“The fifth and final season of ‘The Wire’ (January 6) centers on the media’s role in addressing – or failing to address – the fundamental political, economic and social realities depicted over the course of the series, while also resolving storylines of the numerous characters woven throughout the narrative arc of the show.

This season of ‘The Wire’ is based in large part on series creator David Simon’s experiences in 13 years at The Baltimore Sun. Simon decries recent trends in the newspaper industry that have conspired to make high-end journalism vulnerable: out-of-town chain ownership, an economic climate in which the share price of media companies matters more to industry leaders than the product itself, and a newsroom culture in which prizes, personal ambition and the cult of the “impact” story has replaced consistent and detailed coverage of complex issues as the primary goal.”

It pains me when really good shows like The Sopranos (early seasons), Deadwood, and The Wire come to an end. But not as much as seeing them drag on after everyone (but the network accountants) stopped giving a shit.

28 Days Later… was a pretty good zombie movie. But I found I Am Legend way more disturbing. Will Smith did not phone this one in. (I think he gives his all in just about every film I’ve seen him in).

I usually like a good post-apocalyptic yarn but this one… the people behind me kept shushing me because I was saying, "It’s only a movie, it’s only a movie" in my outside voice.

Take the worst thing that anyone can imagine (the extinction of mankind) and cast an actor who can make you believe it for even a few of the 100 minutes… (shudder).

Comment Assignment: Best (?) zombie movies.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, will return to their television shows on January 7 but will have to improvise their monologues and interviews without the help of their writing staffs.

In a statement, the two hosts said they would prefer to return to work with their writers. “If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence,” they stated.

On Thursday’s "Larry King Live," the King asked Jerry if "Seinfeld" was canceled back in the day, and Jerry seemed genuinely shocked that Larry didn’t know. "You think I got canceled?" Jerry shot back. "I was the number one show on television, Larry … 75 million viewers in the last episode."

As Larry played it off and went to commercial, Jerry threw in one last zinger: "Can we get a resume in here for me for Larry to go over?"

Okay, Jerry’s probably a bit frazzled from the endless promotion of The Bee Movie. And taking a (verbal) poke at an old man is never cool, but come on!

You can’t remember if Seinfeld got canceled?! Time for some shuffleboard, LK. Watch the video at TMZ.com and judge for yourself.

The Larry Sanders Show was a satirical television sitcom that aired from 1992 to 1998 on HBO, starring stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders. The series was partly inspired by Shandling’s stint as a guest host on The Tonight Show.

The Larry Sanders Show is easily one of the best five TV shows of all time (I’m sorry, this is not open for debate). And now I own a DVD with 23 of “the best episodes” of the series as well as eight hours of new stuff. I’m going to try to hoard this like the last baggie of ganja but suspect I’ll burn through these in a week or so. This is just one more reason why it’s better to be me than you.

It seems The Big Question of the last few days is: Will Tony Soprano be alive or dead at the end of the season/series finale this evening? So, for the record, here’s my prediction:

He survives. But he will be completely, existentially alone. No friends. No family. No one. I have no idea how this happens plot-wise, but that’s my guess.

This series –and I was a fan– should have ended a season or two ago. I hope Mr. Chase and the writers can find a way to end it with the same class it began.

Update: I was wrong. Not about Tony being alive at the end, but about being alone. The family was all together, eating onion rings. So what’s David Chase telling us? You can be a self-centered, lying, murdering son of a bitch and live out your life without retribution? Who knows. And it’s his call. He gave us all those great stories for eight years… if he wants to leave it hanging at the end, he’s earned the right.