SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Week 10 (Thanksgiving Week) Numbers; How the Sitcoms Did

Week 10 numbers (first two nights final averages, Mon-Tues):
(Wednesday & Thursday final numbers were not released by Nielsen due to the Thanksgiving holiday, so we don't have final Wednesday & Thursday network averages or final program numbers in time for today's story...sorry.)

Households: ABC: 10.0/15.6; CBS: 8.4/13.0; Fox: 4.7/7.1; NBC: 4.1/6.4; The CW: 1.0/1.5; MNT: 0.9/1.4.
Total Viewers: ABC: 16.33 million; CBS: 13.56 million; Fox: 7.77 million; NBC: 6.7 million; The CW: 1.38 million; MNT: 1.38 million.
Adults 18-49: ABC: 4.1/10.5; CBS: 3.7/9.5; Fox: 3.2/8.1; NBC: 2.7/6.9; The CW: 0.6/1.6; MNT: 0.5/1.3.

Analysis: Week 10 so far has seen November sweeps end on Wednesday then the Thanksgiving holiday weekend started and ratings went south. Nielsen didn't release final ratings for Wednesday and Thursday yet (obviously because of Thanksgiving), so I cannot give you those averages and program ratings...but see above for final first two night averages (Mon-Tues), as those two nights were not affected by Thanksgiving. Wednesday was the last night of sweeps, but that was also Thanksgiving Eve, so a lot of shows were preempted or in low ratings mode. If you count the prelim Wednesday & Thursday averages, through the first four days, ABC and CBS are neck and neck in all categories, with Fox probably 3rd across the board, while NBC is likely fourth across the board.
Last week, CBS won week 9 in HH and viewers, while ABC won the week in 18-49. ABC was second in all HH/viewers, while CBS was in 18-49 for the week. Fox was third across the board and NBC was fourth across the board as well.
Monday ABC was on top thanks to of course the final performance show of Dancing with the Stars. The 92-minute finale did a night best 21.1 million...up from previous week by nearly two million. The sitcom Samantha Who followed and did 10.72 million, up from the previous week. A new Boston Legal followed with 8.16 million, up a bit from the previous week. The series finale in coming up on Dec. 8, so it will likely go up these last two weeks. Next up was CBS, with new episodes of its comedies and a new CSI: Miami. The Big Bang Theory did great again, and reached another series high doing 10.03 million, up from previous week. A new How I Met Your Mother followed 9.96 million, off just a bit from previous week, but still great! #1 sitcom Two and a Half Men followed with 14.95 million, off a bit week-to-week as well, while Worst Week did 10.15 million, also off just a bit week-to-week. At 10pm a new CSI: Miami did 14.33 million, down a million or so from previous week's milestone episode. NBC was next and as its regular line-up continues to falter. Chuck did 6.53 million, down some from previous week, followed by Heroes at once again another series low 7.51 million, down from previous week's series low. It has reached series low the last three weeks. What has happened? Recently canceled My Worst Own Enemy was next at just 3.75 million, another series low. Fox was next with the very weak Sarah Connor at just 4.57 million, I believe a series low (I'm afraid how bad this will do on Fridays in February), and on its last legs Prison Break at 5.25 million, down a bit week-to-week. The CW had Gossip Girl preempted but two One Tree Hill episodes, a repeat did just 1.4 million followed by an all-new episode at just 2.22 million, a season low again.
Tuesday it was ABC with the victory as a champion was crowned on Dancing with the Stars. ABC started it off with the holiday classic A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving / This is America Charlie Brown: Mayflower Voyagers at a solid 11.08 million, followed by Dancing with the Stars: The Results grand finale at 20.65 million, up nearly three million week-to-week but the grand finales do higher usually. CBS's quiet hit NCIS started the night off with 18.12 million...up a bit from previous week. New drama The Mentalist followed with 15.92 million, up a tad from previous week. A new Without a Trace would did 10.42 million, down week-to-week, as it was affected by Dancing. Fox was next with a 67 minute House at 12.88 million down week-to-week, followed by lead-in dependent Fringe with just 7.77 million and lots of bleeding in the second half-hour. I don't understand how it will draw new viewers out of Idol in January when the storyline is very serialized on this show. NBC was next with another two-hour The Biggest Loser at a below normal 6.87 million, down nearly a million from previous week and Law & Order: SVU followed at just 8.59 million, down from previous week. Who would have thought SVU could go that low? The CW aired a movie called How to Deal and it certainly did not deal right for The CW doing just 950,000 viewers, ouch.
Wednesday saw CBS win the night on this Thanksgiving Eve. Final ratings were not available due to the Thanksgiving holiday, but we have prelim ratings for you. CBS started with a Thanksgiving episode of Old Christine at a prelim 7.6 million, down a bit from previous week. Thanksgiving episode of Gary Unmarried followed with a prelim 7.72 million, slightly off from previous week and built from the lead-in again for now. Next was Criminal Minds at 9pm and it did a solid prelim 14.0 million, down two million previous week but this was Thanksgiving Eve and at 10pm CSI: NY did a prelim 12.16 million, also down two million from previous week. ABC was next but it started off slow with Pushing Daisies only managing a prelim 4.45 million, a series low, but not off that much from previous week in viewers despite airing on Thanksgiving Eve. Private Practice was next and also had a series low of prelim 6.22 million on this Thanksgiving Eve, down a million from previous week. Dirty Sexy Money was preempted, but ABC aired a Barbara Walters Special with an interview with President-elect Barack Obama and Michelle Obama doing a solid prelim 11.65 million! Final numbers are not in, but ABC won November sweeps in 18-49 while CBS took viewers. Fox was next with a new Bones at a solid prelim 9.76 million, down a million or so from previous week on this Thanksgiving Eve. A House repeat, yes another, followed with a prelim 5.1 million...down from previous week. NBC opened the night with the variety special Rosie Live doing just a prelim 5.04 million, and just a a prelim 1.2 18-49 rating. No more specials looks like. Next up was a special Deal or No Deal instead of Life doing a prelim 6.29 million, better than what Life does, and a new Law & Order did just a 6.26 million, another series low for the veteran series, but you can blame Thanksgiving Eve for doing that low. The CW had a repeat of Stylista doing just under a million in prelim numbers, followed by an all-new Stylista with even less at just 799,000 prelim viewers, no Top Model lead-in, no good ratings.
Thursday as we mentioned final numbers are not in yet due to Thanksgiving...but we will give prelim numbers. CBS won the slow night. CBS opened with Survivor: Gabon clip show at a prelim 8.47 million, of course down from previous week. A repeat of CSI followed with a prelim 10.63 million, not bad for a repeat on Thanksgiving. A repeat of Eleventh Hour followed and did a prelim 7.46 million. ABC was next with another airing of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/Mayflower Voyagers instead of Ugly Betty doing a prelim 6.31 million, not bad for just airing two days earlier. Grey's Anatomy two-hour encore of the season premiere followed with a prelim 5.49 million, it did grow in the 10pm hour. Fox was actually next with the movie Click instead of of Kitchen Nightmares at a prelim 5.83 million, but it was boosted by the 4pm NFL game as a lead-in, as the movie went down each half-hour. NBC was next with the movie The Incredibles and an encore of The Office at 10:30 instead of the usual My Name is Earl, Kath & Kim, The Office, 30 Rock and ER as the movie did just about 5 million in prelim numbers followed by The Office encore at just a prelim 3.41 million. Smallville repeat on The CW did a prelim 1.82 million followed by a Supernatural repeat at a prelim 1.69 million.
Now, as usual final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available, but ABC won this unusual with the combo of the holiday movie The Polar Express and 20/20 as CBS's dramas were in repeats. NBC for some reason aired the same movie as the previous night and did worse naturally.
Saturday numbers saw ABC win in the preliminaries overall and in 18-49 thanks to Saturday Night College Football between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
Tonight again NFL will be key. CBS will have an overrun this week, so they will be at above normal levels. ABC's regular Sunday line-up of AFV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters, returns tonight, so they should be in the game. NBC will be solid with the SNF game, but not as high as usual with the Vikings/Bears. Fox will have its animated comedies as well.
As for the week, I believe ABC will win the week in HH, viewers and 18-49, but it depends on how CBS does tonight with the NFL overrun, if it is high enough CBS could take the week. If not, CBS will be second across the board. Fox will be third, with NBC in fourth across the board, followed by CW and MNT. What to watch for this week? It's a relatively quiet week, but still we have new stuff and lots of holiday specials! Time to start thinking about Christmas!

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Nov. 17-23)

• The Simpsons (Fox) - preempted for 24 movie.
• King of the Hill (Fox) - preempted for 24 movie.
• Family Guy (Fox) - preempted for 24 movie.
• American Dad (Fox) - preempted for 24 movie.

Monday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 10.03 million...another series high. How can you say anything bad about this show? Continues to do very well. CBS sitcoms are all repeats tomorrow though.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 9.96 million slightly off previous week's season high of 9.99 million...but not complaining.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 14.95 million, down a bit from previous week and #1 sitcom as always.
• Worst Week (CBS) - 10.15 million...down slightly from previous week. I wonder how a repeat will do tomorrow though? Scared to look.
• Samantha Who? (ABC) - 10.72 million...up from previous week, solid. Holiday specials will lead-into two new episodes tomorrow...so it will be down but maybe not as much as you would think.

Tuesday Sitcoms

• None.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• Old Christine (CBS) - Prelim 7.6 million...down from previous week a bit, but this was Thanksgiving Eve, so not bad..
• Gary Unmarried (CBS) - Prelim 7.72 million this week, down a tad from previous week but built from the lead-in again.

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - preempted.
• Kath & Kim (NBC) - preempted.
• The Office (NBC) - Special 10:30pm encore only mustered a prelim 3.41 million.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - preempted.

