The NFL playoffs, at least for sports fans, are the best thing happening on television right now. Unless you are catching up on movies released before the holidays, it’s a bleak time at the cinema. Film studios did not bother to provide press screenings for new films like the “Alien vs. Predator” sequel and the horror flick “One Missed Call.” No one needs to be a clairvoyant to figure these films are stinkers to be avoided at all cost. This leaves us with television as the mass medium for entertainment.

While not keeping the late night shows off the air, the continuing writers strike is throwing a monkey wrench into TV programming, and sadly this situation shows no sign of being resolved any time soon. For the first time in memory, the nation’s TV critics won’t be gathering in Los Angeles this January for the press tour to preview new TV series and specials. Did I mention it’s becoming a bleak time on television?

At some point, due to the strike, the television and cable networks will eventually run out of new scripted programs. That leaves us with the troubling possibility of more reality shows. Hasn’t CBS run out of interesting places for “Survivor,” and for that matter, does anyone really care?

In any case, the granddaddy of reality shows, “American Idol,” returns on FOX for a two-month run for twice weekly shows, until late February when it kicks into three nights a week. Talk about filling up the TV schedule!

“American Idol” jump starts the FOX schedule with a two-night, four-hour premiere featuring outrageous new auditions on Tuesday, Jan. 15 and Wednesday, Jan. 16.

Episodes featuring the auditions held across the country in San Diego, Dallas, Omaha, Atlanta, Charleston, Miami and Philadelphia will air on four consecutive Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The lucky hopefuls who get the judges’ approval move on to the Hollywood Round which starts up in mid-February, at which time dreams come true for 24 contestants when the Top 12 male and Top 12 female semifinalists are picked.

Then it will be up to you, America, to decide who moves forward in the competition, and after a series of elimination rounds it all comes down to the final vote being revealed on Wednesday, March 12.

Long ago in her teen years, the pretty Elizabeth Berkley showed promise in her starring role on the TV series “Saved by the Bell.” Later, her career took a big nose dive playing a Las Vegas stripper in “Showgirls,” a huge flop at the box office that only later acquired classic cult status in DVD release.

Now she’s stepping up, so to speak, as the host of a dance show, a reality series on Bravo called “Step It Up and Dance.” There will be no need for Elizabeth to work the stripper’s pole, because after all this series involves more serious choreography. As expected in a reality series, there will be 12 dancers competing for a $100,000 top prize in “Step It Up and Dance,” which may not air until spring.

Lifetime Network has a Friday night reality programming block, with such shows as “How to Look Good Naked,” “Top This Party: Orange County” and “Top This Party: Las Vegas.” Recently added to the lineup at the start of January is “Matched in Manhattan.” Matt Titus, New York’s premiere relationship expert and dating coach, specializes in helping both single women and gay men find their Mr. Right. “Matched in Manhattan” follows Matt and his business partners as they hit the streets and cafes of New York City to show their clients what it takes to snag the man of their dreams.

One way to beat the strike blues is to bring back old classics, and this is what GSN is doing with old favorite panel shows such as “What’s My Line?” and “I’ve Got a Secret.” The longest running primetime game show ever, “What’s My Line?” consisted of four panelists who tried to guess either the unusual occupations of guest contestants or products associated with them.

“I’ve Got a Secret” featured four celebrity panelists who by cross examination tried to determine each contestant’s secret. GSN is airing these old classics from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. every morning, thus securing a lock on the viewing habits of insomniacs. This is your chance to see celebrities like Jayne Mansfield, Milton Berle and Liberace, but it would seem not all that difficult to recreate these programs with a contemporary vibe.

Notwithstanding the ongoing work stoppage, it’s not all reality and game shows in TV land. FOX is launching the two-night premiere of “Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles” on Sunday, Jan. 13 and Monday, Jan. 14.

“The Sarah Connor Chronicles” represents an exciting reinvention of the “Terminator” franchise, in which the strong and intrepid Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) discovers that protecting her 15-year-old son John (Thomas Dekker) and stopping the rise of the machines is more difficult than she had ever imagined.

Sarah and John are joined by Cameron (Summer Glau), an enigmatic and otherworldly high school student who proves to be much more than a friend, and James Ellison (Richard T. Jones), an FBI agent hot on the trail who soon becomes a powerful ally. There’s nothing in the press notes to suggest that the governor is making a cameo appearance.

Thanks to a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, the CBS Network features an original movie in late January, “The Russell Girl.” Amber Tamblyn, best known for her starring role in the CBS series “Joan of Arcadia,” stars in the titular role of Sarah Russell, a young woman locating to Chicago where she works as a department store buyer. While in Chicago she receives some unsettling news, which brings her back to her small-town roots. A woman of secrets, Sarah has a past she’s run away from, and now she’s consumed by guilt over something that happened half-a-dozen years ago.

The Hallmark Channel is busy putting on its own original movies. In the titular role of “The Good Witch,” Catherine Bell’s beautiful and mysterious Cassandra Nightingale moves into Grey House, the haunted mansion in a small town. Opening a new age shop in the center of town, Cassandra sets about winning over the town folk with her seemingly magical remedies, but trouble is brewing and not everyone has fallen under her spell.

“Melrose Place” star Laura Leighton stars in “Daniel’s Daughter” as Catherine Madighan, a New York career woman with a high-powered job and millionaire finance. But when she’s told that her estranged father has died and his last request was for her to escort his ashes to their tiny Massachusetts hometown, Catherine begins a journey that will lead her to question the beliefs she’s held about herself, her father and her seemingly perfect life.

Cable networks remain active with new, though familiar, product. HBO launches the fifth and final season of the Emmy Award-winning series “The Wire.” Centered on the vagaries of crime, law enforcement, politics and the media in the drug-saturated streets of West Baltimore, “The Wire” continues its gritty drama that has won so much acclaim. Showtime continues the fifth season of “The L Word,” with its trademark provocative storylines, sizzling sexuality and heart-rending emotion. If you know what the L word is, then you can figure out why the series stars a long list of women, ranging from Jennifer Beals and Pam Grier, to Marlee Matlin and Cybill Shepherd.

Saving the best for last, it’s good to report that everyone’s favorite neurotic detective is returning for a sixth season of unconventional sleuthing. Indeed, Tony Shalhoub is back once more as the obsessive-compulsive Adrian Monk. In the winter season premiere of “Monk,” Adrian Monk infiltrates a cult to solve a murder, only to fall under the spell of its charismatic leader.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

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