Former "NewsRadio" and "ER" star Maura Tierney left the cast of freshman NBC drama "Parenthood" last fall to focus on treatment of breast cancer, a distressing revelation that was revisited at today's Television Critics Assn. panel about the upcoming Peacock show. But it's worth noting some good news: As Gordon Cox of Variety reports, Tierney will be back to work soon – treading the boards in Los Angeles and New York runs of the play "North Atlantic."

For those who hope to see Tierney perform in person, the production will appear at Los Angeles' REDCAT theater Feb. 10-21, followed by a stint at the Jerome Robbins Theater in Gotham from March 10-April 25.

The news only adds to the optimism about Tierney's condition voiced today by "Parenthood" showrunner Jason Katims, who said the actress was "doing really well." Last month, "Rescue Me" exec producer Peter Tolan told a Hollywood Radio and Television Society luncheon audience that he was hopeful of bringing Tierney back to the FX drama, in the recurring role of Kelly she originated last year.

"Parenthood" is scheduled to premiere March 1 on NBC, with Lauren Graham in the role Tierney was originally slated to play.

NBC made it official on Sunday morning: “The Jay Leno Show" experiment is dead.  

Leno will be gone from primetime by Feb. 12, when NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics get underway.

"While performing at acceptable levels for the network, it did not meet our affiliate needs," NBC Universal TV Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin told reporters at NBC's portion of the TV Critics Assn. press tour. "We realized we had to make a change. My goal is to keep Jay, Conan and Jimmy as part of the late night lineup."

Gaspin confirmed that he had asked Leno to host a half-hour show at 11:35, followed by "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" at 12:05 and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" at 1:05. It's unclear whether Carson Daly would remain in late night, but unlikely – as affiliates take over at 2:05 a.m.

With Leno out of prime, Gaspin now expects to see a ratings bump this spring.

“It’s going to cost more, but the net net is NBC is going to be fine,” he said. “The ratings will go up and the revenue will go up.”

Scrubbing Leno from primetime and picking up 18 pilots this spring reps Gaspin’s first push for an NBC ratings recovery since taking over the network five months ago.

“I don’t care how quickly it happens as long as it happens,” he said. “I want to see progress with our schedule and progress with our ratings. As long as a arrow going up as opposed to the side or down I’ll be happy.”

That primetime revival may start with a flurry of pilots that the network officially ordered on Sunday, including new dramas from David E. Kelley, Jerry Bruckheimer, Hank Steinberg and Cindy Chupack.

But more immediately, Gaspin must first find a resolution to his late night conundrum. Exec said he expects to have a new lineup in place, O’Brien or no O’Brien, by the time the Olympic Games start.

Talks with Leno and Conan O'Brien will resume on Monday after the hosts take the weekend to digest the upheaval. Gaspin said his goal is to keep all three hosts on NBC and in late night – but wouldn’t comment on specific negotiations.

"When I asked (O'Brien) to move to 12:05 I made it clear 'The Tonight Show' was moving with them," Gaspin said. "What's important to Jay is telling jokes at 11:30, and what's important to Conan beyond that was having the franchise of 'The Tonight Show.' I couldn't satisfy either with everything they wanted, which is why I came up with this compromise."

Leno is believed to have already signed on to the plan – but O’Brien’s decision remains up in the air.

Gaspin said he had to make a quick move after affiliates threatened a revolt. According to the exec, as much as one-third of the Peacock’s affils were expected to start pre-empting “The Jay Leno Show.”

Gaspin said the conversations with affiliates over “Leno” started in early November and went right through the holidays.

“The intensity of the dialogue got stronger,” he said. “They were our partners in this… That drove a lot of the pressure.”

Gaspin said the net is still figuring out its scheduling plans once Leno is pushed out of prime.

Read more -- including Gaspin's thoughts on whether the upcoming regulatory approval of Compact's NBC U acquisition -- here.

POSTED BY JON WEISMAN

For those obsessed with all things “Arrested Development,” one of the next links in the chain is NBC’s upcoming fall sitcom “Community,” which has “Arrested” alums Joe and Anthony Russo aboard as executive producers and directors of the pilot.

As with the much beloved Fox comedy from earlier this decade, extra effort was placed in forming the cast of  “Community” alongside lead Joel McHale (“The Soup”) and supporting actor/Bizarro-world father figure Chevy Chase.

“The last time we did something like this was ‘Arrested Development,’ and this cast has a similar quality,” Joe Russo said at the “Community” panel at the Television Critics Assn. gathering today in Pasadena. “It’s tricky when you try to define the voice of each  the characters.”

“We walked this tightrope of complete adherence to lack of conviction,” show creator Dan Harmon (“The Sarah Silverman Show”) added with a laugh. “We’re either so arrogant or so humble that we never had a problem changing our minds. ... and like a town looking for a missing child, hand in hand, systematically circled in on these people who were perfect.”

The ensemble includes a mix of relative knowns and unknowns such as Alison Brie (“Mad Men”), whose character’s mission Harmon describes as “because she didn’t get into Harvard, she’s going to turn Greendale (Community College) into Harvard,” and late addition Ken Jeong (“Knocked Up”). Jeong plays an Asian Spanish teacher with a chip on his shoulder because … he’s an Asian Spanish teacher.

As for Chase, he hasn’t exactly been a regular on the network comedy circuit since his hallowed “Saturday Night Live” days thirty-odd years ago, but the pilot script by Harmon turned him around.

“Films lately aren’t as good as most of the stuff on TV,” said Chase, who was very much his wisecracking self during the press session. “I never thought I would be involved in a situation comedy until I read the script.”

Harmon partly based his creation on his experience as a 32-year-old community college student, and says he isn’t looking to make fun of the setting.

“I compare it to Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree,” Harmon said. “Its ambition exceeds its grasp, and therefore it’s heroic.”

Harmon couldn't say what happens if a series based in a locale where students typically come and go gets a long run, but McHale quipped a hint.

“We do get off the island,” McHale said.

Count Jeff Gaspin among the legion of TV execs who attended the Brandon Tartikoff Conservatory.

Gaspin, who was promoted to the uber-TV gig at NBC Universal on Monday as Ben Silverman shipped out, was sent out to Burbank to study with Tartikoff for a few months after he got his first programming job at the Peacock, in the news division. Then-NBC News prexy Michael Gartner was impressed with Gaspin's genuine love of television, something he'd had since he was a kid growing up in Queens.

Gaspin never thought of TV as a career, however, until he was in his final days of the MBA program at New York U. He was leafing through a job recruiting book and saw a page of openings at NBC. Until then, he figured he was headed for the strategic consultant route at a big firm like Towers Perrin or McKinsey & Co.

But once he realized that he could actually "get a job at a company I watched every day," he was hooked. He didn't get the first job he applied for at NBC, but two months later he was hired to price spots for the O&O divisions.

Gaspin had been a production finance exec working on NBC's East Coast-based shows, but what he really wanted to do was ... program. Gartner, according to Gaspin, told him that he was one of the few in the news division who "actually watches television," and that appreciation would come in handy as NBC News developed the newsmag that became "Dateline NBC."

Shortly after Gaspin made the leap to veep of programming and development, Gartner introduced him to NBC Sports guru Dick Ebersol, who suggested that Gaspin make the pilgrimage to Burbank to learn at the knee of Tartikoff.

"I went from a decent job in finance to working in programming and being mentored by a god," Gaspin says. "The rest is history."

(I emphasize that these are first impressions, not a full-fledged review nor a hit-or-miss prediction. Most pilots at this stage of the game are very much works in progress.)

Pros: Joel McHale, Alison Brie, Danny Pudi

Cons: Light on LOL moments, Chevy Chase

I liked these people -- or I should say I liked watching these people. I'll come back for more.

As an alumnus of Pasadena City College (we liked to call it "Caltech-adjacent"), I definitely recognized the truth of the humor in this motley group of characters. I liked the fact that Joel McHale's lead character, Jeff, is outfitted in an old blazer and the bottom half of an '80s era running suit, complete with the red racing stripes on the outside of the pant legs.

