Getting excited about the office Christmas party? Well, maybe you would be if life were still like the merry, misogynistic days of yore, and it promised the kind of brandy-fueled hooking-up in the janitor's closet and ass photocopying that only exists now in back issues of Playboy. Odds are, though, you'll just be sucking down store-bought eggnog and stale cheese balls while Josh Groban's Noel plays in the background, trying vainly to talk about anything that isn't work-related with a group of people you only tolerate because your paycheck depends on it. And, hey, if that's not enough to sober you up, have a glass of Friday Buzzkills! We'll see you Monday morning, bright and early.
– Because Friday Buzzkills without a writers' strike update would be like a warm cup of cocoa without those little marshmallows–you know, the kind with poison in 'em–I'm contractually bound to report that all scripted television production has officially ended in Los Angeles. The last holdouts are ABC's midseason entry Eli Stone and the that's-still-on? dramedy October Road, which will wrap within the next two weeks, and then you're pretty much looking down the barrel of a gun loaded with American Gladiators. Speaking of which, that show's official webpage went live this week so you can go ahead and peruse their bios and pick out your favorites before the action begins. I'm kind of partial to Toa, because his "tribal garb and distinctive tattoos conjure up images of an island paradise."