Hiya folks!

Finally, a good decision by NBC. Jerry Seinfeld is returning to the Peacock network, but this time as a creator/executive producer. Seinfeld’s new idea is tentatively titled “The Marriage Ref,” and will feature celebs, comedians and athletes trying to solve the marriage issues of normal people. The show seems like a weak idea, but I’m guessing Seinfeld will pull in better celebrities than Trump can on “Celebrity Apprentice.” [TV Guide]

Ratings report from last night: A two-hour “Idol” [24.25 million, 8.9/23 in 18-49] dominated as expected. “Lost” [9.8 million, 4.4/11] fell back to earth after a strong showing last week and “Life on Mars” [5.5 million, 2.0/6] more or less cemented its cancellation. [TV By The Numbers]

FOX has ordered two more seasons of “The Simpsons,” which will officially make the show the longest-running primetime program in the history of television. The episode total by the end of the order: 493. The show has to get to 500, right? [The Live Feed]

Wow, the economy has nothing on ABC. Well, at least for one night. The Oscar telecast allowed the Alphabet network to rake in $72 million from the 26 minutes of ads they aired. That’s the largest total since 2004. [TV Week]

An interesting film development here: Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are teaming up for an Adam McKay written/directed buddy comedy, “The B Team.” It will absolutely intriguing to see Mark Wahlberg do a comedy, because his stint on “SNL” doesn’t really count. [Variety]

This is so pathetic. Just in the last 24 hours, there have been reports of remakes for “Total Recall,” “The Neverending Story” and “Arthur.” Hollywood is really fresh out of an ideas, huh? I mean, “Total Recall?” That movie is great on its own, no need for a remake. The other two don’t deserve it either. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

“316” begins how LOST begins. I have to admit it was a trip watching Jack wake up in his $2,000 suit amongst the bamboo trees with that familiar Giacchino score wafting through the background. It was even more of a trip realizing that most of the O6 were already back on the island… an event that would’ve taken all season to materialize had this been 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 or 2008. As has been said hundreds of times by hundreds of entertainment critics, if one were to start watching LOST now after having stopped a couple of seasons ago, they themselves would be hopelessly lost.

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As I touched on yesterday in the links, the CW surprisingly made the early decision to pick up six series for next season. “Smallville,” “Supernatural,” “Gossip Girl,” “One Tree Hill,” “90210″ and “America’s Next Top Model” will all be back this fall.

In addition, the network made the expected choice to greenlight the “Melrose Place” reboot. As previously noted here on Watchers, current “Smallville” showrunners Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer will have the same job for “Place,” and Davis Guggenheim, who directed “An Inconvenient Truth,” will direct the pilot.

With all that to digest, the CW has almost sured up their entire schedule for next season already. If they continue with just Mon-Fri original programming, they’ll obviously only have 10 hours of space, and even with the additional two hours that come with originals on Sundays – something the network is thinking about at this point – there isn’t a lot of space on the schedule. 

If you do the easy math, that means seven of the 10 [or 12] spots are already filled for 2009-10. 

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My lord. NBC sucks so, so bad. The network is thinking about bringing “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!” back to U.S. network television. If you’re unfamiliar, the show is a British import, of which ABC tried to adapt here in 2003. It didn’t quite work then, and there’s no way it is working now. NBC is in such bad shape that they’re trying to remake a British import that never worked here in the first place. Yikes. [Live Feed]

Here is a dumb little feature about five film actors who more or less suck on television. I don’t disagree with Bill Paxon really, “Big Love” is legit. [MSNBC]

If you have the time, and would like to lose some brain activity, check out the Internet’s greatest hits. Packed with 99 videos of dumb people, celebs, journalistic mistakes and animal attacks, this is definitely something to bookmark and digest over time. [Time]

It’s a sad day. The economic conditions are even bringing down the WWE. Let’s hope Wrestlemania is still awesome this year though. [Variety]

The “Melrose Place” reboot has been officially greenlit by the CW and “Swingtown” actor Michael Rady. Davis Guggenheim will direct the pilot episode for the most unnecessary new show of the 09-10 season. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Joss Whedon doesn’t care for DC comic book characters and knows why they don’t translate well to film. [/Film]

Apologies again. I’m just now coming out of my funk and now projects are breathing down my back. Major recaps and in-depth stuff coming tomorrow. Scout’s honor.

