TVSquad

The daytime segment of cable's first day concluded with four Turner-related panels: Joy Behar on her new HLN talk show; a CNN panel with John King, Christiance Amanpour, and Soledad O'Brien; a panel with Jerry Bruckheimer and the cast and producers of TNT's Dark Blue; and George Lopez, who is starting a new late night talk show on TBS.

Behar and Lopez bookended the session, and they were an interesting contrast. Two comedians, both opinionated, both with things to say about current events. But while Behar's gentle jabs played to mostly silence among the cranky writers in attendance, Lopez got more than a few of us to laugh. I've never been the biggest Lopez fan, but I have to admit, he was ready for us: he made most of us stand up to talk to him, he jostled us on our reluctance to be enthusiastic, and he was able to make pretty quick comebacks with ease. Must be the years of dealing with hecklers.

Anyway, after the jump, some details of Turner's day in Pasadena, including audio of an interview with O'Brien that I started with the word "cankles."

God's Warrior, a CNN documentary, will delve into the world of religious fundamentalism.

A lot has been said about religious fundamentalism in the United States, but CNN's doc, hosted by reporter Christiane Amanpour, has a wider scope, looking not only at Christian fundamentalism here at home, but Jewish and Islamic fundamentalism around the globe. The doc will also feature the final television interview of the late Jerry Falwell, who passed away back in May. The report will center on how certain groups wish to bring religion and politics together, and how this is happening everywhere in the world, not just the United States.

On Saturday, January 20 at 8pm CNN will debut a new investigative series, CNN: Special Investigations Unit, that is meant to correspond with CNN Presents, the news network's documentary series. Anderson Cooper and Soledad O'Brien will anchor the program, which will air on Saturdays and Sundays at 8pm. The new program is designed to provide in-depth coverage of specific news events. The first episode of the new series, "The War Within," will focus on Muslim extremism in the United Kingdom. Reporter Christiane Amanpour will report on how Muslims of all kinds deal with the conflict of living in the Western world.

Other reporters for upcoming episodes of the series include John Roberts, John King, Candy Crowley and Drew Griffin.

This Wednesday, CNN is broadcasting a two-hour special hosted by Christiane Amanpour that will track Osama Bin Laden from his early days to his current status as the world's most wanted terrorist leader. Normally I don't bother with basic cable news coverage, but I like Amanpour as a reporter, and based on the clips on the Web page for In the Footsteps of Bin Laden, this looks like it might be quite informative and interesting. Amanpour and her crew traveled to ten countries on four different continents in order to follow Bin Laden's journey, and, little surprise, trying to get coverage and speak to those close to the man wasn't without its dangerous moments. The special will air August 23 at 9 pm.