Charo, look out. The guest star of honor getting all the attention today is LA Philharmonic Music Director Gustavo Dudamel who will be making an appearance in the upcoming 42nd season of Sesame Street. more ›

On PBS "Independent Lens" will be featuring the incredible documentary 'Marwencol' tonight at 10pm - an inspiring story of a man who created an epic narrative world in miniature in order to cope with a traumatic brain injury. --- Last night Leno had Paul Reiser bemoaning his cancelled show, tonight he has Lindsay Lohan - what's next Jay, snuff films? --- HBO revealed some ratings for Sunday's shows. --- We've got a new Channel Zero podcast and the Must-Watch Plan. more ›

As part of their plan to go independent, former PBS affiliate KCET has sold their landmark Hollywood building at 4401 West Sunset Blvd. to the Church of Scientology. In a statement, the station announced that they will stay at the site for another year before packing up and moving on. KCET moved into the station in 1970 and has been there ever since, making the company the longest tenant ever. more ›

Of course "Conan" opened to stellar ratings last night but as we discussed yesterday, the trick for O'Brien will be to see if he can sustain an audience and continue to convert his new media followers into regular viewers of his TV show. It seems highly unlikely that he will be able to keep the same numbers as he had last night, but if he held onto even half of them, "Conan" would be an overwhelming success. more ›

When "This Old House" premieres in January, it will a first in its 30 seasons to tackle a home in Los Angeles. Not only that, it will be their first Spanish Colonial Revival project. "Southern California is rich in architectural history, but much different than the New England homes we normally feature on the show," said host Kevin O'Connor. more ›

Grade School Arithmetic: If it took more than $50 million for KCET to put one show together, how much will they need to fill all the hours in a day? More than their viewers can afford, most likely. Also, "Community" and "Party Down" DVD sets are out and you should get 'em. more ›

Los Angeles public television flagship station KCET is severing ties with PBS, it announced today. The station, which is located near Sunset Junction, will become the largest independent public television station in the country on January 1st, meaning PBS national content such as "Sesame Street," "Masterpiece," "Charlie Rose" and "NewsHour" will be cut from the schedule. more ›

Move aside, Waldo. We're all about this new interactive map published by KCET that shows us where the legendary Huell Howser has been on his California Gold explorations of our bountiful state. more ›

Are you a homeowner with a "historic" home in the LA area with a renovation project? For the first time ever, Emmy Award-winning television series "This Old House" is looking for a historic home to renovate in Los Angeles County. The project's scope must be "just right" - not a whole house, but more than just a kitchen. The renovation must be able to be completed in about five or six months, with construction potentially beginning as early as August 2010 and finishing by January 2011. The ideal project should already have architectural plans and/or have the ability to be "fast-tracked" to the building phase. The selected project will be featured on multiple episodes airing on PBS in early 2011. more ›

In which one of our favorite TV shows, Current's InfoMania, pays tribute to one of our favorite TV show guys, Huell Howser. This clip is a little 3 minute bite of Howser's long-running career as California's PBS everything-enthusiast, complete with the requisite compilation of "Oh my gawsh"-es and "that's amazing"s, including a nod to Howser's recent cameo on The Simpsons. more ›

Beloved California public broadcasting icon Huell Howser played--and spoofed--himself on last night's The Simpsons. The easily awed Midwestern transplant is seen on a TV show about the making of candy, which at first delights, then disgusts Homer and Lisa. While we can't say that no one outside of California knows who Howser is, it's likely the cameo will only tickle locals who have seen Howser marvel over all manner of landmark, machine, or quirky Californian on his various PBS shows. Of course, if you want to see Huell Howser in a whole other light, there is of course this video... more ›

We're in the midst of a pretty dead week TV-wise and we're about to start a pretty dead month TV-wise. There is virtually no new programming this week and late night is in rerun mode. We guess this is why warm weather was invented. If you have some suggestions for programs to watch this week, please let us know. | SNL alum, Chris Kattan is getting his first series as a regular: the WB's "The Middle" which will air this Fall. more ›

