TVSquad

When you're a ratings-challenged fledgling network like the CW, you're going to do anything you can to get a leg up on the competition. Releasing sex-filled advertisements for your most high-profile show is a good start, but that alone won't get the job done. To that end, the CW has just announced that it's moving its fall premiere dates up to September 1st, well ahead of the beginning of the traditional broadcast season.

The idea behind the move is that you're already going to be hooked on Gossip Girl and Top Model by the time the other networks get around to premiering their fall shows, sometime around mid-to-late September. The season isn't the only thing the CW is starting early, however. Starting in November, they're also extending prime time, with original programming beginning at 6:30 on Sunday nights.

Check out CW's full premiere schedule after the jump.

Whew! After several days of sore feet (and sore booties from sitting on the hard floor waiting for the next panel), dwindling funds, and tons of TV-related panels, San Diego Comic-Con comes to an end. That doesn't mean that all of the television folks have packed up an left in order to catch the Silver Bullet train to Los Angeles (does a train even run between San Diego and Los Angeles?) or an aeroplane to Vancouver. There are still some panels waiting for your utmost attention.

It's Kids' Day at the convention, so there are panels on a Mr. SquarePants, Phineas and Ferb, The Backyardigans, and those wacky Muppets from Fraggle Rock. For the more adult crowd there are Q&As for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Supernatural, Smallville, and another panel on cartoon voices. The final TV-related event is a rousing sing-a-long with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Once More With Feeling." After that, you can climb into your hotel bed, train berth, car seat, or nearby street corner resplendent with the fact that you had taken in everything television at the Comic-Con.

So, if you are staying just one more day, here are the television-related events for Sunday, July 27th. For a full schedule of events you can check out the official schedule on the Comic-Con website. And, for old times sake, remember that times, panelists and events can change at a moment's notice. That, and the panels are on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled regarding the beginning of season eight of Smallville. We already know that the new season takes a different direction, as Lana Lang goes part-time, Lex Luthor is gone and Doomsday is in. At least Allison Mack is staying.

Spoilers after the jump ...

In early May, we told you that Smallville was looking at adding two new characters to fill in the void left my some major departures (read here Lex, less Lana, and no more Lionel, since the character got killed). The two characters were that of Doomsday, the only DC Comics character to have killed Superman, and Tess, a female villain set to take care of Lex's estate.

Gossip columnist Michael Ausiello reports on his website that the show finally cast both roles. Battlestar Galactica's Sam Witwer was cast as a reviewed/revamped version of Doomsday while newcomer Cassidy Freeman will play Tess.

Slight spoilers about both roles coming up!

I've long since given up hope for those flying cars we were all supposed to be piloting in the new millennium. Now, I'll settle for that other years ago future dream, all of TV at your fingertips whenever you want it. We're still a ways away from that one, but the new WB is another step in that direction.

The site is still in beta, so the amount of content leaves a little to be desired, but most of it seems to be working, and it gives a good idea of what will be waiting for everybody when the site goes live. They finally came through with my beta invite, and I've been poking around. Hit the gallery for the bigger screen shots of the various areas and interface, and join me after a jump for a quick tour in text. A word of warning, the embedded video after the jump will autostart. Beta.

Product placement is everywhere, inescapable. According to Dr. Jean Kilbourne, author of Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel, Americans are exposed to approximately 3000 advertisements every single day. Kilbourne has a compelling video called Killing Us Softly that reveals how insidious advertisements are. Ads tell us that women should be thinner, quieter, nicer, want to have cleaner houses. They tell us that men are boarish, lust after women while drinking cheap beers, and order endless rounds of pizza without ever developing a gut. Advertisements not only tell us what we should buy: They tell us how we should think and feel about things and who we should be.

Unfortunately, the price of our entertainment is advertisements. Even when you go to the movies these days, before you have seen any previews, you have seen six commercials for new phones from Verizon and Sprint; and you have paid handsomely for the privilege. This TV Squad Award is amusing, but it is also a testament to how ubiquitous ads are: They have now found their way into the very scripts of some of our very best shows. The only advantage shows like Lost and Battlestar Galactica have is that they mostly take place anachronistically, so advertising would stand out too ridiculously. However, sadly, other outstanding shows have succumbed. And one of the finest is TV Squad's choice to win this award.

I was honestly surprised by the number of responses we got to the call for nominees for The Brought to You by TV Squad Awards. It turns out that a LOT of people are as irritated by blatant product placement as I am. Hurray! Is this the wave of the future? And if it is, can we get advertisers to eliminate commercials? Because if I have to endure ads tucked within my shows, then I don't want even to have to speed past them with my TiVo. Let's have one or the other, shall we? Because I'd hate to start boycotting Krispy Kreme and Stride gum just because I've been bombarded.

