In TVScreener.com‘s new week-in-preview column, here’s what Willis, and everyone else in TV land, will be talking about in the week ahead …

1. The Big O’s Big Secret
Does she really have a child? Is the guy she thinks is her father not really her father? Oprah Winfrey has promised to reveal a big family secret – one she says she herself learned only recently – on her daytime talk show on Monday (check local listings for time and channel). In what she has called the “miracle of miracles,” a teaser for the episode finds Oprah telling viewers, “I was given some news that literally shook me to my core. This time, I’m the one being reunited.” Winfrey has confirmed she had a baby as a teen, but that the child died; meanwhile infamous biographer Kitty Kelley claimed in her 2010 bio of Oprah that Vernon Winfrey, the man the media queen has known as her father her whole life, isn’t actually her dad. Of course, the Twitterverse thinks there could be something far more salacious afoot.

UPDATE, MONDAY 1:30PM: If you can’t wait, or don’t care enough to actually tune in, here’s Oprah’s big reveal from today’s show.

2. Regis Definitely Wants to Be a (Multi)Millionaire
It didn’t take long for more details to spill out on Regis Philbin‘s surprise announcement last week that he’s leaving Live with Regis and Kelly (Monday-Friday, 9AM ET, ABC), the morning talk show he hosts with Kelly Ripa. Regis insisted he wasn’t retiring, but was moving on to other ventures, and “sources,” according to TMZ.com, say it’s because Reeg was very unhappy with a pay cut ABC execs wanted him to swallow. Initial reports had Regis staying through September, but in the face of these new details (including allegations that he sorta blindsided co-host Ripa with the news), things might be pretty tension-filled at the ol’ Live studio. Will Regis address the situation, and the new rumors, on the air? Will he really stick around until the fall if things do get ookie? And who should (or can?) replace The Reeg when he bounces? Ryan Seacrest? Neil Patrick Harris? Survivor host Jeff Probst? Ripa’s affable, but kinda boring hubs, Mark Consuelos? My two fave (alleged) contenders: Wayne Brady and Bravo exec/Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen.

UPDATE, MONDAY 9:05AM: Regis is on a previously-scheduled vacay all week, so we’ll have to wait ’til next week to see if he talks about the new money drama on the air.

3. The Final Countdown
MSNBC Countdown host Keith Olbermann is also out at his network, and his departure came even more abruptly than Regis’. We certainly have yet to hear the whole story of how his last show came about so quickly, or where he’s going next.

4. The Housewives of Beverly Hills: Reunited and It Feels So Crazy
Speaking of @BravoAndy, he has his hands full this week with part one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion special (Jan. 27, 9PM ET, Bravo). Last week’s season 1 finale featured the shocking blowout between former child star sisters Kim and Kyle Richards, plus the postscript that Kim had entered (and fled) rehab after filming on the season stopped. That is but one of the contentious relationships that will be dished on the gathering, along with, of course, the tornado of drama that is Camille Grammer.

5. David Brent Visits The Office
Hollywood types (crybaby ones) are still ticked off at Ricky Gervais because of his Golden Globes jokes, but the rest of us will finally get to see his David Brent, from the original Office U.K., meet The Office U.S. boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell) on this week’s episode of The Office (Jan. 27, 9PM ET, NBC). Buzz is that the David/Michael meeting comes in the episode’s opening moments, so it may be wise to set your DVRs a few minutes early to make sure you catch it.

6. American Idle?
The “kindler, gentler” American Idol hasn’t wowed viewers yet. Last Wednesday’s season premiere was down 13 percent vs. season nine’s premiere (and a whopping 28 percent among teen viewers), while the second episode of season 10, on Thursday night, continued the drop, down 20 percent from the previous night’s ep, and 23 percent from last season’s second episode. Meanwhile, though newbie judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler did give the show a breezier vibe, Tyler also gave it a bit of a creepier vibe, as he and Randy Jackson turned into Beavis and Butthead when any remotely attractive (or non-conservatively-dressed) female entered the audition room, her age be damned. Ew. Can Idol bounce back as the season rolls along? And, save Caleb Hawley, who may just have the best potential rock star name ever, will the talent start to wow us in week two?

7. The Skinny on Skins
All the hubbub about the naughtiness of MTV’s remake of the British teen drama Skins (Mondays, 10PM ET, MTV) may be the best thing that could happen to the show, even if it has meant advertisers like Taco Bell and General Motors pulling their spots from the show. Skins U.S. lead actor James Newman definitely has potential to be a breakout star, but so far, the most remarkable thing about the show is that it’s been kinda boring, so any publicity is probably good publicity at this point.

