For all you Scott Wahle fans out there who have emailed me wondering where did he go, Scott is alive and well on TV38 at 9 p.m.
When David Wade took over the early morning and noon anchoring duties on WBZ-TV (Channel 4) earlier this month, Scott Wahle headed over to TV38 to co-anchor the 9 p.m. news show with Sara Underwood. He also reports for WBZ.

So I'm finally caught up on "Project Runway," and it's all just as glorious as ever. The menswear challenge this week seemed a little unfair -- I winced every time I looked at Sweet P's runaway collar -- but the contestants are just as brilliant and crazed as ever.

The ones I love the most? Nasty little Christian, of course. He got a bit of comeuppance with his hideous Sarah Jessica Parker dress (how is it possible to make model look fat?), but still remains the Most Likely to Channel Santino. And you can't deny that Elisa, of the new-age spit mark, is the perfect kind of spacecadoodle: Just when you think she's gone off the deep end, she comes up with a gorgeous outfit. I also adore Steven, who functions as the voice-of-conscience narration, with his Steven Wright deadpan and his constant sense of fear. And I kind of want Sweet P to be my friend.

Who can I do without? Well, I wasn't sad to bid farewell to "Carmen like the Opera, Webber like the baller" -- though I think it would be kind of cool to see Tiki Barber on the "Today Show" wearing a piece of draped fabric in lieu of a shirt. (View image)
I'm hoping Jillian shows some personality. Oh, and Nina Garcia. I never liked her very much. But I don't think she's going anywhere.

The November sweeps ratings are in.

Some highlights: WBZ edges WHDH in total viewers at 11 p.m. but WHDH still wins in the key demographics, young adults 18-49 and 25-54 which is what they really care about. WCVB dominates throughout the morning, day and early evening newscasts even without Natalie Jacobson although the station lost a chunk of viewers from last November to this month at 6 p.m. FOX25 still wins big at 10 p.m. but came in fourth at 11 p.m. in its first month at that hour.
Overall, each station had something to crow about.

To read the round-up, click here.

I'm still loving this show -- yes, it's piffle, but it's really fun piffle -- so allow me to proselytize for a moment, and call out two actors who have been doing amazing work this season.

Seth Gabel, as the bratty young playboy Jeremy Darling, reminds me of Johnny Depp: There's something vaguely androgynous about the way he saunters through his misdeeds, with loose lips and bloodshot eyes. I love his clumsy efforts to pretend he's poor for the sake of his normal-salaried girlfriend, and I especially love that he's turned Lisa into his personal consigliere -- and given her something to do besides fret over Karen and Nick.

And Glenn Fitzgerald, as Brian Darling, has managed to pull off the impossible: taking a grumpy, philandering minister -- a guy who made his illegitimate son pretend he was a Swedish orphan -- and managing to make him sympathetic. He did a masterful job in the church scene on Wednesday night, solidifying his new relationship with Nick. And I hope Brian Jr. eventually returns, so we can witness more father-son chats in the bunk beds.

Kudos to the writers, too, for putting the words in his mouth. Here's hoping they'll soon be back to work to finish up a full season.

WHDH-TV (Channel 7) recently unveiled a virtual weather set and I stopped by WHDH the other day to check it out. Just to the left of the main anchor news desk where Frances Rivera and Randy Price sit is the virtual set. It's painted in green hues with tape on the floor that marks where the weather folks should stand. Because of the green lighting, the floor is also cast in a greenish Shrek glow. There are a few monitors hidden from the main camera so that the weather person knows what he or she is pointing at.
But what you see on TV isn't there on the actual set and that includes the giant white 7 at the bottom of the screen. Graphics fill the screen, making the scene look like something out of a video game, a movie, or the deck of the Enterprise on Star Trek: The Next Generation. So when Pete Bouchard or Dylan Dreyer do their weather dance, staffers in the news studio see them pointing to invisible New England states, clouds and the Atlantic. The in-house crew has to look at one of the many studio monitors to fully understand what the weather folks are pointing at. Cool, huh?

(photo below from hinghamweather.com)

OK, I'll wait until after the jump to talk about last night's finale. Just in case. But please. You can't say you were surprised.

Here's a look at the most watched primetime network shows in the Boston market for the week of Nov. 19-25. More than a million Boston sports fans tuned into last Sunday's Patriots win over the Philadelphia Eagles. And CSI and Grey's Anatomy came in a virtual tie for ninth place locally.

