Per ABC’s just-released midseason schedule, Lost returns Thursday, Jan. 31, at 9 p.m. Yes, I said Thursday–but assuming we’re not going to have new episodes of The Office for a while anyway, I’m OK with that for now. (And Mrs. Tuned In will be glad not to have to stay up until 11 for Lost.)

Also, According to Jim will return. [Shakes …

HBO photo: Ray Burmiston

There’s a special problem writing about the highly praised. Once somebody has achieved greatness, any criticism thereafter is either taken as further confirmation of their brilliance or as a backlash. Once you’re known for getting standing O’s, applause is an insult.

So when I tell people that I like Extras, …

This week’s print TIME includes a special section of Top 10 lists for 2007, which is pretty much the same as the ones you’ve already seen online, except:

10. Fewer lists
9. Fewer words
8. On paper
7. You have to pay money to read them
6. You can take them to the bathroom
5. More risk of paper cuts
4. Less exposure to computer …

News flash: the late-night TV hosts, the New York Post reports, may be coming back before the writers’ strike is over. Newsier flash: they may actually do so with their striking writers’ blessing.

How will they manage that? For starters, by not having acted like absolute tools to the writers who make their shows possible.

For those of …

Steroids in baseball is not exactly under the jurisdiction of this blog, but what the hell: it’s Friday, Time.com doesn’t have a sports blog, and it seems to be all anyone wants to talk about today anyway. So for your argumentative pleasure, here’s an essay I wrote about steroids in 2004, in my pre-blog days. Why do people get so het up …

NBC Photo: Nicole Rivelli

How good is 30 Rock? So good that it can make an episode guest-starring Buck Henry, Elaine Stritch and Andy Richter, and you’re so lost in it that you don’t spend it thinking, “Wow, that’s Buck Henry, Elaine Stritch and Andy Richter!” On the one hand, like most episodes of 30 Rock, there’s nothing better to say …

Via ComingSoon.net, behold the theatrical trailer for season 4 of Lost. The trailer-makers know what Lost fans like: lots of flashing split-second images to slo-mo, frame-grab and geek out over. Speaking of which: Is that who I think it is in that very last screen flash? You may now commence freaking out!

The writers’ strike may hobble the Golden Globes and other awards shows, but the WGA awards go on, and the nominations just came out. Whatever your opinions about the strike, the writers definitely know their writing, giving generous love to Dexter, FNL, FOTC, Mad Men, The Office, 30 Rock, and, in particular, The Wire. (No, The Wire did …

People tend to forget that the Golden Globes also honor TV. Those people evidently include the Hollywood Foreign Press Association; as I write, their main nominations web page includes only film noms. See their press release for the full list–scroll down, natch, for TV.

But TV is more central to the Globes than usual this year, if not …

The CW/ Michael Desmond

I owe you an apology–I never got around yesterday to warning you not to watch Crowned. This isn’t knee-jerk reality-TV snobbery: when I originally heard “mother-daughter beauty pageant,” I was there. But the first episode, unfortunately, went the American Idol auditions route of mocking the freakish side of the …

MTV

It’s not like MTV needs a strike as an excuse to load up on reality shows, but yesterday it announced that The Hills, coming off a high-rated season 3, will get a bonus eight episodes next year that will follow Lauren and Whitney to Paris.

(In case you missed the most recent show, Teen Vogue was all, Whitney, you’re going to the …