The pilot seg spends a little too much time for my taste on a convoluted plot that involve's McHale's effort to procure test answers from an old acquaintance whose who is now teaching at the school. But in general I found the half-hour entertaining and intriguing, if not laugh-out-loud funny. It's obviously shooting for the NBC ensemble feel of "The Office," so let's hope this study group comes alive, beyond quirky, during the first semester. Alison Brie of "Mad Men" renown (she played the pampered princess Trudy Campell) gets only a few minutes in the pilot, and she's very good in them.

Danny Pudi's fast-talking nerdy genius is fun, but it will wear thin unless Pudi can take it a step further ala Rainn Wilson and Dwight Schrute. I'm sorry to say that Chevy Chase is just a distraction here. His character, a one-time successful businessman who's enamored, almost Gomez Addams-style, with a young black woman played by Yvette Nicole Brown, doesn't really ring true, and his presence doesn't add any zing to the proceedings.

NBC is loading up on dramas next season, even as its primetime real estate shrinks with the addition of Jay Leno's new variety hour at 10 p.m.

Peacock has ordered four new dramas: "Trauma," "Parenthood," "Mercy" and "Day One." "Day One," from "Heroes" alum Jesse Alexander, is billed as an "event series" that will bow on the heels of the winter Olympics next year. It's interesting that NBC gave the official nod to two projects that are still filming their pilots, "Parenthood" and "Day One."

NBC has two frosh comedies on deck, "Community" (pictured above) and "100 Questions" (pictured right). Peacock also plans six "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday" half-hour specials.

During the weekend, NBC also picked up the fledgling drama "Southland" and returning utility player "Medium." Still awaiting final decisions are "Chuck" and "Law & Order," though both seem like a good bet to come back.

NBC said more new and returning series will be unveiled on May 19 when it announces its 2009-10 season sked.

Detailed show descriptions and links to vid clips (for all but "Day One") follow after the jump. Click on the titles for the links.

Saturday update: Insiders confirm the E! report that decision on "Chuck" is likely to be delayed beyond Monday's announcement. And word has surfaced that although it looked to be dead, NBC and 20th Century Fox TV are negotiating for a fifth-season pickup of "My Name is Earl."

Looks like the cops on "Southland" will be back on the beat in the fall.

Word is that NBC has picked up the Warner Bros. TV/John Wells Prods. drama for 13 episodes, probably for a fall slot. NBC execs are hunkered down in New York this weekend making fall pickup decisions in advance of Monday's "Infront" programming presentation to advertisers in Gotham.

There's also chatter at this late hour that Warners is in the midst of a big ol' deal with NBC that includes "Southland" plus a third-season renewal for "Chuck" and greenlight for David E. Kelley pilot "Legally Mad" -- after all three projects took a slight haircut in budget. But that's just email chatter at this point, no confirmation yet. (Sorry all you "Chuck" devotees.)

Ensembler "Southland," created by Ann Biderman and exec produced by Biderman, John Wells and Christopher Chulack, has delivered solid numbers to NBC in the Thursday 10 p.m. time slot since its debut April 9, and the show has been warmly received by critics. Hard-boiled cop drama will presumably slide to a 9 p.m. berth in the fall, as NBC plans to strip "The Jay Leno Show" Monday-Friday at 10 p.m. hour.

Reps for NBC and Warner Bros. TV could not immediately be reached for comment late Friday.

Monday afternoon update: It's official! Deal's done!

Click here for the Variety story. More to come from my chat with Jason Katims later tonight once I'm (finally) off deadline.

One way or another, Monday should be a big day for "Friday Night Lights" fanatics. A final decision is expected to come from NBC and DirecTV on a two-season, 26-episode pickup of the acclaimed drama series.

Earlier this month, all signs were pointing to the Peacock and the satcaster were closing in on a deal to save the Imagine TV/Universal Media Studios series, but then early last week there was a hiccup over money -- what else? -- specifically the fee that DirecTV would pay for the right to air the episodes first, commercial-free, as the marquee offering on its 101 Network channel. That was the arrangement that kept the lights on for "FNL" this season, the show's third, and was hoped would continue for a fourth and fifth season of 13 segs each.

At one point it looked like the deal was off, but then clear eyes and full hearts prevailed and the talks resumed in the middle of last week. As of the weekend, the signs were again looking hopeful for the renewal, but insiders cautioned that the final fate of the Dillon Panthers et al would not be known until Monday.

As Slammin' Sammy Meade might say: Folks, this one's going down to the last kick.

There's been a lot of chatter out there about the much-loved "Friday Night Lights" closing in on a two-season renewal from NBC and DirecTV.

The talks are ongoing between NBC, Universal Media Studios and DirecTV, but they hit a big pothole earlier this week. At one point it looked like the deal might crater. But fortunately for the show's loyal cadre of fans, the right phone call was made in the nick of time on Wednesday to hopefully get it all back on track.

It comes down to -- what else? -- money issues, and how much DirecTV will kick in to cover the cost of production on the show, which is estimated at a modest $2 million-$2.5 million per seg. They've been talking about doing 13 episodes per season, and giving DirecTV the exclusive first window, as the partners did for the show's third season, which bowed commercial-free on the satcaster in the fall and in January on NBC.

The biggest thing the Imagine TV production has in its favor is the desire for the deal to make on the part of the key players. Universal wants to keep the show going to amass enough episodes for a syndication sale down the road and to generally enhance the show's library value. NBC wants the prestige of supporting a show beloved by critics, even though it's never been able to draw a big aud. And most of the key cast members are on record as saying they're in if NBC and DirecTV are.

"FNL" exec producer and showrunner Jason Katims is busy now on a high-profile new pilot for NBC, U and Imagine, a new spin on the 1989 Imagine feature "Parenthood." Assuming "Parenthood" gets picked up, the network and studio would help him work out a sked to allow him to juggle both shows. By all accounts, Katims is a prolific writer and utterly devoted to "FNL."

So -- Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose -- and fingers crossed. The next few days should be pivotal for these negotiations.

Rick Ludwin has been through plenty of regime changes in his 29 years at NBC (he's been there long enough to work for two bosses named Silverman).

But nothing in his experience compares to the buzz and the scrutiny generated by a transition at the top of "The Tonight Show." The first phase of the transition from Jay Leno to Conan O'Brien began last week with O'Brien's sign off after nearly 16 years on NBC's "Late Night," and it continues on Monday with O'Brien's successor, Jimmy Fallon, making his debut at 12:35 a.m.

As much as NBC has been in the spotlight the past few months with its latenight shuffle, and Leno-at-10 decision, it's been a far, far less traumatic than the last time around, when Leno took the baton from Johnny Carson in May 1992, according to Ludwin, who is NBC's exec veep of late night and primetime series.

"This is a more peaceful transfer of power than the last time around," Ludwin says. "Nothing could surpass the intensity of the coverage of Carson, who was such a person of distinction in our country."

Ludwin and Lorne Michaels are the only two people in senior roles at NBC who were around during the Carson-Leno-Letterman scrum. This time around, Ludwin tried to prep his colleagues as best he could.

"'The Tonight Show' is an American institution. It's the gold standard of late night shows, and there's a bond between people and this show," he says. "And these transitions only happen once every ice age, so of course there's an intense interest."

Ludwin spent the past week in Gotham observing Fallon and "Late Night" exec producer Michaels at work on a week of test shows prior to Monday's on-air bow. The live aud was very receptive, and Fallon's style is already distinctive from O'Brien's, Ludwin said. The show is also very attuned to melding interactive elements into the telecast and on its website because "Jimmy is of the generation of multitasking," Ludwin says.

Conan O'Brien was a class act in signing off of "Late Night" on Friday after 16 years. Hard to believe that he hosted that show longer than David Letterman did.

Conan spent the past 10 minutes of his final "Late Night" seg saying a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped him on his way, from Letterman to Jay Leno to Lorne Michaels and Jeff Ross to his family to various regimes of NBC execs (and through it all, Rick Ludwin stands tall).

Variety's Michael Schneider has the skinny on it all right here, or watch the seg for yourself courtesy of Hulu. And then click here to check out a seven-minute clip of a very different, very gawky Conan from mid-1993, doing a guest stint as "the new guy" with Letterman on the show he would soon inherit.

Attending the NATPE confab this year was kinda tough.

It takes a lot of energy and shoe leather to cover a big industry confab, so there's always a bit of groan-factor when NATPE rolls around. But once you actually get to there, it's always fun to see friends and biz contacts that you don't regularly get to hang with, and you're in a setting that is somewhat detached from real-life for a finite period. Lots of parties, dinners and revelry.

