andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

The old adage is true: all good things must come to an end, including the beloved Oprah Winfrey show of 25 years.

The queen of daytime television announced that the show will not continue past 2011, and she will move on to pursue other projects in her life. According to people.com, a spokesperson announced the “the last day will be Sept 9, 2011 [...] She will speak about it on (Friday’s) live show.”

This mention of new projects brings to light Winfrey’s latest work on her new cable channel, called the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Perhaps she will bring to life another version of her talk show on this channel?

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In a year littered with celebrity passings, one more soul was added to the list today as Houston-born actor Patrick Swayze died- after a nearly two year battle with pancreatic cancer.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the 57-year-old Dirty Dancing star passed away with family at his side.

“Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months,” said a statement released Monday evening in Los Angeles by his publicist, Annett Wolf. No other details were given.

Swayze first came forward about his diagnosis in spring 2008, but decided to undergo treatments at the Stanford University Medical Center and still continue working at the same time-most recently on A&E’s now cancelled series The Beast. The actor was told he had Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm (IPMN), a rare stage IV pancreatic cancer.

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The plug is about to be pulled on “Guiding Light.”  After 72 years on radio and television the soap-opera “Guiding Light” will come to an end on Sept. 18, 2009, CBS announced on Wednesday, according to E! Online.

The soap-opera helped launch the careers of many Hollywood stars including “Hero’s” Hayden Panettiere, James Earl Jones, Brittany Snow, Kevin Bacon, Mira Sorvino, Christopher Walkin and more.

The show originally started as a 15-minute radio show aired on NBC Radio and had its premiere on Jan. 25, 1937.

“Guiding Light” moved into television in June of 1952 when CBS Television aired the soap-opera simultaneously with the radio show, and later aired as a full hour in Nov. of 1977.

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Justin promised to have Janet naked by the end of his song – but it took a hell of a lot longer for the consequences to be resolved in court.

The $550,000 fine against CBS was dropped yesterday for the infamous nipple tassel incident at the 2004 Superbowl.

A panel of three judges ruled that the Federal Communications Commission “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” when it fined CBS so heavily.

Janet Jackson has previously said she was hurt by the way Justin Timberlake failed to stick up for her during the onslaught of media and legal attention that followed the incident.

Reports are surfacing that Katie Couric and CBS will be parting ways.

The Washington Post reports that Couric may vacate the coveted anchor desk if her ratings do not improve by the time the American presidential election finishes in November.

A source tells the Post that executives at the network are thrilled with Couric, but concerned about the low ratings she has received on the CBS nightly newscast since her debut. If she were to leave the anchor post, she would possibly remain in the CBS family, and would get a job somewhere else with CBS News.

Another option would be to release Couric entirely – paying out the remainder of her $75-million contract.

A decision is not expected until this summer.

CSI veterans Jerry Bruckheimer and Danny Cannon are developing a pilot for their adaptation of the British series, The Eleventh Hour.

The pair will stick close to the original show’s format, which told the story of a government scientist and his female bodyguard who travel the country investigating scientific phenomenon.

Though only a pilot has been ordered so far, CBS is reportedly very committed to the project and will likely make a full 13-episode order.

The company has already picked up another Bruckheimer project this season, a show about freelance treasure hunters.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation premieres tonight in its eighth season.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has rejected CBS’ second appeal to have a $550,000 US “indecency” fine dropped. The fine was incurred following Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl in 2004.

E! Online reports that CBS argued the halftime show incident was neither planned nor indecent. However, the FCC disagreed.

“The commission affirms its finding that CBS’ violation was willful and declines to reduce the forfeiture imposed upon CBS,” read a statement from the agency.

The fine was originally issued in September 2004, and the network’s first appeal was denied in February.

The Jackson incident has led to widespread use of 7-second delays in live broadcasts and fines of $325,000 per violation.

It has also firmly secured a place for the FCC as the modern-day HUAC. At this rate, the U.S. government will be back to hunting Witches in no time.

The new CBS schedule is very close to its old one – few comedies and long on Law-and-Order-CSI-type dramas.

Renewed shows include all three of the ?CSI? franchises, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, Close to Home, Numb3rs, Cold Case, The Unit and Without a Trace.

Comedies that were renewed include ?How I Met Your Mother,? ?Two and a Half Men? and ?The New Adventures of Old Christine.? ?The King of Queens? was renewed, but not scheduled so that Kevin James can pursue a movie career with greater ease.

New shows include a comedy called ?The Class? about a group of friends who reunite at their third grade reunion and dramas, which include ?Smith,? ?Shark,? ?Jericho? and a medical drama ?3 LBS.”

Series that were permanently cancelled include ?Love Monkey,? ?Still Standing,? ? Yes, Dear,? ?Out of Practice,? ?Threshold,? and ?Courting Alex.?

CBS will move ?Without a Trace? from Thursdays at 10 p.m. to Sundays at 10 p.m., an apparent move to challenge rival network ABC.

“The Amazing Race” will move to Sundays from Tuesdays and “Survivor” will remain in its Thursdays at 8 timeslot.

CBS and NBC have signed deals with cable and satellites providers to make television shows available ?on demand? in the U.S. within just hours of being aired.

The shows, which can be purchased for 99 cents, include CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Survivor, Law and Order, and The Office.

These agreements come a month after Disney and ABC announced their deal with Apple to make hit shows such as Desperate Housewives available for $1.99 per episode on the iPod.

NBC will work with satellite operator DirecTV to provide top shows without commercials. The deal between CBS and cable company Comcast Corp., which could potentially benefit eight million customers, will not exclude commercials.