TVSquad

So, the holidays are over and here we are at the beginning of a new year and a return to the TV season. No more Rudolph, no more Miracle on 34th Street, no more Santa comin' to town or anywhere else (I hear the elves don't even get a break in their work - they're already at work today getting ready for Christmas 2009). Now we have to get ready for the return of all of our favorites and some new and returning shows that haven't even come back yet. There's a lot of stuff coming this month.

But I bet you had no idea that there were 71 shows bowing this month. That's right, 71.

As we've told you before, this is the 60th anniversary of the Emmy Awards. The September 21 show, telecast on ABC, will not only celebrate the Best Actresses and Best Dramas of the current prime time lineup, it will also celebrate the many stars and characters and shows of 10, 20, 40, 60 years ago.

ABC has created an ad that features a lot of those stars. A lot of the stars are easy to find and it's a no-brainer that they were included (Marge and Homer, Rod Serling, Dick Van Dyke, Stewie, the South Park guys, etc), but I'm happy to also see some people I didn't think would be in such an ad: Guy Williams as Zorro, Robert Culp from I Spy, Mike Connors from Mannix, Tim Daly from Wings, Wally Cox from Mr. Peepers, among others.

We're used to reading all of the lists that rank the best and worst TV shows of all-time, now ABC is getting even more specific than that. What are the top moments in television history?

You can vote for them at the ABC site and your answers will be revealed on the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, which will be broadcast on Sunday, September 21. There are two categories, comedy and drama (sorry fans of game shows and reality shows). No, you can't write in your own vote, you have to pick from the finalists that they've already chosen for you, so right off the bat you know there's going to be a lot of "but what about..." and "why did they include..." talk.

Today ABC revealed its 2008-2009 schedule, where many fan favorites were listed as returning, along with some disappointing cancellations. Every year, though, there's one show that stands out in that list of returning shows; a show that, nearly every time its name is uttered here, gets slammed and ridiculed, boggling minds as to why, oh why, is it getting yet another season. That show is, of course, According to Jim.

Once again, According to Jim gets to continue on ABC for another season. If you read the comments here, though, it's not as though anyone is particularly happy about it. "WTF" and "you've got to be kidding me" are common reactions to this news. So, I have to wonder: if so many people seem to hate this show, despise it so much as to make it the brunt of many TV-related jokes, and to be shocked -- SHOCKED, I tell you -- that the network could continue to allow such an atrocity to linger on, then who is watching it?

Joel asked this question before, but now I want to know. After the jump I've put a poll in place to get some idea of who's behind the ratings that keep breathing life into Jim Belushi's career.

Mission accomplished!

According to James Hibberd at The Hollywood Reporter, Britney Spears' guest appearance on How I Met Your Mother generated the highest ratings ever for the show. The overnight rating among adults 18-49 was a 4.5, attracting 10.6 million viewers. It was the only show in CBS's Monday comedy lineup to show improvement, as the rest fell in the ratings. This marks the second week in a row that the show generated solid ratings. Hibberd reports that the strong post-strike ratings for HIMYM "assures" its renewal for the fall; CBS had been previously undecided on bringing it back.

Like I said last night, I thought it was a low-water mark for the show, though apparently many of you disagreed with me. And, to be honest, even though Brit Brit did OK on the show, she was still a bit of a distraction. But, anything to help take the show from "maybe" to "definitely" status for next season is all right with me.

The third annual New York Television Festival is now taking place in the Big Apple. As we did last year, we will review each of the pilots in competition there. This is the first of those reviews.

Last year I decided not to review any of the pilots from the New York Television Festival, but this year curiosity got the better of me and I said yes.

I decided to review one of the comedy DVDs. More specifically, the one featuring a pilot with puppets. You know what I learned, Mable? I learned that if your plot is lame and contrived, having puppets as half your cast doesn't improve things at all. Let's get into it (you can view the pilots at MSN):

Later this month, TVComedyClassics.com will officially launch as a download service in which folks can purchase, or rent, various comedies from the UK.

Don't expect well-known shows like Black Adder or Monty Python, however. In fact, there isn't a single show listed on the site I've ever heard of. Perhaps they'll be familiar to some of our readers from across the pond: Labours of Erica, Up the Elephant and Round the Castle, Mann's Best Friend, Robert's Robots and Two in Clover, just to name a few. Other series from the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s will be added when the site officially launches, with over one thousand titles in all eventually added to the service.

