JERICHO, LAW & ORDER Return Dates Set

Jericho fans finally have a date to look forward to: February 12. Seven new episodes of the revived CBS show will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m., with a special winter edition of Big Brother serving as lead-in. Also returning to CBS is The New Adventures of Old Christine which, along with new comedy The Captain (starring Jeffrey Tambor), will fill in for The Big Bang Theory and Rules of Engagement on Monday nights.

Over on NBC, Law & Order Original Flavor returns with a two-hour season premiere on Wednesday, January 2. The long-running crime procedural was sidelined this fall, much to the chagrin of creator Dick Wolf, but will return with a few new castmembers. Joining the show are Jeremy Sisto as Detective Cyrus Lupo and Linus Roache as Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter. Cutter be will reporting to newly-promoted District Attorney Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) who has replaced Arthur Branch (presidential candidate Fred Thompson).

One week later on January 9, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, which was bumped to the USA network (where it has been performing well) will also return to NBC, making Wednesday nights a L&O double-whammy.

Back to the Bargaining Table Today

Talks between the AMPTP and WGA are set to resume today, but after the ramped up name-calling, finger-pointing and bickering of the last four days, it seems unlikely the two sides are close to a resolution. If the AMPTP and WGA can’t even concur on whose idea it was to recess the talks until today, how will they navigate the complex and murky waters of new media and streaming content together?

Ever since the media blackout was lifted last week (or was unilaterally broken by the AMPTP, according to United Hollywood), things have gone from merely contentious to downright ugly. The supposedly groundbreaking new proposal presented by the AMPTP last week was taken as an insult by the WGA and served only to inflame writers’ tempers.

Without a Trace creator Hank Steinberg accused the AMPTP of intentionally leaking misinformation to Deadline Hollywood Daily’s Nikki Finke in order to “get us feeling comfortable, get us psychologically used to the idea that the strike will end, and then dash those hopes.” And WGA board member Tom Schulman published an open letter urging members to harden their resolve against the AMPTP’s divide and conquer tactics.

But there may be a small ray of hope today. The AMPTP took out full-page ads in the trades this morning that seem to be somewhat conciliatory. In a tone that is markedly different from the hard-nosed stance of many of its prior public letters, the ad insists that “this is not a zero-sum campaign where there is one winner and one loser. We need the writers and the writers need us. And we need to work together if we are to navigate the rapids of this increasingly complex, high-tech economy.”

THE AMAZING RACE: Counting 1, Casual Bigotry 0

Some recent seasons of The Amazing Race have been criticized for silly tasks, spoonfed directions, and general lack of good race planning (and justifiably, too–Hong Kong=kung fu stunts? Really? That’s all you can come up with?). This season, however, has seen interesting and culturally appropriate tasks, twisty navigation, and the kind of course that rewards paying attention, for which I can only say thank you. Flying from Ouagadougou to make deliveries in Vilnius (go ahead–say it in Sean Connery’s voice. You know you want to.), topping it all off with having to walk on stilts or count fence posts at a Lithuanian festival? More, please!

Or maybe this season just seems like it’s a high point because of the reemergence of perceived in-race justice. While the pink-haired Dating Goths continue to find delight or compassion in everything around them and finish well, the CW rejects are shown the door. No, the CW rejects didn’t run out of luck because they used a game-sanctioned delaying tactic on other racers last week–they ran out of luck because they’d waltzed around the world holding their noses and regretting their missed manicures. Carrying all of that casual bigotry around in your heads (along with memories of dating The Seacrest) will make it hard to do draining intellectual tasks like reading a map and counting, ladies. We won’t miss you.

Tune in next week to see if Perssimistic Dad can hold his own intestines in and Toxic Dating Couple continue to weigh themselves down with superlatives (“You’ve become the worst person ever! This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done! I can’t imagine anything worse! Not even gay minotaurs!”).

Holiday TV Viewing Guide (Dec. 1-7)

The holiday season is upon us again, and you know what that means, don’t you? Christmas television! Lots and lots of Christmas television. In addition to all the holiday-themed episodes of your favorite prime time series coming up, there’s ABC Family’s traditional 25 Days of Christmas programming to slog through, not to mention the TV Land 24-hour Merrython kicking off this Saturday night.

To make sure you don’t get lost in the avalanche, every week in December we’ll be providing you with a handy guide to the best of the best of upcoming holiday TV. So grab your TiVo remotes and get programming. (All times are Eastern and subject to change. Some programs will be re-aired throughout the coming weeks–check your local listings.)

– SATURDAY DEC. 1 –

9:00 PM
M*A*S*H: “Dear Dad”
TV Land
Hawkeye writes a letter home, describing Christmas at the 4077th in this outstanding season one episode written by Larry Gelbart. Not only is it the very first of the series’ classic “Dear ___” episodes–a storytelling device that Aaron Sorkin stole/paid homage to on both Sports Night and The West Wing–it’s also one of the show’s funniest episodes.

