TVSquad

• TLC has a new Little People, Big World marathon all night.
• At 7, ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
  
• CBS has a new 60 Minutes at 7, then new episodes of The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and The Unit.
  
• NBC has a new Football Night In America at 7, then the Patriots/Chargers game.
  
• The CW has a new In Harm's Way at 7, followed by new episodes of Valentine and Easy Money.
• At 8, FOX has the Dodgers/Phillies game.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 8, then new episodes of Iron Chef America and The Chef Jeff Project.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece Contemporary.
• HBO has a new True Blood at 9, followed by new episodes of Entourage, and Little Britain.
• Showtime has a new Dexter at 9, then a new Californication.
• Nickelodeon has a new Nick News at 9.
• At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
• There's a new Army Wives on Lifetime at 10.
• BBC America has a new Skins at 10.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken, then a new Superjail.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 7, ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
  
• CBS has a new 60 Minutes at 7, then new episodes of The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and The Unit.
  
• NBC has a new Football Night in America at 7, then the Steelers/Jaguars game.
• The CW has the series premieres of In Harm's Way, Valentine, and Easy Money starting at 7.
• At 8, FOX has a new Simpsons, then new episodes of King of the Hill, Family Guy, and American Dad.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 8, then a new Iron Chef America.
• Disney has a new Studio DC: Almost Live at 8, followed by a new Wizards of Waverly Place.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece Contemporary.
• There's a new True Blood on HBO at 9, then new episodes of Entourage and Little Britain.
• Also at 9: Showtime has a new Dexter, followed by a new Californication.
• At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
• Lifetime has a new Army Wives at 10.
• BBC America has a new Skins at 10.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken, then a new Superjail.

Check your local TV listings for more.

So we've had the first Presidential debate, and the Vice Presidential debate takes place tonight at 9pm ET (on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, PBS, CSPAN, probably The Weather Channel and Noggin too). While newspeople involved in the debates range from good (Jim Lehrer, Anderson Cooper, Bob Schieffer) to bad (Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos), there are several journalists who never seem to be involved in the debates for one reason or another. Maybe the debate committees and the campaigns don't want them, or maybe the anchors don't want to do a debate, but I can think of a few people I'd like to see moderate these things.

After the jump, my top five.

As this election season turns into the home stretch, whether you're for McCain or Obama, this is a very exciting time in politics -- and I find myself really missing Tim Russert quite a lot. This point was really driven home for me when I watched Tim Russert's show Meet the Press last week. Tom Brokaw has been a really good anchorman and reporter, but -- I'm sorry -- he's not a good moderator. He's just not. He doesn't get involved in the questioning enough. He doesn't ask the penetrating questions. He doesn't do his homework like Russert did to be right on top of the facts and catch politicians spinning rather than speaking the truth.

Like I said, Brokaw is not in his element with Meet the Press. Fortunately, he's only doing MTP until after the election. I give him credit for stepping in when Russert died unexpectedly and there was a network crisis. However, looking to the future, NBC needs to find the right person to take the big chair. NBC News chief Steve Capus is reportedly thinking about a rotation of hosts, including Chuck Todd (NBC's political director) and David Gregory (host of Road to the White House, MSNBC).

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then the season premieres of The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and The Unit.
  
• NBC has a new Football Night in America at 7, followed by the Eagles/Bears game.
• At 8, ABC has a new Extreme Makeover, then the season premieres of Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters.
• FOX has the season premieres of The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy, and American Dad.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece Mystery.
• HBO has a new True Blood at 9, followed by a new Entourage and the series premiere of Little Britain USA.
• Showtime has the season premiere of Dexter at 9, then the season premiere of Californication.
• At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
• The season finale of Feasting on Waves airs on Food Network at 10.
• Also at 10: BBC America has a new Skins.
• At 10:30, E! has a new Sunset Tan.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken, then the series premiere of Superjail.
• At 12:30am, Cartoon Network has a new Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes.
• ABC has the Jimmy Kimmel Big Night of Stars special at 8, then the Emmy Awards (we'll have a live blog here starting at 6pm ET).
• NBC has a new Football Night in America at 7, followed by the Cowboys/Packers game.
• At 8, Food Network has a new Challenge.
• Discovery has a new Raging Nature at 8.
• At 8:30, Disney has a new Wizards of Waverly Place.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece Mystery.
• HBO has a new True Blood at 9, followed by a new Entourage.
• At 10, Lifetime has a new Army Wives.
• Food Network has a new Feasting on Waves at 10.
• Also at 10: BBC America has a new Skins.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken.
• At 12:30am, Cartoon Network has a new Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 7, NBC has a new Football Night in America, then the Steelers vs. the Browns.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• FOX repeats the Fringe pilot at 8, if you missed it.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece.
• G4 has the pilot of Lost at 9, with new trivia and facts.
• HBO has a new True Blood at 9, then a new Entourage.
• Also at 9: GAC has the Academy of Country Music Awards.
• At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
• Food Network has a new Feasting on Waves at 10.
• BBC America has a new Skins at 10.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken.
• At 12:30am, Cartoon Network has a new Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job.