Friday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) 2 episodes - Final numbers are not in yet...but the prelim numbers show 2.1 million for a new episode at 8pm. Up actually week to week so far. A repeat at 9pm did a prelim 1.62 million.
• The Game (The CW) 2 episodes - Prelim numbers show 2.03 million for a new episode...and a repeat at 9:30pm did a prelim 1.54 million.
• The Office (NBC) - Special Friday 10:30pm repeat was barely on the map with just a prelim 2.21 million.

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.
  

Airing tonight (Sunday) are Fox's animated comedies from 8-10 (7-8pm repeats).

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Samantha Who, Worst Week were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as Gary Unmarried, Old Christine) or just plain old terrible (such as The Office repeats).

Blog DVD Review: Perry Mason - The Third Season, Volume 2 (12/2)

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for the blog DVD review! Today we take a look at CBS DVD's Perry Mason: The Third Season, Volume 2. Perry Mason of course is the very popular law series. The series stars the great Raymond Burr. See skees53's blog DVD review of Perry Mason: The Third Season, Volume 2:

Perry Mason: The Third Season, Volume 2 (CBS DVD, $49.99) presents the final 14 episodes of the third season of the classic courtroom drama on a four-disc DVD set. Mason is the attorney that everybody defendant calls upon when they are innocent, but find that proving their innocence will be virtually impossible. But nothing is too difficult for Mason, and he can take on (and win) even the toughest cases, particularly those accused of murder and theft. Can he win them all? When you know the law like Perry Mason does, you most certainly can!
Virtually all of the episodes (all but one) in this set are about murder cases, as this was a common crime that was frequently part of the series. In "The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor," Hamilton Burger's friend is accused of murder, so who will take the case? Mason, of course! In "The Case of the Gallant Grafter," a man is accused of embezzling money from his company, but that isn't his only problem when his accountant turns up dead. A novelist may have been a murderer in "The Case of the Mythical Monkeys," but her assistant is the one that is on trial. A cigarette girl is threatened by gamblers in "The Case of the Singing Skirt," but where will she go when she is accused of murdering the wife of one of the gamblers that she loves? In "The Case of the Madcap Modiste," a dress designer makes a fool of her husband on national TV, but when she is suddenly poisoned, who will defend the fool that is accused of poisoning her? In "The Case of the Ominous Outcast," a man shows up in a small town and looks exactly like a bank robber--and goes down for his appearance Who will defend him?
The packaging is the standard CBS DVD packaging that we have all become accustomed to by now, with a standard DVD case. Inside the case, you'll find the four discs, each of which has no artwork other than the series logo on a gray background. Episode titles, descriptions, and airdates can be found inside the case. The menus on the set are very basic, with the main menu presenting just a list of all of the episodes and a Play All option.
As has been the case with all of these Perry Mason sets, the video and audio quality seem to be impressive, particularly considering the age of the series. There are minor issues here and there, but generally speaking, we have a crystal clear picture and loud and clear audio. It is always great to see that this is done right. Closed-captioning can be found on all of the episodes for those that need it. Also, just as in Season 3, Volume 1, some of the sponsorship logos are left intact on the closing credits, which is very nice to see. These can be found on roughly half of the episodes. There is one MINOR area of concern about this set, though. This set has finally succumbed to having the standard CBS DVD disclaimer about episodes potentially being edited and having changed music. The good news, though, is that I couldn't find any obvious edits or changes, but the bad news is that saying that doesn't necessarily mean much, as I have no clue what every single line of dialog should be or what music should be in each episode. I would imagine that edits, if any, could not be too severe, as these older series very rarely made use of copyrighted materials. On the bright side, each episode comes in at either 51:20 or 52:40 (usually 52:40 for the ones that contain the sponsorship logos in the closing credits).
Unfortunately, special features are once again not to be found on this set. For a series this popular, you would think that they would load the set with special features, but that wasn't meant to be. Of course, fans can always turn to the 50th Anniversary collection for some nice bonus features.
All in all, it can be said that this is a great set of episodes, although if CBS DVD insists on continuing to do half seasons of the series, they really need to beef up on special features! These sets carry a hefty price tag, and at MSRP, it would cost fans at least $900 to own every single release of the series, assuming each one is released as a half season. The worst part is that a lot of this money is probably padding the pockets of the DVD producers, as I would imagine that there aren't quite as many people making money off of this series as there are many other series. Fans of Perry Mason, or even fans of any courtroom drama, are certain to love and appreciate these episodes. They'll definitely want to add this DVD to their collection.
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4/5 stars)

To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Perry Mason TV.com Page

Nick at Nite December 2008 Highlights; Blog DVD Review: Futurama - Bender's Game

We have one news item and a special edition of the blog DVD review today for you on this Black Friday. We have finally for you the Nick at Nite December 2008 highlights. And once again Nick at Nite is not making any changes to its strong regular schedule. And why not? Shows such as George Lopez and Family Matters continue to be strong for them in the ratings. Nick at Nite will celebrate Christmas with a night-long holiday party and 10-days of various Christmas episodes!
The night-long holiday party will be called "Nick at Nite Holiday House Party" on Sunday, December 14 from 9pm-12am ET/PT. Deck the halls, the kitchen, the living room and everything in-between! Nick at Nite is throwing a holiday house party with a holiday themed marathon of Christmas episodes of Home Improvement, George Lopez and Family Matters!
Then from December 15 to December 25 (Christmas night itself), Nick at Nite is keeping the spirit alive with nightly holiday-themed episodes of its sitcoms such as Home Improvement, George Lopez, Family Matters and Fresh Prince...you'll see all the Christmas episodes of each!
To view the holiday schedule, view our Nick at Nite December 2008 highlights.

Welcome to a special edition of the blog DVD reviews! Today we take a look at 20th Century Fox's Futurama - Bender's Game. Futurama - Bender's Game is the third movie featuring the hit animated series...and we have reviewed them all. See skees53's blog DVD review of Futurama - Bender's Game:

Futurama - Beast With a Billion Backs (20th Century Fox, $29.98) is the third installment (of four) in the Futurama movie franchise, the direct-to-DVD franchise that revives the former Fox animated sitcom. The movie is a largely a spoof of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, the events of the movie are essentially played out by a game of Dungeons & Dragons, played by the characters in the movie.
The plot of this installment begins with a major fuel shortage crisis--or what at least seems to be one. Dark matter is a form of fuel that was discovered by Farnsworth, and was stolen by Mom, who has a monopoly over the entire dark matter industry. When it is discovered that there actually isn't a shortage of dark matter (it is actually fecal matter from the Nibblonians) and that Mom is actually "creating" the shortage, it is up to Farnsworth and the crew to bring down the industry. The whole industry can be brought down by using an "anti-crystal" that is being used as a 12-sided die in the game Dungeons & Dragons. Will Mom go down? And if so, how will fuel needs be met?
The movie runs at 87 minutes and has excellent video and audio quality. After all, there is nothing to really compare this to--this is the first place that this has been presented. The video is presented in widescreen with vibrant colors (although I had some pixilation, probably due to the screener disc that I received) and a loud and clear Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound audio track. English, Spanish, and French subtitles can also be found on the disc.
The disc is loaded with special features, beginning with an audio commentary track. We have input from Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, Billy West, John DiMaggio, Tress MacNeille, Michael Rowe, Claudia Katz, and Dwayne Carey Hill. For those that love animatics, we have an entire storyboard animatic for the first part of the movie (that is the first 22 minutes, as it will be presented when aired on Comedy Central as a four part episode). The next feature that we have is actually a pretty cool feature, called "Futurama Genetics Lab." Here, we can crossbreed our characters and create hybrids--in case you ever wanted to know what a Bender crossed with a Fry would look like! "Dungeons & Dragons & Futurama" (7:02) is a behind-the-scenes look where the whole concept of the movie is discussed, including connections with Dungeons & Dragons. "How to Draw Futurama in 83 Easy Steps" (7:52) is not quite as complicated as it sounds, but gives a behind-the-scenes look at what it is like to draw the characters with the rough draft crew. "3D Models With Animation" (5:02) shows us some of the 3D models from the series, along with commentary from the animators. Apparently, there is only one deleted scene on the movie, and it can also be found in the special features. It runs at a little over one minute. "Blooperama 2" (1:50) shows us some of the audio outtakes from the movie. "Bender's Anti-Piracy Warning" (1:11) is a warning from Bender that warns us all against piracy of the DVD. Finally, "Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder" (1:12) is a sneak peak into the fourth (and final?) installment in the Futurama movie series.
The critics take on this installment is that it is much better than the previous installments, and is more true to the original series than the other ones have been. However, I have to slightly disagree with that. I feel like the movie has a plot that is far too complicated for an animated series and tends to just drag on. I feel as though these feature films that they've been making have been disappointing, and that they probably should have just stuck with making additional episodes of standard episode length. This series doesn't exactly make for great movies, and it is even worse for those that can't get in to the whole Dungeons & Dragons theme that this movie presents. Still, I think a lot of the biggest fans of Futurama are certain to appreciate this movie, as it gives life to their favorite series once again (and there are certain to be many fans of Futurama that can appreciate Dungeons & Dragons).
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4.5/5 stars)

