TVSquad

ABC offered a set of fun Valentine's Day e-cards earlier this year, and they're at it again with a more extensive set of Mother's Day e-cards. More of my favorite ABC shows were let in on the fun this time, including Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, and Samantha Who?. Show Mom your love with a clever message from Lost's Claire, Susan from Desperate Housewives, or Hilda from Ugly Betty.

The cards are one part of a "Guide to Motherhood" page on ABC's website. You can watch clips from ABC's hit shows based on four motherhood themes: New Moms, Nesting, Words of Wisdom, and Letting Go. It's an amusing way to look back at some of the unconventional approaches to parenting taken in the last season.

In 2004, the Venture Bros. gang pumped up our holiday spirit with a cover of Bing Crosby and David Bowie's "Little Drummer Boy" duet; in 2005, Dolly Parton's "Hard Candy Christmas"; and in 2006, a little thing called "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (part of Venture-Aid 2006). This year, the Christmas love continues with yet another Dr. Girlfriend and Monarch duet, in the form of The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York".

I quite like this song, but I don't think anything will be able to top the Monarch/Henchmen love that was "Hard Candy Christmas". And what's up with the Monarch doing every single song? Jackson Publick must have a little too much fun with that voice.

I don't want a lot for Festivus. There is just one thing I need --

Well, by "one thing", I really meant "six TV-related requests", but that's still not asking for much. Please, mysterious Festivus entity, I promise that I've been a good girl and that I have done my absolute best to properly preface all of my spoilerific posts. I also promise to make a much better effort in 2008 to be less creepy to all my favorite TV stars (sorry, Mr. Colbert). Super swear. All I want is...

I'll admit it, I love end of the year lists. Even though I don't always agree with the lists I read in magazines and online, they always make for interesting reading and they put the year in perspective, and make you think of something in a new way. Our Festivus lists are a chance to tell everyone what we'd like to see on our televisions and under our trees next to our metallic Fesitvus poles. Here's my list.

1. An end to the writers strike. Look, I want the writers to get everything that's coming to them. As a writer myself, I'm behind them 100%. But we're talking about what I want for Festivus here, and I would love to see the writers and studios come to an agreement so we can salvage at least a part of the rest of the season. I don't want to see all repeats and reality for the next 6 months. I also miss David Letterman, especially during the holidays.

... Five canceled shows.

Isn't it really sad when a TV show is canceled? It's like a family pet has died. You're not going to see these characters anymore, you're not going to find out what happened to them, and now you have to learn to like a whole new show and a new set of characters. And if the show replaced your favorite canceled show, you probably won't even watch. I still remember when Walker, Texas Ranger replaced Raven on CBS in the early 90s. I never forgave Chuck Norris for doing that and couldn't even watch his show, even though both shows were about heroes who kicked people with their feet.

2007 brought many cancellations to fans. Many cancellations we saw coming, many we didn't care about at all, and some truly hurt us. After the jump are the top five cancellations of the year. The ones that hit us the most and we talked about the most. Air your cancellation grievance in the comments below and at your Festivus party.

Um...I'm really not sure what to make of this video from CNN. It's not Dancing with the Stars exactly, but there is dancing and there are stars.

It shows the new Fab Four - Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, Lou Dobbs, and Larry King, with Cooper definitely the "Paul" of the group - dressed as Christmas elves (complete with funny hats, green suits, red and white stockings) and doing a bizarre dance to the tune of "Jingle Bells." OK, obviously, it's just their heads pasted on top of elf bodies. I wonder if they had to get the permission of the four anchors to do this or if it's just something CNN decided to do on their own. I can't imagine Dobbs being thrilled with it but I can see the other three laughing at it. Oh, I'd pay money to see Dobbs or Blitzer do their shows in those outfits.

You can "Elf yourself" at Office Max's elfyourself.com.

I heard this song a couple of nights ago and I wondered what happened to the guy who sang it. Now I know.