MTV has development deals in place for a few flicks which would air first on the network before hitting DVD and then, based on public response, the cinema. These projects, one of which is being developed by Jay Kogen, a writer for The Simpsons and Fraiser, have not been officially greenlit by the studio.

This is not an entirely new idea for MTV. Recently, MTV announced a DVD movie based on its popular My Super Sweet 16 series.

(S01E15) Let's skip the foreplay, get straight to the penetra-sch. Three storylines. Josh's negotiation. Kenneth's induction into Tracy's entourage. Jenna's Maxim gaffe. All brilliant.

Despite the perennial grousing about the dearth of good comedy on TV, Thursday nights alone are a careful, VCR-assisted juggling act for me between The Office, The Sarah Silverman Program, Ugly Betty and 30 Rock. It's like a mini-golden age of comedic goodness. The best part is that each show couldn't be more different from the other. 30 Rock doesn't do telenovela plot twists or series-long character arcs or queffing episodes. Well, they might do a queffing episode if that were permissible on network television. What 30 Rock does best is goofy set pieces, zippy one-liners and Alec Baldwin. So, let's get straight to the goods, shall we? An inventory, if you will.

There's not much information yet, but NBC is close to securing three new comedies set to air sometime next season. The first, I'm with Stupid, which I mentioned last month, is a re-tooling of a British series about a man who befriends a boy in a wheelchair and lives in a home for the disabled. The project is being helmed by directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly, along with Ben Silverman, who helped develop both The Office and Ugly Betty for American audiences.

Kath and Kim is based on an Australian series about a divorced mother and her daughter. Nancy Pimental, a former writer for South Park and a former co-host on Win Ben Stein's Money, penned the adaptation and will serve as executive producer with Silverman. The series, along with I'm with Stupid, is being developed for the Farrelly brother's Reveille production company.

There's always something great to read at Ken Levine's blog, and this past week was no exception. He has a really funny (and really useful) list of situations and scenes that aspiring writers should never include in their TV scripts. My favorite:

Don't hinge your show on stunt casting. I read a "Becker" where former President Jimmy Carter came in for a check-up and offered dating advice. Yeah, President Carter gets his physicals in the Bronx. And yeah, President Carter is always available to guest on a sitcom and advise a character to say whatever is necessary to get laid.

Of course, we've all seen even worse things actually make it on the air, but this is a great list.

The Emmy nominations were just announced in L.A. Here are the major nominations:

Best Drama

Grey's Anatomy
House
The Sopranos
24
The West Wing

Best Comedy

Arrested Development
Scrubs
Two and a Half Men
Curb Your Enthusiasm
The Office

Lead Actor, Drama

Peter Krause, Six Feet Under
Denis Leary, Rescue Me
Christopher Meloni, Law and Order: SVU
Martin Sheen, The West Wing
Keifer Sutherland, 24

Lead Actress, Drama

Francis Conroy, Six Feet Under
Geena Davis, Commander-in-Chief
Mariska Hargitay, Law and Order: SVU
Allison Janney, The West Wing
Krya Sedgwick, The Closer

Lead Actor, Comedy

Steve Carell, The Office
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Kevin James, The King of Queens
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

Lead Actress, Comedy

Jane Kaczmarek, Malcolm in the Middle
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
Stockard Channing, Out of Practice
Debra Messing, Will and Grace
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine

Supporting Actor, Comedy

Will Arnet, Arrested Development
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Bryan Cranston, Malcolm in the Middle
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Sean Hayes, Will and Grace

Supporting Actress, Comedy

Cheryl Hines, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Alfre Woodard, Desperate Housewives
Jamie Pressly, My Name Is Earl
Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds
Megan Mullally, Will and Grace

Supporting Actor, Drama

William Shatner, Boston Legal
Oliver Platt, Huff
Michael Imperioli, The Sopranos
Gregory Itzin, 24
Alan Alda, The West Wing

Supporting Actress, Drama

Candice Bergan, Boston Legal
Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy
Blythe Daner, Huff
Jean Smart, 24

Quick thoughts: No major noms for Lost or Desperate Housewives? Good to see The West Wing noticed for a good last season. Kevin James and Stockard Channing nominated in the comedy category?

Here's the full list.