Merrill Markoe has what may be a steady gig--she's one of the hosts of "Public Radio Weekend," a new series from the creators of the public radio series "Marketplace" which airs its pilot tomorrow afternoon on home station KPCC in Los Angeles, Minnesota Public Radio and "a select group of other public radio stations." The pilot's also available for auditioning at the show's web site (RealPlayer required). From a description of the pilot, it sounds like an update of "Monitor," NBC Radio's famous weekend magazine series of the 50s and 60s. Among the segments on the pilot: A roundtable of comics taking shots at media coverage of Iraq, Bonnie Raitt and Lyle Lovett, inside the writer's room at "The Bernie Mac Show," Peter Jennings, Penn Jillette's impersonation of Bruce Springsteen and (how appropriate) "Stupid Pet Songs," with ex-Devoer David Kendrick and Wall of Voodoo's Andrew Prieboy. Markoe's co-host is David Brown, senior producer of "Marketplace" and former anchor of the Christian Science Monitor's public radio series "MonitorRadio." There's no time frame for the pilot going to series, but the producers hope to offer a three-hour block on Saturday afternoons that stations can use as they see fit, as stations insert local segments into NPR's "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition."

On this day... October 4: in 1981, why is "The Flintstones" back on NBC in "gay ole" prime time? It's an emergency replacement when injuries on the set force "The Powers of Matthew Star" to temporarily shut down production.

Has everybody seen the Google Zeitgeist list yet? A noticeable improvement over Yahoo's tired Buzz list.

Paul Feig is interviewed on "FreshAir" Thursday. The creator of "Freaks and Geeks" has a new memoir, “Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence.” An excerpt from the book on his first kiss is on Nerve.

On Tuesday, they interviewed Joe Pantoliano who plays Ralph Cifaretto on "The Sopranos" and has a new memoir, "Who's Sorry Now: The True Story of a Stand-Up Guy."

On this day... October 3: in 1995, 107.7 million people are glued to their sets as the verdict is read in the "trial of the century," and one Orenthal Simpson is found not guilty of the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

The good people who handle publicity at the Discovery channel would like us to know that the reconstruction of King Tut's face -- documented in this story from the UK -- "is the SAME ONE that is being profiled in a one-hour documentary this Sunday, October 6 on the Discovery Channel. ... The two-hour documentary THE ASSASSINATION OF KING TUT will make its world premiere on the Discovery Channel in the U.S. this Sunday, October 6 from 9-11 PM (ET/PT)."

On this day... October 2: in 1961, on CBS, the "Password" is.

On Wednesday, most PBS stations will be showing "The Making of the Misfits" on "Great Performances." On Friday at 11:45 p.m., Turner Classic Movies will show the "The Misfits."

Walter Annenberg, who made billions off the magazine he launched, TV Guide, and then gave away as much of that money as he could to higher education and specifically the study of communications, died this morning at the age of 94. Farewell to a great man who made the most out of a great idea.

An addendum to Zen's post below about WCCO Minneapolis "sports reporter" Anne Hutchinson's Minnesota Twins locker-room antics at the Metrodome--which earned her a week's suspension at the station which still has a reputation as the most serious-minded TV news shop in the Twin Cities. Here's the original column from Minneapolis Star-Tribune gossip C.J. that forced 'CCO to suspend Hutchinson--and a subsequent letters column with most writers supporting Hutchinson (many of them from the sports talk radio/"Best Damn Sports Show Period" fratboy knucklehead school and some playing the race card--C.J.'s an African-American). Meanwhile, Gayle Gardner, Hannah Storm, Robin Roberts, Lesley Visser, Andrea Kremer and even Melissa Stark have to be wincing at this bimbo, who would be in her element next to Steve Edwards on the "Good Day LA/Live" shows.

On this day... October 1: in 1952, KPTV of Portland, Oregon, signs on full time as the first commercially licensed ultra high frequency television station, broadcasting on Channel number 27. (Although fifty years later, it's now channel 12.)

