Even if you haven't seen the movie I am Legend starring Will Smith, chances are you have at least seen the trailer with the images of Will Smith's character hunting a deer in the streets of Manhattan before a lion (presumably escaped from a zoo) spoils Will's dinner plans.

I'm not one to dwell on thoughts of armageddon or mass extinction of the human race, but you can't deny that we human beings can make an awful mess of the planet.  So what would happen if we were all gone?  What would happen to our pets, our cities, our world?

It's a fascinating concept and one that is explored thoroughly in the big-budget production of the History Channel documentary Life After People, which premieres tonight at 9:00PM (8:00 Central) on the History Channel.

This isn't just a bunch of science nerds making baseless wild predictions.  They go on the ground to places like Chernobyl and investigate remote islands to observe what's actually happened there.  Then they can scale-out this information to cities, suburbs, even entire continents.  All rendered with the latest in computer animation for full effect.

Hit the jump for a preview and be sure to set your Tivos!

» The History Channel

Jack Bauer has saved the world (or North America anyway) roughly a half-dozen times on Fox’s hit television show "24". In the upcoming season, he’ll not only venture out to do so again, he’ll crusade to save the environment as well.

Okay, maybe it won’t actually be Jack Bauer doing so; he is a fictional character after all. However, executive producer Gordon Howard is determined to set the environmental standard for green television production and is introducing eco friendly initiatives in "24's" production. The show will convert generators to run on biodiesel as opposed to regular fuel, offices are using LED lights and all scripts are printed on post-consumer recycled paper. Employees are given incentives to drive hybrid vehicles, and if Gordon is successful, his piece de resistance will be a carbon-neutral season finale next spring, a first in television production. Kiefer Sutherland, who stars as Jack Bauer on the series, has recorded a public service announcement for fox.com, which you can view here.

Maybe the show’s next green initiative for this season can be for Jack Bauer to save the world shirtless. Purely for the sake of protesting clothing that is not made of sustainable material of course.

» Newsweek

Remember the Sesame Street of yore: where Bert and Ernie were just two guys who roomed together without the assumption they were gay and Cookie Monster could eat infinite amounts of his favorite treat without the fear of obesity or the onset of diabetes? Those are the memories I hold from the show anyway. Oscar’s grouchiness was oddly loveable and Count von Count (aka The Count) taught me how to do just that.

However, according to the warning that precedes the earliest episodes of the show, now on DVD, the material is “intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.” Riiiiiight. I keep hearing horror stories of the mass outbreak of rebellious four-year olds in 1969 who smoked and then swallowed pipes, in an effort to mimic Cookie Monster.

Current Sesame Street executive produced Carol-Lynn Parente claims, “We might not be able to create a character like Oscar now.” That - for lack of a better phrase - is a load of garbage. Oscar may have possessed some standoffish characteristics, but I trust parents today are as capable as mine were back in the 80s to teach their children acceptable manners and respect. And if “Scram!” is the worst thing to ever come out of my child’s mouth, I will consider myself lucky.

The reality of the world today is even though children may not follow exactly in Cookie Monster or Oscar’s footsteps, what was once demonstrated as innocent behavior on the show, could now be harmful to children. I’m sure in 1969, producers didn’t consider the idea of Gordon taking Sally to his house for milk and cookies as suspicious, unsafe or in any way abnormal. Then again, child pornography wasn’t as rampant or instantly accessible back then either.

I had hoped to one day let my children sit down before kindergarten to giggle at the antics of the Yip Yips as I once did. Now the show that was a staple during my formative years “may not suit the needs” of my children. The times really are a-changin’.

» The New York Times

After two decades of peace in the entertainment industry, talks between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and producers have broken down and the WGA plans to begin their strike on Monday. Talks over the last three months, in anticipation of a new contract, have failed to appease the WGA; who demand a higher share in profits, especially those related to redistribution and Internet distribution. So, how can one plan to survive the coming days, weeks and possibly months - the '88 strike lasted 22 weeks - with only reruns and reality TV to comfort us?

Well, instead of sitting at home, laughing nostalgically at out-dated episodes of The Daily Show, or impressed by the fact that you know the outcome of a CSI Las Vegas episode before Gil Grissom does, why not try something new?

Here are five suggestions that will hopefully inspire you to find your own life apart from the television. Feel free to add to the list, come up with your own list, or just ignore me and curl up with some popcorn and a blanket for that favorite first-season episode of House.

1. Make Yourself a TV Cover - Personally, I can't sew. But, I plan to cut up an old t-shirt and get my mom to sew a cover for my TV. If you can knit, that would be even better. This cover is going to make your TV a less distracting feature in any room. Plus, now it has a snuggly home for its hibernation!

2. Read A Book - Whether you plan to finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, or sink your teeth into Anna Karenina you'll be doing yourself a favor. Have fun with it; don't read what someone tells you to, read whatever interests or excites you. If you're feeling really ambitious the Modern Library has a list of the 100 greatest novels of the Twentieth Century, as does Random House, and Time even has a list of the top ten books ever written.

3. Get Outside - Have a picnic, go camping, or just take a walk. It's really simple, but try and be creative, and again have fun with it.

4. Contribute/Create - Television represents an absolutely one-way media; you contribute nothing when you sit and watch. So, try your hand at some creative mediums; write in a journal, learn watercolor painting, or take a pottery class.

5. Start Something New - According to www.vifamily.ca the average Canadian watches 22 hours of TV a week! Just imagine what you could do with all that time. Freeing up even a fraction of that time you could start participating in any numberof different activities. So be creative, and enjoy yourself.

This has been another great article from Brady Fullerton.  Send us your story.

» The New York Times

In an effort to measure energy consumption used by LCD and plasma televisions, broadcasters and television manufacturers created what has been labelled the World’s Most Boring TV Show.

The distinguished honour was bestowed after the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) edited several programs together to form one convoluted masterpiece. Various genres in programming, such as sporting events and soap operas, were used because the power required by a television differs based on images. Unfortunately the end result was likely to go unrecognized by the Emmy nomination committee.

"The images are supposed to be a representation of what we watch, but when you stick it together it doesn't make much sense," IEC spokesman Dennis Brougham told Reuters.

They say boring, I say effective time management. Imagine if I could spend 20 minutes a day and watch the final few minutes of the local hockey game, catch up with the residents of Salem on Days of our Lives, enjoy some witty banter from the Gilmore Girls, establish if I am, in fact, smarter than a fifth grader and see the highlights of the evening news. I think the IEC have unwittingly stumbled upon a genius solution to unnecessary hours spent in front of the idiot box.

This story was contributed by TamIAm.  Send us your story.

» CNet News

British production company Aardman has announced that Wallace and Gromit are headed back to television in December of next year in the 30-minute animated short titled Trouble at' Mill.

In their latest adventure the clay duo will investigate the mystery of a dozen missing bakers while attempting to run their own bakery themselves. 

This will be the first new Wallace and Gromit story since the Oscar-winning feature Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

» CBC (Canada)