Nothing on? Not for long

While I don't spend nearly as much time watching television as I have at other times in my life, I have taken notice of the current writers' strike.
The union honchos for those who pen what's on the tube are still holding out for more moolah, and I don't fault them. Sure, it means no new "Late Show" or "The Office" offerings in the foreseeable future, but there are far worse things to endure in this world.
But as more and more reality shows eat up more and more of the primetime lineup, I want to make sure I get my two cents in before a deal is struck and the chance to cash in on reality show ideas dries up.
With the first votes of the 2008 presidential primary season just weeks away, there's plenty of fodder for unscripted television — assuming we can get the candidates to drop their talking points and pick up those Tiki torches they use on "Survivor."
If for some reason Mike Huckabee falls from grace as the current conservative darling, he can host the next few seasons of "The Biggest Loser" and take his message of eating right, exercising and attacking Darwin to the NBC viewership once a week.
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, still trailing Sen. Hillary Clinton in national polls, would likely be the frontrunner as a jet-setting contestant on "The Amazing Race" given his childhood years living in Jakarta, Indonesia.
And Rudy Giuliani could secure a spot on the next incarnation of VH1's "I Love New York," so long as he keeps the Sept. 11 anecdotes to the minimum.
And while David Duchovny is busy with some new program on some pay-cable channel I don't subscribe to, skywatcher and alien aficionado Dennis Kucinich can team up as Agent Scully's new partner in an "X-Files" based reality show.
Senator Hillary Clinton, who already has parodied the finale of HBO's "The Sopranos," will need to wait until the strike's over to start her own scripted variety show with former president and hubby Bill as the star.
And assuming the rest of the candidates can't find something else to pique their interest, we could just stick the rest of the bunch into a sprawling, L.A. mansion for the first-ever "Presidential Big Brother" — well, at least the first since the Bush administration.