TV Potpourri

Former Dancing with the Stars contestant VIVICA A. FOX turned herself in to authorities in San Fernando Valley Wednesday to be booked for a March DUI charge. According to police, she was fingerprinted, photographed and released within a half hour without posting bail. The actress turned herself in after a judge warned her Monday that she'd face a bench warrant for her arrest if she didn't...

NBC will begin airing "best of" episodes of Saturday Night Live as a regular primetime series, beginning this Saturday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time with The Best of Will Ferrell. That'll be followed by The Best of Chris Farley on December 15th and The Best of 2006-07, featuring the popular SNL "Digital Shorts,"on the 22nd. An entire episode of the show's signature commercial parodies, called Saturday Night Live Goes Commercial, airs December 29th...

E! Online reports that TORI SPELLING will appear in print and TV ads for NutriSystem in a new campaign kicking off next month. Spelling has credited NutriSystem with helping her lose 35 pounds in six months following the birth of her son LIAM last March...

While every other TV show is shutting down because of the writers strike, Boston Legal fans can cheer because there are still new episodes of the ABC series in the can. According to The Hollywood Reporter,it's thanks to creator DAVID E. KELLEY, who cranked out three scripts before the strike began, which also allowed the cast and crew of the show to keep their jobs, at least for a bit longer...

Strikkkeee!!

Thanksgiving is Thursday, but striking Hollywood writers and TV and movie studio heads will talk turkey right after the holiday.The two sides agreed Friday to resume formal negotiations on Monday the 26th. The parties have not met face-to-face since the walkout began November 5th.

Studios are doing some belt-tightening. At NBC, actors on The Office, 30 Rock and Bionic Woman will receive half pay for five weeks, thanks to the force majeure -- or "greater force" -- clause in their Screen Actors Guild (SAG) contracts. That clause also allows studios and networks to fire actors after production has completely shut down on their shows. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the regulars on the Fox show Til Death and CBS' Rules of Engagement are being put on unpaid hiatus.

Variety reports that NBC fired possibly up to 50 production staffers on Saturday Night Live Friday morning and placed the cast on unpaid hiatus. Even so, most of the cast staged a performance of about 15 sketches at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City Saturday night to benefit SNL staffers affected by the strike. MICHAEL CERA hosted, with musical guest YO LA TENGO. The cast of 30 Rock will deliver a live performance at the same theater tonight.

Strike 2007! UPDATE

NBC's Bionic Woman and the SciFi Channel's Battlestar Galactica have become the latest victims of the writers' strike. The Hollywood Reporter says production of Bionic Woman, which has struggled in the ratings, ended last Friday. Battlestar Galactica reportedly was expected to close up shop today due to a lack of scripts. Both shows are shot in Canada.

The writers began their strike on November 5th, asking for more revenue from online sales and DVD rentals of TV shows and films. They also seek compensation for ad-supported streaming of programs online, an issue that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP, says it won't concede. The AMPTP also stated in newspaper ads yesterday that it has offered writers a share of licensing fees from websites that offer shows. The Writers Guild says it has turned down that proposal because the payments wouldn't kick in until six weeks after a show is posted online.

Your favorite primetime programs may not produce new episodes for a while, but there's hope that some major late-night TV shows will return as early as next month. According to Variety, representatives for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman and other late-night shows have had, quote, "secret back-channel conversations" to discuss when the shows could possibly return. Variety says there are some obstacles to overcome -- for instance, none of the shows wants to be the first one to resume production.

In other developments related to the strike, cast members of Saturday Night Live will perform a live show Saturday night at 11:30 p.m. at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City. The performers will deliver sketches, just like a regular SNL episode, except there won't be any cameras rolling. Superbad star MICHAEL CERA will act as the celebrity host. 30 Rock will follow suit at the same venue Monday night when the cast performs an actual episode, although it's not clear if it will be a rerun or not. Tickets for both shows have been sold out.

TV Hodgepodge

The Hollywood Reporter says the FX Channel is bringing the DENIS LEARY drama, Rescue Me, back for a fifth season. The report says FX has ordered 22 brand-new episodes. Previous seasons have consisted of 13 episodes. Production on the fifth season gets underway in early 2008...

NBC Nightly News anchor BRIAN WILLIAMS is Saturday Night Live's guest-host this weekend. Williams has had a busy week. In addition to preparing for the SNL gig, the newsman also anchored the Nightly News each day and moderated a Democratic presidential debate...

TV Potpourri

Former Saturday Night Live cast member MOLLY SHANNON will guest star in three upcoming episodes of the new ABC series Pushing Daisies. She'll play a competitor of lead character Ned...

Viva La Bam star BAM MARGERA's uncle was convicted yesterday of two counts of sexual assault on a child after he was accused of groping three girls ranging in age from 12 to 14 last year at a Colorado skate park. Fifty-one-year-old VINCENT "DON VITO" MARGERA faces probation to six years in prison on each conviction. He was acquitted of a third count of sex assault on a child. Margera, who cursed in the courtroom upon hearing the convictions, will be held without bail until his sentencing on December 20th...

Variety reports that DENNIS MILLER will host the upcoming NBC game show Amnesia. Contestants will try to win money by answering questions about themselves on the comedy-influenced show, which will premiere later this season...

**I like Dennis Miller..am looking forward to his new sports show debuting on VS. next Tuesday at 10 eastern, but if you caught any of him hosting the game show on GSN called "Grand Slam" you will probably hope he stays away from game shows. The moderator from VH1's "World Series of Pop Culture", Pat Kiernan, is awesome on GS...very urbane and polished, but Miller and GS co-host Amanda Bynes seem very out of place..it kills the pace of the show, and alot of time their commentary seems out of place. Like GSN had to find a place to stick him for contractual obligations, and they chose GS! Hopefully he will work out better on NBC...