TVSquad

The TV Squad Awards are in full swing, and I have the pleasure of moderating The Arrested Development Award, a.k.a. The Show Least Deserving of Cancellation Award.

Since we're focusing on shows from the 2007-2008 season, that lets out a few contenders, like Veronica Mars , Firefly, and the award's namesake, Arrested Development. But there are plenty of recent shows deserving of the honor. Five that made my list:

1. Journeyman (NBC). This time-shift puzzle starring Kevin McKidd as deer-in-the-headlights Dan Vasser took a while to hook me, but by mid-season, I was there. I love shows that make you think, and although this one developed a formula (Dan saving someone who would later go on to change history), the logistics always had you scratching your head. I was sad to see it absent from NBC's Fall 08 schedule.

• At 8, FOX has a new American Idol, then a new House.
• NBC has a new, two hour Biggest Loser at 8.
• There's a new Nova on PBS at 8.
• At 9, ABC has a new According To Jim, then a new Carpoolers.
• The CW has a new One Tree Hill at 9.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9.
• BBC America has a new Last Restaurant Standing at 9.
• At 9:30, HBO has a new In Treatment.
• At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
• FX has a new Nip/Tuck at 10.
• TNT starts running repeats of Bones with the pilot episode at 10.
• Also at 10: A&E has two new episodes of Parking Wars.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, FOX has a new American Idol.
• ABC has a new Just For Laughs at 8.
• NBC has a new, two hour Biggest Loser at 8, followed by a new Law and Order: SVU.
• At 9, ABC has a new According To Jim, then a new Carpoolers.
• There's a new One Tree Hill on The CW at 9.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9.
• TLC has two new episodes of something called The Bussey Bunch.
• Also at 9: ESPN2 has more coverage of The Australian Open.
• At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
• FX has a new Nip/Tuck at 10.
• A&E has two new episodes of Parking Wars starting at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• CSPAN and the news channels will have coverage of the NH Primary all night, and the other networks will cut in with results too.
• At 8, NBC has a new, two-hour Biggest Loser, then a new Law and Order: SVU.
• ABC has a new Just For Laughs at 8.
• The CW has two new episodes of One Tree Hill starting at 8.
• There's a new Nova on PBS at 8, followed by a new Frontline.
• At 9, CBS has The People's Choice Awards.
• ABC has a new According To Jim at 9, then new episodes of Carpoolers and Boston Legal.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9.
• At 10, Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Orange County.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

It was finally ABC's turn to unveil its winter schedule yesterday. There aren't many surprises in it except that Lost, as rumored, will now air on a new night and that Big Shots, who was benched last week, will get a fifth another chance. ABC's winter programming will also include the premieres of Cashmere Mafia, Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann, Eli Stone and Oprah's Big Give and the return of a few reality series, such as Supernanny and Wife Swap, to fill the void left when scripted series will have aired all their new episodes.

Perhaps one of the most compelling new shows of the season, Dirty Sexy Money has been picked up for a full season by ABC, as Reuters reports. The same article indicates that Lolita Davidovich, most recently known for a recurring role on the first season of The L Word, and currently seen in the web series quarterlife, which NBC picked up for air on the main network as reported here on TV Squad, has been cast in a recurring role as a potential love interest for Donald Sutherland's character Tripp Darling.

Sutherland's performance alone could carry Dirty Sexy Money. He adds a depth and mystery to Tripp Darling with such subtle nuances, and the character play between him and Peter Krause's Nick George is nothing short of brilliant. You never know if he's on the side of the angels or behind the death of Nick's father, a driving subplot of the series.

• At 8, ABC has a new Caveman, followed by new episodes of Carpoolers, Dancing with the Stars, and Boston Legal.
• CBS has a new NCIS at 8, then new episodes of The Unit and Cane.
• NBC has a new, two hour Biggest Loser at 8, then a new Law and Order: SVU.
• FOX has new episodes of Bones and House.
• There's a new Beauty and the Geek on The CW at 8, followed by a new Reaper.
• PBS has a new Nova at 8.
• Also at 8: TCM has two of James Ellroy's movie picks: Stakeout on Dope Street and Murder By Contract.
• At 9, Food Network has their All Star Thanksgiving, then a new Two Dudes Catering.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new Nip/Tuck.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Orange County at 10.
• TLC has a new Miami Ink at 10.
• At 10:30, Versus has a new Sports Unfiltered with Dennis Miller.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, ABC has a new Cavemen, followed by new episodes of Carpoolers, Dancing with the Stars, and Boston Legal.
• CBS has a new NCIS at 8, then new episodes of The Unit and Cane.
• FOX has new episodes of Bones and House.
• NBC has a new, two-hour Biggest Loser, then a new Law and Order: SVU.
• There's a new Beauty and the Geek on The CW at 8, followed by a new Reaper.
• PBS has a new Nova at 8, then a new Frontline.
• At 8:30, HGTV has a new Spice Up My Kitchen, then new episodes of Decorating Cents, 24 Hour Design and House Hunters.
• At 9 on CNN, Larry King interviews Robert Redford.
• ESPN has the two hour season finale of The Contender at 9.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9.
• At 10, Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Orange County.
• Versus has the series premiere of Sports Unfiltered with Dennis Miller at 10, with guests Curt Schilling and Al Michaels.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• Also at 10: FX has a new Nip/Tuck.
• At 10:30, Food Network has a new Two Dudes Catering.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Sweeps period is not only important for networks but also for TV viewers. Sweeps periods are when some of the biggest events in a TV series happen: deaths, explosions, extra special guest stars, etc.