1. NBC: Sunday Night Football Eagles vs. Pats (1,337,000 viewers)
2. NBC: Pre-Football Show (907,000)
3. FOX: House (436,000)
4. CBS: NFL (434,000)
4. ABC: Dancing with The Stars Results show (433,000)
6. CBS: Two and A Half Men (411,000)
7. CBS: NCIS (387,000)
8. ABC: Dancing with The Stars (386,000)
9. CBS: CSI (359,000)
9. ABC: Grey's Anatomy (358,000)
11. CBS: CSI: Miami (342,000)
12. CBS: Criminal Minds (337,000)
13. ABC: Desperate Housewives (292,000)
14. CBS: 60 Minutes (283,000)
14. CBS: Without A Trace (282,000)

I found last night's Thanksgiving-themed "Chuck" to be utterly charming, from the code-talk in Klingon to the love triangle to the parallels between CIA ops and Black Friday retail workers. I'm glad NBC has given the series a full-season order: the writers here consistently get the tone right, mixing humor and sentimentality in a way that feels forced on shows like "Desperate Housewives" and the still-icky "Brothers and Sisters." I can't get enough of Adam Baldwin's grumpy Casey. Morgan is growing on me. And, man, I wish holiday big box shopping would be this interesting.

The episode re-airs Saturday at 9 p.m., if you missed it. And it's available online at nbc.com.

Lessons learned from tonight's final showdown on "Dancing With the Stars:"

1) If you are older than, I don't know, 24, it might be best not to dress like a wind-up doll. (I love Marie. I do. But still.)

2) If a judge really gives you a dressing-down, he might give you a...7. Ouch. That's way off the gymnastics scale of score inflation.

3) You might be able to get Posh Spice to come watch you dance, but don't expect her to crack a smile.

4) You can be the crowd favorite, even without a history of singing and dancing (or booty-shaking, at least) in front of big audiences. Mel B. might have a higher score, but Helio: Wow. If the ladies of America don't vote him into victory, I'll be fairly stunned.

5) If you watch "Dancing With the Stars" with your three-year-old, she might have trouble going to bed, because she's too ramped up from practicing her dance moves. As in: "Did they do this?" (Shimmies, flaps arms like a bird.) "Did they do this?" (Twists waist back and forth.) "Did they do this?" (Bends over, puts head on floor.)

I don't know why it took me so long to put Ava in front of "Dancing With the Stars," but now she's hooked. We watch last week's results show on a daily basis. (Thank you, DVR.) When someone isn't dancing, she gets grumpy. And tonight, I'm going to have to explain to her why Jennie Garth isn't there anymore.

"The dancing stars are like clowns," she told me the other day. (She's really into clowns.)
"Why?" I asked.
"Because they do funny things."

Indeed, they do. For instance, they spend a lot of unnecessary time talking to "Extra," which has provided breathless, blanket coverage of the season's scandals, real and faux. Tonight, Maks Chmerkovskiy, Mel B's dancing partner, apparently tells "Extra" that Marie Osmond shouldn't be in the finals, because she used her son's time in rehab to play on voters' sympathy. There are "a lot of other people better," he says. Of course, on the subject of success versus talent, I have two words for him: Spice Girls.

Liz Walker is one of Boston's most recognizable faces. She was the city's first black female anchor in the 1980s and co-anchored the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts through 1999 when she stepped down to anchor the noon newscast on WBZ-TV Channel 4.
In 2001, she heard another calling and pursued it at Harvard Divinity School. She became a minister. Now she works as a youth minister with tweeners, kids ages 7-12, at her church, Bethel A.M.E. Church in Boston's Jamaica Plain. I have a story in this week's Globe on Liz's journey, from daily TV news to her call to ministry.

Walker is still on TV with a weekly Sunday morning show called Sunday with Liz Walker but her mid-life spiritual calling has given her new perspectives on daily broadcast news and life in general.

(photo below of Liz Walker in the WBZ newsroom in 1984)

This one comes as a surprise to me. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are suing Showtime over the name of the series "Californication," since the Chili Peppers have a 1999 album with the same title. "Californication is the signature CD, video and song of the band's career, and for some TV show to come along and steal our identity is not right," Anthony Kiedis said in a statement. The USA Today story about the suit is here.

Why am I surprised? Because I can't believe Showtime and "Californication" creator Tom Kapinos didn't take care of this before the show began to air. Last summer, Kapinos told TV critics, "Apparently in the '70s there were bumper stickers that said 'Don't Californicate Oregon,' because Californians were coming up there, and I just thought it was a great, great title for this show." But seriously, dude, the Chili Peppers got there first. The name of the TV show -- which, by the way, is really good -- does not get its potency from bumper stickers.

It doesn't help that the series includes a character named Dani, whom David Duchovny's Hank calls Dani California. Dani California is the name of a character who recurs in a couple of Chili Peppers songs, including "Californication" and, yes, "Dani California."

One of the strong aspects of "Californication" the show is the way it constantly throws in rock 'n' roll references -- not just the Chili Peppers, but Warren Zevon, and Slayer, and Henry Rollins, who appears in one episode. Duchovny's character has a rock 'n' roll soul, and he acts like a rock star, so all the references are essential to the tone of his drama. But still, the Chili Peppers are a business, not a lending library.

So, the "How I Met Your Mother" slap bet countdown is over. And here's what happens now if you go to www.slapbetcountdown.com.

On the subject of "Heroes:" I won't spoil except to say, I knew they wouldn't really do it. And to add: Could there be a wimpier, drippier character than Mohinder Suresh?