I thought Philadelphia's WPVI sending new hire and Melissa Stark clone Sarah Bloomquist into the infamous 700 Level of Veteran's Stadium during an Eagles game was a bad idea, but then I read this piece about a Minnesota reporter's innappropriate conduct after the Twins won the AL Central earlier last month.

Remember how NBC and Carson Daly reached a contract impasse a few months ago because of a holdup involving repurposing Daly's "Last Call" to cable? And then, remember how E! started airing repurposed "Last Call" episodes every weeknight? Anybody else notice that E! isn't airing those anymore?

Legendary baseball announcer Ernie Harwell called his last game Sunday and closed with a message for his radio audience, then answered reporters' questions. You can hear excerpts of him calling today's game and several past classic moments at the Detroit Tigers site. Harwell started calling games for the Tigers in 1960; he missed all of two games in his 55-year career. As the Free Press notes, "He never broadcast a perfect game. But he broadcast thousands of games perfectly." (Obligatory TV reference: Harwell was the TV announcer for Bobby Thompson's 1951 "shot heard 'round the world.")

On this day... September 30: in 1984, for some odd reason people keep dying around mystery writer / widow Jessica Beatrice Fletcher, and all her friends keep being blamed on "Murder, She Wrote."

The schedule for the first of the baseball playoff games starting Tuesday on Fox and ABC Family has been posted. And if you don't have cable, a press release on the coverage says, "The local over-the-air FOX affiliate in each participating club's home market will also broadcast all of ABC Family's Division Series telecasts." And for the first time, the games will be streamed online (but the package will only be available to people outside the United States).

Funny Emmy post-mortems from "Tonight Show" writer Jon Macks with Paul Harris on the radio this week.

Rick Reilly is the best, but this is not one of his best. Reilly's arguing that Pat Summerall and John Madden should still be calling football games together. And he presumes to judge Madden and Michaels after a month of "Monday Night" telecasts. He's far too generous in his assessment of the one, and way too stingy in evaluating the other.

National Public Radio is discontinuing distribution of Public Interest with host Kojo Nnamdi. Which means starting Tuesday, KCUR-FM and other NPR affiliates around the country are going to have to find something else. I wonder if this is a decision meant to spur distribution of the more high-profile NPR program, The Tavis Smiley Show.

Tragic news from Johnny Carson's hometown.

Earlier this week the Wall St. Journal reported a spot-on piece about Starbucks and the inconvenient little fact that they are not exactly driving independent coffee houses into bankruptcy court. Quite the opposite, in fact; indie coffee is thriving two or three doors down from their nearest Starbucks rival, which is credited with "educating" consumers about gourmet coffee. Many of these consumers eventually switch loyalties to the local guy, and everybody wins.

The Journal did much of its reporting from Kansas City, and its findings agree entirely with what I've been observing here. What the story didn't include was the extent to which Starbucks tries to be a good neighbor. Just down the street from my house, a Starbucks bought out a local juice store owner, improved their lot, and even gave money to our neighborhood association for neighborhood improvements. Unlike a number of 39th Street business owners, they keep the area in front of their storefront clean. They even give away their coffee by-products to local gardeners for composting. On a street packed with independently-owned and independent-minded restaurants and cafes, Starbucks has done its darnedest to fit in.

On Sunday, most PBS stations will be showing an adaptation of the Tony Award-winning play "Copenhagen" by Michael Frayn. Howard Davies does a good job of opening up the play which focuses on a 1941 meeting between Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr (played by Stephen Rea). It is a play about uncertainty of memory, both personal and historical.

The website has historical background, interviews with Frayn and Davies and an examination of how a scene from the play was adapted. There is extensive information related to the play on the web including Frayn's postscript to the play. After some of Bohr's letters on the meeting were released earlier this year, Frayn wrote a Post-postscript and Copenhagen Revisited. At one of a number of symposiums on the play, Heisenberg's son delivered a paper on his reactions to "Copenhagen."