To prepare you for November sweeps, I've combed through the networks' sweeps press releases and official episode descriptions and extracted what seems to be the juicy information for almost all scripted series on the five major networks.

All spoilers listed after the jump are actually spoilers the networks want you to know!

Now that the fall season is hitting the two-month-old mark it's probably safe enough to start grading how some of the new and returning shows are doing. Our friends over at AOL Television have done such a thing and are giving you a chance to grade the TV shows as well.

Thirty shows were chosen for their fall TV scorecard and range from long-running shows such as CSI and ER to fresh out of the box programs like Pushing Daisies and Private Practice. The highest marks go out to House, which has reinvented itself this season with a set of new doctors for Greg House to abuse; Pushing Daises, which AOL TV describes as the best new show of the season; Ugly Betty, a show that has yet to enter a sophomore slump; Reaper, one of the brighter spots for the slumping CW network; Desperate Housewives, 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights.

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 917-421-9477 (NY) - your anonymity is guaranteed, if you wish to remain as such.

This week we have: 24, Carpoolers, Chuck, Desperate Housewives, Dexter, Friday Night Lights, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, Moonlight, Private Practice, and Ugly Betty. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)

Some interesting news coming out of ABC today, one of which is a surprise, the other of which isn't:

First the non-surprise: Both TV Week and Kristin Dos Santos at E! Online are reporting that Pushing Daisies has been picked up for the rest of the season. That means 22 episodes of non-contact cuteness from Ned and Chuck. Ratings for the first three episodes have been solid, and -- at least based on the fun third episode -- worries about how the show might operate with budget restrictions have been so far unfounded.

The surprising ABC news: The former Ms. Veitch is also reporting that three more scripts have been ordered for Bruce McCulloch's Carpoolers, bringing the total order to 12 episodes. Despite the pedigree, the show hasn't been all that impressive so far either in quality or in the ratings. This makes me wonder if ABC is ordering more scripts in case there's a writers' strike.

• At 8, ABC has a new Cavemen, then new episodes of Carpoolers, Dancing with the Stars, and Boston Legal.
• CBS has a new NCIS, followed by new episodes of The Unit and Cane.
• FOX has new episodes of Bones and House.
• NBC has a new Singing Bee at 8, then new episodes of The Biggest Loser and Law and Order: SVU.
• There's a new Beauty and the Geek on The CW at 8, followed by a new Reaper.
• ABC Family has a new Lincoln Heights at 8.
• AMC's Monsterfest has The Frighteners at 8, then Hellraiser.
• At 9, PBS has a new Frontline.
• CNN has the special Planet in Peril at 9.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs special at 9, with best of clips, bloopers, and more.
• A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter at 9, then a new Criss Angel Mindfreak.
• Also at 9: Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
• At 10, FX has the season finale of Damages.
• TLC has a new L.A. Ink at 10.
• At 10:30, Food Network has a new Two Dudes Catering.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Welcome to Subtle Subtitles. For those of you who are uninitiated to the purpose of this feature, we're asking you to come up with your funniest quote or description for what's going on in the screen grab we choose for the week. Winners are announced in the following Friday's contest.

1st place to Bus:

2nd place to Bill L.: "The moral of this story: never remind Jerry O'Connell what a little porker he was in Stand By Me."
3rd place to Curtis: "Gracen drops to his knees and thankfully takes in the fresh air as his fellow carpoolers decided to play a farting game on the ride into work."

This week, a scene from the latest episode of Dirty Sexy Money ...

Welcome to Subtle Subtitles. For those of you who are uninitiated to the purpose of this feature, we're asking you to come up with your funniest quote or description for what's going on in the screen grab we choose for the week. Winners are announced in the following Friday's contest.

1st place to Chris W.:

2nd place to ac: "Coming soon to Fox: Harry Potter M.D."
3rd place to Bill L: "House also thought he had seen his ex-wife Stacy back at the hospital, but realized he was imagining things only after trying to lift her skirt."

This week, a scene from the latest episode of Carpoolers ...