TVSquad

• At 8, ABC has a new Shark Tank, followed by new episodes of Dancing with the Stars and The Forgotten.
• CBS has a new NCIS at 8, then new episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles and The Good Wife.
• NBC has a new, two-hour Biggest Loser at 8, followed by a new Jay Leno Show.
• There's a new Hell's Kitchen on FOX at 8, then a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• The CW has new episodes of 90210 and Melrose Place.
• PBS has another installment of The National Parks: America's Best Idea at 8.
• Also at 8: ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker.
• At 8:30, Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Action.
• At 9, Headline News has the series premiere of The Joy Behar Show.
• At 10, FX has a new Sons of Anarchy.
• Food Network has a new Chopped at 10.
• Bravo has a new Flipping Out at 10.
• MTV has the season premiere of The Hills at 10, then the season premiere of The City.
• Current has a new InfoMania at 10, followed by a new Rotten Tomatoes Show.
• Travel Channel has a new Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Dear Kevin,

I've recently read on VH1's blog that you were going to be on Celebrity Fit Club. I have a problem with this: you are not a celebrity. Sure VH1 may stretch the definition of "Celebrity," but having a resume that includes backup dancer and being on WWE doesn't suffice. I don't care if you were married to Britney Spears; you're not married to your meal ticket anymore.

I've recently Googled pictures of you and boy did you let yourself go. Maybe you should stop drinking beer. You shouldn't be on Celebrity Fit Club, you need to be on The Biggest Loser. Not only does the title fit you better, you need a smack down from Jillian Michaels.

Do the American people really like watching their favorite shows this way? Assuming you have more than one or two shows you enjoy following, this week is daunting to say the least and beyond exhausting. Just last night I had a three-hour finale of The Biggest Loser and that awesome Fringe finale. In the past few days we've said goodbye to The Amazing Race, The Apprentice, Cold Case, The Unit, Brothers & Sisters, The Big Bang Theory, House and Castle. And that's just on the major networks.

Over the next two days we have America's Next Top Model, Lie to Me, Lost, Bones, My Name Is Earl, Smallville, Parks & Recreation, CSI, Grey's Anatomy, Hell's Kitchen, The Office, Supernatural and even CSI: NY on a special night. And it goes on through the weekend. In an era where ratings are slipping, how can it make good business sense to put all of these finales on against one another all within a few days of each other. I know they've always done that, but I just don't think it makes sense anymore.

I was really enjoying this season of The Biggest Loser. The addition of the "Couples" formula created a built-in connection for the contestants and established a bigger one with me as well. There was something special about rooting for these friends and family members to go for it together. The show was inspirational and generally uplifting, unlike most reality competition shows. These guys knew they were there for a much bigger and more important reason than the money.

Then, a few weeks ago, all that got kind of tossed out the window when the pairs were thrown into two competing groups, even splitting up father and son duo Ron and Mike. Suddenly everybody got really intense and competitive and got their "game" on. Filipe summed it up pretty well this week saying that when he was training with Bob he was thinking about his family and his reasons for wanting to lose weight and be on the show. Now that he's on Jillian's team he thinks about the game. And this week it all went so wrong.

It's either a response to the economy (you know we writers and "reporters" are contractually obligated to mention it at least twice in every 15 minutes of 200 words) or is it us? Laziness on the part of network executives (the nerve you say!) or laziness on us? Or maybe we can blame the Writers Guild of America strike from last year. Or maybe it would be easier to just blame the Bush Administration; another mandate. Or maybe we just miss our made-for-television movies. Whatever the reason, there are more and more longer and longer programs on television.

Just this season, The Biggest Loser and The Bachelor expanded their regular broadcasts to two-hour blocks. We've already been dealing with multiple hours a week of American Idol and Dancing With the Stars for years now. Just this past week, both Brothers & Sisters and 24 offered up back-to-back installments, the former even billing it a two-hour movie event. Now 24 has been known to launch seasons in this way, so it's not such a big deal. But since when did a culture of short attention span Twittering, Facebooking Internet junkies suddenly get the patience for two-hour-long episodes of television shows?

This week on The Biggest Loser, Alison switched things up turning this from a "couples" game into a "team" game. In an effort to balance the playing field again, the ten remaining contestants were being split into two teams, determined by the flip of a coin. What this meant was that the chance existed that one team may be split up. There were two contestants, Dane and Helen, who'd already lost their partners, so teams could have stayed intact but it was unlikely.

Ultimately, of all the teams there was one that absolutely needed to stay together. I've been a big fan of the Brown Team for a few weeks now. We've gotten to watch some pretty touching moments between Ron and son Mike, and Mike has proven himself to be a genuinely decent kid. However, Ron has really been struggling to hold his own. Their trainer Bob even told Mike point blank that he was going to need to carry his father through the weigh-ins. If ever there was a team that needed one another, it was the Brown Team.

A day hasn't gone by where we haven't received some sort of tip or email asking us, the TV Squad, how to get on [insert reality show here]. Unfortunately no, Simon Cowell does not work for us, and Donald Trump isn't my BFF, so we really can't help all that much.