To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Futurama TV.com Page

Happy Thanksgiving; Marathons on TV This Holiday Weekend

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We thank you for visiting us on this special day and every other day. We also are very thankful that you all continue to visit every single day and making this blog a huge success. We get thousands of visitors every day (even on weekends). So, we thank you for the growth each year! It is simply amazing. Before we let you all go back to your families, we want to let you know the marathons on TV you and your family might want to watch during the day and after Thanksgiving dinner. We have told you about many of the sitcom related marathons already. We were the first ones to tell you about them, too. WGN America has a Newhart marathon on Thanksgiving Day from 2pm-3am. TV Land has its annual Overstuffed Weekend with I Love Lucy and The Cosby Show on Thanksgiving Day and Night, with many other sitcoms from Friday-Sunday. TBS has a marathon of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 9am-3pm today, while tomorrow (Friday) Sci Fi offers up an all-day event of the classic Robin Williams sitcom Mork & Mindy from 8am-6am! BET has a holiday weekend filled with marathons of One on One, The Parkers and Steve Harvey Show starting on Friday. So yeah we told you about all these already many moons ago. But there are of course more! Other sitcom related marathons include The N's all Drake & Josh weekend starting at 3pm, you can eat bananas while watching G4's Arrested Development marathon starting at 9am, FX will give us a marathon of the late Bernie Mac on his sitcom Bernie Mac on Friday, and Disney Channel will have marathon blocks of their sitcoms all this weekend of The Suite Life, Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place. Non-sitcom wise, of course you will have CSI marathons all over the place. CSI: NY gets the full day treatment on Thanksgiving Day on Spike TV, A&E will have a CSI: Miami marathon on Friday, while Spike TV offers up a CSI vs. CSI: NY marathon. What no James Bond movie marathons on Spike this year? Not to fret, Sci Fi Channel will have some today, before they air Mork & Mindy on Friday. Other notable marathons on Thanksgiving Day include Goof Troop on Toon Disney, The Closer on TNT, House on USA Network and Rocky movies on Versus. Friday's notables include Beverly Hills 90210 on SOAPnet, The Starter Wife on USA Network, and Monty Python's Flying Circus on BBC America. And it seems like Fox Reality is airing Hell's Kitchen all weekend and the same goes true for Fox Movie Channel with Planet of the Apes movies. Sorry no Law & Order series, except for Criminal Intent on Sunday. And don't forget my pick of the night, tonight at 8pm on ABC the holiday classic A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I watched it Tuesday and will watch it again tonight. Can't get enough of old Chuck! If you haven't see it already, view our 2008 Network TV Holiday Specials and Movies Guide, so you don't miss anything on network TV. Also our ABC Family 25 Days of Christmas schedule, because that is the place to be this holiday season with classics like Mickey's Christmas Carol, A Garfield Christmas and Winnie the Pooh & Christmas Too! And for more marathons this weekend we did not list, head on over to the Interesting Pile blog.

TV Land January 2009 Highlights; NBC Revises January 2009 Schedule

TV Land has announced their January 2009 schedule and highlights, and as expected, I Love Lucy is not on it, as its contract has expired. Also, Paid Programming is continuing, but it will move from 5-7am to 6-9am starting Monday, December 29. So, the 7-9am show will be knocked off, as M*A*S*H's morning slot and Night Court's slots are removed...which means Night Court is off the line-up for now. Late nights will be affected a bit too, as Three's Company will now air four in a row from 2-4am, as the modern sitcom block moves from 3-5am to 4-6am, with Designing Women, Mad About You, Murphy Brown and Just Shoot Me, since Paid Programming will move to 6-9am. Replacing I Love Lucy on weekday afternoons is essentially two Beverly Hillbillies episodes, so Hillbillies is back on weekdays. I Love Lucy aired a lot on weekends, and replacing it will be Green Acres and Brady Bunch on Saturdays, as both of those shows return. And on Sundays more Beverly Hillbillies will replace Lucy in the mornings, while Leave it to Beaver will replace it in the late night block. Also, Star Trek is back once a week on Sundays at 6am, though it sort of is airing in December, on some Thursdays at 7am.
As for stunts, New Year's Day is "Jan" 1st. Jan, Jan, Jan. It's a new year and this year it's all about Jan from The Brady Bunch. On January 1, beginning at 12pm through 6pm, TV Land celebrates everybody's favorite middle-child with a 6-hour marathon of Brady episodes featuring none other than the positively groovy Jan Brady! Marcia, Marcia, Marcia, indeed!
High School Reunion is coming back for an unforgettable second season in mid-February. But first...counting down to that big February 18 second season premiere, TV Land PRIME will bring you all of the action from season one every Wednesday at 10pm starting on January 7. A marathon of the entire first season will also air in a President's Day event on Monday, February 16.
He was handsome. He was dangerous. He was rock n' roll. He was 'The King.' He was Elvis! TV Land PRIME celebrates the life of a true American original on January 8, when Elvis would have celebrated his 74th birthday. Explore the enduring legacy of rumor and innuendo that still surrounds the epic entertainer with a special episode of TV Land's Myths & Legends, and take an intimate look at the life and times of Elvis as told by his family, during a special presentation of Elvis by the Presleys. Also, prior to the PRIME event, TV Land will host a PRIME preview presentation of the marathon on Saturday, January 3 from 2-6pm, featuring both the Myths & Legends episode and the Elvis by the Presleys program, as well as a special presentation of the iconic concert, Elvis's '68 Comeback Special!
This January, viewers will laugh out loud all month long on TV Land and TVLand.com during TVLand.Comedy Month. Each Saturday in January starting January 10, TV Land will feature marathons of popular comedies like 3rd Rock from the Sun, Sanford & Son, Beverly Hillbillies, Leave it to Beaver, The Jeffersons and The Andy Griffith Show, serving as a promotional platform for these titles and more online. In January, TVLand.com will stream more full episode content than ever before! This includes the launch of new series to TVLand.com, including The Jeffersons, Leave it to Beaver and Sanford and Son. And there's more! For all of their current online series favorites, all episodes available will be streaming for the first time on TVLand.com. And don't miss the limited one-month offering of full episodes of Just Shoot Me.
Finally, the TV Land PRIME Movies for January are all 80s classics such as Cocktail, Jewel of the Night, and The Color of Money. Tom Cruise is among the stars you'll see.
View the COMPLETE TV Land January 2009 schedule and highlights.

NBC has announced its January 2009 schedule and it will have the series premieres of Superstars of Dance (debuting January 4) and Howie Do It (January 9), the returns of The Biggest Loser: Couples (January 6) and Friday Night Lights (January 16). NBC will broadcast the original movie event The Last Templar Sunday and Monday, January 25-26, 9-11 p.m. ET both nights. Specials include Saturday Night Live Sports Extra on Sunday, January 4 (7-9 p.m. ET) and Saturday Night Live Film Festival on Sunday, January 18 (9-11 p.m. ET). Dateline NBC also will broadcast a Presidential Inauguration Day Special on Tuesday, January 20 (10-11 p.m. ET). Here is a look at how NBC will look in January (pre-Super Bowl):

NBC January 2009

MONDAYS (beginning January 5)
8-10 p.m. - Superstars of Dance (premieres Sunday, January 4 from 9-11 p.m. and the season finale airs Monday, January 26 from 8-9 p.m.)
10-11 p.m. - Momma's Boys
(Chuck and Heroes return in February, after the Super Bowl)

TUESDAYS (beginning January 6)
8-10 p.m. - The Biggest Loser: Couples
10-11 p.m. - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
(Special on Jan. 20: Dateline NBC: Presidential Inauguration Special from 10-11 p.m. ET)

WEDNESDAYS (beginning January 7)
8-9 p.m. - Knight Rider
9-10 p.m. - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Encores (Life returns in February after the Super Bowl)
10-11 p.m. - Law & Order

THURSDAYS (beginning January 8)
(No changes)
8-8:30 p.m. - My Name Is Earl
8:30-9 p.m. - Kath & Kim
9:00-9:31 p.m. - The Office
9:31-10 p.m. - 30 Rock
10-11 p.m. - ER

FRIDAYS
8-9 p.m. - Howdie Do It (series premiere January 9)
9-10 p.m. - Friday Night Lights (beginning January 16) (Lipstick Jungle has its finale on January 9)
10-11 p.m. - Dateline NBC (beginning December 5)

SATURDAYS (beginning January 10)
8-11 p.m. - Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit encores

SUNDAYS
January 4:
7-9 p.m. - Saturday Night Live Sports Extra
9-11 p.m. - Superstars of Dance (series premiere, special night)

Sunday -- January Event Specials
January 11: 7-8pm TBD and 8-11 p.m. - The Golden Globe Awards
January 18: 7-9pm TBD and 9-11 p.m. - Saturday Night Live Film Festival
January 25: 7-9pm TBD and 9-11 p.m. - Mini-Series: The Last Templar (also on Monday, January 26)
February 1: approx. 6:15-10 p.m. - Super Bowl XLIII and 10-11pm TBD (post-Super Bowl show)

NBC will announce their full midseason series and revised schedule at a later date. Many series will be premiering after the Super Bowl in February, such as the return of Medium, new series Kings, and the winter premiere of Heroes. NBC will also officially announce their post-Super Bowl timeslot series soon.

What I Like About You Joins The N in January 2009; More RTN Affiliates Added

The N has released their January schedule and it will have a new sitcom added. Starring Amanda Bynes, What I Like About You joins The N with a 24-hour premiere marathon that begins on Thursday, January 1, 2009 at 12:00pm ET/PT (First 49 episodes, except #9 will air in the marathon). When her widowed father moves to Japan, Holly (Amanda Bynes) is forced to move in with her straight-laced older sister Valerie (Jennie Garth), who's a promising public relations upstart living in Manhattan. It's not long before Holly's antics turn Valerie's regimented life upside down!
And that's not all! The excitement continues all week long with a week of primetime marathons of What I Like About You every night from 8pm-12am ET/PT from Friday, January 2 through Sunday, January 11.
Then the show will join the regular line-up after the 11 days worth of marathons. Beginning Monday, January 12, What I Like About You will air regularly on The N every night at 10pm-12am ET/PT. Among the other changes on The N are now four episodes in a row blocks of your favorite sitcoms from 6pm-6am: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Zoey 101, What I Like About You, That '70s Show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Moesha...with a mix of Degrassi on weekends.
View the full schedule and highlights for The N January 2009.

Coming tomorrow we will take a look at TV Land January 2009. Will paid programming continue? What will replace I Love Lucy? All that and more will be answered!

