Though Fox has always been viewed as the most likely destination for Conan O’Brien, there have been and remain some obstacles to overcome before anything is finalized. Today an executive from Fox confirmed that the two sides are working on a deal with a representative of O’Brien stating “we’ll get there”. There is still the possibility that O’Brien will choose to go to cable instead but the reach that Fox has gives it the edge.

Ever since talk of a movie to Fox came up the biggest hurdle has been identified as the individual Fox stations, many of which have obligations to air reruns of shows at 11pm following the news, and those syndications have proven to be profitable. Those previously made deals could force Conan O’Brien to air at 1130pm in some markets.

Not having the uniformity of start time would be damaging to how the show could be promoted. The two sides could end up deciding to wait to launch the show until January, when more stations would be able to air it at 11pm. There is also the possibility of airing the show on FX in those markets until the time comes that it can shift over to Fox.

Fox would be looking to reduce the budget of the show from the $90 million a year at NBC to about $60 million. Interestingly O’Brien is hoping to secure the set that was used for his run at “The Tonight Show”. NBC spent over $50 million building it and now with it collecting dust they have stated they are open to leasing it out.

Whether the Curb Your Enthusiasm series continues from one season to the next has been dependent solely on whether writer and star Larry David has wanted to bring it back. So far he has through seven seasons with each one ending on a note that could have held up as series finales. HBO continues to provide flexibility and an opening for the highly regarded Curb Your Enthusiasm to return.

Variety has a story citing David’s recent comments stating there is a “pretty good chance” that Curb will be back for season eight. I was waiting for the follow-up of “pretty, pretty, pretty good” that never came. One storyline may tie into his ownership of a Toyota Prius, given all the recent problems with Toyota it’s a perfect fit, and season 8 would also return fan favorite Leon (JB Smoove).

Variety is reporting that time is running out on 24’s run and its current eighth season will be its last. While Fox is thought to be shopping it to other networks it is unlikely any would pick it up under the circumstances. A final decision on the fate of 24 will supposedly be determined within the next few days.

This does not come as much of a surprise. It is the final year of Kiefer Sutherland’s contract, the ratings are still good but they have been slipping the last few seasons, and the series is expensive to produce. The show has become stale recycling the same plot twists or going for shocking moments that make little sense otherwise. Having peaked with season five, 24 bottomed out in season six and has never fully recovered.

24 will continue on though with the feature film project that is in development. That will find Jack Bauer overseas and drop the real-time format, instead compacting a day’s worth of events into the two hour movie.

Great news today as Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Fox has picked up the sci-fi show Fringe for a third season. While the show has strong support from reviewers and fans it has been in some danger due to the relatively high production costs and ratings that have not been strong enough to make renewal a sure thing. It seemed like a good bet that it would be coming back but many saw Fox as having to make a decision between it and Lie to Me. No word on the latter as of yet but it is in a similar situation where prospects look good.

The season two ratings for Fringe, averaging about eight million viewers and just under a 3.0 in the 18-34 demo, have been very respectable considering the circumstances. The Thursday 9pm schedule is brutal with Fringe having to face direct competition from three of the biggest shows on TV in Grey’s Anatomy, CSI,  and The Office. This has resulted in Fringe being one of the programs benefiting the most when counting in DVR ratings. That likely factored into the decision and it could come into play when deciding whether the show will occupy the same time slot come season three.

TMZ is reporting that Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco will be on the cast of the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars. While athletes have traditionally performed well on the show most of them have been retired at the time. The only active player to take part was Jason Taylor, who received criticism for missing off-season workouts and saw his play drop 0ff ever since. Ochocinco will likely miss the off-season workout program as well but he generally has not shown up to those anyway.

The finale of the show would take place on May 25th if he was to make it that far. His demeanor makes it easier to accept him taking on such a physically daunting and time consuming task but I have to wonder how Bengals fans will feel about him concentrating on this instead of the upcoming season. Other contestants for this season are rumored to include Kate Gosselin, John Stamos, Kevin Federline, and Pamela Anderson. The tenth season of Dancing With The Stars premieres on March 22nd on ABC.

It has been discussed for years but now it finally looks like it is going to happen. A movie continuation of the hit TV show 24 is actively in development. Screenwriter Billy Ray has been hired by Fox to work on the project. He has written some good thrillers including Breach, Flightplan and State of Play.

The movie will find Jack Bauer overseas in Europe for the first time. One point of contention about a possible film has always been whether it would keep the real-time format and just run through two hours or if it would lose it’s appeal by going away from what the show has always been known for. They’ve ultimately decided to take the events of a full day and pack it into two hours.

The eighth season of 24 has been pegged as possibly being the last due to Kiefer Sutherland’s contract being up. However ratings are still strong and many expect that Fox will continue the series and make a deal with Sutherland to continue in the role. How the 24 movie will fit into the timeline, whether it would be between seasons eight and nine or if it could even end the story of Jack Bauer, still seems to be undecided.

The series finale of M*A*S*H held the record of most viewers for a TV show for 27 years before Super Bowl XLIV surpassed it. With 106.5 million viewers the Colts vs Saints Super Bowl became the highest rated program of all time. Last year’s game between the Cardinals and Steelers had set the record for a Super Bowl with 98.7 million having watched so it was a very significant increase over that. Back in 1983 when M*A*S*H aired its historic finale there were 83 million TV equipped homes compared to 115 million now and as the population continues to rise the new record has the potential to be broken in the coming years.

The show that got the post Super Bowl airing this year was the premiere of Undercover Boss. Its ratings were the highest for a program following the Super Bowl since 2001 pulling in 38.6 million viewers. Though it didn’t feel like the traditional show that would be on after the game the reaction to it has been overwhelmingly positive. That bodes well for the future of the reality show that has executives going to work on the front lines of their companies and then instituting changes based on their experiences.

More bad news for fans of the show FlashForward which has been going through a rocky couple months. After initially starting out with good ratings they fell off quickly, co-creator Mark Guggenheim left the series, word of a temporary production shutdown leaked out, the show went on hiatus until March 4th, and most recently it was moved back even further to the 18th.

Now what could be the most devastating blow arrives with the news that co-creator and showrunner David Goyer is stepping down from his role running the series. Goyer is best known for writing Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and his involvement generally provided for some confidence that things could turn around.

While he will still be involved with the show in a smaller capacity it is another bad sign for the future prospects of FlashForward. It was already hard to imagine that it would pick up more viewers after the hiatus but clearly it appears headed towards cancellation. ABC has committed to a full season though so at least the story will be provided the opportunity to play out and result in a sense of finality rather than leaving viewers hanging.

The sixth and final season of Lost kicked off last night with a two hour premiere. Rather than posting some of my thoughts in the article I’ll add them in the comments to avoid spoiling (don’t read them unless you’ve seen the show)! Make sure to leave your reaction and any theories in the comments as well for discussion. You are also welcome to take part in the discussion thread in the forums.

With the highly anticipated premiere of the final season of Lost arriving tomorrow night, ABC has finally released a trailer that actually includes new footage. There are also some clips including the first four minutes of the episode that have leaked out but I’m avoiding watching any of those. Check out the new trailer below and see if you can get any more excited than you already were!