Everyone is reading Jason Zinoman's excellent profile of just-fired Letterman comedy booker Eddie Brill and calling this graf the smoking gun:

"Among some comics 'Late Show' has a reputation for favoring a certain profile. 'The types they seem to like are middle-aged white men from the Midwest,' the comic Amy Schumer said. Only one woman (Karen Rontowski) was booked in 2011. 'There are a lot less female comics who are authentic,' Mr. Brill said. 'I see a lot of female comics who to please an audience will act like men.'"

But this is probably what got him canned:

"But there are also questions about conflicts of interest, particularly since only 22 comics, including Bill Cosby, Jerry Seinfeld and less famous performers, were lucky enough to get segments last year, and comedians presumably take his classes hoping for an edge in getting on the show. 'He trades on the name of the show,' the young comic Anthony Jeselnik said. 'He has workshops, a festival. He has the market cornered. I can’t believe Letterman lets him do it.'"

However, Stillerman spent plenty of time being contrite about reaction to the loose ends left at the finale of the first season of "The Killing" last year.

"I want you to know that we learned a lot from your response to season one," Stillerman said. "We heard you, and we clearly didn't sufficiently manage expectations."

Stillerman said that the resolution of the Rosie Larsen murder set up in the series premiere would be revealed at the end of season two, then added, "Be nice," when the assembled media chuckled.

"As you may recall, the two-season arc is taken directly from the very successful Danish series, which also ended season one with a cliffhanger and solved the murder at the end of season two," Stillerman said.

"You should also know that after we saw the reaction to season one, AMC potentially explored veering away from the Danish template. We looked at all our options, and thought about whether we could conclude the story early in the season or at other points. But at the end of the day and after significant discussion, we decided that in order to do justice to the story we fell in love with in the first place ... resolving the murder at the end of season two was the best creative option."

Perhaps appropriately, "The Killing" second-season premiere will be April Fool's Day.

The long-awaited fifth season of "Mad Men," which hasn't aired a new episode since 2010, will launch at 9 p.m. before settling into its 10 p.m. slot the following week after the second season of "The Killing" unfolds. "Killing" will normally air at 9 p.m.

"The Walking Dead" had its third season extended to 16 episodes, up from 13. "The Walking Dead" is returning with a new episode Feb. 12, followed by the premiere of unscripted series "Comic Book Men" exec produced by Kevin Smith.

Taking on the role of Sarah Palin in HBO's latest presidential election film venture, "Game Change" (premiering March 10), was every bit as risky for Julianne Moore as you can imagine.

"I did a tremendous amount of research," Moore said at the Television Critics Assn. press tour In Pasadena today. "It's a daunting task to play somebody who's not only a living figure but an incredibly daunting one, so the thing that was most important to me was accuracy." 

Moore said that she, like much of the rest of the country, had "a collective gasp" when Palin was introduced to the national stage, but she necessarily had to move beyond that when playing the part.  

"I certainly have profound respect for the historical nature of her candidacy," Moore said. "From where she was taken there was tremendous amount of pressure, and that was one of the things I was trying to capture." 

For most Americans, especially those who haven't read the film's source material of the same name (written by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann), the impact of that pressure on Palin herself might come as a surprise.  But screenwriter Danny Strong, adapting the book after having success on HBO's "Recount," said that the film's goal isn't to present a new Palin, just a dimensionalized one. 

"It's not designed to change anybody's minds," said Strong, who added that his 25 interviews for the project included every critical person associated with the 2008 Republican presidential campaign except Palin, John McCain (played by Ed Harris) and speechwriter Mark Salter. "It's designed to show you the truth. 

"When you dive into a subject the way you do (on "Game Change"), you get a perspective that is so much more profound than the caricature."  

The combination of Palin's charisma and her lack of preparation for the role gets nuanced treatment in "Game Change," which also stars Woody Harrelson and Sarah Paulson and is directed by "Recount" helmer Jay Roach -- though the filmmakers would have liked Palin's participation in the project. 

