Barbara On 'Oprah'

Two titans of the talk show world meet up today when Barbara Walters of "The View" goes on "Oprah" (WMAZ, 4 p.m.) to promote her new autobiography that also hits bookstores today.

I've never really been a huge Barbara Walters fan -- I don't like "The View" and I always skip the "Barbara Walters Specials" on ABC -- but she is something of a TV pioneer as the first femae co-anchor of the evening news in 1976.

The book has already drawn a certain amount of notoriety because it details Walters' affair with U.S. Senator Richard Brooke, the first African-American elected to the Senate. Though I'm not a fan of adultery by any means, I actually have more of an issue of a journalist sleeping with a public figure she's supposed to be covering. Compromising objectivity downgrades the whole profession.

Walters, however, can't complain about the advance publicity for her book. In addition to the "Oprah" appearance, she is also getting a one-hour special on ABC Wednesday night at 10 p.m. called "Audition: The Barbara Walters Journey."

ELECTION COVERAGE: A few weeks ago, I said the networks should limit themselves to one network covering key political events, and that it should rotate around.

Interestingly, since we're in the sweeps period, none of the networks are covering the Indiana and North Carolina primaries live, instead opting for original programming. (Although I'm certain they will be interrupting the shows with news breaks and a crawl giving constant updates). So you'll have to tune into one of the cable news networks for the running totals in these key primaries.

TUESDAY'S BEST BETS: If you are fine with limiting your political knowledge to the news crawl and limited news breaks, there's plenty of new stuff around the dial.

It's hard to believe, but "Dancing With The Stars" (ABC, 8 p.m.) has already reached 100 episodes, and will be running back-to-back episodes tonight, followed by a new "Women's Murder Club" at 10 p.m.

That "other" music reality show, "American Idol" (Fox, 8 p.m.), is down to its final four contestants and is followed by "Hell's Kitchen."

CBS has new episodes of "NCIS" and "Shark" beginning at 8 p.m., while NBC has a new "Law & Order: SVU" at 10 p.m. "Reaper" (CW, 9 p.m.) is also new.

Finally, a couple of documentaries of note. "American Experience" (PBS, 9 p.m.) examines the presidency of the first President Bush, while "Bud Greenspan: At The Heart Of The Games" (ESPN2, 9 p.m.) details the life and experiences of the great Olympics filmmaker.

Whoopi-Do

So, Whoopi Goldberg's debut in the post Rosie O'Donell era of "The View" didn't exactly go off that smoothly.

Most people hailed Whoopi as a positive choice to replace the always-controversial Rosie, and she still might be.

But she didn't exactly get off on the right foot Tuesday, appearing to defend Michael Vick by saying dogfighting is part of the Southern culture. (FYI, I've lived in the south my entire life, and I've never been to a dogfight. Just sayin')

Anyway, Whoopi and company spent the first five minutes of Wednesday's show backtracking from the comments, saying the media quoted her out of context and such. (We apparently do that a lot).

Maybe Whoopi's comments were misconstrued, but at this stage, it's almost beside the point. "The View" is taped live and discussions are frequently political in nature, so there is a possibility each day of any hostess or guest saying something that will be taken the wrong way.

Here's hoping Whoopi learns that lesson quickly.

WEDNESDAY'S BEST BETS: Man, if anyone knew that Amy Sedaris and Gina Gershon would be this brilliant as guest stars as they have been, the producers of "Rescue Me" probably would have brought them in much earlier. As it is, both scene-stealing ladies return tonight (FX, 10 p.m.) simply to provide Tommy more aggravation than usual. This show is at its best when Tommy is aggravated.

Best.Animated.Movie.Ever.

OK, so I'm a little stoked about "The Simpsons" movie premiering this weekend. But then, I'm old enough to remember the Simpsons vignettes on "The Tracey Ullman Show" an eon or two ago.

Truth be told, the series - which has surpassed 400 episodes - hasn't lived up to the high benchmark it set for itself during its first decade. Episodes like the one about the monorail, or the company softball team, or some of the other classics from those early years far surpass most of the ones done in recent years.

In fact, the only truly standout "Simpsons" episode I can think of during the last few years that measures up as a classic was the one written and starring Ricky Gervais as a guy who swaps wives with Homer.

But despite the show's recent faults (and, in defense of the writers, it's probably hard coming up with fresh stuff after 18 years) there's no denying "The Simpsons" have become a part of Americana.

And the reviews of the movie have been pretty good. Whenever adapting a current-running TV series into a movie format (such as "The X-Files" a few years ago), it's hard to do something that doesn't seem like an expanded episode of the series.

So my advice is to grab a doughnut, pour yourself a squishy and race to get the best seat in the house. Woo-hoo!

RIMES RESPONDS: TVGuide's Michael Ausiello has a pretty interesting interview with "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rimes about the departure of Isaiah Washington, posted here: http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Shonda-Rhimes-Breaks/800019387

Personally, I don't believe a word of what she said about the incident. In the interview, she said it was her decision to fire Washington and she wrote the season with that plan in mind all along.

COMIC CON ITEM OF THE DAY: I really should make this a regular feature while Comic Con is still going on. (I plan on attending at some point in my life, but sadly not this year).

Karen Allen, who played Marion Ravenwood in "Raiders Of The Lost Ark," will be reprising her role in the newest Indiana Jones movie.

Though specifics on what Marion's role would be in the story, the mere presence of one of the greatest female characters in the history of cinema (I don't exaggerate; I love Marion) is just getting me more antsy to see this movie.

THIS JUST IN: "The View" will be adding two rotating co-hosts to replace the departed Rosie O'Donnell, the Associated Press is reporting Friday.

Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd, both of whom have appeared on the show before, will be rotating in with regular hosts Barbara Walters, Elizabeth Hasselbeck and Joy Behar.

Whether they will have the ratings impact the controversial O'Donnell had remains to be seen, but the ratings remained strong after Rosie left, so it shouldn't be too much of a worry.

WEEKEND'S BEST BETS: The Doctor and Martha run into Daleks during 1930s New York on "Doctor Who," (Sci-Fi, 9 p.m.) On USA, "Monk" visits a nudist resort while Shawn takes on an FBI psychic on "Psych" from 9-11 p.m.

On Saturday, BBC America is running a marathon of the entire second series of "Hex," which had one of the more disappointing endings in recent memory.

On Sunday, the second part of "Kill Point" (Spike, 9 p.m.) airs. Hopefully, the show will pick up a bit. Also, "Mystery" (PBS, 9 p.m.) presents a new Miss Marple case. "The 4400" (USA, 9 p.m.) and "The Dead Zone" (USA, 10 p.m.) are also new.