TVSquad

Former According to Jim star Jim Belushi is moving to a drama series. He's been tapped to star in a legal drama created by Murphy Brown mastermind Diane English and Homicide and Oz exec-producer Barry Levinson. The show is loosely based on the memoir "How Can You Defend These People?" by TV commentator and lawyer Mickey Sherman.

This is an excellent way for Belushi to wash the stench of According to Jim from his person. If presented as a dramedy (much like many of the popular dramas today), this could be a winner.

Every year, there's a show that's on the top of viewers' "You mean that's still on the air?" list. Whether the show was good or not, it was one that hung on in obscurity for years and years, getting just enough of an audience to keep it going. You know the shows I'm talking about: The Facts of Life. Wings. Yes, Dear. Matlock.Just Shoot Me. George Lopez. King of the Hill. JAG. Heck, even the great Scrubs was at the top of this list for many people for awhile (still might be for some).

But for the last five years or so, the reigning champ of that list was According to Jim, both because of its inexplicable longevity and its questionable quality. Now, with Jim Belushi's vanity project finally gone, it looks like another show has taken its place: FOX's 'Til Death.

The network just doesn't want to let the show die. Every time the show is in a low-rated slot, the network moves it to one that's higher-profile in an attempt to boost ratings. Case in point: the Brad Garrett sitcom will be replacing Brothers on Sundays at 7, starting January 10, after football's regular season is over.

In the 90s, one of the most popular (and annoying) memes that circulated through the geekier magazines was that we were only a few years away from having "500 channels" on our cable systems. Unlike most tech predictions, this one actually came true. Sure, it took 1200% longer than they thought it would, but that's still pretty good considering most of the stuff Wired talked about in the 90s was made up by the editorial staff after downing a couple of those schizophrenia-inducing Transformers 2 pot brownies.

Having recently installed Verizon Fios, I've spent the last few months ignoring my wife and young son so I could explore what the 500 channel landscape looks like. Like Charlton Heston in the Forbidden Zone, I was shirtless, on horseback, and ready to uncover some sad truths about the world.

Here's the question I've come back with: what if there isn't enough talent for humanity to adequately fill 500 channels?

OK, I'm going to trust you not to read this piece in the New York Daily News where David Cross explains why he has dumped on Jim Belushi so much over the last ten plus years. Before you read it, vote in the poll below. What happened to make the Mr. Show/Arrested Development star dislike Belushi?

And no, it's not because Cross wanted to be the lead on According To Jim.





OK, go read the article now.

I'm guessing that people who never liked According To Jim or understood why it remained on ABC's schedule for so many seasons think that this is an appropriate title for the series finale. Me? I never hated or loved the show. It was just "there," an innocuous family sitcom that a lot of people seemed to like. Also: Courtney Thorne-Smith is really hot.

Did you happen to watch this episode? What did you think of this show being on for so long, in general?

• At 8, ABC has two new episodes of According To Jim (including the series finale), followed by Earth 2100.
• NBC has a new I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Outta Here at 8, then Inside The Obama White House: Brian Williams Reports and the season finale of Law and Order: SVU.
• Versus has the Penguins/Red Wings game at 8.
• TCM has It Happened One Night at 8, then Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.
• At 9, FOX has a new Mental.
• The CW has a new Hitched or Ditched at 9.
• G4 has a sneak peek at Web Soup at 9.
• Discovery has a new Deadliest Catch at 9, followed by a new Man vs. Wild (with Will Ferrell).
• At 10, FX has a new Rescue Me.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of New Jersey at 10.
• History Channel has a new Life After People.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• Travel Channel has a new Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern at 10.
• Also at 10: MTV has the season premiere of Paris Hilton's My New BFF. Does she get a new best friend every year?

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, ABC has two new episodes of According To Jim., then the continuation of the miniseries Diamonds.
  
• The CW has the series finale of Reaper at 8, followed by the series premiere of Hitched or Ditched.
• TNT has the Magic/Cavaliers game at 8.
• At 8:30, Food Network has a new Good Eats, then a new Dear Food Network.
• At 9, FOX has the series premiere of Mental.
• PBS has a new Frontline at 9.
  
• Discovery has a new Deadliest Catch at 9, then a new Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment.
• At 10, FX has a new Rescue Me.
• History Channel has a new Life After People at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• Travel Channel has a new Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Real Housewives of New Jersey.
• At 10:30, TBS has the season finale of My Boys.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

This will be the last season of According to Jim, and I will miss it. Not because I liked the show, or even watched the show (I did see one episode while waiting on line at UPS and then decided to never watch it again), but because According to Jim has been the target of all my jokes about the lack of quality network television for virtually as long as its been on the air.

If you care about such things, then spoilers follow about the series finale.