"I personally on behalf of the (movie) reached out to Sarah Palin and made a personal request," Roach said. "I wrote a long letter explaining that I thought we would just do better at getting this story right if she would talk to us, and that our main motive was to try to tell the story as faithfully and authentically as we possibly could.

"I got a very quick e-mail back from her attorneys saying, 'I checked. She declines.' 

This presidential election year threatens a risk of political comedy overload, particularly with "The Colbert Report" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" operating at full-throttle, but it looks like you'd better make room in April for "Veep," starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as vice president Selina Meyers and exec produced by Armando Iannucci of savvy British film comedy "In the Loop."

In some ways, folks involved are positioning "Veep" as the anti-"West Wing." Though they are striving for authenticity, the halcyon days of Pres. Bartlett are behind.

"I love 'The West Wing,' but I think that portrayal of Washington as a good and noble heartland wouldn't wash right now," the Glasgow-born Iannucci said at the show's press session at the Television Critics Assn. winter gathering in Pasadena today.

"You don't need a political degree to watch. ... We never mention the party; we never name the president. It's not about the minutiae of policy, it's about how people operate in these circumstances."

Louis-Dreyfus seems well at ease in and with her role, which offers a combination of idealism and pragmatism, ego and humility.

"Her platform isn't phony," Louis-Dreyfus said. "She does have a desire to have a clean jobs task force, as we call it, but she does have to make some compromises. She doesn't  have a phony set of ideals, but she wants to stay alive as a political animal."

Not a week goes by--OK, a day--where my wife and I fail to fight over what we should be watching on the TV in our living room. Sure, there's other screens in my home where I could skulk off and watch "Lady Hoggers" all by my lonesome, but that kind of defeats the whole togetherness thing that kinda comes with couplehood.

Little did I know Samsung has come up with an ingenious solution to save my marriage and countless others, no doubt. 

If you've paid any mind to the Consumer Electronics Show wrapping up in Las Vegas, you've probably heard about the organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, monitors that have a clarity and color palette that make HD look downright fuzzy. What's been virtually ignored is a feature Samsung wants to bring to market on those sets.

It's very simple: Imagine if two different people could watch two different TV shows on the same set at the same time without split-screen.

Samsung has a pair of active shutter glasses with speakers embedded in them that can do just that. You and your significant other can sit next to each other on the couch and be looking at two completely different HD video feeds simultaneously. The glasses not only block one program of your choosing while absorbing another, but the speakers right by your ears mean you're not hearing another program either.

Talk about doing a doubletake: I saw a demonstration of the so-called "dual-view and dual-sound" technology on a tour of the Samsung booth this week. Looked at with the naked eye, you see the image of one video feed superimposed over the other. But that visual mess gets cleaned up once the glasses are on your head without a trace of "crosstalk," when one image blurs into the next.

Just imagine households across the nation with husband and wife sitting calmly hand in hand watching ESPN and Bravo in tandem. Now if Samsung could just do something about my wife's choice of radio stations in the car, it might be time to consider nominating the company for the Nobel Peace Prize.

At this point, Stephen Colbert doesn't just make better speeches than half the candidates in the Republican primary, he has more presidential campaign experience.

On Wednesday evening, the comedian ran a clip on "The Colbert Report" of Fox News's Shepard Smith informing Jon Huntsman that he was polling behind Colbert in the latter's home state of South Carolina. In a Public Policy Polling survey, which included Colbert on the strength of his showing as a write-in candidate, the comic earned a full 5% of the vote, beating out the former Utah governor, who has trailed his fellow GOP hopefuls in nearly every poll.

“Everyone in the Republican field has already had their ‘I’m not Mitt’ moment,� Colbert said after the clip finished. “It all makes so much sense - I am so not Mitt!" He paused, so viewers could take a look at Romney's face next to his own clean-shaven, square-jawed, perfectly coiffed countenance. "I’m the one with the glasses,� he clarified.

