• Fans of As the World Turns are angry writers didn’t gay it up enough
• E! Kristin has spoilers for Heroes and Grey’s Anatomy
• An interview with Growing Pains’ Tracy Gold
• ABC to make a High School Musical reality show
• Viewers thumb their noses at critics and watch Oprah’s Big Give
• If Dan and I were to have a baby it would probably be a video game based on Dexter. In somewhat related news, The Wire’s Dukie likes Dexter
• CW renews a bunch of shows including Gossip Girl
• FCC Okays Nudity On TV If It’s Alyson Hannigan (The Onion)
• Nerd Alert! Buffy Season 8 issue 12 comes out this week
• If Rudy Giuliani stayed in the race, his political ads might start looking like this musical from UK show Skins

I like things that are bright.

• They’ve chosen a lucky lady to be the new Bachelorette.
• Grey’s Anatomy’s Justin Chambers could have nearly high-fived Britney on her way into the treatment center.
• Naveen Andrews talks Lost.
• Calm yourselves. The Bionic Woman is coming to DVD.
• Star Jones is once again out of the job.
• The folks from The New Adventures of Old Christine seem nice.
• The WGA won’t picket the CBS investor meeting.
• New York Magazine pits Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle against each other.
• Tyler Florence continues to torment me with his heterosexuality. He and his wife are expecting a second child.

You guys, he may seem nice, but he’s crazy. I’m not talking about Obama.

• People interviews the latest Project Runway castoff.
• The WGA yelled at Jay Leno for breaking its rules.
• There’s going to be another season of The Two Coreys. Because I guess the first one already aired.
• TV Guide has a guide of what to watch during the strike.
• Zoey 101 hasn’t been canceled because of you-know-who’s fetus.
• Law and Order is going to London.
• TV Guide talks to The Wire’s Clark Peters and new show host Carson Kressley.
• Noah from Heroes defends the show’s second season.
• Nick Hornby interviews the creator of The Wire.
• Wallace Shawn surrounded by lesbians.
• MTV is going to air another Gauntlet. I will not watch.
• E-Kristin has scoop on the last pre-strike episode of Grey’s.
• Survivor’s cast has been announced and it includes fan favorites Cirie and Yau-Man.
• Nate Berkus will host Oprah’s Big Give.

I haven’t had Mexican in forever. This must change.

• First and foremost, Jack from Project Runway talks about his sudden departure.
• Hypeful counts down the year’s top ten musical moments.
• Like Christmas with the creepy uncle, Isaiah Washington is picketing with the Grey’s Anatomy cast.
• Reno 911 will be back in January with Christina Applegate and Seth Green.
• In more questionable decision-making, Will Arnett will voice KITT in the Knight Rider movie.
• Strikers want the WGA to get back to the bargaining table.
• Will there even be upfronts next year?
• Keifer is a popular prisoner.
• Israel will have its own Survivor.
• Watch clips from the next season of The Tudors on YouTube.
• Colombians don’t like the American Ugly Betty.

I’m pretty sure indie superstars Rilo Kiley have been on Grey’s Anatomy before — possibly multiple times.

But I heard them play my favorite song off their okay-ish new album* the other week and it made me happy. The song is called Breakin’ Up (on this show, we can only wish) and is fit for a disco queen. In any case, this is just an excuse to post a clip of Jenny Lewis and company performing the song live on MTVU.

It’s not Jenny’s best vocal performance, but she does rock the cowbell and white tights. She does get some help from some awesome backing singers, though.**

*it’s pretty good, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t know if they’ll give us another The Execution of All Things

**I love footnotes!

If you ever go to Portugal, know that ‘polvo’ means octopus, not chicken. I learned this the hard way.

