While watching Grace Zabriskie (Lois Henrickson) own every one of her scenes during another installment of "Big Love" Sunday — reconfirming herself as one of the most distinctive mothers on television today — I started thinking about another memorable motherly role of hers, as the mother of George Costanza's fiancee Susan on "Seinfeld."

How amazing would it have been if Susan had turned out to be part of the Henrickson clan, and George found himself in the thick of the polygamist hijinx?

Think of the fun if the cherished cabin had been at Juniper Creek. If Bruce Dern's Frank (the same name as George's father) had been carrying a secret relationship with John Cheever. If George had tried to steal back a marble rye from Hollis Greene.

Next to the idea of Ben Linus: High School Teacher, a Costanza-Henrickson crossover is my leading pitch for a spinoff series. It would be huge, Jerry — huge!

Emerging from my December blog hibernation, I'm much more inclined to look forward to what the small screen has in store for '09 than reassessing '08. Fortunately, my Variety colleague Stuart Levine was motivated to muse on his highs and lows for '08 (posted after the jump).

There's not a whole lot that I've penciled into my must-see sked for the first quarter. Of course, the Big Event is the Jan. 21 return of "Lost" for its high-five season (more on that later). The final two "Friday Night Lights" segs of the season (maybe forever) on DirecTV Jan. 7-14, will be three-hanky affairs, for sure, according to sources who have already screened them. And there'll be more multicamera hijinks to enjoy from "The Big Bang Theory" ensemble, my fave comedy troupe on the tube these days, hands down.

As for new material, I was very impressed by what I saw on the four-episode screener of Showtime's "The United States of Tara." Toni Collette is amazing as a suburban mother and artist who grapples with three distinct personalities who also inhabit Tara's corporeal being. The supporting cast is also strong, with John Corbett playing Tara's husband in an understated way, and the always-engaging Rosemarie DeWitt as Tara's sister. Brie Larson impresses as the older of Tara's two teenage kids.

"Tara," which as everyone knows was conceived by Steven Spielberg and birthed by Diablo Cody, bows Jan. 18.

Watching the season finale of "Big Love" last night and seeing Bill Paxton making out with his wannabe girlfriend/fourth wife to be Branka Katic (Ana the waitress), I wondered why it's OK for him to be unfaithful in his marriage and not anyone else who tires for old and wants something new and fresh?

Being polygamists, the Henricksons don't have to abide by normal laws of matrimony: one wife at a time. But under the guidelines of his religion, Bill Henrickson can, without discussion, announce to his three wives — all wonderfully portrayed by Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin — that he's received a calling for a fourth woman to share his bed.

Suddenly, when Bill locked lips with Katic, my first and only wife turned around to me and said, "He's just a cheater." Can't really argue with that.

The episode was a strong, if not stellar, conclusion to "Big Love," the series that HBO moved to Mondays in order to allow "John From Cincinnati" to gather post-"Sopranos" momentum. Yeah, how'd that work out for "John"? "Love" often feels like it's traveling under that radar at HBO, which sees much bigger buzz on "Entourage" and even the low-watched but geek-friendly "Flight of the Conchords."

Even at Emmy time, "Love" seems, well, unloved. Granted, it wasn't eligible this Emmy season but in its first campaign it didn't receive a series or any acting nominations. And Paxton and his three ladies — or at least one of them — are certainly worthy of awards attention. Even Sevigny, who's so good that she makes me hate her Nicolette Grant.

With "Sopranos" gone and HBO looking for a drama series that might be able to capture some of that watercooler talk that Tony and the gang seemed to create week after week, "Big Love" is as good a candidate as anything they've got.

Certainly, the upcoming "Tell Me You Love Me," about three couples who go to therapy and reveal intimate details about their love life, will get plenty of publicity for all the sex that takes place. And it would be a shame if this addictive series is dismissed as exploitive and not given credit for the terrific dialogue and intricate interplay between characters, as created by Cynthia Mort.

But "Big Love" is the better long-term candidate for keeping viewers subscribed to their HBO. Though the network will rightly say that it counts its audience on a cumulative scale — adding up the different broadcasts during the week, including video on demand, rather than just on the premiere night — moving it to Mondays didn't seem right.

It's earned a move back to Sunday for season three. Polygamists, whether you agree with their philosophy or not, seem a better fit than surfers, no matter who they're sleeping with.

— Stuart Levine