Colbert went from wonky satirist to semi-official politician last year. After the landmark Citizens United vs. the FEC ruling, which created a special kind of "super" political action committee that can accept unlimited funding without disclosing its sources to the public, he set out to found a super PAC of his own. In June, he announced that the Federal Election Commission had given him permission to form The Stephen Colbert Super PAC, a.k.a. Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.

The PAC allowed Colbert to receive unlimited donations from any group except Viacom, Comedy Central's parent company - and then to use that money to endorse whatever candidate it chose, so long as it didn't "coordinate" with that candidate. In part, the super PAC is a joke designed to point out the flaws in a political system that allows it to exist. It's had real-world effects, however - the FEC's scrutiny of Colbert's PAC set precedent, making it against FEC rules for, say, News Corp to fund Karl Rove's super PAC Crossroads GPS, since Rove is on the News Corp payroll as a Fox News contributor just as Colbert is employed by Viacom.

On Thursday evening, Colbert transferred ownership of his super PAC to Jon Stewart, who sent out an email to PAC contributors requesting that they now refer to the group as The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC. ("They have already begun updating all of their letterhead with sharpie," the email assures)

This frees up Colbert to form an exploratory committee to seek the presidency, but it also means that money the PAC has been using for joke ads (and the occasional anti-Rick Perry attack ad, after Perry ran the now-infamous "Strong" spot, which appeared to blame gay servicemen for the ban on school prayer) can now actually be used to promote a Stephen Colbert presidency. It's administrated by Stewart, funded by viewers who are in on the joke, and might actually be wealthy enough to see Colbert through a primary or two, because nobody outside the PAC knows exactly how much money is in the thing.

Colbert ran for president in 2008, first as a Republican, then as a Democrat when he discovered that he would be subject to stricter FEC regs if he paid the $35,000 fee to be listed on the ballot (FEC excuses candidates who spend less than $5K from the committee rules on the grounds that they are merely "testing the waters"). The S.C. Democratic Party executive council refused to include Colbert's name on the ballot and refunded his money - a $2,500 fee - and that was the end of his campaign.

Now, as Colbert sets up his South Carolina campaign, we'll see a whole new set of regulatory minutiae aired. Can Stewart pay Colbert's $35,000 ballot fee without "coordinating" with him? Can the PAC run the entire campaign without Colbert having to lift a finger to buy more than a round of non-coordinative thank-you beer for Stewart?

Colbert has upped the ante with his super PAC, and now he and Stewart are basically daring the FEC to shut them down and, in the process, kneecap every other candidate who relies on soft money funneled through what we used to call shell companies.If Colbert and Stewart ARE found to be in violation of FEC regs and set precedent for every other campaign, they'll have won a major political victory.

If they don't...

Hell, I'd vote for him.

Full email from the Colbert Super PAC:

Dear Super PAC Super Members, 
Hi there. I'm Jon. It looks like I'm running this thing now. All the details are in the press release below. Quick question: does anybody know where the key to the Super PAC bathroom is? 
Thanks, 
Jon Stewart President Pro Tem Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow 

FOR REALLY IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Under New Management!

BASIC CABLE, USA – Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, an FEC registered Super PAC, today announced the addition of Jon Stewart to its executive board (along with the subtraction of Stephen Colbert). 
With this change the group, which had been known colloquially as Colbert Super PAC, can now be referred to as The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC. They have already begun updating all of their letterhead with sharpie. 
"I am excited to take the reins of this completely independent organization, and begin to air ads in South Carolina," said New President and Noncommunication Director Jon Stewart. "But I want to be clear: Stephen and I have in no way have worked out a series of morse-code blinks to convey information with each other on our respective shows." 
Colbert is currently exploring a run for President of the United States of South Carolina. Because of this, he cannot be associated with any Super PACs, although he has asked Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow to forward any periodicals of an "adult nature." * 
Americans A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow is an independent, expenditure-only committee founded by Stephen Colbert in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, then handed down to Jon Stewart like a pair of old dungarees. 
### 
For Press Inquiries Contact:

Alberto Rèalnamè

Communications Director, Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC

alberto.realname@colbertsuperpac.com 

* Including the periodical "Adult Nature". 