Congrats to Bravo for it's best April ever in terms of viewership. Strange to us that "The Real Housewives of New York City", "The Millionaire Matchmaker" , and "Make Me A Supermodel" can fuel that kind of growth during these times but evidently a lot of people we know are watching these shows without copping to it. 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: "SoCal Connected", "Parks and Recreation", "The Office", "30 Rock", "Southland", Kimmel, Fallon. more ›

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

Weekend EditionLast night the TV Junkie was very fortunate to be invited to the taping of "The Soup" which will air on E! tonight at 10pm. It was a fantastic experience made all the more special by a great special guest and some hilarious shenanigans. Charming and kind host Joel McHale and executive producers KP Anderson and Edward Boyd (very fun men in their own right) gave us a few minutes for a video piece that will be posted later tonight. "The Soup" has always been a weekly gem and to see it being put together before one's eyes was an amazing experience. We're so fortunate to have this team at E! process and present a week's worth of TV and pop culture for us with just the right perspective of smart and biting humor. Watch it tonight, it's even better than usual. more ›

The TV Junkie Plan: "Parks and Recreation", "The Office", "30 Rock", "Fine Cut: KCET's Festival of Student Film", "The Daily Show", Leno, Ferguson more ›

The TV Junkie Plan: "Deadliest Catch", "Out of the Wild", "Modern Toss", Letterman, Fallon. more ›

The Discovery Channel has put together a ton of programming it has dubbed "Alaska Week" and it begins tonight at 9pm with "Arctic Roughnecks". Tomorrow will feature the season premiere of "Deadliest Catch" and we will have an interview with Captain Keith of the Wizard for you! more ›

Weekend Edition more ›

Jon Hamm aka Don Draper aka Dr. Drew Baird is available for a date ......for charity. Paul Rudd, Kevin Smith, Nathan Fillion, Patrick Duffy, David Schwimmer, Julianna Margulies and others are also available for dates so take your checkbook to the Adrienne Shelley Foundation website who is auctioning off these wonderful people on eBay. more ›

Unless you are a basketball or baseball fan, this weekend's options are kind of slim - feel free to sift through our picks - what are you going to watch? If it's not on our list, let us know and we'll talk about it. more ›

Tonight is all about the final episode of "ER" and/or how to avoid it. NBC is pretty much devoting all of its prime time programming to "ER", what with retrospectives, and the two-hour finale. We admit that we used to watch "ER" about 10 years ago because we had a girlfriend that was an "ER" addict, kind of like the way one becomes a vegetarian because one's significant other is a vegetarian. At some point though, the show jumped the shark - was it the multiple helicopter crashes? The myriad of fatal diseases stalking their way through the staff? The constant replenishment of characters so that the "young" part of a "young doctors in love" soap opera could still fit the definition? more ›

We love comedians Jim Gaffigan and Jamie Kaler so therefore we just kind of have to like TBS' "My Boys" which has its season premiere tonight. While the show isn't any less funny than any of the big network shows, Jim Gaffigan's bits are the highlight of every episode - we wish TBS would build a show around him as the lead, c'mon already. more ›

The Internet is abuzz today with promotion of HBO's "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" to air this Sunday. Some writer's are pointing out that the show doesn't address any of the problems going on in Africa these days (AIDS, war, famine, rape, pillaging of natural resource) - instead it depicts a laid-back and idyllic place with only quaint soap opera-esque concerns. more ›

Nielsen says that President Obama's latest press conference slipped in the ratings and that the CW series, "Reaper", gained (the implication is that Obama is suffering from overexposure). I'm not sure how many teens would be that in economics, much less everyday Americans. I guess former President Bush avoided these kind of comparisons by not doing press conferences and by spending more time on vacation than any other president. more ›

Last week NPR did a segment on tonight's "Nova" which even sounded cool - check out the photos, the video footage will be even more amazing, if not terrifying, as we have more proof of climate change (PBS @ 8pm). more ›

The big news for TV and for LA is that President Barack Obama will be a guest tonight on "The Tonight Show" - we know what we'll be watching at 11:35pm (sorry Colbert). more ›

Today NBC launched a 24-hour cable channel in New York called "New York Non-Stop", replete with expanded news coverage, on-location stories, and interactive elements. When can LA expect the same investment? more ›