TVSquad

And the Good Riddance Award goes to... Cavemen! Here to accept the award for Cavemen is... well... nobody. How awkward would that be? The Cavemen looking at me with their big crazy eyebrows. Me looking back with my big crazy beard. "Uh... here ya go... Try the shrimp." In the end, it was a close race back at TV Squad HQ. The boys from ABC just edged out the runner-up, Bionic Woman.

Alright, here we go. The readers, and team TV Squad, have spoken. It's almost a little depressing that there were so many shows that received consideration for the award. Clearly, this wasn't a banner year for the networks. But that's good though. With all of those shows sent packing, there's that much more room on the schedule next season. Here's hoping all that valuable space gets put to good use, and that someone learns from the following examples. After the jump, the nominees, and your chance to vote for the TV Squad reader award.

Every year at this time there are a few shows that take the cancellation bullet, much to the dismay of fans. There are petitions, mass mailings, and declarations of never watching that network again. On the other hand ... every year there are also those shows that meet the TV reaper that really had it coming. We've had enough of their bad TV and we're not going to take it anymore.

The good riddance award is for those shows. Not only will you not miss them, you'll gladly cheer as the funeral procession passes you by. There is no shortage of contenders as we rap up the '07/'08 season. The first to ping my radar included Next Great American Band. Good grief, so much was wrong about that show. And while we're looking at that ill-fated Fox Friday, let's throw Nashville on the pile as well. CBS has a couple contenders in Secret Talents of the Stars and Viva Laughlin. How do you screw up getting frickin' Wolverine on your network? Of course, we'd be remiss if we didn't offer a tip of the cap to ABC and the Cavemen as well. Those are just a few from my perspective. Add your contenders in the comments and we'll boil it all down to a really great list, of really bad TV.

OK, now this might be the grossest "save our show" mail campaign yet.

The folks over at New York mag's Vulture Culture are urging readers to send hair to ABC to save the in-trouble sitcom Cavemen. They're upset that the show wasn't on ABC's list of shows renewed for the 2008-09 season, and they want people to start mailing envelopes filled with their hair to ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson. And they're suggesting you even shave your head completely. They want you to include the note "Hair Today, Hair Tomorrow." No word yet on whether or not the stuff will be sent Hair-Mail (ha!).

A few critics have actually said good things about Cavemen. Surprised? Yeah, well apparently it's not as uncommon as we might think. As this New York Times article details, there have been positive reviews of the show, but they've been mostly overshadowed by the enormous negative press it has received since before its premiere.

From the beginning, the hastily-produced pilot lead to critics thinking Cavemen was just a show relying on thinly veiled racial humor, with the cavemen standing in for African-Americans. Then they started talking about what a terrible idea the concept was (if it's funny for a thirty second commercial, that doesn't mean it's funny for thirty minutes). But was the show doomed from the start? Did all the negative publicity lead to more negative reviews of those early episodes than they could have rightly earned?

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 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.

• 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.

• 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, followed by new episodes of The Unit and Cane.
• FOX has new episodes of Bones and House.
• There's a new Singing Bee on NBC at 8, then new episodes of The Biggest Loser and Law and Order: SVU.
• The CW has a new Beauty and the Geek, followed by a new episode of The Reaper.
• PBS has a new Nova at 8, then a new P.O.V.
• HBO has another installment of their miniseries The Five at 8.
• Also at 8: ESPN has two new eps of The World Series of Poker.
• At 9, Bravo has two new eps of Queer Eye.
• At 9:30, Food Network has a new Have Fork, Will travel, followed by a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
• At 10, FX has a new Damages.
• TLC has a new Miami Ink at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

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?

While the new ABC comedies Cavemen and Carpoolers didn't rule the night, they did pretty well in their series premieres last night. But then again, this might have been just viewers curious to see how Cavemen turned out and those numbers could drop a lot next week (and based on the way Cavemen turned out, that's almost a guarantee...).