TVSquad

• At 8, ABC has a new Dancing with the Stars, followed by a new episode of Samantha Who? and the season finale of The Bachelor.
• CBS has a new Big Bang Theory, then new episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement, and CSI: Miami.
• NBC has a new, two hour American Gladiators at 8, then a new Medium.
• FOX has new episodes of Bones and House.
• The CW has a new Gossip Girl at 8, followed by a new One Tree Hill.
• There's a new Antiques Roadshow on PBS at 8.
• TNT has another NBA Playoff game at 8.
• At 9, USA has a new Monday Night RAW.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9.
• GSN has a new World Poker Tour, also at 9.
• At 10, Food Network has a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
• MTV has a new episode of The Hills at 10, then a new episode of The Paper.
• HBO has a new Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

I didn't want to like Rules of Engagement. I like The New Adventures of Old Christine, and I thought that if I watched and liked Rules of Engagement (which has pushed Old Christine to the back burner at CBS for now) it would be like endorsing that show over Old Christine. It would almost be like cheating on Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and I did that once before years ago and she has never forgiven me.

But this past Monday I found myself wanting to watch a comedy at 9:30, so I turned it on. You know what? It's actually a good show.

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

OK, can someone explain to me why Lost, which returned after several weeks away with an important (and great) episode, only came in #15 in viewers this week? This season it has been showing up in the top 10 a lot, sometimes even in the top 5 or 6, and now it slips to 15? Gah.

In other news, I finally watched Rules of Engagement this week. It's actually a funny show.

1. American Idol - Tues (FOX)
2. American Idol - Weds (FOX)
3. Dancing with the Stars - Mon (ABC)
4. Dancing with the Stars - Tues (ABC)

This is Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at TV Squad where we'll supply you with the dirt on some of the more popular shows on the air. We'll never put spoilers up here on the main page in order to help the reformed stay unspoiled. If you have anything to add to the group, feel free to step up and let yourself be heard, either with our tips form or by emailing us at tvsquad at gmail dot com or call and leave a message at (775) 640-8479 - your anonymity is guaranteed, if you wish to remain as such.

This week we have: 24, CSI, Gossip Girl, Lost, My Boys, NCIS, One Tree Hill, Pushing Daisies, and Rules of Engagement. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)

In a TV Guide exclusive, Michael Ausiello reports that The New Adventures of Old Christine could be moving to ABC if CBS doesn't give it a third season pick up. The way I see it, this is great news for ABC. They seem to do great at one-hour dramedies -- Ugly Betty, Pushing Daisies, Desperate Housewives -- but just swing and miss when developing good sitcoms. Only Samantha Who has been a winner this year; its most recent effort, Miss/Guided, has left me cold.

Interesting news out of CBS this morning. On the heels of renewing The Big Bang Theory last week, the network has now announced that when Bang returns with new episodes on March 17, it will be leading off the night. How I Met Your Mother, in its third year, is also returning with new shows that night, but will be taking over Bang's 8:30 slot. On a side note, The New Adventures of Old Christine will be replaced by new episodes of Rules of Engagement on Monday, April 14.

Fans of the Tiffany network can do the happy dance. CBS has renewed 11 scripted shows for the 2008-2009 TV season. The lucky 11 are: CSI; CSI: Miami; CSI: New York; NCIS; Criminal Minds; Cold Case; Without a Trace; Ghost Whisperer; Numb3rs; Two and a Half Men; and The Big Bang Theory.

There are not a lot of surprises in this bunch, although it's great news that The Big Bang Theory, CBS's rookie Monday-night sitcom from Chuck Lorre's stable, made the cut. Still in limbo, however, are three other Monday-night comedies from the network: How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, and The New Adventures of Old Christine. The story speculates that Mother will get the greenlight for a fourth season soon, but Rules and Christine seem to be in competition for the 9:30-10:00 half-hour slot.

Is the final season of Battlestar Galactica in danger now because of the ongoing WGA (Writer's Guild of America) strike? According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, NBC Universal is utilizing the force majeure clause in SAG (Screen Actors Guild) agreements to suspend actors' and actresses' working contracts. The clause indicates studios and networks can do this if production is halted on their shows.

It looks like letters have been sent to the casts of such shows as The Office, 30 Rock, Bionic Woman and Battlestar Galactica. Sony Pictures has sent similar letters to the casts of Til Death and Rules of Engagement, indicating that more letters could be forthcoming from other studios if the strike lingers.

CBS is on a good run, being the most watched network for the last five years, but they have taken a bit of heat for the formulaic way they have gone about doing it. Not arguing with success, the whole family of CSIs, and their crime based cousins, will be back, but the network is trying to branch out with some edgier programming. Most notably, Swingtown, Viva Laughlin, and Moonlight.

