TVSquad

I'm a little worried about ABC's thinking behind this latest move. As announced, the remake of the classic '80s mini-series V will launch on November 4th. But now, after four consecutive episodes, it's going on an extended hiatus. The reason, per ABC, is the expected ratings dominance of the Winter Olympics.

And though they're announcing the hiatus, they've not yet said when we can expect the show to come back. I hope this doesn't mean there are more problems on the set, like the one that shut down production for two weeks this summer. Regardless of the reason, we've seen countless times that long hiatuses on a new show can kill it.

However, if you think of the original V, it was a couple of mini-series followed by a regular series (best forgotten). So maybe these first four episodes will be written and set up like an epic mini-series with a bang-up ending that will sustain us through the break. I hope it's like that, otherwise they should just push back the entire series to 2010.

• USA has an NCIS marathon all night.
• At 8, CBS has a new 48 Hours.
• NBC has the special The Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremonies at 8.
• Also at 8: ESPN has The Emerald Bowl.
• At 9, FOX has a new America's Most Wanted.
• There's a new Suze Orman Show on CNBC at 9.
• Lifetime has the movie Love Sick: Secrets of a Sex Addict.
• GAC has a new "Best Of" Grand Ole Opry Live at 9.
• Fine Living has a Whatever, Martha marathon starting at 9.
• At 10, BBC America has a new Graham Norton Show.
• At 10:30, Cartoon Network has a new Naruto.
• At 1am, Cartoon Network has a new Bleach.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Thanksgiving is a time for family, right? On TV, our favorite families have been The Waltons, The Huxtables, The Simpsons. But this year a vote has been taken and another family has emerged as America's favorite. The Kardashians. Yes, believe it or not, the People's Choice web site has done a survey and the family chosen by most respondents to spend Turkey Day with are E TV's Kardashians.

Starting at 1 o'clock on Thursday, November 27, E! will broadcast a Kardashian marathon, five hours of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Yes, if you don't want to watch NFL games -- and considering the fact that we're forced to endure the horrid Detroit Lions every Thanksgiving, the 2008 winless Lions, you may want to turn away -- you can instead watch the rich, spoiled, outrageous Kardashians.

(Of course, there is an NFL connection if you count Reggie Bush, Kim's fiance, the star running back of the New Orleans Saints who's currently injured and not playing.)

Saturday Night Live is about to kick off its 34th season, and they're determined to do it with a bang. Doing a smart job of quickly pulling in America's biggest star of the summer, the show has announced that super-crazy Olympian god slash merman Michael Phelps will be hosting the premiere. It also looks like the musical guest will be Lil' Wayne, but who has time to care about that? Michael Phelps is swimming back to America and he's hosting!

Several billion years ago, give or take a few billion, a few neutrons decided to get together with a few protons and form what has been called the Big Bang, which pretty much started the universe as we know it. As things cooled down stars, galaxies, and planets were born. On the planet we know as Earth some primordial ooze became cozyu with their amino acid friends, creating the baseline needed for life. At about that same time this season of America's Got Talent premiered aired on NBC.

Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit here, and my science may be slightly off, but it does seem to me that AGT has been on the schedule a bit too long. Premiering on June 17th, most of the shows that aired before the Olympic break have been just the tryouts. Only the very end of July and first few weeks in August dealt with the callbacks and elimination of those initially chosen by Piers, Sharon and the Hoff. Finally, we are now into the live competitions and eliminations, which means two nights of AGT a week for the next several weeks. According to the schedule posted at NBC's media site, that puts the finale of the show around October 1st! Nah, that can't be right.

If you've been watching NBC's Olympic coverage, you must have seen all of the promotion they have been doing for their fall season. New shows My Own Worst Enemy, Crusoe, Knight Rider, Kath & Kim, and America's Toughest Jobs have all had plenty of play. As have the returning Chuck and Life. Given that the latest Olympiad is closing in on becoming the most watched television event of all time, you might think those promo spots were pretty valuable.

Apparently, not so much. The Hollywood Reporter runs down the record for the network promoting new shows during past games. In 2004, the Athens games led to one show, Joey, making it beyond its first season. Likewise for the Sydney games in 2000, which brought us Ed, and nothing else. Things were a little better in 1996 from Atlanta. Profiler, The Pretender, and Suddenly Susan all lasted another four years. Not a stellar track record and it leaves you thinking that those precious spots might have served the network better pitching more beer. It has the makings of a good poll though. After the jump, place your vote for the one new show that will make it out of season one.

• At 7, NBC has the final night of the Olympics.
• G4 has a new Hurl! at 7.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• ESPN2 has The Breeder's Cup Challenge horse race.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 8.
• G4 counts down the 20 hottest Women of the Web at 8.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece.
• USA has the season finale of Law and Order: CI at 9.
• History Channel has a new Ice Road Truckers at 9.
• Nickelodeon has a new Nick News special at 9.
• Also at 9: HBO has the season finale of Generation Kill.
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Gene Simmons' Family Jewels.
• At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
• BBC America has a new Skins at 10.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has the season finale of Venture Brothers.
• IFC has the series premiere of Z Rock at 11:30.
• At 12:30am, Cartoon Network has a new Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• NBC has more Olympics coverage all night.
• Food Network has an Iron Chef America marathon all night.
• TCM has Laurel & Hardy movies all night.
• At 8, CBS has more Preseason Football, the Steelers vs. the Vikings.
• TLC has a new Flip That House at 8.
• ESPN has the Sharpie 500 NASCAR race at 8.
• At 8:30, HGTV has a new Deserving Design.
• At 9, FOX has a new America's Most Wanted.
• CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show at 9.
• Sci-Fi has the movie Flu Bird Horror at 9.
• Disney Channel has the movie American Mall at 10.
• At midnight, Cartoon Network has a new Shin Chan, then new episodes of Bleach, Code Geass, and Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• NBC has Olympics coverage all night.
• At 8, CBS has Preseason Football, the Texans vs. the Cowboys.
• The CW has a new Smackdown! at 8.
• PBS has a new Washington Week at 8, followed by new episodes of NOW and Bill Moyers Journal.
• Disney Channel has the movie The Cheetah Girls: One World at 8.
• At 8:30, Animal Planet has three new episodes of Meerkat Manor, including the season finale.
  