 
Paid for by Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

www.colbertsuperpac.com

Got a copy of Jenni "Jwoww" Farley's "The Rules According to Jwoww" in the mail and thought I'd quote its best passage, in terms of both literature and utility:

"The publisher and author advocate safety when it comes to drinking and sex and specifically disclaim any and all liability for outcomes, consequences, and damages (including property damage, physical injury, or death) that may occur as a result of attempting any of the activities described in this book."

Former CNBCer Trish Regan made the jump to Bloomberg TV last month. It's not a conventional move, in many respects - most correspondents and anchors working within the NBC family try to move up the ladder at that org, or head over to one of the big cable nets or the broadcast competition. Bloomberg TV doesn't have the ratings footprint of CNBC (it doesn't subscribe to Bloomberg and is assumed to be quite small), but it has a much larger newsgathering operation. And that, for Regan, was the clincher. Today, she starts work on the relaunch of "Street Smart," produced by fellow CNBC vet Jason Farkas.

[Please note: some of my own questions are slightly paraphrased in order to make the coversation read more clearly. Ums, ahs, ers, and hmms are deleted on everyone's part, mostly mine. Regan's comments are verbatim, or as close to it as I can get]

Variety: Does it feel to you like people are paying closer attention to business news now than they have in the past?

Regan: Here's what I'd say about that: Americans have an appetite for finacial news that is unprecendented right now. They want to understand what's going on right now and they want to know when the employment rate is going to go down.

Variety: So it's important to keep an eye on everything, if you can.

Regan: Yes. I think another aspect of my personality is that I'm very interested in both micro and macro economics and linking the two. I don't think you can look at a particular stock, for example, without talking about the sector and what it's saying about the economy as a whole.

Variety: Do you think people will get more interested in the economy as the campaign moves forward?

Regan: The horse race is very interesting; people vote their pocketbooks, and it's going to come down to who they believe has the best economic policy. [For a reporter,] it's an opportunity to really scrutinize at a very detailed level. That's the responsible thing to do as a journalist; as a financial journalist, that's the skill set that I bring to the table. [...] I'm going to do a new segment on the show called Reganomix, to sort of mix it up and talk about these different policies.

Variety: It sounds like fun, honestly.

Regan: Maybe I'm a bit of a wonk and a dork, but I really enjoy it. In an election year, we're looking at everything through an economic lens. Just look at this past year, all the volatility was incredible, and we ended up at exactly the same point at the end of the day. All the concerns came from the downgrade of the US debt, and [the question of] what's going to happen next in Europe.

Variety: Do you sort of wish people had been paying closer attention to business news a few years ago? I remember reading, "the housing market will probably crash, yup, it's gonna crash, whoops, it's crashing, now it's crashed." And people said, "How could we have foreseen this?!"

Regan: I gotta say, as much research as I was doing back then, and as concerned as I was in 2005, I don't think people knew how bad it could get. This is the worst-case scenario, and rarely does that happen. It was very interesting going through all of that, and now we're almost seeing the sequel to that movie with Europe.

Variety: So we have an opportunity to learn from it?

Regan: When you look at what happened - what are the policies that took place that helped us? What policies didn't work? And frankly, European leaders need to understand it right now. We've seen a version of this movie before.

Variety: How did you get started in journalism?

Regan: I have a strong background in journalism - my Mom was a reporter and I used to go out with her in the field when I was five years old. One thing I want to do with this show is take it outside the studio. I want to understand not just the leaders, but what the people are experiencing as well.

