DGA voters were as impressed with the "Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency" seg of "Mad Men's" third season as we were. Lesli Linka Glatter (pictured left) won the DGA kudo for primetime drama for the seg that will go down in TV history as "the one where a guy gets his foot cut off." Great seg, and a much deserved honor for Glatter, who always brings a little extra something to the shows she works on. (She also directed the second episode of "Mad Men's" third season, "Love Among the Ruins.")

On the half-hour side, the DGA recognized the sublime work of Jason Winer on the pilot of ABC's "Modern Family." This is a good thing.

Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen and other thesps from the show were singing Winer's praises last week during the NATPE sesh on "Modern Family." He's directed half of the show's segs to to date. By all accounts, Winer is a budding superstar.

Congrats to both.

-- Cynthia Littleton

Good news this morning about Candy Crowley's new posting as anchor of CNN's 9 a.m. political gabfest "State of the Union."

Crowley's the best -- a seasoned pro whose covered all the major presidential candidates since the 1980s. She's covered every presidential nominating convention since the Carter era but one, according to her official bio. (I wonder which one she missed?)

In an era of cutbacks and infotainment, Crowley's an example of an increasingly rare commodity in journalism -- a pro with loads of experience. Kind of important for a Washington correspondent.

Rock on, Ms. Crowley. Give 'em hell and keep the bums honest.

-- Cynthia Littleton

:: It's now a pretty well-known fact that NBC will lose $200 million on the 2010 Winter Olympics. But is it still  worth the investment as a loss leader for the Peacock? Perhaps this year, when the Peacock could use a burst of prestige to counterbalance its primetime mess? Jon Weisman dissects the pros and cons of NBC's Olympics gamble here. 

:: From the spin of things, NBC was strong-armed by its affiliates into dumping Jay Leno from primetime. But don't believe the hype, Brian Lowry writes. Yeah, the affils played a role in the recent Late Night Crisis -- but as a whole, affiliate clout continues to decline.

:: Staging a Broadway musical performance on TV is time-consuming and expensive -- and there's no guarantee that it will provide a boost at the box office. Yet, as Gordon Cox writes here, TV is still considered an important part of establishing a musical hit.

:: Is CBS' "Undercover Boss" the next great hope for reality TV? The broadcast networks could use a new unscripted phenom, and Eye execs are bullish enough on "Boss" that it bows next Sunday behind the Super Bowl. More here.

:: The Supreme Court ruling that allows businesses to support candidates by purchasing campaign ads may have fans of democracy up in arms, but media companies are licking their lips at the potential windfall. (Did the Supreme Court just save the local TV business?)  

:: TLC's Miss America pageant embraces new media in a big way.

:: Former TLC exec David Abraham has been tasked with his biggest challenge yet: Breathing new life into the U.K.'s Channel 4.

:: Makes sense: Spain's TVE stops running ads during movies, and ratings soar. 

:: So how's former Disney Channel programming topper Rich Ross going to work his magic on the film studio side? By taking a "less is more" approach, Marc Graser writes.

Ron Swanson can rest easy: NBC has just picked up another year of Thursday night comedy "Parks and Recreation."

As "Parks and Rec" fans know, that gives Swanson (Nick Offerman), the director of the parks and recreation department in Pawnee, Ind., another year to pursue his dual loves: Dark-haired women and breakfast food.

Surprise, early pickup came as NBC looked to lock in actors' schedules for "Parks and Rec." The comedy pulls relatively low numbers on Thursday -- averaging a 2.3 rating and 6 share among adults 18-49 -- but has earned critical raves this season, as the show has settled into a creative groove.

Great news for "Parks and Rec" exec producers Greg Daniels and Mike Schur. "Parks and Rec" had an unusual launch: Daniels and Schur were originally tasked to produce a spinoff to "The Office" -- but changed course after snagging Poehler for a show. Then, production was delayed in order to accomodate Poehler's pregnancy.

As the show found its way, reviews were mixed in season one. But critics came around in season two -- with several scribes including the show on their "best of 2009" lists.

"Parks and Rec" stars Amy Poehler as gung-ho small-town bureaucrat Leslie Knope; the show also stars Rashida Jones, Paul Schneider, Aziz Ansari, Chris Pratt, Aubrey Plaza and Offerman.

"When I announced the season 3 pick-up, Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) literally ripped his shirt off. Buttons went everywhere. It was amazing," quipped Schur via his Twitter account.

Perhaps this calls for a celebration at Jurassic Fork (as played by Clifton's Cafeteria in Downtown Los Angeles).

Every four years, there's a storm of major advertising opportunities when the Winter Olympics fall nearly on top of the Super Bowl.

Combined with other keynote events like the Oscars and the Grammys, as well as ongoing top-flight audience attractions like "American Idol," one might think that the rates the networks charge would start to suffer from all the different ways to reach large swaths of viewers.

But as Bob Horowitz, exec producer of annual CBS spesh "Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials," points out, the major events don't cannibalize each other — not even in a weak economy. And certainly not the Super Bowl.

"I really believe rates aren’t going down," Horowitz said. "Maybe rates have gone down couple hundred thousand a spot. You can’t really tell, because the networks (package them) with other inventory."

Horowitz notes that there are more ad spots for sale today than there were 10 years ago — get ready to be in front of your TV set for a long time Feb. 7 — to take advantage of the Super Bowl's unmatched popularity. Though other broadcast programming has suffered attrition, last year's Super Bowl drew a record 98.7 million viewers, and Horowitz believes this year's game will break that mark — largely, he says, because of the commercials.

"The importance of this game is to the average American TV viewer not really any more than last week's (conference) championship game," Horowitz says.

"People watching on February 7 are not watching just to watch the game between the Saints and Colts; they're watching to watch commercials. The audience makeup — which is what advertisers are going after — will be much closer to 50-50 (men-women) on the Super Bowl. The composition is exactly what advertisers are looking for."

"Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials" highlights that element, but this year's special (moved to a higher-profile 8 p.m. Wednesday timeslot, in reaction to strong ratings in previous years) will focus only on the best of the past decade. Ads like Mean Joe Greene's famous Coke spot from the 1970s or the 1984 Macintosh add have been retired to the "Super Bowl Commercial Hall of Fame," Horowitz says.

An online ballot is being held now to pick the favorite three spots, and then voting during the special (live in the East and Central timezones) will determine which ad Jim Nantz announces as tops of the '00s.

Thursday, Fox announced that "Past Life" would have a second airing piggybacked onto "American Idol," Feb. 16. Today, Fox changed its mind.

Instead, "Idol" would be two hours that night, and "Past Life" will be pushed so that its season finale airs a week later, on March 18 instead of March 11.

It's just impossible to express how much "The Catcher in the Rye" meant to me as a kid.

At least 75% of the nuances and the cultural references in the book went right over my head in my first 75 or so readings done between the ages of 12 and 15. I didn't know from Manhattan or prep schools or ice skating rinks or the Natural History Museum, and I certainly didn't get what was going on in that scene where Holden Caulfield visits his former teacher in the hopes of staying on his couch overnight.

But, oh the emotion -- that tortured, my head's-gonna-split-open-and-nobody-understands angst that Holden expresses through J.D. Salinger's plain eloquence and masterful ear for dialogue. That I got from the very first. I can't describe the mixture of joy and revelation I felt in discovering No. 1 -- here was a person grappling with feelings and inner conflicts that I was experiencing but couldn't even name -- and No. 2 -- that it was possible to connect so deeply with a character and a story. My kinship with Holden extended to his creator, of course, and when I heard on Thursday that Salinger had died, it hit me so deep in my bones that for a few hours I couldn't even read any of the obituaries and appreciations that flooded the Internet.

I'd had favorite books before "Catcher" -- "Harriet the Spy," "A Wrinkle in Time," "A Cricket in Times Square," the "Little House on the Prairie" series among them -- but nothing turned me inside out and back again like "Catcher." Nothing. I know this sounds trite but there were times, good grief, there were times when that book got me through some of the darkest days of my life. In the fertile ground of my imagination, Holden was my older brother offering a sympathetic ear in the middle of the night, as growing pains took their toll.

Upcoming Fox drama "Past Life" will launch in a big way, with its first four episodes airing in a 10-day stretch — two of them after "American Idol."

Having already decided to premiere the series after "Idol" Feb. 9 at 9 p.m., Fox announced today that it would repeat the pairing the following week.

"Past Life," which stars Kelli Giddish, Nicholas Bishop, Ravi Patel and Richard Schiff, will also air in its regularly scheduled 9 p.m. Thursday slot Feb. 11 and Feb. 18.

David Hudgins of "Friday Night Lights" is exec producing with Lou Pitt.

The top-heavy schedule of "Past Life" means that its first batch of originals will end March 11. The following week, "Fringe" will return to the 9 p.m. Thursday slot.

Fox also said it will air a repeat of "Glee" after "Idol" March 9. "Idol" will then air two-hour episodes on the next four Tuesdays, before "Glee" again takes residence in the 9 p.m. Tuesday slot with new episodes starting April 13.

VH1 is ramping up its programming slate with shows that cover the gamut from dating to dying.

Cabler has been extremely busy of late. In first quarter 2010, net is launching nine new series.

Half-hour “Transform Me,” from Left/Right Inc., taps into the makeover genre. Three transgender women assist another woman who’s trying to redo her style and clothing choices, as well as her mental outlook on life. Eight episodes have ordered and skein will debut March 15.

