the hiatus is alot shorter than if Season 5 had started in Sept/Oct. Usually OTH(and most other series) would be gone from Dec. to Jan., return in February for sweeps, then disappear for another month and half. Ep. 12(and the 100th episode overall) airs on March 18, with new ep's returning April 14(which is a Monday?) Not too bad actually having to suffer through one short hiatus rather than two.