TV Hodgepodge

STEPHEN COLBERT of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report has been voted AP Celebrity of the Year by broadcast producers and newspaper editors who said that he had the biggest impact on pop culture in 2007. Colbert beat out Harry Potter author J.K. ROWLING and Former Vice President AL GORE, who finished second and third respectively.

One of the original KITT cars from the hit '80s TV series Knight Rider is up for auction on eBay. The talking, black 1984 Pontiac Trans Am is being sold to satisfy some 30 million dollars in debts of slain real estate developer, ANDREW KISSEL whose killing last year remains unsolved. As of yesterday, one bid for the 20 thousand dollar minimum was posted on eBay...

VINCENT MARGERA, who is known to fans of MTV's Viva La Bam show as "Don Vito", was sentenced yesterday to probation for ten years to life after he was convicted of groping young girls at an autograph signing session near Denver. The 51-year-old reality star was found guilty in October of two counts of sexual assault on a child. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender, get substance abuse treatment, undergo a mental-health evaluation, and to not to appear as his "Don Vito" character for 10 years...

ABC-TV has announced that it will move the last original episode of Grey's Anatomy from January 3rd to January 10th. The move prompted NBC-TV to reverse the premiere of Celebrity Apprentice from January 10th back to January 3rd to avoid losing a large chunk of its audience to the popular primetime medical drama

Truthiness and justice for none!

JON STEWART and STEPHEN COLBERT will be back with more fake news on January 7th, albeit without the help of their writing staffs. Comedy Central announced yesterday that The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report will return on that date, following a hiatus brought on by the seven-week-old writers' strike.

Stewart and Colbert said in a joint statement, quote, "We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence."

The Writers Guild of America didn't show as much humor in its own statement, saying, quote, "Comedy Central forcing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert back on the air will not give the viewers the quality shows they've come to expect."

TV Hodgepodge

STEPHEN COLBERT did not need to campaign for an open seat on the Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District Board in Williamsburg, Virginia. He was one of three people to receive three write-in votes earlier this month in an election for the seat, resulting in a tie. Colbert cannot win the election, though, because he's not a registered voter in Williamsburg. The winner will be decided via a drawing. Colbert recently ended his mock candidacy for president after South Carolina officials declined to place him on the ballot there....

NBC has lined up five famous singers for its pre-Christmas competition, Clash of the Choirs. Zap2it.com reports that NICK LACHEY, KELLY ROWLAND, PATTI LABELLE, MICHAEL BOLTON and BLAKE SHELTON will each lead a choir from their respective hometown in the reality series. The winning choir will receive a prize that will improve their community. Clash of the Choirs will air the week of December 17th...

KATHIE LEE GIFFORD will return to daytime TV today as a guest co-host of the fourth hour of NBC's Today show, alongside ANN CURRY, NATALIE MORALES and HODA KOTB. Gifford, of course, co-hosted Live with Regis and Kathie Lee with REGIS PHILBIN for 15 years...

CNN Headline News anchor NANCY GRACE reportedly is recovering after she was hospitalized over the weekend due to blood clots in her lungs. According to a CNN spokeswoman, the blood clots were the result of Grace's recent pregnancy. She gave birth to twins on November 4th. Grace is expected to be released by the end of the week