Will the strike upend CBS' Democratic debate?

NEW YORK — If the WGA strike drags on for two more weeks, it could claim another casualty: CBS News’ Dec. 10 Democratic presidential debate.

Last week, the five top candidates said they would not participate in the debate if the news division’s WGA-represented news writers and other employees walk off the job. The CBS staffers, who have worked without a contract for 2 ½ years, voted earlier this month to authorize a strike. Union officials are meeting this week to consider whether to call for a work action, which would be separate from the current WGA strike.

But even if the news writers continue working, CBS might still be forced to scrap its debate, set to be held at in Los Angeles at CBS Television City and anchored by Katie Couric.

That’s because the candidates could face the prospect of walking past WGA members marching outside in support of the ongoing television and film writers’ strike — something Democratic contenders eager for the support of organized labor are unlikely to do.

Representatives for former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois confirmed today that the candidates would not participate in the CBS debate if it is picketed. (UPDATE: Late this afternoon, a spokesman for Sen. Hillary Clinton confirmed that she too will not cross a picket line to attend the CBS debate.)

Daly's 'Last Call' to get back on track despite strike

NEW YORK (AP) -- NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” is about to become the first late-night talk show to defy the writers strike and resume production.

Daly, who is not a member of the Writers Guild, will begin taping new episodes of his Burbank-based show this week for airing next week, an NBC spokesperson confirmed today. The half-hour “Last Call” airs at 1:35 a.m. EST weeknights, but whether Daly’s first new episode would air next Monday or Tuesday was initially unclear. No guests were disclosed.

A call for comment to the Writers Guild today was not immediately returned. Daly is not the first talk-show host to go back into production. Ellen DeGeneres, who is a member of the union, has continued taping her daytime syndicated talk show after shutting down on the first day of the strike. But “Last Call” becomes the first to break ranks among the late-night shows, which all had chosen to air repeats rather than tape new shows without their striking writers.

It was unclear what effect, if any, the return of “Last Call” would have on other late-night talk shows, which include NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”; CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman” and “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”; and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Comedy Central’s late-night news and commentary spoofs, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” with Stephen Colbert, have also been in reruns. There was no immediate word on when any of those shows might follow suit and return with new episodes.

On Monday, contract talks with the studios resumed for the first time since movie and TV writers went on strike Nov. 5. The Writers Guild is seeking more money for material distributed over the Internet and via cellphones.

More news on the strike

-- Frazier Moore, AP Television Writer

Writers, studios resume talks; more on tap today

By Richard Verrier and Claudia Eller, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

Facing mounting pressure to limit the economic havoc on the entertainment industry, negotiators for writers and major studios met Monday in an accelerated effort to end a strike now in its fourth week.

After weeks of acrimony and vitriol, the two sides got down to their first serious talks since Nov. 4 -- the day before writers walked off the job.

The hard-line positions taken by both parties have given way in recent days to the realization that they need to move quickly if they are to salvage the current and upcoming TV seasons. The strike has caused more disruption than studios had anticipated, shutting down dozens of shows and throwing thousands of people out of work.

A powerful group of top writer-producers, who dominate television's prime-time schedule, also are highly motivated to stem the bleeding, both to save their shows from cancellation and to keep their staffs employed.

Monday's eight-hour session began at 10 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m. before the sides broke off and agreed to resume their talks again today. It was the first of three meetings to which the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had previously committed. The sessions could be crucial in determining whether the parties can get a new three-year contract by year's end, people close to the negotiations said.

Read more here.

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'Heroes': Sylar's kiss

There were a few things that happened in this "Truth or Consequences" episode that surprised me. Or at least surprised me more than GQ girl Hayden Panettiere's crush on Angelina Jolie. Who doesn't have one on her?

The surprises, though, all seem destined to backfire. Mohinder helps resurrect HRG, only to keep him bound as a prisoner? Not smart. Sylar kills Alejandro -- which we knew was coming -- and is not only manipulating Maya's mind, but her heart as well? That may not result in his death, but when she finds out, he'd better be ready with another brick before the black tears fall.  Monica becoming a superhero was not a surprise, but her getting captured and smacked down so easily was. Niki and Micah may come to the rescue, but I think Monica might be able to figure it out.

Peter's trusting ways are getting on EVERYONE's nerves, and he's obviously going to get bitten by Adam. I'm not one who thinks he can take out Hiro easily. He fires a bolt, Hiro teleports, and slice -- off goes Peter's head. Of course, he'd give Petey a chance ... and that would be his downfall.

And Elle. Monitoring Claire from a parked car only a few yards away? Not a smart move, but confronting an unstable girl that could fry her family and friend might also be asking for trouble.

So here we are at the end.

'Dancing With the Stars': Bruno said it best

"Baby Jane" and "Bride of Chucky" were the terms judge Bruno Tonioli used to describe Marie Osmond's terrifying freestyle dance last night. The snarkiest blogger couldn't have put it better. Adult women dressing as little girls, let alone little-girl dolls, is creepy, even if you think it somehow is justified by her selling a line of collector dolls.