Nearly every conversation begins with "When did you get here? And how long are you staying?"

That hey-howya-doin'? element was definitely there this week at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Vegas (for the record I arrived Monday evening and left Wednesday late afternoon) but the somber mood and sparse attendance was unlike anything I'd ever experienced at this confab.

Angela Bromstad’s message to fans of NBC’s critically beloved but ratings challenged shows: We love these programs too, but people need to start tuning in.

“There’s an affinity and appreciation for those shows and not something I would cavalierly toss aside even if they weren’t meeting expectations. We can’t stop striving for that but we won’t replace shows beloved by fans,” she said. Minutes earlier, however, she told journos gathered at TCA: “We live in a world we have to have both (quality and ratings). We have to have ratings."

If the messages seem contradictory, it might be the only way Bromstad, the Peacock’s newly crowned primetime entertainment chief, could handle the inevitable questions.

On other networks, shows such as “Friday Night Lights,” “Life” and “Chuck” would probably have an extremely hard time to return but the NBC numbers have been so poor, it could be worth it – maybe for nothing more than pleasing a small but hardcore fan base – to bring these shows back.

That being said, with Jay Leno now taking up five primetime slots, competition for the remaining hours will be fierce, especially among scripted shows since reality takes up a sizeable chunk of the Monday-Friday schedule.

Bromstad is well aware that the network didn’t do itself any favors this past fall with shows such as “Kath & Kim” and “Knight Rider” – “The were a fair try but not holding up and may or may not come back. We’re going to try and beat that.” – and that quality of future programming will have to be held to a higher standard if the network is to recapture its glory days.

As to how that philosophy will help shape the fall lineup, everything’s up for grabs at this point.

“There’s not going to be any hard and fast rules. I’m not making any proclomations about specific shows.”

 -- Stuart Levine 

With the season finale of "Friday Night Lights" airing on DirecTV on Wednesday, Variety's Stuart Levine (who reviews the last episode here) and Jon Weisman chatted with red eyes and heavy hearts about the show facing the end of its three-year run -- and how much "Friday Night Lights" could offer if it were to connect on a Hail Mary bid for a fourth season. Caution: Spoliers aplenty if you've been waiting to watch the third season on NBC, beginning Friday.

Stu: At some point, business will defeat creative and the show won't be able to come back. There's just not enough viewers (650,000 per episode, according to DirecTV) to keep the accountants at bay. And while it's incredibly tough to think about saying goodbye to all our friends in Dillon, there is something to be said about going out on top. Sure, a fourth season could offer a lot about the charcters and story arcs you mentioned, but will it be the same show? And will head writer Jason Katims and his talented scribes be able to keep up the great work? Well, looking at what they've accomplished in three seasons, there's little doubt they certainly could, but I couldn't bear the thought of watching characters that didn't matter to me as much as the ones that arrived when the show premiered in 2006. 

Jon: I guess I'd say if the opportunity somehow arose for a fourth season, why live in fear? Do we regret that the show has been on the past two years, even though the first season remains the show's best? Put it this way: If "Lights" had a 2009-10 pickup, we wouldn't say it should be canceled.

But certainly, it's going to take a white knight to make this conversation anything more than theoretical. If I were leading the Save Friday Nights Committee, I'd start the campaign right now, with the show taking its final bow on NBC (where the third season will reprise) starting Friday. How often, after all, has a network show come pre-approved by even a small sample of the public?

Stu: Yeah, certainly NBC could do a lot a worse than bringing back "Friday Night Lights," even though they know it'll get a small aud.

Changing subjects for a sec, what are some of your favorite moments from the three seasons? I was thinking about that the other day, and a lot of Matt Saracen scenes popped into my head, especially the one where Coach Taylor goes to his house in season two as he's laying in the bathtub, with the weight of the world on his shoulders -- caring for his ill grandma, replaced as quarterback, his dad stationed in Iraq.

In more generic terms, I also love it whenever Coach Taylor gathers his players and begins a speech with "Gentlemen …." No matter what he has to say, it carries such gravitas that you feel you're part of the team and are hanging by every word.

Jon: First scene that comes to mind is the visceral threat you felt in the first-season episode when the team bus was pulled over by cops after a victory over a school (and referees), where racism filled the air. I can't think of many moments in my entire life of television watching that felt so tense.

At the same time, I'd also say the lighter moments between Eric and Tami, often in an episode that would also find them sparring, warmly fill my memories of the show. "FNL" managed to make their relationship both idealistic and realistic -- really quite something.

I did truly enjoy the Matt Saracen arc, highlighted by the bathtub scene that you mention -- heck, there wasn't much about the show I didn't enjoy. I'd say my biggest love-hate relationship was with how the writers treated Landry and Tyra. Their relationship was one I adored -- it truly moved me how Landry won her over -- but it hurt how little the writers seemed to trust moving that relationship forward, instead choosing to repeatedly break them up (most notably with the misguided manslaughter storyline) and force Landry to win her back over and over again. The show that gave you Eric and Tami could have also given us one high school relationship with some staying power. Yes, high school is chaotic, but if Tim and Lyla is your most stable couple, maybe you're being too tough.

I guess you could say it was all worth it, though, when you heard Tyra read her college application essay the other night ...

Stu: Yeah, that scene was chilling, and it brought to the forefront all the challenges that Tyra faced, though she did create some drama on her own. I also loved the episode where assistant coach Mac is accused of making racist statements. Really powerful stuff.

But, for sheer joy, I'll say my all-time favorite is "Mud Bowl," which aired near the end of the first season. When the Panthers can't play at home because of a nearby explosion, they end up playing for the right to play for state in an abandoned field in the middle of a cow pasture, in a driving rainstorm as the players are sloshing and sliding all over. It was pure exultation, playing for nothing but love of the sport.

Jon: The point is, we could spend all day and not run out of great "FNL" moments to rehash. Whatever happens, this is a classic show that will only grow in stature as time passes.

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.

By Stuart Levine

NBC revisits its once glorious past tonight when Anthony Edwards returns to County General on “ER.”

The numbers for “ER” have been good this year, the show’s 15th and final season. Credit strong marketing and consistently compelling stories. Audiences who were once glued have come back for a last look.

And expect an even bigger Nielsen turnout when one of the most favored alumni comes back.

Well, Edwards returns but his character, Dr. Mark Greene, who died of cancer, can't. He's shown in flashback, interacting with the icy Dr. Cate Banfield, so adeptly played by Oscar-nominated actress Angela Bassett.

Not to give anything away, but the two characters interact at a time that forever changes Banfield’s life. I’m never been one to fall for the “very special episode” marketing ploy that NBC used with almost every show at one time or another, but this one’s worth watching, especially if you go back to the early days of “ER,” when folks such as Edwards, George Clooney and Eriq LaSalle ran up and down the hallways.

On a conference call with reporters, Edwards said he was a bit hesitant to return to Stage 11 on the Warner Bros. lot, where he’d spent eight years, but felt the timing was right to come back. Yet, he still had butterflies

“You don’t want to screw it up, you know,” he said. “I think there’s a natural respect for this show that you want to, you know, be respectful of.”

And he was confident that if he returned, his character’s hard-earned reputation wouldn’t be tarnished.

“I knew they would take care of him. You know, it’s a funny thing. You feel as an actor that you own the character, but the truth is so do the writers. The writers really feel an ownership of Greene, so they want to do right for him. So, there’s actually more people looking out for you than yourself in the end.

Edwards, who appeared in David Fincher’s brilliant murder mystery “Zodiac” last year, has been heavily involved in charity work. He donated the money he would’ve received for appearing in this “Heal Thyself” episode to Shoe 4 Africa, in which he’s raising money to build a hospital. “ER” exec producer John Wells and Steven Spielberg also contributed.

Good for Tina Fey. "30 Rock" was solid in its second outing of the season, indicating that the Emmy and biz darling is finally getting some traction.

Post-election euphoria for at least 52% of Americans probably didn't hurt (I'm convinced Fey-as-Sarah-Palin helped Obama defeat the GOP ticket), nor did a guest shot from Oprah Winfrey probably didn't hurt. "30 Rock" averaged 8.1 million viewers and 3.9 rating/9 share, according to prelim Nielsens. That's an even better retention out of "The Office" (8.4 mil, 4.2/10) than it managed last week in its third season preem.