Check your local TV listings for more.

No, that doesn't say "Elmo," though I could understand the confusion because Anderson Cooper was on Sesame Street last year. I mean emo.

USA Weekend interviews Cooper and he talks about a lot of subjects, from the places he hasn't gone in the world that he'd like to visit (China), what's on his iPod (Marisa Monte), what he watches on TV (Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List?!), Hurricane Katrina, that he hasn't gone to the dentist in five years (I used to be like that too), and why his dog is almost human. When asked what he does on the weekends, Cooper says he works for 60 Minutes. Seems like even his vacations involve work too.

• At 7 (or after the Men's U.S. Open Men's Semi-Final), CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by new episodes of Big Brother and the U.S. Open Women's Final).
• NBC has a new Football Night in America at 7, followed by the Bears vs. the Colts.
• At 8, FOX has the premiere of Hole in the Wall.
• ABC Family has a new Samurai Girl at 8.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 8, then a new episode of Iron Chef America and the premiere of Feasting on Waves.
• At 9, ABC has the special America United: In Support of Our Troops.
• PBS has a new Masterpiece at 9.
• MTV has the 2008 MTV Music Video Awards at 9.
• HBO has the series premiere of True Blood at 9, followed by the season premiere of Entourage.
• At 10, Lifetime has a new Army Wives.
• There's a new Mad Men on AMC at 10.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken.
• At midnight, Cartoon Network has a new Metalocalypse, then a new Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job.

Check your local TV listings for more.

So we all know that Conan O'Brien is taking over for Jay Leno next year, and that when he does Leno might go some place else, perhaps ABC, which might bump Kimmel to 12:35am. But what about the other late night player in all of this, Nightline?

The long-running news show will probably be dumped and its employees out of jobs if ABC pays Leno a bunch of money to come over to the network to host a show at 11:35pm and go up against David Letterman. Even though Nightline's ratings are good (they often beat Letterman) and it's makes money, they'll make more with Leno.

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

Doing the ratings during the summer is rather boring. America's Got Talent and Wipeout are on top again, and the rest of it is the usual mix of other reality shows and game shows and the CBS lineup of crime crime crime, which even gets big ratings when they're repeated, for some reason. Even the newest crime drama Flashpoint grabbed the #15 slot with its premiere, and it's on Friday nights.

1. America's Got Talent (NBC)
2. Wipeout (ABC)

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

NBC must be really happy that it's summer. With their reality shows and reality competitions, it's the only way they can get the top spot in the ratings. ABC's Wipeout continues to be strong, though I Survived A Japanese Game Show must be losing a lot of viewers. I'm really surprised that repeats of shows like Criminal Minds, 60 Minutes, and all of the CSIs continue to do so well in the summer.

1. America's Got Talent (NBC)
2. Wipeout (ABC)

Here are the weekly ratings, by number of viewers.

Yes, NBC had four shows in the top 20 this week, but it took the summer and reality and/or reality game shows to get there, including America's Got Talent, The Baby Borrowers, and Celebrity Family Feud. ABC's new game shows, Wipeout and I Survived A Japanese Game Show, both made the top ten.

I'm surprised Hell's Kitchen isn't higher. #14 is great, I just thought it would do better during the summer (though it does well on its night). 60 Minutes' repackaged repeat segments continue to do well too.

1. America's Got Talent (NBC)
2. Wipeout (ABC)
3. 60 Minutes (CBS)

Are you anxiously awaiting news of who was in that SUV that exploded? Still fraught with worry over how Gibbs is going to get his team back together? Or maybe you are just excited that Survivor is finally going to be beamed into your living room in glorious HD. Well, you can start making plans for your fall scheduling now. The eye network has released the schedule of premieres for their new and returning shows.

I'm a little concerned about two things on the schedule. First, The New Adventures Of Old Christine and Project Gary lead into Criminal Minds on Wednesday nights. That's an odd pairing, and I don't think bodes well for either of the comedies. And second, The Unit gets shuffled off to Sunday at 10? NCIS and The Unit have done remarkably well paired up on Tuesdays. Good for The Mentalist, not so much for The Unit. The whole thing kicks off with Survivor on September 18th. The rest of the schedule is after the jump.

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

While ABC is probably happy with the NBA Finals games (predictably) grabbing the top slots, CBS has to be happy with the way two of their new shows fared. Million Dollar Password was number 6 this week (number three last week) and the debut of Swingtown hit number 12. Actually, CBS has to be happy in general, as they grabbed 13 of the top 20 shows, though I'm kinda surprised that 60 Minutes continues to do so well in the off season, considering the episodes are all repeat segments.

1. NBA Finals - Game 1 (ABC)
2. NBA Finals - Game 2 (ABC)