SEASONAL GREETINGS!

Wouldn't it be lovely if these festive holidays when you're supposed to celebrate with family and friends didn't happen to be the exact same time of the year as bad weather, bad road conditions, and nasty colds and flus? Having been in irreparably behind, it is no surprise that I just now can sit down to this column!

The Writers Guild strike continues on--let's face it, a lot of innocent people (not necessarily writers or producers, mind you!) are suffering because of this protracted squabble. The writers are fairly well paid. The producers are nervous about any precedents they set, since negotiations with the actors and the directors are also just around the bend. But if there's money to be made, then ALL should share in the pie (and God knows in show business, at that level, there's plenty to go around). The irony is that make-up artists, set painters, crafts services folks--folks who live paycheck to paycheck in service to these folks--these are the one's who are suffering--and they won't get a piece of the pie, even when everyone is busy congratulating each other for outfoxing their opponents.

And of course, a promising TV season has been drying up and withering on the vine. Who knows when a favorite show is on, whether or not its a new episode, when it will return . . . oi! If TV is intended as an escape, it hadn't fail in its mission just now--especially as Internet and other home media have threatened its very success rate. And fewer folks are going OUT for a movie than ever, even as the prices steadily rise. So the writers and the producers are definitely risking the patience of the American public, who can be fickle when their devotion is abused.

Okay, so what's still giving me entertainment these days (when not busy at work or on future artistic endeavors)?

PUSHING DAISIES, Wednesdays, 8 pm, ABC - Visual appeal is always nice. Creative casting is invigorating. This show has both, and its gifted ensemble just gets more interesting by the episode. (The stunningly beautiful Anna Friel and the equally gorgeous Lee Pace just picked up Golden Globe nominations for their leadership--and its rare for a new show to win nominations before the first season is even up!) But Bryan Fuller, the creator of this innovative comedy/fantasy continues to find new twists in this fairy tale of pie-maker with the gift of life-and-death in his little finger. Just when you think you know where they're going or whether they're taking a shortcut, they come up with something unexpected. You get the feeling that they've decided to welcome the challenge of coming up with new variations on their "deadly" central conceit, doing so with brio! As wonderful as Friel and Pace are, this is an ensemble of scene-stealers--Chi McBride has never been better, and Kristin Chenoweth is a goddess. And then, when you think it can't get any better, Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz waltz in to pull out the ground from under you! The murder mysteries are getting increasingly witty and humorous, with spectacular guest shots from the likes of Barbara Barrie, Christopher Sieber and Grant Shaud. But audiences have already fallen in love with Raul Esparza's travelling homeopathic salesman and eagerly await his return, and anyone who's wondered about the future of Paul Reubens have had their doubts erased by his mesmeric turns as Oscar, a scent-obsessive living in the sewers who is onto the secrets of the pie-man. I really look forward to my Wednesday night fix! (For those who've missed it, go to ABC.com, where you can sample full episodes online!)

CHUCK, Mondays at 8pm, NBC--Another show that operates from a high concept (which means it could fall flat as a souffle once the inspiration is gone), CHUCK trusts the charm of its characters (and its delightful cast) to keep audiences tuning in. And they're right--we don't watch for real spy thrills but for the excitement that happens on a daily basis in the electronics outlook where Chuck and his buddies work! (I'm not kidding! The Nerd Herd is hilarious and disarming.) Zachary Levi is charming--and like Jack Benny, smart enough to know when to play straight man to the bunch of loonies surrounding him. It's a great strategy, which makes the viewer readily return its attention to the beleaguered young man in danger due to the computer information implanted in his brain. Yvonne Strahovski and Adam Baldwin are the most interested government agents to come along in a generation, and Joshua Gomez makes the annoying sidekick role a surprising treat. Until MEDIUM returns, CHUCK is the jewel in NBC's crown this season.

Next time: end-of-the-year musical treats!