Wanna spend the weekend with Woody Allen? That documentary we first mentioned in August is finally going to air on PBS starting this weekend, all three and a half hours of it. Allen hasn't historically been the most revealing public figure, so the American Masters documentary is pretty unprecedented, and it seems Allen only agreed to it because his longtime pal Robert Weide (the director of it) convinced him. more ›

Is it time for SpongeBob to move to Adult Swim? According to a report [PDF] entitled "The Effect of Fast-Paced Cartoons" in the American Academy of Pediatrics's journal, four-year-olds who watched 9 minutes of SpongeBob SquarePants performed significantly worse in mental function tests than those who watched "educational television" like PBS's Caillou. However, those who watched PBS described being "so bored my eyes hurt real bad" and had an unslakable thirst for complimentary tote bags. more ›

Much to the chagrin of science nerds across the country, PBS has announced that they will be adding commercial breaks to their programming this fall, starting with Nature and Nova. So much for your uninterrupted viewing pleasure. more ›

Yesterday, outgoing NPR executive Ron Schiller resigned after conservative gadfly James O'Keefe released one of his hidden camera exposes, this one documenting Schiller calling the "tea party people" not "just Islamophobic, but really xenophobic, I mean basically they are, they believe in sort of white, middle-America gun-toting. I mean, it's scary. They're seriously racist, racist people." Of course, you're not allowed to point out the obvious in certain situations, so NPR apologized and forced the guy out early. And now NPR's CEO, Vivian Schiller (no relation), has also resigned over the incident of candid truth-telling. more ›

If you've ever stepped foot in the East Village, you've probably seen Jim Power's work. Bedazzled around lamp posts and trash cans, his art has been brightening up the neighborhood since Avenue A was adventurous, B was brave, C was crazy and D was deadly. Now Elvis Maynard, a film student at Hunter College, has made a documentary both honoring Jim's work and following the ever-controversial change that has come to the neighborhood in the past years. At his peak, Jim had over 65 lamp posts decorated in the city, though he never got funding for his work. He describes his trail of mosaics as "a nice thing people would enjoy and it would make people feel good." The film also has a chance to be aired on PBS on Saturday night, so go vote for it! [Via EV Grieve] more ›

Recently we had a chance to visit the Brooklyn home that is the first New York City project to be featured on This Old House. The Prospect Heights house, built in 1904 and "designed in the Renaissance Revival style by architect Axel Hedman," has its own project page on the TOH website, and before homeowners Karen Shen and Kevin Costello purchased it, the 4,000 square foot structure was a rundown boarding house. This Old House producer Deborah Hood explained why the show picked the Shen/Costello home:

At This Old House, we probably considered about a dozen properties in Brooklyn, and scouted a few in places like Boerum Hill (where I got flea bites from touring an abandoned rowhouse) and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens (where we found charming, small rowhouses protected by single-family zoning). But, ultimately, we were drawn to the neighborhood of Prospect Heights, because unlike neighboring Park Slope where most houses have already been renovated, our area still has lots of properties that need attention and preservation... more ›

As mentioned, yesterday we found ourselves on Sesame Street, where even the sunny days couldn't sweep the rain clouds away—but Elmo & Co. sure made it all seem a little bit brighter. Speaking of the lil red guy, he had a message for you all: more ›

Exciting news for homeowners: for the first-time ever, This Old House is coming to New York City. Bob Vila Kevin O'Connor & Co. are currently looking for a home to renovate in the area ("a great old house in need of help, with plenty of things to save and update"). Some more details on what they're looking for:

The project's scope must be "just right"— not a whole house, but more than just a kitchen. The renovation must be completed in about 4 to 5 months, with construction beginning as early as August and finished by December. The ideal project should already be underway with design plans and have the ability to be “fast-tracked.”

Residents of Washington Heights and the Lower East Side may be noticing some production crews in their 'nabe this week, as filming begins for the redux of PBS's The Electric Company, which ended its series in 1977. more ›

After spending a few weeks this month as Mr. Hyde groveling for money with unwatchable schmaltz, PBS is back to its normal self doing the kind of meaningful important programming it does well like long form current affairs documentaries. True, the interchangeable Celtic singers and self help yackers may keep the stations on air, but having in depth looks at the issues of the day is more important, especially with an ongoing war and presidential election and nobody else on television is really doing it. more ›

