David Letterman

It seems like we've been talking about it for months. But there's a changing of the guard finally about to take place on late, late night CBS.Tom Snyder leaves "The Later Late Show with Tom Snyder" at the end of the week. And, then, on Tuesday starting at 12: 35 a.m., it becomes "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn."Kilborn, the former host of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central, is going from the network of "South Park" to the network of "Diagnosis Murder." Will he have to adjust?"Well, I think of it as more as I'm following David Letterman, which to me is the greatest," Kilborn said.

If your dog plays soccer, please, don't go to Hagerstown on Saturday to try to have Fido featured on David Letterman's Stupid Pet Tricks."Dogs that play soccer, that's like my worst nightmare," says Bill Langworth, stupid pet and human trick coordinator (now there's a job title!) for "The Late Show with David Letterman.""I mean, it might be amusing for you at home, but on the show, everything's got to have a beginning, a middle and an end. How long can you watch a dog kick a ball around the stage?"

His cutting edge may have dulled a bit and his Top-10 lists are looking a little long-in-the-tooth these days, but David Letterman is still the best thing on late-night television.Tonight, the gap-toothed one celebrates his fifth anniversary on CBS with a 90-minute "Late Show with David Letterman" special beginning at 9: 30. Filled with clips, guest cameos and reprises of the best Stupid Human and Stupid Pet Tricks, the show is a riot.There's Dave trolling a New Jersey neighborhood with Siskel and Ebert; Dave and Steve Martin on a beach, exchanging knowing glances; Dave manning a Taco Bell drive-through; Bill Cosby climbing a ladder to the balcony of the Ed Sullivan Theater; and, best of all, Dave working with kids who, unlike their adult counterparts, have no trouble saying what they think.

It's milestone Monday, as a pair of TV mainstays celebrate anniversaries today."Melrose Place" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- The women of Melrose Place celebrate the show's 150th episode by toying with the men, as a pregnant Alison has some wedding-day surprises for Jake, Amanda bilks Craig, a dying Kimberly isn't too sick to trap Michael in a web of pity, and Sidney charms Carter out of his billionaire software empire. Tough breaks. Fox."Mr. Rhodes" (8: 30 p.m.-9 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11)

BOWIE -- Sati Achath uses his hands when he talks. As hands go, they are nothing special -- normal-sized, 10 fingers, the usual package. He can't even palm a basketball.But watch:He clasps his hands together, pokes out a finger and it's Richard Nixon! He puts his hands on his head, twists his fingers just so and it's a cat waving its tail! He places one hand on top of the other, scrunches them into a ball and it's Ross Perot!Wait. Something's missing."Unfortunately, I can't do his ears," Achath apologizes.

Sounds like a good "Homicide" on NBC tonight."The Flintstones" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- Yabba dabba doo, it worked better as a cartoon! ABC."Dave's World" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- Bea Arthur returns as Dave's agent and organizes a party at his home that somehow connects the Barrys to organized crime and propels them into an unwanted public spotlight. CBS."Babylon 5" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WNUV, Channel 54) -- A reporter for Interstellar Network News promises to do an unbiased story on Babylon 5. Wanna bet he breaks that promise?

For those strong of stomach, one of the most powerful dramas of the current TV season repeats tonight."Boy Meets World" (8: 30 p.m.-9 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- This is worth watching, if only to see Buddy Hackett and Soupy Sales as a pair of mobsters. Guess they'd strike fear into anyone's heart, huh? ABC."Everybody Loves Raymond" (8: 30 p.m.-9 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- Raymond and his brother duke it out over who should captain their basketball team. CBS."Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" (9 p.m.-9: 30 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2)

Bob and Jack launch their big show tonight, as the GOP convention concludes with acceptance speeches from nominees Dole and Kemp. Network coverage begins at 9 p.m., except on NBC, where even stronger forces are at work."

How did Letterman get Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern on the same show? Any chance of fisticuffs?"Family Matters" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- Urkel at a prom? Can disaster be far behind in this repeat? The musical group Immature provides the music. ABC."Diagnosis Murder" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- In the series pilot, "A Twist of the Knife," Suzanne Pleshette stars as an old flame of Dr. Sloan's who may have helped hasten a politician's untimely demise. So Dick Van Dyke quit writing comedy, left Mary Tyler Moore, checked into med school and ended up with Suzanne Pleshette.

