This is a more welcome announcement for Monk fans than the revelation of the best acne treatments would be among zit-prone teens: Monk’s original assistant, Bitty Schram, is indeed scheduled to return for the series’ final season, which begins airing this summer and will conclude next winter.

Although the appearance will only be for one episode, allowing Schram to take part in the long-running series’ final bow is a class move by USA and the show’s producers. Schram endeared herself to Monk fans in the first two and a half-seasons on the show, but left over money issues and a contract dispute before filming began on the second half of the third season.

Schram was replaced by Traylor Howard’s Natalie Teeger, who has remained with the series ever since.

An animated kids’ movie filled more Berkline seats in movie theaters nationwide than anything else, by far. Monsters vs. Aliens drew an incredible $58.2 million in its first week of release.

That’s more than twice the amount for fellow first-week release contender “A Haunting In Connecticut,” which only managed $23.0 million in finishing second place on the weekend. Knowing drew $14.7 million in its second week, while I Love You, Man drew $12.6 million to round out the Top 4 spots. Everything else drew less than $10 million.

And in their first direct face-off outside a wrestling ring, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s family-friendly “Race to Witch Mountain” drew $5.6 million in its third week of release, besting John Cena’s second feature film, “12 Rounds,” a family-unfriendly action flick, which drew only $5.3 million in its initial debut on the big screen. The Rock’s film already has drawn $53.0 million in box office, a total 12 Rounds is unlikely to match during its entire run. The two films finished sixth and seventh at the box office, respectively.

While many are claiming the sitcom is nearly dead, those that are still producing audiences are highly valued. How highly? Just ask CBS, who recently gave multi-year renewals to two Chuck Lorre-produced sitcoms.

The “no surprise” renewal is a nearly-unprecedented three-year renewal for “Two and A Half Men,” the Charlie Sheen-Jon Cryer brother comedy that sits atop the Eye’s sitcom ratings chart. The more Eye-opening renewal was a two-year renewal for one of my favorites, “Big Bang Theory.”

In a time when many shows, including the well-regarded “How I Met Your Mother,” struggle each year for a single-season renewal rather than a pink-slip, coming into such rare air as multi-year renewals has to be a feather in the cap of Lorre and company. With that kind of security in this unstable economy, they’ll be able to check into some fairly unique hotels.

Matthew Fox, who plays Dr. Jack Shepherd on ABC’s Lost, believes the show, when it concludes in spring 2010, will be the last “TV thing” he ever does. The actor, whose previous TV work was on Fox’s Party of Five, hopes to move into movies full-time, rather than acquiring a job installing, say, gas tankless water heaters.

Of course, many a star before Fox have uttered the same words and nearly all of them come back to TV eventually. Perhaps the movie career doesn’t take off and they need the work. Perhaps ten years goes by and they change their minds.

Or perhaps, Matthew, some drug-addicted, frazzled-looking doctor will turn up on your door one night screaming, “We made a mistake, Matt. We… we have to go back. We have to go back to prime time television!”

The Nic Cage suspenser, Knowing, drew $24.8 million in its opening weekend, according to early studio estimates, which was more than enough to steal the top spot at the box office this week. In fact, all three major releases this week did better than anything else in theaters as I Love You, Man drew $18 million for second place and Duplicity drew $14.4 million to round out the Top Three.

Duane “The Rock” Johnson did well with the family action film, Race To Witch Mountain, in its second week of release, which held a close fourth place finish with $13 million. The biggest disappointment was the shockingly foul-mouthed superhero flick, Watchmen, which fell to a very distant fifth place in its third week of release, drawing only $6.7 million and failing to top the $100 million mark despite a hefty $150 million production budget.

While Watchmen was barely watchable – I’ve had better times watching videos explaining auto insurance – it will likely still turn a profit, especially once DVD sales fire up this summer.

It’s an old, tried and true formula: put a black comic in drag as a mouthy, feisty old woman and let the laughs roll in. Eddie Murphy popularized it and Martin Lawrence capitalized on it; now Tyler Perry is outdrawing the teeny-bopper band, The Jonas Brothers, at the box office.

Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail drew $16.1 million in its second week in release, bringing its two-week take to $64.5 million. That was good enough to secure the top box office spot last weekend as The Jonas Brothers 3D concert movie managed only $12.5 million after a strong start on Friday. And Oscar upstart Slumdog Millionaire won’t need the services of immigration lawyers just yet, as the Bollywood hit has climbed to an even $12 million and third place overall on the box office charts, after sixteen weeks in release.

Taken fell to fourth and was just shy of raking in another $10 million. Below that, everything feel well short of box office glory, including an eighth-place finish and under $5 million for the new Street Fighter live-action film.

Of course, I do enjoy the Food Network, so when I saw this press release, I decided to share it with you all. Take note… sounds like an interesting show!

NEW YORK – March 3, 2009 – Production begins this week on Sandra’s Money Saving Meals, Food Network’s new daytime cooking series hosted by Sandra Lee (Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee), which premieres May 10th at 12pm ET/PT. Sandra whips up delicious recipes perfect for every day of the week, all based on her “triple A factor” of accessible, aspirational and affordable. To maximize cost-saving success, she shares unique ideas for savvy supermarket shopping and proper pantry stocking while highlighting each meal’s unbeatable cost per serving. Sandra then prepares clever leftover dishes from each episode called “Round 2 Recipes” – one in the show and another on FoodNetwork.com (www.foodnetwork.com). Renowned for her trademark 70/30 Semi-Homemade cooking style, Sandra makes saving money a breeze for culinary experts and cooking novices alike.

“At this critical economic time, Sandra comes to the rescue by providing our viewers with creative ways to save money and time while cooking great meals at home,” said Bob Tuschman, Senior Vice President, Programming and Production for Food Network. “We appreciate the dedicated passion and in-depth knowledge Sandra brings to this topic, and we look forward to launching this new endeavor with her.”

Acclaimed home and food expert Sandra Lee has revolutionized the term “homemade” as a popular Food Network host, editor-in-chief of Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine, and best-selling author. Sandra’s trademark 70/30 Semi-Homemade philosophy translated to television with Food Network’s Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee and to the Internet with SemiHomemade.com. Sandra attended University of Wisconsin – La Crosse , launched several lines of home, garden, and craft products including Kurtain Kraft, worked with QVC, and produced a successful DIY home improvement series. With a commitment to service and charity, Sandra participates in numerous philanthropic organizations including Share Our Strength and God’s Love We Deliver. Since 2002, Sandra has written 16 cookbooks as well as a memoir titled, “Made From Scratch.”

It’s not as hilarious as Psych or as off-beat as Monk, but I have grown to enjoy USA Network’s BURN NOTICE and I couldn’t help but notice that this week is the season finale for season two!

The Burn Notice Season 2 Finale is on Thursday, March 5th at 10pm/9c on USA NETWORK. According to a press release, “In the explosive season finale, Michael learns some surprising facts about Victor’s past, and is forced to take on Carla in a final showdown.”

Sounds like good fun, especially if good ol’ Bruce Campbell is involved… and given he’s a series regular, of course he is!