Television

CHICAGO (AP) – Holding back tears, Oprah Winfrey told her studio audience Friday that she would end her show in 2011 after a quarter-century on the air, saying "prayer and careful thought" led her to her decision.

NEW YORK (AP) – Eight decades after pioneering the concept of broadcasting, NBC is on the verge of a startling move that illustrates broadcast television’s decline.

Purists might dismiss a remake of “The Prisoner” (7 p.m., AMC, TV-14) as at best unnecessary and at worst a desecration of the 1967 classic, but they’re missing the point. This “Prisoner” is really an homage to the power of “Lost,” a hit series that reaffirmed broadcasters’ faith in an audience’s ability to follow a complex and baffling story shot through with metaphor and message.

A man named Michael from New York wakes up in the desert, much to his surprise.

Has “The Office” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14) run out of ideas? Disturbing rumors about Dunder-Mifflin’s future drive Michael to peculiar and distracting behavior, leading Jim to doubt his sanity. Let’s put aside the question of why this is the first time Jim has wondered about Michael’s mental health. This is the second time in the young season that Michael has engaged in bizarre behavior to distract from unsettling rumors.

NEW YORK – David Letterman was on the receiving end of a sales pitch, not a shakedown, a defense lawyer said Tuesday as he argued that a TV producer accused of extorting the comic simply was peddling a screenplay.

The documentary series “POV” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) honors Veterans Day with “The Way We Get By.” The film looks at the troop greeters of Bangor, Maine, men and women who have been present with handshakes and encouragement for every troop plane going to or returning from combat in Iraq. Famous among the troops, these greeters have been the first and last civilian faces seen on American soil by more than 900,000 soldiers

Showbiz loves a good apocalyptic prediction – particularly one tied to a major motion-picture release. Apparently, an ancient Mayan calendar runs out of entries about three years from now, sending some experts and professional fear-mongers into a profitable tizzy.

LOS ANGELES – John Lithgow was going to pass on the chance to play serial killer vs. serial killer on "Dexter," with an Italian vacation, cruise and his son's wedding awaiting him.

The stars turn out for the very last installment of a 10th-anniversary victory lap for “SpongeBob SquarePants” (7 p.m., Nickelodeon). The one-hour “Truth or Square” special features narration by Ricky Gervais and cameos by Rosario Dawson, Will Ferrell, Craig Ferguson, Tina Fey, LeBron James, Pink, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and Robin Williams. It sounds like seating arrangement for the dais at a comedy roast. Cee-Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley offers his own take on the “SpongeBob” theme song, too.

Kirstie Alley is going to star in a new A&E reality “docu-series” about her life as a single mom and her efforts to lose weight. The network has ordered 10 half-hour episodes and will follow the actress at home with her teenage children, at work and as she launches a new weight-loss program.

Executive producer and lifelong jazz enthusiast Clint Eastwood presents “Johnny Mercer: The Dream’s On Me” (7 p.m., TCM), a profile and appreciation of one of the most prolific lyricists of the 20th century.

“America’s Funniest Home Videos” has been going to the dogs for years, even if cats make it a game from time to time.

“Styl’d” (9 p.m., MTV) pits four fledgling fashionistas against each other for the privilege of landing a job with the Margaret Maldonado Agency, a place, we’re told, that is very, very important.

Second only to Christmas in the amount of thematic series, movies and specials it inspires, Halloween remains a programmer’s delight. Few shows embraced the holiday quite like “Roseanne” (9 p.m., TV Land). From 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., TV Land will air eight classic repeats featuring the Conners celebrating the holiday with their trademark gusto.

LOS ANGELES – "Family Feud" and host John O'Hurley have upped the ante in the game show's new season, with a faster-paced opening, a new look and new prizes.

If it were a television series, it would be called “Defying the Odds.”

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Former TV game show host Bob Barker, who ended episodes of “The Price is Right” by asking viewers to spay and neuter their pets, donated $1 million to Drury University to establish a professorship on animal rights that he hopes will lead to a full undergraduate degree program.

An envelope-pushing comedy that gives one a renewed respect for envelopes, “The League” (9:30 p.m., FX, TV-MA) will have many viewers thinking, “I didn’t think they could say/do/show THAT on basic cable.” Much like its companion series “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” this new series operates in a universe where the testosterone-fueled male Id knows no bounds.

We have tampered with the forces of the universe and laughed in the face of mother nature, and now we’ve created something ugly and unholy. I’m not talking about climate change, global warming or frankenfoods, but something closer to my heart: the World Series schedule.

No actor lives up to his name like William Hurt. With few exceptions, his film roles call for him to play an upper-middle-class white man of a certain age who carries the painful burdens of the world around with him like a festering ulcer.

Last week’s “30 Rock” lampooned the notion of a critic-driven show watering down its content to appeal to a broader audience. This week, Comedy Central, home to “South Park,” “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report,” turns to a practitioner of one of the oldest traditions in comedy who just happens to be the host of the most-watched special in the network’s history.

Round about the second hour of “Monty Python: Almost The Truth” (8 p.m., IFC), a six-part documentary running nightly through Friday, Terry Gilliam says something rather interesting about pyramids.

When ratings get low, dish out the high moral dudgeon. “Law & Order” (7 p.m., NBC, TV-14) may be in its 20th season and no longer among the most-watched, but it still provides its writers and creators an interesting perch from which to comment on the decline of TV.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – The family of TV pitchman Billy Mays released the findings of an independent medical examiner Thursday, who concluded that the informercial star’s cocaine use was not a significant contributing factor in his sudden death.

NEW YORK – Those who don't know Monty Python, and don't care, have been blessed with six hours they can spend on something other than watching IFC's new documentary series.

One has to ask: Does TV animal expert Jeff Corwin ever get bitten by his subjects?

Proof that cable programming is more about imitation than imagination comes with “Alaska State Troopers” (9 p.m., National Geographic). This documentary-style series follows state police all over the vast 49th state.

Bob Barker, Shaquille O’Neal, Ozzy Osbourne, Al Sharpton and Cedric the Entertainer aren’t who you’d expect to see when turning on World Wrestling Entertainment programming. OK, maybe Ozzy.

OK, I groaned a little when I got the press material for “JFK: 3 Shots That Changed America” (8 p.m., History, concluding Monday). I thought I had seen every scrap of footage related to the Kennedy assassination far too many times.