• NBC giving up on fall debuts in favor of a year round approach
• ABC talks Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, and more
• SNL is looking for
• How I Met Your Mother isn’t cancelled, just moved to a new time slot
• Dog the Bounty Hunter/Racist to return to A&E
• Another reason to goof off at work –
• Mythbusters reaches it’s 100th episode and plans more MacGyver themed episodes
• Watch Battlestar Galactica season 3 deleted scenes online
• This week’s Nuh Doy Award goes to the Washington Post

The world’s most delicious combination.

• The end of the strike is still tantalizingly close.
• Television Without Pity has a new Web TV show.
• E-Kristin has a Lost sneak peek.
• Human Giant is going on tour.
• The new Bachelor is British.
• Paris Hilton is going off the lesbian-o-meter these days, kissing Elisha Cuthbert and appearing on The L Word.
• Craig Ferguson will appear on the White House Correspondents Association dinner.
• Coming up: Mythbusters vs. MacGyver.

I feel guilty getting excited about a reality TV show in this tumultuous time for writers, but I can’t help it — Project Runway is just that good. And it premieres tonight!

Now is the time when I squeal like a little girl: It’s Joel McHale’s guest starring appearance on Pushing Daisies! There are so many things to love about Joel McHale. His impeccable comic timing. His willingness to embarrass himself. His ability to be self-deprecating but still really enjoy himself. I’m so proud he’s on “real” TV — and not only that, but the best new show of the season.

And Dirty Sexy Money is on tonight, too. I’m looking forward to it, but I’ve exceeded my daily allowance of exclamation points.

Mythbusters throws a wrench into your TiFauxing plans by extending to two hours, for some supersized myths. Luckily, Mythbusters re-airs frequently, so schedule your TiFaux carefully and you needn’t miss anything.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming: Has anyone ever watched anything on the National Geographic Channel? I’m not entirely sure we get it. But they have a slate of interesting-looking shows tonight. Topics include skinheads and people who dive into volcanoes for a living.

I’ve been really good about keeping away from Grey’s Anatomy recently, but I have to admit that I’m curious what’s going on. I even miss it a little. Not enough to go through quitting all over again, though.

Luckily I have Ugly Betty (with Posh Spice), 30 Rock (with Al Gore), and The Office (with the usual humor) to keep my mind off the cravings.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming: If you missed last night’s awesome new Mythbusters, it’s replaying tonight at 10. I probably don’t have to tell you this, but there’s a very satisfying explosion.

Yes, I am excited it’s Wednesday because of all the good TV. But I’m also excited to be back from fulfilling (enduring) my civic duty. Don’t ask me about it. Crime is not always fun like in Oceans 11.

It’s a Halloween episode of Pushing Daisies, which I’m looking forward to almost as much as the giant bag of candy I bought for the approximately zero children who ring our doorbell.

It’s gratifying that my early instinct on Dirty Sexy Money — that Brian is by far the most interesting Darling — seems to be true so far. He’s so angry and spiteful. But human.

I’m still recording Gossip Girl, but it’s not actually getting watched, as evidenced by my multi-week backlog. I would guess scandalous things are happening.

Just in time for Halloween, Mythbusters returns with some fire myths. Presumably not as a tasteless tie-in to the California wildfires.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming: A special one for Cristin — David Wright is the guest on The Daily Show tonight.

I miss summer already.

• ABC wants more Samantha Who?
• Mr. Big talks about the Sex and the City movie.
• An interview with Jensen Ackles of Smallville.
• Remember yesterday when I said the Writer’s Guild was done trying to unionize reality show writers? Nevermind.
• USA Today writes about the end of Scrubs.
• . I can’t imagine it’s possible to salvage it at this point.
• TV Squad lists the scariest TV characters of all time.
• Casting news arrives for a high-profile ensemble pilot called The Oaks.
• You can watch the online. If it’s come to that.
• The Amazing Race 12 cast has been announced.
• Mythbusters are testing to see if cockroaches can survive a nuclear attack.

In recent weeks a certain phrase has risen to #2 on the list of words people search for to get here. #1 on the list is “tifaux” which is not surprising. But #2 is now “lindsay lohan’s well-manicured lady parts” which is surprising, since a) this is not the kind of site that links to such things and 2) it’s so specific. I think MSN’s gossip column coined the phrase but I can’t say for sure. The top result on Google is someone else mystified by all you pervs. And it turns out we show up on the results list because Dan mentioned Lindsay Lohan in a funny headline once, and described a contestant’s fingernails on “Playing it Straight” as “too well manicured?” Both posts show up on the same page on “The Gays” category page. Google figures that’s close enough to a firecrotch shot.

