If you feel like you’ve forgotten a lot of what’s been going on in Lost in the 253 days between the fantastic end of Season 3 and the forthcoming premiere of Season 4 of Lost, ABC wants to refresh your memory.

On the official Lost site, there’s an 8:15 recap of the story so far. The lady narrating sounds like she chased a Red Bull with an espresso…but I guess to fit a story as deep as Lost’s into 8 minutes and 15 seconds, you’ve got to move quickly.

Even if you think you know everything you need to about the show, the recap serves as an excellent refresher. If you know people who have been wanting to get into the show but are daunted by the steep learning curve required to enter a serialized drama, this would be a great starting point…though it may have to be watched a couple of times to really grasp the plot. Plus, the narration is just sarcastic enough to be really entertaining. It’s embedded below, or you can hit the link to go to the ABC site.

On Sunday, a potentially historic football game is going to take place. The Patriots are taking on the Giants , and if the Patriots win, it will make their winning streak 16-0, making them the first team to go undefeated in the NFL since the season was expanded to 16 games.

Originally this historic game was going to be broadcast exclusively on the NFL Network. You may have heard, however, that the NFL Network isn’t available in a large portion of the United States. The NFL and cable providers have been at odds over the carriage fees for the network. The NFL wants substantially more for the channel to be added to cable packages than ANY other network out there - and as a result providers like Time Warner do not have the NFL as an available channels, while Comcast has the network exiled to a premium sports tier package.

To keep fans from rioting, the NFL has reached another historic deal in regards to this specific game - it is going to be simulcast on both CBS and NBC. “We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever.”

Since these networks will be running the NFL Network feed, I imagine that the NFL will take the time to promote the heck out of the network. I fully expect to hear Bryant Gumble to say “NFL Network” no less than 50 times during the broadcast.

Not content to sit around, twiddling your thumbs while the WGA and the AMPTP duke it out? Well, don’t let that pesky writer’s strike bum you out.

In stores today is “Saving Charlie”, a new novel by Aury Wallington. You may remember in Heroes last season, Hiro fell for a girl named Charlie during his limited stay in Odessa. When she was struck down by Sylar, Hiro attempted to travel back to rescue her, but try as he would, he was unable to save her.

From the Amazon entry:

Hiro Nakamura possesses the remarkable power to control time. And like his uniquely blessed comrades, he’s on a mission for the good of humankind. But another challenge awaits him: saving the love of his life from an unspeakable death. Charlene “Charlie” Andrews is the big-hearted, small-town beauty whose sunny smile and sweet soul knocked the shy Hiro head over heels. But when Charlie’s young life is snuffed out by a grisly serial killer, their budding romance is brutally cut short.

Or is it? Thanks to his astounding newfound skill, Hiro has the means to do what no tragedy-stricken lover in history ever could–turn back time. And no matter how raw his abilities, or how many twists of circumstance conspire to foil him, he vows to deliver Charlie from the evil poised to claim her. He will be her hero.

But what possible consequences might changing the past visit upon the future? How could saving one cherished life affect millions of others? And what ultimate choice will Hiro make when the power of fate rests in his hands?

Don’t ya just love slow news days?

It was all big news a while back when Michelle Rodriguez was busted for DUI while in Hawaii filming Lost. Apparently, she had some problems earlier than that, as well, and, as the Hawaii bust was a violation of her parole, she found herself facing a 60-day jail sentence, and 30-day alcohol rehabilitation program and 30 days of community service.

Apparently that month of community service was a bit to much for Ms. Rodriguez to handle, and she missed out on part of it. So Ana-Lucia is headed back to the clink for 180 days. All because she couldn’t pick up trash from the side of the road or coach an underprivileged hockey team or something.

That’s right…I just threw out a Mighty Ducks reference. I have no idea where it came from. Sorry.

The 2007 Doctor Who Christmas Special doesn’t have a lot to live up to compared to 2006’s special. That episode, which introduced us to Catherine Tate’s character who will be a constant companion for The Doctor in the new season, focused on a runaway bride and the thing her finance was trying to feed her to.

This year’s special takes us aboard the Starship Titanic, where the good Doctor must stop a dying Captain and crazy robot angels from destroying the Earth.

There have been lots of rumors that Russell T. Davies is going to leave the show after Series 4, and if this episode is any indication of what he’s got planned for said 4th season…that’s probably a good idea.

The episode wasn’t bad. David Tennant is continually brilliant, and proves more and more to me each time I see him that he was literally born to play this roll. If he does leave the part anytime soon, I would hate to be the guy who has to follow in him.

The plot wasn’t spectacular, and…well, nothing about the episode was spectacular, but it was wonderful to see The Doctor in action again, and I still can’t wait for the 4th season to get under way.

That’s a frightening title, huh? Well, according to Deadline Hollywood, that just might be true. Jeffrey Katzenberg tried to backchannel a compromise between the two parties to get the WGA and the AMPTP back to the negotiating table, but it didn’t work out.

Nikki writes: “I have learned: that the CEOs are deeply entrenched in their desire to punish the WGA for daring to defy them by striking and to bully the writers into submission on every issue, and that the moguls consider the writers are sadly misguided to believe they have any leverage left. I’m told the CEOs are determined to write off not just the rest of this TV season (including the Back 9 of scripted series), but also pilot season and the 2008/2009 schedule as well. Indeed, network orders for reality TV shows are pouring into the agencies right now. The studios and networks also are intent on changing the way they do TV development so they can stop spending hundreds of millions of dollars in order to see just a few new shows succeed. As for advertising, the CEOs seem determined to do away with the upfront business and instead make their money from the scatter market.”

