Part of the NBC 2.0 philosophy has been to put cheap programming on air as a measure to cut corners and save money. Even before the writers' strike this has meant a string of programs that are “unscripted,” such as cheesy game shows and of course the requisite fakeality nonsense. So taking quarterlife, a Web 2.0 based online show/online community from the creators of thirtysomething, My So-Called Life, and Once and Again, and sticking it......

Photograph of KITT braving the streets of NYC by neps on Flickr Thankfully NBC’s new version of the classically cheesy 1980s show Knight Rider (Sunday 9:00 p.m., WNBC 4) is not a remake, but a continuation of the old in this two hour movie/back door pilot. Of course, this means there are some changes, such as the presence of David Hasslehoff being reduced to a cameo, the two leads are ex-soap stars (the way the......

After a successful save the show campaign by fans involving sending tons of nuts to CBS, Jericho returns for a second season Tuesday night (10:00 p.m., WCBS 2), with the first of seven second season episodes. We should note that CBS only made a seven episode commitment to the show, in a move that seems more like hedging their bets instead of anything that has to do with the WGA strike. If you don’t know......

We already covered the Super Bowl half time show alternatives, but what if you're not a football fan or your team didn’t make it? What if you don’t want to sit through a football game to watch commercials or if you hate Joe Buck and Troy Aikman? Well, don’t worry, there are some television alternatives for you if you don’t want to watch either the game or the countless hours of pre-game shows. If crime......

Lost is back this week! We are hoping that the fourth, albeit strike-shortened, season will answer some more questions and hopefully be less confusing. Plus, when the season starts on Thursday night (9:00 p.m., WABC7) it means one less hour of strike filler. If for some reason you have never heard of the immensely popular show, it is about the survivors of a plane crash who are trapped on a mysterious island in the Pacific.......

Darren Starr’s Sex in the City like Cashmere Mafia was set to debut at the end of November, but was put off due to the writers' strike. So don’t get too attached to this series, since there appears to be only seven episodes produced of the 13 ordered. Still it beats NBC’s similar Lipstick Jungle to air, which seems not to have a launch date announced yet. On its surface the show looks like a......

Law & Order is back for its eighteenth season and it is back in its traditional home of Wednesday at 10 p.m., although this week we get two hours starting at 9 p.m. and thanks to a stockpile of scripts written ahead of the writers strike, we can expect oodles of new episodes into the spring. Also thanks to the WGA strike, it will be the best thing on television for the for the foreseeable......

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: Elmo’s Christmas Countdown (Sunday, 7:00 p.m., WABC 7) It is a brand new Sesame Street Christmas special complete with an all star guest list providing music and voices like ABC News anchor Charles Gibson voicing a news reading reindeer and Ben Stiller voicing an elf. From the sound of it doesn’t seem like it will wind up being an enduring classic like A Charlie Brown Christmas.......

CNBC's Money Honey Money Honey Says Mind the Gap Earlier this week, while in Grand Central Terminal we heard a familiar voice reminding us to “Mind the gap.” It turns out it was CNBC “Money Honey” Maria Bartiromo. Apparently Metro-North riders aren’t the only ones who are being reminded, as the Post reports that Long Island Rail Road commuters are getting similar reminders. The recorded messages were the brainchild of MTA board member Mitchell Palli.......

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: 60 Minutes (Sunday, 7:00 p.m., WCBS 2) Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is interviewed by Katie Couric in the wake of the baseball steroids scandal. Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., HBO) The Ricky Gervais series concludes its run with an 80 minute special episode. Duel (Monday-Friday, 8:00 p.m., WABC 7) No, it isn’t Steven Spielberg’s 1971 feature length film debut made for......

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: Spike TV's Video Game Awards 2007 (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., Spike TV) It is the fifth annual outing for this awards show for video games. Live From Lincoln Center: Red Hot Holiday Stomp (Monday, 8:00 p.m., WNET 13) Jazz at Lincoln Center is highlighted with this special hosted by Glenn Close. There will be a program of holiday music and jazz, plus it also features the broadcast......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., HBO) A look at America's favorite insult comic and last surviving member of the “Rat Pack”, the octogenarian Don Rickles from director John Landis. Everyone from Chris Rock to Bob Newhart to Clint Eastwood to Sidney Poitier talk about the comic. 1968 (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., History Channel) 1968 was a turbulent and tragic year and Tom Brokaw not......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Lincoln Center Tree Lighting 2007 (Monday, 5:30 p.m, WABC 7) Good Morning America’s Sam Champion and WABC’s Sade Baderinwa host the first televised tree lighting of the season. There will be some performances by Lincoln Center’s resident companies and some guest’s from channel 7’s owner Disney on hand for entertainment for the 8th annual Lincoln Center Holiday Tree lighting. America at a Crossroads (Monday, 9:00 p.m &......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: 2007 American Music Awards (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., WABC 7) Most awards shows are basically useless and awards shows where people vote on line are even more so. This year this awards show invented by Dick Clark in 1973 gets even more useless. Jimmy Kimmel hosts. Nature: The Beauty of Ugly (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., WNET 13; Wednesday, 8:00 p.m., WLIW 21) A look at some of the strangest......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Art in the Twenty-First Century (Sunday, 10:00 p.m., WNET 13) Four artists - Robert Adams, Mark Dion , Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle Ursula von Rydingsvard – who explore the intersection between nature and culture. Billy Crystal: The Mark Twain Prize (Monday & Thursday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. WLIW 21) Billy Crystal receives the tenth annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in......