TVSquad

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty.
• NBC has a new Chuck at 8, then a new Celebrity Apprentice and another new episode of Chuck.
• FOX has a new, two hour Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader at 8.
• At 8:30, HGTV has a new Carter Can.
• At 9, ESPN has the Winter X Games.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• Also at 9: MSNBC has a Republican Debate from Florida.
• At 10, ABC has a new Big Shots.
• VH-1 has a new Celebrity Rehab at 10.
• At 10:30, Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader at 8, followed by a new Don't Forget The Lyrics.
• TCM has Casablanca at 8, then From Here To Eternity.
• G4 has a new X-Play at 8.
• At 8:30, HGTV has a new Carter Can, then a new Divine Design.
• Hallmark has a new movie at 9, Jane Doe: Eye of the Beholder.
• At 9, NBC has a new Celebrity Apprentice, then a new ER.
• ESPN2 has coverage of The Australian Open starting at 9.
• Also at 9: Spike has a new TNA Impact!
• At 10, CBS has a new Without A Trace.
• ABC has a new Big Shots at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Big Shots.
• NBC has a new My Name Is Earl at 8, then new episodes of 30 Rock, Celebrity Apprentice, and ER.
• FOX has new episodes of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader and Don't Forget The Lyrics.
• PBS has a new Live From Lincoln Center at 8.
• Also at 8: TCM has Brief Encounter, followed by The Clock.
• At 8:30, HGTV has a new Carter Can.
• At 9, CBS has a new CSI, then a new Without A Trace.
• Sci-Fi has the new movie Beyond Loch Ness at 9.
• There's a new TNA Impact on Spike at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Big Shots, the show I haven't heard one person talk about this new season, has been pulled from the lineup by ABC effective immediately.

The show starred Dylan McDermott, Michael Vartan, and Joshua Malina (who is on Last Call with Carson Daly tonight, probably to plug the show - awkward!) and aired Thursdays at 10pm, right after Grey's Anatomy. I guess not too many people were sticking around after that highly-watched show. There are three episodes left and ABC is taking the show off the air. No word on whether the show will return at a later date or if the episodes will show up online at some point.

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, then new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Big Shots.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, followed by new episodes of CSI and Without A Trace.
• NBC has a new, one-hour My Name Is Earl at 8, then new episodes of The Office, Scrubs, and ER.
• FOX has a new, two-hour Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader at 8, with Regis Philbin and Clay Aiken.
• The CW has new episodes of Smallville and Supernatural.
• At 9, Larry King interviews Jerry Seinfeld on CNN.
• HGTV has a new Divine Design at 9.
• Hallmark has the new movie McBride: Semper Fi at 9.
• Also at 9: Sci-Fi has the new movie Headless Horseman.
• At 10, Sundance has a new Iconoclasts, with Alicia Keys and Ruby Dee.
• FX has a new It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Drawn Together.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Big Shots.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then a new CSI and the series premiere of Viva Laughlin.
• NBC has new episodes of My Name Is Earl, 30 Rock, The Office, and ER.
• FOX has the Red Sox/Indians game at 8.
• The CW has a new Smallville at 8, then a new Supernatural.
• At 9, Larry King interviews Bill Cosby on CNN.
• At 10, AMC has the season finale of Mad Men.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Drawn Together.

Another fall, another new fall season. Not all of the new shows can survive, of course, and it usually takes a few weeks to figure out what shows are in trouble of being canceled (or, as they say in network-speak, "on hiatus"). We'd like to see new shows get more time to catch on, but thems the breaks. One show has already been pulled from the schedule, FOX's Nashville, but what about other new shows?

I got another letter from a TV lover in need. Unfortunately, I have no memories of the show being described. If any of you can help out, please do.

"I remember a show that came on TV when I was a kid. Most memories are mid to late 80s. I can't remember the first half, but for the last 5 minutes of so of every show, the host, an elderly gentleman, would go draw on a large sheet of orange paper the size of a freestanding revolving chalkboard. "

The first big Thursday ratings battle was won by Grey's Anatomy, but CBS won overall for the night with their lineup of Survivor: China and the season premieres of CSI and Without A Trace.

ABC was a close second, even though Ugly Betty was down 20% from it's premiere last season. After Betty, the network had the season premiere of Grey's and the series premiere of Big Shots. Grey's was down 20% from last season too, but still won the time slot. Big Shots won the 10pm race, though it lost viewers halfway through to Without A Trace and and ER.

Even more series and season premieres rule Thursday...

• At 8, NBC has the one-hour season premiere of My Name Is Earl, then the one-hour season premiere of The Office and the season premiere of ER.
• ABC has the season premiere of Ugly Betty, then the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy and the series premiere of Big Shots.
• CBS has a new Survivor: China, followed by the season premieres of CSI and Without A Trace.
• There's a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader on FOX at 8, then a new Don't Forget The Lyrics.
• The CW has the season premiere of Smallville, then a repeat of the Reaper debut.
• At 9, PBS has a Political Forum with Republican candidates, hosted by Tavis Smiley.
• At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
• Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
• FX has a new It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Tim Gunn's Guide To Style.
• At 11:30, STARZ has a repeat of the first episode of Richard Roeper's series STARZ Inside, focusing on "Fog City Mavericks" such as George Lucas, Clint Eastwood, and Francis Ford Coppola.

Check your local TV listings for more.

It seems like Rob Thomas is going through a mid-career crisis. After his series Veronica Mars was not renewed by the CW network back in May, Thomas has been floating around the television world looking for a new venture. Back in early July he was picked to head up the new ABC series Miss/Guided. However, two weeks later he left his position as executive producer and showrunner under the "creative differences" umbrella (I wonder if I could use that line when I leave my IT position).

Now, according to our dear, dear friend Michael Ausiello over at TV Guide, Thomas has joined Big Shots (another ABC show) as a consulting producer. He will be in good company this time around as the executive producers of the show, Danielle Stokdyk and Jennifer Gwartz, were former producers on Veronica Mars.

As predicted in my preview story about today's sessions, Shonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy; Private Practice) was indeed asked about ex-GA cast member Isaiah Washington, who was canned last month by ABC and then scooped up by rival NBC for a role on Bionic Woman.

A reporter wanted to know what Rhimes thought about NBC president Ben Silverman saying he was in talks with Washington prior to the actor being let go at the end of the TV season.