The writers strike officially came to an end yesterday when writers voted overwhelmingly to accept the deal hammered out between the WGA and the AMPTP that will allow the writers to be compensated for their works sold in online marketplaces. I am so happy that these vastly undervalued scribes are now going to have a deal that is realistic going into the future and provides them some real financial security.

But now television junkies everywhere can rejoice that we will be getting some fresh content to feed our obsessions.

This is just a sample of the good things we have to look forward to in the coming months:

February 23rd Tina Fey Returns to SNL as First Post-Strike Host Liz Lemon is back on her old show! I hope she brings Jack with her for a little cameo.

April 4th Battlestar Galactica returns for its 4th season and we can finally start to find out answers to the big questions like who is the 5th Cylon and what IS Starbuck's destiny?

April 10th The Office, a show I have only come to adore within the past 2 months via Netflix and Amazon, reopens with Jim, Pam, Dwight and the rest of Dunder Mifflin. That's what she said!

April 10th 30 Rock, the other show that I fell in love with during the strike goes back on the air for 5 more episodes.

April 11th Moonlight will be back for 4 additional episodes, leaving CBS out of the danger zone of a fan driven whirlwind that really would make the Jericho fans look apathetic.

April date TBD LOST will continue, almost as if the strike never happened, with 5 additional episodes (after the initial 8 produced pre-strike wrap up) airing into June. And the island castaways will now follow the doctors of Seattle Grace when it is given a timeslot directly after Grey's Anatomy. Ugly Betty + Grey's + LOST on the same night? Could there ever be a better mix of television on the same night from the same network? I don't think so.

The only sadness in all of this for me is that 24 will not return until January 2009. I really do think this is the best move that FOX and the producers of 24 could have made. 24 is a show that does so much better when it is able to air back-to-back with no breaks. But the biggest spoiler ever in the show's history is going to make the wait seem exceedingly long and painful - Show ▼

So, what is your favorite show that is starting up again in the coming months?

Big Brother [CBS]

Big Brother 9 (7PM CST) airs again after it kicked off with a bang last night, especially for those of us with the live feeds. When they finally kicked on after the show aired on the West Coast, fights and heavy scheming were already underway. The tone of the house felt like it was week 4 and week 1.

I decided I am going to do some real Big Brother blogging this year, with screencaps and videos and separate it from this blog. The new site will be up sometime this weekend.

Source: Chip Bok @ Townhall Funnies

Of course it could be worse, Republicans could be nominating someone that has no experience, no specifics and no real plans other than ending a war we are now winning just for the sheer hell of it.

Source: Lisa Benson @ Townhall Funnies

Is there a third option? What is behind door number 3?

Big Brother [CBS]

Big Brother 9 (8PM CST), my not so secret shame, begins today. It is a rather sad fact to say that I have watched all 8 of the previous seasons in their entirety. What can I say? I began watching it when I did not have cable and there wasn't a whole lot else on that first summer and after season 2 I was beyond hooked. Big Brother has previously claimed my life for its duration but I vow this year to be different. I will only watch the live feeds a few hours per night and on the weekends. There are other greater fanatics that will put it all on YouTube and I can catch the best parts online.

Jericho [CBS]

Jericho (9PM CST) returns tonight after a nutty campaign to bring it back actually succeeded! I came to be a fan after the show was uncancelled by watching all of season 1 online at CBS where I quickly realized why the nutters had gone to such lengths. Jericho is a richly acted and well written drama of a post-apocaplytic America. The TiVo is set with a Season Pass and I am excited to watch it live for the first time.

Prison Break [FOX]

I have to catch up on Prison Break (7PM CST) in a real hurry since the writers' strike is over. This is one of the series that I was hoarding in case the strike lasted throughout the rest of this season. I wanted to ensure I had some quality stuff to watch this summer. The last episode I watched was the one after Lincoln found Sara's head in the box.

Paradise Hotel [FOX Reality]

Paradise Hotel (12AM CST) is back! This show is just so incredibly bad it is fantastic. I should feel ashamed for loving it the way that I do, but the shallowness and the raunchiness of the roommates is too good of a train wreck to pass up. I am sort of rooting for James (he's a Houstonian too), but I reserve judgment until I've seen more of him.

