TV Squad

Well, she got in trouble with some Muppets. Now, let's see if Katy Perry can get in trouble with some Simpsons. A few months back, the pop singer was famously cut from an installment of 'Sesame Street,' after her low-cut outfit offended some parents and was deemed too "cleavage-y."

But Katy landed on her feet, and is back on the new Christmas-themed episode of 'The Simpsons' (Sun., 8PM ET on Fox). And she's wearing a form-fitting red dress that shows off about the same amount of décolletage. Lucky, this is prime-time on Fox, not the middle of the afternoon on PBS, so she shouldn't get banned this time around.

Well, Diddy got his wish, but was it worth it for Robert De Niro? Sean "Diddy" Combs was the musical guest on this week's 'Saturday Night Live' (Sat., 11:30PM ET on NBC). He appeared along with third-time host Bobby (we call him "Bobby") De Niro. And the rapper started a Twitter campaign to be included in a sketch with the actor.

So, that happened -- but it may not have been the highlight of De Niro's career. The musician and the actor appeared together in a sketch featuring Andy Samberg as "Blizzard Man" -- the world's most clueless (and untalented) rapper. De Niro dressed up in drag to play Blizzard Man's mom, and soon enough, Diddy was hitting on him ... well, her.

While De Niro was decked out in a form-fitting sweater, sunglasses, and a questionable hairstyle, Diddy attempted to seduce him (her). Mr. Combs laid down such lines such as "Girl, you the one that's hot fire," and "If you wasn't my man's mom, I'd tear that a## up" -- and okay, let's just shut this whole thing down right now.

What's the link between Captain Jean-Luc Picard and 'The Walking Dead's' Rick Grimes?

There's more of a connection than you might think. In its generally deft first season, 'The Walking Dead' managed to be the intelligent sci-fi show television has needed for some time.

To put it in terms that even the undead might understand, 'The Walking Dead' has a crunchy zombie coating but a chewy nougat center made up of enticing genre elements that echo shows like 'The X-Files' and 'Star Trek.'

['Supernatural' - 'Caged Heat']

'Doing this is how the bad guys get us every time. It's our Achilles' heel.' -- Dean Winchester

The family business. Good guys versus bad guys. Winchesters versus demons.

That's how things worked when all was right with the world. But these days, everything is upside down. The Winchesters are working for and with the baddest of the bad, Samuel sold out his grandsons to the dark side, Sam may be better off without a soul, and an angel may have the hots for a demon.

The road to Hell isn't paved with good intentions. It's paved with the shards of the Winchesters' belief system.

Last week ended with big news in the reality TV world: 'Big Brother's' Brendon admitted to cheating on Rachel after his Skype affair with a woman was exposed on Twitter; that exposure included a naked picture of him.

Meanwhile, Twitter is a little quieter now that several reality stars, including Ryan Seacrest, are still offline because their fans haven't donated enough money to bring them back.

But mostly, this week was marked with lots of quitting, starting with 'The Amazing Race,' where there was no consequence for quitting a task. On 'Survivor,' after NaOnka Mixon and Kelly Shinn got an episode celebrating their quitting, they were rewarded and showed different sides of themselves.

Finally, we learned that 'American Idol' will let its viewers vote online for finalists next year, but getting fan support doesn't translate into record sales. Last season's winner, Lee DeWyze, had the worst sales of any 'American Idol' winner.

Keep reading for more reality TV news and a preview of what's on reality TV this week.

['Saturday Night Live' - 'Season 36, Episode 8']

For a show that can be as hit-or-miss as 'SNL,' it's puzzling when they choose a host who all but guarantees a miss. I can't remember an episode, in all my 20-plus years of watching the show, that was worse than the Dec. 18, 2004 effort that marked De Niro's most recent hosting go-round.

"But it's De Niro!" you yelp, "how can you say such things about acting's greatest treasure!?" He may be, but to say that De Niro is out of his element live on stage at Studio 8H, is like saying pizza is awesome. It's just true. Can he brave the "elements," and drop his whole "I'm an acting robot, programmed to read my lines and collect awkward pauses for fuel," shtick? We could only hope and pray.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6
'Men of a Certain Age' (10PM, TNT) season 2 premiere
The friends are embarking on new adventures as the second season of the endearing, funny, male version of a chick flick series premieres, and, of course, all is not going to proceed smoothly. Joe is excited about the prospect of qualifying for the seniors golf tour, until those early AM practice sessions kick in. And then there's his new house; it's great, except for the fact that it's in the same 'hood as the bookie the recovering gambling addict is trying to avoid. As for Owen, he's finally in charge at the auto dealership, and one of his first major decisions was hiring pal Terry as a salesman, a move that, so far, is not working out so well for either of them.

