TVSquad

Today ABC revealed its 2008-2009 schedule, where many fan favorites were listed as returning, along with some disappointing cancellations. Every year, though, there's one show that stands out in that list of returning shows; a show that, nearly every time its name is uttered here, gets slammed and ridiculed, boggling minds as to why, oh why, is it getting yet another season. That show is, of course, According to Jim.

Once again, According to Jim gets to continue on ABC for another season. If you read the comments here, though, it's not as though anyone is particularly happy about it. "WTF" and "you've got to be kidding me" are common reactions to this news. So, I have to wonder: if so many people seem to hate this show, despise it so much as to make it the brunt of many TV-related jokes, and to be shocked -- SHOCKED, I tell you -- that the network could continue to allow such an atrocity to linger on, then who is watching it?

Joel asked this question before, but now I want to know. After the jump I've put a poll in place to get some idea of who's behind the ratings that keep breathing life into Jim Belushi's career.

Spike TV has ordered six episodes of Factory, a largely improvised comedy revolving around four small-town factory workers who'd rather do anything than work at their boring jobs, according to a Hollywood Reporter story. It will be the Guy Network's first original comedy series.

Set to premiere on June 29 at 10 p.m., Factory is directed, produced by, and stars Mitch Rouse (pictured), co-creator of Strangers With Candy, the short-lived TV series that ran from 1999-2000, as well as the 2005 prequel feature film by the same name.

Rouse has an interesting list of credits. In addition to numerous feature films, he played Dr. Ryan Gibson on According to Jim (come on, there must be someone out there who watches this show), Fireman #1 on Reno 911, and was a regular on Exit 57, a mid-1990s comedy-sketch show.

Are you still trying to figure out what to do when all of your favorite programs leave the air for the summer? I was thinking about maybe going outside. I'm told it's nice. ABC has other plans for our eyeballs though. They've signed up Nick Lachey to host a new reality show (I know... boo reality) based on the hit Disney franchise, High School Musical.

At the moment the show is called High School Musical: Summer Session, but apparently that isn't official. Casting calls kick off this weekend, with a premiere set for June 20th. The network is obviously hoping to cash in on some of the success their sibling Disney has seen with the movies. I wouldn't be surprised to see Disney sweetheart Miley Cyrus guesting on the show to bring in her throngs of fans.

(S01E13) "Racist." - Tony

So, Andi decided to bite the bullet and tell Sam how she feels. Now I know this could easily be seen as a disastrous turn of events for Reaper but it could very well be awesome. The way I see it, Cady & Sam were destined to break up anyway and now Sam has one more very big reason to show Cady "the gate." The best part will be Cady making Sam's life a literal hell on earth after he dumps her. The whole situation could lead to a very cool cliffhanger for next season. I know what you're thinking but I'm being optimistic.

I'm curious about Sam's discovery that Steve and Tony are demons. I mean, if anyone else had walked in and saw them sanding their horns they would have completely freaked out but Sam, having had experience with that sort of thing, was able to handle it and react accordingly. Does Sam's relationship with the devil make him more susceptible to supernatural events? I think so.

It was finally ABC's turn to unveil its winter schedule yesterday. There aren't many surprises in it except that Lost, as rumored, will now air on a new night and that Big Shots, who was benched last week, will get a fifth another chance. ABC's winter programming will also include the premieres of Cashmere Mafia, Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann, Eli Stone and Oprah's Big Give and the return of a few reality series, such as Supernanny and Wife Swap, to fill the void left when scripted series will have aired all their new episodes.

According to Jim is getting one more season. No, seriously.

TV Guide is reporting that ABC has suddenly renewed the sitcom for another 18 episodes. No word on why. The sitcom wasn't on the network's fall schedule, so everyone presumed it was canceled and ABC Entertainment President even alluded to that possibility.

Did anyone even make a stink about According to Jim not returning? I've heard about a lot of fan efforts to bring back shows, but I'm pretty sure I didn't hear anything about resurrecting According to Jim.

*Apparently Courtney Thorne-Smith is pregnant. Maybe they've decided to add another member to the family.

• At 8, ABC has a new According To Jim, then a new Notes From The Underbelly.
• CBS has a new Jericho at 8.
• FOX has a new, two hour American Idol at 8.
• The CW has a new America's Next Top Model at 8.
• Two Humphrey Bogart movies on TCM starting at 8: The Big Shot and High Sierra.
• At 9, NBC has a new Thank God You're Here, then a new Medium.
• Discovery has a new Mythbusters at 9.
• At 10, ABC has a new Lost.
• CBS has a new CSI: NY at 10.
• There's a new Shear Genius at 10 on Bravo.
• Also at 10: a repeat of The TV Land Awards.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Halfway Home.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Before I begin I just want to let you know that I am just the messenger, and that all replies of outrage should go directly to Andy Dehnart at MSNBC. See, Andy writes the weekly '5Top' column at MSNBC's website and this week he focuses on the top 5 shows that should be canceled. Now, you would think that a list such as this would contain shows such as According to Jim, The War at Home, or Meet the Press. This one actually contains none of those shows. In reality, it contains five shows that are actually still pretty big and watched by good amount of the viewing public.

