OK, we’re just now starting to feel the effects of the writers’ strike in prime time. Because NBC wrung all those hour-long episodes out of “The Office” at the beginning of the season, the show is completely out of fresh episodes. Wha! And “Heroes” just might be airing its last episode for a while on Monday.

Anyway, what did you like and dislike about television this week? Have you had your fill of holiday specials already? Did Helio’s “Dancing” victory thrill you or leave you steamed? Tell us, please, by leaving a comment or two.

You have the floor …

First up is the ever-reliable Trine:

Here’s a recap of the latest episode of “Survivor”:

By Ann Tatko-Peterson
TV Freak Show-Tracker
Call this one James and the Giant Miscalculation. From day, I’ve enjoyed watching the gravedigger. His one-liners had me chuckling out loud. His snarky comments to Peih-Gee set the standard for how all reality TV participants should have to bicker. And hello, the dude had TWO hidden immunity idols. Plus, he could sniff out trouble from a mile away, until it happened right under his nose.

Honestly, I hate to see him go, but boy did it make for yet another great twist in this season of “Survivor.” And it gave us a priceless parting one-liner from the man of the hour: “Trying to hold those Fruit Loops together this whole time was killing me.” Oh how you will be missed, James.

That said, “Survivor” is definitely at its finest this season. One of the things I absolutely detest about “Survivor” is the usually impenetrable, predictable alliances. Even when they try to interject suspense, too often you know the players are voting along their tribe lines. This year, forget about it. Every week it seems someone is plotting and scheming his or her way into blindsiding, backstabbing greatness.

Move over, Todd. You’ve just been replaced by Amanda as master strategist. Wow, is this woman smart. She lets Todd vocally call the shots and look like the bad guy. Remember Jean-Robert. He made it pretty clear he’d hold Todd responsible, not Amanda. You think James is going to hold this one against Amanda. Not likely when he was chummier with Todd. Where Todd once looked like the only guy playing this game, Amanda has shown she’s not only playing but seeing the big picture, too. She wisely took out James and both hidden immunity idols at the same time.

Even if Denise flips and joins Peih-Gee and Erik next week, expect Todd’s head to land on the chopping block first. Frankly, it’s nice to see the outsider (Denise) in a commanding position for a change. I hope she makes them all squirm; it’s the least they deserve for overlooking her all this time.

Just ask James. He overlooked a whole lot while he was busy preaching to everyone not to bite the forbidden apple. As Amanda so succinctly put it, “I’m not only ready to bite the apple, I’m ready to eat the whole pie.”

Now who are we supposed to root for?

With Heather’s ouster last night on “America’s Next Top Model” there is no reason to keep watching this cycle. She was the underdog, the Rocky of the bunch — and clearly the most photogenic. Her Asperger’s kept her from shining socially and outside of the photo shoots, though. It was painful to watch her try to do the Covergirl commercial and to find her “go-sees,” but I wanted her to succeed.

I can’t say that for the other four finalists. The lack of empathy for Heather was disgraceful. Their mean girl behavior — laughing at Heather as she struggled with certain tasks — was a turnoff.

Now we’re left with four — Bianca, Chantel, Jenah, Saleisha — that I can’t muster up any genuine enthusiasm for. That’s a first for me.

But who am I kidding? I’ll be tuning in next week, if only to see if there’s any karmic payback.

Here’s a recap of the latest episode of “Pushing Daisies”:

Five fateful words. Five words that bring a whole new wrinkle to this delightfully daffy little show:

“Chuck, I killed your father.”

Yes, I was taught in journalism class never to bury the lead, so even though tonight’s episode ended with that earth-shattering declaration, I’m starting with it.

“Chuck, I killed your father.”

Those are the words Ned uttered to Chuck just as they were settling down to bed. Our tightly wound pie-maker has been carrying around this horrifying secret for most of his life. And after spending some time in jail (more on that later) and hemming and hawing, he finally let it out with one big emotional burst — even though Emerson had repeatedly instructed him not to.

