TVSquad

The term "adult video games" sounds admittedly dirty, so we'll steer clear of that and call CBS Consumer Products' upcoming line of TV series-based titles "grown up."

CBS announced in a press release that they're breaking out a line of games related to hit shows that aren't exactly on the kids' radars -- what with their rock n' roll and their Hula-Hoops and their "Beavis and Buttheads." You'd expect to see console or computer games based on The Clone Wars or Battlestar Galatica, but Diagnosis: Murder and Hollywood Squares? What would Paul Lynde say?

But, those latter two shows are on the list, with a PC & Mac game heading our way in 2010 for Diagnosis and an iPod Touch and iPhone game of Squares coming next year.

Welcome to our new feature, TV Squad readers. How well do you know what you think you know about television? Play our little trivia game, Fact or Fiction. We'll state the premise, then tell you the reality, i.e. the fact or the fiction. By the way, if you have ideas for Fact or Fiction, or questions you'd like us to figure out, share with us in the comments.

Fact or Fiction: When Chuck Lorre originally created The Big Bang Theory, the boys were dominated by a nasty neighbor named Katie.

Fact! Chuck Lorre told Watch magazine's Jim Colluci that a year before The Big Bang Theory was picked up by CBS, the first pilot had a female character named Katie. She manipulated the guys. "It was like shooting fish in a barrel. It didn't work," Johnny Galecki told Colluci. The problem was that Sheldon, Leonard, Raj and Howard were and are essentially innocents and without maliciousness. The idea of a woman taking advantage of their innocence was not only mean, it wasn't funny. The writers went back to the drawing board -- so to speak -- and, thus, the character of sweet, gentle Penny was born.

• Syfy has a Legend of the Seeker marathon all night.
• At 8, ABC has a new FlashForward, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then new episodes of CSI and The Mentalist.
• NBC has new episodes of Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has a new Bones at 8, then a new Fringe.
• The CW has a new Vampire Diaries at 8, followed by new episodes of Supernatural.
• TCM has Fourteen Hours at 9, then High Noon.
• At 9, Comedy Central has a new Jeff Dunham Show.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta at 9, then a new Real Housewives of Orange County.
• Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Action at 9.
• Also at 9: Food Network has a new Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin.
• At 10, Lifetime has a new Project Runway.
• FX has a new It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10.
• There's a new Tosh.0 on Comedy Central at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Michael Ausiello is reporting that CBS has reduced the number of episodes of Numb3rs for this season from 22 to only 16. What does this mean for the show? Well, it means that sometimes numbers aren't good even on Numb3rs. It also means that this pretty much guarantees that this will be the last season for the show. Ausiello thinks that CBS will put Flashpoint in the time slot when the episodes run out.

So, are all of you people who tried to save Southland going to mount a similar campaign for this show? I didn't think so.

• At 7:30, FOX has Game 2 of The World Series.
• ABC has a new FlashForward at 8, then new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, followed by new episodes of CSI and The Mentalist.
• NBC has new episodes of Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, and The Jay Leno Show.
• The CW has a new Vampire Diaries at 8, then new episodes of Supernatural.
• Cartoon Network has a new Chowder at 8.
• At 9, Comedy Central has a new Jeff Dunham Show.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• Spike has TNA Wrestling at 9.
• Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Action at 9.
• At 10, Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta.
• FX has a new It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10, then the series premiere of The League.
• Food Network has the season finale of Ace of Cakes at 10.
• Current has a new Rotten Tomatoes at 10.
• Also at 10: Lifetime has a new Project Runway.
  

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Three episodes into CSI's tenth season and it turns out that Jorja Fox's five episode return to the show has been extended "indefinitely." According to TVGuide.com, executive producer Carol Mendelsohn has confirmed that Fox's Sara Grissom will be around for many more episodes this season than originally planned.

Thus far, Fox has appeared in the first two eps this season. So there's still three left in her original contract and while it's still unknown how many more episodes she'll be in, you can probably figure on at least half the season.

That can't bode well for Sara and Gil fans. Grissom had a tough time last season without Sara around and I have a hard time believing that they'll be able to sell us a happy relationship between the two of them with Sara in Las Vegas and Gil traveling the world to give lectures.

• At 8, ABC has a new FlashForward, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then new episodes of CSI and The Mentalist.
• NBC has a new Community at 8, followed by new episodes of Parks and Recreation and The Office, the season premiere of 30 Rock, and a new Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has new episodes of Bones and Fringe.
• The CW has a new Vampire Diaries at 8, then a new Supernatural.
• TBS has Baseball Playoffs at 8, the Dodgers vs. the Phillies.
• At 9, Spike has a new TNA Wrestling.
• MTV has a new Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory at 9, followed by new episodes of Bully Beatdown, Nitro Circus, and Pranked.
• Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Action at 9, then a new Stoked.
• At 10, Lifetime has a new Project Runway.
• FX has a new It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10.
• Comedy Central has a new Tosh.0 at 10.
• At 10:30, Current has a new Rotten Tomatoes Show.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Generally speaking, the CSI franchise has been a ratings juggernaut for CBS. Still, this season the original CSI has been declining a bit. It started last season when Laurence Fishburne took on the role of Dr. Ray Langston, becoming the main man on the show with William Petersen exiting.

