Bob Woodruff’s brother David Woodruff discussed Bob’s condition on “Good Morning America” today.

David has been by Bob’s side since the ABC anchor was brought to the military hospital in Germany. Bob is now on his way home to the United States.

“We got a lot of great news this morning,” David Woodruff said. ” He’s improved markedly over the night. He looks much better than he looked the day before. (The doctors said this morning) his signs are great, probably as good as can be expected at this stage.”

Woodruff is still heavily sedated and at this point it is too early to tell what his prognosis might be. He suffered broken ribs, a broken shoulder and skull fracture. He also had some facial wounds on one side of his face.

“The doctors said at the beginning of this, this is not going to be a sprint. This is going to be a marathon,” David Woodruff said. “And we’re committed to making sure we’re there running that marathon with him.”

David Woodruff also cleared up some confusion about what happened after his brother had been hit.

“Bob had come down through the hatch. (Producer) Vinny (Malhotra) picked him up by his lapels. (Bob) opened up his eyes and said, ‘Am I alive?’ And at that point he started to feel the pain. He used some colorful language and said ‘This hurts a lot’ and then he became unconscious.”

The family has been reading the postings on the ABC Web site.

(Bob’s wife) Lee wanted me to tell everyone how much she appreciates the support from everybody, from the team at ABC, from all her friends, family and all the people out there who are praying for Bob and (camaraman) Doug (Vogt),” David said. “I know Doug’s wife would say the same thing.”

Spike TV has fast-tracked a new series based on the Marvel comic book “Blade,” which begins taping this spring and premieres in June.

“Blade” will be the network’s first original scripted series and has ordered 11 one-hour episodes in addition to the two-hour kick-off.

According to the over-written press release, “Blade” centers on an immortal warrior fighting a shadowy underworld of vampires who want to destroy the human race. The title character is a half-man, half-vampire who uses his superhuman powers and skills to fearlessly battle the demonic creatures of the night in a blood-drenched crusade to prevent the ascendance of vampires
over mankind.

In other words, a perfect fit for Spike.

ABC News President David Westin issued the following update at 4:45 a.m. Jan. 31 on the condition of ABC News Anchor Bob Woodruff and ABC News Cameraman Doug Vogt:

“The plane carrying Bob and Doug, with injured service people, back to Washington left about an hour ago. Both Bob and Doug continue on their upward progress. Doug was up and conversing this morning.
Bob continues to be heavily sedated and may be for a time. But the doctors are encouraged by the continued progress he made overnight. It will still likely be some time before we have a complete sense of the injuries, but with each day there are promising signs.
As before, we have a very long way to go. But, we appear to be headed in the right direction.
Bob and Doug will be arriving in Washington this evening and will be transported to Bethesda for further observation and treatment.”

7:15 a.m. Monday, Jan. 30, ABC News President David Westin issued the following update on the condition of ABC News Anchor Bob Woodruff and ABC News Cameraman Doug Vogt:

“The families and our colleagues have met with the doctors who have examined Bob and Doug at Landstuhl (Germany). Both have shown some signs of improvement.

As we have known, Doug is in somewhat better condition than Bob. But the doctors are pleased with how they came through the transfer. They will continue to monitor their condition closely.
They may be brought to the United States for further treatment as soon as tomorrow. Both Bob and Doug continue to need our thoughts and prayers. We have a long way to go. But it appears that we may have also come some distance from yesterday.

Bob Woodruff and his cameraman Doug Vogt were injured in an IED attack near Taji, Iraq yesterday. They were embedded with the 4th Infantry Division, traveling in the lead vehicle with an Iraqi Army unit in an Iraqi mechanized vehicle.

Early Saturday morning in Iraq, ABC anchor Bob Woodruff , 44, and cameraman Doug Vogt, 46,were riding with an Iraqi Army unit when the vehicle hit an IED, or improvised explosive device.

The two were embedded with the 4th Infantry Division when the attack happened near Taji. Both were wearing helmets and body armor, but sustained injuries from flying metal. There are reports that an attack ensued after the IED exploded.
Woodruff and Vogt were then taken to a U.S. military hospital for surgery immediately after the attack.

