The hugely overhyped premiere of "90210" happens tonight - when NPR covers it, you know that the saturation level has been reached. Let's not forget our conflicted cops in "The Shield" are back - supposedly Vic goes after Shane from the get-go tonight. 8:00pm 90210 The CW - Series re-Premiere. 9:00pm Wanna Bet? ABC - Season Finale. 9:00pm Making the Band MTV - So this is what Diddy is bitching about having to fly to......

The AP reports that the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have cut a 3-year deal with the studios so now the pressure is really on the SAG. AFTRA runs a distant second in terms of size (70,000 vs 120,000+) compared to the SAG but if that organization could find enough terms to their liking in the offer from the studios, the SAG is going to have a hard time pushing away from......

As promised on Saturday, the SNL finale lived up to the hype by delivering a great performance from Steve Carell and an even more newsworthy pair of performances from Senator John McCain. When SNL clips make it onto NPR then they had to have done something right. Oops, I didn't mention that "Desperate Housewives" had its season finale last night, my bad... or not. Plenty more season finales tonight (mostly crap IMHO) - take your......

Clear Channel is going private according to the NYTimes - what does it mean? Well who knows, but as a private company Clear Channel will not have to be as transparent about their investments and strategy and that could mean trouble for media markets that they target resulting in (even) less choice for consumers. Another slow night tonight but late night TV looks good - Jungle Jack Hanna on Letterman will be a blast as......

Fans of "Project Runway" might want to know more details about its move/death to the Lifetime Networks as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Some fans might say, "Oh no, 'Runway' is going to totally make it on Lifetime - I'm still going to have viewing parties at my house, etc." Be aware that the producers that created the show, Weinstein Co., are not moving with the show to Lifetime - can one safely assume......

Late night TV is looking really good this week, with at least one good guest per show per night (with the exception of the deplorable "Last Call With Carson Daly"). Was anyone at the Pacific Design Center in Hollywood last night? There was supposed to be the debut of a new TV series called "Scarlet" but in reality, according to the Wall Street Journal, the whole thing was a ruse to launch a new series......

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Viacom, MGM, and Lion's Gate are teaming up to place (yet) another premium channel in your cable lineup - supposedly there are movies and programming that HBO, Showtime, Starz, Cinemax, etc. are not covering. Is the logo going to be a lion with a Viacom dog collar? 7:00pm High Plains Drifter TCM - (1973) This is Clint Eastwood at his cowboy best in a non-spaghetti Western. It might......

So while TV is still recovering from the writers' strike another strike looms on the horizon. According to Variety, the Screen Actors' Guild signed a pact with producers of indie films that will ensure that an indie film in production will be completed in the event that SAG goes on strike. This sounds like a good thing but it's being interpreted as a move to put pressure on major producers to get inline with SAG......

[The Junkie's been sick for a few days but we're back] LAist has some great coverage of the Project Runway finale tonight on BRAVO @ 10:00pm so I'm not even going to touch that. If you can't stand the fashion tension, you can always switch over to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors Meeting broadcast on KLCS and your tension will be released utterly. If you follow the link you can see, there's plenty......

It's National Cold Cuts Day. That term has always brought to mind those not very fresh, tasteless sandwich fillers served at large functions that you eat because you don't want to eat only macaroni salad. With the beef recall, dashing to your local butcher for some cold cuts sounds less appetizing than ever. However, the term "cold cuts" can include cheese and that's where you can freely celebrate. When I lived in NY, I......

There's a good chance that the WGA strike will end tomorrow. What implications does this have for the rest of the year? Will we really not see any effects on TV until the late fall sometime, or will we get some reason to turn the TV on over the summer? 8:00pm American Gladiators NBC - conclusion of the semifinals, four contenders return to face off for a spot in the finals. American Gladiators.com 8:00pm Westminster......

Which one of these beautiful young ladies will be named America's Next Top Model in the show's 10th go-round? I am not ashamed to admit that Wednesday nights at my house are sometimes known as "Top Model" night. (Code word: "You wanna be on top?" natch.) I didn't watch the show for its first few cycles, actually, curbing my "reality"-based curiosity about the gaggle of leggy empty-heads with the pretty faces and the ridiculous......

Joel McHale hosts The Soup, a celebration of the most embarrassing moments in pop culture every Friday night on E! From Tila Tequila to Yo Gabba Gabba you can count on The Soup to gather all the "best of" moments into one big pot of funny. LAist headed to the E! studios for a backstage tour, taping of the show, and one on one with the man who is not afraid to say Oprah's Va-Jay-Jay......

Hey, even though there might not be much newly written TV on tonight (that's worth watching) tomorrow you are cordially invited to see acclaimed TV show creator and writer David Milch (creator of Deadwood, NYPD Blue) host: "The Idea of the Writer: A Writing Discussion with David Milch" tomorrow from 2:15-4:00pm at the WGA Theater at 135 S. Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills. This event is FREE and all are welcome on a first come,......

Relatively speechless tonight because there's so little on TV and yesterday was pretty lame as well. The final schmaltzy segment of Tin Man aired to much disappointment, and Nip/Tuck started out great but fizzled about halfway through the episode. Tonight though, Tyler Perry actually returns to the show he created and that's a big deal so check TBS at 9:00pm. [Please note how I'm specifically not mentioning the Julia Roberts special on AMC as she......

How can it be Christmas with out Rudolph or hotties in underwear strutting through snowflakes? The previews for this week's Nip/Tuck looked hilarious, I hope it delivers; gonna have to Tivo part three of Tin Man which has been pretty good so far despite certain shortcomings that are particular to the SciFi channel. As always, thanks for your comments. 7:15pm Becket TCM - (1964) Do you remember being forced to watch this in high school......