Onto "Dancing With the Stars:" It finally occured to me that I ought to show this to Ava, my three-year-old "American Idol" aficionado. At first, she was confused about the title. "Are the stars up in the air or down on the ground?" she asked. Not wanting to burden her with the notion of celebrity, I told her that the dancers wore sparkly outfits so they looked like stars. And once she understood that only two people danced at a time ("They take turns," I explained. "Like 'Idol'?") she showed a clear preference for Jennie Garth and her eager-beaver partner -- the guy who reminds me of Anthony Michael Hall in "Sixteen Candles."

As for me? I'm into Marie Osmond. She dances a little like a turnip in heels, but the woman can entertain.

Even if the writers' strike settles earlier than expected -- and there's some small reason to hope, I suppose, given that the two sides are set to resume talks next Monday -- the winter will still be loaded with reality TV. And maybe I'm still basking in the glow of "Project Runway," but I'm wondering if the best approach, from a viewer's standpoint, is acceptance. In that spirit, I'm going to be open-minded about the DVD that just arrived on my desk for "Crowned," the CW's mother-daughter beauty pageant, even though it promises to set back women's lib a few decades or so. Carson Cressley of "Queer Eye" is a judge, so there's a wee bit of hope.

And NBC just announced a lineup for "Celebrity Apprentice," which, I have to say, sounds a wee bit intriguing. I've given up on the show as a business primer -- the tasks are too weighted toward marketing, the contestants too weighted toward mouthy lawyers -- but as a new chance for C-listers to poke fun at themselves? Why not? Besides, Omarosa is back. And next to Elisabeth Hasselbeck, she might be the most successful reality star to date. Who doesn't remember her name?

Anyway, here's the list, via TV Guide:

• Trace Adkins (country music singer)
• Carol Alt (model/actress)
• Stephen Baldwin (actor, The Usual Suspects)
• Nadia Comaneci (Olympic gold-medal gymnast)
• Tiffany Fallon (2005 Playboy Playmate of the Year)
• Jennie Finch (Olympic gold-medal softball player)
• Nely Galan (producer, Telemundo)
• Marilu Henner (actress, Taxi)
• Lennox Lewis (former heavyweight champion)
• Piers Morgan (judge, America's Got Talent)
• Omarosa (Apprentice Season 1 contestant)
• Tito Ortiz (UFC champion)
• Vincent Pastore (actor, The Sopranos)
• Gene Simmons (KISS frontman)

Looks like Dexter is going to frame Doakes as the Bay Harbor Butcher on "Dexter," which, by the way, is the best show on TV right now, better than "Friday Night Lights," and that's saying something.

And if the season ends up there, with Doakes going down for Dexter's crimes, I'll be just fine with that. I love it when the writers of "Dexter" pull a twist, but I also think "Dexter" soars even when it's not being clever. The show has so many great characters and such a rich sense of style that I'd watch it even if the storylines had been lifted from "Law & Order." From the merry-go-round-gone-wrong theme song to the dark anarchy of Lila's apartment, it's an amazing neo-noir fever dream.

But, of course, none of it would work without Michael C. Hall. He's riveting in this role, and he has shown Dexter's growth and changes with great flourish and believability. Last season, Dexter was dead-faced and cautious, but as the milestones have come and gone -- the death of his brother, the truth about his mother and Harry, sex with Rita, sex with Lila -- he has become more expressive and impulsive. That secret fire in his eyes burns a few degrees hotter right now.

And yet Hall has kept Dexter's childlike innocence in tact, and even sympathetic. Rather than making Dexter into a serial killer who has a demented child within, Hall has invested Dexter with inner purity. The little boy watching his mother get butchered is still right there, still terrified, still in the dark. When Dexter coaches Rita's son through his terror about delivering a class speech, he is coaching himself, too. And Dexter's innocence is critical to the mind-bending moral themes of "Dexter," as it inspires us to root for a vicious vigilante killer.

In this era of ensemble shows, there are a few actors who still carry series almost entirely on their own shoulders, even while they are surrounded by strong supporting casts -- Hugh Laurie of "House," Damian Lewis of "Life," and Denis Leary of "Rescue Me" are among them. And Hall is certainly near the top of that exclusive group.

Picketing writers have been feeling awfully creative lately. Nell Scovell, a Boston native whose writing and producing credits include "NCIS" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" -- she also co-wrote and directed a recent Lifetime movie -- created this film from the writers' perspective.

I'm also into this blog from the striking writers of "The Late Show With David Letterman."

Telemundo Boston will host its third annual "Family Fair" this Sunday at the Bayside Expo Center.
Called "La Feria de la Familia,'' the free event will feature local and national Telemundo personalities such as Angel Salcedo of the weekly Boston community affairs show "Encuentro Latino" show as well as Mary Gamarra, of Telemundo's national morning show, "Cada Dia."
There will be food, health, and financial information aimed at Boston's Latino community.
The event runs noon to 6 p.m. Nov. 18 at 200 Mount Vernon St. in Boston's Columbia Point.
There will also be performances by local Latino talent such as Mexican mariachi band La Mera Mera and Colombian reggaeton group Fuera de Alcance.

