Last week everyone from writers on the picket line to bored couch potatoes were abuzz with news that the late night heavyweights would be returning with all new shows. Last night was the big night (Letterman, O'Brien, Kimmel, Ferguson and Leno all returned), and both Conan O'Brien and David Letterman took the stage showing solidarity with strike beards intact. Letterman threatened to shave his later on Conan's show, saying that he'd probably be helping his......

Bartelstein is Back Steve Bartelstein will be back on anchoring starting Saturday morning on WCBS alongside Mary Calvi. It was back in September when he revealed to the Post’s Cindy Adams that CBS made overtures to him on the day he was fired from WABC - and that he had testicular cancer. He’ll also be doing some reporting for the station as his health permits. Bartelstein made his first appearance on the station on yesterday’s......

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: The Next Iron Chef (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., Food Network) Alton brown hosts this new reality series which searches for the chef for the next season of Iron Chef America. Life Is Wild (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., WPIX 11) A widowed doctor moves his family to South Africa and family friendly programming ensues. Mystery!: Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Series 6: Chinese Walls (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13; Tuesday, 9:00......

American counterculture and literary idol, Kurt Vonnegut, died yesterday at the age of 84. He was in Manhattan, and his death was the result of brain injuries from a fall several weeks ago. Vonnegut came to New York in 1947, moving to Schenectady and taking a job with General Electric Company. Three years later he sold his first short story, “Report on the Barnhouse Effect,” to Collier’s magazine and moved with his family to Cape......

Everyone's favorite reindeer is back this Friday. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer first aired on NBC on December 6th, 1964, exactly 42 years ago today. Since then, it has become the longest running, highest rated television special in history, as far as holiday shows go. When it first ran, it was on CBS as part of the G.E. Fantasy Hour. General Electric actually brought in Burl Ives (pictured) to give the show more selling power.......

Rick Burnley, Poet/Activist ...