9:30 PM
M*A*S*H: “Dear Sis”
TV Land
In this touching season seven Christmas episode written and directed by Alan Alda, Father Mulcahy pens a letter confessing his frustrations to his nun sister. If the scene between Charles and the Father doesn’t have you reaching for a Kleenex (“You saved me, Father. You lowered a bucket into the well of my despair, and you raised me up to the light of day.”), the group hymn at the end will.

– SUNDAY DEC. 2 –

5:00 AM
Little House on the Prairie: “Christmas at Plum Creek”
TV Land
That Ingalls family sure knows how to do Christmas right. And you know it’s just not the holidays without a Gift of the Magi plot twist.

11:30 PM
Robot Chicken Christmas Special
Cartoon Network
So you spent the whole day watching Very Special Episodes of Good Times, All in the Family and The Brady Bunch over on TV Land and now you’re feeling all holidayed out? Not to fear: Robot Chicken‘s disturbing puppets are the perfect antidote to all that Christmas cheer.

– MONDAY DEC. 3 –

8:00 PM
A Charlie Brown Christmas
ABC
I’m just gonna say it: Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree really *is* lame. But boy do those Peanuts kids know how to shake their tailfeathers.

8:00 PM
The Closer: “Next of Kin”
TNT
Not in the mood for adorable moppets? Then watch this all new two-hour special, where Brenda and Fritz travel to Georgia, arrest a suspect in a deadly Los Angeles robbery *and* suffer through Christmas with Brenda’s parents.

8:00 PM
Chuck: “Chuck Versus the Crown Vic”
NBC
It’s time for the Buy More holiday party and you just know those Nerd Herders know how to have a good time.

– TUESDAY DEC. 4 –

8:00 PM
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
CBS
Yes, we all know Hermey flames more than the Heat Miser. The real question is, what the heck is wrong with that doll on the Island of Misfit Toys? She looks perfectly fine to me.

– WEDNESDAY DEC. 5 –

8:30 PM
Pinky & the Brain: “A Pinky & the Brain Christmas”
Toon Disney
All Pinky wants for Christmas is for Santa to give Brain the world. This touching episode–one of highlights of the notoriously snarky series–manages to melt your heart without sacrificing any of its trademark humor.

11:00 PM
Futurama: “Xmas Story”
Cartoon Network
So in the future Santa is a giant robot that spreads terror on Christmas eve? Right on.

– THURSDAY DEC. 6 –

8:00 PM
Olive the Other Reindeer
Cartoon Network
A dog and a penguin team up to save Christmas from an evil mailman. No, really. And it was nominated for an Emmy.

– FRIDAY DEC. 7 –

6:00 PM
Billy and Mandy Save Christmas
Cartoon Network
When Santa (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried) is bitten by a vampire it’s up to Billy and Mandy and Grim to save him. Come on, you know you want to see that.

9:00 PM
Monk: “Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa”
USA
Monk becomes a social pariah when he shoots a man dressed as Santa Claus.

10:00 PM
Psych: “Gus’ Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy”
USA
Christmas with the Gusters (guest stars Phylicia Rashad and Ernie Hudson) is ruined when evidence in a murder case leads the police straight to Gus’ dad.

Talks Suspended While WGA Weighs First AMPTP Proposal

The AMPTP issued a press release yesterday, ending the four-day media blackout that had been in effect since talks resumed. In the statement, the AMPTP claimed they’d laid a proposal on the table which would “deliver more than $130 million in additional compensation above and beyond the more than $1.3 billion writers already receive each year.”

The WGA shot back with a statement of its own, claiming the proposed contract “dealt only with streaming and made-for-Internet jurisdiction, and it amounts to a massive rollback.” The WGA says it has a presented a proposal which would cost the industry only $151 million over three years. “That’s a little over a 3% increase in writer earnings each year,” the statement said, “while company revenues are projected to grow at a rate of 10%.”

Talks are scheduled to resume Tuesday. In the meantime, the WGA has called upon members to continue picketing today and Monday.

The PUSHING DAISIES Hitchcock Watch 2007-8

There is a special place in my heart for shows that reward repeat viewings. If you only watch an episode of Arrested Development once, for example, you might miss the sign in the background at the Church and State Fair that says “Corn Dogs! With all the crucifixins” or the party banner that reads “You’re Killing Me, Buster”. Treats like these reassure me that the people making these shows love them as much as we do; they make episodes gifts that keep on giving.

Pushing Daisies is one of these shows–they’re crazy enough to have a woman named Olive go undercover and claim her name is Pimento. While wearing a green dress and a red wig. One of the treats they’ve been serving up recently (along with cup-pies) is a hearty dose of Alfred Hitchcock. There have been overt, hilarious Hitchcock references in two of the last three episodes, starting in “Bitches” with Emerson’s descent into chloroform-induced nightmares looking very much like the artwork for Vertigo. Last night, Molly Shannon’s character traveled in a flashback to Bodega Bay to face the foul fowl who killed her parents, only to be attacked by seagulls herself, all while wearing a pale green costume that looks suspiciously like Tippi Hedren’s garb in The Birds. Heck, even the intercutting in Joel McHale’s death scene–where he falls multiple times onto the sharp end of a hairbrush–is reminiscent of the shower scene in Psycho.

