Where to be & what to watch…

Monday, Nov. 17

The Wall Street Journal holds its CEO Council at the Four Seasons in Washington. “Shaping the New Agenda” is the theme, with a stellar lineup of media and banking bigwigs working out some sort of game plan for the years ahead. Up in New York, Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines and Law & Order gumshoe Jeremy Sisto turn up for a reading of Adrienne Shelly's “The O Letters” at NYU's Skirball Center. It's to benefit the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, established after the filmmaker was murdered in 2006. And there's a meeting of the Minds out West, as the cast and brain trust of Criminal Minds, including Joe Mantegna, get together at the Paley Center in Beverly Hills.

Tuesday, Nov. 18

The Future of Television gets rolling at 36 Battery Place in lower Manhattan. “A View From the Top: The Outlook for the Television Industry and Digital Media” features Fox Entertainment Group digital-media prez Dan Fawcett and CBS research whiz David Poltrack. Up in Midtown, the 2008 Advertising Hall of Achievement goes on at Cipriani 42nd Street, as the AAF salutes Starcom MediaVest honcho Andrew Swinand and DirecTV Senior VP Jon Gieselman, among others. Speaking of industry luminaries, Time Warner president/CEO Jeffrey Bewkes speaks up at the CEO Council in D.C. He dishes during “Action Report: Finance & the U.S. Economy.”

Wednesday, Nov. 19

For those who simply cannot wait until the TV marketing show known as Promax raises the curtain in January, Promax/BDA unveils “a unique new half-day event designed to stimulate the media marketing community.” The first edition of the C4 Creative Clinic—the C's being context, connections, creativity and content—is held at the Diesel Playhouse in Toronto. Back in Gotham, IRTS holds “Digital Extensions: Radio's Nontraditional Revenue” at CBS headquarters, while the Paley presents “An Evening With Iron Chef Cat Cora” at its West Coast base.

Thursday, Nov. 20

We're all over the map today. The Cable Mavericks series sees HBO chief techie Bob Zitter speak at The George Washington University in our nation's capital. Then venture to Spain by way of New York, as DigitalFocus: Wine, Dine & Demo! goes down at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Spanish victuals—and a splash of Rioja—is on the menu. Elsewhere in Manhattan, American Women in Radio & Television's New York chapter looks at women on the campaign trail, with insights from Kate Snow of ABC News and CNN executive producer Janelle Rodriguez. Out L.A. way, The Africa Channel holds a launch party at the California African American Museum, with African cuisine and live music. Finally, on the tube, don't forget Steve Martin's cameo on 30 Rock. It's on NBC at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Friday, Nov. 21

We're back with the Africa theme, as National Geographic visits Egypt for a peek inside the most cryptic of crypts. Egypt Unwrapped: Alexander the Great's Lost Tomb, shining a light on one bad-ass pharaoh, rolls at 9, followed by Mystery of the Screaming Man. The latter looks at “a roughly 3,000-year-old mummy, his face locked in an eternal scream.” What caused this man to scream in such a manner? Sources tell us he may have caught a peek at some of those 2009 industry forecasts.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.