[Televisionary]

It's Day Five of the writers strike here in Los Angeles and there's been no movement towards resolution (or reconciliation) this week since the strike began on Monday morning and no talks are planned for anytime soon. WGA president Patric Verrone said that he wanted to return to the bargaining table as soon as possible but added that the timing for that would be determined "when the companies are ready" to negotiate. The ball then, according to Verrone, is firmly in the studio's courts. A massive strike rally is planned for 10 am this morning by the writers at Fox. It's believed that between 2000 and 4000 people will join in during this en masse rally, the biggest yet this week. For more details about today's rally at Fox, please visit UnitedHollywood.com . Expected speakers include WGA West President Patric Verrone and SAG President Alan Rosenberg and Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello will begin the event with an acoustic set. Meanwhile, Fox emp

I'll admit that last night's episode of The Office ("Survivorman"), written by Steve Carell and directed by Paul Feig, was more than a little bittersweet for several reasons. First off, while the Michael venturing into the woods storyline pushed the limits of believability just a little bit, the Jim storyline was absolutely pitch perfect and completely restored the tone, scope, and mission statement of the series in a way that has been missing this season so far. It's ironic to me, then, that it took star Steve Carell to write an episode in order to get the series back on track in terms of restoring the office setting (yes, save the Michael A-story) and grounding that plot in terms of a mundane reality. Second, it was depressing to watch this particular installment of The Office because, due to the current writers strike going on right now here in LA (and in NYC), this is the penultimate episode of the series for now. Next week's episode ("The Depositio

Remember Life on Mars , that absolutely brilliant BBC series starring John Simm as a detective in pursuit of a serial killer who wakes up in 1973? For a while it seemed as though David E. Kelley's Americanized version of the series (stuck firmly in pilot status for the last year or so) would make it to air before the second season of the brilliant British series would ever air on digital cabler BBC America. You can exhale now. BBC America has finally announced the launch date for Season Two of Life on Mars (coincidentally the last season of the skein), which will kick off on Tuesday, December 11th... only fifteen months after the conclusion of Season One in September 2006. I'm not quite sure what's responsible for the delay in transmission as the second season of Life on Mars wrapped in the UK in April, but I'm glad for something to look forward to in these dark days. What's On Tonight 8 pm: Ghost Whisperer (CBS); Deal or No Deal (NBC); Friday Night SmackDown (

Perhaps it's just me but I cannot believe that the strike has only been going for four days so far. Maybe it's because it's been discussed endlessly for the past few months that it feels like it's been going on for an eternity already. I'm still hopeful that a fair solution can be found to this dispute sooner rather than later but that hope is dwindling by the day as it seems that both sides are willing to dig their heels in for the long stretch. Today's StrikeWatch brief, on the back of yesterday's fairly inclusive roundup of series going dark that I posted, focuses on a few updates since yesterday. United Hollywood confirmed yesterday that production on The Office has in fact shut down. (You, gentle readers, knew this already when I broke the news of the Office shutting down on Tuesday.) The series only has two episodes in the can that have yet to air, including tonight's "Survivorman" episode written by Steve Carell (who had told NBC he

Why will Bianca not shut up about Heather already? That's the question I kept asking myself while watching last night's episode of America's Next Top Model ("The Girls Who Crawl"), an episode that was filled with enough drama to last an entire season between Bianca's constant whining about Heather, Chantal's massive if misplaced ego, Sarah's weight worry, and Heather's medical scare. It also featured Tyra in a teach designed to get the girls to look sexy and learn to model in front of a moving camera instead of appearing "hootchie." Bianca takes every opportunity, from the hot tub to the video shoot (where the girls film appearances in a new Enrique Iglesias music video) to the confessionals, to bad-mouth Heather. Her complaint: that Heather doesn't have to do anything in order to get a great picture and that the other girls are letting her off the hook too easily because of her "little disability." Ahem, a disability that

Thanks to a well-placed source, I have managed to obtain a list of current strike-affected series and when they will turn their lights off (or have already), along with how many additional scripts have been written: [UPDATE can be found here .] 30 Rock: Shooting episode #210 through November 9th. No additional scripts have been written. 24 : Eight episodes completed. FOX has shelved Season Seven indefinitely. Big Bang Theory: Production shut down. The Captain: Shooting episode #102 November 8th - 14th. Scripts in for episodes #103 and #104 (production will conclude 11/30). Carpoolers: Production shut down 11/16. Cavemen: Shooting episode #113 between November 7th - 13th. No additional scripts had been ordered. Cold Case : Production shut down 11/16 Desperate Housewives : Production shut down. Dirt : Prepping episode #206 for a November 20th - 30th shoot. Script written for episode #207. Dirty Sexy Money: Shooting episode #111 between November 8th - 19th. Prepping episode #112 nex

It was with a little trepidation that I read the pilot script for NBC's planned two-hour backdoor pilot for the relaunch of classic TV series Knight Rider . After all, I was more than put off by NBC honcho Ben Silverman's desire to make this relaunch of Knight Rider flavored by a little bit of Transformers , with a K.I.T.T. that was not only artificially intelligent but could also morph into other shapes. Let me put the record straight after reading the pilot script by Dave Andron ( Raines ). K.I.T.T., the sentient Knight Industries Three Thousand vehicle, can morph but it's not quite what I had expected; instead of being able to transform into, say, a helicopter or amphibious vehicle, it can morph into a variety of cars... from its sleek black model to a sportier version or even, as in the script, a frilly pink number. So, not quite the Transformers -inspired reversioning that I had imagined; it's merely a case of K.I.T.T. being able to change its facade. So what'