A look at the most shocking deaths in pop culture and music is the premise behind VH1-produced “Famous Crime Scene.” Subjects include Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, John Lennon, Anna Nicole Smith, Selena, Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson.

Seven half-hour episodes have been ordered and will launch Feb. 12.

“Undateable,” also from VH1, will be presented as five one-hour specials airing on consecutive nights beginning April 19. Project is based on the upcoming book “Undateable: 311 Things Guys Do That Guarantee They Won’t Be Dating or Having Sex,” written by Ellen Rakieten and Anne Coyle.

And in a program acquisition, cabler has picked up MTV Canada series “Peak Season: Vancouver” as a tie-in with the upcoming Winter Olympics. Docudrama skein will examine those who work and play at the nearby Whistler ski resort.

Half-hour show is from shingle Den of Thieves and launches Feb. 14, two days after the Vancouver Games have begun. Series will run for 10 weeks.

“This is all part of our ongoing strategy,” said Jeff Olde, exec VP of original programming and production. “We’ve been undergoing an evolution and want to mix things up for our audience, which wants to be connected to pop culture.”

Net saw good traction with Jan. 11 debut of former “American Idol” champ Fantasia Barrino series “Fantasia for Real” (photo above), which airs at 10 p.m. Mondays.

Also, gameshow “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” is set to begin in the fall. Skein will be hosted by Sugar Ray frontman and former “Extra” co-host Mark McGrath.

NBC is offering up some heavyweight competition against “Lost.”

Peacock will be dropping “The Jay Leno Show” on Tuesday and will offer a two-hour “The Biggest Loser” that will go head to head against ABC’s season opener of “Lost.”

Move pits one of NBC’s highest-rated shows against a “Lost” premiere that has been anticipated for months. By having the second half of “Biggest Loser” from 10-11 p.m., net is extending an olive branch to the affiliates who have taken a beating since “The Jay Leno Show” has been on the air and were instrumental in having scripted programming return at 10 o’clock.

Insiders say NBC had been planning to pre-empt “Leno” on Tuesday for several days and, in skedding “Biggest Loser,” accomplished its goal to field its most competitive program against “Lost.”

Net will broadcast a one-hour recap of “The Biggest Loser” at 8, prior to segueing into the new episode, which sets up an evening of three hours of “Loser” versus three hours of “Lost.” ABC is airing a “Lost” recap at 8 p.m. before forging ahead into the debut episode of the final season.

Final night of “The Jay Leno Show” is Feb. 9 and host will return to “The Tonight Show” on March 1.

Fox may benefit from NBC’s move as well. With a recap of “Biggest Loser” at 8 instead of a new episode, “American Idol” will now have far less competition and may see a ratings uptick in a season that has been trending slightly downward from a year ago.

"Oprah Winfrey" airs in the daytime in Chicago, which means Windy City viewers have already caught today's episode -- in which Jay Leno gives his side of the Late Night Crisis of 2010.

Winfrey asks many of the questions we've all been wondering: Why did you agree in 2004 to give the show up? Why did your 10 p.m. show fail? Have you been selfish in all of this?

Leno admits that he lied in 2004 when he said he would "retire." But beyond that, he appears to stick by the defense he gave on his own "Jay Leno Show" -- that he was just as wronged, having been "fired twice" by NBC. And that he's not to blame for Conan O'Brien's NBC departure.

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan watched and gives this full report. A few highlights:

When asked by Winfrey what his reaction was when NBC executives came to him in 2004 and asked him to step aside in five years so that Conan O'Brien could take over "The Tonight Show," he was "devastated," he said. 

"It broke my heart. It really did I was devastated," Leno said. "This was the job that I had always wanted and this was the only job that ever mattered in show business -- to me. It's the job every comic aspires to. It was just like, why?"

"I'm not a person who carries my emotions on my sleeve," he added. "But you know something, I'm happy with what I had. ['The Tonight Show'] was a tremendous success up to that point."

What had he planned to do when the five years was up, Winfrey asked?

"Well, I did tell a white lie on the air," Leno said. "I said, 'I'm going to retire.'" It was just maybe easier that way." He added that he "assumed" in 2004 he'd get another job on a different network. But to go to another network would have been "a lot of work," he said.

...

"It wasn't my place to call Conan," Leno said. "They made this offer to me. And I said, 'Do you think Conan will go for this?' And they said, 'We'll ask him tomorrow.' 'OK, let me know what happens.' And then thing you know, I guess Conan had his article in the paper and that was that."

Oprah: "Conan said he thought it would be destructive to the franchise, and…"

Leno: "Well, if you look at where the [Conan 'Tonight Show'] ratings were [long pause], it was already destructive to the franchise."

Mo's got the whole story over at her The Watcher blog. Check it out. "Oprah" airs this afternoon in Los Angeles at 3 p.m. on KABC/Channel 7.

It's a pretty rare occurrence when Ron Howard adds his name to the executive producer ranks of an Imagine TV show.

Most of the time, Brian Grazer -- who runs the show at Imagine -- and Imagine TV prexy David Nevins handle EP duties for the shingle. But every once in a while, Howard dips his toe in the small screen -- "Arrested Development," for example.

That's the case with "I.R.S.," based on an idea from Howard and written by "The Office's" Brent Forrester.

 Fox gave a firm pilot order to "I.R.S." on Wednesday, having previously handed a rich put pilot commitment for the sitcom last fall.

Howard, Forrester, Grazer and Nevins are all EPs on the comedy, which centers on an Internal Revenue Service agent and his office mates.

20th Century Fox TV, where Imagine TV is based, is the studio.

Howard is also an EP on NBC's upcoming "Parenthood," as that series is based on his hit 1989 Imagine feature.

 ABC’s “Ugly Betty” is strutting off the primetime catwalk.

“Ugly Betty” will close its doors this April with a series finale, the network confirmed on Wednesday. Decision to end the show’s run was announced to “Ugly Betty’s” cast and crew this morning. 

Show still has four episodes left to produce this season -- and series exec producer Silvio Horta now plans to use that opportunity to tie up loose ends and wrap things up.

“We’ve mutually come to the difficult decision to make this Ugly Betty’s final season, and are announcing now as we want to allow the show ample time to write a satisfying conclusion,” Horta and ABC Entertainment Group chairman Steve McPherson said in a joint statement. “We are extremely proud of this groundbreaking series, and felt it was important to give the fans a proper farewell.”

ABC ordered 20 episodes of the show this season. Alphabet likely plans to keep the show running straight through the beginning of April, when the finale is tentatively scheduled to run.

Decision to end “Ugly Betty’s” run doesn’t come as a huge surprise; the show narrowly avoided cancellation last year -- but was moved from its longtime Thursday home to a rough Friday night berth this fall. More recently, the show has joined ABC’s hot Wednesday night lineup, bowing earlier this month in the 10 p.m. slot.

Season to date, “Betty” has averaged a 1.7 rating and 5 share among adults 18-49, as well as 5.3 million viewers. That’s down from last year, when the show ended the season with a 2.6/7 in the demo and 8.1 million viewers overall.

Based on Columbian telenovela “Yo Soy Betty La Fea,” the ABC Studios-produced “Ugly Betty” is now in its fourth season. Horta exec produces with Salma Hayek, Jose Tamez, Richard Heus, Victor Nelli Jr., Jon Kinnally, Tracy Poust, Henry Alonso Myers and Sheila Lawrence. 

“Ugly Betty” stars America Ferrera as Betty Suarez, an fashion-challenged assistant-turned-associate editor at fashion mag Mode. Show also stars Eric Mabius, Tony Plana, Ana Ortiz, Judith Light, Becki Newton, Michael Urie, Mark Indelicato, Daniel Eric Gold and Vanessa Williams (who plays the scheming Wilhelmina Slater).

“Betty” already made waves this season for unveiling the character’s new, much-less-ugly look. By the end of the original Columbian telenovela, Betty shed her ugly duckling persona -- and fell in love with her boss. It’s unclear whether Horta has a similar idea in mind for the U.S. show’s finale.

A long evening just got longer, but probably a lot more fun.

Seth MacFarlane, the mouth that roared, is set to host the Writers Guild Awards on Feb. 20 at the Century Plaza hotel.

(Yeh, I know they call it the Hyatt Regency Plaza hotel nowadays but it'll always be the Century Plaza to me.)

The CW has given a greenlight to its updated take on “La Femme Nikita.”

Also Wednesday, the Dub netlet picked up a drama pilot from “Gilmore Girls” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. And ABC said yes to a family comedy pilot from Joe Port and Joe Wiseman.

With its titled shortened to just “Nikita,” the new take follows what happens when the original Nikita goes rogue -- and a replacement is brought in.

Craig Silverstein is writing and exec producing “Nikita,” which comes from Warner Bros. TV and McG’s Wonderland label. McG and Wonderland’s Peter Johnson are exec producing.

“Nikita” began as a 1990 French film by Luc Besson, and was later remade in the U.S. as the 1993 feature “Point of No Return.” 

The movie was then adapted in 1997 for the U.S./Canadian co-production “La Femme Nikita” (image, left), adapted for TV by Joel Surnow and starring Peta Wilson. USA Network ran the show for five seasons, from 1997 to 2001.

Also at CW, Sherman-Palladino’s untitled Wyoming project, which she’s writing and exec producing with husband Dan Palladino, is a family sudser set on a horse farm.

Warner Bros. TV and CBS TV Studios are co-producing.

As for the ABC laffer, Port and Wiseman wrote the pilot and are exec producing.