As it turns out, there were four stand-out nominees; I will tell you who they are after the jump, and then you will have a chance to vote for the Reader's Choice winner (which, in this case, is actually an obnoxious loser). But I did want to mention two runners up: 30 Rock gets an honorable mention for its mention of Verizon, but it doesn't quite make the cut because of the humorous way it handles the mention, and the show's ability to poke fun at itself. The other honorable mention goes to Ugly Betty for its hour-long ad for Wicked, but it still didn't quite make the cut.

So, the nominees for the most obnoxious abuse of product placement within their episodes are ...

(S07E20) After a pretty intense set of scenes from the past season, we open with Edward Teague trying to run to South America (as all fugitives tend to do). His stewardess ends up being Kara, who takes a very sinister turn as she threatens to throw Teague out of the plane. When he gives her the information she requires, she destroys the plane and kills him anyway (along with everyone else on the plane).

For the last time this season: Somebody saaaavvvveeee meeeee...

Smallville fans, you can finally resume breathing. The last few weeks have been a roller coaster due to the fact the two creators left the show, because of the departure of Michael Rosenbaum and the announcement that two new regulars would join and because of contract negotiations for Kristin Kreuk and Allison Mack.

It was confirmed pretty early on that Kreuk would only be a part-timer next season. However, Mack's future with the show was up in the air. Actually, it was even talked that she would not be returning because she couldn't reach an agreement with The CW show. The latter news was supported by the fact her name was omitted earlier this week in the network's Upfront press release.

The CW released its 2008-09 prime-time schedule tonight, and here's the rundown:

Returning: Reaper, Smallville, Supernatural, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, America's Next Top Model, Everybody Hates Chris, The Game

Out: Aliens in America, Life is Wild, Girlfriends

New: 90210, Surviving the Filthy Rich, Stylista

More after the jump...

Ok, it is after midnight here in the Jet City, and as I sit down to bang this post out on my beloved Model M it would appear that my tasty glass of juice is half empty. Maybe I'm just not in the right frame of mind to spin this news in a positive direction that will lead to a 2009 full of Dollhouse win.

Tucked away in a report on various network goings on over at Hollywood Reporter is a little line that says "Dollhouse is expected to launch mid-season." This is me shaking my fist in the general direction of Fox and screaming "Khaaaaan!" Just, because. Doesn't this seem like a road that has been traveled before? It's one that usually leads to a pretty disappointing destination. We haven't seen the finished fall schedule yet, but I would wager that most of us could easily find three or four hours where the network would be better served by inserting Dollhouse. Highlights of what the networks have planned are available after the jump.

(S07E19) Lex is still pursuing the secret of Veritas. In his journeys, he encounters a cloaked stranger who tries to kill him and later on tries to kill Clark. I think this episode borrowed a page or two from The DaVinci Code. For that matter, I think half the season did.

Lex has been hurt or nearly killed a great deal since the start of this series. It's unlikely his latest chest mutilation will ever heal. It wouldn't surprise me if he left the area of Smallville entirely. Oh, wait...

They've lost Lex Luthor and Lana Lang as regulars, and now it looks like Chloe Sullivan might also be swept from Season 8 of Smallville. TV Guide reports that Allison Mack, the actress who plays Chloe, is in negotiations for her contract.

This could go either way. The show is suffering from the loss of Michael Rosenbaum and Kristen Kreuk as regulars, which is likely why Mack's people are now trying to negotiate her contract. As the article mentions, without Chloe it becomes Lois and Clark: The Early Years.

Holy frik! We've only just started to embrace the return of our shows after a shortened strike season. Now, they are almost over. In the next few weeks all of our network favorites will say good-bye for the summer to be replaced with reality shows, reality game shows, reality soap operas, and Regis on primetime (again).

Needless to say, I'm a bit depressed. As I am sure you are as well. But, we will do our duty and press on. Thusly, we here at the sprawling lakefront offices of TV Squad (you choose the lakefront) have compiled list of when your favorite, and not so favorite, shows will be saying good-bye for their summer vacation. As usual, taking the fickleness of the networks, these times and days can change at a moment's notices. We will try to update you of those changes as quickly as our little fingers can type it out.

So, with a leaden heart, here are your season and series finales.

We knew it was coming. At the end of February 2007, Smallville actor, Michael Rosenbaum, announced his intentions of leaving the show at the end of the 2007-2008 season in order to tackle new projects. For the past year, fans (I include myself here) hoped that the actor would change his mind. How can Smallville be, well, Smallville without Lex Luthor? Things looked grim when the actor reminded us last February that he was done with the show, come the Season 7 finale. And today, fans around the world must come to the realization that Rosenbaum wasn't joking: he really is leaving the show "to start the next chapter of my life and career," he says in a joint statement with The CW.