Bill O'Reilly isn't just targeting talk radio lately. The man is on some sort of brilliant tear about the nature of sitcom finales as well, which Jeff Bercovici found out by actually reading one of O'Reilly's books so we didn't have to. The book of essays, entitled A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity, deals not only with the current electoral climate, but such hard hitting and culturally relevant issues like why Larry David chose such a cop-out ending for Seinfeld:

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Seinfeld bus? Check.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles bus? Er, check.

Pushing Daisies, ABC's love after death rom-com, gearing up for it's second season, bus? You betcha.

"The Walt Disney network is promoting the show by bringing a version of its central setting, The Pie Hole restaurant, to ten major U.S. cities. An Airstream trailer made to look like the eatery will make its way from downtown Disneyland to Times Square. Visitors will be able to eat free pie and enjoy décor from the show's set — not to mention an "outgoing" restaurant staff."

Someone please explain the promotional bus idea. Is it because television networks that aren't HBO can't afford things like mile-high premieres for their fall season lineups? Or maybe the stations are trying to cash in on a little election fever, hoping that potential viewers will run outside their houses hoping to catch a glimpse of the Straight Talk Express, and instead find only a decorated trailer serving cherry pie in promotion for a show they haven't heard of.

Seinfeld bus you guys! If you're in college (some of you are still on college) you might be treated to the multi-platform, Wi-Fi equipped, eco-friendly, totally unnecessary Seinfeld Campus Tour. Um, too late? Unless this bus is actually a DeLorean and can reach 1.21 gigawatts to travel back to 1997 before Michael Richards ruined race relations, and when people still cared about Larry David's other show, this is just going to be a wash.

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Even your borderline autistic stepson could recognize the obvious similarities between the image at left, from a 1962 Tales to Astonish Marvel comic book from Fantastic Four creator Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, and the image at right, a Cartoon Contest item from The New Yorker drawn by Harry Bliss. The New Yorker cartoon makes no mention of its origins, but after a mini scandal began brewing over plagiarism when a University of Wisconsin recognized the similarities, the magazine responded that Bliss intended the drawing to be an overt Kirby reference; that those in the know would just get it. [NYP] Nevermind, though: On the website, the cartoon will be re-identified as "Drawing by Harry Bliss, after Jack Kirby." Or maybe it should be "Drawing by Harry Bliss, after Jack Kirby, after stealing the idea of ripping off a New Yorker cartoon from Elaine Benes."

ENTER THE TIME SUCK While you'll have to actually set your TiVo to watch Gossip Girl instead of logging on to TheCW.com, TBS plans to begin streaming Seinfeld episodes on its site. There are only four episodes online right now (groan), but at least one of 'em is "Yada Yada." [MP]

• Despite the insistence of George Contanza, double-dipping really is like "like putting your whole mouth right in the dip."

• If you're L.A., be sure to check out the weed vending machines.

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Remember how smug Jerry Seinfeld was about the whole plagiarism thing about his wife’s cookbook, Deceptively Delicious? How he called Missy Chase Lapine, a nutjob on national TV? And how he pretended that the rich and famous were less petty than the poor and insignificant?

Well, that nutjob is suing Seinfeld for defamation and his wife, Jessica, for plagiarism. The suit doesn’t specify monetary damages, but the Seinfelds are rich, so she's probably expecting a bigger payday than she would have gotten from her cookbook anyway. And without Bee Movie to promote, Seinfeld will have to rely on re-runs of the Shrinkage episode to win back public opinion.

Christopher Orr is making good use of his Lexis account today. The New Republic senior editor is waling on Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales for his inability to see the entertainment landscape post-1998, when Seinfeld signed off. You see, Shales really, really liked that show. So much so that since Seinfeld went off the air, "Shales has cited it in a remarkable 79 articles. (Compare that to a mere 18 mentions of The Simpsons, which has actually been running, albeit at quarter-steam, all those years.)"

Shales has described "Seinfeld" as "the most successful and acclaimed sitcom ever"; "one of the most popular and highly praised sitcoms ever"; "It may have constituted a 'great era' all by itself"; "the last great sitcom of the age of the sitcom"; and "the last really funny TV show"–a tidal wave of praise that would be less overwhelming if not for the fact that all these quotes appeared in the last 14 months, many years after the show went defunct.

Orr wants to know why Shales can't look to The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, or even Scrubs for a new analogy for great TV, or lack thereof. Luckily, there's the off chance that Shales will tune in to VH1's What Perez Says and walk away with fresh means of comparison. Or another excuse to long for Jerry.

Our favorite sitcoms may be gone, but they're not forgotten. Actually, they're not even gone, when you think about it.

They're on television approximately thirty-seven times a day, and are reportedly yielding their highest ratings ever, even higher than when they were actually airing new episodes at the peak of their respective Ross/Rachel, "Yadda yadda yadda" and [*insert* Everybody Loves Raymond reference]* primes.

Now if only someone would start loving Dirt** and Kramer would finally get over that whole "I'm a gigantic racist" hump.

**And Jennifer Aniston.

• The cops just got to third base with the hooligans who call themselves "The Untouchables." [Metro]

• It turns out that the only weapons kids are carrying around are their cell phones. Actually, we hear those can be a little dangerous when thrown. [NY1]

• Turns out that mailman was just a fan of Seinfeld. And hallucinating. [NYP]

• Wilmer Valderrama confirms that we are all safe from him taking permanent residence here. [NYO]

• Harvard kids always ruin freakin' everything! We just hope he used Kaavya Viswanathan's book to fuel the flames. [NYT]