Show centers on adult siblings who are rocked by their parents’ divorce. ABC Studios is behind the multi-camera laffer.

For the first part of the California auditions, Avril Lavigne joined the judges to remind viewers that Hot Topic offers a wide selection of interesting merchandise, not just "Twilight"-themed backpacks. The second day had Katy Perry on the panel, who got into a scuffle with Kara...and well, now I kind of like her.

 

This week's episode offered viewers a taste of the Adam Lambert aftermath. After Lambert's success last season, emo drama kids around the nation rejoiced, got their Tears of Fears music ready and headed down to the auditions. However, poor AJ learned that what worked for his 11th grade audition for "Pippen" might not work for Simon. He sang like he was recovering from a stroke. And Austin just seemed more excited about his recent purchases from the Pleasure Chest men's fashion section. Latex -- it's not just for scary moustached men anymore.

 

Viewers were also treated to members of the God Squad, as Pastor Jim and Minister Tasha made it through to Hollywood Week despite Simon and Avril's hesitations.

 

Also on the good side was Mary, who sang her way into my heart by chirping "Love is a Battlefield" while dressed as a "taxi dancer" from the video. I'm pretty sure she didn't actually mean it that way, but I'm going to pretend that she did. It makes me like her more.

 

There was also "Genuine" Andrew and foster kid Chris. Both made it through.

 

And of course, there were the special snowflakes of the performing world, whose bizarre fashion sense, cocky attitude and inability to accept reality made for good TV. Neil's nerves got the better of him, yet he refused to give up the spotlight and held his ground. Then there was Jason. When he is not singing, Jason spends his spare time asking women to put the lotion in the basket. Shine on, dudes.

 

-- Erin Maxwell

ABC has given a pilot order to an untitled drama from Richard Hatem.

Drama focuses on a female detective who joins forces with a fugitive cop. Show also contains a romantic element.

Hatem is exec producing with Chris Brancato and Bert Salke, for ABC Studios.

Project reps the second pilot this season for Brancato and Salke, who also have "True Blue" set up at ABC.

Hatem is EP on the upcoming "The Gates," a 13-episode series from Fox TV Studios that ABC has acquired. His credits also include "Supernatural" and "The Dead Zone."

No hard feelings, CoCo.

Just days after NBC sealed its $33 million exit deal with Conan O’Brien, the Peacock has greenlighted a drama pilot from O’Brien’s Conaco shingle.

Untitled drama -- previously known as “Justice” -- from scribe John Eisendrath, revolves around a former Supreme Court Justice who bails from the Court in order to start his own legal practice.

Eisendrath (“My Own Worst Enemy”) is the writer and exec producer, while Conaco is producing via Universal Media Studios.

Also expected to serve as exec producers are Conaco topper David Kissinger, as well as O’Brien and his longtime “Late Night”/ “Tonight” exec producer, Jeff Ross.

Peacock’s Conaco pilot pickup reps a reminder that Hollywood breeds strange bedfellows. Execs-turned-producers frequently sell projects to the networks they once worked at (and frequently exited under ugly circumstances). 

David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants shingle, for example, was behind NBC’s “Ed” -- despite the fact that he left the Peacock under difficult circumstances as well.

As part of O’Brien’s departure last week, Conaco remains set up right now at Universal Media Studios, where it still has a year and a half left on its deal. Insiders said some projects remain in development there, while others will revert back to O’Brien.

Conaco’s previous productions include the NBC comedy “Andy Barker, P.I.,” starring O’Brien’s one-time sidekick Andy Richter. The company also produced the 2001 reality series “Lost” -- not related to the ABC sci-fi drama -- for the Peacock.

Other Conaco projects in development include a sitcom starring Paul Rust; a buddy laffer from Steve Tompkins; a dating sitcom from Stephen Engel; a show set in a coffeehouse, from Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley; and a sci-fi comedy from Brian Kelley and Paul Simms.

The Big Four broadcasters will all cede a portion of their primetime lineup to televise President Obama’s State of the Union address Wednesday night.

As for programming that bookends the speech, Fox, however, will not go into repeat mode. Unlike its competitors that are planning a night of reruns, net is going ahead with an "American Idol" audition show from Dallas in all four time zones.

Nets, and Fox especially, have been somewhat hesitant to automatically give away lucrative air time to Obama, who frequently made primetime speeches earlier in his presidency. The annual State of the Union, however, is a no-brainer, and has traditionally been televised by all the broadcasters — as well as the political cablers.

ABC is offering a lineup of repeat laffers "Modern Family," "The Middle" and possibly "Cougar Town" (depending on when the speech ends), while CBS is also going the sitcom route. Eye will air "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "Gary Unmarried" and "Two and a Half Men."

NBC is airing a repeat of hospital drama "Mercy" and will pre-empt "Law & Order: SVU" and "The Jay Leno Show" to make room for the president.

Female-skewing CW is counterprogramming against the commander-in-chief and will offer a repeat of "Life Unexpected" — hoping to draw young women looking for an alternative to Obama’s speech. Drama fared well in its debut last week.

CBS has pre-emptively given a pilot order to "Livin' on a Prayer," the new sitcom project from "How I Met Your Mother" creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas.

Project, created by "HIMYM" scribes Kourtney Kang and Joe Kelly, revolves around a Pittsburgh couple who are dating -- and mulling the next stage of their relationship.

Thomas called the multi-cam hybrid (shot in the style of "HIMYM") a "logical extention of 'How I Met Your Mother,' with a couple at the center of it, instead of being about the single life. We grew up writing 'Mother,' and now we can figure out the next chapter of the story."

It probably didn't hurt that CBS opened its pitch meeting on Monday with the scribes by handing "How I Met Your Mother" a sixth season pickup.

It's been a week of riches for Bays and Thomas, whose new eight-figure pact with 20th Century Fox TV was also revealed on Monday.

Pickup also gave 20th another reason to celebrate: It reps the third spec script from the studio to score a pilot order. 20th earlier landed pilots at Fox for the specs "Most Likely to Succeed," from Dave Walpert, and "Traffic Light," an adaption by Bob Fisher of an Israeli TV format.

Also at the Eye, new drama pilot orders included “Chaos,” from Tom Speizaly and Brett Ratner, and an untitled cop drama from Ed Redlich and John Belluci.

 “Chaos" centers on a group of rogue CIA operatives. Spezialy and Ratner exec produce the drama, which comes from 20th Century Fox TV.

Then there’s the Redlich/Bellucci drama, which follows the world of a female NYPD detective who has a special ability that allows her to remember everything.

Sony Pictures TV and CBS TV Studios are producing. Redlich and Belluci are EPs, along with Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly.

Jeff Gaspin's crisis management media tour continued at the NATPE confab Tuesday. In a wide-ranging QandA, the NBC Universal TV Entertainment topper admitted that NBC U erred in failing to invest as much in programming for NBC as it did for cablers USA Network, Bravo, Syfy and others.
The push to beef up "the investment in USA and Bravo came to some extent at the cost of investment at NBC," he said during the 45-minute sesh moderated by Broadcasting and Cable editor Ben Grossman. "We probably took a little too much out of the broadcast business."
Now, in the wake of "The Jay Leno Show's" demise, the net is full steam ahead with a slate of 20 pilots, most from high-profile (read: expensive) auspices. Gaspin admitted that NBC is now in the process of rebuilding many key relationships in the creative community after the turmoil of the Leno decision and other moves.
"You want the (creative) community to want you to succeed," he said.
Looking ahead to the next few months, Gaspin said he hopes the two weeks of winter Olympics coverage beginning Feb. 12 as a "cleansing moment" for the Peacock that will allow them move past being the butt of jokes for the messiness of the Leno-Conan O'Brien shuffle.
Over the long term, Gaspin said he's confident that NBC's image will improve and that Leno's appeal has not been tarnished beyond repair.
"Over the next several months and the balance of the year, the audience (for 'The Tonight Show') will start to come back. People will realize that what Jay did so well for 16 years he's still doing well," he said.
NBC's only problem with viewers is the paucity of successful shows.
"In the end the audience wants hit shows," Gaspin said. "What has hurt us is not having enough hits on the air."
Gaspin said he has reasonable goals for the Peacock's development team to deliver at least one successful new series in the fall.
"Reasonable" was also the term he used to reiterate how the decision was made earlier this month to relocate Leno back to latenight in the face of a potential revolt from NBC affils over the 10 pm show's performance.
"I thought it was a reasonable shot. My goal was to keep them both," Gaspin said of the initial plan to move Leno to 1135 pm and push "Tonight Show" back to 1205.
"I underestimated the emotional impact that it had on Conan in particular," he said.

Martha Stewart believes cable is a good thing for her lifestyle empire.

The Hallmark Channel has acquired the first-run rights to “The Martha Stewart Show,” which will exit syndication and become a daily, original cable strip this fall.

Hallmark will run “The Martha Stewart Show” at 10 a.m. weekdays. Then, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Hallmark will also run additional programming from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. 

“Martha Stewart” will also repeat at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on the channel, and MSLO will additionally produce holiday and interview specials for Hallmark’s primetime schedule.

Stewart is no stranger to cable, as repackaged editions of her earlier syndicated series have aired on outlets such as Food Network and HGTV. More recently, repeats of “The Martha Stewart Show” have run on Fine Living (which also has run “Whatever, Martha,” a satirical look at Stewart that is co-hosted by her daughter).

But wholesale move comes as Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s deal with NBC Universal TV Distribution was set to expire -- and ratings for “The Martha Stewart Show” had dropped, making for a tougher go in syndication.