For more information, visit the even't website.

Am I the only one who thinks Derek Shepherd has turned into an unappealing wimp? That far too many many women on "Grey's Anatomy" have been lusting after Bambi? And don't get me started on the guys on "Big Shots." My full rant about TV's emasculated men is in today's Globe. But feel free to disagree...

I don't have mixed feelings about the season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" that wrapped last weekend. Not only was it an excellent stretch of episodes, it opened up new perspectives on the character of "Larry David." Usually aging shows looking to freshen themselves will bring on a marriage or a baby or new castmembers (see "House"), but "Curb" went the separation route and it paid off beautifully. When the hurricane family the Blacks showed up in episode 1, it looked like they would be the big new source of energy -- but it was Cheryl's bolt that was the jolt, with the Blacks as more of a bonus add-on.

Cheryl's departure from Larry's life put him in an entirely new context. He was always impossible and neurotic, but, like Cheryl, we generally assumed there was more to him. When she split, we could no longer assume that. Suddenly, Larry seemed like more of a sad, lonely case than an eccentric rich guy -- pathetic, almost, especially after most of his friends decided to "go with Cheryl." I began to form more of an emotional attachment to Larry than I had during any of the previous five seasons. He started to look like a lost boy with an attachment disorder, and I even found myself a little worried about him. The scene in which he eats alone at a restaurant after Cheryl leaves him, and he proceeds to have a shout-off with the Cell Phone Guy, had an unexpected strain of poignancy.

Of course, pairing him with Loretta Black, and enabling the Blacks to stay, was both comic brilliance and a nice vote of confidence in Larry's psychological future. It was brilliant because, like a number of episodes this season, it teased and upended years of talk that "Seinfeld" was racist, and it was consoling because we knew that Larry was now in good hands. I cherish the image of Loretta out-Susie-ing Susie Greene.

Here is a list of some of the top network shows and their total viewership in Boston week of Nov. 5-11. Below you'll notice that Grey's Anatomy (on WCVB) and Criminal Minds (on WBZ) tied for 13th place locally. Despite strong 10 p.m. lead-ins from CBS, WBZ's 11 p.m. newscast hasn't traditionally benefitted, lagging in third place of the local newscasts. Another curious note: WHDH (Channel 7), which doesn't have any top 10 network shows locally, nabs the most viewers at 11 p.m. which means that many Boston viewers who might watch CBS or ABC at 10 p.m. are in the habit of switching channels at 11 p.m. for WHDH's newscast. It will interesting to see the results of the November sweeps and how FOX25's entry into the 11 p.m. news race has affected the landscape.

1. CBS: Without A Trace (486,000 viewers)
2. CBS: CSI (471,000)
3. CBS: NCIS (460,000)
4. CBS: Two and A Half Men (437,000)
5. NBC: Sunday Night Football (433,000)
6. FOX: House (425,000)
7. ABC: Dancing With the Stars (374,000)
8. CBS: 60 Minutes (342,000)
9. ABC: Dancing With the Stars/Results (337,000)
10. ABC: Desperate Housewives (327,000)
11. CBS: Rules of Engagement (322,000)
12. CBS: CSI: Miami (314,000)
13. ABC: Grey's Anatomy (299,000)
13. CBS: Criminal Minds (299,000)
15. NBC: The Office (295,000)

Here is the national list for that same week.

1. WITHOUT A TRACE (21,685,000)
2. CSI (21,943,000)
3. DANCING W/THE STARS-MON (20,467,000)
4. GREY'S ANATOMY (19,501,000)
5. DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (18,632,000)
6. DANCING W/STARS RESULT-TU (17,061,000)
6. NCIS (18,149,000)
8. HOUSE 18,173,000)
8. NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (17,325,000)
10. CMA AWARDS (15,950,000)

(Source: Nielsen Media Research)

"Project Runway" is back! And just in time - I needed to remember why reality TV, "Kid Nation" notwithstanding, still holds a place in my heart. Tonight's Season 4 premiere, on Bravo at 10, is comfortingly familiar. There's the mad race for fabrics, the shameless product placement, the sewing self-doubt, the mwwa-mwwa mood music during elimination sessions. Heidi is her cold, cute self, and Tim Gunn -- who has gained more enduring stardom from this show than any of the winning contestants -- is as loving and brutally honest as ever.

If there's anything different, it's the candidates themselves, more sophisticated and established than in seasons past. Many are in their 30s, with stores and lines of their own. Take Elisa Jimenez, portrayed as a wacky, free-spirited artist from the Southwest. (She takes her costly fabric from Mood tonight and starts rubbing it with grass stains, while her competitors sneer.) Turns out, she's already been written up in Vogue and has designed for Sarah Jessica Parker. Maybe that's why she's so unapologetic about her disaster of a dress tonight: like most of these folks, she's heard enough people say "yes."

