TVSquad

Good news for Patrick Warburton fans; disappointing news for Jenna Elfman fans. And if you have a deep affection for Jeremy Northam, this should make you happy, too. Confused? Don't be. I'm just laying out the essence of the CBS midseason juggle.

On Mondays, beginning February 1, Accidentally on Purpose will be shelved... but only for a few weeks. Taking the 8:30 Monday slot will be the return of Patrick Warburton, the best thing in Rules of Engagement.

That's not all. On March 31, the 8:30 slot in which Gary Unmarried airs, will be assumed by Accidentally. That's not because Gary's being canceled; it will have completed its season order by then.

The "Ask TV Squad" column, published every Wednesday, answers your questions about current and past TV shows, as well as about the celebrities appearing on TV. Every week, I will pick a question (or more) sent to us and provide answers in the column. If your question is not picked for a column, it may be answered in a subsequent column. To submit questions to the "Ask TV Squad" column, you can post them below in comments or email them at asktvsquad@gmail.com.

This week, I answer questions about Rules of Engagement, Huff and Southland.

This is Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at TV Squad where we 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 spoilers for: 90210, Better Off Ted, Desperate Housewives, Flashforward, Glee, Grey's Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, Supernatural, The Big Bang Theory, and Ugly Betty. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)

Don't worry, it's not what you think. It's not more of those Twitter-tastic reruns of Glee and Fringe from last week. Instead, FOX thinks they can turn the concept behind the website TFLN (Texts from Last Night) into a TV series. What TFLN does is showcase real texts people sent in the middle of the night, generally with regrets later. It's this generation's drunk dialing.

The problem is that writer Steve Holland (Rules of Engagement) says that while it will feature "crazy stuff from last night, it's a lot more about the group of friends and their lives." Which is great, but it then makes me wonder how it's a dramatic interpretation of the website? If the focus isn't on the regrettable texts, then it's just another comedy about young people.

He tries to reconnect the site by saying, "The show is about twentysomethings in that post-college, pre-the-rest-of-their-lives limbo trying to figure out what to do, and texting is a large part of that." Yes, it is. But so is social networking. Are you going to spin-off a show based on Facebook next?

Sam Briggs is a schlemiel. Everything that can go wrong in his life, every dumb thing a guy can do while trying to do the right thing, happens to Sam.

The preview of Worst Week (premiering Monday at 9:30 PM ET on CBS) has not changed dramatically from this ready-to-go pilot. The premise is simply this: can a good guy like Sam overcome all the stupid things he does and find happiness with the girl he loves and her family that loathes him?

For the pilot, Worst Week works really well as broad farce. The situation of this situation comedy goes from bad to worse to worse still. It's funny. It's over the top. It's very, very outrageous. Whether or not they can sustain this level of silliness and maintain some semblance of believability week in and week out is the big question for Worst Week.

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.

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.

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.

(S01E01) Take 'Til Death. Add Dennis Finch. Stir.

That's Rules of Engagement in a nutshell. And the result of the mix isn't particularly funny.

The best way to recover from a Super Bowl hangover? February sweeps! This week features plenty of guest stars, premieres and the return of heavyweight 'Lost.' Here are AOL Television's top picks for what to watch this week.

Rules of Engagement (Mon., 9:30PM, CBS) series premiere
Is the sitcom dead? Not if CBS has anything to do with it. Consider this: In the battle between heavyweights '24' and 'Heroes,' the winner was none other than 'Two and a Half Men.' Clearly, the audience still wants to see sitcoms, so CBS takes another shot with 'Rules.' It takes elements of the excellent 'How I Met Your Mother (two couples, one Barney-like single guy) and mashes them up with the premise of Fox's 'Til Death' (one new, one longtime couple) to make comedy comfort food.

Gilmore Girls (Tue., 8PM, The CW)
It's started. Yep, the train to Luke-and-Lorelai-ville has left the station and going full speed ahead. First, she wrote a beautiful, heartfelt letter for his custody trial. Now, Luke's there for her and the entire Gilmore family after Richard's classroom collapse. He even runs errands for Emily! And Logan borrows a helicopter to lend Rory his support. And where's Christopher? Nowhere to be seen. Not even a phone call. Choo-choo, folks, choo-choo.