Yes, you read that correctly. If you're lusting for some TV fame you might want to take a look at this offer which I've spotted at Dungeons&Dreamers. Oprah plans a talk show on the topic of videogame addiction.

Has an addiction to video games complicated your life or your child's life? How many hours do you or your child spend each day playing video games? Is playing videos games affecting your social life? Do you experience feelings of anger or withdrawal when not playing video games? Do you use the fantasy life of video games to escape from your worries and troubles? If you would like to tell us your story, you MUST be willing to be video taped for a series of days.

Apply if you want to participate in what certainly is going to be a *wink* rational debate to shed a light on the darker side of one of your favourite hobbies. Excuse me now as I have to run off and hide since the rest of the staff will feel the urge to lynch me once they notice that a picture of Oprah was posted on the frontpage.

Joss Whedon fans will be happy to hear the Angel has been renewed for a fifth season! It will air Wednesdays at 9PM after Smallville on The WB. The big news? A Buffy regular will be coming over to be a member of team Angel! Naming names may spoil it for people wondering who lives and who dies in the season finale of Buffy so read on for the full details.

Oh Fred, someday we'll be together... forever!

Toady seems like the kind of slow news day to get some television talk going on the front page, so here's an extra tid bit.  Comedy Central, which is already in the process of being bought out by MTV owner Viacom, might be in a state of corporate turmoil, but the face of its premier news show is staying put.  Jon Stewart, who replaced the much taller and much less funny Craig Kilborn in 1999 has extended his contract with the show through 2004.  It's pretty much that simple, so I won't bloat the article needlessly and simply send you to Zap2it if you want the details. 

Say what you will about Ain't It Cool News, but their rumors have an uncanny ability to evolve from rumor to fact.  So when I say that Ain't It Cool's sources are saying that Angel is coming back for a fifth season, you can probably start to get your hopes up.  Well, good news, that's just what AICN is reporting.  Read on ...

Wow, I'm just on a roll today.  I'm like a smarter, funnier Certis or something!

Anyway, don't you hate it when the headline pretty much says it all, but the guy who runs the website feels like he needs to fill his front page space, and possibly his ego, with comments that only vaguely relate to the actual news you wanted to read about in the first place as some kind of self-absorbed medium through which said writer yammers on about nothing in particular until you just want to stab him in the eye with a frozen fish stick?  I hate that. 

If you want to read on about The Family Guy, though, then you should ... well read on.

AICN reports that the now defunct Firefly will most likely be released on DVD with the last couple un-aired episodes included. Not only that, it will probably have the episodes *gasp* in the right order!

No release date yet, but Fox Home Entertainment will be releasing. It sports the entire season, including the unaired eps, in 16:9 glory and, most likely, in the "correct" order. With lots of goodies.

That's not official confirmation or anything but it seems pretty likely. Who knows, maybe DVD sales will be high enough to encourage another network to pick it up..

Proving that watching Sci-Fi miniseries 'events' only encourages them, the network is putting together an increasing number of special broadcasts for your science fiction viewing pleasure.  Riding the relative success of Children of Dune and Taken, Sci-Fi channel is ramping up production on several projects.  Considering that Sci-Fi is a little inconsistent with the quality of their mini-series, I's ambivalent over whether this is terrific news, or precisely the kind of television I should avoid.     

I know we have a solid contingent of Buffy and Angel fans around here so I figured a couple news bits wouldn't hurt. According to AICN, James Martsters (the guy who plays Spike on Buffy) mentioned that if Angel gets taken on for another season Joss Whedon would like him to join the cast.

I was at Grand Slam convention in Pasadena. During James Martsters Q and A, he said that the spinoff idea is still up in the air and may end up happening or might not. But he said that he was recently asked by Joss Whedon to join the cast of Angel next season. He has agreed, and he believes that Angel is definetly going to be renewed for a 5th season.

Suits me fine, I like Spike and his fancy new soul well enough. The actor himself is like 42 or something so hopefully he won't suddenly melt on set.

Finally, UPN has released the show schedule for the last episodes of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. Read more for that!

If you're a television executive then you're likely no stranger to Pepto Bismol and very stiff drinks.  Life is never an easy freewheeling situation, unless you happen to be someone like David E Kelley or Stephen Bochco who could probably pitch and be greenlighted for a sitcom about two wacky but well intentioned gaming journalists [sic] who start their own website, have some wacky but well intentioned discussions, write wacky but well intentioned articles, and then shoot each other in computer games.  No, the life of most television executives is a time of unprecedented and regular stress, but no time is more stressful than that stretch of spring when networks begin to announce which shows are coming back next season, and which should start figuring out if they have a big enough market for a DVD compendium. 

The slaughter has begun.  Let's take a look at what's coming back, and what's still on the bubble.

"Ten thousand light years from nowhere, our planet shot to pieces, people starving, and I'm gonna get us in trouble?"

The very idea of a Starbuck not played by Dirk Bennedict seems oddly disquieting to me, but a Commander Adama not played stoicly by Lorne Greene - not that he's up for much of anything these days - makes me cross my arms defensively over my chest, furrow my brow, and fire a salvo of doubting glances.  My hesitations aside, it seems that Sci-Fi is moving forward on their plans for a new four-hour Battlestar Galactica mini-series to be aired late this year, with veiled suggestions of a series to follow.  You can check out the freshly posted Battlestar Galactica website here, or read on for the highlights.