HBO is bringing Bill Maher back on the air, despite having no writers. "Real Time With Bill Maher" will not include Maher's usual opening monologue or closing bit "New Rules" as a result, but the main segment of discussion amongst celebrities will air.

Bravo is working with Tabitha Coffey, a former contestant on "Shear Genius," on a new pilot called "Tabitha's Takeover." Coffey will find poorly run hair salons and make them over.

Austin Nichols, who starred in last summer’s canceled HBO series "John From Cincinnati," has pleaded guilty to impaired driving and paid a $1,000 fine. Nichols' plea comes as a result of an incident last August.

Food Network has extended Alton Brown's contract for another three years, meaning new seasons of "Good Eats" and "Iron Chef America." Brown will also work on a new show called "Feasting on Waves," as a sequel to his earlier "Feasting on Asphalt.”

"Big City Broker," a behind-the-scenes show about a real estate firm run by Brad Lamb, has been picked up by Fine Living Network. The show is distributed by Beyond Distribution.

CBS is incorporating the sales, marketing, public relations and online properties of CSTV, which it bought in 2005, into CBS Sports, according to reports. CSTV will be headed now by executive vice president Tony Petitti and president Sean McManus, though CSTV founding partner Brian Bedol will stay on for a few months during the transition before become a senior advisor to Leslie Moonves.

The Screen Actors Guild won’t cross picket lines to appear on newly relaunched, scribeless late-night programs, and so the hosts are having to be more creative to find guests. In the case of NBC’s Jay Leno and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, very creative – the two are appearing on each other's shows as guests. Both shows will be taped in California Thursday, the same day they will air.

Poppy Montgomery, of "Without a Trace," and her longtime boyfriend Adam Kaufman have had their first child together, Jackson Phillip Kaufman. The parents met a little over three years ago on the set of the indie film "Between."

CBS' 16th edition of “Survivor” has a new wrinkle. "Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites" will pit 10 fans of the series against 10 former contestants, the latter group including "Johnny Fairplay" Dalton, who notoriously once convinced his opponents that his grandmother had died in order to win an immunity challenge. The show debuts in February.

James Costigan, a three-time Emmy-winner and television writer, died of apparent heart failure last month. He was believed to have been in his late 70s or early 80s. Costigan wrote the television film "Love Among the Ruins," starring Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier, in 1975 and also wrote for "Hallmark Hall of Fame."

The new year didn’t change one constant in the news business: job cuts. The Chicago Sun-Times is cutting 35 union positions in the newsroom as well as five non-union management positions. The cutbacks were announced Thursday, and there's been no specifics on who’s being booted as of yet. Chicago Newspaper Guild officials will meet with the paper's management over the next two weeks to determine names.

The San Jose Mercury News has named David Butler editor. Butler joins from MediaNews Group, where he had been vice president.

Moroch Partners has hired Patricia Yakesch as account director for healthcare retail and healthcare clients, Ashley Peden as senior advertising and public relations account executive, Jason Richoux as senior account executive and Greg Spratley as account coordinator.

Simone Smalls has founded her own public relations agency, Simone Smalls PR. Smalls had previously been vice president at Susan Blond.

Britney Spears was released from the hospital Saturday, two days after her latest meltdown. Paramedics were called in Thursday night after a dispute involving her two young sons. The pop star then had a pre-discharge meeting with Dr. Phil McGraw, who says that she's still "in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention." Count on Dr. Phil to discuss more about the case on his syndicated talk show today.