TVSquad

Every year, there's a show that's on the top of viewers' "You mean that's still on the air?" list. Whether the show was good or not, it was one that hung on in obscurity for years and years, getting just enough of an audience to keep it going. You know the shows I'm talking about: The Facts of Life. Wings. Yes, Dear. Matlock.Just Shoot Me. George Lopez. King of the Hill. JAG. Heck, even the great Scrubs was at the top of this list for many people for awhile (still might be for some).

But for the last five years or so, the reigning champ of that list was According to Jim, both because of its inexplicable longevity and its questionable quality. Now, with Jim Belushi's vanity project finally gone, it looks like another show has taken its place: FOX's 'Til Death.

The network just doesn't want to let the show die. Every time the show is in a low-rated slot, the network moves it to one that's higher-profile in an attempt to boost ratings. Case in point: the Brad Garrett sitcom will be replacing Brothers on Sundays at 7, starting January 10, after football's regular season is over.

• At 7, ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
• CBS has a new 60 Minutes at 7, then new episodes of The Amazing Race, Three Rivers, and Cold Case.
• NBC has a new Football Night in America at 7, followed by the Bears vs. the Falcons.
• FOX has a new Brothers at 7.
• At 8, FOX has a new episode of The Simpsons, then a new Cleveland Show.
• TBS has Baseball Playoffs at 8, the Dodgers vs. the Phillies.
• Nickelodeon has a new Nick News Special Edition at 8.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece Mystery!
• Food Network has a new Next Iron Chef at 9, then a new Iron Chef America.
• IFC has Monty Python: Almost The Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) at 9.
• HBO has a new Curb Your Enthusiasm at 9, followed by a new Bored To Death.
• Also at 9: Showtime has a new Dexter, then a new Californication.
• At 9:30, FOX has a new American Dad.
• At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Titan Maximum.
• At midnight , Cartoon Network has a new Venture Brothers.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• TBS has Baseball Playoffs all night.
• IFC has a marathon of The Prisoner all night.
• At 8, CBS has a new Ghost Whisperer, followed by new episodes of Medium and Numb3rs.
• NBC has a new Law and Order at 8, then new episodes of Dateline and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has new episodes of Brothers, 'Til Death, and Dollhouse.
• There's a new Smallville on The CW at 8.
• PBS has a new Washington Week at 8, then new episodes of NOW and Bill Moyers Journal.
• MyNetwork TV has a new Smackdown! at 8.
• Disney has a new Wizards of Waverly Place at 8.
• Cartoon Network has a new Clone Wars at 8, followed by a new Ben 10: Alien Force.
• At 9, USA has a new Monk, followed by a new Psych.
• Syfy has a new Stargate Universe at 9, then a new Sanctuary.
• BBC America has Friday Night with Streisand & Ross at 9.
• Lifetime has a new DietTribe at 9.
• At 9:30, Cartoon Network has a new episode of The Othersiders.
• At 10, HBO has a new Real Time with Bill Maher.
• Food Network has a new Chefs vs. City at 10.
• History Channel has a new Lock 'N Loaded with R. Lee Ermey at 10.
• E! has a new episode of The Soup at 10.
• Also at 10: Comedy Central has a new Comedy Central Presents.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, CBS has a new Ghost Whisperer, followed by new episodes of Medium and Numb3rs.
• NBC has a new Law and Order at 8, then new episodes of Dateline and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has a new Brothers at 8, followed by the season premiere of 'Til Death and a new Dollhouse.
• The CW has a new Smallville at 8.
• There's a new installment of The National Parks on PBS at 8.
• MyNetwork TV has a new Smackdown! at 8.
• Nickelodeon has a new episode of The Troop at 8.
• ESPN2 has College Football at 8, Pittsburgh vs. Louisville.
• Cartoon Network has the season premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
• At 9, Syfy has the series premiere of Stargate Universe.
• Lifetime has the season premiere of DietTribe.
• BBC America has a new Friday Night with Jonathan Ross at 9.
• TCM has Rear Window at 9.
• Also at 9: National Geographic has a new Dog Whisperer.
• At 10, HBO has a new Real Time with Bill Maher.
• E! has a new episode of The Soup at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Afte the jump, the late night talk shows.