8. Oscar Morning
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech), Christian Bale (The Fighter), Natalie Portman (Black Swan) and The Social Network are probably locks for nominations (and maybe even the statues themselves) as nods for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards are announced Tuesday morning (8:30AM ET). The nominations announcement will stream live at Oscar.com.

9. The SAG Awards
There’s nothing people in Hollywood love more than giving awards to each other (which is why you might think they’d have a sense of humor about themselves, though, as Ricky Gervais found out, that isn’t always the case). The Screen Actors Guild Awards (Jan. 30, 8PM ET, TBS and TNT) is yet another of the elaborate events at which they’ll do that, though the national treasure that is Betty White is among the presenters, so there’s that.

10. Betty Love
And speaking of Betty White … a Sunday night CBS made-for-TV movie that doesn’t star Tom Selleck? Pass. Except for next Sunday night, when Betty teams up with Jennifer Love Hewitt (who’s not starring as a hooker mom this time) for The Lost Valentine (Jan. 30, 9PM ET, CBS), a sweet Hallmark movie about a widow who impresses a reporter with her dedication to honoring her MIA pilot husband, more than 60 years after World War II.

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• Filed in American Idol, Award shows, Betty White, Preview, Real Housewives, The Office, Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout Willis?
• Tags: Betty White, Keith Olbermann quit, Oprah's secret, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion, Regis Philbin quit, Ricky Gervais The Office

Hey TVScreeners. As you might have noticed, things have been pretty quiet on the TVScreener.com front lately. Blame a slew of holiday gift guides and other features I’ve been writing for TV Squad, plus a little 50,000-word book project that I have, oh, about a month to write … but that’ll wrap shortly (and I’ll share more about it when the release date gets closer), and things will be back to normal around the ol’ TV blog soon enough. PS – Stay tuned for a killer TVScreener.com Christmas giveaway. Seriously, hundreds of dollars worth of TV-related swag to share, and it kicks off right after Thanksgiving!

In the meantime, I had to take a sec to post about the awesome little ’80s revival that’s happening in primetime these days:

– Magnum P.I. star Tom Selleck‘s back on the tube with Blue Bloods, one of the few new hits of the fall TV season;

– The Hollywood Reporter uh, reports, that Remington Steele and James Bond movie star Pierce Brosnan is headed back to primetime, in a show that sounds Bond-ish;

– The Hub is airing back-to-back episodes of Family Ties Monday thru Thursday nights (8 and 8:30 PM), which has not only been a reminder of what a genius of comedic timing Michael J. Fox is, but, via that “Sit, Ubu, sit” ending, has helped me finally figure out the origin of my obsession with Labrador Retrievers. PS – My fellow Family Ties fans, a must-read book: The autobio of Ties creator Gary David Goldberg, called Sit, Ubu, Sit and featuring the iconic photo of the pooch on the cover;

– The ubiquitous presence of Betty White (and all the ’80s stars on her TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland) on TV, as well as in the awesome new Golden Girls: 25th Anniversary Complete Collection DVD box set (in packaging that mimics Sophia’s handbag);

– TNT’s in-the-works Dallas series remake, which may star Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray and the legend himself, Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing;

– Comedies like The Middle, Modern Family and Raising Hope (which several of my TV critic cohorts and I at Scooter McGavin’s 9th Green picked as one of the best new shows of the season) have led a revival of the type of great family sitcoms we haven’t seen a prevalence of since the ’80s;

– And the new TBS ’80s college comedy Glory Daze, which, in addition to being solidly funny and starring a cast of talented, endearing newcomers, also boasts the fashions, trends and music of the ’80s. Delightful.

Oh, and though it’s not primetime, it is ’80s TV-related: The Pee-wee Herman Show, the new Broadway show that’s like being live at Pee-wee’s Playhouse. TVScreener.com reader Rich told me he’s seeing the show the day after Thanksgiving, and I cannot highly enough recommend that anyone else who loves the Playhouse and will be in NYC during the holidays check it out. Even though the show isn’t about the holidays, I can’t think of a better way to get yourself in a feel-good holiday mood.

So, who else is loving this retro vibe in primetime? Dallas will soon return … what other ’80s drama or sitcom would you love to see remade? Which other ’80s TV superstars would you like to have join Tom Selleck, Pierce Brosnan and Ed O’Neill (not to mention Cheers star  Shelley Long as a Modern Family guest star and Miami Vice star Don Johnson in that recent Eastbound and Down appearance) in a return to TV land?