NBC U, which had distributed “The Martha Stewart Show” for the past five years, declined comment. 

NBC U is not involved in the Hallmark show; also no longer involved is Mark Burnett, who helped launch the revived “The Martha Stewart Show” after sealing a deal with Stewart in 2004, while she was still incarcerated.

Prior to Stewart’s prison stint, she was the star of a lifestyle strip syndicated by King World. 

Announcement was made on Tuesday by Hallmark Channels prexy/CEO Bill Abbott and MSLO executive chairman Charles Koppelman.

Abbott called the move a “match made in TV heaven.”

“About eight months ago, when we had executive changes at Hallmark, we looked at our networks, and asked ourselves, ‘How can we better attach ourselves to the Hallmark brand?” Abbott said. “We see great opportunity to own daytime and own the lifestyle area with Martha.”

 

Abbott also told Variety that this will likely be the first step in evolving the Hallmark Channel into more of a lifestyle network. The exec said Hallmark could eventually move its movie properties to its Hallmark Movie Network, freeing up Hallmark to focus on “owning celebrations and occasions and holidays.”

“Strategically we could look to separate the channels going forward, and this sets us on our way,” he said.

Hallmark still plans to produce 24 original movies this year for the channel. 

In a statement, Stewart said she had been looking for a home to run MSLO’s “unique evergreen content to television in an expansive way.”

“Our core values and content areas --entertaining, weddings, crafting, cooking, gardening, holidays, pets and humor -- are a perfect fit with Hallmark Channel,” she said.

Koppelman said the move came as MSLO began reviewing its partnerships. That included switching merchandising partners, moving from Kmart to Hope Depot, Macy’s, Pet Smart and Michael’s.

“Once we got that organized, next on our agenda was figuring out how to build and upgrade our media relationships,” he said. “And find the right partners to build out not just Martha Stewart, but other talent as well.”

Koppelman said MSLO also liked the idea of “Martha Stewart” airing in pattern across the country, and the fact that there’s room to grow more shows on Hallmark.

Deal is not exclusive, however, allowing MSLO to still produce for other nets. The company and Hallmark are also still identifying what properties will run on the cabler between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Among the titles that will soon be available is “Whatever, Martha,” which reverts to MSLO once Scripps turns Fine Living into the Cooking Channel later this year.

As for the split with Burnett -- who also famously cast her as the star of “The Apprentice” spinoff “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart” -- MSLO’s Koppelman said, “Mark is very talented and we’ll be talking with him about opportunities down the road.”

Stewart becomes the latest host to exit syndication, as hosts such as Bonnie Hunt and Tyra Banks (whose show was technically cleared on the CW) end their runs this year, and Oprah Winfrey shuts down her show in 2011 to focus on her cable network.

Hugh "Droll" Laurie has that "what am I doing here" look on his face as the 8 am gabfest with him and "House" exec producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs.
He warms up as he talks about directing his first seg, which he wrapped this week. He joked that he was now "in the three day's grace before they see it," Laurie said, referring to Shore and Jacobs. "And then our relationship may change."
Good question from moderator Chris Harrison. How was Laurie the actor like to work for Laurie the director?
"I was nearly impossible," he said. "I'm still in my trailer."
Laurie added that he was fortunate to have for formidable David Strathairn in the episode.
Laurie recalled the process of getting cast in the NBC Universal-produced Fox drama. When he first met with Bryan Singer, who helmed the pilot, "he was eating a tuna sandwich...and he didn't stop eating the sandwich."
The subject of the show's strong success internationally came up. Laurie admits he's surprised by it, because it's such a wordy and character-dense show with "a very particular verbal tone," he said.
"We don't have that many car chases, ticking bombs or exploding elevators," he said. "We're very grateful to somebody somewhere with a large dictionary and thesaurus" who handles the translations.
Other tidbits:
** "House" was chased after by ABC and Fox when it was first in development.

** Then-Fox programming chief Gail Berman convinced Jacobs that the Dr. Gregory House character should not be in a wheelchair, as originally envisioned. The sight of him walking with a cane was much more powerful.

** About that American accent, Laurie admits he does work at it, though when he's on camera he tries not to think about working at it. "It doesn't get easier." While he was directing it was funny for him to switch back and forth, Shore noted.

** They tried the character with a British accent "for about a minute," Shore said. Laurie got through two sentences and that was it. House remained a true-blue Yankee.

** The question of the death of Kal Penn's character comes up. Laurie sounds like he'd vote for Penn for president. (Penn left the show to work for the Obama administration.) "Kal Penn is a ferociously intelligent, kind and funny person," Laurie said, "exactly the sort of bloke you would hope would wind up working for the president."

In accepting the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award, NBC Universal Entertainment chief Jeff Gaspin showed that he's still standing after the Conan O'Brien debacle, with his sense of humor intact. He quipped that he asked NATPE prexy Rick Feldman if the Tartikoff Awards ceremony could be pushed back a half-hour. "He got a little mad and it cost me $45 million."

CBS has given the greenlight to two relationship/family comedy pilots, while ABC handed out orders to a pilot about a family with superpowers -- and to a comedy produced in part by Arianna Huffington.

At the Eye, the pickups went to laffers from Josh Schwartz and Tad Quill.

“Hitched,” from Schwartz (left) and fellow scribe Matt Miller, centers on a young twentysomething couple that are newlyweds -- and still getting to know each other.

Schwartz and Miller are EPs on the multi-cam comedy, which comes from Warner Bros. TV.

As for the untitled Quill comedy, the multi-cam project centers on a widower who must juggle raising his 12 year-old son while also getting back into the dating world.

CBS TV Studios is behind the Quill sitcom.

 Over at ABC, the network gave a order to “No Ordinary Family,” written by Jon Feldman and Greg Berlanti.

Drama centers on a regular American family that suddenly finds itself with new super abilities.

Berlanti and Feldman are exec producing with Morgan Wandell. ABC Studios produces.

Also at the Alphabet, “Freshman” comes from exec producer Greg Malins -- as well as fellow EP Huffington.

“Freshmen” revolves around a group of three newly elected members of Congress --- two men and one woman --- who wind up sharing an apartment in Washington. 

Multi-camera half-hour comes from 20th Century Fox TV.

Malins brought Huffington, as well as Huffington Post founding editor Roy Sekoff, on board after meeting with the duo to get some advice on how to create the show.

Brett Favre may have lost the game, but he’s now the biggest TV star since Jerry Seinfeld.

Fox’s Sunday coverage of the NFC championship game — in which Favre’s Minnesota Vikings lost in overtime to the New Orleans Saints — scored the most viewers of any telecast (except Super Bowls) since the 1998 “Seinfeld” finale.

The Fox football broadcast drew 57.9 million viewers, which makes it the most-watched program on all of television since “Seinfeld’s” exit attracted an audience of 76.3 million viewers.

The game from the Big Easy was also the second most-watched conference championship matchup in 30 years. The last time that many people tuned in was 1982, for a game between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers — in which Dwight Clark made “The Catch” and put the 49ers into the Super Bowl. That matchup drew 68.7 million,

Sunday’s Vikings-Saints thriller earned a 30.6 household rating/45 share and was the most-watched program in the history of Fox — again, excluding Super Bowls and Super Bowl postgame shows — with a rating 40% more than last year’s Arizona-Philadelphia NFC title game.

In New Orleans, numbers spiked to 67.4/83 at 10:15 ET — the highest local rating ever for an NFL postseason game — as Garrett Hartley kicked the game-winning field goal to send the Saints to their first Super Bowl. In Minneapolis, game earned a 58.7/80.

Overall, playoffs were a record-breaker on Fox, with net averaging 40.2 million viewers over four games. Previous record was 37.3 million set in 1995.

CBS’ Jets-Colts game was no slouch, either. Contest earned an overnight rating of 28.4/50, the highest for an AFC championship game in 16 years, was up 19% from last year’s Pittsburgh-Baltimore matchup.

The other networks didn’t put up much of a fight Sunday night. ABC aired a two-hour “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (2.5 rating/5 share, 7.8 million viewers in the 18-49 demo), good enough for second place. Alphabet, which came in second behind Fox, also telecast “America’s Funniest Home Viewers” (1.5/4, 5.8m) at 7 p.m. and a repeat of “Desperate Housewives” (1.3/3, 4.1m) at 10.

CBS aired a night of repeats, including a Don Hewitt retrospective on “60 Minutes” (1.3/3, 6.9m). Rest of the evening was filled by procedurals: “CSI: NY” (1.0/2, 5.4m), “Cold Case” (1.3/3, 6m) and “CSI: Miami” (1.7/4, 7.1m).

Peacock broadcast a two-hour “Dateline” (0.7/2, 3.9m) and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships (0.6/1, 3.5m).

Photo: Getty Images

It keeps on getting better for "How I Met Your Mother" creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas.

On the same day that news broke about their rich new overall deal at 20th Century Fox TV, CBS Entertainment prexy Nina Tassler picked up a sixth season of the critically acclaimed laffer.

News came as Bays and Thomas met with Tassler and the Eye on Monday, we assume, to pitch their new sitcom (from "HIMYM" scribes Kourtney Kang and Joe Kelly).

A full-season order for "HIMYM" isn't exactly a big surprise, given the show's ongoing decent perf and place in the pop culture zeitgeist. It is a nice change of pace from the show's early years, however, when CBS kept the "HIMYM" crew guessing right up until the May scheduling announcements.