“We have learned from the U.S. military and from our producer on the scene that Bob and Doug are out of surgery and are both in stable condition. We take this as good news, but the next few days will be critical,” e-mailed ABC News Persident David Westin Sunday afternoon. ” The military plans to evacuate them to their medical facilities in Landstuhl, probably overnight tonight.”

Westin also stated that “Bob and Doug continue to rest in stable condition … after their surgeries. They remain in serious condition with injuries to the head and, in Bob’s case, injuries to the upper body as well. “

A later e-mail stated Woodruff and Vogt were flown out of Iraq to Germany at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Just last Saturday, Jan. 21, Woodruff and his co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas, met with TV critics gathered at the annual winter press tour in Pasadena. He talked about how important it was to have anchors on the scene when news happened, whether it was Iraq or Louisiana.

Ironically, he also talked about journalists putting their lives on the line to get the story.

Westin told reporters that Saturday that ABC was going to change the way it gathered news, and putting the anchors back out in the field was a large part of the change.

Woodruff said he embraced the change.

“Now, not only because of technology but because of having another anchor that can be back in New York at the seat at the time, I think you’re going to see a lot more (of anchors going into the field),” Woodruff told critics. ” I think the viewers demand it.”

Woodruff is married and has four children.

Jason Lee, star of “My Name is Earl” couldn’t make the press session for his show because he had the chicken pox.

The chicken pox?

Yep, it seems Lee never had chicken pox. Although we’re a bit confused on the timing. On Sunday Jan. 15, there was a segment on “Desperate Housewives” about a parent trying to avoid the chicken pox.
On that Monday, Jason Lee was at the Golden Globes _ where the cast of “Desperate Housewives were also in attendence _ and on Tuesday, he says he was covered in bumps that turned out to be chicken pox.
Coincidence? Maybe.
All we know is that it won’t throw the series off schedule.

“No, no, no. He’ll be in all the
episodes,” creator Gregg Garcia assured the critics at the winter press tour. “We’re just shut down until he is feeling better and is presentable to put on TV again. “

For all you briefcase addicts, NBC announced the Howie Mandel hosted game show “Deal or No Deal” will be back on the air in March after the Winter Olympics.

So just what is the draw of a show in which all the contestants have to do is whittle down briefcases to win money.

“There’s nothing else on television that allows you to go home with a lot of money with absolutely no skill,” Mandel told critics at the winter press tour. “And I think it’s really obvious there’s no skill. You can be a rock and move into another tax bracket.”

For years, networks have used the slot after the Super Bowl to pump up ratings for new or fledgling series.

But seldom has a network tried to bump up a series seen primarily as a chick show during the testosterone-charged event. ABC entertainment head Stephen McPherson told critics at the winter press tour that basically he believes the Super Bowl is less about rabid football fans and more about families sitting down to watch TV.

“We chose (’Grey’s Anatomy’) because it’s one of the best shows on television, and it’s gaining momentum. It’s doing some of the most amazing work in drama that I think is being done anywhere right now. We feel like it’s an asset that is only growing, and we wanted to expose it to a larger audience and keep that momentum growing.

It’s also the first show that’s ever been shown after the Super Bowl in its regular time spot.

Heather Graham went from ubiquitous poster girl for ABC’s “Emily’s Reasons Why Not” to the invisible woman after just one airing of her tepid comedy.

What happened, inquiring critics wanted to know during the ABC executive session with entertainment president Stephen McPherson.

“Well, we had spent the majority of the big long-lead advertising money before we even saw a script. You have to measure your patience based on how you believe in the creative, and there we felt like, unfortunately, it was not going to get better.”

They could have saved a boatload of money if they just listened to the TV critics last summer….

Going from Lucius Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” flicks to the vicious mobster Michael Caffee in the new Showtime series Brotherhood wasn’t much of a stretch for actor Jason Isaacs.

He told critics gathered at the winter press tour in Pasadena that he isn’t often recognized on the streets of Providence, R.I., where the series is shot.

” (Only) if I walk around with a velvet cape and a walking cane and long blond hair, generally — and a
small blue elf,” teased Isaacs

” That owl you always had in your trailer didn’t help matters,” joked co-star Ethan Embry

” What happens is kids don’t recognize me, the parents recognize me. They go, ‘Look, it’s Lucius Malfoy,’ ” Isaacs said. “And the kids look at the parents like they’re insane because what would Lucius Malfoy be doing shopping in a Providence shopping mall?”