Retro Television Network is coming to more affiliates! RTN's coming to Eureka, Odessa-Midland, Huntsville and Albuquerque.
RTN has signed KIEM-DT, Eureka, CA as its newest RTN affiliate. KIEM is the second Pollack Broadcasting station that RTN has signed as an affiliate. The first, KWCE‐TV, Alexandria, LA was one of the first RTN affiliates to sign on the air in 2006.
RTN has also announced that it has signed KWWT-DT, Odessa-Midland, TX as an affiliate. KWWT-DT is owned by Camino Real Communications.
RTN is also coming to Alabama on WHNT-DT in the Huntsville-Decatur-Florence, AL market, as they will be signing on as an RTN affiliate. WHNT is owned by Local TV LLC.
Finally, RTN has signed Ramar Communication's KTLL-DT/KFAC-LP, Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM as RTN affiliates.
This is great news, and you can view the full press releases for these four new RTN markets. RTN can be found on the web at www.rtnville.com.

2008 Network TV Holiday Specials; TV Land Schedule Changes Includes Paid Programming?; NBC Kills Crusoe to Saturdays

Can you believe the holiday season is nearing? Thanksgiving is this week, which means Christmas is right around the corner! And then it will be 2009 a week after that. Time flies! Anyway as I mentioned, I have put together our annual network television (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW, MyNetwork TV) holiday specials list that we all like to watch every year like Frosty the Snowman and A Charlie Brown Christmas, new classics like Shrek the Halls and we even get some new specials this year like A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa. Sure the network holiday line-ups are not as detailed as some cable networks like ABC Family, but the main holiday specials are still on network television! These are just actual holiday related specials and movies, not movies or specials airing during the holiday season on broadcast network television:

ABC
Tuesday, Nov. 25, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/This is America Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers
Thursday, Nov. 27, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/This is America Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers ENCORE
Friday, Nov. 28, 8-10pm: ABC Friday Movie of the Week: The Polar Express
Monday, Dec. 1, 8-9pm: Shrek the Halls and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated)
Tuesday, Dec. 2, 8-9pm: Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Friday, Dec. 5, 8-10pm: ABC Friday Movie of the Week: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (live-action)
Monday, Dec. 8, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 8-9pm: America's Funniest Home Videos Christmas Special
Saturday, Dec. 13, 8-9pm: America's Funniest Home Videos Christmas Special ENCORE
Saturday, Dec. 13, 9-11pm: ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Surviving Christmas
Sunday, Dec. 14, 8-10pm: ABC Sunday Movie of the Week: The Santa Clause 2
Monday, Dec. 15, 8-9pm: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
Tuesday, Dec. 16, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas ENCORE
Saturday, Dec. 20, 8-9pm: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown ENCORE
Saturday, Dec. 20, 9-11pm: ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat
Monday, Dec. 22, 8-8:30pm: Shrek the Halls ENCORE
Tuesday, Dec. 23, 8-9pm: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated, expanded edition)
Tuesday, Dec. 30, 8-9:30pm: Happy New Year, Charlie Brown and Rudolph's Shiny New Year
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on ABC, view our schedule.

CBS:
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 8-9pm: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Friday, Dec. 12, 8-9pm: Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns
Friday, Dec. 12, 9-10pm: The Flight Before Christmas (NEW!)
Saturday, Dec. 20, 8-10pm: CBS Saturday Movie: Elf
Tuesday, Dec. 23, 8-9pm: 10th Annual Home for the Holidays with Faith Hill
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on CBS, view our schedule.

NBC:
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 8-9pm: Christmas in Rockefeller Center
Friday, Dec. 5, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: TV & Film Countdown
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 8-9pm: Little Spirit: A New York Christmas
Friday, Dec. 12, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Songs of the Season Countdown
Saturday, Dec. 13, 8-11pm: NBC Movie of the Week: It's a Wonderful Life
Wednesday, Dec. 17, 8-9pm: A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (NEW!)
Friday, Dec. 19, 8-10pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: TV & Film Countdown and Greatest Holiday Moments: Songs of the Season Countdown
Monday, Dec. 22, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Hilarious Home Video Countdown
Tuesday, Dec. 24, 8-11pm: NBC Movie of the Week: It's a Wonderful Life
Wednesday, Dec. 25, 10-11pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Hilarious Home Video Countdown
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on NBC, view our schedule.

Fox:
None
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on Fox, view our schedule.

The CW:
Friday, Dec. 5, 8-9pm: Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Friday, Dec. 5, 9-10pm: The Story of Santa Claus
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on The CW, view our schedule.

MyNetwork TV:
Saturday, Dec. 6, 8-10pm: MySaturday Night Movie: Miracle on 34th Street
Monday, Dec. 8, 8-10pm: MyMonday Night Movie: Blizzard
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 8-10pm: Olive the Other Reindeer and Santa's Funniest Moments
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 8-10pm: MyWednesday Night Movie: Home Alone
Tuesday, Dec. 16, 8-10pm: Soul of Christmas
Wednesday, Dec. 17, 8-10pm: Christmas is Here Again and Santa's Funniest Moments
Thursday, Dec. 18, 8-9pm: Wrestlemania Holiday Special
Monday, Dec. 22, 8-10pm: The Spirit of Christmas
Tuesday, Dec. 23, 8-10pm: MyTuesday Night Movie: Babes in Toyland
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on MyNetwork TV, view our schedule.


TV Land has edited their line-up a bit effective immediately. I announced the changes on Saturday on our message board, but in case you didn't see that...they are adding Paid Programming from 5am-7am on weekday mornings. It started today. No reason was given and it will last at least until the end of December. So, this means Star Trek is off the regular schedule, but it will air sometimes on Thursdays at 7am. M*A*S*H will air every other weekday in the 7am hour, followed now by a full-hour of Night Court at 8am. Back-to-back sitcom episodes will last until 1pm with Sanford & Son, The Jeffersons, Good Times and I Love Lucy from 9am-1pm. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will be indeed staying at 1pm on weekday afternoons. The other changes are in primetime. After The Cosby Show block from 8-10pm, we now will get Scrubs from 10-11pm as 3rd Rock from the Sun moves to 11pm-1am, with a four episode block now. M*A*S*H will assume the 1am hour now while Three's Company moves up an hour to 2-3am. The 4-6am block of Designing Women, Mad About You, Murphy Brown and Just Shoot Me will all move up an hour to 3-5am, as mentioned Paid Programming will assume the 5-7am hours now.
Weekends will not see many changes, but I advise you to view our one-time-only schedule dates for November and December. You can see the full list of changes starting Nov. 24 in the November highlights, too.
The Beverly Hillbillies only airs on weekends now, primarily on Sundays from 12-4am...view our highlights for details. And yes, there is NO paid programming on Saturdays and Sundays. Paid Programming is just weekdays. If you notice on the December highlights, the last three days of December, the paid programming will be 6-9am instead of 5-7am. Not sure if that will continue into January or not, but we'll let you know soon.
In the November schedule highlights, you'll notice the Thanksgiving marathon has been edited a bit, with CSI now included in the marathon this Saturday and Sunday night in primetime. CSI was originally supposed to air this week in the 11pm-1am hours, as it did last week, but TV Land has decided to air them in holiday weekend marathon block instead. After that, CSI will not be scheduled on TV Land in the near future, unless another schedule change happens.

Effective Saturday, December 6, struggling Friday drama Crusoe will move to Saturdays at 8:00pm ET/PT. It aired its last Friday airing this past Friday at 9pm and it continued to bomb for NBC. Six episodes still remain, so NBC will have to deal with more bad ratings until then, unless they pull it. It'll of course do worse on Saturdays, but NBC was airing low-rated Knight Rider repeats in the Saturday slot anyway, so expectations are lower.
Because of the change, Fridays will see newsmagazine Dateline added, but not in Crusoe's slot. Dateline will air Fridays at 10pm against ABC's 20/20, while current 10pm slot holder Lipstick Jungle moves to Fridays at 9pm. Don't understand that move. Dateline would be better at 9pm, as Lipstick Jungle is also doing terrible and is on its last four episodes, so that series will air its last episode on Jan. 9. NBC has not announced what will happen to Fridays after that. In fact, NBC will likely see many changes in January and the rest of midseason, and we'll let you know as soon as we do. The schedule NBC announced last April for this winter is of course going to change, so I don't understand why NBC announced it last April in the first place.

Week 9 Numbers; How the Sitcoms Did

Week 9 numbers (first three nights, Mon-Wed):
(Thursday final numbers were not released by Nielsen, so we don't have final Thursday network averages or final program numbers in time for today's story...sorry.)

Households: CBS: 8.6/13.4; ABC: 7.0/11.0; Fox: 5.1/7.7; NBC: 4.4/6.8; The CW: 1.9/3.0; MNT: 0.9/1.4.
Total Viewers: CBS: 13.56 million; ABC: 10.74 million; Fox: 8.3 million; NBC: 6.94 million; The CW: 2.85 million; MNT: 1.45 million.
Adults 18-49: CBS: 3.6/9.4; Fox: 3.2/8.1; ABC: 2.7/6.9; NBC: 2.6/6.8; The CW: 1.4/3.5; MNT: 0.5/1.3.