With "HIMYM" picked up, that reps a return next year for three of CBS' Monday night laffers. Under a 2009 deal, CBS already has "Two and a Half Men" locked up through 2011-2012 and "The Big Bang Theory" through 2010-2011.

Season to date, "HIMYM" has averaged 8.8 million viewers, as well as a 3.6 rating/9 share among adults 18-49.

As for Bays and Thomas' deal with 20th, the three-year, eight-figure pact keeps them on the show through a potential eighth season. 

The Kang/Kelly script centers on a Pittsburgh-based couple who are dating and mulling the next stage of their relationship.

 Fox gave a pilot greenlight on Monday to "Pleading Guilty," a legal drama based on the novel by Scott Turow.

Project comes from Peter Chernin's new production shingle, and reps the first full-fledged pilot order for the new company. Chernin has several production commitments from Fox, which this would fall under.

Chernin's TV division, run by Katherine Pope, has several more projects still in contention at Fox (as well as CBS).

Jon Avnet is directing the pilot for "Pleading Guilty" and will exec produce. Jason Tracey, who wrote the script, is on board as a co-exec producer.

Chernin and Pope are exec producers as well.

"Pleading Guilty" centers on an ex-cop-turned-lawyer who is charged with figuring out what happened to his law firm's star litigator -- as well as the millions of dollars that were tied to a class action lawsuit against the firm's biggest client.

Spike TV has upped John Griffin to senior VP of programming.

Responsibilities with the promotion include overseeing scheduling and media planning, as well as program acquisitions. Griffin, at the net since 2005 as VP of programming, will continue to be based out of the cabler’s Gotham office. His previous acquisitions include miniseries "Band of Brothers" and "Married … With Children."

Spike recently launched original football series "Blue Mountain State" and acquired HBO laffer "Entourage," which serves as a programming block on Tuesdays. "Blue Mountain State" is averaging 1 million viewers at 10 p.m., with 1.2 million watching the Jan. 11 premiere.

 NBC has firmed up its transition plans for Jay Leno.

Leno's final original episode of his primetime "The Jay Leno Show" will air on Tuesday, Feb. 9. Peacock will fill the rest of the week with a "Law & Order: SVU" repeat on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 10 p.m., and an hour repeat of "The Office" in the slot on Thursday, Feb. 11.

The Winter Olympics then start the following night, with the Opening Ceremony set for Friday, Feb. 11.

As previously announced, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" returns on Monday, March 1 -- the night after the Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony.

Peacock also confirmed Monday that repeats of "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" will continue to air in the 11:35 p.m. time period until the Winter Olympics begin.

Meanwhile, that must have been a helluva wrap party on the "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" stage last Friday. O'Brien's official web guru, Aaron Bleyaert, took a pic (below) of the leftover booze and beverages from the gathering. (Perhaps to be saved for a launch party down the road?)

 

What an opening day treat - a gabfest with "Modern Family" players.
Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and co-creator Christopher Lloyd had to stay home to work but on stage are co-creator Steve Levitan, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Ed O'Neill and Sofia Vergara, along with 20th Century Fox TV chairman Dana Walden.
So - why does this show work? moderator Marc Berman of Mediaweek asks.
Levitan (pictured below left with Walden) said he and Lloyd made a conscious effort to blend laffs with some heart. Shows that exist only on laughs without strong characters and relationships are a little bit like "junk food," Levitan said.
"For a long time comedy with emotion and heart fell out of favor," Levitan said. "We made a conscious decision to go a different way."
Although "Modern Family" is produced by 20th, the show was never pitched to Fox, Walden said. Levitan and Lloyd had a rough time with Fox two years ago with the sitcom "Back to You" - which featured Burrell - and so understandably the duo "needed a break from Fox," she said.
ABC's Steve McPherson had let it be known that he really wanted to work with Lloyd and Levitan so it made sense to take "MF" there, she said. (She also quickly noted that 20th has delivered two big frosh hits to Fox this season in "Glee" and "The Cleveland Show.")
The mock-docu shooting style of the show is very freeing for the actors, Bowen, Burrell and O'Neill noted.
"Sometimes we just start to do things that are different from how we thought about it but it just happens," O'Neill said. "It's fun for actors to work this way."
Burrell talked about the undefinable "alchemy" among the cast members that allows for such chemistry among the characters.
Burrell also gave a shoutout to helmer-exec producer Jason Winer, who directed the pilot and most of the segs.
"He set the visual tone," Burrell said. "He is exceptional."
Among the fun tidbits:

** Bowen was very pregnant with twins at the time of the pilot - hence all the laundry baskets in front of her in the pilot. It's turned into a character quirk for Claire, who's often folding something in many of her scenes. Levitan joked that people have commented to him on the brilliance of that choice of a quirk for Claire's character, to show her restless energy, but he can't take credit. It was strictly to hide the belly.
Burrell cited Steve Martin as someone "he idolizes completely."

** The character of Phil was written specifically for Burrell, Levitan confirmed.
 ** O'Neill had no intention of doing another sitcom - until he read the "MF" script. "I've got to do this," he told his manager after reading the script.

** Vergara, a former Univision personality, had been through three ABC pilots before clicking with "MF." She also starred in the Spanish-lingo version of "Desperate Housewives" for Univision.

** The scene in last week's episode, "Fifteen Percent," where Claire walks into Hayley's room in her bra and panties and is seen via a webcam connection by Hayley's significant other really happened to Levitan. No, he wasn't wearing ladies' undergarments, but he was startled to hear "nice boxers, Mr. Levitan" one day when he walked in to his daughter's room to instruct her it was time to give the computer a rest. Bowen joked that if she'd known it actually happened to Levitan she would have insisted that Burrell do the scene in his boxers.

** "Lost" alert - Bowen who played Jack Shepard's ex wife Sarah in earlier seasons of "Lost" is coming back for the final season. Bowen said she cornered one of the producers at a charity event and put him on the spot until he confirmed that Sarah would make an appearance in season six.

-- Cynthia Littleton

 CBS has secured its two top reality franchises into next season.

“Survivor” has been picked up by the Eye for another two seasons -- the show’s 21st and 22nd cycles -- while “The Amazing Race” will be back for a 17th edition next fall.

Both pickups aren’t exactly a surprise. “Survivor’s” fall edition, “Survivor: Samoa,” led its Thursday night 8 p.m. time slot, averaging a 4.3 rating/12 share among adults 18-49.

“The Amazing Race’s” 15th edition this past fall also posted solid numbers, improving its adults 18-49 rating (3.7/9) by 6%.

“Race” is also on an Emmy winning streak, having picked up the outstanding reality competition program category for seven straight years.

 “Survivor” returns next month on Thursday, Feb. 11 with “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.” “The Amazing Race’s” 16th edition then launches on Sunday, Feb. 14.

“Survivor” comes from SEG Inc. and exec producer Mark Burnett. “Amazing Tace” is produced by Bruckheimer TV and Earthview, along with ABC Studios. Bertram van Munster, Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, Elise Doganieri and Amy Chacon exec produce.

She's now officially SAG's 2010 Life Achievement honoree. Doesn't she look beautiful?

Below, Betty works the SAG Awards room with SAG prexy Ken Howard. Apparently, she killed backstage too.

Landing a new show at Fox won't be a slam dunk, but Conan O'Brien may have helped his cause big time on Friday night.

The final episode of "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" scored big with adults 18-49 -- averaging a whopping 4.8 rating in the 25 local people meter markets. That's a huge leap over his national season average in the demo -- a 1.1 rating.

It also beat everything that aired in primetime on Friday night (which, granted, was filled mostly with the "Hope for Haiti" telethon on all four major nets) and also repped O'Brien's best numbers since taking over "Tonight" seven months ago.

O'Brien dominated over "Late Show with David Letterman," which averaged a 0.6 in the demo, and helped "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," which scored a 2.3.

In the 55 national metered markets, O'Brien picked up a 7.0 overnight rating and 16 share -- virtually identical to his launch rating last June (7.1/16) and an enormous advantage over Friday night's Letterman ratings (2.5/5).

The metered market numbers also dwarfed O'Brien's farewell appearance on "Late Night" in February 2009 (2.6). But it didn't quite reach Jay Leno's "Tonight Show' finale last May, which posted a big 8.8 household rating/20 share in Nielsen's metered-market overnights.

Back in 1992, Johnny Carson wrapped his 30-year "Tonight Show" tenure with a 31.9 rating/62 share in the metered markets.

Complete ratings for O'Brien's final "Tonight Show" will be available next week.

O'Brien's final show included guests Tom Hanks, Neil Young and Will Ferrell -- as well as surprise cameos by Steve Carrell, Beck and Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top).

As the audience cheered "Conan! Conan!" and gave a lengthy standing ovation, Conan O'Brien raced on to the "Tonight Show" stage for the last time Friday.

"That's going to have to last me a while," he said to wild applause.

In his final monologue, O'Brien made light of the situation -- even mentioning the inevitable sequel to HBO's original "The Late Shift" movie.

"Now that this mess is almost behind me – I just have one last request: HBO, when you make the movie about this whole NBC late night fiasco, I’d like to be played by Academy-Award winning actress Tilda Swinton," he gagged.

The host also rattled off a few suggestions of how NBC might utilize the recently built -- and soon to be dark -- "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" soundstage.

"Leave the studio cold and empty and re-name it 'The World’s Largest Metaphor For NBC Programming'" was about as rough as he got on the Peacock.

