TV on Tap: Stephen Colbert Begins a Presidential Run, The CW Considers a "Green Arrow" Series, and the "Single Ladies" of "Downton Abbeyonce"

HBO launches the tenth season of Real Time with Bill Maher this weekend.

News

Stephen Colbert announced his plans to run for President. You probably remember that Colbert ran four years ago and did an amazing job pointing out the absurdities of election law. Since then, things have gotten even crazier, as Colbert has brilliantly pointed out with his Super PAC.

As Newsweek continues its slide into irrelevance, it's planning to celebrate the return of Mad Men with an issue that reverts back to the design style it used in the 60s even, possibly, with retro ads.

The CW has ordered Oh, Sit!, a reality competition series that began as "Extreme Musical Chairs." I hope the actual show turns out to be as insane as that sounds.

NBC is adapting Dracula, a pilot that's described as "Dangerous Liasons meets The Tudors." I think that's the cue for TV critics to dust off their template for shows deemed better suited for cable.

How to plan a 30 Rock party. What, no Sabor de Soledad?

Shameless producer John Wells said that we should expect to see things change for gay teen Ian Gallagher and how he's depicted in sexual situations now that actor Cameron Monaghan has turned 18. Wells also commented that he doesn't see a broadcast network buying a show like ER or The West Wing today.

Hawaii 5-0 has cast conservative comedian Dennis Miller to play a retired talk radio DJ. Considering how Miller's rightward turn has included making homophobic jokes, I think I'll skip that episode, unless that DJ character lives as long as Rick Springfield's Hawaii 5-0 character did.

Meanwhile, the National Geographic Channel will make a documentary based on Bill O'Reilly's book, Killing Lincoln. There's no word if the documentary will preseve the various errors spotted by Lincoln historians, like the completely made-up account of Mary Surratt's treatment as a prisoner.

In what might be the most awesome thing I've seen in a while, there's a Tumblr blog, Downton Abbeyonce, that mixes images from Downton Abbey with Beyonce lyrics.

The Simpsons has signed Portlandia's Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein to appear as guest-voices in the next season. They'll play a "cool" family who move next door to the Simpsons from Portland.

The CW is close to ordering a Green Arrow pilot from Greg Berlanti. It won't star Justin Hartley, who played the superhero on Smallville, and will compete with Deadman to give the network a show based on a DC Comics property. This version is described as having an original story not based on the comics, which gives me a bad flashback to the Catwoman movie. That said, I still think The Legion of Super-Heroes is the perfect concept for a CW superhero show. Those guys spent more time discussing their love lives than the cast of Gossip Girl.

Fans of The Bold and the Beautiful can look forward to seeing Phyllis Diller again. The comedienne will be returning for two days as Gladys Pope, though it's a challenge to imagine Gladys without her pal Sally Spectra (or, at the least, Dylan stripping).

In ratings news, without a lead-in from The Office, Whitney stayed strong, matching the ratings it got on Thursday night. Are You There, Chelsea? improved on Whitney's ratings by 10%. NBC still took third place in the time slot, but that's still a bit of good news for the struggling network. Meanwhile, The People's Choice Awards had its second-lowest rated telecast in the award show's history.

IFC is happy with Portlandia, as the network is bragging that the second-season premiere of the sketch comedy series drew 39% more viewers (and 81% more 18-49 year-old viewers) than the series' launch.

Face Off also had a strong start to its second season, as the reality series' return hit a series high in the ratings with two million viewers.

Friday's Listings

The Nate Berkus Show (syndicated) Check local listings
Nate gets a visit from Marcia Cross, who will challenge Nate's cake-decorating skills, then Nate profiles a woman who turned her love of baking into a career.

Days of Our Lives (NBC) Check local listings
E.J. lets Will know that he has another assignment waiting for him... and to encourage his loyalty with a carrot and a stick he has a gift for Will.

The View (ABC) Check local listings
The View pays tribute to the end of One Life to Live with Agnes Nixon, Judith Light, Hilary B. Smith, Robert S. Woods, Robin Strasser and Erika Slezak.

One Life to Live (ABC) Check local listings
It's struggled in its final few years, but One Life to Live was frequently one of the best soaps left on daytime. I dropped out after Kish's story ended, but I've come back for the finale week and, at the least, it's going out on top of its game. Thus, I've got high hopes for today's series finale — even if they were expecting to keep the story going past today's episode.

Nikita (CW) 8:00 PM ET
Considering what we know about Dillon Casey's amazing physique, it's been a bit of a mystery why he's spent all this time in a suit. Well, tonight Sean ends up spending most of the episode in his underwear, tied to a chair. Meanwhile, Percy thinks he finally found the information he needs to make demands out of Amanda.

Chuck (NBC) 8:00 PM ET
The Intersect team takes on a mission that leads them to turn to Bo Derek (playing herself, of course) for help.

Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys (Sundance) 9:00 PM ET
Sherrie, Jared and Tenisha join Shane in his trip to New York to record his first music video.

Grimm (NBC) 9:00 PM ET
An ogre arrives in Portland looking to get revenge on the man who put him in prison, Hank. I imagine Nate is going to have a bit of challenge in keeping his nature as a Grimm hidden from Hank.

Supernatural (CW) 9:00 PM ET
Oh, yeah. Its time for Dean to take another trip back in time! This time he wakes up in 1944 so we can see how good Jensen Ackles looks in a fedora and trenchcoat while getting arrested by Eliot Ness (Nicholas Lea). Jason Dohring also appears.

Merlin (Syfy) 10:00 PM ET
In the conclusion of the season finale, Lancelot races to Camelot trying to save Merlin's life. As you expect, he encounters more obstacles than a Wipeout competitor.

America's Most Hated Family (National Geographic) 10:00 PM ET
English journalist Louis Theroux profiles the infamous Phelps family, spending time with the anti-gay activists who picket military funerals.

Portlandia (IFC) 10:00 PM ET
Eddie Vedder shows up as Portlandia takes on the important social issue that is Battlestar Galatica addiction and how it ruins lives.

Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) 10:00 PM ET
For the tenth season premiere, Bill talks with Herman Cain and Alexandra Pelosi. Meanwhile, David Frum, Rob Reiner and Debbie Wasserman Schultz will sit on the roundtable.

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (IFC) 10:30 PM ET
Todd  finally arrives in Leeds where he tries to make up for his past mistakes, visits Alice's favorite restaurant and tries to get her a job. He does it as ineptly as you'd expect.

Blade (G4) 11:00 PM ET
After offering anime takes on Iron Man, Wolverine and The X-Men under the guidence of Warren Ellis, G4 turns to vampire hunter Blade.