Goodness knows, the Peacock needed some good ratings news after Wednesday's makeover went over like a lead balloon. "Knight Rider" slipping to a 1.6/4 in the demo, handicapping the rest of the night. The return of "Law & Order" (7.9 mil, 2.2/6) at 10 p.m. didn't do much to improve things, though it did seem to take a notable bite of the aud for CBS' competing "CSI: NY" (11.8 mil, 3.3/9).

Sunday update-update:

The ratings are in and they are gi-normous. (Good grief, don't let this be an omen for Nov. 4.) Sarah Palin's appearance pushed "Saturday Night Live" to its highest numbers in 14 years, since the show was hosted by another telegenic brunette thrust into the national spotlight, Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, on March 12, 1994.

"SNL" pulled a 10.7 rating/24 share in Nielsen's 56 overnight metered markets, which cover more than 70% of U.S. TV households. To put it in perspective, that number is 161% higher than the show's average last October, and 47% higher than last week's seg. It's lofty enough to make "SNL" the No. 3 program of last week, behind ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and CBS' "CSI," on a household rating basis. (Final national viewer tally and demographic breakdown won't be available until Thursday.)

As I said below, Palin may not be bound for the Beltway next year but she will undoubtedly be in the market for a good TV agent come Nov. 5.

Sunday update:

OK. Gotta give Sarah Palin a few points for having a sense of humor, though I couldn't help but think "desperation time" while watching her two appearances on last night's "Saturday Night Live" (posted below), in the cold open and in the "Weekend Update" seg. Lorne Michaels (did Palin call him "Lauren"? -- it sure sounded like that to me) and Alec Baldwin played their parts perfectly (with a cool cameo from Mark Wahlberg to boot). Watching Palin and Fey pass each other was definitely worth the price of admission. And for the record, I would like to see the "30 Rock" sketch that Palin wrote. (Michaels flexed some self-depricating -deprecating muscle of his own in telling her "not enough people know that show.")

Can anyone explain why there's a life-size prop of a cow, or some other farm animal, in the background and Michaels and Palin are talking backstage? Is it part of a running gag, or maybe just a political commentary from "SNL's" prop master? After all, the hind end was pointed squarely at Palin.

If the polls keep going the way they're going, and the endorsements, a la Colin Powell's big news this ayem, keep going the Obama-Biden camp's way, I'm thinking Palin still gets her national platform -- a show on Fox News Channel or some other outlet. No matter what you think of her politics, you can't deny that the woman is telegenic, and she's already got her on-air signature -- her kitten-ish wink -- down pat.

Posted Saturday:

Sarah Palin's visit to "Saturday Night Live" tonight should make for a must-see vid clip, no matter what transpires.

The folks at Hulu are so charged up about the GOP veep nominee's potential to deliver the Super Bowl of viral vid (remember those debate ratings?) that on Friday they emailed out a "placeholder" link to the clip on their site. It should become real thing around 2 a.m. PST Sunday, after "SNL" airs on the West Coast.

Those Internet types, they think of everything.

There's lots of chatter on the web tonight about political comedy conspiracies and NBC's motivation for yanking a biting "Saturday Night Live" sketch from this past weekend that needles a few prominent liberal billionaires.

Los Angeles Times scribe Mary McNamara gets to the heart of the whole thing in an interview with "SNL" boss Lorne Michaels that was posted on the Times' Show Tracker blog Tuesday evening.

Michaels explains that the major issue with the sketch, which depicted a news conference to tubthump the plan held by Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank, was that he thought that two of the people portrayed in the sketch were fictional characters. In fact Herb and Marion Sandler are very real, and very rich from selling their subprime mortgage-pumping bank, Golden West Financial, to Wachovia for a cool $24 billion not so long ago.

Michaels told McNamara that he spoke to the Sandlers, and then made the call to pull the vid of the sketch off NBC.com, snip out some of the harshest (and probably legally actionable) comments out, and and then repost the kinder, gentler version.

Michaels sounds a little humbled by the experience. For the exec producer of "SNL," that's saying something.

First of all, I pleaded incompetence (when speaking to the Sandlers), which is not a thing I do often, and the fact that I did not know they were real is 100% my responsibility... I understand the Sandlers’ complaint. I think it’s not insignificant to read ‘People who should be shot’ underneath your name.

Michaels' comments are unlikely to quiet the conspiracy buffs who note that the Sandlers are big supporters of liberal causes, as is another public figure skewered in the sketch, George Soros.

Today's dust up over the sketch is likely to boost "SNL's" already soaring ratings. Why, it's almost as if the government, and the men and woman who would be our next prexy and veep, have staged their own bailout for this august American institution at the outset of its 34th season.

I'm five days late but I finally caught up with the season preem of "The Office."

Gawd, I've missed the gang. Amy Ryan is a fantastic addition to the ensemble as Holly, HR replacement for Paul Lieberstein's Toby and a "major dork," in Jim Halpert's estimation. Is there anything Ryan can't do as an actress? I ran into Craig "Darryl" Robinson on the red carpet at the Emmys, and he told me Ryan was "his favorite" and brought a great energy to the set.

This season's opening seg, "Weight Loss," written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky and helmed by Paul Feig, was full of great "Office" moments, including the return of B.J. Novak's Ryan as a temp receptionist after his fall from corporate grace. As Ryan made the rounds apologizing to the Scranton branch-ers who he treated badly during his tenure as a veep, the LOL moment for me was one of the excuses he gave to his ex-flame, Mindy Kaling's Kelly, along the lines of "I hadn't really processed 9/11." Such a Ryan thing to say.

The furtive warehouse lust going on between Angela Kinsey's Angela and Rainn Wilson's Dwight ought to make for meaty plot points in the episodes ahead, as Angela braces for her nuptials to Ed Helms' hapless Andy.

At no extra charge, we got a fun when-TV-worlds-collide moment with brief guest shot from Rich Sommer, better known to "Mad Men" fanatics as Harry "I want to leave at 5 o'clock" Crane. Wonder if he'll be back to flirt with Jenna Fischer's Pam some more?

And whaddya know, Toby really did head down to Costa Rica after all. I'm guessing we haven't seen the last of him, in or out of traction.

Rough debuts last night for NBC's "Knight Rider" and CBS' 8-9 p.m. comedy block of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and Jay Mohr frosh "Gary Unmarried."

ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" stomped all over everything in the opening hour of primetime, drawing 15.6 million viewers and 3.5 rating/10 share in adults 18-49.

Peacock's remake of the '80s talking-car skein brought in 7.3 million viewers and 2.4 rating/7 share in adults 18-49. "Old Christine" (6.7 mil, 2.1/6) and "Gary Unmarried" (6.8 mil, 2.3/6) came in even lower.

President Bush didn't help things with his dour 15-minute address at 9 p.m. EST, pushing back the start times of the rest of the night. CBS' fortunes picked up with solid showings from the season openers of "Criminal Minds" and "CSI: NY" (reliable numbers for those shows won't be available until later today because of the delay).

Overall, CBS won the night in viewers and 18-49 by a solid margin, with ABC running second, even though the Alphabet didn't do much business with its two-hour David Blaine spesh.

Very classy. With Laura Ziskin at the helm, ABC, CBS and NBC pulled off a historic simultaneous telecast devoted to raising money for cancer research and awareness among viewers of the importance of early-detection tests for the disease that claims 550,000 Americans every year.

"Stand Up to Cancer" was part telethon and part tribute to the millions of famous and ordinary folks who have battled cancer in its many forms. The hourlong, commercial-free special, originating from Hollywood's Kodak Theater, was notable for featuring a joint-emcee appearance by the Big Three news anchors -- Charlie Gibson, Katie Couric and Brian Williams -- and appearances by a gaggle of celebs. Presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama sent in vids, as did producers of "The Simpsons."

All in all, an uplifting hour that harnessed the awesome power of the medium on behalf of a most worthy cause. Kudos to Ziskin (pictured below with Ellen DeGeneres), a cancer survivor herself, for joining with Sherry Lansing, the Entertainment Industry Foundation and other organizers to make it happen.