Keith Olbermann tweets: "FYI taking preplanned vacation this week; now w/ matter resolved I'll be working during it planning the rest of my Current campaign coverage"

David Carr chronicles the discontent between Olbermann & bosses here, Olbermann tweeted after the column ran (presumably to stick it to the NYT, with whom he's been in a frankly embarrassing Twitter spat after Brian Stelter broke the Olbermann/Current standoff story last week) that he WOULD, honest to gosh, be working on Current coverage of New Hampsire.

For the entire tempest, head over the teapot.

The new year brings a new strategic path for Netflix, which announced Tuesday the launch of its first original series next month. "Lilyhammer," a Netflix co-production with Norwegian companies Rubicon Tv AS and SevenOne International, is an eight-episode series starring Steve Van Zandt as a mobster who enters the witness-protection program. Hiding out in the Norwegian city the winter Olympics made famous, he finds himself resorting to his old ways to make a new life for himself.

From the looks of the trailer, it's as if Van Zandt is practically revisiting his "Sopranos" character, but crossing it with the plot of that forgotten Steve Martin comedy "My Blue Heaven" and the setting of the Al Pacino drama "Insomnia." With a thick rug of jet black hair, Van Zandt even look likes Pacino, though this is played for laughs. "Lilyhammer" will be the first of a series of originals Netflix will trot out over the next few years, including the adaptation of BBC drama "House of Cards" and the revival of the Fox comedy "Arrested Development."

After the disastrous decisions that damaged its business in the final months of 2011, it could be just the thing Netflix needs to put some distance between that rough period and a bright, shiny future. BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield certainly thinks Netflix is moving in the right direction. In a research note (subscription required) issued Tuesday, praise of the strategy led a list of 12 trends he predicted would remake the media world in 2012: "We expect Netflix’s push into original programming to be a positive surprise for investors in 2012 and expect it to create a new form of 'buzz' around the Netflix brand that has been missing since the serious missteps of Q3 2011."

Never mind that ABC hasn't yet given returning comedy "Cougar Town" a launch date this season. Executive producer Bill Lawrence has already begun a promotional campaign that is hoping to get a grass-roots buzz going for the series both online and off.

Lawrence took to Twitter on Monday to announce plans to help the ratings for "Cougar Town," which is heading into a third season that's already seen its episode order cut down.

Lawrence and fellow producer Kevin Biegel are orchestrating a series of screenings of new episodes around the country that will begin Dec. 27 in Atlanta, Louisville, Ken. and Sarasota, Fla. There will be at least one regular cast member and writer at every venue, and prizes will also be handed out. More screenings will be announced in other cities in January. (For info on how to get invited, check Lawrence's Twitter feed).

In case you didn't figure out that Lawrence is planning this himself, he cleared the air via Twitter: "No, these are not ABC events. They're 'Bill and Kevin are idiots' events."

In addition, Lawrence is loading up his fan page on Facebook with video content, where he apparently hopes to also mine his own TV history as creator of "Scrubs," "Clone High" and "Spin City" to cross-pollinate those fan bases to his current show. He's also posted an introductory video of himself walking through his future plans.

Think of all this as pragmatist's promotional strategy: Lawrence knows a series that gets tacked onto the network's schedule late in the season isn't likely to get much marketing support. And even if it did, every little bit helps. If Lawrence does it right, watch every showrunner worth their salt try something similar to improve their odds in the always dicey business of primetime TV.

10) Sons of Anarchy
Much improved over season three, “Sons� brought its angst back to Charming this time around, and it was nice to have the boys on their home turf. Creator Kurt Sutter’s motorcycle club melodrama knows how push all the right buttons — sometimes too safely, however — and special kudos to Maggie Siff, who knows Tara is in way too deep to ever find that normal life she’s been longing for. Her Michael Corleone-like diatribe against Gemma in the penultimate episode might have been the season’s crowning moment.

