TV Hodgepodge

OPRAH WINFREY's primetime series Oprah's Big Give has recruited three judges to appear on the inspirational program. Naked Chef JAMIE OLIVER, football player TONY GONZALEZ, and CHRIS ROCK's wife MALAAK COMPTON-ROCK will pick the winners on the show, in which contestants will travel around the country and help others by giving away money. Oprah's Big Give will debut on ABC on March 2nd...

The New England Patriots' historic win over the New York Giants Saturday night was seen by an average of 34.5 million viewers, and was the most-watched TV program since last year's Academy Awards broadcast. The NFL Network's telecast of the game was simulcast on CBS and NBC. With their victory, the Patriots became the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to finish a regular season undefeated

And now....Jay Scab-eoo!!

NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno was one of five late night shows to resume broadcasting yesterday, but it did so without reaching a deal with the striking writers, which seemed to throw off Leno's first guest, Republican presidential candidate MIKE HUCKABEE.

The former Arkansas governor created a stir before he appeared on the program when it was pointed out to him on the Iowa stump that he would be crossing a picket line to appear. Huckabee responded that he thought the writers had come to an agreement to keep all late night shows on the air. In fact, that deal was only reached with The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. The Tonight Show did not use any writers on last night's show.

Huckabee elected to keep his commitment to appear on the show, but his campaign released a statement prior to the broadcast that read, in part:

"The Governor would only agree to join Jay, an active member of the Writers Guild, for the taping after he was assured that no replacement writers were being used in the show's production. Governor Huckabee believes that the writers deserve to be fairly compensated for the sale of their work. Governor Huckabee is glad that Jay Leno was able to put his 160 employees back to work and he strongly encourages both sides of the current labor dispute to work diligently toward an equitable solution for all parties involved."

Several protesters picketed outside The Tonight Show studio yesterday in Burbank, California, one of whom carried a sign saying, quote, "Huckabee is a scab." WGA chief negotiator JOHN BOWMAN said of Huckabee's professed ignorance, quote, "Huckabee claims he didn't know. I don't know what that means in terms of trusting him as a future president."

The Writers Guild of America released a statement about Huckabee's decision to sit down with Leno. It said it was, quote, "disappointed" in the politician and recommended he, quote, "respect our picket lines in the future and urge the media conglomerates to return to the bargaining table..."

"I'll put you under my arm like a Don is supposed to"

DONALD TRUMP will have the pleasure of putting several celebrities out of work on the latest edition of The Apprentice, premiering tonight on NBC. The seventh season of the reality series, now titled The Celebrity Apprentice, will feature 14 celebrities in New York City raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for their favorite charities. As usual, the contestants will have to complete various tasks and face Trump and his kids in the boardroom. The winner will receive an extra 250 thousand dollars for their charity of choice.

The Celebrity Apprentice begins tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern time. The cast includes country music star TRACE ADKINS, actress-model CAROL ALT, actor STEPHEN BALDWIN, Olympians NADIA COMANECI and JENNIE FINCH, former Taxi actress MARILU HENNER, retired boxer LENNOX LEWIS, KISS frontman GENE SIMMONS, America's Got Talent judge PIERS MORGAN, original Apprentice contestant OMAROSA, The Sopranos actor VINCENT PASTORE, 2005 Playboy Playmate of the Year TIFFANY FALLON, UFC competitor TITO ORTIZ, and The Swan executive producer and former Telemundo executive NELY GALAN.

TV Tonight (1/2)

ABC: Wife Swap (NEW), Supernanny (NEW), Supernanny (NEW)

CBS: Power of 10 (NEW), Criminal Minds, CSI: NY

NBC: Deal or no Deal (NEW), Law & Order (RETURN)

FOX: Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. W. Virginia

CW: Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants (NEW), Gossip Girl (NEW)

Courtesy Dave Kent @ The New 93.9 KISS FM, Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill NC!

Get your local listings HERE

Don't Take the law into your own hands, Take em' to court!

A former producer for the syndicated court program Judge Judy is suing the show, claiming that he was fired after he complained about an alleged policy of turning aside black litigants. According to TMZ.com, JONATHAN SEBASTIEN alleges that a supervisor instructed other producers to book, quote, "white, upscale, pretty people" on Judge Judy and pass along black litigants to Judge Joe Brown, another daytime court show produced by the same company. JUDGE JUDY SHEINDLIN, who was not named in the suit, is white, while JUDGE JOE BROWN is black.

Sebastien claims he was axed last March after he was, quote, "berated and mocked" by his superior for openly questioning the orders. He seeks unspecified damages from the Judge Judy show and CBS Paramount.

An anonymous staff member of the Judge Judy show told TMZ that the lawsuit has "no merit."

In the Criminal Justice System...

With the writers strike halting production of most new scripted shows, reality TV is ringing in the new year. First up: a new season of Wife Swap premieres tonight on ABC. In the episode, the mother of a teen beauty pageant participant swaps families with a feminist mom who home-schools her kids. Wife Swap airs at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Supernanny is also back tonight, with two new episodes to kick off her fourth season. JO FROST lends her services to overprotective parents, as well as two teens who ask her to help their family. The episodes air on ABC at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern time.

There is one scripted series returning for another go-around tonight: NBC's Law & Order, which begins its 18th season. Former Six Feet Under actor JEREMY SISTO joins the cast as Detective Cyrus Lupo, the new partner of Edward Green. The two-hour season premiere airs at 9 p.m. Eastern time.

They're Back! Part Deux

Several late-night hosts will celebrate the New Year tonight with new episodes, their first since the writers' strike began nearly two months ago. NBC's JAY LENO and CONAN O'BRIEN, CBS' DAVID LETTERMAN and CRAIG FERGUSON, and ABC's JIMMY KIMMEL will all make their return tonight.

Letterman and Ferguson will hold a competitive advantage over the other hosts. Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, which owns both Late Show and Ferguson's Late Late Show, reached a deal with the Writers Guild of America last week, clearing the way for their writing staffs to return to the job. Leno, O'Brien and Kimmel will have to make do without their writers until the strike is resolved, or NBC elects to secure its own deal.

One early sign that the pact will benefit Letterman and Ferguson: the Screen Actors Guild said its members are now open to appearing on the CBS late-night programs. The WGA has announced that they'll be picketing Leno's L.A. studios and Conan's New York studios, meaning any guests booked on those shows would have to cross a picket line to do so.

Many stars have shown their solidarity with the writers since the strike began on November 5th. Letterman has already lined up one actor for tonight's show: ROBIN WILLIAMS, who will appear along with country musician SHOOTER JENNINGS. Leno's The Tonight Show will welcome Republican presidential candidate MIKE HUCKABEE tonight, while the other late-night shows had yet to announce their guests as of yesterday.

The major late-night shows have aired reruns in the last two months, with NBC's CARSON DALY having resumed production on Last Call about a month ago. Comedy Central's The Daily Show and The Colbert Report will go back on the air without their writers this Monday, and Fox's Saturday-night chatfest, Talkshow With Spike Feresten, reportedly will return on January 12th.