Of course, now I’ve just made the problem worse. Oh well.

Here are the top 15 keywords:

1. tifaux
2. lindsay lohan’s well-manicured lady parts
3. casey “top chef” (We’re #56 for this search. Does Casey have a lot of time on her hands? Spoiler?)
4. soaring flying (natch)
5. tifaux “ip address” (this has been a favorite since the Tournament and all the IP Address discussion. I think it’s people trying to figure out what their Tifaux’s IP address is and not people still mad about the dirty Tournament cheaters. For me on NYC Time Warner Cable all that info is on channel 996.)
6. how tall is cj from top chef (He’s 6’8″ tall!)
7. tifaux.com
8. i hate carlos mencia (and who doesn’t?)
9. were soaring (again, no surprise here)
10. mythbusters hd (already discussed)
11. the hills season 2 episode 1
12. lindsay lohan’s well-manicured lady parts. (note the period at the end of the search. Some people make sure they use proper punctuation when searching for dirty pictures of celebrities)
13. how tall is cj on top chef (6’8″)
14. how tall is cj top chef (still 6’8″)
15. john krasinski shirtless

This week’s episode of Mythbusters had a note at the beginning claiming that it was broadcast in HD, which got me very excited. It’s been near the top of my list of shows that should be in HD ever since I got my HD TV (The Wire
is at the very top). So imagine my surprise when Discovery HD Theater showed no trace of Mythbusters in its lineup. Apparently I’m not alone and quite a few of you have been coming to TiFaux looking for answers. I have answers, but I don’t have good news.

It seems there are now two Discovery HD channels. The old “Discovery HD Theater” home of HD favorites like Sunrise Earth, and the new “Discovery HD” which is a simulcast of the regular Discovery channel but with HD programming when available. Like the broadcast channels do it. The channel launched on Wednesday and is currently only available to Dish Network subscribers. I can only assume that keeping Mythbusters off Discovery HD Theater is a bargaining ploy to get other cable companies to cough up the dough for the extra channel.

As an extremely reluctant Time Warner subscriber, I hope they add Discovery HD soon. Dish Network is looking very tempting.

If you’re feeling the summer blues and hoping to find something to look forward to, Futon Critic has started reviewing the pilots. I don’t always agree with their assessments — and I plan on completely ignoring their Viva Laughlin post when it appears, as no amount of criticism, or the show itself, will ever make me stop watching — but it’s fun to get a sense of what things might work and what isn’t worth the time of day. And just for fun they include a rejected pilot, too.

So last night I watched The Closer. It was a nice little House/Law & Order/Monk-ish mash-up. The mystery plot was barely a challenge to anyone who’s ever seen a television show or watched a movie (though I may be spoiled by our girl Veronica), and Brenda’s snacking fetish was suffocatingly cutesy, but the dialogue wasn’t half bad, and I liked her fish-out-of-water, sweet-talking tough broad persona. It’s hardly what I would call necessary viewing, but for a lazy Wednesday night, it kept my interest. And J.K. Simmons is great in thankless part; I hadn’t realized he was on the show, otherwise I might’ve caught it earlier.

I didn’t manage to cobble together This Week on the TiFaux (don’t worry, nothing’s on), but I’d like to point out that Mythbusters is new tonight. I know this may come as a shock to regular viewers, but the myths they’re tackling tonight have to do with explosions.

Anyone watching anything worthwhile?

Back in the good old days

Lost has been great lately, don’t you think? They’re still finding interesting ways for the characters to bond together or break apart, and for the menacing shadowy conspiracy to be explained and not explained at the same time. As I may have said before (and possibly stole from someone else), watching the show is like unraveling a sweater that’s being knit from the other end. Sometimes frustrating, but most of the time it makes for good surprises. Tonight’s episode focuses on Sun and Jin and their miracle baby.

The Mythbusters take on ninja myths, which are almost as good as pirates. Still crossing my fingers for the wizards and dragons.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming: This one’s for Cristin — RSPCA: Have You Got What It Takes?, on Animal Planet. The title of this show may be trying a little too hard.