Analysis: Week 9 has seen CBS in contro through the first three nights (and four counting prelim numbers for Thursday). Nielsen didn't release final ratings for Thursday, so I cannot give you those averages and program ratings...but see above for final first three night averages. If you count the prelim Thursday averages, through the first four days, CBS is in the lead in all categories, while ABC should be second throughout (though Fox might have a say in 18-49, but ABC seems to have edged Fox through the first four days). Fox is 3rd across the board, while NBC is likely fourth across the board.
Last week, CBS won week 8 in all categories (HH, viewers, 18-49), while ABC was second in all categories. NBC was third across the board. Fox was fourth across the board as well.
Monday ABC was on top thanks to of course Dancing with the Stars. The 92-minute episode did a night best 19.63 million...up week-to-week. The sitcom Samantha Who followed and did 10.23 million, slightly off from the previous week. A new Boston Legal followed with 8.08 million, down some from the previous week. Next up was CBS, with new episodes of its comedies and a new CSI: Miami. The Big Bang Theory did great again, but down a bit from the previous week's series high of 10.01 million to 9.76 million this week...still not bad! A new How I Met Your Mother followed with a season high 9.99 million, built on the lead-in for the first time in weeks! #1 sitcom Two and a Half Men followed with 15.18 million, up week-to-week as well, while Worst Week did 10.24 million, its best showing in weeks...good sign. At 10pm a new CSI: Miami did 15.46 million, up nearly two million from previous week as the show celebrated a milestone episode. NBC was next and as its regular line-up continues to falter. Chuck did 6.89 million, up form previous week, followed by Heroes at once again another series low 7.65 million, down from previous week's series low. Recently canceled My Worst Own Enemy was next at just 3.91 million, a series low...NBC needs to remove this ASAP rather than wait it out. Fox was next with the weak Sarah Connor at just 5.09 million, slightly down from previous week, and on its last legs Prison Break at 5.52 million, though up a bit week-to-week once again. The CW had its teen girls line-up of Gossip Girl doing 2.89 million, on par really from previous week, followed by One Tree Hill at a season low 2.72 million. What is happening to The CW Monday? It used to do well over 3 million.
Tuesday it was CBS and ABC battling for first while Fox won in 18-49. CBS's quiet hit NCIS started it off with 17.99 million...down from the previous week's series high. New drama The Mentalist followed with 15.84 million, down from previous week. A new Without a Trace would did 11.85 million, also down week-to-week, but not as much as the other two. ABC was next with a special episode of Dancing with the Stars at 11.6 million up from previous week's special recap, followed by Dancing with the Stars: The Results at 17.59 million, up a million week-to-week as now we are down to the final three, and Eli Stone only did 6.36 million, a season low. Fox was next with House at 13.26 million and a 5.6 18-49 rating both up slightly week-to-week, followed by lead-in dependent Fringe with 9.18 million and a 4.1 18-49 rating, up from previous week. NBC was next with another two-hour The Biggest Loser at 7.77 million, down a bit from previous week and Law & Order: SVU followed at 10.11 million, up from previous week. The CW aired a new episode of 90210 doing 2.92 million, up a bit from previous week and a new episode of Privileged did only 1.55 million, down week-to-week.
Wednesday saw CBS take back the night, as ABC took the previous week with a big win for the CMA Awards, but usual winner CBS was back in business tonight. CBS started with Old Christine at 7.85 million, up a million from previous week. Recently picked-up for a full season Gary Unmarried followed with 7.88 million, up over a million from previous week and built from the lead-in. Next was Criminal Minds at 9pm and it did a solid 16.33 million, up big from previous week and at 10pm CSI: NY did 14.12 million, up big from previous week, as this series it a milestone episode as well. Fox was next with a new Bones at a solid 10.82 million, down a tad from previous week but on par really. A House repeat, yes another, followed with 5.68 million...down from previous week. ABC's Pushing Daisies only managed 4.87 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating for a series low, as it seems the series will be done after its 13 episodes. Private Practice was next and also had a series low of 7.22 million, and will be heavily helped in January when it moves to Thursday. Dirty Sexy Money also did a series low with 5.58 million...it is too bad because this show is worth watching. Watch it! NBC opened the night with the falling Knight Rider doing just 5.2 million, down from previous week and a terrible 1.4 18-49 rating, and why was this picked-up for a full year? Next up was Life doing just 5.43 million, down week-to-week and a new Law & Order did 7.62 million, a series low for the veteran series. The CW had the finale of Top Model doing 4.84 million, its best numbers in a year but Stylista followed with only 2.16 million, and did not benefit, though it was up from previous week.
Thursday as we mentioned final numbers are not in yet...but we will give prelim numbers. CBS won the night overall and just edged ABC in 18-49. CBS opened with Survivor: Gabon at a prelim 12.62 million, putting it down a bit from previous week. A new CSI followed with a prelim 18.43 million, down from previous week. The new Eleventh Hour followed and did a prelim 10.67 million, also down from previous week. ABC was with Ugly Betty doing a prelim 8.29 million, up a bit from previous week. Grey's Anatomy followed with a prelim 15.74 million and a prelim 6.1 18-49 rating, up from previous week. At 10pm a new Life on Mars did a prelm 7.97 million, on par with the previous week. NBC was next with a new My Name is Earl doing a prelim 6.75 million, down from previous week, new sitcom Kath & Kim followed with only a prelim 5.47 million, but up from the previous week. The Office followed with a prelim 8.4 million, slightly up from previous week. 30 Rock did a prelim 7.29 million, down once again from previous week, as the show has gone down each airing this season after a fast start. ER was next with a prelim 9.15 million, down from previous week. Fox was off the map with two episodes of Kitchen Nightmares at just a prelim 4.46 million, down from previous week. Smallville on The CW did a prelim 4.77 million, but some of that is NFL action in Pittsburgh on their CW, followed by Supernatural at 4.03 million, and once again some of that is NFL action...so expect CW to go down a bit and same for NBC as there was NFL action on NBC in Cincy.
Now, as usual final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available, but CBS won Friday with their dramas, as Ghost Whisperer did a season high, repeat of The Mentalist at 9pm did the best of the night, while NUMB3RS also won its hour. ABC saw decent numbers for 20/20 at 10pm. NBC's disappointing Crusoe continues to do bad, as does Lipstick Jungle at 10pm.
Saturday numbers saw ABC win in the preliminaries overall and in 18-49 thanks to Saturday Night College Football between two top 5 teams.
Tonight again NFL will be key. CBS will not have an over-run this week, so they will be at normal levels. ABC's regular Sunday line-up of AFV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters, are preempted for the American Music Awards, so they will not be as high but will do solid still and great in 18-49. NBC will be solid with the SNF game. Fox will be the wildcard...it's 24 prequel movie could do decent or bomb..but the NFL overrun will help it at the start at least.
As for the week, I believe CBS will win the week in HH, viewers and 18-49, but it depends on how Fox does tonight in 18-49, but it won't be enough likely for even 2nd in 18-49. ABC will be second across the board likely, but 18-49 will be close. Fox will be third, with NBC in fourth across the board though in 18-49 they could compete, followed by CW and MNT. What to watch for this week? Sweeps ends on Wednesday and it seems CBS will win it overall with ABC in 18-49. But still three days to go...Dancing with the Stars two-night finale is the pick for the rest of sweep.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Nov. 10-16)

• The Simpsons (Fox) 2 episodes - A new showing did 8.48 million, up week-to-week. A repeat at 7:30pm leading into to the new episode did 5.64 million, also up.
• King of the Hill (Fox) - 7.08 million for a new episode, up from previous week. A repeat at 7pm only mustered 3.62 million, but better than previous week.
• Family Guy (Fox) - 8.57 million for a new episode, but a bit week-to-week.
• American Dad (Fox) - 6.76 million for worst of the night, but up from previous week.

Monday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 9.76 million...down from the series high the previous week, but still very good!
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 9.09 million up from previous week again and a season high, and it build on the lead-in...the biggest winner for CBS this week.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 15.18 million, up from previous week and #1 sitcom as always.
• Worst Week (CBS) - 10.24 million...better than usual and beat CBS 8-9pm finally for the first time in weeks. Good sign.
• Samantha Who? (ABC) - 10.23 million...down slightly from previous week, solid but needs to do a bit better.

Tuesday Sitcoms

• None.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• Old Christine (CBS) - 7.85 million...up a million from previous week. Good news.
• Gary Unmarried (CBS) - 7.88 million this week, up well over a million from previous week and built from the lead-in! Great news.

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - Final Thursday numbers were not released yet, but prelim 6.75 million for a new episode, down from previous week.
• Kath & Kim (NBC) - Prelim 5.47 million, not good, but from previous week a bit.
• The Office (NBC) - Prelim 8.4 million for a new episode...up slightly week-to-week...for now, since the prelim numbers count the Cincy ratings for the NFL game.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - Prelim 7.29 million tuned in this week, down again from previous week...and once again these numbers include the NFL game in Cincy, so likely it will go down a bit more.

Friday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - Final numbers are not in yet...but the prelim numbers show 1.77 million. Bad yes, and down a bit week to week so far.
• The Game (The CW) - Prelim numbers show just 1.62 million...same as above.

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.
  

Airing tonight (Sunday) are no comedies, as Fox's animated comedies are preempted.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Worst Week were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as My Name is Earl, 30 Rock) or just plain old terrible (such as The Game, Kath & Kim).

Blog DVD Review: Dynasty - Season 3, Volume 2

Welcome to another edition of Blog DVD Reviews. This week we take a look at CBS DVD's Dynasty - The Third Season, Volume Two. Dynasty is of course the primetime soap that was a bit hit for many years and it was so addictive! The tale of the Carrington family is so rich and interesting. See my blog DVD review of Dynasty - The Third Season, Volume Two:

Dynasty - The Third Season, Volume Two (CBS DVD, $35.98) brings us the final 12 episodes of the third season of the mega-hit ABC '80s series Dynasty on a 3-disc set! John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins continue to heat up the show as the season ends with a truly sizzling season-ending cliffhanger! This is the season where it moved from the top 20 to the top 5 in the ratings. Seasons 3-6 all were in the time of the height of the popularity. The series lasted 9 seasons on ABC, from 1981-89. We get the second half of the third season on this volume two set of the third season. Again, I don't understand why they are doing this. The show only had 24 episodes for season three...it's not like it was over 30 or 35. I think they should split up a season if it is over like 34 or 35 episodes. Shame on you CBS DVD for making fans wait to finish a season! The second season was a nice 6-disc set for 22 episodes, so why did they split up season three into two volumes just because this season has two extra episodes? Seasons 4-7 have a lot of episodes though: 27, 29, 31, 28...I guess that is the reason they started this? But why not wait until season 4 or 5? The last two seasons have 22 each. Even if seasons 4-7 have between 27-31, that is enough to put on six discs...CBS DVD is being very cheap. They did season 2 on six discs and at a higher price, so what is the problem?
Each episode on this set is between 47-48 minutes (no higher or lower). Nearly every CBS DVD has a disclaimer on the back of the box saying, "Some episodes maybe be edited from their original network versions." So there is a chance something could be edited, but I didn't see anything, as the runtimes were fairly consistent. There are 6 chapter stops each for every episode, counting the opening and closing credits stops. The video is on par with the previous season and it looks great. Just some debris here and there on the opening credits, like flashing black dots, but it is still good quality. The audio is decent, a nice sounding mono...that is crisp and clear.
Packaging is a snap case holding three discs inside, sort of similar to the volume one, third season DVD. No, again the discs don't overlap each other. Each disc has its own little holder. The cover art of the case has a nice shot of Blake, Alexis, and Krystle. The back of the case has synopsis of the show, the set, and technical information. A nice shot of the supporting cast and some screen shots are also present. Back inside, there is a disc by disc breakdown on the left and right panel. We get episode title, original airdate, and a long synopsis of each episode. Don't be reading it before watching the episode! Artwork on the discs is not that good. It is plain silver for each one. Dynasty logo and whatever disc number it is, is on the disc, similar to the previous season 2 and season 3, volume one sets again. Each disc holds four episodes. All very consistent from the past.
CBS DVD is terrible in menus, as you all know. Each menu has different artwork but it is so plain. The episodes are listed right on the main menu once again, as with the second season and season three, volume one DVDs. Set Up option is also available. In Set Up, we can have English or Espanol languages and subtitles. Main menu artwork has three shots of the same image. Disc 1 has three shots of Blake, disc two has three shots of Krystle, and disc three has three shots of Alexis. No theme music or anything in the background.
We get no special features at all, just like the volume one DVD for season three! Even the second season had a little family tree thing. Nothing here. First season was done by 20th Century Fox, and they did a decent job with some featurettes and commentaries. CBS DVD is doing nothing...which is typical. How about promos like they do with Family Ties?
Despite the splitting of the third season and no extras, I still highly do recommend any fan of the show to pick-up this set, because the episodes are so good and addictive. If you like shows like Desperate Housewives and Dirty Sexy Money, then you will love this mother of all primetime soaps! If you have the first two seasons and the first half of season three, then you have to get this to continue your collection. If you haven't gotten those yet, what are you waiting for? It won't make sense buying this set for your first buy of this series, as the episodes are heavily serialized. One thing CBS DVD does well is that they work pretty fast with most of their releases, so you better hurry before season four comes out...and I bet that will be split into half again. It is even worse that this show is very serialized so it makes people not want to wait to just finish a season. I've made it obvious already I don't like the change in splitting up the seasons into volumes, but CBS DVD seems to do that with a lot of their hour shows like The Love Boat, Perry Mason and so on. It is too bad, because it should only really be done if it is like over 35 episodes. I think they are just trying to get more money, come on $35.98 for 12 episodes and NO extras? They did make it $4 less than before, though. They could charge 59.99 for 24 episodes and still make a profit, but they are being very cheap and stealing fans for their money here. Still, I urge fans to buy it so we keep getting more sets. But complain to CBS DVD for the lack of extras and splitting the seasons in half. Anyway, surprise revelations and a shocking end in the season finale are some of the things you'll see in this second half of season three! Watch out for that cabin fire...whoops, forget I said that! Think of the Desperate Housewives nightclub fire instead!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(4/5 stars)

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Dynasty TV.com Page

ABC January 2009 Midseason Plans; The CW Cancels MRC Sundays, Tyra Banks Show Heads to CW Daytime Next Fall

ABC has announced its January 2009 plans. ABC made it official yesterday with the swapping of Private Practice and Life on Mars. Private Practice will move to Thursdays at 10PM following Grey's Anatomy, where Life on Mars was airing, while Life on Mars will move to Wednesdays at 10PM, where currently Dirty Sexy Money was airing. As mentioned already, Lost will take over Wednesdays at 9PM starting January 21, replacing Private Practice. Yes, Life on Mars will indeed follow Lost. Lost's season premiere is two-hours, so Life on Mars will debut on the night on January 28. 7 episodes have aired thus far, with six still remaining in the original order...but now ABC has ordered four more episodes, so a total of 17 will air this season at least. As for Private Practice, it will launch with new episodes on Thursdays on January 8, with repeats of the series in the slot on Dec. 11, 18 and 25 so fans are used to the change by the time is launches with new episodes on Jan. 8. The show will continue to air Wednesdays at 9 through and including Dec. 17. It is still not known what will air on Wednesdays in January prior to Lost coming (Jan. 21). It seems Private Practice will NOT air Wednesday at 9 on Jan. 7 and 14...could they double pump Pushing Daisies or Dirty Sexy Money? We'll let you know, when we know.
The news is not good for Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone, as ABC has announced they will not order more episodes than the 13 episodes from the original order. The word cancelation is not used, but all of them will likely not return next season, but...as of now, all 13 episodes of each will air.
Elsewhere, ABC has announced Scrubs will have its eighth season premiere on Tuesday, January 6 with two back-to-back episodes from at 9:00pm & 9:30pm ET/PT, replacing According to Jim. Jim will slide down into the 8:00pm & 8:30pm ET/PT slots, after airing in the 9pm hour starting in December. Scrubs will also air for the full-hour on Tuesday, January 13, opposite the same night of American Idol's two-hour season premiere. Then starting January 20, Scrubs will be followed by the new midseason animated comedy The Goode Family more than likely. ABC has not yet announced plans for Tuesdays at 10 following the comedies and Wednesdays at 8 leading into Lost. One option for either slot is Border Security USA, the new docudrama 11 episode series. My guess is Wednesdays at 8.
Keep checking back right here because the day is not over and we could have more announcements! Busy busy day!

The CW has canceled the MRC (Media Rights Capital group) programming block completely and will take over programming of the night effective Sunday, Nov. 30 due to very low ratings. So this coming Sunday (Nov. 23) is the last of MRC on The CW. MRC was programming The CW's Sunday night programming from 5-10pm, with an hour of 4Real at 5pm, Valentine encores at 6pm, In Harm's Way at 7pm, Valentine at 8pm, and Easy Money at 9pm.
Effective Sunday, Nov. 30, The CW will air encores of Everybody Hates Chris and The Game in the 5pm hour. Then in the 6pm hour they will go into the vaults of Warner Bros. and air back-to-back episodes of '90s sitcom The Drew Carey Show. At 7pm The CW will use its CBS Paramount library and air the short-lived drama Jericho, which aired on CBS for two seasons. And finally at 8pm, they will air Movies from MGM. So it looks like The CW is putting good use of their CBS-Warner libraries, hence the name The CW. Will this do any better than the MRC block? It remains to be seen, but if it does...expect more library programming on the night, as The CW plans to air this for the rest of the season before coming up with a new strategy next season.
So what will happen to the shows that were slated to come to the MRC block in midseason? One of them was the Bob Saget multicamera sitcom Surviving Suburbia. That sitcom has taped many episodes and still is scheduled to tape episodes in December and January. They last taped an episode last night before taking next week off for the Thanksgiving holiday. I am not sure what will happen to this sitcom. MRC could shop the sitcom for another network or perhaps The CW would pick it up for another night, possibly Fridays with the other comedies?

Meanwhile, first-run syndicated talk show The Tyra Banks Show from Warner Bros. Television is moving to The CW next fall (Sept. 2009) for its fifth season. How? Well, it will air daily on The CW Daytime back-to-back at 3PM (classic episode) and 4PM (all-new episode)! Which means the talk show will leave syndication and air exclusively on The CW! So this means both Tyra Banks' shows The Tyra Banks Show and America's Next Top Model will air on the same network starting in the fall...one in the daytime and one in primetime.
Currently airing on The CW Daytime is rookie Warner Bros. court show Judge Jeanine Pirro from 3-4pm, now that show will leave CW Daytime next fall and will be moving to first-run syndication! Let the bidding begin. From 4-5pm currently are sitcoms The Wayans Bros. and The Jamie Foxx Show, and they will be off the line-up, obviously. Who knows if the new CW Sunday is successful, maybe these will move to Sundays next fall somewhere between 5-7pm.

I know I promised the network holiday specials dates today, but because of this unusually busy Friday, I will give them to you on Monday...no matter what happens. So stay tuned for that!

Hallmark Channel January 2009 Highlights, I Love Lucy Joins; True Hollywood Story Gets Syndicated

As we have mentioned many times, I Love Lucy is coming to The Hallmark Channel in January, and now we have full details for The Hallmark Channel's January 2009 line-up! Everyone's favorite red-head is coming to The Hallmark Channel with an all-day marathon of I Love Lucy on Friday, January 2, 2009 from 8am-9pm ET/PT. Spend the day with Lucy as she finds herself in the most unlikely jams, scrapes, dilemmas and plain old hot water! But at the end of the day, Ricky is always there to forgive and forget. After all, who doesn't love Lucy? Cuban bandleader Ricky Ricardo does what he can to keep up with the zany schemes of his highly imaginative wife Lucy. The recurring storylines relate Lucy's continual efforts to become an entertainer, despite Ricky's endless attempts to discourage her, and their comically frantic life in the apartment building they share with landlords Fred and Ethel Mertz. This iconic sitcom set the standard for all that followed. I Love Lucy starred the legendary Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley.
I Love Lucy then immediately joins the regular schedule after the launch marathon on Jan. 2...airing Saturday mornings from 6am-9am (replacing Little House), Saturday late nights from 1am-3am (replacing movie), Sunday mornings from 8:30am-10am (replacing M*A*S*H), weekday mornings 8-9am (replacing Waltons), and weekday afternoons from 4-5pm (replacing Little House). Yes, the weekday 4-5pm airings will be encores of weekdays 8-9am from earlier in the day. There will be no other changes to the Hallmark schedule. As you all know, TV Land will not be airing I Love Lucy anymore after Dec. 31, so Hallmark is the way to watch now.
Other highlights for the month include two world premiere original movies on Saturday, Jan. 3 and Saturday, Jan. 10. On Jan. 3 from 9-11pm, Vanessa Marcil, Dean Stockwell, Natalie Dreyfuss and Uriah Shelton star in the original movie Nanny Express. On Jan. 10 from 9-11pm, Jason Priestley, Teri Polo, Cheech Marin and Kevin Hernandez star in the original movie Expecting a Miracle. And on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, it will be all-day movie marathons starting at 9am. Proving you can never have too much of a good thing, Hallmark Channel continues the holiday fun with two day-long holiday movie marathons on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. And finally, the weekend of Jan. 24-25, will see a Rough 'N Ready Movie marathon. Tune into Hallmark Channel to see your favorite Western tough guys - John Wayne, Paul Newman, and Clint Eastwood - in three Hallmark Channel movie premieres during these two day-long movie marathons, such as the premieres of Unforgiven, Hombre, and Rio Bravo.

