TVSquad

• At 7, ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
  
• CBS has a new 60 Minutes at 7, The Grammy Awards.
  
• FOX has a new Hole in the Wall at 7.
• At 8, NBC has a new Dateline, then the miniseries XIII.
• PBS has a new Nature at 8.
• There's a new Challenge on Food Network at 8, then a new Ultimate Recipe Showdown.
• At 8:30, FOX has a new King of the Hill.
• At 9, HBO has a new Big Love, followed by a new Flight of the Conchords.
• Showtime has a new episode of The L Word at 8, then new episodes of The United States of Tara and Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
• Also at 9: MTV has four new shows starting: Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, The CollegeHumor Show, Nitro Circus, and How's Your News?
• At 9:30, FOX has a new American Dad.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken.
• At 12:30, Cartoon Network has a new Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job.

Check your local TV listings for more.

CBS has had a rocky relationship with their new evening news anchor. The move to hire her after journalist Dan Rather went down in flames like a phoenix blasted out of the sky was heralded as a new dawn without realizing that it sets just as quick.

Couric has earned some respect for her work since Sarah Palin let her stick her brain in a Newton's Cradle and knock it back and forth until her "You betchas" became her "Okie dokies". But the news broadcast is still third in the ratings war and the egg hasn't completely been washed from CBS' face.

So until Palin announces her bid to run for head of Alaska's border patrol to keep those pesky Russians at bay, CBS hopes they can keep what little momentum they have going by doing for Couric what NBC just did for Jay Leno.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then The Grammy Awards.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, then new episodes of Extreme Makeover and Brothers and Sisters.
• There's a new CW Now on The CW at 7.
• At 8, PBS has a new Nature, then a new Masterpiece.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 8, then new episodes of Iron Chef America and Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
• At 8:30, FOX has a new King of the Hill.
• At 9, HBO has a new episode of The Wire, then a new Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam.
• Showtime has a new L Word at 9.
• At 10, AMC has a new Breaking Bad.

Check your local TV listings for more.

On February 10, the Grammy Awards will be shown on CBS with the benefit of writers. The WGA has agreed to let striking writers work on the awards show.

This year is the 50th telecast of the Grammys and it makes sense that the WGA would permit their members to work on this show. After all, the musicians' union is another union and creating music is still just another form of writing.

This year's awards season, barely a month old now, has not been a good one for Hollywood. First, the Golden Globes ceremony was reduced to an Access Hollywood special after members of the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild boycotted the show. Now, it looks like the Grammy Awards ceremony may also be in trouble.

It is being reported that the striking guild will probably bar its members from working on the February 10th Grammys telecast. Grammy organizers have yet to ask for a waiver allowing for writers to work on the show. However, according to a WGA spokesperson, a waiver grant would be unlikely. There is no word if the WGA will picket the ceremony. If it does, then SAG members will not cross the picket line. This potentially means another exciting 1-hour infotainment special.

I'm sure members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are sweating a bit now.

Are you ready for a pop snack? You're in luck because Paula Abdul - Greatest Hits: Straight Up! will be released on May 8, 2007.

The 18-track collection includes all six of Paula's #1 chart-toppers, including: "Forever Your Girl," "Opposites Attract," "Cold Hearted," and "Rush, Rush."

1. American Idol - Tues (FOX)
2. American Idol - Weds (FOX)
3. Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
4. House (FOX)
5. CSI (CBS)
6. Grammy Awards (CBS)
7. CSI: Miami (CBS)
8. Desperate Housewives (ABC)
9. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
10. Deal Or No Deal - Mon (NBC)
11. Criminal Minds (CBS)
12. NCIS (CBS)
13. CSI: NY (CBS)
14. Rules of Engagement (CBS)
15. Survivor (CBS)
16. 60 Minutes (CBS)
17. Extreme Makeover (ABC)
18. Shark (CBS)
19. Law and Order: SVU (NBC)
20. Ugly Betty (ABC)

One of the big regrets of my life was not seeing The Police in concert when they were together in the late 70s and early 80s. They're one of my favorite bands, and I don't really know why I never made an effort to see them live. I saw Sting live once and it was great, but it wasn't the same.

I might be able to get another chance. There are rumors swirling that the band is going to get together again this summer for a 30th anniversary tour, but before that happens they'll open the Grammy Awards on ABC on February 11. It's official now. Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland will open the show. There are also rumors that they are rehearsing in Vancouver for that world tour, though nothing has been said beyond the Grammys gig.

Now...what song should they play to open the telecast?

It's a cross-promotional party over at CBS for Grammy Week '07. In anticipation of the February 11th broadcast of the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, nominees Mary J. Blige and Nelly Furtado will be making special guest appearances on CBS shows. Blige will be playing opposite lackluster recording artist Jennifer Love Hewitt on an episode of Ghost Whisperer, and Nelly Furtado will be playing a dead hooker on CSI: NY. Oops... actually she's not playing a dead hooker. I just saw "network crime procedural" and "attractive woman" so I thought "dead hooker."

Teri Hatcher had to know that when she wore a sheer dress with boy panties underneath to the Grammy Awards last night, she would be compared to Jennifer Lopez's infamous green scarf outfit back at Grammys 2000. Maybe I'm just used to seeing celebrities wear see-through dresses, but I thought J-Lo's outfit had a lot more impact than Hatcher's. Plus, she looked hotter. Lopez actually has some shape to her body, whereas Teri Hatcher is so skinny that it's borderline nasty. But, the guys might like that Teri is showing more breast than J-Lo did and yes, they are real and I hear "they're spectacular".

Other fashion you should check out:

Of course, for many of us, the question could be "did the Grammys ever matter at all?" But they're asking the question on CNN, and I have to admit that if I didn't write for a TV site I probably wouldn't even had known that the show was tonight (8pm on CBS).

Is this show important to anyone outside of the music industry? And why would it even be important to anyone in the music industry, since I don't think that a Grammy nomination or a win results in more sales to the average consumer. I mean, I don't think music fan buys a CD because the artist wins an award, they buy it because they like the artist anyway, or it was recommended by a friend, etc. In fact, the argument could be made that since the artist/album got a Grammy nomination, it already had great sales, or it wouldn't have been nominated (yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, it's quality, not quanity - but that's in a perfect world. In the real world, sales means accolades).

So tell us: do you watch the Grammys? And if so, why? And do awards go out and make you buy the album?