On the other hand, these people know how to sew, and they know how to set themselves apart: we also meet a former biker named Sweet P and a woman who calls herself Kit Pistol. And we find a fitting heir to the Santino/Sebelia slot: Christian Siriano, a 21-year-old with asymmetrical hair, who has that lovely "PR" knack for making clothes that look absurd to a fashion bystander but set the judges aglow. When I looked at tonight's plaid creation, I kept thinking of Daniel V.'s tulip dress from season two. I can't think of a more enduring TV mystery -- or a better reason to love this show. No matter how much people mug for the camera, it still comes down to the creative process and the clothes.

Oh, "Heroes," I'm not sure what to make of you. I had read that last night's episode was supposed to make amends for the largely-scattered start to this season, filling us in on what happened to Short-Haired Amnesia Peter and Once-Burned Nathan. And we did get some back story, but I'm even more confused about the forward motion.

This many weeks in, Season Two remains remarkably rudderless, so overloaded with characters that it can't quite decide where to go. "Lost" -- which still begs for comparison -- has veered and swerved and forgot things over the seasons, but never lost sight of the fundamental mystery. But "Heroes" seems to be changing the question it's asking, week by week and sometimes frame by frame. Is the Company good or evil? Is Adam good or evil? Is Sylar still relevant? Are we supposed to be concerned about the heroes' welfare and the evolution of the human species, or we supposed to hope a few of them band together and prevent a pandemic that wipes out Earth?

And what, pray tell, is the point of Maya and Alejandro, the most uninteresting new characters in all of TV? We understand that Maya's eyes go all black and deadly when she's stressed. We don't need to see it ever, ever again, unless you're going to tell us something new. Are you, "Heroes?" Are you?

Tim Kring is promising an end to this particular saga on December 3 -- and changes when the strike ends and "Heroes" starts up production for "Volume 3." I'm not sure whether to feel hopeful or just sort of grumpy.

"Brotherhood" has improved a lot this season, and it's just another reason (along with "Dexter" and "Californication") that Showtime has become the new pay-cable channel to beat. The "Brotherhood" plot seems to be moving forward, finally; the characters are more vivid; and the performances -- particularly those with the shakier Providence accents -- have all found their footing. Once the writers' strike really starts to have an impact on prime-time series, you might want to play catch-up with this one. It's dark, well-written, and, particularly in its political storylines, true to life.

I write today to praise Jason Clarke, in particular. As the political Caffee brother, Tommy, he has really given "Brotherhood" its best drive. He's the kind of actor who is almost forgettable and bland, until you look into his face, and into his laser eyes. And then you see all kinds of intensity -- the arrogance of a politician with remnant scruples, the shy boyishness of a man who still needs nurturing, the fury of a husband betrayed. I think he's doing some of the best work on TV right now, although of course he will never win Emmy acknowledgement from his peers. James Spader needs another statue.

1) First, some news vaguely relevant to these parts: Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the erstwhile conservative from "The View," gave birth on Friday morning to a baby boy. ABC says she'll announce his name on the show Monday morning.

2) A thought from a weekend of catch-up viewing: When the strike really starts to take effect, I'm going to miss "30 Rock" most of all. I'm not sure what slayed me more from Thursday's episode: David Schwimmer's perfect delivery ("Are you saying actors can't change the world? I guess someone forgot to tell Sharon Stone!") or the flashbacks from Kenneth's party. But nobody on network TV right now is this fearless or this funny.

3) And a programming note: This week, NECN is presenting "Remember Us," a documentary about New England servicemen and women who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. It airs without commercial interruption on Monday from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and Wednesday from 2 to 3:30 p.m., and again next Sunday and Thursday.

Here's one big early casualty of the writers' strike: Don't expect to see a new season of "24" in January. Fox has scrambled its winter schedule, not wanting to force viewers into the uncomfortable position of watching only eight hours of Jack Bauer's new worst day. Color me sad. I was thinking that Tony Almeida as villian might bring me back to the fold.

Fox will, however, premiere some of its midseason scripted shows, including the Terminator spinoff "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," the immortal procedural "New Amsterdam" and the already-maligned Parker Posey/Lauren Ambrose sitcom "The Return of Jezebel James." Oh, and they'll have this reality show called "American Idol."

ABC, meanwhile, has announced plans to go forward in January with an eight-episode arc of "Lost." Ending with a cliffhanger, of course. But Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune reports that my favorite new ABC soap, "Dirty Sexy Money," might become a sad strike casualty. Please, ABC gods! Take "Brothers and Sisters" instead!

I'm working on this theory that "The Office" is "M*A*S*H" all over again. Kinda, sorta, maybe.

First of all, Dwight and Angela are updates of Frank Burns and Hot Lips. They are the goody-goody couple who have a not-so-secret but oh-so-freaky passionate life (oh, they'll get back together, just you wait). In that other theory I've been working on -- that "The Office" is a metaphor for American politics -- Dwight and Angela fill the hypocritical conservative category that Frank and Hot Lips practically invented on series TV.

