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.")

In an effort to rev up for the fall season, it's time to inaugurate what I intend to make a regular feature of this blog, namely lots of video snippets from our favorite, and even not-so-favorite and we're-not-sure-yet, shows.

Let's call it Clip Madness. (This edition was made possible by the kind folks at Fox and ABC who helped me quickly wrangle some clips. In subsequent weeks we'll spread the spotlight around to all the nets that care to offer up easy-to-embed snippets.)

Clip Madness is presented in the spirit of this wonderful time of year, the tail end of the honeymoon period when every new show is full of promise, this year's sleeper, a new "Friends," the next "CSI," a slow-building gem a la "The Office," etc. etc. Showrunners are starting to stock up on Mylanta, vodka and Vicodin, but network marketing mavens are in their element as they head into the final now-or-never stretch of piquing the American public's interest in what the programming department came up with this year.

(Pictured above: A scene you're not likely to see on ABC's "Pushing Daisies," for reasons that will become clear in the clip posted below. Pic of actors Lee Pace and Anna Friel kissing comes from the Aug. 16 screening of "Daisies" at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.)

Controversy, what controversy? "Sarah Connor" co-star Thomas Dekker was peppered with questions regarding his now-departed character from "Heroes," Zach, the friend and confidant of Hayden Panettiere's Claire. You get a bunch of rabid fans on the Internet talking about a show with lots of nooks and crannies, and conspiracy theories are going to arise, especially when fan-fave characters leave the scene without much explanation. There was talk that Dekker (pictured in his Zach persona) grew uncomfortable with the role because writers kept portraying him as gay, albeit without explicitly saying so. Dekker said the truth of the matter is as simple as him wanting a steady paycheck, and being offered one on "Sarah Connor."

Dekker was never a regular or even semi-regular on "Heroes." Zach was only supposed to appear in the show's pilot, but even after producers found more to do for the character, Dekker was being retained on a week-to-week basis.

"It was something that got blown out of proportion as far as what happened with the character," Dekker said with a heavy sigh. "From Day 1, in every possible way (Zach) was meant to be ambiguous. We felt that every one of the main characters in the series was so clear in who they were, it was nice to have side characters be a little more open. Me not appearing on the show anymore has nothing to do with anything about the character...I was hired as a guest star in the pilot. I was surprised every week that they called me back. But when something like ('Sarah Connor') comes along, I had to take this opportunity....I have a feeling 'Heroes' will do just fine."