(More pics after the jump. Below right: Jennifer Garner, Evan Handler and Scarlett Johansson)

God, this is good stuff. Scribe Ian Parker has penned a heck of a profile of "30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin for this week's New Yorker. There's a bit of requisite NBC bashing in there, of course some discussion of the fateful voice mail message he left for his daughter last year, but the best stuff is really the stream-of-Baldwin-consciousness that he lets flow, and flow, and flow (see below). I'm rooting for Baldwin in the Emmy lead comedy actor competish this year, for obvious reasons.

“I always think, What if you just took your hand off the wheel, and slowly, over time, it all went away, and your life became about, you know, ‘Is the mail here yet?’ I always think about that.” But this dream of disengagement quickly gave way: in the space of a few minutes, sitting in weak sun on a New Jersey driveway, smoking a cigarette, Baldwin imagined himself as the restaurant critic of the Times; the proprietor of an inn near Syracuse; and the presenter of a classical-music show on public radio. “I could do that,” he said, and he wasn’t exactly joking. He cares about classical music; he began to take an interest in his twenties. (Perhaps not surprisingly, he adores Mahler and can’t quite see the point of Mozart.) “To sit there in the studio and just say”—a rich radio voice—“ ‘And now Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.’ Click. Hit a button, and then you sit back and listen, and they pay you for that. And I can’t imagine they pay you as much as the movies, but to me it’s getting to that point where there’s just something else I want to do. I don’t know what it is. I’m tired of being somebody else. I spend the waking hours of my life saying things that other people think and say and do. And behaving as someone else. I’m tired of it. I want to be me! I want to be myself!”

By now NBC must be thinking about trying to cast Michael Phelps in an episode of "Heroes," if not a starring vehicle of his own (maybe "Aquaman" rights are available?).

Phelps' quest for the record-busting gold medal No. 8 at the Beijing summer Games gave the Peacock its most watched Saturday night in 18 years, since George Bush the elder was in office. Nearly 40 million people (39.9 mil to be exact) tuned in to the 11-11:30 p.m. half-hour to watch Phelps and his teammates clinch the 100 meter men's relay event.

Peacock's primetime coverage average 31.1 million viewers. NBC estimates 70 million folks watched some portion of Saturday's 8:30-11:45 p.m. Olympics coverage.

NBC is duly proud of its perf during the past week nights with boffo numbers harvested from the Beijing summer Games.

The primetime average for the first seven nights is an eye-popping 30.6 million viewers, up 13% from the comparable period in the 2004 Athens summer Games.

In adults 18-49, the Olympic pageantry and competish has delivered an average 10.5 rating, up 12% from the perf at this point in the Athens games. The numbers are up, Beijing vs. Athens, in the elusive younger demos as well: up 10% in adults 18-34 (8.9); and 8% in persons 12-34 (8.0). The biggest bounce has come in the male demos -- thank you, Michael Phelps -- with viewership posting a lofty 23% spike in men 18-34 (8.6); a 17% gain in men 18-49 (9.9); and a 20% jump in males 12-34 (7.8).

So NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker can be forgiven for frothing a bit in an interview Friday morning with CNBC's "Squawk Box" about the ratings and the additional $10 million in ad coin that NBC U has booked since the Games began. Zucker has spent the past year talking up NBC Universal's cable and international portfolio and how it's transforming the House that Sarnoff Built. But he did a verbal victory dance celebrating the unparalleled reach of broadcast TV in his gushy interview with CNBC's Carl Quintanilla, Joe Kernan and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.

(For really gushy dispatches from Beijing, check out NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman's reportage for Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM show. "Beijing Ben" sounds like he's having an "amazing" time in China, but it kinda begs the question of who's minding the store in Burbank as Silverman's first slate of shows prep for launch next month?)

Pictured above: "Today" co-host Meredith Vieira flanked by members of the U.S. women's gymnastics team.

I'm guessing Jay Leno enjoyed dressing up as a "reporter" for the executive session with the Peacock's Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff at TCA on Monday, as Variety's Michael Schneider reports. I gotta admit, he looks like an amalgam of several TCA regulars.

"The Office" star/scribe/co-exec producer Mindy Kaling appeared to be having a good time Saturday in her daylong photo-op in Scranton, Penn. to promote the release of two "Office" themed games, The Office DVD Board Game and The Office Trivia Game. The day's events include a trivia contest, a beet eating contest, a 2K run and "Office" character look-alike contest.

Hanging with Scranton-icity pols and radio DJs at the local Mall at Steamtown probably wouldn't be Kaling's first choice of things to do on a summer Saturday. But it was all in service for the show (and NBC Universal's merchandising biz), and the money raised from the events went to a worthy Scranton-based cause, United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Kaling even seemed to be a good sport about the beet-eating contest.

Emmy's picks for writing and directing nominees in the series categories are kinda like a state of the craft report card every year. They're often the category where new and innovative programs are recognized long before they crack the more prominent races.

But in a year when Emmy voters seemed to embrace new and different, the choices in the writing and directing heats seem more pedestrian, though some of this year's contenders were so obvious (Bryan Fuller and Barry Sonnenfeld for "Pushing Daisies" Pie-lette, Matthew Weiner and Alan Taylor for the "Mad Men" pilot) as to take some of the suspense out of the race this year. Sonnenfeld (pictured left) and Taylor (pictured right) have already bagged DGA Awards for their work on these pilots.

Sonnenfeld, IMHO, can safely begin rehearsing his acceptance speech for comedy helmer. (Coming from him, it oughta be a doozy.) The competish is strong -- a six-nominee category meaning that there was one tie in the nom ballotting -- but nothing was quite so inventive and visually distinct as that first slice of ABC's "Pushing Daisies."

From my viewfinder, the dark horse in the race could be James Bobin of HBO's "Flight of the Conchords." Bobin, co-creator of the series with Kiwi comedy-rockers Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, is up for the "Sally Returns" episode of "Conchord's" 12-episode frosh season.

Dan Attias nabbed a nom for the "No Cannes Do" installment of "Entourage." Paul Lieberstein has shown that there's no end to his talents by performing, writing and directing segs of NBC's "The Office," and now he's up for helming the seg "Money" Parts 1 and 2 (sounds like a James Brown hit from the early '70s). Also nommed from "Office" is Paul Feig, for handling the season finale, "Goodbye, Toby," which happened to mark the farewell of Lieberstein's character. Michael Engler of NBC's "30 Rock" is up for the "Rosemary's Baby" installment.

Dwighte Schrute rules! Beets rock! And Rainn Wilson of "The Office" should win the supporting comedy actor award this year.

Dwight showed real range of bizarr-o behavior this past season with the breakup with Angela, the trip with Michael to New York when they crashed with Ryan, the hostage-taking incident with the pizza delivery guy. And who could forget him helping Michael grieve for the dead chair model. "Bye bye Miss American Pie..."

Tell that to corporate.

NBC.com has just the thing to help us (in L.A.) through a heat wave: A batch of "Office" webisodes revolving around ice cream and Kevin's efforts to launch a business dubbed "Malone's Cones."

At least that's what he's telling people he intends to do. Funny and (by definition) breezy, the "Kevin's Loan" webisodes are nice fix for "Office" lovers at the midway point in our summertime wait for fresh segs this fall. It doesn't hurt that it amounts to a mini-showcase for fan-fave supporting characters like Brian Baumgartner's Kevin (pictured left), Craig Robinson's Darryl and Oscar Nunez's Oscar.

There were no credits on the screener I just watched but it's clear these bits were penned and helmed by CPAs (Certified People Approved by "Office" guru Greg Daniels). At least this time around "Office" staffers won't be toiling for free on these webisodes. The mandate to do just that two years ago on the first batch of web originals that "Office" team delivered ("The Accountants") was a big bone of contention for the show's staff before and during the WGA strike, but now this work is covered by the WGA's hard-fought new media provisions in its contract running through 2011 pact.

"You are a really weird dude, Oscar," Kevin insists (like he should talk) after Oscar calls him on his Malone's Cones ruse.

The "Kevin's Loan" webisodes bow July 10 at 3 p.m. ET on "The Office" home page on NBC.com.

Nothing says TCA like stars in awkward situations. (See pic at left of "House" star Hugh Laurie in a bumper car at Fox's TCA party on the Santa Monica pier last summer.)