This is all very, very bad. The writer’s simply cannot give into this thing, but it looks like the CEOs are in for the long hall. Egos are going to take over here, and this thing is going to be deadlocked for who knows how long.

The worst thing, though, is that if the studios can keep the same profit margins with the reality shows they’re ordering…what will be their motivation to negotiate?

That’s right - I said it. The new ‘Knight Rider’ tv movie/pilot is going to be AWESOME. As a long-time ‘Knight Rider’ fanboy, I initially reacted as most fanboys do to change. It frightened and bewildered me…but, I have taken a step back from my fanboy ways and looked at the project with the most fresh and objective eyes that I can….

…and I have determined this thing will kick ass. Here’s why -

1) The Script - I’ve read my share of reviews of the script for the pilot, and from what I can gather it sounds dead-on for ‘Knight Rider’ in 2008. KITT is the hero through most of the story, and the plot, while slightly cheesy and predicable (this IS ‘Knight Rider’ after all) sounds intriguing enough for a 2-hour pilot. The main thing here is that it seems like ‘Knight Rider’…but updated enough to fit the current tastes of today’s audiences.

2) The Car - I know, I know. “It’s too bulky to be KITT. The scanner is too high up on the vehicle. It’s a Mustang and Mustangs are for hillbillies.” Come OFF IT. The updated car looks slick as hell when its in “attack” mode, and it looking like a standard car when it’s sitting parked makes perfect sense. It’s not exactly easy for a guy in a tricked out car with a big red cylon scanner in the front bumper to hide from the bad guys now is it? This is a very thought out, very cool update for the show.

Another thing that’s pretty bad ass is that you’ll be able to buy your own replica of KITT if you really want one. When the first series came out, people constantly hounded Pontiac for their own KITT, so much so that Pontiac would not agree to let the producers of ‘Knight Rider 2000′ use their updated Trans-Am design in the early 90s for the new KITT. Ford, on the other hand, is ready to go, and the reason commercially available parts have been used for the accents on the “Attack” car is because it’s going to be available for sale.

That’s AWESOME! If you’re into that sort of thing…

3) Will Arnet - Will’s voice in that teaser just oozes bad ass - and he only says two words. That’s what great about him as the voice for the Knight Industries Three Thousand. He has the voice over chops to deliver a great performance, and he can be deadly serious and have that ‘bad ass’ quality in his voice - but he’s also a fantastic comedian. If you think back, oh ‘Knight Rider’ fans, you’ll remember that KITT was one sarcastic bastard, and that kind of whit is necessary to pull this thing off.

Plus, since the car is new, that still leaves plenty of chance for the Knight Industries Two Thousand to still be out there and do a guest spot! There are rumors that he’s in the pilot!

4) It’s A Sequel - At first I wondered why they chose this route too - why not just start over? It’s simple! By making it a continuation of the original series you can have guest stars including KITT and Michael Knight! You can throw in things for the hard-core fans, while still making it accessible to the new fans. This is Knight Rider: The Next Generation! That brings me to the last reason, of course…

5) The Hoff - Hasselhoff. He’s in. ‘Nuff Said.

Of course, it’s really stupid of me to get my hopes up about this thing - but DANG IT - I can’t help it. I want this show to be off the charts awesome - and while I can’t guarantee it, I really think they’ve done a lot to gear themselves in the right direction, and I can’t wait to see it.

I’ve listened to this song on my iPhone about one hundred times this month.

“O Holy Night” is my absolute favorite Christmas song, and the ill-fated Studio 60 was one of my favorite shows last year, so finding a clip featuring that song on that show is perfection.

If you don’t remember the episode, a lot of musicians from the band were calling in sick in an effort for Katrina-displaced New Orleans musicians to find work, and get a union card (an idea based on the real Tipitina’s Foundation). So Matt and Danny had a whole group of Big Easy musicians on to play, resulting in one of the most beautiful scenes of the series. It can be found below.

Merry Christmas, dear readers.

It’s funny how history can repeat itself.

As you’ve probably seen by now, a lot of late-night hosts will be returning to work in January, despite the WGA strike. Way back in 1988, during the last writers’ strike, Johnny Carson did the same thing. As he was not actually part of the WGA, he was allowed to write all of his monologues. Like many of the hosts are today, Carson also paid his staff out of his own pocket. Jeff Sotzing, Carson’s nephew and associate producer of The Tonight Show at that time, said, “The public was glad he was back, the staff was glad, everybody was happy to get paychecks again. Nobody wanted to cross the picket line, but when they finally did, it was a huge relief.”

Much like Letterman is doing today, Carson also tried to forge his own deal with the WGA back in 1988. Aggravated by the slow development of those talks, he returned, sans writers. The WGA approved a deal for his writers a couple of weeks later.

Via Hollywood Reporter

While watching Sundy Night Football last night, I was surprised to see a brief, 15 second teaser for the forthcoming NBC reboot of Knight Rider.

It doesn’t consist of much, not even a decent look at the car. But we do get a taste of Will Arnett as K.I.T.T. Check out its YouTubery goodness below.