It's hard even to list the other reasons Marie should not win "Dancing With the Stars," because the image of her freestyle dance so seared the brain. But another good basis was her excuse/plea of "I'm almost 50!" The competition at this point is about dancing, not about who had the hardest time out there. If that were the case, race car driver Helio Castroneves might as well have yelled, "I have no dance experience!" each time he received his scores, or Spice Girl Mel B. should have complained after each dance that it was tough training in the midst of her group's comeback. 

'The Hills': Audrina is done. No, seriously!

This time she means it. After months of threatening to rid herself of belching wonder boy Justin Bobby, Audrina called it quits.

(Of course, we've known it's been over since last month.)

It only took him tonguing a redhead while sitting a mere 10 feet away from the hapless Audrina.

To her credit, Audrina told Lauren and her other gal pals who were witness to the smooch that she's always known Justin Bobby isn't the -- how shall we put it -- faithful type. (She told Us magazine the same thing in an October interview). It just took being witness to his other recreations for her to wake up.

'Dexter': Showdown!

So it’s come to this. It’s unlikely that Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) and James Doakes (Erik King) are both going to come out of this little pickle alive. But do we really have to do without one of them?

Last night’s episode of “Dexter” forced audience members to suspend even more disbelief than usual. Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine) and his team informed Dexter that Doakes, his nemesis, was the prime suspect in the Bay Harbor Butcher case. Instead of taking him off the case due to a conflict of interest, the team hoped that Dexter’s antipathy towards Doakes would serve as “motivation” in analyzing the blood samples from his own trophy case.

'Project Runway': Once Bitten, twice shy

   When it comes to absolute insanity flying out of her mouth, Heidi Klum is no Tyra Banks. In fact, in comparison, Klum, who hosts the German version of America's Next Top Model, is quite rational with her critiques of Project Runway's denizens.

So when Klum tells you -- twice -- that your clothes look like they are "dirty, from a basement," it is not a good sign. Alas, this week we said goodbye to Marion, the rather timid-seeming Texan who operates his own "fashion and art laboratory" in Dallas. We all got what he was going for -- a sophisticated but raw boho look -- but he felt flat on his face and created a burlap sack with some fringe instead. Worst of all, he fell before the mighty fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker!

What a blow for him but what a coup for the show. SJP is probably its coolest guest ever, even if the mission statement of her clothing line, Bitten, is a little overwrought: "Fashion is not a luxury and quality is not a privilege." So serious, SJ! Does that really mean you'll never wear ultra-luxe Prada, et al, again?

Last week, a rather overzealous reader (i.e., one of my editors) suggested I make some picks for who's going to make it to the top three. It's ridiculously premature to predict, but what the hell? I'll just deny it all down the line.

Margaret's Top Three (in no particular order... c'mon, I'm not going to do that...):

1. Christian
2. Victorya
3. Kit

--Margaret Wappler

(Photo courtesy Bravo)

'Kid Nation': Laurel FINALLY gets gold

Laurel voted off the council?!?  Definitely uncalled for, but kids can be fickle.  One kid in the green district said that she was "losing her focus."  Weak excuse, and not true.  Despite her steadiness and Michael's likability, I sense a backlash coming from Laurel.  It came as she tried to cope with being "powerless," but it went quickly.

In other results: Greg easily took out Anjay. Guylan gives up his seat to DK, and Blaine beats out Zach.  Meet your new council, and be afraid.  Sophia: "I feel like somebody just won a presidential election with no background check."

Such a smarty, but maybe she and the green district are too smart?  Suddenly, the strongest district was set upon by the leaders of the other three districts for not being pro-town. We won't even talk about the stupid communication exercise that brain surgeon Blaine suggested, but suffice it to say the problems with the green group are much more due to faulty leaders  in the other districts than anything the green team did.

Former leader catch up:  Zach is feeling homesick. Guylan "feels like a train just got lifted off my chest." And Mike?  Well, he's a bit upset that Guylan took his seat only to give it up when it got too tough.

Taylor returns, or at least is back on camera.  The council decides that if she doesn't do more work the headstrong little girl won't reap the rewards of the challenge.  Ohhh . . . it doesn't seem to faze her.  Greg: "She thinks she's the princess of 'Bonanza.' "

John Edwards: No CBS News picket-crossing AND no 'View' appearance

John Edwards, who picketed with Writers Guild strikers Friday, one-upped Hillary Rodham Clinton by announcing that not only would he honor a CBS News strike -- were one to occur -- by not participating in the network's Dec. 10 Democratic debate, but he won't go on "The View" next week because that guild-represented show is continuing to tape without writers.

(Earlier, Clinton issued a statement saying that if CBS News staffers, who authorized a strike this week, actually walked out, she would not cross their picket line.)

Here's Edwards' statement about CBS News and "The View":

"Elizabeth and I will honor the members of the Writers Guild of America who are on strike at 'The View' by canceling our appearance on the show next week.  I call on all of my fellow candidates and their campaigns to do the same.

"In addition, we will also honor any picket lines at CBS News, up to and including the CBS presidential debate on December 10th. As I said when I walked the WGA picket line in California last Friday, these workers are making a simple request for their fair share of the huge profits being made by multinational media corporations.

"I am a strong believer in collective bargaining, and I hope that in each of these disputes, management and the union are able to agree on a just settlement. But until those settlements are reached, I will stand firmly with these workers in their fight for a better life."

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-- Kate Aurthur