Once the Olympics are over, are you prepared to deal with post-Olympics stress syndrome, the trauma of not being able to watch any more of the games of the 26th Olympiad? Probably not, so maybe you should try to ease yourself back into the mundane reality of everyday TV life by watching just one non-Olympics piece of programming tonight. Here are some suggestions."Nova" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., MPT, Channels 22 and 67) -- "Terror in the Mine Fields" visits Cambodia and looks at the danger of living in a country where 25 years of war have left millions of land mines buried underground.

Talk-show host David Letterman said Thursday that he was the victim of a $2 million extortion attempt related to his sexual relationships with staff members on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman." During a taping for Thursday night's broadcast, Letterman told viewers that three weeks ago, he was approached by a person who claimed to have information about the host's affairs with female staff members. This person, Letterman said, threatened to expose the relationships unless payment of $2 million was received.

In my blog on Thursday, I called Fox's wretched Octomom special the official low point of summer viewing. Before making that call, I went back through the summer schedules and my posts to make sure I wasn't slighting some equally dreadful TV production. I wasn't. In the process, though, I realized it's been a weird summer of TV. So I started writing down my highs and lows. Here are my seven highs and three lows - for a summertime Top 10 list. Notice the decided lack of dramas and sitcoms on my list of bests.

You have to admit late-night TV has become a lot more interesting in the past two weeks, since Jay Leno, who consistently dominated the competition, left for prime time. Two weeks ago all eyes were on Conan O'Brien, who struggled in his much-hyped opening nights to find the right voice - especially when it came to the monologue, his great and glaring weakness. Last week, David Letterman was all the buzz with crude jokes about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughters - and Palin's angry response that stopped just short of labeling him a sexual "pervert" - her word, not mine.

Sunday Morning is turning 30, and the CBS mainstay is celebrating this weekend. If you have never seen the program - and sometimes it is the best thing on TV all weekend - think of it as an upbeat newsmagazine with a feel for humor and culture. Sunday, they will be looking at the way the world - including technology, popular culture and religion - has changed since the show made its debut three decades ago with Charles Kuralt as host. These days, it's the forever-in-bow ties Charles Osgood at the helm.

Ihave to admit that, at first, I wasn't a big fan of documentarian Alexandra Pelosi. I gave a positive review to her first film, the 2000 Emmy Award-winning HBO documentary Journeys with George, in which she followed then-presidential candidate George W. Bush on his campaign. It was an engaging and occasionally illuminating film, but I thought there was far too much of Pelosi in the final product, and I found her on-screen persona too cutesy. But after seeing The Trials of Ted Haggard, Pelosi's latest film, which premieres tonight on HBO, I believe in her talents.

TNT is using its hit The Closer to serve as lead-in tonight to the premiere of Trust Me, a new series starring Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh. Trust me, there is almost nothing in this drama that works. The series is set in an ad agency with McCormack and Cavanaugh playing two best friends since childhood who now work together thinking up ads for products like cell phones. In the opening scenes, the two are shown mid-day stretched out at a pool, recovering from hangovers. They lie shamelessly about how hard they are working when the boss calls.

David Letterman's 'Great Moments' segment to end as Bush leaves office The end of the Bush administration also marks the end of "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches," an enduring feature on David Letterman's Late Show that pokes fun at the president's vocal stumbles. Late Show writer Tom Ruprecht may remember Tuesday as the day he was sprung - from hours spent in his office watching Bush speeches to find those magic moments. The first "Great Moment" came on March 30, 2006; it was followed by 377 more.

I am feeling better about Barbara Walters since her interview last week with President-elect Barack Obama and future first lady Michelle Obama. She asked solid, informed questions during the session and waited until the very end to inject a moment of fun in the conversation by holding up a picture of her dog and doing some lobbying for the breed as the next White House canine. In fact, I am feeling so good about her, that I will definitely watch Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008 tonight - and not just because Baltimore's Olympic champion Michael Phelps is one of the people she will be interviewing.

It would be hard to find a better lineup of celebrity performers or a bigger TV event tonight than the second annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute that honors ordinary people who have achieved extraordinary accomplishments in their communities and beyond. The program, which is hosted by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, will be broadcast to a global audience starting tonight at 9. Alicia Keys and John Legend headline the performers. During the show, CNN will honor 10 heroes and reveal the CNN Hero of the Year, who will receive an additional $100,000.

The ratings success of the venerable CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes in recent weeks brings to mind another storied TV franchise, Nova, the science series now in its 35th season on PBS and still going strong. To see how strong, spend a couple of hours tonight with The Bible's Buried Secrets, a compelling documentary that combines literary criticism, archaeological discovery, scientific testing and historiography to get at the origins of the Hebrew Bible and the roots of religion as we know it today.