TV Potpourri

MARTHA STEWART's mother, MARTHA KOSTYRA, passed away Friday at the age of 93. Kostyra, who was known as "Big Martha," often appeared on TV with her daughter. Stewart informed fans of her mother's death on her blog Saturday, and posted video clips of them together on TV in tribute...

OPRAH WINFREY handed out gifts ranging from refrigerators to camcorders to wrapping paper to her audience during a taping of her show in Macon, Georgia Saturday, as part of the show's theme, "Oprah's Favorite Things." It airs tomorrow. The taping is the first in a series of shows highlighting towns across the country...

NBC will air the Internet series Quarterlife, from the creators of Thirtysomething and My So-Called Life, early next year. The 36 eight-minute episodes of the Web series, which premiered on MySpace.com November 11th, will be edited together to air on NBC as an hour-long episode, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It will also stream on NBC.com...

AL GORE will receive a special honor tonight in New York at the International Emmy Awards ceremony. ROBERT DENIRO will present the former vice president -- who's already won an Oscar, an Emmy and the Nobel Peace Prize -- with the International Emmy Founders Award for his work as the co-chairman and co-founder of the interactive cable and satellite TV network Current TV...

ABC has picked up a full season of the newbie series Dirty Sexy Money. It's the first show on any network to get a pickup since the writers strike began on November 5th, according to The Hollywood Reporter...

The New York Post reports that presidential candidate BARACK OBAMA's wife, MICHELLE OBAMA, will guest co-host ABC's The View on December 5th...

TV Boogoloo

With no end to the writers' strike in sight, Grey's Anatomy actress ELLEN POMPEO can spend as much time as she needs on a honeymoon. The 38-year-old actress married record producer CHRIS IVERY last Friday in a ceremony performed in New York's City Hall, with New York City Mayor MICHAEL BLOOMBERG present. The couple became engaged last year...

A former associate producer for Judge Judy has filed suit against the show, alleging that she was fired and replaced by a younger woman. KAREN NEEDLE, described as, quote, "an over-40 female" in the filing, claims she was told she was fired earlier this year because of an unspecified conflict. However, she alleges that her firing paved the way for a younger woman to replace her. She's seeking unspecified compensatory and general damages from the show and distributor Paramount Pictures...

Today's New York Post reports MARTHA STEWART has settled her dispute with the town of Katonah, New York. The town has agreed to let Stewart's company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., sell a Katonah furniture, mirrors, pillows and cushions. In return, Stewart has promised not to slap the Ketonah name on other products she sells, including hardware, paint, lighting and textiles. Residents in the town, where Stewart has a home, did not want the domestic diva putting a trademark on the town for commercial purposes...

TV FunHouse

The HBO comedy Extras, starring RICKY GERVAIS, will end its two-season run on December 16th with a number of guest stars. Zap2it.com says CLIVE OWEN, GEORGE MICHAEL and Hell's Kitchen star GORDON RAMSAY will appear in the 80-minute special. Fans of the British edition of The Office will remember that Gervais concluded that show with an extended special as well...

BERNIE MAC is starting over with the Fox network. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he's attached to a comedy project for Fox tentatively titled Starting Under, in which he plays a divorced man who lives with and works for his son. Bernie Mac was the star of a self-titled sitcom on Fox from 2001 to 2006...

Variety reports that MARTHA STEWART's syndicated daytime show will return for a fourth season...