By TERRY MORROW, Scripps Howard News Service

For more than half the year, television struggled to get its groove back.
A writers' strike during the first quarter of 2008 shut down almost all of prime time. The networks made due with quick fixes -- mainly, reality shows -- and then spent the rest of the year trying to get back the creative ground lost.

Even during one of their staged fights, Drake Bell is no match for his "Drake & Josh" co-star, Josh Peck.
"Trust me," says Bell, 22. "We've been hurt."

Noah Wyle figures he's finally made a "Librarian" movie that can stand on its own.
It's about time. This is his third one.
"The first one had a certain novel charm," he says of the hit TV-movie franchise in which he plays a librarian involved in "Indiana Jones"-like adventures.

When you hear Larry the Cable Guy's voice over the telephone line, you instantly pick up on it.
That affected Southern-redneck voice of his -- that sound that launched a thousand "Git-R-Dones" -- has a hint of a nasally Nebraskan tone to it. Yes, Virginia, Larry's a Midwesterner.
Does it really matter, though?

Britney Spears is taking another stab at a comeback.
Of course, "comeback" is a relative term for someone who has been in the spotlight constantly for months -- but for all the wrong reasons.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- "I'm old," Brian Austin Green jokes as he sits down for an interview.How can that be?

Even with inflation, 50 Cent is worth a fortune.The platinum-selling artist is among the richest rappers in history, selling more than 21 million copies combined of his last three CDs. However, most of his money has been made elsewhere.

Stephen Colbert stars in the coolest TV holiday special ever.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- After making his signature years ago playing a nice guy in prime time, Neil Patrick Harris loves his chance at being a weasel. He just refuses to take much credit for it."Barney Stinson has a voice like no other," he says of his "How I Met Your Mother" character, "but the credit for him goes to the writers, truly."

Diedrich Bader is bringing lightness to the Dark Knight.The former co-star of "The Drew Carey Show" provides the voice of Batman in the new animated super-hero team-up series "Batman: The Brave & The Bold," airing 8 p.m. EST Fridays on Cartoon Network.