Jon & Kate Plus 8 [TLC]

Jon & Kate Plus 8 (8PM CST) is one of those shows that snuck up on me. I would watch it on the weekends when I had nothing else to do and now it is Must See TV. The sextuplets are hilarious to watch. And Mady (one of the twins) is so bossy, I think she is my favorite Gosselin.

Source: Mike Lester @ Townhall Funnies

Jim owes Pam a Coke for losing at Jinx. The vending machine is sold out of Cokes and Jim is rendered speechless for the day. Pam gets a Coke and has Jim buy it from her so that they can talk because she misses him.

So cute!

Two months ago I had not watched a single episode of either series. I am not usually a fan of comedies because I find them formulaic and repetitive. I've seen Friends. I don't need to see the 237th version of it. But I have read so many great things about The Office and 30 Rock and with the lack of programming during the writers' strike I wanted to see for myself just how good they were. Add in Netflix's Watch Instantly feature, recently upgraded to unlimited viewing, and how could I not?

The Office is one of the best microcosms of society. It truly does represent so many of the different personalities than inhabit offices across this country. And I must say that I am now hook, line and sinker a fan of Jam (Jim and Pam). How cute are they? I really became a fan of that coupling in the episode where Jim couldn't speak because he owed Pam a Coke. And she brought him one to buy her because she missed talking to him that day. Adorable!

And how was I not watching 30 Rock from the beginning? I love Tina Fey. She is my second favorite Weekend Updater ever on SNL. But what I was not expecting was Alec Baldwin's performance of Jack to win me over like he did. Wow!

So, I took a break from reality today and watched a lot of good television. Yes, it does exist.

Now my fingers are crossed that the membership approves the deal that that WGA negotiators worked out so we can get some more of it sooner rather than later.

So, what's next?

Well, I think it would be a good idea for all Republicans, anti-McCain or not, to read John Hawkins @ Right Wing News: A Double Edged Warning For The Conservative Media About John McCain. It is a few words of caution to the conservative media, but I think it will serve us all well to keep these things in mind.

Here's the honest truth: John McCain is not a conservative and he's not a candidate who is going to make conservatives particularly happy if he gets in the White House. Does that mean he's worse than Obama or Hillary? No, but it does mean he will disappoint and infuriate conservatives over and over again if he gets in the White House on a wide variety of issues -- and conservatives in the media should be honest enough to admit that.

If you sell people a bill of goods about McCain being a conservative, what are you going to do if he gets into office and people find out that you weren't honest with them? Where is your credibility going to be then? Think about it, tell the truth about McCain's record, and if GOP voters choose him, let them understand exactly what they're really getting.

It is very important for me that John McCain makes a good VP selection. It will be through this choice that John McCain can speak to me. He could give a thousand speeches at CPAC and I would not believe him because of his long record of acting contrary to Republican values and principles. From this point forward it will only be his actions that can alter my opinion of him. If he selects Lindsey Graham (SC) or Mike Huckabee (AR) or one of their ilk as VP then that would not be a good move. It would more than likely cause severe apathy to set in and I would not be motivated in any way whatsoever to go out and vote for him in November. However, if McCain selects someone who is an actual conservative then that may change my mind. Fred Thompson (TN), J.C. Watts (OK), or Jim DeMint (NC) would all be stellar choices. I would love to see my own Senator, John Cornyn (TX), be the VP pick but I don't think that is realistic given the McCain/Cornyn history.

John McCain is the nominee. John McCain is not a conservative. I am not thrilled with his qualifying to be our nominee on what can only be categorized as a technicality (winning 30% of the vote in most states is not much of a rallying point). But that is the reality of John McCain. I am trying to face that reality.

LOST [ABC]

Season 4 of LOST (8PM CST) continues tonight. The premiere was most excellent. My only complaint is that there was not enough Sawyer, but then again there is never enough Sawyer to suit my tastes. Tonight's episode is entitled "Cofirmed Dead". Who could this be? Naomi? Or someone else? It seems too obvious to simply be Naomi.

Eli Stone [ABC]

I was drawn into Eli's story enough last week to continue to give Eli Stone (9PM CST) space on the old TiVo. It seems quite Ally McBealish, but I happened to like that show. And Eli sort of resembles Billy Campbell, Ally's childhood love. But any show that features Victor Garber (forever known as SpyDaddy) is a show that has a place with me.