short ends

Is Barbara Walters Macaulay Culkin's 'Constant'?

· The answer is probably no, but that didn't stop Seth Green from stumping Barbara Walters with what will surely go down as one of the slyest Lost resets you'll ever see worked into a talk show appearance. Also? We sincerely hope that someone breaks out the webcam when Elisabeth Hasselbeck gets around to watching Party Monster. That would make for the mother of all YouTube reaction videos. [The View]
· Speaking of former child stars, looks like Family Ties replacement kid Brian Bonsall has fallen on some tough times. [People]
· The Daily Show, whose track record for promoting female talent makes Lorne Michaels look like Helen Gurley Brown, is about to lose what little amount of female talent they have on staff. Emmy winner Rachel Axler, the only female writer they had on staff, will be making her way to the greener pastures of network TV as a writer for that Office spin-off that isn't really a spin-off. [Videogum]
· Character actor extraordinaire Larry Miller walks through some of his most memorable "Hey, It's That Guy" roles with The Onion's A/V Club. [A/V Club]
· I guess we can cross Claire Danes off the list of potential guest stars for the next season of Entourage. After all, we all know how much Johnny Drama hates top talls. [Best Week Ever]

makeup sex

Tina Fey Blames Crafty Editing For Anti-Jon Stewart Comments

We're thrilled to report the extending of an olive branch in the East Coast-East Coast comedy wars that have devastated the industry since a Tina Fey quote in Reader's Digest appeared to openly question Jon Stewart's ability to earn sincere laughs, vs. politically aligned "clapter." Fey told cinemablend.com that the quote was taken out of context:

Fey: That thing was edited kind of weird.

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trade roundup

Bad News: Oscars In Peril; Good News: 'The Two Coreys' Are Back!

· With the 65th Golden Globes Awards having succumbed to the strike plague, all eyes turn to its far wealthier and more powerful cousin Oscar, whose coughing up of blood into a lace handkerchief doesn't strike us as a good omen. [Variety]
· The loss of the Globes was the first real sting felt by the film industry since the start of the strike, resulting in studio executives demanding of a supposedly merciful God how He could have allowed them to go about all that For You Consideration campaigning in vain. [Variety]

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grudging returns

Stewart, Colbert Go Back To Work Unibrowed, Biblically Bearded, And Without Writers

With somewhat less fanfare than accompanied The Return of Late Night on January 2nd, in which network talk shows made a mass return to the airwaves in various writer-having/writer-free and hirsute/clean-shaven configurations, Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert reported for duty Monday night—initially sporting a Strike Unibrow and Strike Moses-Beard, respectively, to show their solidarity with their still-missing scribes.

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alternative programming dept

Striking Writers Producing New Hit Series 'Not The Daily Show' In Curbside Studio

Writers for The Daily Show—for us, at least, the single biggest hole that's been blown in the TV schedule thus far—are refusing to be slowed by their temporary lack of an indoor studio, regular host, and Comedy Central-financed production values, producing a strike-altered version of the program on the streets of NY.

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long goodbyes

Jon Stewart Savors His Last Pre-Strike Moments Of Having 'Words' To Use

A commenter on our earlier post about David Letterman's writers strike segment on last night's episode of The Late Show recommended that we go back to check out Jon Stewart's comments on the same topic on The Daily Show (the program we're going to miss most of all), in which he let viewers know that they could watch reruns during any strike-related hiatus for free on their fancy new website, a gift made possible by the generosity of advertisers unafraid to throw their money away on a medium likely never to generate enough profits to share with the employees who come up with all those "words" he's fond of reading. We followed the reader's helpful advice and found the clip. Enjoy.

• The Daily Show [thedailyshow.com]
• Previously: Letterman Prepares His Viewers For The Writers Strike [Defamer]

short ends

'Daily Show' Bringing Fake News To Real War Zone

· The Daily Show is going to Iraq, eschewing the safety of the green screen to try its chances in the Green Zone.
· Now this is the way to quit your job. It looks like Ed Limato has one fewer qualified candidate for his blowfish-guarding detail.
· Mark Burnett has sold another show to NBC; think of this one as Are You Smarter Than the Friends and Family Members Paid A Nominal Fee to Humiliate You With Stories You Can Hardly Remember?
·You'd think by now that each time K-Fed gets a temp job, we wouldn't get so excited. But each new gig remains a fresh little thrill, and we can't wait to see what he's got in store for us on One Tree Hill.
· RIP, Leona Helmsley, the Queen of Mean.

jon stewart

'Daily Show' Enjoys Sweet Rewards Of Jon Stewart's Mediocre Oscars Performance

Regardless of where you stood on the "love-tolerate-hate-Jon Stewart-Oscar-hosting-assessment-continuum," the numbers don't lie: 100,000 additional viewers not-hated his performance enough to tune into The Daily Show in the days following the telecast for an extra helping of his pointed political satire and overcooked double takes: More »