Well, in an effort to perhaps pump up Fishburne's popularity, CBS is doing something unique. For the first time, a CSI character -- Langston -- will crossover to the other two shows in the same week, all part of the same story.

Will it work? Probably. Crossover stunts are always fun and it'll give viewers who watch one of the CSI's or two, to sample the other. That's not as weird as it sounds. I only watch CSI, not NY or Miami.

• At 8, ABC has a new FlashForward, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then new episodes of CSI and The Mentalist.
• NBC has new episodes of Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has a new Bones at 8, followed by a new Fringe.
• There's a new Vampire Diaries on The CW at 8, then a new Supernatural.
• Discovery has a new Destroyed in Seconds at 8.
• At 9, BBC America has the season finale of Skins.
• ESPN has College Football, Nebraska vs. Missouri, at 10.
• Travel Channel has a new Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin at 9.
• Spike has a new TNA Wrestling at 9.
• MTV has a new Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory at 9, followed by new episodes of Bully Beatdown, Nitro Circus, and Pranked.
• At 9:45, Disney has a new Phineas & Ferb.
• At 10, Lifetime has a new Project Runway.
• FX has a new It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10.
• Comedy Central has a new Tosh.0 at 10.
• Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, ABC has a new FlashForward, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
• CBS has a new Survivor, then new episodes of CSI and The Mentalist.
• NBC has new episodes of SNL Weekend Update Thursday, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Community, and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has a new Bones at 8, followed by a new Fringe.
• The CW has a new Vampire Diaries at 8, then a new Supernatural.
• PBS has a new episode of The National Parks at 8.
• At 9, Food Network has a new Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin, then a new Ace of Cakes.
• MTV has a new Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory at 9, followed by new episodes of Bully Beatdown, Nitro Circus, and Pranked.
• Spike has a new TNA Wrestling at 9.
• ESPN2 has the WNBA Basketball Finals at 9.
• At 9:30, Cartoon Network has a new Stoked.
• At 10, FX has a new It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
• Lifetime has a new Project Runway at 10, then a new Models of the Runway.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Oh, no. Please. CBS, please don't. I know it's tempting when you see the NCIS: LA ratings -- number two for last week, topped only by NCIS! -- but please, refrain. What am I talking about? CBS is pushing a spinoff of Criminal Minds, asking the show's executive producer Ed Bernero and executive producer Chris Mundy to come up with a variation on Criminal Minds. Hmm... Criminal Minds 2.0? Son of Criminal Minds? Criminal Guts?

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I find myself buying more old shows on DVD than I do new shows. I have no interest at all in buying C.S.I., Desperate Housewives, Two and a Half Men, Brothers & Sisters, or Supernatural, and there are no classic shows being released so it looks like I'm going to save money (again) this week.

Heroes? I like the show well enough, but I just can't imagine I'm going to want to watch this season again. Maybe I'll get it at some point, just so I can make sure I have the whole series, but who knows.

A good show can keep you so entertained that you're willing to fight sleep to watch the rest of it. A great show physically keeps you awake.

It gets into your bloodstream and forces more adrenaline into your heart.

It turns the synapses in your brain into ferrets on espresso that dash back and forth between the lobes and fires your mind on all of its cylinders.

It is visual cocaine, which is much healthier than actual cocaine and doesn't require a frequent visitor punch card for an eyes, ears, nose and throat doctor.

These are the shows that assault all five of the senses or less depending on how good of a health plan you've got.

Is television taking up too much of your time? Do you find yourself spending night after night on the couch, spending hours of quality time clutching your remote in the hopes it will lead you down the primrose path of perfect entertainment? Have you wasted entire days of your life decreasing the firmness of the coils in your couch with your ever increasing ass planted firmly in front of the idiot box?

If so, maybe a more physical activity would perk up your droll and dull life. Why not put down that remote, throw that TV Guide in the trash compactor and pick up that video game controller for a few hours of TV-related interactive entertainment? Because exercise is for people with no creative thought for self-entertainment.

Here is just a sample of some TV show game spinoffs headed to an XBox, Playstation or coffee table near you.

CBS programming chief Nina Tassler held court this morning in the CBS executive session. Her network is in an extremely strong position, so there wasn't much in the way of controversy to report, but here are some interesting tidbits from the session:

• Laurence Fishburne's character of Dr. Langston on CSI will assume a more take-charge position this year, he'll also be given a "wardrobe makeover" so he seems, as Tassler put it "more comfortable in his own clothes."
• Jorja Fox will be back for the first five episodes. And one of the main characters will get promoted. I won't spoil it for you, but you can probably figure out who it might be.
• A new Let's Make A Deal with Wayne Brady as host, will be taking the place of Guiding Light. Tassler wouldn't go so far as saying this is a trend towards the return of daytime network game shows, but she did say she wanted to get a new LMAD on the air for a while.
• No plans to bring back Flashpoint right now, though they can. More Canadian cross-production deals on the way, including The Bridge.
• On NBC's late-night / Leno strategies: "Whatever numbers they get, they'll declare victory anyway, so it doesn't matter."
• On the departure of Ben Silverman of NBC: "I'm really just a D-girl, so I wouldn't comment."