Turning to a new feature -- seeing how much NBC money he can spend on the air -- O'Brien went over the top, promising a "rare fossil skeleton of a ground sloth, spraying beluga caviar on an original Picasso."

Of course, as most had begun to expect, the feature has been played for laughs all week. The sportscar and race horse from earlier in the week were loans, and the song rights weren't expensive. And no, Friday night's "ground sloth" and Picasso weren't real -- and they didn't cost the Peacock $65 million.

"There's been some outrage on the Internet that we're spending all this money -- It's not real!" O'Brien said with a smile.

A clip package highlighting the best of the past seven months was set to Cheap Trick's "Surrender." The clip included several scenes from the famed cold open that O'Brien used to launch his "Tonight Show" stint seven months ago (and which also was accompanied by "Surrender").

The highlights piece ended with the line, "To be continued..."

 After the first commercial break, O'Brien said he was required to give an exit interview to an NBC employee -- and out walked Steve Carell.

"Did anything trigger your decision to leave?" asked a stone-faced Carell, clipboard in hand.

"Yes, kinda, yeah," O'Brien shot back.

"Would you consider working for NBC again in the future?" "I don't know, can't say at this time."

Before leaving, Carell pulled out a shredder -- and asked for O'Brien's NBC badge.

First guest Tom Hanks came out wearing sunglasses and bearing two glasses of scotch.

"Around my house, they call this 'Daddy's Little Reward,'" Hanks said.

Turns out it was cream soda.

 "It's how I relax, CoCo," Hanks said. "It's how I say goodbye to the cares of the day."

Hanks then led the crowd into a "CoCo" chant.

"In our house you will always be the host of the 'Tonight Show,'" Hanks said. "If you can get there at about 10:45 -- we've already moved a couch into the bedroom, there's a little desk for you. You can work out your kooky bits, and honestly Rita and I will try to stay up for the entire hour."

Hanks recalled hosting a 1988 "Saturday Night Live" episode and working with scribes O'Brien, Robert Smigel and Bob Odenkirk.

"You were such a talented group of kids," he said. "I called you Manny, Moe and Jack. Let's get the Pep Boys out to the house, let's talk about a project.... You scared the living daylights out of my kids. 'Who was that tall pasty-faced man? A big white wolverine came into the house, dad!"

 Hanks told O'Brien he was heading straight over to CBS Television City to take part in Friday night's "Hope for Haiti" telethon.

"CBS? Sounds like a great network to me!" O'Brien said.

 Following Hanks, Neil Young -- who called to offer his support soon after news of O'Brien's predicament broke -- performed "Long May You Run."

"Thanks for everything you've done for new music," Young said to O'Brien.

Before bringing out final guest Will Ferrell, O'Brien -- his voice slightly overcome with emotion -- talked about his departure, and his state of mind through the sudden turn of events.

"Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do," he said. "Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium.

 "But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting 'The Tonight Show' and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not  regret a second. I've had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we'll find a way to make it fun."

O'Brien also urged his fans not to be cynical -- and put it all in perspective: "Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

Then, with Will Ferrell on stage dressed as the lead singer from Lynyrd Skynyrd -- and with Max Weinberg and the Tonight Show Band; Beck; and ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons on stage (among others), O'Brien strapped on a guitar and joined them.

 With that, the motley group performed "Free Bird." (And yes, by the end of the song, there was cow bell.)

Credits roll -- and with that, the way-too-short Conan O'Brien era of "The Tonight Show" came to a close.

MORE: Conan's farewell, part one: The last monologue

The "Hope for Haiti" telethon went off without a hitch tonight, with two hours of star musical performances and testimonials supplemented by a squadron of celebrity operators taking pledges.

Funds raised by the telethon, which aired domestically on more than 50 networks (as well as on radio and online) as well as in 60 countries, will not be announced until Monday, according to a spokesperson for telethon co-organizer MTV Networks.

George Clooney, who spearheaded the telethon barely a week ago by initiating a conversation with MTV Networks topper Judy McGrath, kicked off the broadcast with an opening appeal, but then left the program to the bevy of other talent, who performed live in Los Angeles, New York and London. CNN's Anderson Cooper had by far the greatest presence on the show, appearing numerous times with live updates from Haiti.

The format was consistent: a musical performance would alternate with an celebrity telling an anecdote about the earthquake aftermath, a Cooper segment, and an eavesdrop into a phone conversation between a donor and one of the dozens of celebrity operators such as Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts or Steven Spielberg. Never was the seriousness of the crisis subverted in the name of entertainment.

"Grief is everywhere we look," comedian Jon Stewart said. "Now the challenge is ours to take the grief and transform it into real and lasting hope for Haiti.

In the first hour, the performances were, almost without fail, solemn and reverent, whether by Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce or the many others.  Sting managed to cut loose more than the rest without sacrificing the tone of the telethon in his performance of the Police song, "Driven to Tears."

In hour two, Madonna's choir-backed "Like a Prayer" brought surging emotion, while Jennifer Hudson's "Let it Be" was also powerful – as was a new song performed by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z and Rihanna. From the speaker side, perhaps the most poignant moment was when Chris Rock read words written by his onstage companion, a wheelchair-bound Muhammad Ali.

Telethon co-organizer Wyclef Jean followed up his performance, which wrapped up the telethon itself, with a specific list of needs for his native country that he presented on MTV's post-telethon wrapup show.

"I think there's an outpouring ... of people understanding that as bad as it is for them, it's nowhere near as bad as (in Haiti)," Clooney told Cooper on CNN after the telethon.

"The biggest issue (we) will have ... is keeping this front-page news, three-four-five-six months from now."

More information on the telethon can be found here, and donations are still being taken at the Hope for Haiti Now website. Musical performances from the telethon will be available for download at iTunes and other online sites, with proceeds going to the Hope for Haiti relief charities.

We recap the final "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" here . But here's Conan's full final monologue, plus his parting comments:

Ladies and Gentleman, we have exactly one hour to steal every single item in this studio.

We’ve a had a lot of fun being here these last 7 months, but like everything in life, the fun has to come to an end a decade too early.

The terms of my settlement say that I can’t host another show for 7 months.  So next week look forward to the “Andy Richter show” with his sidekick, me!

As I set off for exciting new career opportunities, I just want to make one thing clear to everyone listening out there: I will do nudity.

Now that this mess is almost behind me – I just have one last request: HBO, when you make the movie about this whole NBC late night fiasco, I’d like to be played by Academy-Award winning actress Tilda Swinton.

People have been asking me what’s going to happen to our studio after we’re gone. There are actually a few possible uses for our studio being kicked around.  I thought I’d share some of the ideas with you right now:

-Site of Tiger Woods’ 1^st Annual Mistress Reunion

-Fitting room for cast of “The Biggest Loser”

-Storage facility for apology notes to NBC stockholders

-Waterpark for Max Weinberg’s illegitimate children

-Hair and chest oil storage for the “Jersey Shore” cast

-Future site of “Cooters”, the nation’s first pants less sports bar and restaurant

-Studio preserved as a nice, quiet, peaceful place where the cast of “Chuck” can be alone with their thoughts

-Magician David Blaine will attempt the impossible by trying to remain in the studio for longer than seven months

-Leave the studio cold and empty and re-name it “The World’s Largest Metaphor For NBC Programming”

-Panic room for Gary Busey after the rise of the fire hydrants

-Studio will be air-lifted to a location with better luck, like on top of a native-American burial ground

Before ending the show with a song, Conan said the following from his desk:

"Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can't say about NBC.  To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years.  Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we're going to go our separate ways.  But this company has been my home for most of my adult life.  I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.

Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not  regret a second. I've had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we'll find a way to make it fun.

And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational.

To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. 

Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen.  As proof, let’s make an amazing thing happen right now.  Here to close out our show, are a few good friends, led by Mr. Will Ferrell…"

MORE: Conan's farewell, part two: Recapping the finale

(Photo by France Magtira)

 

Look up the term "consummate pro" in Webster's Dictionary of Showbiz Lingo and you'll find a picture of Betty White.

White was at the Shrine Auditorium Friday afternoon to zip through a rehearsal for her Life Achievement Award acceptance segment on Saturday's SAG Awards telecast.

You gotta figure that a woman who has spent more than half of her life in front of the camera didn't really need to rehearse a three-minute speech -- and who would have complained if she had begged off -- but Betty being Betty, she was only too happy to don a pale green raincoat and brave the wet for the run-through.

Even in rehearsal, she received a whole-hearted standing ovation from every crew member, publicist, decorator and set dresser who was running around the Shrine putting together the tables, seating arrangements and such for Saturday's kudocast and dinner gala. After Betty did her thing -- adding a cute ad-lib and gesture to the TelePrompter script, which I'll be curious to see if she does on the telecast -- producers surprised her (and three other staffers) with a big cake and a chorus of "Happy Birthday."

Betty turned 88 this past Sunday. At the risk of sounding condescending, I marveled at how genuinely spry and sharp she is, in every way. After she blew out the candles on the cake, she hustled back to the podium to quip: "We had a chance to be in show business but we just blew it."

Afterward, Betty moved to the back of the Shrine to endure another 20 minutes of questions she must've heard 30,000 times before from a clutch of reporters -- all of us smiling ear-to-ear and lining up for pictures, and she indulged every one of us. I don't believe the woman has a disingenuous bone in her body. I don't think it's possible for her to know just how beloved she is by so many people.