'American Country Awards' – Trace Adkins hosts the first-ever fan-voted fest, which includes performances by Rascal Flatts, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith and Uncle Kracker (8PM, Fox)

'How I Met Your Mother' – Ted plays nice with Zoey's hubby, The Captain, in hopes that they can all be friends (8PM, CBS)

'The Sing-Off' – Nick Lachey's back as host, and Ben Folds, Shawn Stockman and Nicole Scherzinger are at the judge's table as 10 new a cappella teams compete to win a recording contract and 100,000 smackeroos (8PM, NBC) season 2 premiere

'Big Cat Week' – Tigers and lions and leopards, oh my! They're the focus of this week-long event paying tribute to big cats of the wild, kicking off with the documentary 'Big Cat Odyssey' (9PM, Nat Geo Wild)

'Cake Boss: Next Great Baker' – 10 pastry chefs compete to win a job working alongside Buddy -- The Cake Boss! -- at Carlo's Bakery in New Joisey (9PM, TLC) series premiere

'The Closer' – A garbage bag full o' cash factors into Brenda's investigation of a coworker getting attacked on the street as 'The Closer' returns with a string of new season 6 episodes (9PM, TNT)

'Sundays at Tiffany's' – Businesswoman Jane (star and movie producer Alyssa Milano) is set to marry her hunky fiancé Hugh (Ivan Sergei), until her equally hunky childhood friend -- her imaginary childhood friend (Eric Winter) -- pops up and asks her to reconsider the track her life is on (9PM, Lifetime)

'The A-List: NY' Reunion – Wendy Williams hosts, and it's a good thing, because she may be the only person who has even a chance of keeping the drama under control when the NY frienemies get back together (10PM, Logo)

'Tabatha's Salon Takeover' – Tabatha kicks things off in California, where a salon's managers are battling with their sisters, necessitating a healthy dose of buttinsky from Tabs (10PM, Bravo) season 3 premiere

---

Here's tonight's lineup of new shows and events (all times Eastern). Check your local TV listings for additional information.

* = Series/Season Premiere
** = Series/Season Finale
# = New Day/Time

Tonight, both 'Boardwalk Empire' and 'The Walking Dead' end their freshman series. But don't worry, 'The Haselhoffs' will help fill that empty void.

7:00 to 8:00
ABC: 'America's Funniest Home Videos'
CBS: '60 Minutes'
FOX: 'The OT' -- 7:30 or after the end of the game
NBC: 'Football Night in America' -- (75 minutes)

8:00 to 9:00
ABC: 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
CBS: 'The Amazing Race'
FOX: 'The Simpsons' and 'The Cleveland Show' -- 'The Cleveland Show' is a crossover with 'Family Guy.'
NBC: 'Sunday Night Football' -- The Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Baltimore Ravens
Bio: 'I Survived'
Disney Channel: 'Hannah Montana Forever' and 'Shake It Up'
Lifetime Movie Network: 'On Strike for Christmas' -- (120 minutes) Daphne Zuniga stars a mother who goes on strike prior to Christmas to protect their family's lack of holiday spirit
Style: 'Jerseylicious'
Travel: 'When Vacations Attack'

The rest of the schedule after the jump.

TV Squad writers interview celebrities they personally know

As you were watching the latest episode of 'Boardwalk Empire' and finally saw Harry Houdini's brother, Theodore Hardeen, you might've thought, "Wait a minute. Wasn't that campaign manager Martin Parillo from 'The Good Wife'? " Or, "Isn't that Joan's gynecologist, Dr. Emerson, on 'Mad Men'?"

You could have even caught yourself saying, "That's Olympic tetherball medalist Tyler Brody from the Oprah episode of '30 Rock'!"

Turns out you would have been correct on all counts. He's actually veteran actor Remy Auberjonois, a friend and neighbor of mine in Brooklyn, N.Y. we recently chatted about his roles, how he got into "the business" and if he's picked up any tips from the various trades he's performed in his roles.

It's hard to keep up with everything on the Internet -- trust us, we know. In an effort to simplify your lives, we're presenting you with the best Web finds of the week all in one convenient place: this post!