Debmar-Mercury has acquired the broadcast syndication rights to E! Entertainment Television's signature documentary series, True Hollywood Story, B&C reports.
For more than a decade, True Hollywood Story has followed the lives of Hollywood's hottest stars and, in 2009, the series will reach its 500th episode. Debmar-Mercury, a Lionsgate unit, will offer select library episodes of the show to TV.
Each episode features in-depth interviews, rare celebrity footage and behind-the-scenes scoops, giving viewers an exclusive look inside the lives of their favorite Hollywood stars. Ranging from JFK Jr., Dr. Phil and Lindsay Lohan to TV series such as The Sopranos, Bewitched, Brady Bunch, Three's Company, Diff'rent Strokes, Clueless and Friends, the series uncovers real-life celebrity tales of heartbreak, happiness and scandal from across the entertainment industry.
Among the series Debmar-Mercury syndicates include South Park, House of Payne, The Dead Zone, and first-run syndicated series such as Trivial Pursuit and Family Feud.
We will let you know more about the True Hollywood Story, such as the actual episodes in this package to be aired in syndication, as soon as we know!

Will & Grace Leaving Local Syndication?; Calling All Brady Bunch Fans

Will & Grace has been on local broadcast syndication since Fall 2002, but now could it be leaving? I have gotten word that in New York, WPIX(CW11) will lose the rights to the sitcom after December 14, 2008. I'm not sure if it is leaving all local channels completely then, though. If you know if your local channel is removing the show starting Dec. 15, please let us know!
WPIX will replace it starting Monday, Dec. 15, with an extra episode of Frasier at 1am. Will & Grace was airing weeknights at 12:30am, and now According to Jim will shift over from 1am to 12:30am, and Frasier was airing at 1:30am, will now get a full hour from 1-2am. The Saturday airings of Will & Grace will be replaced by an hour of George Lopez from 5-6pm, with Friends being shifted to 6-7pm.
Will & Grace might be leaving local syndication, but it will remain on cable on Lifetime, so all is not lost. We're just not 100% yet if Will & Grace is leaving every market locally, but we do know in New York it is gone (or will it be on the move to another station in NY?). We will follow this and do a follow-up as soon as we get some info.

We have gotten a special message calling out fans for The Brady Bunch: "Please sign this online petition for Rhino Video to release the complete nine episode series of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of The Brady Bunch in September 2009 and as a companion to Susan Olsen's upcoming coffee table book.
Tell your friends - we need at least 1,000 signatures by November 30, 2008! Many of these episodes have not seen the light of day in over three decades and should be made available to fans.
Fans are also welcome to contact Rhino Video via email, telephone, and
USPS:
QUESTIONS ABOUT PRODUCTS: drrhino@rhino.com
WEBMASTER: webmaster@rhino.com
You can also leave a voice message at the following phone number. 1-800-
546-3670.
Company address for writing a letter:
Rhino Video
3400 W. Olive
Burbank, CA 91505
Thanks for your support"

Rhino did release two episodes years back, so they obviously have the rights to it. Rhino has basically stopped TV on DVD, so I'm not expecting anything out of them, but fans must make their voices heard and do this!

BET Changes and Upcoming Sitcom Marathons; TBS Holiday Stunts

With the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays coming up, BET will celebrate with sitcom marathons! But first they made some minor schedule changes. The weekday sitcom block has been shifted to 2-5pm effective this week, with Steve Harvey Show moving to 2-3pm, One on One from 3-4pm and Smart Guy from 4-5pm. Girlfriends will remain in the 3am hour, while the Saturday morning block is now 11am-4p, with two episodes of Smart Guy and four episodes each of The Parkers and Girlfriends. Steve Harvey and One on One are on Sundays from 11:30am-2pm.
As for holiday sitcom marathon, the first one will be the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 28 (Black Friday) from 9am-3:30pm. As of now, it has not been determined what will air. Hopefully something NOT airing regularly on BET? We'll let you know if that is indeed the case! Anyway, Thanksgiving weekend continues with more sitcom marathons on Saturday, November 29 from 9am-3am with the hit sitcom The Parkers. Thanksgiving sitcom marathon concludes with a marathon of The Steve Harvey Show from 11am-5pm on Sunday, November 30.
As for Christmas, more sitcom marathons will air! On Christmas Day itself, Thursday, December 25, we will get a marathon of Smart Guy from 9am-8pm. Then on the day after Christmas (Friday, December 26), which is Kwanza, celebrate the holiday with another marathon of One on One from 9am-8pm. Finally, on Saturday, December 27, it's all-day and all-night event of everyone's favorite girlfriends...Girlfriends from 9am-4am!

TBS will get into the holiday fever as well with a sitcom marathon! On Thanksgiving Day itself (Thursday, November 27), TBS will present a marathon of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 9am-3pm. What better way for you to 'will' your way on this day? For Christmas of course, TBS will present the annual 24-hour marathon of the holiday movie classic A Christmas Story starting Christmas Eve at 8pm and running through Christmas Day at 8pm. Get into the holiday spirit with this classic Christmas comedy featuring your favorite oddball kid Ralphie. From disgruntled Santas to badgering bullies, nothing will stop Ralphie from getting his dream toy on Christmas morning.
New episodes of the hit sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne will air Wednesdays at 10pm in December starting Dec. 3. The new episodes will air in the weekly Wednesday six-episode block starting at 8pm. And finally, the season finale of sketch comedy Frank TV, starring comedian Frank Caliendo, will air December 23 at 11pm ET/PT. He does a great Bill Walton, doesn't he?

Stay tuned on Friday for our annual look at the holiday specials airing on the broadcast networks this holiday season! But come on back for more news the next two days as well!

ION Television December 2008 Highlights; CBS Picks-Up More Episodes for 'Gary', 'Worst', While NBC Adds More 'Medium'

ION Television has announced its December 2008 schedule and highlights, and there will be no regular changes to the line-up...but there will be plenty of holiday movies and holiday episodes! ION's holiday airings start on Friday, December 12 in the RHI block with the 2007 TV-Movie, A Grandpa for Christmas. Other RHI holiday movies in the weekend RHI block include Silent Night, Hogfather, Night They Saved Christmas, and more. ION will also have a holiday TV-movie week the week of December 22-25 from 4-6pm these four nights with more holiday fun such as the ION premieres of 2008 films My Santa My Dad and The Elf Who Didn't Believe. Four holiday episodes of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper will air Dec. 17-18 in its regular 6-7pm time slot and four M*A*S*H holiday episodes will air the weekend of Dec. 20-21 from 6-7pm. And during the week of December 22, you can catch two classic Boston Legal Christmas episodes, including "The Nutcracker." The Thursday Total Theatre Warner Bros. movies are not in yet, so we don't know what is airing there yet. We will update you on that and if any more things change on our message board as soon as we know. So view our ION Television December 2008 highlights.

CBS Wednesday comedy Gary Unmarried, starring Jay Mohr, will have an additional seven episodes at least this year, bringing the total from 13 to 20 episodes. Two additional scripts were also ordered, so if it does well, we could see up to 22 episodes this season. Meanwhile, CBS has ordered three more episodes of struggling Monday sitcom Worst Week from 13 episodes to 16 episodes. The untraditional sitcom is a critical darling but has not capitalized out of the #1 sitcom, Two and a Half Men. 4 scripts were ordered previously, so one more script has yet to turn into an episode order. CBS still has Rules of Engagement coming in midseason, so if Worst Week doesn't pick-up, you'll see Rules there by February or March. Remember February sweeps doesn't start until March 5 this year because of the transition to digital TV in mid-February.
NBC has ordered 6 additional episodes of Medium, its veteran supernatural drama starring Patricia Arquette. The order brings the total from 13 episodes to 19 episodes for its fifth season. NBC recently canceled Monday drama My Worst Own Enemy and Friday drama Lipstick Jungle, so both will be out of here in January, which is when Medium will more than likely launch. Originally the show was set to launch Sundays at 9PM after Sunday Night Football concludes, but now that will likely change. As soon as NBC announces its revised midseason schedule, we will let you know. I bet it will return to its original Monday at 10pm slot followed the sinking Heroes.

Week 8 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

Week 8 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thurs):

Households: ABC: 8.3/12.9; CBS: 8.3/12.9; NBC: 4.6/7.1; Fox: 4.5/6.8; The CW: 1.9/2.8; MNT: 0.8/1.2.
Total Viewers: CBS: 13.34 million; ABC: 12.95 million; Fox: 7.37 million; NBC: 7.26 million; The CW: 2.8 million; MNT: 1.17 million.
Adults 18-49: ABC: 3.6/9.2; CBS: 3.6/9.2; Fox: 3.0/7.5; NBC: 2.8/7.2; The CW: 1.3/3.4; MNT: 0.4/1.0.