Returning: The Amazing Race, Cold Case, 60 Minutes, How I Met Your Mother, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement, CSI: Miami, NCIS, The Unit, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, Survivor, CSI, Shark, Without A Trace, Ghost Whisperer, Numb3rs, 48 Hours Mystery.

New: Viva Laughlin, Swingtown, Moonlight, Cane, Big Bang Theory, Power of 10, Kid Nation

Out: King of Queens, Jericho, The Class, Close To Home

Moving: Without A Trace moves back to Thursday at 10. Shark heads to Sunday at 10.

Here are the weekly TV ratings, in number of viewers.

1. American Idol - Weds (FOX)
2. American Idol - Tues (FOX)
3. American Idol - Thurs (FOX)
4. House (FOX)
5. Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? (FOX)
6. Deal Or No Deal (NBC)
7. Without A Trace (CBS)
8. CSI (CBS)
9. Cold Case (CBS)
10. Heroes (NBC)
11. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
12. CSI: Miami (CBS)
13. Extreme Makeover (ABC)
14. Survivor (CBS)
15. Criminal Minds (CBS)
16. 24 (FOX)
17. Deal Or No Deal (NBC)
18. Rules of Engagement (CBS)
19. Lost (ABC)
20. NCIS (CBS)

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

1. American Idol - Tues (FOX)
2. American Idol - Weds (FOX)
3. American Idol - Thurs (FOX)
4. Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? - Tues (FOX)
5. Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? - Thurs (FOX)
6. Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? - Weds (FOX)
7. Desperate Housewives (ABC)
8. CSI: Miami (CBS)
9. Deal Or No Deal - Mon (NBC)
10. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
11. NCIS (CBS)
12. CSI (CBS)
13. Without A Trace (CBS)
14. Extreme Makeover (ABC)
15. Survivor (CBS)
16. Criminal Minds (CBS)
17. Heroes (NBC)
18. CSI: NY (CBS)
19. Rules of Engagement (CBS)
20. Cold Case (CBS)

I've watched all five episodes of CBS' new comedy Rules of Engagement, mainly because I'm already watching Two and a Half Men at 9. I also watch because Patrick Warburton and Megyn Price are two sitcom actors that I like, and I'm always hoping they'll land in a successful show. But I've got to tell you, the show is barely above average. I chuckle once or twice per episode, mostly in reaction to Warburton's droll line readings. And don't even get me started on the bland "young" couple played by Oliver Hudson and Bianca Kajlich and the sight of David Spade aging before our eyes as yet another version of Dennis Finch.

But for some reason, the show is attracting a pretty good audience. In the LA Times article Bob linked to yesterday, it was noted that Rules is holding on to much of Men's lead-in audience, averaging 13.5 million viewers per week.

• At 8, FOX has a new episode of Prison Break, then a new 24.
• NBC has a new Deal Or No Deal at 8, then new episodes of Heroes and The Black Donnellys.
• TBS has four good Friends repeats starting at 8, then two episodes of Family Guy.
• ABC Family has a new Wildfire at 8.
• Also at 8: Discovery Times has The Lost Tomb of Jesus.
• At 8:30, CBS has the season finale of The Class.
• At 9, ABC has a new Supernanny, then a new What About Brian.
• Food Network has a new Unwrapped at 9, focusing on food innovations.
• USA has a new Monday Night RAW at 9.
• GSN has a new High Stakes Poker at 9.
• At 9:30, CBS has a new ep of Rules of Engagement.

Check your local TV listings for more.

The weekly Nielsen ratings, by number of viewers.

1. The Oscars (ABC)
2. American Idol - Weds (FOX)
3. American Idol - Tues (FOX)
4. Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
5. Road to the Oscars (ABC)
6. American Idol - Thurs (FOX)
7. CSI (CBS)
8. CSI: Miami (CBS)
9. Deal Or No Deal (NBC)
10. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
11. Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special (ABC)
12. NCIS (CBS)
13. Barbara Walters Oscar Special (ABC)
14. Shark (CBS)
15. Heroes (NBC)
16. Rules of Engagement (CBS)
17. Criminal Minds (CBS)
18. CSI: NY (CBS)
19. Survivor (CBS)
20. 24 (FOX)

The numbers are in and Super Bowl XLI was huge. Coming in at 93.1 million viewers, it was the third most watched program in history, and the second most watched Super Bowl. Having the lead-in to end all lead-ins also helped Criminal Minds put up the best numbers ever for the series. The special episode following the game averaged 26.2 million viewers.

Is that a disappointment? Last year, the post Super Bowl episode of Grey's Anatomy drew a considerably larger 38.1 million viewers. We can chalk part of that difference up to the fact that Grey's was more of a hit show going in, but I think more of it has to do with the subject matter.

Criminal Minds is never a touchy-feely, happy bunnies on clouds kind of show, but the post Super Bowl episode was dark even by their standards. Come on, Dawson chaining up a woman and setting the dogs loose on her? That's asking a lot from the family friendly Super Bowl audience.