TVSquad

We thought the show was over. It was announced way back in November of 2005 that this would be the last season of the WB's family drama 7th Heaven. Then, The CW came along, which merged the UPN and WB networks into one, and there were new rumors of the show being renewed. The rumors became truth this past week when The CW announced an 11th season of the show during its upfronts.

This, of course, led everyone else to the most logical question to ask about this whole situation:  What the hell?

It turns out that the executives at The CW were probably asking the same question themselves, since they didn't know the status of the show until the last minute. According to statements made at Thursday's upfronts the renewal decision was made sometime between the promotion of and airing of the series finale and the upfront presentation. After looking at the show's ratings (7 million for the finale and 5.2 million during the rest of the season, making it the most-watched show on either the WB or UPN) the cost of the show, and the rest of the new CW schedule, the decision was made to bring back the Camden brood.

Okay, who gave the executives over at NBC the sensibility pills?

In what seems like an extremely logical move (at least for now), NBC has produced a Thursday night schedule for the new fall season that may make the phrase "Must See TV" truthful once again. As mentioned by the amazingly talented Bob Sassone in his post on the NBC fall upfronts, comedies My Name is Earl and The Office will be pushed back one hour to the 8-9 pm slot. Following will be the new Aaron Sorkin drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (which Aaron will hopefully shorten to just Studio 60). Network stalwart ER will round out the night in its usual 10 pm slot.

Notice something here? For the first time in many years, NBC may have a very solid Thursday primetime. With Earl  and The Office anchoring the night, you are getting away from a curse the network had for many years; pairing a successful sitcom (such as Friends) with a mediocre or poor sitcom (Single Guy, Four Kings, or any other forgettable show). Both shows compliment each other and have been steady performers this past season.

To the wonderfully talented executives at NBC:

You can move ER to another night, you can hire Star Jones to anchor the NBC Nightly News (take that, ABC), you can even cover every open schedule spot with an episode of Deal or No Deal; however, there is one thing that I'm asking... no, pleading... no, demanding you not to do. Do NOT split up My Name is Earl and The Office!

For once in God knows how long you have two shows on Thursday night that are a near-perfect match for each other. One leads very smoothly into another. I can't remember when there was a pair of win-win shows together on Must-See-TV. This may fall on deaf ears; networks are notorious for moving successful shows to other nights to boost ratings. However, if you split Earl and The Office, you risk losing a strong viewer base for whatever may allegedly replace ER that evening.

So, when you present your upfronts on Monday, please make sure you don't split up these two gems on your schedule. If you want to move them, go ahead. But, move them together.

TV Squad will be having extensive coverage of this week's network "upfronts," and I thought I'd take this spot to explain exactly what an upfront is. Basically it's the week when each network reveals its fall lineup. What new shows are coming on, and what old shows are being canceled. Each day this week we'll have the rundown as each network unveils their lineup. Here's the upfront schedule:

• Today: NBC
• Tuesday: ABC and WB
• Wednesday: CBS
• Thursday: Fox and UPN

Keep checking back throughout the week for breaking news...