Aaron Barnhart's TVBARN.COM

It's over ... for now

At about 3:30 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, Time Warner and Walt Disney Co. agreed to extend their currently expired retranmission agreement for a fifth time rather than continue the unpleasant public bickering that had brought the two media giants under fire. With Congress hinting darkly at an investigation if the shutoff of ABC stations continued, and with Disney eager to get back on the air in those 3.5 million homes, the standoff melted. Time Warner Cable accepted Disney's offer to move the deadline for signing a new retransmission deal until July 15.

July, like May, is a sweeps month — but such an insignificant one that a similar blackout wouldn't have nearly the impact that Time Warner's action did this week.

EARLIER: The Time Warner-ABC dispute — Day 2

Domain games

by John Zipperer

Imagine owning the Internet address for your favorite sci-fi TV show. It won't happen, of course, because the domain name won't be the Web address for the program unless the studio owns it, not you. But if you had been quick enough — and brazen enough — to buy startrek.com, you could probably have expected a call from Paramount at some point trying to sweet-talk you out of the name. Today, most studios have long since tied up ownership of the domain names for their entertainment properties, but some possibilities exist both in the names missed by the studios and in the new top level domains being created. Squatters of the world, pay heed.

It's safe to assume that everyone is familiar with the main top level domains -- .com, .org, .net, etc. Now some companies are upset over the proliferation of new top level domains (such as foreign country domains that are licensed from small island nations, like .tv and .to). To protect their properties' names, production companies have to go and register a whole new batch of domain names — names they'll never use but that they need to round up before squatters grab them and use them in ways the studios fear might harm their reputations or cash cows. Therein lies a new parlor game of finding the available domains before they disappear in studio portfolios.

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Pick To Click: Ready for Another Orbit

NBC's reputation as a sitcom hit factory goes back to the early '80s, but lately the network has also become known for the retreads it refuses to get rid of. After apparently not learning from "Mad About You's" dismal final season, NBC let "Suddenly Susan" and "Veronica's Closet" overstay their welcomes this year.

Now comes news that "3rd Rock From the Sun" (8 p.m., NBC) is back for another season, despite ratings that are hardly, eh, atmospheric. But this time NBC made the right call. Yes, it's a one-joke wonder — aliens learn the many inscrutable ways of humans — but the joke can still be riotously funny. And as "God, the Devil and Bob" proved, you're not likely to see French Stewart in this good a role ever again. (For the truly captive audience, "3rd Rock" reruns are now airing every night in syndication.)

The daily digest ... for May 2, 2000: Yesterday we gave you the storyline for the penultimate episode of "Sports Night" — now here's the plot for the "season finale," if not series finale, airing May 16: "Fears for their professional futures rise to panic for the 'Sports Night' team as bidders drop out of the auction for Continental Corp. Adding to the confusion are the sudden return of Rebecca (Teri Polo), looking to reconnect with Dan (Josh Charles), and Dana's (Felicity Huffman) mysterious stranger, who may prove to be a real hero" ... The first episode of celebrity "Millionaire" was a lot of fun, especially since the producers let the "hot seat" contestants cheat in the opening rounds (they were seen taking brazen clues from the others). But after David Duchovny casually blew his $250,000 question, one couldn't help wondering how Duchovny's selected charity felt watching $218,000 suddenly evaporate before their eyes.

Previously on TV Barn:
1 May: Time Warner, ABC go to war; Dave returns to England
28 April: Reader mail: Pets.com-troversy, Fox News vs. the others, TV Barn spam
27 April: What happened to the V-chip; more on puppets
26 April: Fox News Channel rocks; Scully directs "X-Files"
25 April: Pets.com sues over sock puppet
24 April: Earth Day on ABC; Elian on display

On this date... In 1994, wedding are a TV-sweeps tradition, and tonight's episode of "Northern Exposure" is no different. Well, just a little different — it's not on-again-off-again couple Joel and Maggie tying the knot, but the proprietors of the Sourdough Inn Bed and Breakfast — Erick and Ron. Cicely's controversial ceremony-capping kiss is squelched by CBS, but squeamish sponsor Nestle nixes its ads anyway. -- Tom Heald