From bottom to top, Andy wants to cancel CSI:New York, ER, The Simpsons, 24 and Lost. Wow! All right, I could see CSI:NY and ER, although the longest-running medical drama on television right now has seen a rebound this season. It may not matter anyway as next season may be the show's last. But, The Simpsons? Sure, it's not as strong as it used to be; however, if you're a FOX network executive are you really going to pull the show right before The Simpsons Movie premieres in theaters this summer, which will probably bring a resurgence to the show next season? I think not! Lost and 24? Sure, cancel those. Just be ready for the angry mobs of rabid fans that storm the network studios when that happens.

By the by, after you read Andy's picks scroll down to the live MSNBC vote on what shows should be put out of their misery. Lost is up there with 15 percent of the vote, followed by ER and The Simpsons with 12 percent. Oh, According to Jim is on that list as well, with a measly seven percent of the vote. Huh. Maybe we were all wrong about that show after all.

• At 8, ABC has a new episode of The Great American Dream Vote, then new episodes of According To Jim, In Case of Emergency, and Lost.
• CBS has a new Jericho at 8.
• FOX has a new Bones and then a new American Idol.
• There's a new Friday Night Lights on NBC at 8, then new episodes of Crossing Jordan and Medium.
• The CW has a new America's Next Top Model at 8.
• PBS has a new Journey To Planet Earth at 8.
• Also at 8: TCM has a Boston Blackie movie marathon.
• At 9, HGTV has a new Design on a Dime.
• At 10, History Channel has a new Modern Marvels.
• Bravo has a new Top Design at 10.
• Also at 10: Comedy Central has a new South Park, followed by a new Halfway Home.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Welcome to Subtle Subtitles. For those of you who are uninitiated to the purpose of this feature, we're asking you to come up with your funniest quote or description for what's going on in the screen grab we choose for the week. Winners are announced in the following Friday's contest.

Last week's winners:

3rd place to Johari: "Because Dunder-Mifflin's workforce is dwindling, corporate has asked that I hire a temp. I would like you to meet Ryan². I've got Dwight working on turning the copier into Kelly 2.0."
2nd place to Fred: "To draw in new viewers, "Battlestar Galactica" adds a couple of new Cylons."
1st place to erroneous_nick: "Michael Jackson chats with a stunned Steve Carell at Jackson's first public appearance since his latest plastic surgery."

This week, a scene from (can you believe it?) According to Jim:

I've been keeping an eye on the ABC episode streaming site. Of all of the network streaming solutions, theirs is the one that I like the best. And they have made some changes, so if you haven't checked it out yet, there are some new goodies. As of now, you can watch all the episodes from the current season for Ugly Betty, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers And Sisters, and What About Brian. Those last two are recent additions. There are also four episodes of both Six Degrees and The Nine, but no word on when, or if, more are coming. Finally, the first episode of ABC Family's Lincoln Heights is also available.

A lot of people have been asking what is to become of Day Break now that ABC has pulled it from the air. The word was that the remaining episodes were to be shown on the network's video site. If you were wondering why ABC hasn't made good on putting the new Day Break episodes up yet, TV Guide has an answer. But be warned, it's a pretty stupid one. According to an ABC rep, there are "unforeseen music clearance issues."

As John McEnroe would say, "You cannot be serious." I could understand the holdup with something like the WKRP DVD set because of music clearance issues. When Johnny and Venus were spinning records, nobody had dreamed of what the home video market would become. But given the fact that ABC has been putting a whole mess of their shows, including Day Break, online, how were these issues unforeseen? That's like your car breaking down because of unforeseen cars burn gas issues.

I have no idea what ABC is doing at this point. If the best they have to offer instead of Day Break is repeats of According to Jim and George Lopez, what's the point? The slight gain in ratings still landed them in fourth place, and isn't worth the ill will they are garnering from viewers.

Sadly, that's the case over at ABC. Try as they might, and for reasons I don't quite get, people just don't want to watch this show. I've posted about the slide in the ratings before, and it continued this week. After garnering their lowest 18-49 numbers yet, ABC has pulled the show, with plans for the remaining episodes to be shown on ABC.com. Or, on DVD for those of you that are going to be screwed by that whole geography thing. To add insult to injury, the Wednesday schedule will be filled with repeats of George Lopez and According to Jim until the new schedule starts in January.

I think this has to signal a change at the networks. The big serial drama experiment is now officially a failure. With Surface and Invasion failing to get a second season, and now Smith, Kidnapped, The Nine, Six Degrees, and Day Break all failing to finish one, I think we can look for the networks to try something different next season. And hey, if Diggs really wants to be on a hit show, they're still casting for the next Dancing with the Stars, right?... Too soon?

And now, written and proofread for your enjoyment, a poem on the official start of the 2006 fall television season. Please hold all applause until the end.

Rejoice, rejoice,

the new season's here!

So warm your remotes,

and sit on your rears.

Its been a long summer

with nothing to watch

so we just sat around

scratching our . . . sunburn we got at the beach.