On this day...September 27: in 1987, as of today there have been a total of 50 million VCRs shipped to stores, which can only mean one thing. America's movie theaters are doomed.

On this day... September 26: in 1983, Colonel Potter, Sergeant Klinger, and Father Mulcahy somehow find themselves working together at the same veteran's hospital on the debut of the can't-miss sitcom "AfterM*A*S*H."

Some people think the IKEA commercial (click on the TV to see it) directed by Spike Jonze is hilarious. I'm not one of them... but I don't understand SNL winning an Emmy for writing, either.

Michael Chiklis was interviewed on NPR Sunday morning before he won his Emmy and Tuesday's "Marketplace" did a story towards the end of the program following a location scout for "The Guardian" as he pays one woman $400 to remove a palm tree with sentimental value.

Just a thought but: Given that Kansas City's postseason hopes this year in the NFL are slim, there's a compelling reason to root for the Chiefs' opponent this weekend. The Miami Dolphins are 3-0 and clearly the most dominant team right now in pro football. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see them run the table — and finally take the wind out of the sails of those 1972 Dolphins, today a bunch of grumps who take unnatural pleasure in seeing the last undefeated team in the NFL go down each season? Wouldn't it be rich if the Bears and Dolphins met on Dec. 9 and Miami was 12-0? What's Nick Buonoconti going to do — charge into the Chicago locker room and give the team a pep talk?

"It seems that, once again, the cast of a reality TV show is not complete without a contestant who's had a drunken run-in with the cops," our friends at The Smoking Gun write. Case in point: Jed Hildebrand, a 25-year-old Texan convicted last year of DWI. Here's the paperwork plus a bonus: video of Jed's embarrassing field sobriety test.

On this day... September 24: in 1959, "Now it's time to say goodbye, to all our company M-I-C, We won't see you real soon! K-E-Y, Why? Because we're cancelled! M-O-U-S...E..." Today's is the final broadcast with Jimmy, Darlene, Cubby, Karen Sharon, Bobby Doreen, and Anette.

In my overnight pack today, two different movies from two different networks. For one, their very first made-for-TV film. For the other, the latest in a half century of longform productions. The problem is they're airing opposite each other on the same night, Sunday, October 13th. Which one do I recommend? Will it be "Gleason," starring freshly minted Emmy winner Brad Garrett as The Great One (and in answer to my question posed on the Emmy weblog, no, he doesn't appear to be wearing a fat suit)? Or will it be "Porn 'n' Chicken," a Comedy Central movie based on the actual sexploits of the Yale secret club whose meetings revolve around eating Popeye's and watching X-rated videos? Will this even be a fair fight?

Our friends at The Smoking Gun write: "You didn't think 'Real World' would start without us finding some interesting material on one of the cast members, did you?"

I don't remember reading about this in my TiVo manual: During NBC's promos for "Good Morning Miami" and other shows during tonight's Emmycast, a graphic begins blinking in the top right corner of my screen: "Press Thumbs Up to record." And I'm thinking, "But I am recording right now," but I go ahead and press the green thumbs-up button anyway. There I discover that some sort of special code has been transmitted by the NBC signal and if I press the thumbs-up button I'm agreeing to record the show appearing in the promo.

Kudos to Dan Gillmor for posting this important speech by the head of the Consumer Electronics Association. Gary Shapiro's group is throwing down its gauntlet against any attempts to restrict consumer taping and downloading. Good stuff.

OT: If you're only going to read one article pointing out how dead wrong the Bush Administration's plan to invade Iraq is, let it be this one from syndicated columnist Molly Ivins. "If you add up all the reasons the administration has advanced for going after Hussein," concludes Ivins, "the only thing left to say (is), 'Darn right, we need to take out Pervez Musharraf right now.'"