Marie host the event, if only they would make out like in that SNL sketch 10:00pm Battlestar Galactica SCIFI - Nerds and those with inner nerds rejoice! [I count myself in both demographics]......

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......

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......

Six Degrees Records has had a very busy Q1 - below are just a few of their recent releases and there's a lot more to come according to their release schedule. If you've watched PBS or listened to public radio then you know about the indefatigable travel expert Rudy Maxa, host of radio's "Savvy Traveler" and TV's "Smart Travels: (Insert Continent Here) with Rudy Maxa". "Music From Rudy Maxa's World" is both a great international......

Did anyone see the plastic surgery disaster that is Renee Zellweger on Letterman last night? The skin was stretched so hard over her face I thought her skull was going to pop out. OK so maybe it isn't plastic surgery, Botox anyone? What is wrong with her?? Tracey Ullman has her dead on in "State of the Union". Also, in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, there's an article about NBC's new 52-week, wait, now "65-week" lineup,......

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.” This......

Did anyone watch "Top Gear" last night on BBCA? They had a fantastic contest of who could cross London the fastest: a bicycle, a several hundred horsepower boat, public transportation, or a Mercedes SUV. The bike won! Followed closely by the boat and then public transportation with the SUV dead last by more than a quarter hour after public transport. Since LA doesn't have many viable waterways it looks like it's time to sideline cars......

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......

Here on the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War with over 4,000 American dead and tens of thousands of Americans wounded PBS' Frontline launches its two-part special "Bush's War". Of course conservative pundits will accuse PBS of being the citadel of the liberal media but Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, or any of their ilk could never come up with a documented timeline of evidence that illustrate what a completely disgusting mess we're in. The......

Other than college basketball, we don't have a lot to go on for this weekend. Can't wait for next weekend when Showtime unleashes The Tudors and Tracey Ullman's State of the Union. 9-11:00pm 20/20 ABC - For some reason, I can't imagine what, 20/20 has been inspired to provide a 2-hour special on prostitutes. 9:20pm That Mitchell and Webb Look BBCA - Pink jumpsuit superheroes. 9:30pm Jack and the Beanstalk TCM - (1952) Abbott &......

It looks like a lot is on tonight but as a commentor said yesterday, "TV really blows these days" - I agree. Lifetime has launched an online series hosted by Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead called "Gift Intervention", it's kind of like an Antiques Roadshow for really bad gifts combined with an outing of the bad-giftor. 7:00pm What's New Pussycat TCM - (1965) Shaga-slapa-delic classic with Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Woody Allen, Ursula Andress, Capucine.......

Everyone is in a tizzy about The Wire coming to a close yesterday - it's one of the few shows that decided to go out while it was on top so kudos to them. The TV Junkie is barely keeping his head above water with the deluge of new shows coming out in the next week, tonight it's Julianna Margulies' return to the little screen with Canterbury's Law (that's a mouthful, say: Julianna Margulies in......

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......

A few months ago LAist interviewed writer/creator/director Marshall Herskovitz about his web series Quarterlife, and lo and behold, the series debuts on NBC tonight! MySpace, which showcased Quarterlife has a new show of the hidden-camera comedy variety debuting this week as well, "Special Delivery", which will have episodes twice weekly. From these new media developments we turn to television's ancient past on today, Jackie Gleason's birthday, JackieGleason.com has been launched with rare stills and clips......

Am not so sure how I feel about last night's Frontline (PBS/KCET) which was an analysis of the Haditha "incident" where 24 Iraqi civilians, mostly women and children, were not massacred - they were just killed in their pajamas. I guess it's a matter of semantics, when is shooting 2 year olds at point blank not a massacre? I don't think the Marines or PBS itself did a good job of proving that this incident......

OK so the PBS examination of the Haditha massacre is going to be pretty heavy duty tonight, there's a couple options for lighter fare, and of course the season finale of Nip/Tuck will be the pornographic prime time finish. 8:00pm American Idol FOX - The 12 remaining male contestants perform. 8:00pm Tour of California: Stage 2 From Santa Rosa to Sacramento VERSUS - Fabian Cancellara is in the lead by 2 seconds, American Levi Leipheimer......

Idol-heads and Runway-heads have a lot to celebrate tonight and I'll be damned, look at how busy the schedule is in the 10:00-11:00pm time frame. Since I don't think any of the options are fantastic is it better to have a little or a lot of mediocrity to choose from? In other news, yeah the writer's strike is over, and SNL is finally heading back into production with it's first show scheduled for Feb.......

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......

I'm feeling it a little bit, yes, definitely am looking forward to the LOST premiere on Thursday night. Maybe make some chicken teriyaki and some tropical drinks, perhaps in a real coconut shell, yeah, that's the ticket. Also, did anyone catch Cosby on Letterman last night? The guy is brilliant. 9:00pm Myth Busters TLC - Debunking something about remote controlled planes as well as the "cockroach survival" theory 9:00pm Lost ABC - "New" super......

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......