“Chuck, I killed your father.”

Of course, Ned didn’t intentionally off his best girl’s dad. As a boy, he used his magic finger to bring his mom back to life (temporarily), which meant that someone in the general vicinity had to bite it. And Chuck’s dad just happened to be that someone.

Too bad because Ned and Chuck were really becoming tight. As tonight’s terrific episode opened, Ned found himself asking his long-time crush if it was time to start using the words “boyfriend” and “girlfriend” to describe their relationship. He says he realizes they’re “trite” terms, but he wants validation. Of course, sweet-faced Chuck heartily condones it. Next thing you know, she’ll be wearing his letterman’s jacket.

But Chuck has something else to say that makes Ned freeze in his tracks. It’s her father’s birthday today and he would have been 60 years old.

Fortunately, there’s another goofy murder case to take Ned’s mind off his guilt. This one involves a beefy galoot named Bruce who strangles his friend, using a blow-up doll named Shelia. (Told you it was goofy). But in a nice change of pace, the case is quickly solved and we move on to the story of a ruthless candy-maker named Dilly Balsam (Molly Shannon) who sets up shop across the street from the Pie Hole and immediately makes it her mission to drive Ned out of business.

Dilly’s underhanded ploy includes paying the health inspector to make a surprise inspection at the Pie Hole, where he finds a room full of rotten fruit (fruit that Ned has the ability to revive). And so the Pie Hole is shut down.

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It was the driver over the diva Tuesday night as Brazilian race-car champ Helio Castroneves topped Spice Girl Melanie Brown to capture the Season 5 title of “Dancing with the Stars” in a finale that was stretched and padded to beyond mind-numbing proportions.

“This is an incredible moment right now,” Helio shouted while hoisting a carton of milk — which, of course, is what winners of the Indy 500 traditionally do. Helio, who has won the Indy 500 twice, can now add a big, clunky mirrored ball to his trophy case. He might give some serious thought to dumping it on eBay.

In winning, he became the third straight “Dancing” champ to emerge from the world of sports, following NFL star Emmitt Smith and Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno. (Sorry 49ers and Raiders fans, Jerry Rice let you down). For his partner Julianne Hough, it was her second consecutive win.

Helio was also the fourth straight male to prevail in the cheesy reality show. The only female victor was Season 1 champ Kelly Monaco, who later lost to John O’ Hurley in a specially arranged dance-off. Not to knock my gender or anything, but you have to wonder what’s going on here. As good as Helio was, he didn’t have to get around the ballroom four-inch heels.

Melanie, a British dynamo who came into the final with the highest point totals from the judges, wowed audiences all season with her versatility, her energy and a pair of legs that would not quit. For her final dance, she chose the mambo, which she and partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, performed to perfection, according to the judges who awarded them with three 10’s.

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Here’s a recap of the latest episode of “Heroes”:

By DANNY WALLACE
Special Correspondent
For an episode titled “Truth & Consequences” there wasn’t a whole lot of truth happening. Manipulation and versions of the truth were much more prominent.

Bob seems to be the master of this “certain point of view truth”. He told the entire Bennett household that Noah was dead, going so far as to give them his ashes, maybe from a beach bonfire. But we know Noah is alive and sort of well at the Company’s holding facility. He
also placed the blame for the entire situation of losing Claire on his daughter’s electrifying shoulders, which she reluctantly accepted. Suresh also seems to be convinced by these lies as he tells Noah that he is going to help people, not hurt them. Of course Suresh can’t
believe that all The Company has told him is a lie, even though Noah tells him exactly that.

And then there’s Maya, who spent the episode falling for bad-boy Sylar. There was even a very disturbing make-out session while her brother lay newly dead just inside Sylar’s motel room, courtesy of our watch-making friend. He did manage to get Maya to control her power by
herself before he offed her brother, so I guess he’s kinda thinking ahead. They did finally reach their New York destination where Sylar invited Suresh to return from New Orleans early, because they were watching Molly, and didn’t want to scare her, which was a very creepy
scene.