• IFC has a marathon of The Prisoner all night.
• At 8, CBS has the season premiere of Ghost Whisperer, followed by the season premieres of Medium and Numb3rs.
• NBC has the season premiere of Law and Order at 8, then new episodes of Dateline and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has the series premiere of Brothers at 8, the the season premiere of Dollhouse.
• There's a new Smallville on The CW at 8.
• PBS has new episodes of Washington Week, NOW, and Bill Moyers Journal.
• MyNetwork TV has a new Smackdown! at 8.
• Nickelodeon has a new episode of The Troop at 8.
• Also at 8: Disney has a new Phineas and Ferb, followed by a new Suite Life on Deck.
• At 8:30, Cartoon Network has a new Ben 10: Alien Force.
• At 9, USA has a new Monk, then a new Psych.
• BBC America has a new Friday Night with Jonathan Ross at 9.
• At 10, HBO has a new Real Time with Bill Maher.
• History Channel has a new Lock 'N Load with R. Lee Ermey at 10.
• E! has a new episode of The Soup at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Like most people in this world, I often turn to master geek musician Jonathan Coulton when I'm trying to figure out how I should feel about something (you can smell hair burning when I try to think for myself).

So imagine my horror when the Fall schedule started filling out and Mr. Coulton was still dealing with strictly music-related matters. Well, I can finally have a restful night of sleep, because John Sellers of True Slant has gotten Jonathan Coulton's take on Fall TV.

FOX's new family Friday night sitcom Brothers seems like a relatively (see what I did there?) low key and uninspiring bit of prime time. And that's coming from someone who hasn't seen it yet. Call it my "suck sense." (I see Cop Rock.)

It is nice, however, to see the multi-camera, live audience sitcom making a comeback to the big three networks (four if you count the CW). They almost feel like a warm hug from the past, reminding me that they haven't forgotten me or the shows I remembering watching instead of getting regular exercise or dating.

The same things can be said for the show's official press kit.

Each year, as the new fall season approaches, I go through all the magazine and online sources talking about the various shows to try and figure out which ones I'm going to be excited about, and which I'm going to avoid like the plague.

Inevitably, I wind up sampling plenty of shows from which I should have steered clear. At the same time, a few shows will slip between the cracks, and then I'm bashing my head against the wall because I missed out on the beginning of something special. I hate coming into things late.

This year, I decided to share my top and bottom five selections. I'm sure the rest of the Squadders and you will have differing opinions than mine, but that's what makes America great, right? Chime in with your own lists in the comments.

As most people who follow our Press Kits Unwrapped series know, one of the most interesting perks to what we do is the free stuff the networks send us, usually along with their preview screeners. However, in the last year, the number of elaborate press kits have dwindled. Networks are starting to realize that sending a DVD in a sleeve is much cheaper than sending one with a water bottle or a t-shirt, and the show will get just as much coverage. Heck, ABC doesn't even send the DVDs anymore; they ask us to view screeners on their ABC Medianet website, which sometimes work and sometimes don't.

But FOX and its cable sibling FX are still plugging away, sending expensive-looking press kits to promote their shows. While FX is content with sending elaborately-packaged folders with DVDs and a glossy press guide, their broadcast cousins are still sending tchotchke-laden packages, like the one I got for the new season of House. An explanation, and more pics, after the jump.

The networks have had a quiet summer, quietly introducing scripted bomb after scripted bomb, so they're certainly ready to jump into the new fall season. And It looks to be an interesting one. ABC is scheduling a two-hour block of new comedies on Wednesdays as the sitcom tries to make a comeback.

Even more risky is NBC handing 10:00 to Jay Leno every night of the week. Everyone's waiting to see how that one plays out. FOX is banking on huge positive buzz for Glee to make it a hit, while ABC is hoping FlashForward can pick up where Lost is leaving off when it wraps its run this season.