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• Filed in Betty White, Blue Bloods, Classic TV, I Love TV!, TV News, TV on DVD, TV Remake
• Tags: 80s TV, Betty White, Dallas remake TNT, Family Ties, Pee-wee Herman Show, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Selleck

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– There could never be too many interviews with Betty White, and here’s one from the New York Times, in which the Emmy-winning legend discusses, among other things, her upcoming guest stint as an anthropology professor on Community.

– Rosie O’Donnell‘s coming back to talk show land, thanks (???) to Oprah and her new OWN network.

– TLC is developing a reality series that’s being called a real-life version of Big Love.

– Almost as disturbing: A reality show in which the long-feuding Ryan and Tatum O’Neal allegedly make up. When his long-time girlfriend Farrah Fawcett died, Ryan O’Neal told a story about how he almost hit on his daughter at the funeral, because he didn’t recognize her. So … these two may be more than a scosche away from an even remotely normal father-daughter relationship.

– Glee: A Michael Jackson episode? Well, if Britney’s getting one …

– All is not well on the production of CBS’ new Tom Selleck series Blue Bloods. Deadline.com reports that the series’ showrunner has quit because of “creative differences” with Selleck over the direction of the NYPD cop drama.

– And several other new shows are having pre-season problems, to the point of having to reshoot their pilots. Among them: $#*! My Dad Says, the William Shatner sitcom that’s a (terribly titled) adaptation of the Twitter feed. I’ve seen the original pilot, and it is pretty bad. Maybe one minor chuckle in the whole thing, and that only came from a joke about Shatner’s infamous speaking pattern.

– When you think of home improvement, the first name you think of is … Vanilla Ice? No, but the one-hit-wonder rapper is going to be hosting his own DIY home show, The Vanilla Ice Project, on the DIY Network, beginning Oct. 14.

– The guy who was atop the American Idol judges wish list, but who producers couldn’t nab for the show: David Geffen.

– Speaking of the Idol-ers, how painful does this sound: a cruise with former AI stars?

– The Reality Rocks reality TV show convention, however, sounds fun.

– Bret Michaels‘ comment on being named co-host of the Miss Universe pageant on NBC on Aug. 23: “What could possibly go wrong? A rock star in a room full of beautiful women is bound to be entertaining.” It should prove to be entertaining, but given the year he’s had so far, probably best not to ask what could go wrong.

– Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is also musically gifted, it turns out: He’s recording an album of show tune standards. The voice of Peter, Stewie and Brian Griffin is also hosting the Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff on Aug. 15.

– Justin Timberlake will guest star on The Cleveland Show this season, voicing a gay character who’s the love interest of Jason Sudekis‘ Terry.

– You wouldn’t think a movie about a soap box derby could lead to a brawl, but that’s just what happened to Psych star Corbin Bernsen when he was filming a movie about the All-American Soap Box Derby in Ohio.

– Mary Hart‘s leaving Entertainment Tonight after her 30th season, because her pay was cut in half. Before you feel too sorry for her, consider what her salary was: $5 million a year.

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• Filed in American Idol, Betty White, Blue Bloods, TV News
• Tags: Betty White, Blue Bloods, Tom Selleck, Vanilla Ice DIY show

As usual, pure awesomeness from Betty White in this promo spot for her much-anticipated May 8 hosting gig on Saturday Night Live. She’s a genius … seriously, who has better comedic timing than Betty White???

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• Filed in Betty White, Saturday Night Live, Ya Gotta See This!
• Tags: Betty White, Betty White Saturday Night Live

In honor of tonight’s Ugly Betty series finale (10PM ET, ABC), and, of course, the pure awesomeness that is Betty White, TV Land sent along this archived clip from the 2007 TV Land Awards.

Betty (White, that is) is set to return to this year’s TV Land Awards, which air on April 25 (9PM), and her new TV Land sitcom, Hot in Cleveland, debuts on June 16. Then there’s her Saturday Night Live hosting gig on May 9, and her appearance as Brick’s school librarian on the May 19 season finale of The Middle.

But even among the line-up of classic tube stars in the “Ugly Betty White” spoof below, she’s still the standout. Pure awesomeness.

Ugly Betty White skit from the TV Land Awards
See Betty White in Hot in Cleveland premieres June 16 at 10P/9C on TV Land About the Show Cast Facebook

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• Filed in Betty White, Comedy, Ya Gotta See This!
• Tags: Betty White, TV Land Awards, Ugly Betty series finale