Jim is Hawkeye Pierce, of course, but for a less Groucho-oriented generation. Jim's asides are generally non-verbal, but that slight rising of the eyebrows evokes Marx's cigar and the full-on eyebrows as much as Alan Alda did. Jim's partner in crime is Pam, which makes her his Trapper John McIntyre or his B.J. Hunnicut, and, well, I'm going to go for Trapper John. Jim and Pam's pranks on Dwight are genius.

And then there is Michael Scott, who is unique. Still, he has some of the farcical leadership qualities of Henry Blake, as well as the same need to be friendly with his charges. Michael is easily manipulated by Jim and Pam, just as Henry was totally played by Hawkeye and Trapper. And now that Michael is bucking Ryan, he recalls Henry's resistance to military protocol.

Yeah, "M*A*S*H" was set during a war."The Office" is set during a war, too -- the war to save paper from the digital aggressors. OK, I'll stop now.

These are the top 15 most watched network shows in Boston and their total viewership, week of Oct. 29-Nov.4

1. CBS: NFL Football, WBZ (1,471,000 viewers)
2. CBS: 60 Minutes, WBZ (609,000)
3. CBS: CSI, WBZ (492,000)
4. FOX: House, WFXT (451,000)
5. CBS: NCIS, WBZ (384,000)
6. ABC: Desperate Housewives, WCVB (373,000)
7. CBS: Two and A Half Men, WBZ, (361,000)
8. CBS: Amazing Race, WBZ, (355,000)
8. FOX: The Simpsons, WFXT (355,000)
10. FOX: Family Guy, FXT (341,000)
11. CBS: Without A Trace, WBZ (336,000)
12. FOX: Family Guy, FXT (331,000)
12. ABC: Dancing With The Stars, WCVB (329,000)
14. ABC: Grey's Anatomy, WCVB (315,000)
14. CBS: Criminal Minds, WBZ (311,000)
14. CBS: Cold Case, WBZ (311,000)

These are the top network shows nationally for the same week above.
.
1. DANCING W/THE STARS-MON ABC (21,434,000 viewers)
2. GREY'S ANATOMY-THU 9PM ABC (19,309,000)
3. DANCING W/STARS RESULT-TU ABC (18,862,000)
4. 60 MINUTES CBS (19,241,000)
4. CSI CBS (19,060,000)
6. DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES ABC (18,579,000)
7. NCIS CBS (16,334,000)
8. HOUSE FOX (17,297,000)
9. NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (16,454,000)
10. CSI: MIAMI CBS (14,852,000)
10. SAMANTHA WHO? ABC (14,180,000)

source: The Nielsen Company

Earlier today, I spoke to Neal Baer, the Harvard Medical School graduate who is executive producer of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," and serves on the negotiating committee for the Writers Guild of America. It was 9 a.m. Hollywood time -- foggy and chilly, he said -- and he was headed to a picket near the Universal and Warner Brothers lots. Here's an excerpt of our conversation about the WGA strike.

What's the status of production on "Law and Order: SVU"?
The pipeline was turned off. So they're shooting in New York but they'll be done with that show and then that's it. But we've done a lot of shows. They should have [new episodes] into February.

TV isn't the only industry facing a changing business model because of the Internet. The newspaper industry and the music industry are contending with this, as well.
My son is 17 and a junior in high school. He watches "SVU," "24," and "Lost" on his computer. He only watches sports on television. And that's a study of one, but it's pretty powerful because that's what his friends are doing, too. And we know that because the 10-o'clock hour has just plummeted in terms of demos and ratings over the last year and a half. That doesn't mean people don't care about our shows anymore. They're just watching in a variety of ways.

Do you think viewers will accept advertising online?
My son, when he watches television on the computer, he still gets embedded advertising. I think that [networks] are very pleased about it because they can niche-market advertising using cookies and your Internet usage pattern, so that one person's car commercial can be another person's pancake commercial. So I reject that idea that you can't monetize these programs. They've seemed to manage every time there have been new technolgies to deal with. Well, they're going be able to manage this.

Will things be resolved quickly?
I hope they are. Because my worry is, of course, about our crew. We have hundreds of people working in New York on my show. And we also have many, many people in Los Angeles who are affected by the strike, whether it's a drycleaner or all the ancillary services one uses but one cuts back on when one doesn't have an income. On the other hand, the basis of Hollywood is -- the public may think it's the stars, and God knows stars are important. We wouldn't be where we are without Mariska [Hargitay.] But Mariska doesn't make up her lines. That's very critical that people understand that. It's not just actors standing around and saying what comes to their heads. And that's what heartens us -- to have the support of the Screen Actors Guild. They understand that this is collaboration. Without writers and actors, there'd be no TV.

"Battlestar Galactica" fans already know what it's like to wait through undetermined-length, excruciating stretches for a show to resume. And while the new season isn't set to return until April...and who knows what effect the strike will have...and who knows whether SciFi will air the final episodes in one 20-episode stretch or two 10-episode mini-seasons...well, we'll always have "Razor." That would be "Battlestar Galactica: Razor," the new two-hour flashback movie scheduled to air on Nov. 24, focusing on Lee Adama's first command and the Pegasus's trials after the Cylon attacks. (There are also sneak-preview screenings at local movie theaters on Nov. 12, but according to the website, registration is full.)