To help you with it all, TV Squad has put together a handy calendar of all the premieres so you can schedule responsibly in this busy time of TV watching. Some nights have as many as twelve premieres scheduled, so you might need to invest in a few more DVRs to catch all your favorites; Monday's still look grim. Bookmark this page and you'll have it handy to help see you through.

FOX has only two live action comedies on their fall slate: 'Til Death and Brothers. As someone who's seen Brothers, I can see why they'd be concerned that this isn't going to be enough. So, if you're FOX and you haven't had a good long-running comedy hit since That '70s Show, what do you do? Find the guys who worked on that and see what the've been up to, of course.

Co-creator and executive producer Mark Brazill has been developing a new multi-camera comedy. "We'll take it!" It's just a spec script right now? "Okay, find the right cast and -- we'll take it!"

Like '70s, The Rednecks & Romeos is a coming-of-age comedy. Based somewhat on Brazill's own experiences, it's about a family trying to get by after the father loses his dealership business and the family home to bankruptcy. That may hit pretty close to home for a lot of people these days.

While it was a little odd that the "screener" of Glee we got was the exact same episode that FOX aired after American Idol in the spring, the rest of these shows were truly new. Dramatic offerings included FOX's loose adaptation of the DC Comics property Human Target and Past Life. On the comedy side they offered us screeners for The Cleveland Show, Brothers, Sons of Tucson and the aforementioned Glee.

After enduring the screener for Do Not Disturb last season on FOX, I could only hope that these offerings were at least better than that offense to the senses. And they were. Well, most of them. Unfortunately, it seems that FOX has at least one Do Not Disturb in them every season. Other than that, one of these shows was far better than I expected, another a bit worse, and a third one stands as one of the better pilots I've ever seen.

(S02E06) "You can't sugarcoat that turd." -- The Great Herrmann to Ned

Magic and the macabre, a recipe for a perfect Pushing Daisies episode. This one also had the virtue of Fred Willard doing a terrific guest star turn as "The Great Herrmann." Considering how misused Fred has been on some other shows (Back to You last season, for instance), it was refreshing to see him really shine here. His heart-to-heart with Ned, making Ned feel uncomfortable emotions because of the memories of his father's abandonment, was a high point of the show.

Ned accepts an invitation to watch his half-brothers -- Maurice and Ralston, the family Ned didn't know he had -- at The Conjurer's Castle. Their act is called "Two for the Show," and they're actually illusionists. Later on, their sleight of hand expertise helps solve the case.

Recently, the AOL list of the 50 Best Sitcoms of all time got me thinking about ten all time great sitcom sidekicks. Working on that list inspired me to look at the best in sitcom siblings -- ADULTS ONLY. The brother/sister relationship, brothers, sisters, family dynamics are great fodder for comedy. For my collection of the best, I've limited it to grown-up siblings only because there are some truly funny things that happen only among adults brothers and sisters that are unique and universal at the same time. After all, unlike the childhood years when kids are controlled by parents, adult siblings remain close and in each other's lives by choice -- and that has made for some wonderful situation comedy.

Niles & Frasier Crane, Frasier
Two brothers, both psychiatrists, both opera buffs, both wine connoisseurs, both heterosexual despite evidence to the contrary. The Crane brothers were like two peas in a very funny pod, sparking each other in comedy, competitive and supportive at the same time. Making their brotherly friendship even funnier was the fact that their Dad, Martin, who was nothing like either one of them. What's even funnier is the fact that when Frasier was originally spun-off from Cheers, the writers didn't include the character of Niles. It was only after seeing an 8x10 of David Hyde Pierce, and how much he looked like Kelsey Grammer's brother, that they put him in the pilot. Frasier would not have been nearly the hit comedy it was without the brother angle.

Because what I'm about to write may come across as sounding harsh and insensitive, let me preface all of this by saying that I love The Biggest Loser and have nothing but the utmost respect for the contestants and what they go through on the show.

In a world saturated with reality shows, The Biggest Loser is one of the few that still comes across as "real." You can't script a 100lb. weight loss.

With that out of the way, let me get to the point: I've had enough of these whiners doing nothing but hug each other and cry. The biggest culprits? The brothers, Mark and Jay. If tears contained calories, these two men would be skin and bones.