TVSquad

When I first heard about a reality show called The Shark Tank, I thought, oh great. They've taken things too far and are planning to throw people into tanks with sharks. It's not quite that insane, but budding entrepreneurs might want to tune in for some pointers.

Helmed by Mr. Reality himself, Mark Burnett, The Shark Tank has been ordered to pilot by ABC. As I understand it, the unscripted project is adapted from a Japanese show called Money Tiger, which aired on Nippon Television from 2001 to 2004. The show has since been produced in Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, Nigeria, and the U.K.

The premise is interesting: aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to moguls, a.k.a. "Sharks," in hopes of landing investment funds.

• At 8, FOX has a new On The Lot.
• NBC has a new two-hour America's Got Talent at 8.
• ABC has a new Fast Cars & Superstars at 8, then the NBA finals.
• At 9, Lifetime has the new movie A Family Lost.
• There's a new Dog The Bounty Hunter at 9.
• The History Channel has a new episode of The Universe at 9.
• At 9:30, Food Network has a new Road Tasted, in Philadelphia.
• At 10, Comedy Central has Brian Regan: Standing Up.
• Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• Also at 10: TLC has the season premiere of Miami Ink.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E04) After the three audition episodes that seemed to plod along, spending so much time on interviews and back stories, this episode just felt odd. It was as if they stuffed two hours of show in a one hour bag. Dancers just appeared on screen with no names or introduction, whether we had seen them before or not.

It was also hard to get any idea about the judges decisions. For so many of the contestants we were only shown small fractions of their performance. Between this and the 'new format every week!' On The Lot debacle, I'm left wondering if everyone in the Fox reality department has just closed up shop for the summer. It's all very strange. But there were auditions, so after the jump a look at a few of the stories that stood out in Vegas.

• At 8, FOX has a new On The Lot.
• NBC has a new Deal Or No Deal at 8, then the season premiere of America's Got Talent.
• At 9, ABC has the 2007 ALMA Awards.
• The History Channel has a new The Universe at 9.
• Bravo has Everybody Can Suck It, the new Kathy Griffin special, at 9, then the season premiere of her Life on the D List show.
• Also at 9: the Travel Channel has a new John Ratzenberger's Made In America.
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, followed by a new Criss Angel Mindfreak.
• There's a new Road Tasted on Food Network at 9:30.
• At 10, FX has the season finale of The Shield.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Fox has apparently responded to the lackluster ratings of its new reality series, On the Lot, by trimming down the number of episodes. Instead of airing on two nights each week, the network is going to condense its unreasonably long results show with its competition for a single, one-hour installment each week.

The change is effective immediately: On the Lot will only be seen on Tuesdays at 8 pm starting June 5. There will still be a two-night finale on August 13-14.

The schedule change will also cause a shift in the schedule for the remaining episodes of The Loop. Now The Loop will not appear on Tuesdays, will air twice on Sundays at 7:30 and 8:30 pm on June 24 and July 1.

• At 8, ABC has a Bachelor wrapup special, followed by the two hour season finale of Dancing with the Stars (two hours?).
• CBS has the season finale of NCIS at 8, then the new Tom Selleck movie Sea Change.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 8.
• FOX has a new American Idol at 8, followed by the premiere of the reality show On The Lot.
• The CW has the series finale of Veronica Mars starting at 8.
• Also at 8: TCM has Red River, followed by El Dorado.
• At 9, ESPN has the Spurs/Jazz playoff game.
• At 10, FX has a new episode of The Shield.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Fox has released premiere dates for their summer programming, and as one would expect, it will be a mostly reality TV season. On The Lot, from Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett, will kick off on May 16th. Joining them later will be So You Think You Can Dance on May 24th and Hells Kitchen on June 25th.

The lone scripted series in the announcement is the return of The Loop. The show will return for its second season on June 10th, apparently minus the Piper and Lizzy characters. And that is the only one that really surprises me out of this group. With Spielberg and Burnett, it's obvious why On The Lot is getting a shot. While no match for their big brother Idol, SYTYCD has been a solid summer show and it's up to the lighter competition the season provides. Ditto for Hells Kitchen.

The Loop, on the other hand, was not warmly received, and I think most of its debatable ratings success had more to do with the time slot than anything they put on the screen. Don't get me wrong, I actually really like the show, but I'm still not clear on how a second season ever came to be. The fact that it has now been shuffled from a possible mid-season slot to the summer probably signals that there won't be a third installment.

[ via the futon critic ]

I finally got to see Feast today, which is the end result of the last edition of Project Greenlight. As I was watching a monster's genitals get slammed in a door and then chopped off (really) a thought occurred to me. Considering that none of the Greenlight movies have been actual successes, somebody should probably try it again!

And those somebodies would be Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg with On The Lot. Anna posted about the show way back in April, and now the site is updated with all kinds of content for you to peruse. They are accepting submissions until December 1st. After that, the field of aspiring film makers will be narrowed down to the sixteen contestants for the show. For now, you can watch the submitted films as well as rate and critique them.

Last month Anna mentioned the new reality series from executive producers Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett called On the Lot. The series, which will air in spring of 2007 on FOX, will pit two teams against one another as they create a short film from a different genre each week. Some readers were curious as to how they might get on the show, and it looks like right now you can go over to the official site and download an application and submit your film. According to the application, you're not allowed to enter if you're running for public office or planning to do so. I was devastated upon hearing this until someone informed me there's not really a place called "Funky Town" and even if there was, they probably wouldn't elect me as their mayor. I guess that means I'm good to go.