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At least this time Marie Osmond didn’t faint.

The finals got under way for “Dancing with the Stars” tonight and Marie was called upon to do the samba — the same dance that sent her crashing to the floor a few weeks ago. She got through it just fine (big sigh of relief), but she’ll need some intervention from the masses if she expects to take home that big ugly ball trophy.

Marie was dueling with Melanie Brown and Helio Castroneves, two younger, quicker and technically superior dancers and the results were predictable: After two dances, including the freestyle, she finished the night at the bottom of the judges’ scorecard. That should bump her from the competition early on tonight, but it might be foolish to bet against her. After all, her fan base, including all those doll-collecting zealots, is huge — and a lot of them fall squarely in the show’s age demo.

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Quick, name television’s top-rated new sitcom. It’s Christina Applegate’s “Samantha Who?,” which, thanks in part to a strong “Dancing with the Stars” lead-in, has proven to be one of the few bright spots in a mostly dismal season. (The show moves into its new time slot — 9 p.m. tonight). We recently interviewed the luminous Applegate, who like a lot of actors sidelined by the strike, is antsy to get back to work. Here’s our one-on-one Q&A, complete with some material that didn’t make it into the dead-tree version of the Times:

Q: How have you handled the layoff so far?
A: I feel like I’m going to lose my mind if this keeps up! I’m someone who can’t sit around a lot. I’ve got to work. … Acting is like a muscle: You need to use it or it will atrophy.

Q: Are you worried that the work stoppage might cause the show to lose some momentum?

A: Of course. It’s like having the rug pulled out from under you. We had just gotten our (full-season) pickup and four days later the strike hits. It’s hard to take. You feel like you’re doing something good and you’ve got a place in the pecking order and then — boom — it all comes to a stop.

Q: On your show, old Sam, or “bad” Sam is routinely resurrected through flashbacks. How fun is it to play her?
A: It’s a blast. I’ve never gotten to play a character with no self-editing system whatsoever — a woman who is so incredibly self-involved. I noticed recently on the set that, when I slipped into her wig and took on her personality, I was extremely relaxed. She’s not a tense person. She isn’t dealing with any inner struggle.

Q: And that’s different from “good” Sam in what way?
A: She’s just constantly on edge. The way she walks, the way she holds herself — her posture, her hair, her voice — it’s all very different.

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Here’s a recap of the latest episode of “The Amazing Race 12″:

By ANN TATKO-PETERSON
Special Correspondent
Sorry, couldn’t resist. First we have Jen “I Danced for the Clippers” incurring a 10-minute penalty for lack of creativity in the dance detour. Ouch! Guess it’s time to change professions. And what was up with her what-about-me routine at the pit stop? Did she actually think Azaria and Hendekea were going to slow down and let her and Nate finish first? She certainly expected it — “They’ve had their turn twice,” she whined.

Hello, this is a race, not a friendly game of Scrabble. It’s not really a “win” if you need another team to hand it to you.

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Here’s a recap of the latest episode of “Desperate Housewives”

By TV FAN
Special Correspondent
Sunday’s “A Distant Past” episode felt more like four separate tales of housewives as we get a peek into their pasts.

First there was Gaby, whose husband Victor is missing and presumed dead. Of course Gaby and Carlos were intimately involved with his disappearance, but they plan to pretend not to know anything. Guilt is eating at Carlos, who wants to tell police. They don’t know that Victor has washed ashore and is very much alive.

After fighting about it in a church, Gaby pretends to agree to go to the police, but then slips Carlos sleeping pills in a drink. He passes out just as detectives arrive at her doorstep. While they’re interviewing her, the call comes in that Victor is alive. Gaby is obviously less than overjoyed, but goes with them to the hospital. Victor pretends not to remember … until the detectives leave the room. Then he lets Gaby know the jig is up. Even though Victor is a victim, he earns a “9″ on the creep-factor rating scale.

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