A new PBS show called A Little Bit of Brooklyn, that presents the borough's cultural nuggets, premieres today on WLIW. Hosted by Cobble Hill foodie Terry Corraro, the first episode features the Gubernats, a Polish family from Greenpoint, who keep their cultural traditions alive each Easter by carving a lamb out of butter, baking a lamb-shaped cake, making intricate paintings on eggs with wax, and cooking up a fine feast of white borscht. Greenpoint is home to the second largest Polish population in the United States (the largest is in Chicago). But as the Brooklyn Paper reported earlier this month, the neighborhood is quickly getting caught up in the trend toward homogeneity. more ›

The British motoring series Top Gear (Monday, 8:00 p.m., BBC America) has a world wide following and happens to be one of the funniest shows on television. It's sort of a combination of Monty Python, Mythbusters, Motorweek, and a talk show all rolled into one crazy hour of British madness with three crazy British hosts. This week, they add beautifully filmed travelogue and a bit of road movie to the mix as they journey to Africa. more ›

Fox’s New Amsterdam (Tuesday, 9:00 p.m., WNYW 5) sounds like a mashup of Pocahontas and Forever Knight, but with out the animation or the vampires. The story for this new series starts in 1642 when a Dutch soldier (Danish import Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) saves a Native American girl and is given the gift/curse of immortality and not ageing until he finds his true love. Fast forward to today and that soldier is now NYPD homicide detective John Amsterdam, who now has to deal with a new partner (British import Zuleikha Robinson). more ›

Part of the NBC 2.0 philosophy has been to put cheap programming on air as a measure to cut corners and save money. Even before the writers' strike this has meant a string of programs that are “unscripted,” such as cheesy game shows and of course the requisite fakeality nonsense. So taking quarterlife, a Web 2.0 based online show/online community from the creators of thirtysomething, My So-Called Life, and Once and Again, and sticking it on TV doesn’t seem like a big stretch. more ›

Cuban president Fidel Castro resigned his position after nearly 50 years of rule. The 81-year-old Castro has been battling illness since 2006, notably turning over power to his brother Raul and other ministers temporarily. Though he was still ruling after his 2006 surgery, Castro was little seen. Now it is expected that Castro's resignation positions Raul Castro, 76, in line for the presidency. more ›

Thankfully NBC’s new version of the classically cheesy 1980s show Knight Rider (Sunday 9:00 p.m., WNBC 4) is not a remake, but a continuation of the old in this two hour movie/back door pilot. Of course, this means there are some changes, such as the presence of David Hasslehoff being reduced to a cameo, the two leads are ex-soap stars (the way the Hoff was), and horror of horrors KITT isn’t a Trans Am anymore thanks to a deal between NBC and Ford that product places a Mustang as the talking car (and Trans Ams aren't made anymore anyway). It has all the makings, save for being relatively Hoff-free, of being so bad it is good. more ›

After a successful save the show campaign by fans involving sending tons of nuts to CBS, Jericho returns for a second season Tuesday night (10:00 p.m., WCBS 2), with the first of seven second season episodes. We should note that CBS only made a seven episode commitment to the show, in a move that seems more like hedging their bets instead of anything that has to do with the WGA strike. more ›

Director of the legendary hip-hop documentary Style Wars, Tony Silver, died last weekend after battling an irreversible brain condition for several years. more ›

Grand Central Terminal gets the full PBS American Experience treatment with this documentary from filmmaker Michael Epstein (Monday & Thursday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13). The one hour film traces the history of the terminal, its construction and its impact on New York and the rest of the world. Expect tales of robber barons, dead commuters, and of course fawning over an architectural treasure. more ›

We already covered the Super Bowl half time show alternatives, but what if you're not a football fan or your team didn’t make it? What if you don’t want to sit through a football game to watch commercials or if you hate Joe Buck and Troy Aikman? Well, don’t worry, there are some television alternatives for you if you don’t want to watch either the game or the countless hours of pre-game shows. more ›

LECTURE SERIES: The Nation forges on with their series of Tuesday evening lectures tonight. Nation columnist and Columbia Law professor Patricia J. Williams will be on hand to discuss her montly "Diary of a Mad Law Professor" column. Expect to examine the law in whole new light. more ›

Lost is back this week! We are hoping that the fourth, albeit strike-shortened, season will answer some more questions and hopefully be less confusing. Plus, when the season starts on Thursday night (9:00 p.m., WABC7) it means one less hour of strike filler. more ›

Darren Starr’s Sex in the City like Cashmere Mafia was set to debut at the end of November, but was put off due to the writers' strike. So don’t get too attached to this series, since there appears to be only seven episodes produced of the 13 ordered. more ›

We interviewed hundreds of people this year, from long-time rockers to the designer of New York’s subway map. Here are a few conversations you may have missed:

• On the day Radiohead’s In Rainbows was released exclusively online, musician Jonny Greenwood talked about the “experiment.” more ›