Analysis: Week 8 has seen ABC and CBS battle for 1st and through Thursday it is very close, as ABC got a big assist from the 42nd Annual CMA Awards on Wednesday. Through the first four days, ABC and CBS are tied for 1st in households and 18-49 with ABC percentage points ahead, but CBS has slightly more viewers edging ABC. NBC is third in HH but fourth in viewers & 18-49, while Fox is 4th in HH but third in viewers & 18-49...though Fox and NBC are close but so behind ABC and CBS.
Last week, CBS won week 7 in HH/viewers edging ABC, while ABC won in 18-49 but NBC tied it thanks to the NFL game. NBC was third in HH/viewers, while CBS was third in 18-49. Fox was fourth across the board in a weak week without House.
Monday ABC was on top thanks to of course Dancing with the Stars. The 92-minute episode did a night best 18.69 million...nearly up two million week-to-week, as last week the SNL Election special hurt it a bit. The sitcom Samantha Who followed and did 10.4 million, also up nearly two million. A new Boston Legal followed with 8.7 million, yes up two million from the previous week. Next up was CBS, with new episodes of its comedies and a new CSI: Miami. The Big Bang Theory did a series best for the second straight week, this time at 10.01 million, this show continues to shine maybe because Kaley Cuoco's outfits are getting hotter and hotter and How I Met Your Mother followed with 9.79 million, also up week-to-week. #1 sitcom Two and a Half Men followed with 14.5 million, but up two million week-to-week, while Worst Week did 9.46 million, up week-to-week but again losing to the 8-9pm comedies despite the high lead-in. At 10pm a new CSI: Miami did 13.81 million, up a million from previous week. NBC was next and down big from previous week as its regular line-up returned. Chuck did 6.34 million, followed by Heroes at a series low 7.85 million and 3.6 18-49 rating...what has happened? It gains in DVR, but still it has lost viewers from the first two years. Recently canceled My Worst Own Enemy was next at just 4.27 million as the final episodes come to a close. Fox was next with the should have NOT been renewed Sarah Connor at just 5.15 million, on par really from previous week, and on its last legs Prison Break at 5.38 million, though up a bit week-to-week. The CW had its teen girls line-up of Gossip Girl doing 2.88 million, below 3 million for the first time this season, followed by One Tree Hill at an also season low 2.99 million. What happened?
Tuesday it was back to normal as the previous week saw ABC and NBC do big in Election coverage. CBS suffered the most the previous week, but it was back to business this week with a series high for NCIS at 18.75 million...how does this show do it? New drama The Mentalist followed with 16.52 million, just slightly behind ABC for the hour and a series high as well, I believe. It was #1 in 18-49 at a 4.0 for the hour holding all of its NCIS lead-in, wow! Who would have though Without a Trace would be the weak link for the night at 12.23 million but just a 2.8 18-49. ABC was next with a special recap episode of Dancing with the Stars at 10.32 million, followed by Dancing with the Stars: The Results at 16.52 million, but Eli Stone only did 7.01 million, though up from its last new episode two weeks prior to this week. Fox was next with House at 13.06 million and a 5.5 18-49 rating, followed by a time period low for Fringe with 8.61 million and a 3.8 18-49 rating, lowest since its premiere (when it didn't air out of House). NBC was next with an above average The Biggest Loser at 8.1million but more impressive 3.5 18-49 rating and Law & Order: SVU at a normal 9.42 million. The CW aired a new episode of 90210 doing 2.72 million, down a bit from previous week and a new episode of Privileged did 1.86 million, but up a bit week-to-week.
Wednesday saw ABC win the night thanks to the CMA Awards, beating usual winner CBS. ABC's Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, and Dirty Sexy Money will return this week, but the 42nd Annual CMA Awards won the night for ABC this week with a dominant 15.9 million and a 5.0 18-49 for its three-hour coverage. CBS started with Old Christine at a below normal 6.82 million, but up a bit from previous week. Recently picked-up for a full season Gary Unmarried followed with 6.61 million, also up a bit week-to-week. Next was Criminal Minds at 9pm and it did a solid 14.83 million, up slightly from previous week and at 10pm CSI: NY did 11.62 million, down a bit from previous week, as it seems Law & Order and CMA made this go down a lot. Earlier in the year 14-15 million was a given. Fox was next with a new Bones at a solid 10.87 million and a series best 3.5 18-49 rating. A House repeat, just what we need, did 6.22 million...which is not bad for a repeat, but down a bit from previous week. NBC opened the night with the falling Knight Rider doing just 5.34 million, but up week-to-week from previous week's series low, though this week it had a series low 1.5 18-49 rating. Next up was Life doing just 5.81 million, down a bit week-to-week and a new Law & Order did 7.93 million, on par really from its season premiere the previous week. The CW had a new Top Model doing 3.71 million, down a bit from previous week and Stylista followed with only 1.73 million, also down a bit week-to-week.
Thursday CBS won the night. CBS opened with Survivor: Gabon at 12.88 million, up from previous week. A new CSI followed with 19.05 million, up nearly a million from previous week. The new Eleventh Hour followed and did 11.63 million, also up from previous week. ABC was next but in Boston and surrounding areas the line-up was preempted for the New England-New York Jets NFL game, so the numbers are slightly down from usual. ABC opened the night with Ugly Betty doing 8.25 million, down a bit from previous week. Grey's Anatomy followed with 14.9 million, down nearly a million from previous but still #1 in 18-49 with a 5.7 rating despite not airing in the Boston area. At 10pm a new Life on Mars did 7.97 million, also down from previous week. What a hostage episode! NBC was next with a new My Name is Earl doing 7.04, up from previous week, new sitcom Kath & Kim followed with only 5.12 million, down from the previous week. The Office followed with 8.3 million, down a bit from previous week. 30 Rock did 7.6 million, down from previous week, as the show has gone down each airing this season after a fast start. Jennifer Aniston and the Night Court cast guest starred. Will Steve Martin help this coming week? ER did a season high 9.9 million, as some previous ER stars returned. Fox was off the map with two new episodes of Kitchen Nightmares at just 4.59 million, followed by its regular slot episode at just 4.91 million, but both up week-to-week. Smallville on The CW did 3.56 million, down nearly a million from previous week, but in NY The CW lineup was preempted for the New York Jets-New England NFL game, followed by Supernatural at 2.94 million...down from previous week as well, but it seems not airing in NY hurt it. This coming week it will be Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, as CW in Pitt and NBC in Cincy will show the game instead of regular line-up.
Now, final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available, but CBS won Friday with their dramas, as Ghost Whisperer did a season high, but The Price is Right did nothing like repeat of NCIS at 9pm did as that hurt NUMB3RS a bit, as ABC saw decent numbers for 20/20 at 8pm but Supernanny/Super-manny didn't muster much. NBC's disappointing Crusoe continues to do bad, as does Lipstick Jungle at 10pm.
Saturday numbers saw Fox win in the preliminaries overall and in 18-49 thanks to its regular line-up, as the ABC Saturday College Football game was not on the map this week.
Tonight again NFL will be key. CBS will have a high NFL overrun at 7pm, followed by 60 Minutes with Obama. ABC of course has the Sunday line-up of AFV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters, as a big episode of Housewives airs tonight, maybe a season high? NBC will be solid with the SNF game, but how will the struggling Cowboys do in Washington? Fox will do nicely in young adults, but probably down from normal.
As for the week, I believe CBS will win the week in HH, viewers and 18-49, but it depends on how NFL overrun does for CBS tonight. ABC could beat CBS in 18-49, but not likely because the College Football game on Saturday didn't do much this week. NBC will be third, with Fox in fourth across the board, followed by CW and MNT. What to watch for this week? We will have a normal week this coming week, but next Sunday ABC has the American Music Awards and Fox will have a special 24 two-hour prequel following the NFL. Regular line-up otherwise, with the Top Model finale this Wednesday on The CW.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Nov. 3-9)

• The Simpsons (Fox) 2 episodes - Obviously the show dropped from the Halloween episode, but the show did 8.01 million, not bad, but should be better especially after over 12 million the previous week for Halloween. A repeat at 7:30pm leading into to the new episode did 5.36 million.
• King of the Hill (Fox) - 6.79 million for a new episode, down from previous week...but that was after the high Simpsons Treehouse of Horror. A repeat at 7pm only mustered 2.87 million.
• Family Guy (Fox) - 8.47 million and a 4.2 18-49...below normal but still pretty solid.
• American Dad (Fox) - 6.54 million for worst of the night.

Monday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 10.01 million is a series best for the second straight week! Simply amazing!
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 9.79 million up from previous week again, didn't build on the lead-in but it did in 18-49 from a 3.9 to 4.2, making this also a winner for the week.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 14.5 million, up nearly two million from previous week's below normal performance.
• Worst Week (CBS) - 9.46 million up over a million from previous week...great show, but needs to be doing better.
• Samantha Who? (ABC) - 10.4 million...up a lot from previous week's below normal performance.

Tuesday Sitcoms

• None.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• Old Christine (CBS) - 6.82 million, but better than previous week a bit.
• Gary Unmarried (CBS) - Only 6.61 million but yes better than the previous week.

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - 7.04 million for a new episode, up from previous week again.
• Kath & Kim (NBC) - 5.12 million, not good, down from previous week even.
• The Office (NBC) - 8.3 million for a new episode...down again week-to-week though. Maybe Thursday NFL will hurt it until the NFL season ends?
• 30 Rock (NBC) - 7.6 million tuned in this week, down again from previous week...but as of now it is still doing better than last season. Will it go back to last season levels in the coming weeks? I think the Palin-Fey effect will wear off soon.

Friday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - Final numbers are not in yet...but the prelim numbers show 1.83 million. Bad yes, but up week to week so far.
• The Game (The CW) - Prelim numbers show just 1.71 million...same as above.

Saturday Sitcoms

• The Office (NBC) - Saturday repeat at 9pm only did 2.41 million in prelim numbers. Will go lower in finals like it has before.
  

Airing tonight (Sunday) is Fox's animated comedies from 7-10 (new from 8-10).

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Samantha Who, The Office were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as My Name is Earl, Old Christine) or just plain old terrible (such as The Office-Sat repeat, Kath & Kim).