At 8, ABC has a new, two-hour Dancing with the Stars, then a new Castle.
CBS has a new How I Met Your Mother, followed by new episodes of Accidentally on Purpose, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and CSI: Miami.
NBC has new episodes of Heroes, Trauma, and The Jay Leno Show.
FOX has a new House at 8, then a new Lie to Me.
The CW has a new One Tree Hill at 8, followed by a new Gossip Girl.
AMC has Part 2 of The Prisoner at 8.
Food Network has Dear Food Network: Thanksgiving Turkey at 8, followed by a new Dear Food Network: Top 10 Thanksgiving ProblemsSolved and a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
TLC has two new episodes of Little People, Big World at 8, then two new episodes of Jon & Kate Plus 8 and a new Cake Boss.
At 9, USA has a new Monday Night RAW.
Cartoon Network has a new Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack at 9.
At 10, Lifetime has two new episodes of Rita Rocks.
E! has a new The Soup Presents at 10.
Also at 10: Bravo has a new Million Dollar Listing, followed by the series premiere of Chef Academy.
So last night I sat down for some laughs with the CBS Monday night sitcom lineup. It's a weekly thing I do with my spouse, a chance to get away from the computer screen and just relax for a while. Normally, I relish this time because -- for the most part -- I love 75% of the shows from eight o'clock till CSI: Miami. (I usually empty the dishwasher during Accidentally on Purpose, sort of half-watching it because, as I've said before, it's just not working for me.)
Well, it seemed like last night's CBS comedies went off the rails. They strained to be funny, in all the wrong ways. Here are my thoughts, show by show -- including Accidentally (which I did watch):
CBS Monday night comedies have been doing pretty well so far this season, as far as the ratings are concerned. The Big Bang Theory is challenging Two and a Half Men for top Nielsens for a sitcom; How I Met Your Mother is doing as well or better than last year, and the new kid on the block, Jenna Elfman in Accidentally on Purpose, has benefited by being smackdab in the middle of all that established comic success.
Some of you may think that TV Squad is filled with cheerleaders, that we all love TV so much that we rarely pull out our swords and skewer a show. Well, this should change your mind. I tuned in to Cougar Town last night and, I have to say, I was appalled. I thought I had seen what is likely the worst sitcom of the season -- Accidentally on Purpose -- but Cougar Town has surpassed it in badness.
Let me preface the rest of this criticism by saying that I was a loyal viewer of Friends. I liked Bruce Springsteen's video Dancing in the Dark. Scream was a hoot! I've been following Courteney Cox's career for years and I think she's terrific. She's funny and pretty and self-deprecating. I went into Cougar Town with high hopes. In other words, I have good will for Courteney Cox, like Jenna Elfman.
(S01E01) Watching Accidentally on Purpose, thoughts of Seth Rogen danced in my mind. Not Seth, actually, but the film Knocked Up. This is the second year in a row that CBS seems obsessed with that film. Last season, it was Worst Week, with a schlubby Kyle Bornheimer channeling Rogen's goofy lack of grace. It didn't work and Worst Week bit the dust. Now we have Jenna Elfman in the Katherine Heigl role, knocked up by accident after a one-night stand, albeit with a twist. Instead of a schlub, Jenna's fling is a boy-toy named Zach.
And there you have the premise of Accidentally on Purpose. Are you ROFL? Will you LOL? Read on after the jump.
I thought last night was tough, with The Emmys joining new episodes of Mad Men, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and the series premiere of Bored To Death, but it was nothing compared to tonight. We have the season premieres of How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, CSI: Miami, Dancing with the Stars, Castle, Heroes, and House, along with new episodes of Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, and The Jay Leno Show and the series premiere of Accidentally on Purpose. Whew.
I think all of our DVRs are going to explode around 8:59 PM.
What are you watching? Are you going to give Heroes another chance? Are you anxiously awaiting Jenna Elfman's new show? Does Nathan Fillion make you all tingly?
At 7, TV Land starts their 40th Anniversary Brady Bunch marathon.
At 8, ABC has the two-hour season premiere of Dancing with the Stars, followed by the season premiere of Castle.
CBS has the season premiere of How I Met Your Mother at 8, then the series premiere of Accidentally on Purpose and the season premieres of Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, and CSI: Miami.
NBC has the two-hour season premiere of Heroes at 8, then a new Jay Leno Show.
FOX has the two-hour season premiere of House at 8.
There's a new One Tree Hill on The CW at 8, followed by a new Gossip Girl.
ABC Family has a new Lincoln Heights at 8, then a new Greek.
Also at 8: BBC America has a new Top Gear.
At 8:30, ESPN has a new Monday Night Football, the Colts vs. the Dolphins.
At 9, USA has a new Monday Night RAW.
Food Network has a new Unwrapped at 9.
At 10, E! has Fashion Police: The 2009 Emmy Awards.
On her new CBS sitcom, Accidentally on Purpose, Jenna Elfman plays a woman who picks up a guy, has a one-night stand and winds up pregnant. It may be a case of being overly practical, but in real life Jenna Elfman has gotten pregnant because, as she put it, "My character's pregnant the whole first season, so I said, 'It's a good time to have another baby, because we won't have to hide it."
