'Desperate' Times Call for a Desperate Gabby! Plus, all Tonight's Holiday Highlights!

I titled this edition a desperate Gabby, but in reality, all four of those hilarious housewives were pretty desperate the other night on Desperate Housewives. I'm going to save Gabby's storyline for last because it was my favorite. I'm actually finding myself liking Bree lately, and this is a big deal because I used to despise the character (not as much as George, though). Ever since she came to her senses and realized what a psycho George was, she has been fun to watch. I felt bad for her the other night when Andrew was planning his revenge. And how (even more) sick is George??!! He had a life-sized doll that resembled Bree! I love how she walked out of the house with her head held high and that doll right behind her. Classic Bree! As exciting as it is to be enjoying Bree and her recent storyline, it's even more exciting to be doing the same with Susan. She was my favorite character last season, but the writers had reduced her to an annoying mess earlier this season. Now, she's back to her likeable self, and she has a great storyline! She was so desperate to get Addison to act like her father that she ended up getting assaulted by groceries in the store! How classic was it when Edie drove up to find Susan standing outside her garage door that was painted with the word "Whore" in red paint?! I loved her response to Susan's question about whether she had anything to say ("No, that pretty much says it all"). I'm glad Carol knows about her husband and Susan, even if she had to find out the hard way. I'm interested in seeing how the writers develop the Susan/Addison storyline in the future.

Lynette, Lynette, Lynette, you sure don't quit until you get what you want, do you? How hilarious was her daycare plot??! She had me cracking up when she took poor Mindy and locked her in that glass office. I think I understand now why Ed is such a workaholic! His wife puts the "tight" in uptight. Just when you thought that the daycare plan was dead in the water, Ed goes and does something stupid like taking Mindy without telling his wife (although, he did leave a sticky note), and it leads to that holy grail of workplace perks! What I love about Lynette is the way she selfishly manages to get what she wants, but she goes about getting it by selling her idea as a completely non-selfish one. She has an amazing ability to manipulate, and you've got to admire that about her! Speaking of manipulating, Gabby versus Sister Mary just gets funnier and funnier! I love the looks they exchange whenever they come in contact with one another. Gabby's "generous donation" so Sister Mary could go along to Africa was so great until it backfired. I really didn't know how she was going to get Carlos to stay home. That scene in the doctor's office was classic Gabby ("He's allergic to fish eggs"). It looks like she got what she wanted as Carlos is too sick to travel to Africa for missionary work. Gabby 1, Sister Mary 0. That was until a fevered Carlos uttered Sister Mary's name when Gabby was taking care of him. So, Gabby 1, Sister Mary 1. We're all tied at one, and I can't wait to see round 2.

About Last Night... ABC landed on top for the first hour of the night with Wife Swap (football on the West Coast), followed by CBS comedies King of Queens (r) and How I Met Your Mother (r) and NBC's Las Vegas (r). At 9, ABC stayed on top with Monday Night Football, followed by CBS comedies Two and a Half Men (r) and Out of Practice (r) and NBC's Las Vegas. The final hour of the night went to CBS's CSI: Miami (r), followed by football on ABC and Medium (r) on NBC. For more on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

~Primetime Pass~
@8 p.m. - NBC's Fear Factor returns with the highest and fastest helicopter stunt ever, and it's all to retrieve a set of keys for the final stunt. Over on Fox, it's the 2005 Billboard Music Awards with performances by Carrie Underwood, Green Day, Toby Keith, and R. Kelly.

@9 p.m. - One teammate strikes out on their own during a task and gets the rest of the team out of a potential jam on CBS's The Amazing Race.

@10 p.m. - A severely injured 12 year old boy is dumped outside a hospital, leading to a courtroom debate over same-sex parents' rights on NBC's Law & Order: SVU. Over on ABC, an unknown pedofile kidnaps a boy and Denny Crane shoots a homeless man -- with a paintball gun on Boston Legal. CBS airs its annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.




A Charlie Brown Christmas - This holiday classic finds Charlie complaining about the materialization of Christmas as the gang participates in a Christmas pageant. 8 p.m. ABC

My Name is Earl - Earl works to cross off "always ruined Joy's Christmas" from his list by entering a contest to win a car, but winds up paying her back in a completely different way in order to not ruin another one of her Christmases. 9 p.m. NBC

The Office - An office Christmas party takes a bad turn when Michael suggests that everyone swaps Secret Santa gifts and they all vie for the iPod. 9:30 p.m. NBC



QUICK CUTS

*NBC is joining rival ABC and making some of its shows available for download through Apple's iTunes program. Starting today, you'll be able to download single episodes (or entire past seasons) of Law & Order, Surface, The Office, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien to watch on your computer screen or the new iPod Nano. Fellow NBC/Universal channels USA Network and Sci-Fi channel also have programs available for download. USA offers its hit comedy Monk and Sci-Fi its popular series Battlestar Galactica along with some classics. Each episode will set you back $1.99. With today's announcement, there are 16 shows available on iTunes, the world's most popular video download store.

*Stephanie March is joining the cast of the new Dick Wolf NBC legal drama Conviction. She'll reprise her role as ADA Alexandra Cabot that she played for three seasons on fellow Wolf show Law & Order: SVU. Cabot will head a bureau of young ADAs after spending time in witness protection courtesy of a drug cartel on SVU. Wolf's latest drama will focus more on the characters and their personal lives will have a less procedural feel. Conviction is set to premiere midseason on NBC.

*And finally, WB's hit reality show Beauty and the Geek is returning sooner than expected. The show, which pairs beautiful women with socially-challenged "geeks," will debut its second season in January during Everwood's Thursday night slot. That show will take a "midseason break," as it did last season, for eight weeks while Beauty and the Geek completes its run. Beauty will add an extra "beauty" and "geek" this time, bringing the total to 8 each. Look for the next season of Beauty and the Geek to premiere January 12th on the WB.

That's all for today. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for thoughts on The Amazing Race (only two more episodes to go!) and Law & Order: SVU (will the episodes continue to wow? Yeah, I know, the answer's a no-brainer). Plus, all the latest television news!