9) Modern Family
Two Emmys later, it’s probably not in vogue to say how good “Modern Family� remains. Yet, the series continues to be as funny as ever, anchored by the incredible Ty Burrell. Sure, when you’re creating 22 episodes a season, there’s a handful that might not reach a very highly set bar, but even a mediocre “Modern Family� will bring a few hearty laughs and is clearly worth the time investment.

8) Homeland
Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin and Damian Lewis can make any ordinary script better, but the material here is already top notch. From “24� vets Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, “Homeland� taps into fears of another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, and provides audiences with how our governmental agencies have the awesome responsibility of keeping us safe — but often let politics get in the way. Sixteen years since the end of the short but brilliant “My So-Called Life,“ how wonderful it is to see Danes delivering her immense talents for a TV series once again.

7) Parks and Recreation
Admittedly, I almost never came back to Pawnee after a very erratic first season. After reading how the show turned around, however, I dove back in and now I can’t even imagine missing even a single episode. Whether it’s Ron Swanson flicking meat particles out of his moustache or Leslie trying to balance her work and social life, the humor is both slapstick and sweet. And when Ron pays for and encourages a penniless Andy to take college courses, the well-earned sincerity can make a grown man weep.

6) Treme
If a show as vast as the entire city of New Orleans can be considered under the radar, then “Treme� fits the bill. Those who don’t watch, however, are missing a wonderful quilt of performances — from veteran Wendell Pierce’s dizzying jigsaw of skirt chasing, band leading and teaching music to the city’s youth, to the wonderful Lucia Micarelli‘s Annie, a spectacular violinist trying to find a big break that will move her from Bourbon Street to Carnegie Hall.

5) Friday Night Lights
This actually been might have been higher on the list, but only six episodes aired in 2011 on DirecTV. It was tearfully difficult to say goodbye to Coach and Tami and all who inhabited Dillon over the five-year run. The series ended on a perfect note, with some characters realizing their high school glory days may ultimately be the crowning moment of their lives while others aim to reach far beyond the confines of Texas prep football.

4) Boardwalk Empire
For anyone who watched the first two seasons of this great Prohibition-era feast and remained on the fence, the last two episodes should have quickly ended any doubt. As in “Game of Thrones,� HBO wasn’t shy about killing off a main character if that’s what the storyline dictated. For those who believed Steve Buscemi didn’t have the heft in taking on the role of Atlantic City kingpin Nucky Thompson, creator Terence Winter had no such doubts, and has been proven correct.

3) Justified
Granted, Timothy Olyphant is perfect at the center of the Kentucky storm, but it’s the supporting players that elevate “Justified� week after week. This season, Margo Martindale filled the bill as the matriarch of a moonshine-making hillbilly clan who tried to keep her knuckleheaded sons in line. Walton Goggins brought his usual chameleon-like ways to Boyd Crowder, who never quite revealed his true motivation to anyone.

2) Breaking Bad
The show has come so far since meth-making Walter White yearned to make some extra cash for his family. It could have long ago fallen off its initial promise, but showrunner extraordinaire Vince Gilligan would never let that happen. With Walter alternately scheming between trying not to get killed and knock off Gus (the superb Giancarlo Esposito) at the same time, “Breaking Bad� — with its dramatic flashbacks and pitch-pefect tone — remained absolutely riveting.

1) Louie
What makes a show great is that, week after week, you simultaneously know what to expect and expect to be wowed. Yet, it was the unexpected that made “Louie� my top choice for 2011. Labeled a comedy, one week the series could provide belly laughs while the following week’s episode felt like a treatise on war, health care or homelessness. And, to top it off, I dare anyone to find a cuter TV couple than Louie and Pamela Adlon. The thought of waiting a day, or even an hour, to watch “Louie� after its initial airing was almost too much to bear.

The second 10 honorable mention (in alphabetical order)
The Big Bang Theory
Bored to Death
Curb Your Enthusiasm
The Good Wife
The Hour
The Killing
New Girl
Parenthood
Raising Hope
Wilfred