TVSquad

Mike over at our Flash Insider blog tells us that his dad Mark is going to be on Dateline tonight, talking about Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Schleifstein co-wrote the Washing Away series for The Times-Picayune in 2002 that basically predicted what has happened in New Orleans. He also won a Pulitzer in 1997 for an environmental series on the erosion of the wetlands around the Gulf Coast.

Should be an interesting show. Dateline airs tonight at 7pm on NBC.

After four years on the job, Neal Shapiro has stepped down as president of NBC News. Shapiro was brought to NBC from ABC in the early 90s after serving as a producer on PrimeTime Live. Being a behind-the-scenes person, it's not always clear just what he had to do with, but I think his most significant contribution was turning Dateline into a more-than-once-a-week news program. Frankly, I don't know why we don't do that with every show. You know, something like The Simpsons: Wednesday. In Shapiro's place, Steve Capus has been named acting president.

Awhile back I linked to a story about news outlets focusing their coverage of missing persons almost exclusively on young, white, female persons, ignoring the fact that the majority of people who still remain missing today are minorities. The most recent case involving Natalee Holloway has roused more complaints about bias, and it looks like Dateline NBC will be covering that topic for tonight's episode, with a strong focus on Tamika Huston, a black woman who went missing last year and whose mother fought an uphill battle to get national coverage from the major networks.

• Out: Law and Order: Trial By Jury, American Dreams, Medical Investigation, Committed, The Contender, Third Watch.
  
• New: The Apprentice: Martha Stuart, Three Wishes, E-Ring, Fathom, Inconceivable, My Name Is Earl, Thick and Thin, Four Kings.
• Returning: Scrubs, Fear Factor, Las Vegas, The Biggest Loser, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order, Joey, Will & Grace, The Apprentice, ER, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Crossing Jordan, Medium.
  
• Moving: The West Wing (Sundays, 8-9 p.m. EST), The Office (Tuesdays, 9:30-10 p.m. EST), Dateline NBC (Fridays 9-10 p.m. EST).

Read on for show descriptions.