• At 8, ABC has two new episodes of According To Jim, then new episodes of Dancing with the Stars and Cupid.
• NBC has a new, two-hour Biggest Loser.
• FOX has two new episodes of American Idol and Fringe.
• The CW has a new Reaper at 8, then a new 90210.
• There's a new Nova on PBS at 8, followed by a new Frontline/World.
• TCM is showing Gone with the Wind at 8.
• At 9, Discovery has a new Deadliest Catch, then a new Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment.
• Food Network has a new Food Detectives at 9.
• BBC America has a new Last Restaurant Standing at 9.
• Also at 9: Sci-Fi has a new ECW.
• At 10, CBS has a new Without A Trace.
• FX has a new Rescue Me at 10.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of New York City at 10.
• HBO has a new Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel at 10.
• Travel Channel has a new Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Ah, 2009. Come in, come in! Have a seat at my crystal ball. Oh, I know it's cracked, but don't worry -- it's still useful.

You are so young, so virile, my little new year. You are also ripe...ripe for me to predict your future. I see plenty in my cracked crystal ball -- yes, yes, it's working just fine. Some of it is good, some is bad, and the rest I can't see because of all the cracks. Those predictions probably don't mean much anyway. I mean, Dustin Diamond being cast in a remake of Cop Rock? Who would believe such tripe?

Oh, don't get up! Yes, Allison gave us her predictions already, but that was with a different ball. So, sit, sit, and let me predict your future in television through my fractured sphere.

• At 8, ABC has Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, followed by Rudolph's Shiny New Year and new episodes of According To Jim and Eli Stone.
• PBS has a new Nova at 8.
• ESPN has The Holiday Bowl at 8.
• Also at 8: BBC America has a new My Family.
• At 9, CBS has The 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors.
• There's a new ECW on Sci-Fi at 9.
• At 10, TNT has a new Leverage.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Orange County at 10.
• At 10:30, Disney has a new Life with Derek.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

Are you wondering where some of your favorite shows like The Moment of Truth, the new American Gladiators and According to Jim are in your TV Guide? If so, please stand as far away from me as you can and try not to breathe any oxygen in my direction.

These and other shows were left out of the big four's (unless you count the CW) lineups for the new 2009 schedules, but have not been announced as officially canceled yet.

That means these shows are sitting in the death chamber with baited breath for a last minute reprieve or a death certificate. If there is a God watching over us, then these are the shows that will get the needle.

... Twelve shows a stinkin'

That aroma tickling your nose is not one from an oven full of fresh gingerbread cookies. No, it's from a television full of burned-out ideas and gutted hulks of viewers who can't take the crap that is heaped upon them. That's because, more than ever, there is a lot of stink on the television landscape. Most of it is due to inordinate amounts of reality programming which has flooded the market. The rest is due to the lack of new ideas for an industry that is rapidly changing.

In order to start our annual Festivus countdown we have compiled a scientifically proven list of 12 shows just stinking up the flat screen. And, when I say 'scientifically proven' I mean I just asked a bunch of people off the street about shows they disliked. So, it's as accurate as it possibly can be. Nevertheless, I'm sure you'll have opinions, one way or another, on these shows and others not on the list. So, if you have your nose plugs, let's begin.

• At 8, ABC has Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town, followed by two (yes, two!) new episodes of According To Jim and a new Eli Stone.
• CBS has a new NCIS at 8, then new episodes of The Mentalist and Without A Trace.
• NBC has a new Biggest Loser at 8, followed by a new Law and Order: SVU.
• FOX has new episodes of House and Fringe.
• TCM has Citizen Kane at 8.
• IFC has a new IFC Media Project at 8, then a new Hell Girl.
• At 8:40, BBC America has a new Gavin & Stacey.
• At 9, Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs.
• There's a new episode of The Universe on History Channel at 9.
• At 10, Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Orange County.
• Biography Channel has the series premiere of Shatner's Raw Nerve at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new Cha$e at 10.
• MTV has a new Paris Hilton's My New BFF at 10.
• IFC has a new IT Crowd at 10.
• Also at 10: Travel Channel has a new Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.
• At 10:30, Disney has a new Life with Derek.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

As I think about the past year, in both my life and in the world of TV, there's plenty I have to be thankful for. The life stuff is obvious: health, family, my girlfriend, a roof over my head, food on my plate, and a job that I enjoy. But the TV stuff isn't quite as obvious. So, as the balloons float over midtown Manhattan and people get ready to gorge themselves, here are a few things that made me happy to be a television watcher this year:

The election - Yes, it was too long. And, yes, it was exasperating at times. But it was the source of a lot of entertaining television. Of course, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and SNL were in top form (Tina Fey became a huge star, thanks to Sarah Palin). But entertainment came in many forms this election season, from Katie Couric's skewering of Palin to David Letterman's spat with McCain to just about anything that came out of Joe Biden's mouth. Finally, I have three words of infinite entertainment for you: Chuck Todd's goatee.