By the accounts of all who know her well, the Betty White you see on screen is Betty off screen. Like her onscreen persona, White is the master of being sweet without being saccharine. She's saucy -- occasionally even a little bawdy -- without ever getting crude or cringe-worthy, and she's fearless in her pursuit of whatever her character calls for. And she has a deep respect for writers. Actors "can help a good show, but you can't save a bad show," she said when asked about the showbiz lessons she's learned. "There just ain't no way, if it ain't on the page."

She went on and on about how much fun it was to work with "Sandy" Bullock on "The Proposal." And she didn't mind her easy-on-the-eyes co-star Ryan Reynolds, either. "I kept telling him that I wasn't too old for him but he just wouldn't hear it," she told us with a wink.

 At least a hundred dedicated Conan O'Brien fans braved the cold and the rain early this morning to try and grab a standby seat for Friday night's "Tonight Show" finale. According to NBC, some camped out all night -- during one of the wettest and chilliest nights of the year.

In exchange, O'Brien and company were promising a big blow out tonight to mark the final edition of his "Tonight Show."

Tom Hanks will be there, while Will Ferrell -- O'Brien's first guest last June -- will now be his last guest as well. Neil Young is also on tap to perform.

"Holy crap, have we got an amazing blow out ending planned," official "Tonight Show" blogger Aaron Bleyaert wrote on his Twitter account.

O'Brien will also likely go out with a bang, ratings-wise. "Tonight" has shot through the roof ever since the late night crisis erupted more than two weeks ago. Thursday's show was another blockbuster, posting a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49 in the 25 local meter markets. CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" didn't even come close (0.9).

Come back to On The Air later this evening for Conan's monologue, as well as a recap of the "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" finale.

Pic taken from the Twitter account of Gillian Singletary, who was lucky enough to score a ticket to the finale.

Fox, NBC and ABC went on a Friday frenzy, picking up several more pilots.

Fox greenlighted the procedural drama “Breakout Kings,” the laffer “Most Likely to Succeed,” and the comedy “Traffic Light,” while ABC’s latest pilot is the drama “Edgar Floats.” At NBC, the network added the offbeat family comedies “This Little Piggy” and “Nathan vs. Nurture.”

Separately, Fox also announced that new mystery series “Past Life” will get a nice primetime boost -- airing on Tuesday, Feb. 9 behind “American Idol.”

“Breakout Kings” is a procedural about marshals who pair up with ex-cons to find criminals who have broken out of prison.

Show comes from Matt Olmstead and Nick Santora, who know a thing or two about prison breaks -- having been on “Prison Break.” Olmstead and Santora, whose credits also include “Lie to Me,” will serve as writers/exec producers.

Also attached is Gavin Hood (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”), who will direct. 20th Century Fox TV is the studio.

Also at Fox, “Most Likely to Succeed” centers on a group of friends who were superstars growing up and are now dealing with the reality of adulthood.

Dave Walpert (“Scrubs”) is exec producing the comedy, which comes from 20th Century Fox TV and Imagine TV. Imagine’s David Nevins and Brian Grazer are also EPs.

Then there’s “Traffic Light,” which is based on an Israeli TV format.

Project, adapted for U.S. auds by scribe Bob Fisher, centers on three male friends in different stages of relationships. 20th Century Fox TV is the studio.

Fisher will exec produce, along with Avi Nir, Ran Telem, Adir Miller and Elad Kuperman. Miller created the Israeli series, which has scored the highest sitcom ratings in that country’s history.

Over at ABC, “Edgar Floats” comes from Rand Ravich and Far Shariat, who were previously behind NBC’s “Life.”

“Edgar Floats” centers on the world of a police psychologist who becomes a bounty hunter. Warner Bros. TV is the studio.

Peacock’s pilot stable now includes “This Little Piggy,” from “Scrubs” scribes Stephen Cragg and Brian Bradley.

Laffer centers on a married man whose family life is upended when his siblings move in.

Cragg and Bradley are EPs on the comedy, which comes from ABC Studios.

Also, NBC greenlighted “Nathan vs. Nurture,” from Moses Port and David Guarascio (“Aliens in America”).

Comedy follows Griffin Birk, a heart surgeon who reunites with his birth father and slacker brothers, 35 years after being given up for adoption.

Sony Pictures TV is behind the sitcom. 

As for “Past Life,” the show will now benefit by Fox’s and Mark Burnett’s decision to yank “Our Little Genius” from airing.

With that Tuesday, post- “Idol” slot open, Fox has opted to give “Past Life” a preview on Feb. 9. The show then moves to its regular Thursday 9 p.m. slot later that week, on Feb. 11.

Fox had originally planned to launch “Past Life” with a two-hour episode on Feb. 11. With that first hour now moving to Tuesday, the net will air a repeat “Bones” at 8 p.m. on Feb. 11 instead.

The Richard Schiff starrer, from David Hudgins and Lou Pitt, is based on MJ Rose’s novel “The Reincarnationist,” about investigators who study past lives to solve crimes.

Fox said it’s still mulling what to air in the Tuesday 9 p.m. slot on Feb. 16 and March 9. Two-hour “Idol” episodes will air on other weeks. “Past Life” will also get several more “Idol” boosts, as special editions of the talent competish are set to expand to Thursdays for a few weeks in February and March.

In Aught 09, the Great Late Night War went into motion. Well-done take of the late night debacle, done in Ken Burns documentary fashion, by the folks from "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Including a nice shout out to Ye Olde Variety! Watch:

 

Here's a surprising development for this development season. Imagine TV has teamed with Rod Roddenberry, son of the late "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry, to develop a redo of a project Gene Roddenberry developed for NBC and Universal TV in the mid-1970s.

"The Questor Tapes" revolved around an android created with incomplete memory tapes who winds up searching for his creator and his purpose. The pilot starred Robert Foxworth, Mike Farrell (pre-"MASH"), Dana Wynter, James Shigeta, Lew Ayres and Mrs. Roddenberry (pictured above with Gene on the "Questor" set). It wound up airing as a two-hour movie (aka burn-off pilot) in 1974 (the year Rod Roddenberry was born). Apparently NBC was interested in the show but tussled with Roddenberry over the creative direction. Some things never change.

"Questor" has lingering cult appeal, along with almost everything else Roddenberry touched before and after "Star Trek." Imagine TV topper David Nevins is high on the project, which Roddenberry brought to Imagine. The project will be reworked to reflected contempo times but the original source material is impressively solid, Nevins says.

Roddenberry maintains that his father, who died in 1991, believed "Questor" had the potential to be "bigger than 'Star Trek.' "

Judge for yourself. The whole "Questor" pilot is on YouTube in 9-10 minute segments. Here's the first one:

The "Mad Men" writers' room opens on Monday, and there'll be some new faces in the room this season following the departures of Robin Veith and Kater Gordon.

Among Matt Weiner's new recruits are hired Keith Huff, who wrote the play "A Steady Rain" that has been a hit for Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman on Broadway this season. Jonathan Abrahams comes to "Mad Men" after a stint on Steven Bochco's TNT legal ensembler for "Raising the Bar." He's also worked on ABC Family skeins "Greek" and "Wildfire."

It's interesting to note that Abrahams is one of the participants in this year's Showrunner Training Program run by the WGA West. So are "Mad Men" scribes/co-exec producers Andre Jacquemetton and Maria Jacquemetton, who have penned some of the finest "Mad Men" segs, including last season's awesome "Seven Twenty Three."

The Showrunner Training Program is a six-week series of daylong seminars with industry pros. The program, jointly run by the guild and the majors, is designed for scribes who have experience working on shows and can benefit from training to get to the next level in their careers. This year's program began Jan. 9.

Writers have to submit work samples and recommendations from industry insiders just to get into the program. Its alumni include budding hot shots Matt Nix, Glen Mazzara, Sam Baum, David Hudgins, Jennifer Johnson and Janet Tamaro, among others.

Here's the list of this year's Showrunner Training Program participants:

Here's tonight's monologue from Conan O'Brien. With a deal in hand, O'Brien was a tad -- and just a tad -- more gentle on the Peacock:

I’m Conan O’Brien, future Donkey Kong champion.

 

Many of you have probably heard the news. NBC and I have finally reached a separation agreement. I knew it was official this morning when NBC dropped off all my CDs and picked up its lava lamp.

 

As you all know by now, tomorrow is our last show here.  I’d like to apologize to the guests that were scheduled for next week: President Barack Obama, the Pope, the Queen of England, and our good friend, Elvis Presley.

 

You know, I’ve been with NBC for a really long time.  Remember the Cosby show?  I was Rudy!

 

I thought about something today – over the years I’ve made a lot of fun of Ryan Seacrest, Larry King, Spencer Pratt, Geraldo, David Hasselhoff, Kirstie Alley and Donald Trump.   And here’s the messed up thing, they all still have shows.

All kidding aside it was announced today that last night NBC and I reached an agreement and tomorrow night will be the very last “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.”  Obviously this was not our first choice, but I’m determined to make the best of this situation.  So here’s the plan.  Tonight and tomorrow night we’re going to have a lot of fun on television.  We have amazing guests stopping by.  We have some really fun surprises planned.  So tune in and let’s enjoy this...

NBC and I hammered out an agreement for wrapping up my time here as host of the Tonight Show. The general terms of the contract are all over the Internet. But there are some provisions in the contract you may not know about:

-I am prohibited from coming within 500 yards of 11:30.

-I must return the Etch-A-Sketch my contract was written on.

-I’m not allowed to make fun of NBC programming. I have to let the programming speak for itself.

