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.......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a water rescue off West St. at Battery Place in Manhattan, missing children on Grimsby St. on Staten Island, and a DOA floater in the Harlem River off Manhattan. New Yorkers may have just seen their water bill rates hiked 11.5% three months ago, but officials are now saying property owners can expect a rate increase of another 18% as early as the start of next year. Idle speculation......

Fancy yourself a Seinfeld expert? TBS has a montage up which will test your knowledge of the show and little references from episodes. If after nearly ten years you can get more than half of these then we suspect the network has been doing their job in showing the show ad nauseam in syndication. We're not complaining though, and we especially like the "www.master" sign in the montage!......

VINYL SALE: If you're looking for some rare vinyl, you might want to check out this monthly event: Shakey's Record Fair. A meatpacking district locale seems...a little off, but as FreeNYC points out, if you're "looking for that super rare old school funktified 7"...Shakey's Record Fair is probably the only place you'll find it." 8pm // APT [419 W 13th St] // Free THEATER: Rules of the Universe is a new site-specific play performed in......

Oy. As the debate about Michael Richards, aka Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld, and his racist rant at comedy club hecklers continues, it now turns out that he may have had a run-in with comedy club patrons - and went off in an anti-Semitic rant at that time! TMZ.com spoke to a couple who says Richards went berserk while, yes,being heckled at LA's The Improv. Carol Oschin said, "Michael Richards said, 'You're a f---ing Jew.'......

Yes, it's that time of year again - it's Festivus! The holiday, which gained national popularity thanks to Seinfeld, was actually created by a Seinfeld writer's father, and Wikipedia has many Festivus details, more than we really remembered. Our favorite part of Festivus would be the Airing of the Grievances. Here are some of Gothamist's grievances that we'll be sharing at Festivus Dinner tonight: - Cat's refusal to wear cute outfits - Friend's refusal to......

We know there HAS to be some hipster in Williamsburg planning a strike party. C'mon, speak up! If not, you have pretty much the same options as you had yesterday (just more localized to where you live) Stay In or Go Out... Stay In: Watch tv. It's okay, you walked all day. Take a load off, order some popcorn from maxdelivery.com and check out the Guide. Our picks... TBS (8) From 8pm to 11pm you......

So, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are dating. Or "dating." They are "something." Surely, this is an upgrade for Katie, whose former fiance was Chris "Rollerball" Klein and whose alleged recent NYC street smooching partner was Josh "Bedhead" Hartnett, but how much an upgrade, we're not so sure. And who knew that former stars of The WB could travel in such lofty circles? For Cruise, it's almost like he's veering into yucky old man territory:......

Sara Schaefer (is Obsessed With You)...

Apparently, someone decided to test Gothamist's will today by making sure our server would be seriously screwed for a good chunk of the afternoon.* Luckily, it gave us time to make up our Christmas list. Even though it's on in syndication on local affiliates as well as TBS at least three times a day, the Seinfeld DVDs are high on the list. And the special DVD pack comes with salt and pepper shakers - it's......

Gothamist likes the idea of the Kramer Reality Bus Tour...but the Sex and the City bus tour? Just like Sex and the City on TBS, we're not sold. Here's what it promises for your $33: • See the Jimmy Choo boutique, where Carrie buys her shoes • Sit on Carrie's apartment stoop • Shop at the store where Charlotte bought her "Rabbit" • Have a cupcake at the bakery where Miranda stuffed cupcakes into her......

For those of you out there (like Gothamist) who are living a TiVO-less existence, here's a little help finding weather-related programming on TV this week. Tuesday, May 18: Oprah will be telling us What Not To Wear This Summer. Though Gothamist couldn't confirm it (update your site, O!), the name of the show suggests that everyone's favorite snarksters Clinton and Stacy from the show of the same name (or perhaps their BBC counterparts) will be......