Yep, the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour is upon us, starting Tuesday at the Beverly Hilton hotel. The January TCA gathering was scuttled by the writers strike, so undoubtedly there will be pent-up excitement (agitation? irritation? ultra-obnoxious lines of questioning?) than usual among the scribes, execs and stars who make TCA go 'round.

As we did last year, On the Air will offer team coverage of this fortnight of frothing about shows to come and the strike-interrupted season that just was, and any other issues that crop up between Tuesday and July 22. Variety's Stuart Levine plans to park himself at the BevHilton for the duration, while our TV leader, Michael Schneider, reporter Daniel Frankel and myself will also be availing ourselves of the hotel's free Wi-Fi to cover the events...and drink. I'm guessing it's a safe bet that the tradition of TCA bingo (in which attendees track the over-use of buzz words by panelists) will include the phrase "writers strike" this year.

It all starts Tuesday with a heavy rotation of cable presentations, including Hallmark Channel, HD Net, BBC America and E! nets.

Wednesday's lineup includes: AMC and WE; MTV Networks; A&E Networks

Thursday: Discovery Networks; ESPN; Sundance Channel; HBO

Friday: Turner Broadcasting; Fox Reality Channel; Starz; Lifetime

Saturday-Sunday: PBS -- whose talent roster includes none other than Sir George Martin, plugging his series "On Record: The Soundtrack of Our Lives."

Summer in Scranton? Why not. NBC has set "The Office" star/scribe Mindy Kaling is set to host the "Office Games" in the show's hometown of Scranton, Penn. on July 19. It's a promotional stunt to mark the launch of two games based on the show -- one a vidgame-style DVD, the other an old-fashioned board game based on "Office" trivia. She must be getting her own line of Kelly Kapoor nail polish and lip gloss down the road, because Kaling has committed to spending the day in and around the Mall at Steamtown officiating a "day full of Dunder Mifflin fun," including a 2K "fun run," a beet-eating contest, a trivia challenge and an autograph sesh. Events will raise money for the Scranton-based charitable org United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

"We'll be rolling out the beet red carpet for Ms. Kaling, assured Scranton Mayor Christoper Doherty. (More info on "Office Games" after the jump.) ...

Meanwhile NBC has confirmed what "Office" fans already knew: Amy Ryan will back for multiple episodes in the upcoming season in her role as the new HR person, Holly Flax, who takes over for the (Costa Rica-bound?) Toby Flenderson. Ryan had a swell debut on "Office" in last season's "Goodbye, Toby" finale. And it's not like she needs the work, coming off of an Oscar nod for last year's "Gone Baby Gone" and heaps of praise for her perf in the final season of "The Wire." She'll also be seen in one of this year's prestige, likely-to-be-Oscar-bait pics, Clint Eastwood's "Changeling." Wonder how long it will take Holly to figure out that Kevin isn't really slow, by the standards of the Scranton branch.

Hot off the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences nomination vote-tallying machine, here are the top 10 finalists for Emmy noms in the comedy and drama series heats. The final noms will be announced on Thursday, July 17.

(My 2 cents on the list follows after the jump)

COMEDY

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
The Office
Pushing Daisies
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men
Ugly Betty
Weeds

DRAMA

Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Grey’s Anatomy
House
Lost
Mad Men
The Tudors
The Wire

NBC News made the logical move on Sunday in tapping Tom Brokaw for the tough job of following Tim Russert as moderator of "Meet the Press" for the rest of this year, at least through the end of the presidential race in November.

Brokaw has the reporting experience, the on-air chops and the gravitas to uphold Russert's considerable legacy in turning "Meet the Press" into a consistent news-making and profit-making enterprise for the Peacock, as Variety's Michael Schneider reports.

But as right as it is to hand the chair to Brokaw in the short term, there's an equally smart choice on the NBC News roster to take the job for the long haul. Andrea Mitchell, Peacock's chief foreign affairs correspondent, also has the resume, the Washington relationships, the reporting skills and the extra-thick skin to take on the job. Having Brokaw handle the challenging transition period in the wake of Russert's surprising death June 13 is the best scenario that could arise for the show out of NBC News' tragic loss. Mitchell wouldn't have to follow Babe Ruth up to bat, and having a clearly defined limited tenure would probably help Brokaw avoid the inevitable "is he as good as" comparisons too.

Brokaw, in my view, is the very model of how a network anchor should comport him or herself after relinquishing the throne.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Life can be so freakin' fleeting.

I know I'm supposed to be a hardened journalist and not let news — both good and bad — affect me, but I can't help but feel devasted by the sudden and tragic loss of Tim Russert., who was only 58 years old.

There's an old adage that we feel a special connection to people we see on television all the time. Much more so than in film, as those on TV are in our living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens and everywhere else we watch.

And even more than that, Russert was on in the mornings on the "Today" show, in the afternoons occasionally as a political analyst on MSNBC, in the evenings on "Nightly News With Brian Williams" and then Saturdays on his conversational talkshow and, of course, the political big daddy, "Meet the Press" on every Sunday ayem.

What a tragedy. I still can't believe he's gone.

It wasn't a total loss. This is a contrarian view on the season that will go down in the Nielsen annals as the lowest rated on record for the Big Four nets, but there was some good news to be found here and there, amid the wreckage.

For sure, the season-long stats on the 2007-08 campaign are pretty darn ugly, as Variety ratings guru Rick Kissell smartly and soberly details in this season wrap. But in actuality we didn't have a season, we had two abbreviated seasons -- pre- and post-strike. Writers Guild of America leaders were as strategic as Eisenhower and Marshall carving up the European theater in triggering the work stoppage to begin on Nov. 5, to ensure maximum impact on current production and pilot development.

Of course, most everything the WGA was fighting for in its 100 Days War has been at work in force  -- on steroids -- in this topsy-turvy season: the increasing popularity of web streaming of programming and DVR time-shifted viewing, the increasing use of digital extensions of traditional programs to drive traffic to network-affiliated websites and to generate new revenue streams for our half-dozen favorite media congloms.

Beyond the fairness issue and the wonky oh-my-god-younger-generations-will-never-watch-TV-the-same-way-again considerations, let's look at what the nets have to show for themselves program-wise out of the fall and spring mini seasons of '07-'08.

NBC made an honest latenight host out of Jimmy Fallon on Monday, confirming him as the successor to the "Tonight Show"-bound Conan O'Brien on what will soon be known as "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."

The noontime news conference didn't tell us much that we didn't already know, but the smiles were plentiful, as evidenced by this three-shot of "Late Night" exec producer Lorne Michaels, Fallon and NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker. Variety's hard-working man at the upfronts, Michael Schneider, delivered this report from the newser via Blackberry this ayem.

"You can never really be sure of these things," said Michaels, who took a risk in 1993 recruiting the then-unknown comedy writer O'Brien for the job of succeeding David Letterman. "But he's funny and smart and has a really good work ethic. You have to want this more than anything, and I think he does."

Looks like Fallon is going to get his formal intro to America as O'Brien's successor on tonight's edition of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien. As seen in this pic, clearly O'Brien's going to take him under wing and show him the ropes.

"Ok, now, the guest sits here, you sit behind the desk..."

Primetime in the 2008-09 season is gonna be all over the map -- Australia, Israel, Canada and the U.K. for starters.

In this strike-interrupted pilot season, networks are embracing concepts and formats from overseas like never before. After writing "based on a ----- series" about 50 times while tracking the pilot buzz this weekend, I got to wondering about the origins of these projects.

I doubt that I'm the only one who assumes that if a property is being exported to the U.S., it must've been a hit at home, right? Wrong. At least that wasn't the case with "Sit Down, Shut Up" (pictured left), the live-action Australian sitcom that has inspired the Fox animated series "Class Dismissed," from Mitch Hurwitz and a bunch of his old "Arrested Development" cohorts. Fox gave it the greenlight on Saturday on the strength of a short presentation reel.

Original "Sit Down" ran for 13 segs on Australia's Channel Ten in 2001 but wasn't well received by critics or viewers, according to a post on "TV Tonight," a blog that bills itself authoritatively as "Australia's leading TV blog." In fact, this voice of Oz TV greeted the news that "Sit Down" had been fingered as a U.S. animated series with a pithy: "Now I've heard everything."

CBS is believed to be thisclose to picking up has picked up an unusual drama project, "Mythological Ex," that is based on an Israeli series of the same name (and retitled "The Ex List" for the U.S.).