The folks at RealityWanted.com often send us a list of new and existing reality shows that are looking for new, er, talent, and they've given us permission to make mention of them here. We'll try to make this a regular feature as often as we get a new list.

This time we have The Bad Girls Club, The Biggest Loser and other new shows.

• CSPAN and the news channels will have coverage of the NH Primary all night, and the other networks will cut in with results too.
• At 8, NBC has a new, two-hour Biggest Loser, then a new Law and Order: SVU.
• ABC has a new Just For Laughs at 8.
• The CW has two new episodes of One Tree Hill starting at 8.
• There's a new Nova on PBS at 8, followed by a new Frontline.
• At 9, CBS has The People's Choice Awards.
• ABC has a new According To Jim at 9, then new episodes of Carpoolers and Boston Legal.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9.
• At 10, Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Orange County.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Days of Our Lives star Alison Sweeney just landed a hosting gig with NBC. The network has placed her in Caroline Rhea's old spot as host of The Biggest Loser. Sweeney has played 'Sami Brady' on Days since 1993, but she has also been seen a lot elsewhere on NBC including guest appearances on Las Vegas and Friends, and a legendary freak-out when she was on Fear Factor (I would freak out too if I were placed in a coffin with cockroaches, nightcrawlers, and snakes). According to her biography, All the Days of My Life (So Far), the 30-year old actress has struggled with her weight for years.

Caroline Rhea hosted the reality contest for three seasons but has moved on to other projects, so I'm assuming her departure was amicable. The next season of The Biggest Loser begins this fall. And Days fans shouldn't worry, Sami isn't going anywhere.

I know Caroline Rhea is a comedian and can be pretty funny. I haven't seen much of Alison's personality but I know she has a large fan following... will she make a good host?

NBC's The Biggest Loser is looking for contestants for its next show. The network is holding open casting calls across the country this month and early next month. From what I've seen of the show, they like to have people on who have dramatic stories and/or outgoing personalities. Plus, you need to be competitive. NBC's announcement says it's looking for people who

If you need to drop a significant amount of weight, this is a good way to go. Sure, it's on national television and is humiliating, but it has been so shockingly successful for so many candidates.

Cities and dates for casting calls are after the jump:

(S03E12) Months of hard work and focused training at last comes down to this: a live finale packed to the walls with stunning transformations. Because the health improvements are so huge, the $250,000 and other prizes seem almost secondary.

Right off the bat , Caroline Rhea leads with the information that one of the final four will not be "making it to the final scale." That's a first for the show, though the circumstances will turn out to be reasonable. The intro is followed by some recapping just in case anyone missed all the recapping that was done last week.

(S03E04) Going in, Red has lost 198 lbs, and Blue has lost 240 lbs. Red had to say goodbye to Nelson after screwing themselves with a tie vote last time. Ties get broken by the rival team -- which means rule number one for Biggest Loser should be: make sure your team's votes don't end in a tie.

Red reacts to having lost Nelson by revolting against their trainer, Kim. Kai wants to work out alone. Kim acknowledges (in voice-over) she's losing control of the team, and the others just mope through a run, until Ken collapses in tears. They manage to get Kim crying too. It's nearly unbearable.

(S03E02) NBC, what're you trying to do to me? Another two hour episode this week?!?! You're testing my patience and the patience of the flood of fans who dropped by here at TVS last week to leave comments. Okay, there were exactly two comments last week, both from viewers who stated their intention to watch America's Next Top Model instead anyway. No doubt a double-sized Loser is just what is needed to reel viewers in. Here is my plea to reality show producers: if you're going to run two hours a night, make it two episodes -- that is, two challenges, two eliminations, don't just pad out an extra hour.

Anyway, here goes ...

(S03E01) I don't watch that much reality television, but I like this one because it seems to work for the contestants. And maybe for viewers too: last season I watched and got inspired, losing fifty pounds myself. So I've been looking forward to this.

But wait a minute: Jillian Michaels -- the tougher of the two trainers in earlier seasons is gone, much to my disappointment. Had I paid attention when she announced her departure months ago, maybe I wouldn't have tuned in tonight. I really like how she drove the men's team last year, and they seemed to love her too. That, and this time there are fifty contestants to wade through. One from each state in the union. The obese nation theme gets a lot a play early on. But fairly quickly they're whittled down to a manageable group of 14: seven men and seven women. Unlike last year, they are not divvied up into teams based on gender. The other 36 will continue the challenge on their own at home. However, the parade of fifty hopeful contestants marching down the hill to the Biggest Loser Ranch is an impressive sight. (Spoilers after the jump.)

I guess I could just devote my evenings to MyNetworkTV's telenovas but that would be too easy. From the NFL, to New Caprica, Star's Hollow, the Sunset strip, Rockefeller Plaza, and west Baltimore, here's where I expect to park my butt this fall season:

Sunday
5:15 pm (West Coast) Sunday Night Football (NBC). John Madden.

10 pm The Wire (HBO). The best ... blah blah blah, etc. (Actually, I'll most likely catch these earlier in the week On Demand.)