• At 9, Discovery has two new episodes of Discovery Planet Earth.
• USA has a new Monk at 9, then a new Psych.
• At 10, History Channel has a new Shockwave.
• Sci-Fi has a new Stargate Atlantis at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

The Olympics aren't even over until this Sunday, but you can already order the DVDs.

NBC will release three different DVD sets for the 2008 Beijing Games. The first DVD is titled Michael Phelps: Greatest Olympic Champion - The Inside Story, and will show all of his gold medal-winning races and behind the scenes footage that hasn't been seen before. The second set is titled 2008 Beijing Opening Ceremonies, and will feature two DVDs packed with footage of the expensive, epic opening ceremonies. The last set has the rather uninspired title of 2008 Beijing General Highlight DVD (which I hope and pray gets a better title than that), which will be a recap of the entire Olympic Games. The opening ceremony DVD will be $29.99 and the others will sell for $19.99.

• NBC has more Olympics coverage all night.
• TV Land has The Andy Griffith Show all night.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• FOX has a Preseason Football Game at 8, the 49ers vs. the Bears.
• ESPN has a Little League World Series semi-final game at 8.
• HGTV has new episodes starting at 8: Designed to Sell, Myles of Style, Rate My Space, Extreme Living, and House Hunters.
• At 9, History Channel has a new Modern Marvels, followed by a new episode of The Works.
• TruTV has the series premiere of The Principal's Office at 9 (followed by another new episode).
• At 10, CBS has a new Flashpoint.
• There's a new Burn Notice on USA at 10.
• Comedy Central has a new Gong Show at 10, then a new Reality Bites Back.
• Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
• Sundance has a new Live From Abbey Road at 10.
• Showtime has a new Penn & Teller: Bullshit at 10.
• MTV has the season finale of America's Best Dance Crew at 10.
• Also at 10: TCM has On the Beach.
• At 11, VH-1 has the series premiere of The Cho Show.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• NBC has the Olympics all night.
• At 8, CBS has a new Great American Dog.
• ESPN has more Little League World Series coverage at 8.
• At 9, Bravo has a new Project Runway, followed by a new Shear Genius.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters International at 9, then two new episodes of Scare Tactics.
• Sundance has the series premiere of Architecture School at 9, followed by the series premiere of On The Road In America.
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, then two new episodes of Criss Angel Mindfreak.
• At 10, Food Network has the season premiere of Dinner: Impossible, with new host Michael Symon.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• NBC has the Olympics all night.
• TCM is showing Barbara Stanwyck movies all night.
• At 8, ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker.
• Over on ESPN2, more coverage of The Little League World Series.
• At 9, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• Bill Maher is the guest on Larry King Live, on CNN at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Eureka at 9, then a new ECW.
• There's a new Food Detectives on Food Network at 9, followed by a new Road Tasted with The Neelys.
• At 10, A&E has a new episode of The Cleaner.
• Lifetime has a new How To Look Good Naked at 10.
• History Channel has a new Evolve at 10.
• Bravo has a new Million Dollar Listing at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• NBC has Olympics coverage all night.
• At 8, ABC has High School Musical: Get in the Picture.
• TCM has The Big Knife at 8.
• Noggin has a new Go, Diego, Go! at 8.
• At 9, Discovery has a new Raging Nature, then the premiere of Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein.
• TNT has a new episode of The Closer, followed by a new Saving Grace.
• GSN has a new World Poker Tour at 9.
• HBO has Thank You Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House at 9.
• Toon Disney has a new Chaotic at 9, then a new Digimon.
• At 10, ABC Family has a new Middleman.
• MTV has the season premiere of The Hills at 10.
• There's a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on Food Network at 10.
• Showtime has a new Weeds at 10.
• Also at 10: Travel Channel has a new Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Our Monday morning roundup of a half dozen things TV Squad readers - and TV fans in general - will be talking about this week.

1. The season premiere of The Hills. It literally hurts my stomach to think that people are going to watch this, but they will. (Tonight at 10pm on MTV.)

2. The Olympics. Many viewers will probably stop watching now that Michael Phelps has done his thing, but there's still plenty of running and jumping going on. (All week on NBC, along with various coverage on MSNBC, CNBC, USA, and Oxygen.)

3. The series premiere of The Cho Show. Hopefully Margaret Cho will have better luck with this than she had with All American Girl. (Stars Thursday at 11pm on VH-1.)

4. The season finale of Law and Order: CI. Chris Noth left last week. What will happen in the finale? (Sunday at 9 on USA.)

5. The Little League World Series. Guaranteed to be steroid-free! (All week on ESPN and ESPN2, semi-finals on ABC Saturday afternoon, final on ABC Sunday.)

6. The new fall season. Summer isn't over yet, but here's a handy guide to get you psyched.