Tracking down any details of this show -- revolving a woman sent on a soul-searching journey after a tarot card reader tells her to get hitched pronto to Mr. Right, who is someone who has already been in her life -- on the web in English was kinda tough.

From what I could gather, the series airs on Israel's Channel 2, an outlet that bowed in 2005, and is produced by a company called Reshet TV. Here's the link to the company's home page. If anyone who reads Hebrew can provide further guidance on whether "Mythological Ex" has its own page within, I'd be grateful. (Thanks to reader Phil, here's the link to the page, with clips of the show.) The image at right was all I could turn up through the Google Image search.

Word is that CBS execs are over the moon about the potential of the U.S. adaptation penned by Diane Ruggiero.

It's a very weird year. That's what everyone in town keeps saying over and over again as the biz gears up for the annual upfront ritual, which will be a little less ritualistic this year.

Gone in this Very Weird Year is the time-honored way in which reporters get big hints on what pilots are getting picked up -- by tracking the talent that is being flown in to New York.

As we all know, there are a whole lotta pilots that have not yet been shot and are just now setting casts. Most of the chatter, good and bad, about 2008-09 hopefuls this week has centered around the projects that the nets have in hand as pilots or presentations, or at least have significant thesps attached, a la ABC's "Never Better," which landed Damon Wayans (pictured right) as its lead last week.

So with the caveat that it is all spin and conjecture at this moment in time, let's review the buzz out there.

ABC's the hardest to read when it comes to new stuff.

On comedy front, Cedric the Entertainer (pictured left) vehicle (ABC Studios) seems to have traction -- or not, depending on who you talk to!

"Bad Mothers Handbook" (ABC Studios), about three generations of femmes living together, has not lensed but has the benefit of Alicia Silverstone (pictured right) and another high-profile name in the offing.

"My Brother's Hot and Other Dilemmas" (ABC Studios) about a girl attracted to her new step brother, has Alyssa Milano (pictured left). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that either a Silverstone or Milano comedy vehicle could be a nice companion for ABC's frosh hit "Samantha Who?" -- assuming that either pilot satisfies the larger obligation to actually be funny.

"Never Better" (ABC Studios) shot up on the radar after Wayans signed on and Marc Buckland signed on to direct.

Drama-wise at ABC ... I just don't know.

Only "Life on Mars," offbeat time-travel cop drama, is in the can. David E. Kelley and Tommy Schlamme have bowed out of that project, they're looking to move this from 20th Century Fox TV to ABC Studios and retool it under prospective showrunners Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg.

There's been a lot of chatter in the biz that "Life on Mars" shuffle granted a reprieve to Kelley's "Boston Legal" for another season. (Biz watchers with long memories will recall that two years ago, the same thing happened when ABC was hot for Kelley's "Mars.") But I'm hearing that "Boston Legal's" fate also has a lot to do with Kelley and how involved he intends to be going forward, among other factors.

It seems a safe bet that "Women's Murder Club" is headed for the morgue, though ABC is said to be anxious to stay in biz with star Angie Harmon. Midseason drama "Eli Stone" is said to be 50-50 for a sophomore year. And surprisingly, ABC is said to be considering a pickup for midseason comedy "Miss Guided." Can't swear to this but I heard the actors' options have been extended for a few more weeks.

At CBS, it's always a dangerous game trying to predict what Team Moonves is going to announce at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday. But some chatter about returning shows seems to be firming up.

CBS chief Leslie Moonves made a visit to the CBS News offices today as a show of support for embattled anchor Katie Couric. Associated Press' David Bouder has all the details in this report on Moonves' journey into the newsroom and meeting with Couric and "CBS Evening News" exec producer Rick Kaplan, who insisted that reports of Couric's exit from the anchor chair have been greatly exaggerated. "She's not been at it two years and everybody is writing her obituary," Kaplan told the AP. "That's fine. Success is the sweetest revenge."...

Meanwhile, NBC News has locked up the services of its intrepid Middle Eastern correspondent Richard Engel. Engel has been upped to chief foreign correspondent for the Peacock, which is promising to raise his profile on "NBC  Nightly News," MSNBC and other platforms. Engel, who is conversant in Arabic and fluent in Italian and Spanish, made a name for himself covering the early days of the Iraq war as a freelancer for ABC before joining NBC News in 2003. "There aren't enough superlatives to describe the work that Richard has done in some of the most dangerous places on Earth for NBC News," said NBC News prexy Steve Capus in touting Engel's promotion.

A show that did not disappoint on its post-strike return last week was NBC's "The Office" with seg "The Dinner Party."

Special commendation is owed to Melora Hardin, who is turning beyond-bizarro Jan into the show's most explosively funny character. Considering that she's playing opposite Steve Carell's Michael Scott, that's saying something.

Plot of this episode was particularly funny because it is something we've all endured -- an evening with a couple who are obviously not getting along. Of course, Rainn Wilson's Dwight Schrute took the laughs up a notch by crashing Michael and Jan's dinner party with his one-time babysitter ("Strictly carnal," he assures them) and his own food and wine in tow. I didn't catch the actress' name but she gave a great deadpan perf. Thank goodness ABC's "Lost" is moving from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. hour when it returns April 24 -- no tough choices on whether to check in first with the "Office" or the island....

Speaking of "Lost," ABC this ayem put out the good word -- strike be damned, "Lost" is getting a two-hour  finale after all on May 29. (And yes, confirmed with ABC that it is two original hours, not a recap show leading into a finale.) That translates to six post-strike segs instead of the five that Darlton previously forecast. (Only downside: "Lost" will be preempted on May 22 to make room for a two-hour "Grey's Anatomy" finale that night.)

I hope to pry a few details about the next run of "Lost" adventures out of exec producers Damon Lindelof (pictured left) and Carlton Cuse (pictured right) Tuesday morning when I have the pleasure of moderating a Q&A with them as part of  this week's National Assn. of Broadcasters confab in Las Vegas.

A spinoff of "The Office"? That's the big news outta NBC today as the Peacock makes good on its promise to reinvent the upfront process with its way-early announcement of its sked for the next 65 years, er, weeks.

A "Son of 'Office'" project has been rumored about for some time, and I have to admit I'm very skeptical...but of course will reserve judgment and give Greg Daniels and Co. the benefit of the doubt until we hear more about it.

12:30 p.m. update: Per NBC, the new show will be "another comic journey, complete with new faces and new locations," which suggests that none of the current "Office" workers will be extracted from the Scranton branch, at least not for the purposes of the spinoff. New skein will launch after Peacock's Super Bowl telecast in February, right behind a fresh seg of "Office." Of this development, Daniels said in a canned statement: "Who would have ever thought that Americans would be subjected to a mock-documentary after the Super Bowl? What has happened to this country?"

Other good news from today's announcement is that the glorious "Friday Night Lights" will live to play another season. Whoo-hoo. Variety's Joe Adalian has all the details on NBC's plans right here.

Bonnie Hammer's footprint at NBC Universal continues to grow.

News that caught many in town by surprise out of the Peacock today is that in order to keep Hammer in the fold for a new multi-year pact, NBC Universal has given her oversight of scripted cable production -- cutting Universal Media Studios in half, basically -- and as well as oversight of a bunch of its fledgling networks like Sleuth, Chiller and Universal HD. She exchanges the mouthful of a title of prexy USA Network/Sci Fi Channel for the slightly streamlined prexy, Cable Entertainment and Cable Studio, as reported by Variety's Michael Schneider (news first broke on the L.A. Times' website).

Rewarding Hammer with more turf comes as no surprise; her USA Network and Sci Fi Channel are among the brightest jewel's in NBC U's crown. She's highly regarded by NBC U topper Jeff Zucker. We know she's been on short lists to conquer other fields within the conglom. What is a little surprising is that her gain this time around would come partly at the expense of NBC Entertainment/Universal Media Studios co-chairmen Marc Graboff and Ben Silverman and Universal Media Studios prexy Katherine Pope. Not that those three don't have their hands full with the ongoing rehab of NBC proper (two words: "Bionic Woman"), but as we all know, execs tend to get fussy about losing turf.

Another immediate question is if Hammer's bump could have a ripple-effect within USA Network. In January, Sci Fi channel marketing guru Dave Howe was boosted from exec vp and general manager to prexy of Sci Fi Channel. There's already insta-speculation that a similar promotion could be in the works for one of Hammer's hard-working lieutenants at USA.

