With the WGA strike over, TV can now return to its former glory! (No it won’t – expect most programs to either stay off the air indefinitely or return in a truncated form around April.)

Keep on trucking, keep on sucking: pointless, mind-numbing reality shows are still the only sure thing on television today, barring the billions of big-production game shows that have contestants involved in amazing feats of strength and brain power, from being smarter than a 5th grader to lying about really loving your wife – all in the name of entertainment! Sigh…

Ok, seriously – we really need to pull the plug on most of this garbage. Does quality control even exist anymore, or did everybody just stop caring? Our standards are shot, people!

The following shows are not just terrible – they’re f*cking Greek Tragedies. (more…)

Wahoo! It looks like we can finally get back to regular programming.

A deal has been struck between the major media companies and the Writers Guild of America to end the writers’ strike, former Walt Disney chief executive Michael Eisner revealed on CNBC.

“It’s over,” Eisner said. “They made the deal, they shook hands on the deal. It’s going on Saturday to the writers in general.”

Eisner, speaking live on CNBC’s “Fast Money,” seemed to hesitate initially about whether it was possible that the writers could still reject the agreement, but finally suggested the deal’s acceptance was inevitable.

“A deal has been made, and they’ll be back to work very soon,” Eisner said, adding, “I know a deal’s been made. I know it’s over.”

Kendra Wilkinson Wants To Play Ball [Hollywood Tuna]

David Tyree and Eli Manning Have Happy Ending [Busted Coverage]

Hooking up with a Friend’s Co-worker: Not the Best Idea [College Candy]

Gisele Bundchen Naked in Mid-Town Manhattan!? [Egotastic]

Wake Up with Jessica Burciaga [Barstool Sports]

Could the Writers’ Strike Be Over Soon? [EW]

Extremely Hot Jennifer Walcott Lingerie Pictures [Grumpiest]

Top 5 Super Bowl Commercials [Yahoo]

E*TRADE Superbowl Commercial [Just Jared]

10 Things We Learned from Super Bowl XLII [ESPN]

Victoria’s Secret “What is Sexy?” Super Bowl Party [Popohoilc]

Ali Larter is the girl from Varsity Blues [Bastardly]

Variety has reported that the DGA (Directors Guild of America) has struck a three-year deal with the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture of Motion Picture & Television Producers). The agreement will boost the residual rate of TV and film Internet downloads for Directors.

From Variety:

The DGA, which will send the pact to members for ratifications after its Jan. 26 board meeting, highlighted a trio of new-media gains:

Establishing DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet

Boosting the residuals formula for paid Internet downloads (electronic sell-through) by double the current rate

Establishing residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet

Call me crazy, but isn’t that deal essentially what the WGA wants? (more…)

An unscripted police procedural:

We recently chimed in with our thoughts on the truncated Golden Globes, stating that the awards show is barely relevant to even the most hardcore pop-culture follower. The Academy Awards, on the other hand, are a far larger affair.

With the Golden Globes being scaled down to a high-society press conference, is the axe looming over the Oscars?

The 80th Annual Academy Awards are scheduled to be broadcast live on February 24, with the nominees announced on January 22, less than two weeks away.

Under the usual circumstances, a staff of writers would be knee-deep in zingers come January 22 – but no dice this year, with all this WGA strike hullabaloo.

Even Bruce Davis, the Academy’s executive director, doesn’t sound very optimistic about the shows’ outcome: “I’m not going to cite odds, but our hope is we can work something out or that the strike is resolved in time.” Ouch.

Has the WGA finally broke down the corporate heads? Quite possibly: Jon Stewart is scheduled to revisit his role as host at the Oscars, but in lieu of recent events may or may not follow through with his part of the bargain. If that’s the case, the Academy has no host, let alone a shoe-in ready to fill Stewart’s spot.

This situation is sticky. A resolution is in order, methinks…

With the writer’s strike still going strong, the WGA has denied invitations to prepare material for the Golden Globes on January 13 and the Oscars in February. If both events didn’t seem crappy enough last time, they should be craptacular this time around.

(See what happens when you don’t get pros to make jokes for you?)

This situation raises a red flag for the Oscars in particular. With Jon Stewart returning as host it’s assumed that he will have to “wing it” without any writer’s assistance. Sure, Stewart can handle a fair share of improvisation – but an entire show? That’s a tall order. (more…)

Roger A. Trevanti from the AMPTP responds to the Writers Strike.

Way to tell it how it is, Trevanti!

Carson Daly has committed the ultimate crime: resuming production on Last Call with Carson Daly.

Daly has also defied the ongoing writer’s strike – but that’s hardly his biggest offense.

Does anybody really watch Last Call with Carson Daly? It’s on at some ungodly hour next to weight-loss and fly-fishing gear infomercials…and since when did Daly become a source of comedy? The show has been on the air since 2002 and I still don’t know one soul who watches it.

Since his writing staff is M.I.A. Daly has solicited outside help from family and friends, asking them in an email to submit him jokes that will be used in an upcoming skit.

Call Carson Daly’s joke hotline (818-260-5107) and leave the stupidest knee-slapper you can muster – no matter how bad the joke is, it can’t be any worse of a joke than his career has become.

South Park, our guiding light, recently revealed that yes, girls don’t have balls.

Why the writer’s strike may screw us all – and how to help.

Amy Winehouse brings her F-game to a less-than-amused crowd on first date of her tour.

Well, whaddya know: teenagers who have sex are less prone to violence. They don’t call it being “sexually frustrated” for nothing. Duh.

Why is a German convict really, really happy to be doing community service for a kindergarten? (Hint: he was convicted three times of pedophilia in the past.)

Yeah! The new dollar coin is out, and it features none other than…who? James Madison?