The conclusion of a nearly four-month-long Hollywood writers strike has TV fans asking one question:  What does this mean for my favorite shows?  In most cases, the news couldn’t be better, according to trade sources Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, TV Guide, Mediaweek and E! Online.  Let’s start with the dramas: Smallville has four new episodes finished (including tonight’s), and will now produce five more this season.  Supernatural will air its remaining two new eps this month, and add another five or six for spring.  One Tree Hill will stockpile six more hours to the six already completed.  Reaper still has three new shows ready, with five or six more ordered—and you can expect the rookie dramedy to delve much deeper into the “deal” mythology when it returns.  Breakout freshman hit Gossip Girl has aired everything produced, but will quickly resume work on up to a half-dozen more stories.  Variety reports that the Upper East Siders may even get an early Season Two launch this summer, following the successful pattern of The O.C.  Life is Wild has ceased production at this time.  On the comedy front: The Game received a solid vote of confidence, with a pickup of eight or nine more episodes—to go with its four remaining new shows.  Everybody Hates Chris (12) and Aliens in America (eight) have enough new laughs in the can, so they won’t produce any more for this season; and Girlfriends, currently the longest-running network comedy, will bid adieu after eight years with a likely one-hour retrospective now in discussion.

January is the month when we’re bombarded with entertainment awards too numerous to mention. Often, they go to the same cast of characters—whichever show Hollywood deems hot and trendy at the moment. For a more accurate reflection of what viewers are passionate about, however, the recent E!Online poll is worth noting. It asked website visitors which series they’d like to see more coverage on, and two CW dramas swept up nearly 60% of the votes. Supernatural (29%) and One Tree Hill (28%) dominated to such an extent, they were eventually removed from the ballot to give other shows a fighting chance. Not just here in Cleveland, but across the nation, those serials have a loyal, vocal fanbase. Nominations were also announced for the 39th annual NAACP Image Awards, and, as usual, The CW leads the pack with 18 nods, more than all four of the other networks combined. Girlfriends and Everybody Hates Chris picked up seven apiece in comedy categories, and America’s Next Top Model is also vying for the Outstanding Reality Series title. Finally, TV Guide polled its readers to find the “Most Heartwarming Series” of all-time, and Gilmore Girls topped the list. It was “can’t miss” viewing for me, for sure, but was it more heartwarming than, say, Little House on the Prairie, which nearly always left an embarrassing lump in the throat? Your thoughts?

A chubby guy in a red suit climbs down your chimney in the middle of the night, eats your cookies, tracks soot on the carpet, and leaves an ugly tie under your Christmas tree—isn’t that creepy enough?  Tomorrow night, Supernatural explores an even darker side of Santa, based on the urban legend with roots in both Appalachia and Pennsylvania Dutch country.  There, older folks can still recall mysterious “Belsnickels” going from house to house with coal and a swat on the britches for kids who’d been naughty.  In Europe, this anti-Claus is called “Krampus,” and looks even scarier than the hobo-like visitors who patrolled Steeler nation as recently as the 1940s.  Sam and Dean’s evil prey is a killer, of course, building upon holiday mythology unearthed by series creator Eric Kripke.  This eerie episode will stick with you long after the needles have fallen from your pine.   The yuletide spirit also comes to Smallville tomorrow, at least until Chloe and Jimmy become trapped with a bomb.  Who wants Lex brought down?  Will Clark reveal his secret to rescue his friends?  And will we learn more details about Grant/Julian plot?   Don’t miss this night of chills…You-Know-Who is making his “list” and checking it twice…

How creative are you?  We live in a techno-era in which seemingly every young person has offered up their aspiring filmmaker skills on YouTube.  But now, for the second year, The CW is giving college undergrads the chance to compete for a network internship in its Making the Cut editing contest.  You’ll be supplied with great footage from Supernatural, Smallville and Gossip Girl, and challenged to create a promo or trailer using imagination—plus whatever visual (or audio) tools you like.  Students can submit multiple entries, incorporating only one show in each video.  This program is a joint-educational effort between The CW and Promox/BDA, the premier national on-air promotion and broadcast design organization.  For young people looking to get their foot in the door, the competition is a unique and awesome career opportunity…so spread the word around your college campus!  The winning entry will be featured on both television and the web.  Click here for more details, and have fun working with three of our most buzzworthy series.

Only 17 more shopping days left, and if you’re one of those lucky few who’ve completed the task before the mad rush, WBNX has some relaxing holiday TV rewards for you! More than two dozen Christmas-themed episodes and specials are coming your way between now and December 25, starting with The CW’s “Merry Monday” comedy lineup of Everybody Hates Chris, Aliens in America, Girlfriends and The Game! The boys on Supernatural encounter the anti-Santa, while the Gossip Girl socialites unwrap…well, who knows what? Many of our daily comedies also have some memorable yuletide scripts, including Raymond, Frasier, George Lopez and According to Jim. And, of course, kids love the animated specials about Grandma and her hit-skip reindeer and The Story of Santa Claus. You can find a complete schedule of the holiday fare here on our new Christmas webpage, along with exclusive festive screensavers and other extras featuring your CW faves. Spread the word…and enjoy! P.S. Have you seen our new “Cleveland snowglobe” logo on air? Watch for it!

