TVSquad

As I started putting this list together it occurred to me, "Holy crap, there is a lot of good TV this summer." The summer used to be the time when my VCRs cooled their worn out heads after nine months of hard work. And now I find myself needing the Tivo and the DVR to keep up with everything. That's progress!

And here we go. If you work on a network television series, one of the worst things you can hear is that your show is going 'on hiatus'. Sure, every once in a while that just means that the show is taking a little break. But more often than not it's the PC way for executives to tell you that the ratings numbers suck out loud and you need to start looking for a new gig.

With that in mind, Fox has placed Justice and Happy Hour on an early hiatus. Early because it was expected that most of the network's shows would get a little break when the baseball playoffs take over the schedule. But Happy Hour and Justice will be starting their break early, being replaced by repeats of 'Til Death and House.

Right now, the Fox website says that Happy Hour will return Nov.2, with no word on when Justice is supposed to resume. Of course, this makes the TV Squad contest to pick the first show to get canceled a whole big ball of fun. We'll have to wait and see if these shows are officially canceled. Stay tuned.

[ Thanks Porchalnd ]

If you really sat down and looked at the numbers, you could probably count on one hand the number of successful live-action situation comedies FOX has had on its schedule over the last twenty years. Of course there were the three-camera, live audience sitcoms Married. . .with Children and That 70's Show as well as the single-camera comedies The Bernie Mac Show and Malcolm in the Middle. Also add the critically acclaimed Arrested Development to that mix, even though it was canceled after three seasons.

Yet, no matter how many unsuccessful comedies they have put on the air, the network brass still continues to try and find the right combination of talent and writing to give one of them a multiple season run. The brass is going to have to go back to the drawing board, because Happy Hour (premiering Thursday at 8:30 ET) does not have the right combination. In fact, I'm not too sure if it has a combination at all.

As the fall television season draws ever closer, we continue to receive press kits from the networks. This time around it's for FOX's new comedy Happy Hour, which premieres on Thursday, September 7th at 8:30. This particular kit lacks a little in one aspect, while it shines in the other. Let's take a look, shall we . . .

It's time to fire up the TV Squad polls again and see what our fine readers are thinking. We know not all of you are keen on leaving us comments, so why not let you easily submit to a poll?

This time we're focusing on the new shows FOX has up their sleeves for this fall. Got any you're looking forward to in particular? Rather than have you choose your favorite of the bunch, we'll let you pick as many as you like. We'll update this post with the poll results in about a week, so check back then.