TVSquad

While a lot of shows seem to be thriving in cable, in the last couple of days, two series have bitten the dust. TBS dumped The Bill Engvall Show after three seasons, and now A&E Network has canceled The Cleaner, opting not to give the drama series another year. Hmm... does that mean Benjamin Bratt is available to return to Law and Order?

Probably not. Been there, done that, you know. But the TV pro is now unemployed although I doubt that'll be for long. The Cleaner just never really clicked for A&E. It was as intense as the network's hit reality show, Intervention, but it wasn't nearly as compelling.

Where are the family comedies these days? They're a rare commodity on the big three plus Fox, and even if you include the animated clans on The Family Guy and The Simpsons and American Dad, you can count the family-type comedy shows on one hand.

However, TBS has a throwback family comedy, one in The Cosby Show mode, and they're sticking with it. TBS's The Bill Engvall Show has just been given a third season renewal. The sitcom will be back in the summer 2009 with ten new episodes.

I've watched The Bill Engvall Show and enjoyed it. It's meant to evoke Cosby, but I also found a lot of Everybody Loves Raymond and Home Improvement in it as well, and that's a good thing. Engvall's a funny guy, and he's greatly aided in the show by sitcom vet Nancy Travis as his smart, attractive spouse.

Look, a family sitcom that's NOT on Disney or Nickelodeon which been renewed for another season! How unique!

TBS has ordered up a second season of 10 episodes of The Bill Engvall Show. The comedy, which entered the television landscape back in July, premiered with fairly strong ratings and remained the number two sitcom among adults 18-49 on ad-supported cable (fancy talk for basic cable) for the rest of its freshman season.

• At 7, USA has coverage of the U.S. Open.
• At 8, ABC has a new Just For Laughs.
• CBS has a new Power of 10 at 8, then a new Big Brother.
• Also at 8: ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker.
• At 9, TBS has a new Bill Engvall Show.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9.
• There's a new episode of The Universe on History Channel at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Eureka at 9, then a new ECW.
• The Travel Channel has a new Into Alaska with Jeff Corwin.
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, followed by a new Criss Angel Mindfreak.
• At 10, TLC has a new L.A. Ink.

Check your local TV listings for more.

I don't think I would be stretching the truth too much if I said that the family sitcom is pretty much dead on network television. I mean, with the exception of According to Jim and perhaps Two and a Half Men, there has been a dearth of successful family comedies on the air since the departure of Everybody Loves Raymond and Arrested Development a few years ago.

Television and I don't see much of each other during the summer months, even during this era of year-round original programming. One reason why is, well, it's summer. I spend enough time cooped up in a small cubicle staring at a computer screen that I use summer to stretch my legs a bit. The other most likely reason is that I still have the mentality that there's nothing good on television to watch during the summer. Chalk that up to years of never-ending repeats while I was growing up.

Still, there are a few shows that I will watch on a regular basis, and there are some new outings that look interesting. So, without much fanfare, here is what I'm going to be watching this summer.