Let’s do some links to make us all feel better.

Ratings from Monday: Even against weaker competition – CBS aired repeats and ABC aired a dumb, but potent “Bachelor” episode – NBC fell flat on its face again. “Chuck” [6.47 million, 2.2/6 18-49] and “Heroes” [6.92 million, 3.4/8] fell to series lows. Yikes. “Chuck” has been in a free-fall the last two weeks after a high-mark following the Super Bowl push. Meanwhile, FOX won the night with the successful duo of “House” [14.6, 5.4/14] and “24″ [11.6, 3.8/9]. [TV By The Numbers]

Though early, the CW has unsurprisingly renewed six dramas for next season. Those that made the cut so far: “Smallville,” “Supernatural,” “Gossip Girl,” “90210,” “One Tree Hill” and “America’s Next Top Model.” Tom Welling did agree to return as Clark Kent, but rumors are swirling that Chad Michael Murry has yet to agree to come back to Tree Hill, NC. He’ll be back [more on all this tomorrow, hopefully]. [The Live Feed]

Michael Cera has finally decided to join the “Arrested Development” film adaptation that everyone has been waiting for since the show was canceled. I’ve always understood the rationale behind Cera’s reluctance to do the flick (he’s a bigger star now, we get it), but reports painted him as so anti-this project that it made me lose a little respect for him. Sure he doesn’t get to be the main star here, but he’ll still be the draw for non “AD” fans and this is what made him. Glad he’s in, interested to see where it goes. [Watch With Kristen]

Dive into this great piece from Variety’s Brian Lowry about the increasing “graying” of TV casts. I personally like the older actors and get annoyed with youngsters playing roles they don’t deserve. [Variety]

Andy Richter is back with Conan for a permanent basis it seems. Richter has agreed to join “The Tonight Show” when it begins its Conan-powered reign June 1. Richter will be the announcer/sidekick on the show. Awesome news. [Ken Tucker's Watching TV Blog]

A couple weeks back it was Candy Land, now it’s Clue [again!]. Universal is prepping a film adaptation of the classic board game helmed by Gore Verbinski. At least this could actually work as a film [and already has in my mind] but wow, a remake/sequel to a film based on a board game. Gotta love Hollywood. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Twitter breaks a story. Thanks to CHUD, we’ve learned that Michel Gondry will be directing Seth Rogen in “The Green Hornet” flick. This is great news, especially Stephen Chow left the project and things looked to be on the downswing. Did I mention this story broke on Twitter? [CHUD]

Sunday’s Oscar night was something special. It usually is, even when in the past it’s begun to drag on after four long hours. For the 81st show, it’s safe to say that Hugh Jackman made it a fun experience, even if the initial song and dance seemed a bit odd.

The awards themselves carried themselves as suspected with just a few surprises. “Slumdog Millionaire” not only nabbed the Best Picture prize, but it also claimed the most trophies with eight of its ten nominations, including wins for Cinematography, Directing, Original Score and Adapted Screenplay.

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Damn, “Life on Mars” is something.

If you ever listen to me about anything, let it be this: WATCH THIS SHOW. Or TiVo it. Whatever. Just check it out before it is too late. Sorry I yelled, but this is important.
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Not quite sure why, but this was one of my favorite episodes of “Chuck” all season. Everything came together perfectly – the case, the Chuck-Sarah ’ship and the Buy More stuff – in a way that really left me feeling for Chuck more than usual.

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….and there it is.

Just like I’ve been saying, “Lost” finally picked up the pace, mysteries and emotional drama this week. Because “316″ was so excellent, it made me want to jot down some of my theories as soon as possible, so here we are. I’ll let John take the recap, but let me just say hat tip to Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse for making the just genius decision to get everyone back to the island and then fill in the blanks later. It looks like we’ll have some good ole’ flashbacks in the coming weeks.

And now, my theories!
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Now this is the “House” we know and love. After a weak 100th episode and then a week off due to President Obama’s press conference, “House” was back on track this Monday. Great case, great House-Cuddy stuff and less annoying Foreteen things.
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