This week in Internet fun: the 12 goriest scenes from 'The Walking Dead,' creepy face swaps, and more.

Live action versions of cartoons and comics have been around forever, but for some reason no one's ever gotten around to the classic Looney Tunes. Until now. Here's a short that shows what it would be like if Wile E. Coyote was Wile E. Human.

Charlie Brown's always been blue, but if he was in advertising, it would probably be ten times worse. Check out this re-dubbed version of the classic 'Charlie Brown Christmas' and feel even more sorry for the little guy.

Some say The Stig fell to Earth from a speeding meteorite and landed behind the wheel of a Koenigsegg CCX before the producers of the successful BBC car show 'Top Gear' chose him to be their mute racing driver.

Others said he was actually a clone combination of seven race car drivers, chemically and genetically designed to drive everything from a fully-tweaked Lamgorgini Murcelagio to a gas-powered snowmobile down a steep ski jump ramp.

But Jeremy Clarkson, the colorful and outspoken 'Top Gear' host, called him a "greedy twat."

Ben Collins, the Formula Three circuit, British GT Championship and Le Mans Series racing driver, was revealed as The Stig thi ssummer thanks to a British high court ruling. Collins finally got to speak of his time as The Stig in a new book called 'The Man in the White Suit,' which hit bookstores in the States this week.

Here's tonight's lineup of new shows and events (all times Eastern). Check your local TV listings for additional information.

* = Series/Season Premiere
** = Series/Season Finale
# = New Day/Time

Primetime College Football Games
Versus: Washington at Washington State -- 7:00 start
ESPN: 'ACC Football Championship' -- 7:45 start for Florida State vs. Virginia Tech
ABC: 'Big 12 Football Championship' -- 8:00 start for Nebraska vs. Oklahoma
ESPN2: Connecticut at South Florida -- 8:00 start

8:00 to 9:00
FOX: 'Cops'
Univision: 'Sabado Gigante' -- (180 minutes)
CNN: 'Losing Lennon'
Discovery: 'FBI's 10 Most Wanted'
Hallmark: 'Farewell Mr. Kringle' -- (120 minutes) Christine Taylor stars as a jaded journalist who's intent in discrediting a local Santa
HGTV: 'Celebrity Holiday Homes'
Nick: 'Big Time Rush'
Style: 'How Do I Look?'

The rest of the schedule after the jump.

['Smallville' – 'Luthor']

John Glover returned to chew the scenery as the villainous Lionel Luthor this week on 'Smallville.' And judging by this episode's cheeky final scene, it looks like he plans to stick around for a while to see "how it all turns out" as the show comes to a close this season.

And that's just fine by me. Glover's big-haired baddie was always a force to be reckoned with on 'Smallville,' and now he's back with a vengeance. Stripped of the white hat that he wore during his last few seasons on the show, he's bound to cause more pain and havoc for Clark Kent and friends than Rick Flag and Darkseid combined. Did you see what he did to Jor-El? This guy means business.

This might be the final nail in the coffin, 'Life Unexpected' fans.

Although the CW show hasn't been officially canceled by the network -- a third season could be picked up in May, though the likelihood of that happening is slim -- another troubling piece of information has emerged.

According to the site TVShowsonDVD.com, Warner Home Video just announced the April 5 DVD release of 'Life Unexpected: The Complete Series.' The six-disc set will reportedly include every episode from both seasons, two featurettes, deleted scenes and a gag reel.

Welcome to the Soap Round-Up, our weekly recap of all the soap action this past week. Each week, we sum up all the best stories from each and every soap, from 'All My Children' to 'The Young and the Restless.'

If you don't want to know what aired already, consider this a SPOILER ALERT. ... Oh, one last thing, please comment and join the conversation.

For instance, on 'Y&R,' were you surprised when Skye turned up on Victor's jet? I could have sworn that Jack was in on the fake death bit, but it was the Mustache at it again. What did you think of Victor's latest move? Share your thoughts ...

'The Young and the Restless'

Adam followed Sharon to New Orleans and they renewed their love affair. Nick and Michael searched for Sharon. Nick was upset when Phyllis arrived to do a story on Adam. Victor told Nikki to move out of the ranch. Lauren suspected Daisy was gaslighting her. Nick rejected Sharon after learning she had been with Adam. Victor whisked Skye away and arranged for her to have a new identity. Adam was arrested for Skye's murder. Daisy was ordered to live with Phyllis.