Which leads us to this question, posed by Hiawatha Bray, Globe business columnist, video-game reviewer, and "BSG" fan extraordinaire. In the vein of "Ginger or Mary Ann," he asks: "Number Six or D'Anna?"

The picketers are picketing. And if you're wondering how much of "Grey's Anatomy" or "Scrubs" you're going to get through before the strike takes its toll, the Los Angeles Times has this handy chart on how far production has come on some shows.

Fox25 launches its first 11 p.m. newscast tonight. I have a story from this weekend's Globe that looks at how Fox's arrival may impact the other 11 p.m.newcasts (WHDH, WCVB, and WBZ.)
To read the story, click here.

David Wade joins WBZ-TV (Channel 4) as anchor of the station's weekday newscasts at 5 a.m., 6 a.m. and noon with co-anchor Paula Ebben.
Wade, who grew up in Somerville and graduated from Emerson College, worked at FOX25 where he anchored the 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts and also worked as a general assignment reporter.
After 9 years there, Wade abruptly left FOX25 last July. His wife and fellow FOX25 reporter, Bianca de la Garza, also left the station and now freelances for WCVB-TV (Channel 5.)
Wade joins WBZ as it tries to climb out of a ratings slump.
In the mornings and noon newscasts, WBZ usually comes in last except at 5 a.m. where it ranked second place in total viewers (28,500 in July) and (33,300 in May) behind WCVB.
Wade's first day with WBZ is Nov. 12.

So here are a few ideas -- some crazy, some maybe not so crazy -- for the networks, if the writers' strike leaves them without new material next year.

1) Go repertory on us.
Dig out oldies but goodies and air them in prime time. I'd love to see the networks single out classic episodes -- maybe do a weekly series of memorable finales such as last episodes of "Newhart" and "St. Elsewhere." Obviously, this TV Land-ish idea would involve lots of rights issues, but that's not my problem...!

2) Mash up and remix.
How cool would it be to get a master VJ to throw together clips from different shows to create something new? It could be a new kind of Electronic Folk Art for an hour every week. Put a character from "Grey's Anatomy" in a scene from an earlier season, watching herself and commenting on her behavior. Or put Liz Lemon from "30 Rock" in "Heroes" and then bring her into "The Office," and construct a new plot. Someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of TV should be able to piece something cool together -- and judging from the stuff that shows up on YouTube, there are plenty of people who could easily pull that off. Yeah, it might be trippy, but no trippier than "Pushing Daisies," right?

3) Steal extras.
Go to the DVD packages of great shows, and maybe even some movies, and select well-done extras to air in prime time. Seriously, there are a lot of featurettes, of current and of classic shows, that might play well. DVDs are a sensitive issue, as DVD residuals are part of the writers-producers impasse. But there are many DVDs already out there containing good stuff.

4) Undo past damages.
Pull out all those brilliant but cancelled series that you screwed up the first time around and give them another chance. I know that "Freaks and Geeks" and "Action" and "Undeclared" and "Grosse Pointe" have all found their ways to DVD, but I still think they could work on prime time. "Undeclared," for instance, has a lot more potential for audience appeal, now that creator Judd Apatow and many of the cast members have gone on to gain recognition for "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up." And then some of these shows, including "Andy Richter Controls the Universe," still have not been released on disc.

5) Get crazy.
Do absurdist things, such as getting sitcom cast members to redo scenes playing different roles. Or have the cast of "30 Rock" play out an episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" like an MTM cover band. Try to keep the idea of scripted TV fresh, even while the actual scripted shows are in hibernation.

Obviously, none of these suggestions will replace the excitement of new episodes of good shows. I don't believe this kind of make-do programming would be wildly popular -- indeed, some of the cable channels are already doing these things. But the careful selection of oldies and classics and mashups could make an interesting diversion for a little while. It might also give the networks an opportunity to show who they are when they're not trying to put a hard sell on their new products.

Think of Harper's Magazine, and the way it makes bits and pieces interesting simply by pulling them from obscurity. Websites, too, can be fascinating by selecting the right links. The networks could create a post-modern context, a pastiche of TV surprises. I think one of the reasons "Pushing Daisies" is catching on is that it is so different and unexpected, it has captured viewers who are accustomed to the same old same old in prime time.

And I would rather see the networks show imagination rather than shovel second-rate reality TV our way. Remember, good reality shows -- "American Idol," for instance -- are the exceptions. Most of what we'd see if a strike wore on would be button-pushing nonsense such as "Kid Nation" or knock-offs of better reality shows.

Night after night of cruddy reality is bad for viewers and for the image of series TV, which really has so much more potential.

A TV writer's strike is on. The upshot: a few more new episodes of original series, and then -- if the strike goes on -- a heavy rotation of news and reality shows. And say goodbye, right away, to the nighttime talk shows: Letterman, Leno, Conan, et al. In fact, Jon Stewart bade a farewell to viewers last night -- and expressed some sympathy with his striking colleagues.