Elmo Shropshire, who sang the 1979 Christmas classic "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer," is being sued by The Fred Rappoport Company, who says that Shropshire is interfering in a deal the company has to make Christmas collectibles based on characters from a 2000 TV special based on the song.

I'm one of those suckers who really loves a good holiday episode of a TV show. Whether it's Friends or The Simpsons or The West Wing, I get all choked up when a couple gets together or a family learns the true meaning of Christmas and a carol is played at the end. I still remember the Christmas episodes on Guiding Light in the 80s, with Nick visiting and helping out Philip and Beth and Rick and other Springfield citizens. (Wow, not only do I love Christmas on TV, I love Christmas on soap operas...yikes).

AOL has a 10 question quiz about Christmas TV. How much do you know about The Wonder Years, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Home Improvement? This is the best I've ever scored on one of these AOL quizzes. I got 9 out of 10. Damn you, Grey's Anatomy!

This doesn't seem like the brightest of TV seasons right now, does it? The fall season wasn't the best to begin with, and now the writers are on strike. But there are many things about the TV biz that a person can be thankful for, especially someone like me who is lucky enough to cover television for a living:

Late night talk shows: All of 'em, from The Daily Show to The Colbert Report to Letterman and Leno to Conan and Craig. The writers strike has made it painfully obvious to me that the landscape of late night TV is pretty much a wasteland without these shows. Sure, I could watch the same Seinfeld and Scrubs reruns I've seen dozens of times, but those aren't nearly as entertaining as the fresh and topical material I see on the talk shows (even Leno's).

I may not celebrate Thanksgiving today (as Robin from How I Met Your Mother would say, "The real Thanksgiving was in October!") but that doesn't mean I cannot take part of TV Squad thankful post series.

Television is a big part of my life. I've grown with it. I spend hours with it every day. So it's about time, I give thanks for having television in my life!

We're all thankful for many things in our lives. Good health, family, friends, our homes ... those often come to mind when Thanksgiving rolls around.

But sometimes it's the everyday things which we take for granted -- things like entertainment and television -- which get overlooked. I've been a reading fanatic and a television fan all of my life. Without those two mind diversions, my life would be very different ... perhaps not a good different.

So when I heard I had a chance to write about what I'm thankful for in (or on) television, I jumped at it.

Thanksgiving is about overindulgence; cramming our bodies to bursting with turkey and potatoes and gravy and cranberry sauce and just when we think we're going to heave if we have one more bit, it's the one day in which it is socially acceptable to unbutton your pants so you can squeeze in that last slice of pumpkin pie. Gluttony with approval, thanks be to the cook! As it turns out, TiVo is about overindulgence too, which is why it tops my list.

Now I can follow Everybody Hates Chris, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Chuck and Prison Break (Curse you Mondays 8/7 Central!) without missing a beat. Of course, one night of primetime television takes eight hours to watch, but isn't it worth it in the end? "I love you, honey, I should be done here by two am!"

OK, so we all know that Thanksgiving Day means football, football, football, NFL and college, and several networks (including CBS and FOX) will satisfy those fans. But there's more to Thanksgiving than that. What follows after the jump is a list of all of the other shows you can watch tomorrow, if you can get the remote control away from your brother-in-law or uncle. Lots of marathons and Thanksgiving-themed episodes.

• AMC is showing Alfred Hitchcock movies all day and night.
• At 7am, NBC's Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America, and CBS' Early Show will all have Thanksgiving features, including cooking tips and reports from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

Being Thankful.

The video's embedded below, or you can subscribe to this podcast via our feed. Plus, you can also download the file directly.

Eat. Sleep. Pepto Bismol. Television. The four things that describe Thanksgiving for me. They all go hand in hand really, but let's be honest -- TV is the one that really matters. I can have turkey any time I want, but I can only watch my favorite shows once a week. Despite the WGA strike putting a wrinkle into my winter viewing plans, there's still plenty to be happy about.