• I Am a TV Junkie is devoting today to all things Tyra Banks-related.
• Katherine Heigl admits that the George-Izzie things was a baffling ratings ploy.
• The Go Fug Yourself gals give fashion kudos to one Kristen Bell.
• February will see a new edition of Big Brother airing seventy times per week.
• House would have a “very sarcastic” musical episode. Not that it’s going to happen, though.
• NBC’s new midseason schedule has 1 vs. 100 and The Biggest Loser. Instead of, you know, actual shows.
• Win one of Jamie Bamber’s used towels. If you’re disgusting.
• Buy a Friday Night Lights “crucifictorious” shirt.
• Jason Sudeikis has a big ole interview all week on The Apiary.
• John from Cincinnati will hit DVD in March.

Shiny.

• Rainn Wilson is one of People’s sexiest men.
• Letterman is footing the bill for his staff.
• Supermanny will be a spin-off of Supernanny, except with male child care workers. Get it?
• The NY Times tracks the rise of racial humor.
• Stars speak out on the strike.
• News on ER, including the return of Luca.
• Meredith Grey got married.
• Brian Williams got a ratings bump from SNL.
• Jack McBrayer talks to Pop Matters.
• Could Friday Night Lights move to ESPN? Meanwhile, Logan from Gilmore Girls will be joining the cast.
• Tonight’s Back To You recalls an episode of This American Life.
• Buy a painting at the Heroes auction.
• And also, Most Serene Republic has a new video. You should watch it.[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/e3I6H8fAQwo" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Mama’s boy.

• Rosie’s talk show is a no-go.
• The premiere of 24 has been postponed due to the strike.
• Predictably, no SNL this week.
• Maya Rudolph to play Barack Obama?
• Does Simon Cowell have chest implants?  Kind of the last thing he needs.
• The creator of My So-Called Life is blaming executives for the death of creativity.
• 30 Rock makes fun of NBC’s green initiative.
• Will Lindsay Lohan show up on Ugly Betty?
• The Grey’s Anatomy cast joins the strike.
• Spoilers with TV Squad.

I’ve found myself snickering lately over the usage of songs I recognize on big-time TV shows. So I thought I’d use this opportunity to talk about music under the guise of a TV blog.

First up, there was Northern State on Grey’s Anatomy. Northern State is a pretty ridiculous band that I can’t help but love — a trio of white girl rappers who are unself-conscious in their nerdiness. It’s like my friends decided to form a rap group — Jewish girls with masters degrees singing about liberal politics and ice cream socials. The song the folks on Grey’s used is called “Better Already” and has a more rock-ish vibe than what I am used to hearing from them.

Here’s the silly, if weirdly lovable, video.[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/nBVt5Hlgyuk" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Next, there’s the Apple commercial with Cansei de Ser Sexy. Like Northern State, CSS is made up of a bunch of wacky ladies, but this band is made up of raunchier stuff (sample song title: Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above). Their song “Music is My Hot Hot Sex” is the background music for the new iPhone commercial that NBC has been playing like crazy, although it’s sanitized to “Music is My Hot Hot Bed.”

Here’s the real video.[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/-N3OrZzPud8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Finally — there’s a decidedly silly vibe in all of these clips — there’s Chuck’s use of “Yea Yeah” by Matt and Kim. They’re a boyfriend/girlfriend band who play organ and drums — cute stuff. This is a pretty fun video too, what with the food fighting.[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/4Yg-CgIwaHs" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

There are 43 calories in one mini Snickers bar.

• The lead in the Knight Rider pilot has been cast.
• Rescue Me is coming back for 22 episodes.
• An interview with the producers of Pushing Daisies.
• 21 Jump Street’s Dustin Nguyen is still around.
• Survivor’s next season will be an all-star one — TV Squad lists possible cast members.
• In reality star train wreck news, Big Brother’s Mike Boogie (allegedly) beat up a waitress. Meanwhile, Kristi Swanson’s charges were dropped for assaulting her babydaddy’s ex-wife.
• E-Kristin reports that the writer’s strike is near. She also has more with the folks from The Office.
• Matt Roush defends Grey’s.
• The Hills is casting for Spencer and Heidi’s wedding. They’ve almost found a maid of honor.
• Amne$ia has a cool premise, but is hosted by Dennis Miller.
• A band called Sam Champion was on Gossip Girl as Dan’s dad’s band.
• Brian Williams chronicles his experience on SNL.