More details to come in Saturday's paper.

So Stephen Colbert's South Carolina presidential candidacy comes to an end. Colbert, who had already declined to pony up the $35,000 it took to get on the Republican state ballot, revealed last night on his show that the South Carolina Democratic Party had declined to play along with the joke any longer. (The wires, of course, already had the news).

I have mixed feelings about how the whole charade went down. A faux run for president was a brillant move for Colbert, largely because it gave him something to do. His O'Reilly schtick is funny -- and the fact that it still is, after all of this time, is an amazing feat -- but it requires a constant influx of new scenarios and props. And I loved the idea that Colbert might actually go into the field and highlight the absurdities of retail politics. There's great material in politicians' hamhanded attempts to connect with voters, and last night's clips, from a weekend foray into South Carolina, were pitch-perfect. Colbert learns that black women are a key voter group, so he descends on a North Charleston hair salon. Before long, he's sitting in a barber's chair, covered with a leopard-print smock, saying, "What is Britney thinking? Why isn't her mama getting in there and helping her?"

Colbert operates as a sort of "Borat" in reverse. Everyone knows it's an act, and everyone chooses to play along, enjoying the reflected limelight and the common sense of irony. It's funny when real people do it. When the press chimes in, it's weird. That was the depressing part of Colbert's mock-run: watching the likes of Larry King and Tim Russert twisting themselves into pretzels as they tried to get in on the joke.

Frances Rivera made The Globe's list of the 25 Most Stylish Bostonians. Anyone who watches her anchoring the evening news on WHDH-TV (Channel 7) and WLVI-TV (Channel 56) can see why. She brings life to her colorful and conservative business outfits. Off-camera she likes to let loose and enjoys wearing leather and pearls for a night on the town.

Here's The Globe's interview with Frances about what makes her so stylin'.

Frances Rivera
Age: 37
Job: Anchor at WHDH-TV Channel 7
Residence: Charlestown

In such a high-profile job, how important is style to you?
Sometimes I like to think that it's just incidental to the job, but I get evil emails to the contrary.

How would you describe your style? I put it under two categories. There's my TV anchor-mode style and my real-life style. Because I have restrictions with work and what I can get away with, I tend to wear tailored conservative suits with funky, funky shoes. That's my little rebellion. In the real world, I make up for it. If I'm going to wear leather, I'll wear it with pearls. Or dressy shorts with a glitzy top and heels. Or a tunic from Target with an Hermes bag. A lot of people may consider it fashion blasphemy. I think it's fun.

Where do you shop? I do a lot of online shopping. My favorite site right now is net-a-porter.com. It's like Christmas everyday when you have a package at your door even though you know what it is. For stores, I like Saks, Chanel, Neiman Marcus, H&M, and Target.

How often do you shop? I consider shopping like my chocolate craving. I will look several times a week, almost every other day. I purchase probably every two weeks.

How large is your closet? Is it a walk in? Not anymore. It's the ultimate before shot. Everything is on the floor. There are three items to one hanger. I layer items. I never throw things out.
What was your best bargain ever? A Chanel jacket. It's cream silk with three-quarter length bell sleeves and a huge ruffle collar. It was probably less than $1,500. It was probably $5,000 originally.

What was your biggest fashion mistake? A couple of years ago, I went overboard with highlights. They were skunk like.

Is there someone whose style you admire? Jackie O. and Audrey Hepburn are a cliche thing. I think they stem from Coco Chanel. So I will go to the mothership and say her. I love Chanel accessories: bags, belts and jewelry. What's the most indispensable item in your closet? My Hermes bag. It's red with gold hardware. It's the holy grail of bags. When I got [my current] job, my husband gave it to me. I consider my bags to be milestone bags. I'll wear shoes from Payless.

Who should be on this list next year? The owners of 28 Degrees: Carl Christian and Bill Emery. They are impeccable.

(interview by Globe Style writer Suzanne Ryan)

He came out wearing a "Born Free" t-shirt and dancing the Irish jig. He forced CBS to bleep a long swear word. He made news by announcing that David Ortiz is "a huge bedazzler." He said that for the players, when it comes to facing the Yankees, "I think hate does enter the equation." And when asked what he'd been doing since the World Series ended, he answered: "A lot of partying, a lot of drinking, a lot of dancing, you know, we had a parade...and then, other than not sleeping, you know, partying."

That was Jonathan Papelbon on Letterman last night -- a transcript and video clip are here -- and I'd say he represented Red Sox Nation pretty well. He's got more natural humor than (gulp) Tom Brady, but he wasn't trying too hard to be funny. He's naturally crazy, and that's something you can't teach. Letterman looked smitten. Will "SNL" be next?

And will anyone be able to show him up? On Friday, Manny Ramirez appears on "The Tonight Show" and Big Papi visits Conan O'Brien. Maybe he'll show off some bedazzling.