jon and kate

It's been said it would happen over and over and over and over again, but it finally looks like the merciful end is finally near.

An attorney for Jon Gosselin says his client's divorce could be final by as early as next month.

That giant breeze that just blew through your window wasn't the cold winter Christmas weather. It was the collective sigh of relief of an entire country.

As Barbara Walters prepares to show viewers her annual list of the 10 Most Fascinating People of the Year (pictured, featuring Lady Gaga and Walters) in a special airing tonight, we realized that TV gives far too much airtime to people at the other end of the spectrum. With that thought, here are the year's 10 least fascinating people on TV. Let's all try to make it a New Year's resolution that we won't be talking about these people's overexposure again a year from now.

Call it a sign of a successful show or the end of an unmitigated disaster, but the reign of Jon & Kate is officially over and joy has replaced tyranny in the universe.

In short, TLC's newest reality hit Cake Boss has officially taken over the coveted 9 p.m. slot on Mondays vacated by Satan's favorite show, Jon & Kate Plus 8.

For those of you who have not left your cave in the last month, Jon & Kate officially left the airwaves last Monday thereby stitching the hole that its pure evilness created in the annals of time and space and staving off the unholy apocalypse. And in case your wondering, no, I never liked the show.

Last night was the series finale of Jon and Kate Plus 8 and the show ended as if it was any season finale. The family went on their two last adventures while Kate and Jon narrated how they will be good parents. TLC tried their best to put Jon in a negative light, but Jon's media training forced him to make diplomatic statements.

With the divorce, Jon and Kate Plus 8 was cut short. The dynamic between the parents was something to watch, but the real focus was eight children learning about the world and each other in the process. Each started gaining true personalities and by the end, I finally was able to distinguish between Alexis and Leah.

• At 8, ABC has a new Dancing with the Stars, followed by Find My Family and a new Castle.
• CBS has a new How I Met Your Mother, then new episodes of Accidentally on Purpose, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and CSI: Miami.
• NBC has new episodes of Heroes, Trauma, and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has a new House at 8, followed by a new Lie to Me.
• PBS has a new Antiques Roadshow at 8.
• USA has a new Monday Night RAW at 8.
• Food Network has a new Good Eats at 8.
• History Channel has Surviving The Holidays with Lewis Black at 8.
• At 9, TLC has the series finale of Jon & Kate Plus 8, then a new Cake Boss.
• At 10, Lifetime has two new episodes of Rita Rocks.
• E! has a new episode of The Soup Presents at 10.
• Bravo has a new Million Dollar Listing at 10.
• Also at 10: Food Network has a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, ABC has a new, two-hour Dancing with the Stars, then a new Castle.
• CBS has a new How I Met Your Mother, followed by new episodes of Accidentally on Purpose, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and CSI: Miami.
• NBC has new episodes of Heroes, Trauma, and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has a new House at 8, then a new Lie to Me.
• The CW has a new One Tree Hill at 8, followed by a new Gossip Girl.
• AMC has Part 2 of The Prisoner at 8.
• Food Network has Dear Food Network: Thanksgiving Turkey at 8, followed by a new Dear Food Network: Top 10 Thanksgiving Problems Solved and a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
• TLC has two new episodes of Little People, Big World at 8, then two new episodes of Jon & Kate Plus 8 and a new Cake Boss.
• At 9, USA has a new Monday Night RAW.
• Cartoon Network has a new Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack at 9.
• At 10, Lifetime has two new episodes of Rita Rocks.
• E! has a new The Soup Presents at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Million Dollar Listing, followed by the series premiere of Chef Academy.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Right now, I'm watching the Hayes family of TLC's Table for 12 chat with Regis and Kelly. It's not the first time we've seen them lately; since the second season of their show premiered, they've been all over the talk landscape.

We're definitely seeing them a lot more than when the show's first season debuted; in fact, TLC seemed to premiere the story of the Hayeses, who have two sets of twins and a set of sextuplets, on the QT last March. The relatively soft launch was a bit of a mystery to me, given the network's love of multiples. I mean, these guys had Jon and Kate beat by a mile, right?

But now that I look back at it, there were two things keeping TLC from really pushing the Hayes family back then: 1) Betty and Eric Hayes actually liked each other (read: they're boringly happy) and 2) Jon and Kate were still a couple. Now that J&K have exploded into a toxic tabloid mess, TLC needed someone to promote, and the Hayes' relative happiness seemed to be the perfect antidote.

If you haven't seen our game before, we give you a picture from a recent episode of a TV series and you provide the caption!

Last week's winner is miles with this: "The sign says 'To Serve Man. That seems innocent enough."

