MediaFile

The good news is that there may be fresh TV shows come January. The bad news is that the writers strike is still on, and couch potatoes everywhere can expect a long wait before most of their favorite programs return.

Talk show hosts David Letterman, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien are reportedly working on deal that would allow their late-night television shows to restart production.

NBC stars Leno and O’Brien, along with CBS’s David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel refused to cross the picket lines in deference to their writers. But their ratings have suffered.

Elsewhere, things are still tense. The heads of Hollywood’s film and TV studios signed a statement of unity on Sunday, a day after striking screenwriters signaled they would try a “divide and conquer” strategy in an increasingly bitter strike that is paralyzing the industry.

Well, at least there will be new episodes of ABC’s “Lost” and a nighttime program from another talk show giant: “Oprah’s Big Give.”

(Reuters)
(TV Squad)

Keep an Eye On:

• Playboy.com is hoping that a significant redesign of the site, scheduled for the second quarter of 2008, will help ramp up its number of monthly visitors. (Folio)
• The Food Network considers a new programming recipe. (NY Times)