Ox Notes: January 23, 2008

With negotiations resuming this week, the Writers Guild of America has made some concessions that could help bring the strike to an end. WGA members won't picket the Grammys, and they've decided not to insist on unionizing animation and reality show writers as part of the new contract.

Perhaps a quick resolution to the strike can prevent Celebracadabra, in which celebrities compete as magicians, from ever making it to air.

And more scripted shows means less time networks have to fill with inane blabber. Too bad it won't affect the amount of meaningless election coverage that has taken over the cable news networks.

Several TV writers have written short plays that will be performed in L.A. by various TV actors to raise funds for non-writers affected by the strike.

Those of you saddened by the news of Heath Ledger's death might be interested in the DVD of Roar, the TV show that introduced him to American audiences. I watched an episode of the show last year, and while it wasn't as mesmerizing as I found it to be in 1997, it was still entertaining. Plus, many of the supporting cast members are recognizable character actors, and Billy Zane's sister, Lisa, plays one of the leads.

On the topic of sci-fi series from a few years ago, Witchblade may finally come out on DVD, although that's another series that I suspect might not be as amusing as when I originally watched it.

Tonight marks the debut of The Moment of Truth, Fox's new game show in which contestants have to answer questions while hooked up to a lie detector. I'm thinking about watching just to see how much of it I can take before I have to shut off the TV and go take a shower.

After I've washed away my guilt from watching such ethically-questionable entertainment, there's a new episode of Project Runway to cheer me up. People has an interview with the latest auf'd designer, Kit Pistol.

Finally, I am about to write a sentence I never thought I'd type: I have tremendous respect for Jerry O'Connell. You will too after you watch the video below. It's a response to the Tom Cruise Scientology video that made the rounds last week, and O'Connell's imitation of Cruise is spot on.