Get learned-up with PBS tonight. Sarah's also on (thump-thumpa :-)), and late night TV is strong tonight. 8:00pm Wired Science PBS/KCET - This is a cool show. While I'm not enamored of the bizarre enormous set that the hosts saunter through, each of the pieces are very well done. In particular, tonight check out the "ball busters" segment which is about the testing and certification of baseballs for MLB. TV Junkie 8:00pm Pick 8:00pm Pushing......

If there are 30 minutes of television for you to watch tonight, then those 30 minutes should be 30 Rock. Tina Fey's American Express commercial has left me wanting more and finally I'm getting some. And hey lookie, they actually got Seinfeld back in a sitcom, for at least an episode. 8:30pm 30 Rock NBC - Season Premiere. TV Junkie Pick of the Night. 9:00pm Supernatural CW - Season Premiere. 9:00pm The Office NBC -......

Check out late night TV, lots of good stuff including an appearance of Juliette and the Licks (photo via Juliette's Myspace) on the Late Late Show. Tonight we also present the guilty pleasures of Steve-O's new show Dr. Steve-O, USA @ 11:00pm. Steve-O's sidekick is the lovely Trishelle of Real World fame who was interviewed here on LAist a couple months ago. The premise is that Steve-O and Trishelle subject "wussies" to various humiliations......

A couple more days of this visual and mental assault. I've discovered that drinking really helps though. 7:30pm Where Eagles Dare TCM - Here's your chance to bypass most of the new and quite possibly very mediocre offerings this evening by watching this classic. Richard Burton is wooden and robotic in this good guys vs. the Nazis flick, Clint Eastwood is fantastic and there's lots of cool explosions and Nazis getting shot and stuff. 8:00pm......

Will we be able to survive the onslaught of new shows and season premieres tonight? Will you succumb to the hype of Cane? I've been hearing about that one since the beginning of the year. Reaper, on the CW, is directed by Kevin Smith of Clerks fame. But for quality I'm probably going to have to stick with Damages, at 10pm on FX, since I haven't missed an episode yet and won't miss this one.......

Am sorry to report the K-Ville is nothing more than another cop show. A shootout an car chase 8 minutes into it? Tough guy Anthony Anderson 's character crying in the first 15 minutes? I don't know how this show could redeem itself, I essentially tuned out after the first 20 minutes. I'll tell you what though, Saving Grace somewhat redeemed itself what with Holly Hunter's bare butt being the focal point of the......

A Word or 39: It feels like Wednesdays are going to be the night with new programming this time of year. It feels like it, but it doesn't look like it since not much of this stuff is watchable. Hidden Palms?? For effsake. Tonight - Wednesday - June 13th, 2007 Mets @ Dodgers (PRIME, 7:00 p.m.) Hidden Palms (the CW, 8:00 p.m.) Country club party time The Next Best Thing: Who Is the Greatest......

A Word or 77 (or so): ABC has a lineup of new episodes and shows tonight - bucking the other networks, with the exception of Fox and the CW, who were always trend-buckers [hey, I said "buckers" ok, you dirty-minded individuals]. You might have also seen on the AP that the kids are trying to keep Jericho on the air - if CBS doesn't want to run it, they should sell it. I always......

A Word or 34: These are the doldrums dear friends. Not much to offer other than a couple mediocre talent competitions and a teeny-bopper premiere on the CW. Really, this is a chance to catch up on your reading. Tonight - Wednesday - May 30, 2007 Mariners @ Angels (Fox Sports, 7:00 p.m.) Sid and Nancy/The Filth and the Fury (IFC, 8:00 p.m. - 1:30 a.m.) Get your Sid fix tonight. Hidden Palms (the......

A Word or 76: Finale-fest tonight! Enjoy now because re-runs and other sub-par programming is all we have on the horizon. Tonight - Tuesday - May 22, 2007 Brewers @ Dodgers (PRIME, 7:00 p.m.) Angels @ Tigers (Fox Sports, 7:30 p.m.) NCIS (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) The team's secrets unravel Dateline NBC (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) Author John Grisham discusses wrongful murder case The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman (ABC, 8:00 p.m.) The fiancee is chosen(!)......

A Word or, I dunno, like 80: It seems to be coming together a bit on Lost - another good episode last night. If you want the producers' perspective, they're on tonight after Grey's. Delay goes to his base tonight on Colbert. Tonight the networks will have the typical struggle between comedy and young-doctors-in-love, what will you succumb to? Tonight - Thursday - May 17, 2007 Angels @ Mariners (Fox Sports, 7:00 p.m.) Bob......

A Word or 52: TV icon Bob Barker is retiring and is getting a big sendoff from CBS. Lost will be killing us by not giving us any additional info about Locke. Idol will knock another one off. There are no decent movies on TCM or IFC to go take refuge from regular broadcast TV tonight. Tonight - Wednesday - May 9, 2007 Angels @ Mariners (Fox Sports, 7:00 p.m.) Cardinals @ Dodgers (PRIME,......

A Word or 76: CBS lineup tonight is wiped out by the CMAs and unless you are up for a Sir Laurence Olivier marathon on TCM then there's no movies on. I'm getting kind of sick of the parade of authors on late night TV, particularly Comedy Central - who the eff has time to read when there's so much bad TV? Speaking of bad TV, we're down to the final 3 on both......

A Word or 146: It was fun to watch Molly Shannon on SNL. In general it was a great broadcast and she was just as funny now as she was then but who could really care about Linkin Park? Less fun is reading about the continuing poor decision-making by the networks in their upcoming program development. NBC is trying to cover all it's bases milking Heroes, their only good horse in the running, by creating......