TV Potpourri

MELORA HARDIN, who plays Jan on NBC's The Office, will star in the big-screen comedy 17, in which MATTHEW PERRY plays a man who wakes up one day to find he's 17 years old again. Hardin will play the principal of the school where Perry enrolls along with his children. ZAC EFRON and former Buffy star MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG has also signed onto the film. She'll portray the daughter of Perry's character...

Last night's episode of Desperate Housewives could be the last new one viewers see for a long time. ABC has one new finished episode of the hit series left to broadcast, but won't say when that will happen. Reports say the network wanted to air it to begin a whole run of new episodes, but there aren't any other fresh episodes after the next one because of the writers' strike. Fans may be particularly curious to see the next episode to find out who died in the tornado that occurred on last night's show

TV Hodgepodge

Samantha Who? star CHRISTINA APPLEGATE will appear on a PETA holiday e-card, wearing only festive red and green gloves. Christina will urge people to, quote, "cross cruelty" off their shopping lists by avoiding fur...

ANGELA KINSEY of The Office is pregnant. Us Weekly reports Kinsey and her husband, TV writer WARREN LIEBERSTEIN, are expecting a baby in May. The 36-year-old Kinsey plays uptight Dunder Mifflin accountant Angela Martin on the show...

Impressionist FRANK CALIENDO's new sketch comedy series Frank TV debuted to a TBS audience of 2.9 million viewers last Tuesday night...

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.

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...

Go Guv!

The Terminator wants to see an end to the writers' strike. California Governor ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER says he's hoping to facilitate a compromise between the Writers Guild of America and TV and film producers. The actor-turned-politician said yesterday, quote, "I'm talking to the parties that are involved because I think it's very important that we settle that as quickly as possible, because it has a tremendous economic impact on our state." Schwarzenegger didn't elaborate on the nature of the talks.

The strike began on Monday, with writers asking for compensation for digital programming. More celebrities joined their cause yesterday -- ROBIN WILLIAMS, JULIANNE MOORE, and DAVID DUCHOVNY were among the stars spotted on picket lines in New York. On the West Coast, former Everybody Loves Raymond co-stars RAY ROMANO and PATRICIA HEATON provided food to strikers.

The conflict has interfered with the production of several TV shows, including ABC's Desperate Housewives and NBC's The Office. Lost co-creator DAMON LINDELOF tells E! Online the show's fourth season will be shortened to eight completed episodes, beginning in February, for now. The season had been scheduled to include 16 episodes.

Strike 2007! UPDATE

NBC's The Office has closed for the foreseeable future after its star, STEVE CARELL, failed to report to work earlier this week. Many other TV series have suffered a similar fate because of the writers' strike, which began on Monday. ABC's Desperate Housewives and CBS' Two and Half Men are among the other shows expected to halt production, for reasons such as a lack of fresh scripts.

Several actors have supported the writers' cause in recent days. Grey's Anatomy star ELLEN POMPEO has accused the networks of being greedy, saying quote, "They're profiting from the sale of the show and they don't want to share the profits."

Family Guy creator SETH MACFARLANE is another TV star who has joined the picket line. According to Variety, he's not interested in helping to complete unfinished episodes of the show. MacFarlane says the latest completed episode of Family Guy airs this Sunday on Fox.

The writers have asked for compensation for shows offered on the Internet. With the strike wreaking havoc on the TV schedule, networks will likely announce plans for alternative programming in the near future. Fox has already tinkered with its midseason schedule -- most notably, the network has postponed the seventh-season premiere of 24, originally scheduled for January, to, quote, "ensure that 'Day 7' can air uninterrupted, in its entirety." American Idol seems safe from the strike, though -- the popular singing competition returns on January 15th.

TV Boogoloo

ABC isn't questioning the success of Samantha Who?. The CHRISTINA APPLEGATE comedy has been picked up for a full season. Samantha Who? is among the most-watched new shows to debut this fall...

NBC's The Office could open a new branch. TVGuide.com reports that the network is developing an episode featuring new characters who could be moved into a proposed spin-off series, which wouldn't include any of the major Office staff members. A similar strategy was used for the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice...

TVGuide.com reports that SNOOP DOGG will guest star as himself in the December 13th episode of ABC's Ugly Betty...

ER actor MEKHI PHIFER became a new father yesterday. According to People magazine, Phifer and fiancee ONI SOURATHA welcomed their first child together, a son named MEKHI THIRA PHIFER. Phifer also has an eight-year-old son from a previous relationship...

The Biography Channel will premiere nine episodes of its series Biography in November. Episodes featuring JON STEWART and Grey's Anatomy actor PATRICK DEMPSEY will debut on November 7th...

The Hollywood Reporter says JAMES CAAN will play a mob boss in the Lifetime movie Wisegal. ALYSSA MILANO will also star as a Mafia confidante who's involved in a risky romance...


*Snoop Dog on Ugly Betty? Wow...What's that cloud of smoke over Betty's desk?