(Pictured above: Bonnie Hammer in December at the L.A. premiere of Sci Fi miniseries "Tin Man," with a new-model Toto.)

For all the affection I have for "Friday Night Lights," I did not know that the story of Jason Street was inspired by a real person, a high school athlete who was dealt the same fateful blow on the gridiron as Street faces in the pilot seg of "FNL."

I didn't know this until I spotted an obituary in Saturday's New York Times with the headline: "David Edwards, who inspired TV episode, dies at 20."

"FNL" shepherd Peter Berg was in the crowd in a Texas high school football arena in November 2003 when Edwards snapped his neck after a collision with the wide receiver, which left him paralyzed. According to the AP obit, he'd been fighting pneumonia for some weeks and then went into a coma.

Edwards died Wednesday at the age of 20. To the millions of "FNL" fans, his legacy will endure in the proud, intelligent and determined character of Jason Street, a man of fortitude and great moral courage who is anything but a victim of his injury. It is to the credit of Berg and the rest of "FNL's" creative team that they found a thesp to play Street with the level of dignity and heart that Scott Porter (pictured left) brings to the role.

How will we ever get any work done?

NBC and CBS have reached deep into their program vaults and are flooding the web with free streaming offerings of couch-potato classics, including "Star Trek" (the great 79); "Hawaii Five-0" (a personal fave); "Emergency" (Gage and DeSoto rule); "Miami Vice" (love the one where Frank Zappa guest stars); "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (great host); "Kojak" (great Telly); "MacGyver," "Melrose Place," "The A-Team," "Simon & Simon" and the original Lorne Greene-in-a-robe-and-toupe version of "Battlestar Galactica."

There's especially good news for fans of the Rod Serling oeuvre. CBS is offering the first two seasons of "The Twilight Zone," and NBC.com and SciFi.com are beaming out "Night Gallery." "Night  Gallery," produced by Universal TV for NBC from 1970-1973, is not as consistently mind-blowing as "Twilight Zone," but the best of the episodes, mostly the Serling-penned segs, are very, very good indeed. Steven Spielberg famously made his directorial debut on a "Night Gallery" seg starring Joan Crawford as a blind woman with a very high sense of entitlement.

Interesting that these separate initiatives from the Eye and the Peacock were announced about a week after the majors inked the new deal with the Writers Guild of America that calls for them to pay scribes 2% of the distributor's gross on web streaming of library TV shows, library being defined as anything produced after 1977 and streamed more than a year after its initial telecast.

With library product, the 2% of distrib's gross formula kicks in right away, not in year three of the WGA contract as is the case for contempo programs. So the timing of the majors' push to offer on-demand access to their libraries is a good thing for scribes, on paper. The real question is, how do you calculate  the distributor's gross for online distribution of an old "MacGyver" or "Miami Vice" seg?

In theory it will be based on whatever the license fee that the owner (aka distrib) of the program receives from the exhibitor, aka NBC.com and CBS.com. But valuation matters get even more complicated when you're talking about vintage product owned by the same conglomerate that also controls the Internet exhibition. This is the kind of stuff that will keep lawyers for the guild, the studios and top creatives fully employed during the next few years.

Mundane news about the TV biz is overshadowed by the strike drama these days, but in the late afternoon today I caught up with the fact that Sunday was a pretty good night for business, for all but NBC. I can't believe I missed the rare opportunity to enjoy a primetime oater with part one of CBS' three-part Larry McMurtry mini, "Comanche Moon," a "prequel" to "Lonesome Dove." (That's what screeners are for.)

Fox's pre-strike decision to hold "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" back for midseason paid off, with a big assist from the NFC playoff game between the Giants and Cowboys. Sure, the football overrun with a gazillion viewers and 35 share in adults 18-49 helped it get off the tarmac but "Sarah Connor" didn't fold in its second half-hour, which was a good sign.

(Pictured left, Linda Cardellini and Steve Zahn in "Comanche Moon.")

Having pitched NBC Universal's tent in the heart of the Consumer Electronics Show exhibition floor in Las Vegas this week, Beth Comstock is off to a running start in what will undoubtedly be an eventful year for all the digital, marketing and television advertising turf she oversees at NBC U.

The conglom's president of Integrated Media has made a number of new media bets, big and small, that will come due in the next year. I'm generally not big on "ones to watch" predictions but in this case I think Comstock qualifies.

The most high-profile bet NBC U has made is Hulu.com, the joint Internet vid venture with News Corp. that is still in beta mode but expected to be ready for primetime in the not-so-distant future. Hulu is stocked with ad supported, free web-streaming titles, from contempo NBC and Fox hits to scads of vintage product from both studios. (If you've just got to see the episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati" where Les Nessman tries to end it all by jumping off a ledge, Hulu is where you outta be.)

Feature film content so far pretty is limited, though it does include cult faves such as "Weekend at Bernie's" and "The Breakfast Club." (Some programmer is doing his or her homework.)

Unlike past studio-backed 'Net efforts, the partners aren't banking so much on making Hulu.com a destination unto itself, but rather the hub from which to syndicate free, ad-embedded content through its formidable distrib partners including MSN, AOL, Yahoo and MySpace, among others. Hulu in October garnered a $100 million equity investment from a major player in the private equity world, Providence Equity Partners.

Smaller bets include a joint venture inked with Procter & Gamble last month on a website, Petside.com, targeting pet owners and the $40 billion they spend on furry friends each year. In between deals the size of Hulu.com and Petside.com are investments NBC U is making in vid game developers and producers, Internet and mobile advertising services and other lifestyle-oriented initiatives. Comstock is working closely with the finance wizards at Peacock Equity, a $250 million investment fund that its parent GE set up earlier this year to make $3 million-$25 million investments in startups and companies with products and services that may be a good fit with NBC U's needs in the new world order.

Ch-ching: "Law & Order" is back. The two segs on tap for Wednesday's two-hour premiere are as strong any the show has delivered in years. Linus Roache is a great addition to the cast as the driven chief assistant district attorney Michael Cutter. Jeremy Sisto is intense but low-key as Det. Cyrus Lupo, the new partner of Jesse Martin's Det. Ed Green.

After hitting a ratings slump during the past few years, "Law & Order" hasn't been treated too well by NBC. The show was exiled to the Friday 10 p.m. berth last season, and then it was in limbo about a pickup (for an astounding 18th season) until the last minute prior to this year's upfronts. And then it was left off the fall sked as a bench show for the post-football period.

But the tide may have turned for the Peacock's war horse. "Law & Order" boss Dick Wolf is glad to see the show landing back in its old familiar time slot of Wednesday 10 p.m., which it owned from 1992-2006. And he is optimistic that the infusion of new thesps the return of Rene Balcer as showrunner will put the show in good stead for many more seasons to come. Show hasn't seen so many on- and off-screen changes in one year since the 1993-94 period, when key cast members Michael Moriarty, Dann Florek, Richard Brooks departed and stalwarts like Sam Waterston and S. Epatha Merkerson arrived, Wolf notes.

"It's changing the whole zeitgeist of the show," Wolf sez of the new cast lineup. "It was getting to be an older show in terms of the age of the cast and in the literal number of years it had been on. Now, it's the same show, but it's a very different six-person ensemble."

This just in: Gloria Reuben is set to reprise her "ER" role in an episode skedded to begin shooting next week (hopefully).

She'll be back as Jeanie Boulet, of course, though only the writers know where life has taken the one-time physical therapist in the eight years since the character exited the "ER" scene. I'm told Reuben's is a one-off return visit that has been planned for some time, a treat for the fans who have hung in with the show through thick and thin all these seasons.

(Pic of Reuben by Mark Von Holden/WireImage)

Now this sounds like fun. An "Office" convention this weekend in Scranton, Pa.? Surprised somebody didn't think of it sooner. Per this AP report, a host of cast members and writers (but not Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson or Jenna Fischer) are winging in for the Friday-Sunday event.

Al Roker is set to cover part of the event live Friday morning for Peacock's "Today" will broadcast live from the University of Scranton on Friday.

"The show has been the vehicle by which we can tell our story, and cities rarely get that opportunity," says Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty, who counts himself as an "Office" fan.