Isn't that a good reason to have a baby? Elfman, who's married to actor Bodhi Elfman, is already a mommy. She and Bodhi have a two-year old son named Story. Hmm, you think they're ever tempted to sing, "Here's the story of a kid named Story..."?
Like most people in this world, I often turn to master geek musician Jonathan Coulton when I'm trying to figure out how I should feel about something (you can smell hair burning when I try to think for myself).
So imagine my horror when the Fall schedule started filling out and Mr. Coulton was still dealing with strictly music-related matters. Well, I can finally have a restful night of sleep, because John Sellers of True Slant has gotten Jonathan Coulton's take on Fall TV.
Each year, as the new fall season approaches, I go through all the magazine and online sources talking about the various shows to try and figure out which ones I'm going to be excited about, and which I'm going to avoid like the plague.
Inevitably, I wind up sampling plenty of shows from which I should have steered clear. At the same time, a few shows will slip between the cracks, and then I'm bashing my head against the wall because I missed out on the beginning of something special. I hate coming into things late.
This year, I decided to share my top and bottom five selections. I'm sure the rest of the Squadders and you will have differing opinions than mine, but that's what makes America great, right? Chime in with your own lists in the comments.
The networks have had a quiet summer, quietly introducing scripted bomb after scripted bomb, so they're certainly ready to jump into the new fall season. And It looks to be an interesting one. ABC is scheduling a two-hour block of new comedies on Wednesdays as the sitcom tries to make a comeback.
Even more risky is NBC handing 10:00 to Jay Leno every night of the week. Everyone's waiting to see how that one plays out. FOX is banking on huge positive buzz for Glee to make it a hit, while ABC is hoping FlashForward can pick up where Lost is leaving off when it wraps its run this season.
To help you with it all, TV Squad has put together a handy calendar of all the premieres so you can schedule responsibly in this busy time of TV watching. Some nights have as many as twelve premieres scheduled, so you might need to invest in a few more DVRs to catch all your favorites; Monday's still look grim. Bookmark this page and you'll have it handy to help see you through.
Generally speaking, CBS had a strong 2008, developing one bona fide hit drama -- The Mentalist -- even though shows like The Ex-List never found an audience or a critical plaudit. Ironically, I liked The Ex-List based on the screener I reviewed last summer, so go figure. Sometimes a preview can inform you about a show's potential and sometimes it's just the best it'll ever be.
CBS has shared previews for the new season and we've had a chance to take a look. There are star vehicles for Jenna Elfman, Alex O'Loughlin and Julianna Margulies, which would seem logical based on the success of Simon Baker as The Mentalist. CBS is counting on familiar, popular TV stars to win over audiences. Will the strategy work? It's probably too soon to tell.
I was never a big fan of Dharma & Greg (and by "never a big fan" I mean "I really disliked it"), but I'll give Jenna Elfman's new sitcom a shot. It's about a thirtysomething film critic who gets pregnant after a one-night stand. Family and parents groups, you can open your e-mail programs right now if you want to get your media campaign to get this show canceled underway early. Here's a sneak peek at the show.
Coming off a strong 2008 season, CBS is taking some bold moves with their new season program schedule. As we wrote earlier, there are four new dramas, a sitcom and a reality show in the mix.
The big news is how it's shifting around some hit shows on Monday and Thursday, while standing pat on Wednesday. Here's what we know right now...after the jump.
At 8, ABC has a new, two-hour Dancing with the Stars, then a new Castle.
So last night I sat down for some laughs with the CBS Monday night sitcom lineup. It's a weekly thing I do with my spouse, a chance to get away from the computer screen and just relax for a while. Normally, I relish this time because -- for the most part -- I love 75% of the shows from eight o'clock till CSI: Miami. (I usually empty the dishwasher during Accidentally on Purpose, sort of half-watching it because, as I've said before, it's just not working for me.)
CBS Monday night comedies have been doing pretty well so far this season, as far as the ratings are concerned. 
TBS has Baseball Playoffs all night.
Some of you may think that TV Squad is filled with cheerleaders, that we all love TV so much that we rarely pull out our swords and skewer a show. Well, this should change your mind. I tuned in to Cougar Town last night and, I have to say, I was appalled. I thought I had seen what is likely the worst sitcom of the season -- 
I thought last night was tough, with 
At 7, TV Land starts their 40th Anniversary Brady Bunch marathon.
On her 
Like most people in this world, I often turn to master geek musician 
Each year, as the new fall season approaches, I go through all the magazine and online sources talking about the various shows to try and figure out which ones I'm going to be excited about, and which I'm going to avoid like the plague. 
The networks have had a quiet summer, quietly introducing scripted bomb after scripted bomb, so they're certainly ready to jump into the new fall season. And It looks to be an interesting one. ABC is scheduling a two-hour block of new comedies on Wednesdays as the sitcom tries to make a comeback. 
Generally speaking, CBS had a strong 2008, developing one bona fide hit drama -- The Mentalist -- even though shows like The Ex-List never found an audience or a critical plaudit. Ironically, I liked The Ex-List based on the screener I reviewed last summer, so go figure. Sometimes a preview can inform you about a show's potential and sometimes it's just the best it'll ever be. 
Coming off a strong 2008 season, CBS is taking some bold moves with their new season program schedule. As we wrote earlier, there are four new dramas, a sitcom and a reality show in the mix. 
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