-The cop who escorts me off the lot after my last show must have the rank of lieutenant or higher.

-Max Weinberg must surrender his key to the women’s locker room at the NBC gym.

-Have to watch at least one NBC show every weeknight in order to double ratings.

-Effective today, NBC will stop paying for Andy Richter’s medical marijuana, and medical Jack Daniels.

-Must stop production on my documentary expose of NBC: "Inside the 'Cock."

 

 In the end, NBC had two late night hosts who wanted the 11:35 p.m. slot -- but there was only room for one. 

And just as they did in 1992, when Jay Leno and David Letterman battled for Johnny Carson’s chair, NBC execs opted to stick with Leno.

In crafting his original late-night compromise -- moving Leno back to 11:35 and “Tonight” with O’Brien at 12:05 -- Gaspin made sure to get Leno’s signoff on the deal first. Gaspin said the move was strictly a “business decision.”

“Based on business fact, the ‘Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien’ was scheduled to lose quite a bit of money in 2010,” Gaspin said. “If you look at the ratings in households, NBC is down 14 percent, while Conan is down 49%. In adults 18-49, NBC was down 16% but ‘Tonight’ was down 23%.”

Those figures don’t include the massive ratings bump that O’Brien has seen in the past few days, Gaspin admitted -- but that doesn’t change his outlook on the resolution.

“These were the numbers when I made the decision,” he said. “When you see those kinds of stats, plus you know Jay used to win regularly there, and you have a problem at 10 p.m. with the affiliates forcing your hand, you have to come up with a decision.”

Gaspin said he believed the plan -- which he outlined to the press during the TV Critics Assn. press tour last week -- “was a reasonable compromise based on these facts.”

Yet once O’Brien announced, via a statement to the press, that he would refuse a move to 12:05, Gaspin admitted that the network didn’t come up with an alternative compromise.

“I suppose there could have been other possibilities, but nobody actually discussed those possibilities,” he said. “The only choice for Conan was keeping the ‘Tonight Show’ at 11:35. We never got around to any other (options).”

But the network also didn’t push another alternative on Leno, whose contract had a time slot guarantee for 10 p.m. In the mind of NBC execs, Leno had already agreed to a compromise -- producing a 30-minute “Jay Leno Show” at 11:35.

“He was willing to compromise, which maybe gave me the false optimism that Conan would agree to this as well,” Gaspin said.

Once O’Brien said he wouldn’t accept the time slot demotion, Peacock execs said they didn’t make a move to try and force him into taking the 12:05 slot.

“We decided it was more important to move on and not have this drag on even longer than it did,” Gaspin said.

The exec added that he had hoped to keep both hosts at NBC -- “I know how valuable both Conan and Jay are to the NBC brand in late night.”

In exchange for the $32 million payout, O’Brien made several concessions that will allow for a cooling off period.

That’s believed to include a disaparagement clause that will limit what O’Brien can say in the press or on TV, as well as a non-compete window that will keep him off the air until at least September.

Both apparently won’t be too hard for O’Brien to follow: He’ll be off TV after Friday, and it will take until at least September to get a TV deal done and a new show on the air.

Meanwhile, insiders now confirm O’Brien’s camp’s contention that there is no “offset” clause in the deal. Indeed, even if O’Brien eventually signs with Fox or another net and receives a new salary, he’ll still get that $32 million payout -- as long as he abides by the agreement. 

As for Leno, Gaspin and NBC Entertainment chairman Marc Graboff said they believed old habits will return and “The Tonight Show” will eventually win back that host’s audience. Despite the frenzy of the past 15 days, the execs don’t think Leno’s fans have paid much attention to the late night crisis, or have soured on the host because of it.

Posted by Erin Maxwell

Orlando turned out to be the land of milk and honey as far as “Idol” execs were concerned. It yielded more talent than LaGuardia High School. I have a theory about this.

The reason that Orlando is able to produce an abundance of talent is because at one point, every person in the city had to pull Disney Duty, similar to the methods used in recruiting for the Israeli army. Half of those folks were probably drafted into parade patrol or a barbershop quartet; thus we have a large population of camera-ready crooners.

Let's take a look at the good ones:

• Seth, who has a disabled son and money issues, sang Frank Sinatra and made it through. Probably worked in Liberty Square at one point in a pointy hat.
• Jermaine sang Tony Bennett. I see him on the Carousel of Progress.
• Jay, the human beat box machine, just finished his gig at Star Tours.
• Sisters Bernadette and Amanda make up two of the three bears in Bear Country Jamboree that sing "The Men Who Turn Me On, Turn Me Down."
• Cornelius split his pants and made it through, which seems like reverse sexual discrimination since Kara was all about this guy and gave Bikini Girl from last season a hard time. Yeah, he worked Splash Mountain (with the racier pics appearing on Flash Mountain adult site).
• As for the three random chicks that go put through, I see them as the other dancers behind Cinderella in the Celebrate parade.
• Matt, who went “looking for adventure,” at one point tried to lure a key away from a dog by clinking a metal cup and whistling.

And, FINALLY, after nine seasons of patiently waiting, I finally get to see someone hauled away in handcuffs. It was fabulous. Jarrod, whose perf made the Jordan Sparks poster behind him flinch, refused to give up the spotlight and they had to call in the "Idol" security team. The whole scenario would have been better if he was actually good at singing. I would love to see him wheeled onto the stage Hannibal Lecter-style for Hollywood Week.

And can I just mention that it wasn't the convicted felon that got hauled away. Welcome to Florida!

Just before Conan came to Los Angeles, Artie Lange -- of the Howard Stern radio show -- told Conan it would be a "bad move" to host "The Tonight Show." He said he would've rooted for "the bobblehead Leno" to stay longer and Conan could've walked away with $40 million.

 From tonight's "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" monologue:

Hello, I’m Conan O’Brien, sorry if I’m a little late…I had a job interview at Lady Foot Locker.

 

I should have known something was up when NBC sent me that 2010 calendar that only went up to January.

 

Over the past week, ratings for the “Tonight Show” are up by 50%.  When NBC executives heard this they told me, “See, you really don’t fit in around here.”

 

This whole experience has been so surreal.  I never thought I’d be jealous of the long, illustrious run that NBC gave “Joey.”

 

It’s been reported that before I agree to a final settlement with this network I want to make sure NBC takes care of my staff.  At first they thought I was gullible – they said the staff would be taken to a big farm where they’d be allowed to run free forever.

 

On Friday, Northwestern University is holding a “Conan O’Brien Day” where a group of students will gather on campus and do the string dance.  Then the football team will beat the crap out of them.

 

I’ve been having a hard time explaining this whole situation to my kids – because they’re still very young.  So I had a doll made of myself – and now I can show my kids EXACTLY where NBC touched daddy.

 

I’ve been trying to look on the bright side and make the best of a tough situation.  Even though I had this job for only 7 months, in the world of entertainment, that’s actually a pretty long time   In fact, I came up with a list of things in Hollywood that lasted less than 7 months:

 

-Kid Rock’s marriage to Pamela Anderson: 5 months

-Popularity of the “Leave Britney Alone Guy”: 4 months

-Ed Hardy T-shirts being cool, not tacky: 5.5 months

-The plot of “Lost” being vaguely comprehensible: 3 months.

-Joan Rivers’ 17^th face: 6 weeks.

-Interest in Denise Richards’ side of the story: 18 hours.

-Gary Busey’s love affair with an Encino parking meter: 44 days.

-Lindsay Lohan’s first and third stints as a lesbian: 3 months & 5 months.

-The Masturbating Bear’s disappearance from the airwaves: 6 months 29 days....

CBS is setting up a multicultural comedy showcase at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood on Jan. 27.

Event will be hosted by Kunal Nayyar of "The Big Bang Theory" and will feature 15 actors selected from a pool of 4,000 who applied, and 1,500 who auditioned.

Showcase will be directed by Rick Najera and be part of the Eye’s diversity initiative.

Among the groups who help put the night together: AFTRA, American Indians in Film & Television, East West Players, Nosotros, the Robey Theatre Co. and SAG.

When it rains, it pours pilots at ABC, which has greenlit three more drama projects.

The Alphabet net has given a firm go to the pilots “Generation Y,” from scribe Noah Hawley; “Cutthroat,” written by Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters; and the Jerry Bruckheimer entry “The Whole Truth.”

“Generation Y” centers on a group of people in the present day -- with flashbacks to their lives 10 years ago as seniors in high school. The comedic drama takes a documentary approach to the storytelling.

Project is based on the Scandinavian series "Blomstertid" (“On God’s Highway”; pic above). Hawley is writing and exec producing, while Warren Littlefield is also an EP.

Also listed as exec producers are Henrik Bastin, Peter Magnasson and Martin Piersson, all from Stockholm-Copenhagen Prods., which was behind “On God’s Highway.”

ABC Studios is behind “Generation Y.”

As for “Cutthroat,” show centers on a single mother who keeps up appearances in Beverly Hills by secretly running a drug cartel. 

20th Century Fox TV and ABC Studios are behind the project, another comedic drama. Fazekas and Butters will exec produce.

Then there’s “The Whole Truth,” from scribe Tom Donaghy.

Legal show follows the work of both the defense and the prosecution in a case -- leaving auds guessing until the end where they should have placed their allegiances on guilt or innocence.

Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman are exec producers, while Donaghy will serve as a co-EP. KristieAnne Reed is also a co-exec producer.

Bruckheimer also recently landed the pilot “Chase” at NBC.