This week's picture is the meeting between Jon Gosselin and Levi Johnston:

• At 8, ABC has a new, two-hour Dancing with the Stars, followed by a new Castle.
• CBS has a new How I Met Your Mother, then new episodes of Accidentally on Purpose, Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, CSI: Miami.
• NBC has new episodes of Heroes, Trauma, and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has a new House at 8, then a new Lie To Me.
• The CW has a new One Tree Hill at 8, followed by a new Gossip Girl.
• ABC Family has the two-hour season finale of Lincoln Heights at 8.
• TLC has two new episodes of Little People, Big World at 8, then a new Jon & Kate Plus 8.
• At 8:30, ESPN has Monday Night Football, the Steelers vs. the Broncos.
• At 9, USA has anew Monday Night RAW.
• At 10, Lifetime has two new episodes Rita Rocks.
• TLC has a new Cake Boss at 10.
• There's a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on Food Network at 10.
• Also at 10: E! has a new episode of The Soup Presents.
• At 11, TBS has the series premiere of Lopez Tonight.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

I know, it sounds like the worst idea for a game show ever, but actually I'm referring to this interview that Kate Gosselin did with Ellen DeGeneres the other day. She talks about all the stuff we've heard about already, but she also talks about a ring that she wants to buy "once she has a job."

It's funny how Kate says a bunch of lines that would ordinarily get a round of applause from an audience but I don't think they care. And it's great that Kate isn't doing talk shows and appearing in the public eye like Jon is, isn't it?

• At 8, ABC has a new, two-hour Dancing with the Stars, followed by a new Castle.
• NBC has a new Heroes at 8, then new episodes of Trauma and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance at 8, followed by a new Lie To Me.
• The CW has new episodes of One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl.
• ABC Family has a new Lincoln Heights at 8, then a new Greek.
• TLC has two new episodes of Little People, Big World at 8, followed by a new Jon & Kate Plus 8 and two new episodes of Cake Boss.
• There's a new Good Eats on Food Network at 8.
• Also at 8: Nickelodeon has a new Glenn Martin, DDS.
• At 8:30, ESPN has Monday Night Football, the Redskins vs. the Eagles.
• At 9, USA has a new Monday Night RAW.
• Food Network has a new Unwrapped at 8.
• At 9:30, Lifetime has a new Rita Rocks.
• At 10, Food Network has a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
• Bravo has a new Million Dollar Listing at 10.
• Fine Living has a new Three Sheets at 10.
• At 10:30, Lifetime has another new Rita Rocks.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, ABC has a new, two-hour Dancing with the Stars, then a new Castle.
• CBS has a new How I Met Your Mother at 8, followed by new episodes of Accidentally on Purpose, Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, and CSI: Miami.
• NBC has new episodes of Heroes, Trauma, and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has a new House, then a new Lie To Me.
• The CW has a new One Tree Hill at 8, followed by a new Gossip Girl.
• ABC Family has a new Lincoln Heights at 8, then a new Greek.
• TLC has two new episodes of Little People, Big World at 8, followed by a new Jon & Kate Plus 8.
• Also at 8: Food Network has a new Good Eats.
• At 8:30, ESPN has Monday Night Football, the Broncos vs. the Chargers.
• At 9, USA has a new Monday Night RAW.
• Food Network has a new Unwrapped at 9.
• At 10, Food Network has a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
• TLC has a new Ultimate Cake-Off at 10.
• Bravo has a new Million Dollar Listing at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Who says that justice is a forgotten concept that only exists as a hope and no longer as an important facet of a fully functional society?

Jon Gosselin is about to have his day in court. Take that, evil!

TLC is suing for the former star of Jon & Kate Plus 8 for breach of contract, accusing accused him of violating an exclusivity and moral clause in his contract. I was shocked. Reality shows have morals? Of course it makes sense that the only morals involved in reality shows would have to be enforced by a contract.

Law and Order has been taking real-life cases for their show for years. Sometimes they take them so much that it wanders into "lazy writing" category and not "inspired by" category. But tonight's episode, "Reality Bites," could be interesting.

There's a murder (duh) but it involves Larry & Joy, who have a ton of kids and are part of a reality TV show. And there's a twist involving another woman who has a lot of kids. Hmmmm...

[via ew.com]

As part of our ongoing efforts to infiltrate every one of your senses, we've decided to bring back the APB Podcast, last seen in various forms around two years ago. In this first podcast, Jason Hughes, Kona Gallagher and myself discuss the following topics:

• The Letterman scandal
• A minute (if that) about Jon and Kate
• How the fall season's going so far, including why Dollhouse's ratings are so bad,
• Ask TV Squad, where we answer a question submitted to Isabelle's column,
• Picks for the upcoming week.

Running time is 42:33.

You can listen to the podcast below, or download it by subscribing to our RSS podcast feed. It is also available via iTunes. Feel free to leave us feedback in the comments.

By the way, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is from the fine folks at GrooveAddicts.com.