Can’t wait to see where they take us next–put the other cultural references you’re catching on Pushing Daisies in the comments, and make the next repeat viewing more fun for everyone.

NBC Partners with TiVo for Time-Shift Data

NBC Universal has become the first large network to take advantage of TiVo Inc.’s advertising services to track how television viewers are using their DVRs and potentially to introduce interactive commercials to the masses. Under the deal, announced Tuesday, NBC Universal’s 14 television networks and 10 NBC owned-and-operated TV stations will be able to sell TiVo Interactive Tags in combination with other NBC products and will subscribe to TiVo’s Stop||Watch and Power||Watch services, which provide second-by-second data about shows and commercials that are being watched, paused, skipped and rewound.

Stop||Watch data is based on a random and anonymous sampling of 20,000 of TiVo’s 4.2 million subscribers each night, whereas Power||Watch data comes from an opt-in panel of 20,000 TiVo users, so it includes detailed demographic information.

Interactive Tags allow viewers to click on an icon when watching a commercial to obtain more information about that advertiser and then return to the exact place they exited viewing, and providing advertisers with a new way to reach live, time-shifted or fast-forwarding viewers. NBC will also be able to offer its advertisers detailed reports on the results of campaigns that include Tags. Under the partnership, TiVo and NBC Universal will work together to develop additional advertising products and in some cases will even share revenue. It’s exactly this kind of revenue, incidentally, that the WGA is striking over.

The partnership is an important step in the industry’s struggle to adapt to the new ways consumers are watching television in the age of DVRs, and puts TiVo in direct competition with industry giant Nielsen Media Research, which has had a strangle-hold on ratings and viewer information gathering since the 1940s.

Earlier this year, Nielsen deployed its “live +7” numbers, which register not only the night a show is originally broadcast, but the following seven days as well, in an attempt to incorporate time-shifted viewing into its data. The new numbers indicate that when popular shows meet in identical time slots, they can all be winners. The Office, for example, which faces up against powerhouses Grey’s Anatomy and CSI on Thursdays, sees a 17 percent increase in viewers when the live +7 viewership is taken into consideration. Interestingly, reality shows don’t seem to fare as well in the live +7 data. Programs like Dancing with the Stars, which generate day-after water-cooler analysis are rarely saved and watched in the days following their initial broadcast.

Strike Negotiations Enter Day 4

As talks between the WGA and AMPTP drag on into a fourth day, disheartening–but not-altogether surprising–rumors of feet-dragging on the part of studios and networks abound.

Fortunately, during this media black-out we’ve still got YouTube to keep us occupied. In addition to United Hollywood’s YouTube collection, there’s the impressive series of “Speechless” PSAs conceived by director/writer George Hickenlooper and writer Alan Sereboff, featuring a veritable profusion of A-list talent.

But that’s only a fraction of what’s out there. A quick YouTube search for “WGA strike” turns up over 600 videos, some by fans and some by striking writers, including the gem below. (For never was a story of more woe than this of a striking writer and his network exec–especially when it’s set to the dulcet strains of “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight.”)

And now that song’s going to be stuck in your head all day, too. You’re welcome.

Squee! It’s…

Squee! It’s Melinda Clarke tonight on Reaper! She’s not just Julie Cooper (The O.C.). She’s not just Nandi, the hooker with the “Heart of Gold”and eyes for Mal on Firefly. She’s not just Lady Heather (CSI: Original Flavor, and yes, I am snickering now). Now she’s the devil’s girlfriend. They just don’t come much cooler than Melinda Clarke. Also, previous Squeer Patrick Fabian pops up on NCIS tonight, and Urkel’s long-suffering neighbor (Reginald VelJohnson), whom I prefer to remember as Sgt. Al from Die Hard, graces a Bones epsiode entitled “The Santa in the Slush.”  I’m not kidding. So it’s just a gooey night of TV goodness all the way around.

Billie Piper Returning to DOCTOR WHO

The BBC reports that actress Billie Piper will reprise her role as Rose on three season four episodes of Doctor Who. Piper left the show at the end of season two, when her character was transported into a parallel universe. A separate show based on Rose had been planned by writer and series producer Russell T Davies, but was scrapped when Davies decided the program was “a spin-off too far.” It’s not clear if Rose’s return means we’ll get to see more of Noel Clarke as Rose’s boyfriend Mickey or Camille Coduri as her mother.

It’ll be a busy season for the Doctor, who will have four different companions this year. Soon after last year’s finale, it was announced that Catherine Tate, who played a guest stint in the 2006 Christmas special “The Runaway Bride,” would be returning to the TARDIS. Freema Agyeman’s Martha left the show after the third season, but will appear in three episodes of spinoff Torchwood, and is expected to return to the Doctor’s side sometime in the upcoming season of Doctor Who. But first, the Doctor will return to television screens in the U.K. at Christmas, with a special set on the Titanic and co-starring singer and actress Kylie Minogue.