Coolest news of the fall: Last weekend on Veteran’s Day, Supernatural stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki were cited by General David H. Petraeus, Commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq, for the popularity of their CW drama among the military service members, Mediaweek reports. Seasons one and two of Supernatural are the most requested DVDs among armed forces personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 3,000 sets are being shipped to the troops by Warner Bros. Entertainment. Jensen and Jared were honored during their appearance at the “Salute to Supernatural, Smallville and Buffy/Angel” convention in Schaumburg, IL. Master Sergeant Kevin Wise was also on hand to present the boys with a coin from his Special Forces Group, a gesture rarely given to civilians. Click here for awesome photos and comments, plus details on the Supernatural event planned for 2008.

Smallville and Supernatural take a Thanksgiving break this week for the Hilary Duff flick, Raise Your Voice. But the most-recent episodes gave us a lot to ponder, especially (SPOILERS AHEAD) the explosive revelation that Daily Planet editor Grant Gabriel (played by Michael Cassidy) is, in fact, Lex Luthor’s supposedly-dead brother, Julian. Wow!! The Luthor backstory has always been shrouded in mystery: did Lex accidentally kill baby Julian, how did Lex’s mother die, what is Lionel hiding…and what about that “other” brother, Lucas, from Season 2? All we know is, Lex and Julian are in cahoots with a major plan concerning Lionel, and it sounds dark. On Supernatural, the Winchesters won’t have to worry about that maniac-turned-vampire Gordon hunting them down, after Sam…well, popped his noggin off. Most chilling, though, was Gordon’s assertion of who Sam really is…

Among all networks, The CW may be the most equipped to endure the current work-stoppage by film and TV writers. Everybody Hates Chris began taping early this year due to its young star’s growth spurt, and they’ve completed all 22 episodes. The other Monday comedies are also far ahead in production, says Variety, and new sitcom Eight Days a Week—with Justin Hartley, Mario Lopez and Christina Milian—has 13 episodes ready for midseason. On the drama side, One Tree Hill has a good portion of its 22 episodes (or scripts) ready to roll in January; Smallville will have seven new stories to air after tomorrow night; and Supernatural has four more in the can—with another five scripts ready to shoot, according to the LA Times. Gossip Girl producer Josh Schwartz says the hit soap has five fresh hours completed, following tonight’s jaw-dropper, while Friday Night SmackDown is new every week and not affected by the writers strike. Where The CW is especially strong, however, is in popular reality series…five, to be exact. New cycles of Top Model and Beauty & The Geek are in the works, along with season two of Pussycat Dolls, in which they’ll be assembling a brand new group. The mother-daughter beauty pageant show, Crowned, looks hilarious (click here for a preview); and you can scroll down a bit to read about Farmer Wants a Wife—a must-see for NE Ohio cowpokes. Nobody likes a strike, especially the talented folks carrying picket signs in freezing temperatures, but we’ll get thru it on-air…hopefully without missing a beat.

Once upon a time, Halloween was a “holiday” for kids in costumes and rotting teeth. Nowadays, it’s evolved into a time for sinister movies (i.e. Saw IV) and eerily-themed episodes on TV. Last night, Reaper took its usual tongue-in-cheek approach to the devil’s least-favorite day—sending all of his minions on vacation, and saddling Sam & Co. with a wise-cracking con artist trapped in a snowglobe. Trusting the bad guy nearly got Sam and Sock fed to “the butcher.” Tomorrow, the laughs will be less frequent, as Supernatural explores the “real” Grimms Fairy Tales…you know, where things certainly don’t end “happily ever after.” Even the promo for this hour of haunted bedtime stories looks freaky! If you like a good scare, this show’s for you. In the midst of this Halloween mystery-solving, Sam finds time to summon the Crossroads Demon, played this time by Jared Padalecki’s real life girlfriend, Sandra McCoy. The two met filming the horror flick, Cry Wolf, two years ago and have been together ever since. Sam tries to double-cross her while bargaining for Dean’s life…and let’s just say, the ending will unnerve you!

For those who can’t get enough TV spoilers, here are a few plot previews and guest-stars we’ll see over the next few weeks on The CW.  America’s Next Top Model will fly the girls to China and also to Mexico, where they’ll star in a music video with Enrique Iglesias.  The Nate/Blair fiasco is about to explode on Gossip Girl, which may pale in comparison to the revealing Thanksgiving episode!  Clark meets his Kryptonian mother—played by big-screen Supergirl Helen Slater—on Smallville.  Mercedes McNab (Harmony on Buffy and Angel) will guest-star on both Reaper and Supernatural.  And in the casting coup of the year, Melinda Clarke (The O.C.’s Julie Cooper) is the devil’s girlfriend on Reaper!  Erykah Badu, Eva Marcelle and Lil’ Kim visit the Monday comedies, while Justin and Raja outdo themselves with an outrageous school prank on Aliens in America.  Even the animals are turning up the heat on Life is Wild, where a hippo chases two stars up a tree, and an elephant falls in love with a giraffe.  Sweet.  And trust me, that’s just a small sampling of what’s to come.  Stay tuned…

Horror movie fans are well acquainted with certain iconic names like Freddie Krueger, Michael Myers, Chuckie, Damian, and even Jigsaw. These dudes have scared us silly for decades. But one nightmarish villain may be considered the modern day “father” of cinematic terror, Jason Voorhees. Wearing his trademark hockey mask, Jason has slashed his way through 11 Friday the 13th flicks since 1980, racking up nearly $360 million in box office receipts! The first time I saw him spring out of serene Crystal Lake, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Well, Jason’s back—and he’s coming to The CW! Supernatural creator Eric Kripke confirms he’s secured the rights to the character, and that coming up in Episode 10, Sam and Dean will, indeed, meet this legendary killer. But just before that, we’ll be treated to A Very Supernatural X-Mas in which the folklore of Bad Santa just may curl your stockings. Seriously, how much do we love this show?