the producers

This year the Tony Awards garnered the lowest ratings since 1992. Most people are quick to say that it's because they were broadcast on the same night as the finale of The Sopranos but we all know better, don't we?

The Tony Awards are given for excellence on Broadway, which for many years now has been an oxymoron. Aside from the occasional movie star driven vehicle like Martin Short's Fame Becomes Me or blockbusters like The Producers, Broadway has done very little of note in a long time. More importantly, any decent Broadway production is overpriced while also being sold out, giving average Americans little chance to ever see a Broadway show.

• At 7, FOX has the Jim Stewart 400 NASCAR race.
• At 8, NBC has a the new special Barbaro: A Nation's Horse. For some reason.
• Food Network has a new Emeril Live at 8, with the winners of the channel's Hawaiian Wedding contest. It's followed by Food Network Caters Your Hawaiian Wedding.
• TCM has the original version of The Producers at 8.
• At 8:30, Cartoon Network has a new Bobobo-bo Bo-Bobo, then new episodes of Naruto, One Piece, Mar, and The Prince of Tennis.
• At 9, TLC has a new episode of The Real Deal, then two new episodes of My First Home.
• CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show at 9.
• Also at 9: A&E has a new Flip This House.
• At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
• HGTV has a new Design on a Dime at 10.
• At 11:30, FOX has a new Mad TV, while NBC has a "Best of 2006/07" SNL special.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 7, CBS repeats their 60 Minutes tribute to Ed Bradley.
• At 7:30 (or after football), FOX has The O.T.
• NBC has a new Football Night In America at 7, followed by the Packers vs. the Bears.
• At 8, PBS has a new Live From Lincoln Center, featuring Audra McDonald, followed by a New Year's Eve concert by Garrison Keillor and his band on a new Great Performances.
• HBO has The Producers at 8.
• Also at 8: TLC has several new episodes of Resolutionaries, where people see if they can stick to their New Year's resolutions.
• At 9, The CW has the magic special Keith Barry: Extraordinary, with guests Jessica Simpson and Matthew McConaughey.
• Sci-Fi has a Twilight Zone marathon all day and night (and tomorrow too), while TBS has a Seinfeld marathon.
• At 10, ABC has Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, then it's interrupted by local news at 11, then he and Ryan Seacrest countdown to midnight at 11:30.
• At 11, FOX has their New Year's Eve countdown.
• There's a new Lisa Williams on Lifetime at 11.
• At 11:30, MSNBC and CNBC has New Year's Eve With Carson Daly, which I assume NBC stations will show too if the football game and local news doesn't interrupt it.

Tony Danza, in a surprising move following the recent cancellation of his syndicated daytime talk show, will join the Broadway cast of Mel Brooks' The Producers starting on December 19.

I say surprising not because Danza lacks stage experience. He's previously had roles in The Iceman Cometh and A View From the Bridge. I say surprising because am I the only one who has a hard time picturing Danza as Max Bialystock? I think he's a wonderful actor but this role? Not so sure.

We'll have to see. Sharing the stage with Danza will be Roger Bart as Leo Bloom until February 11. Danza's run will go for one month after that. His talk show was canceled last spring and was replaced in most markets by new daytime chat-fest Rachael Ray.