TVSquad

If you're anything like me (first of all, God help you), then you've noticed that The Jay Leno Show is slowly starting to morph into the old Tonight Show.

Thankfully, Deal or No Deal host Howie Mandel finally put the last nail in The Jay Leno Show's coffin by giving the big faced host his own desk.



[via The Hollywood Reporter]

We must really like our televisions to be filled with crap. After all, as a country we continue to support it with nice, big, juicy ratings. Take NBC's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here debuted with 6.4 million viewers, enough for number one on the night, beating out The Bachelorette. I didn't watch it, but our own Jackie contributed to that number. I got enough of Sanjaya on American Idol thank you very much. Plus, I saw Stephen Baldwin being interviewed for this on Late Night and right there I'd had enough of the whole show.

But not America, apparently. Maybe it was all the hoopla about Heidi and Spencer (The Hills) quitting after like 20 minutes because no one would rub their feet or whatever. Did those horrible promos featuring Sanjaya getting set upon by bees really make you want to watch? Was it the last addition of Frangelina? Mrs. Rod Blagojevich? Or is it the car wreck lookie-loo phenomenon?

• TNT has Basketball Playoffs all night.
• WE has a Golden Girls marathon all night.
• At 8, ABC has a new Dancing with the Stars, then the season finale of Castle.
• CBS has a new Big Bang Theory, followed by new episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement, and CSI: Miami.
• FOX has the season finale of House at 8, then a new 24..
• NBC has a new Deal Or No Deal at 8, followed by a new, two-hour Medium.
• The CW has new episodes of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill.
• ABC Family has a new Greek at 8.
• PBS has a new Antiques Roadshow at 8, then a new American Experience.
• MyNetwork TV has a new Masters of Illusion at 8, followed by a new Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed.
  
• TLC has two new episodes of Little People, Big World at 8.
• At 9, USA has a new Monday Night RAW.
• At 10, Food Network has a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
• History Channel has a new Ax Men at 10.
• Also at 10: E! has a new The Soup Presents.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• TNT has Basketball Playoffs all night.
• Sci-Fi has a Star Trek: TNG marathon all night.
• At 7, ESPN has the Red Sox/Yankees game.
• Bravo has a new Inside The Actor's Studio (with Denis Leary) at 7.
• At 8, ABC has a new, two-hour Dancing with the Stars, followed by a new Castle.
• CBS has a new Big Bang Theory, then new episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement, and CSI: Miami.
• NBC has a new Deal or No Deal, followed by a new, two-hour Medium.
• FOX has a new House at 8, then a new 24.
• The CW has a new Gossip Girl at 8, then a new One Tree Hill.
• There's a new Antiques Roadshow on PBS at 8, followed by a new American Experience.
• ABC Family has a new Greek at 8, then four new episodes of Roommates.
• MyNetwork TV has a new Masters of Illusion at 8, then a new Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed.
• Also at 8: Food Network has a new Good Eats.
• At 9, HBO has three new episodes of In Treatment.
• At 10, Food Network has a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
• History Channel has a new Ax Men at 10.
• A&E has a new Paranormal State at 10.
• MTV has a new episode of The Hills at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Maybe my home town should offer tax incentives to the networks. It's working for Connecticut. Not only did NBC announce that the half-hour syndicated version of Deal or No Deal is returning for a second season with host Howie Mandel, but it will be relocating and filming in Connecticut.

I guess with a game show it doesn't matter where you film since it's the same set all the time, but are there as many incredibly gorgeous chicks in Connecticut as there are in California? Isn't Cali where they all go to see their dreams of being an actress reduced to standing on a stage next to a briefcase?

If you go by all of the various stories in the media, it would seem that TV viewers just aren't into award shows anymore. The ratings are often down year to year, and if people are tuning in it seems to be more for the fashions, the red carpet, and maybe to see a particular category/performance by someone on the show.

So it's interesting that there are so many new genre award shows popping up. TV Land has had their own awards (The TV Land Awards) for a number of years now (the latest airs next week with Neil Patrick Harris hosting), and Bravo has The A-List Awards, whatever they are (it aired earlier this week). Now GSN is getting into the game (no pun intended) with The Game Show Awards, a show dedicated to giving awards to game shows, game show hosts, even game show sponsors!

As far as we can tell, here are the responsibilities for hosting Deal Or No Deal:

1. Repeat the painfully obvious rules of the game over and over and over.

2. Loudly announce the names of pretty ladies holding suitcases.

3. Pretend that a game requiring absolutely no skills whatsoever requires skills when choosing numbers in a logically devoid random order.

4. Convince fully-grown adults that you're not pretend-talking on the phone to a villainous, money-hungry banker.

5. Never ever touch the palm of another human being.

• At 8, NBC has a new Deal Or No Deal, then a new Lipstick Jungle.
• PBS has a new Washington Week at 8, followed by new episodes of NOW and Bill Moyers Journal.
• Cartoon Network has a new Batman: The Brave and the Bold at 8.
• At 8:15, FOX has the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
• At 9, Sci-Fi has a new Stargate Atlantis, then a new Sanctuary.
• Hallmark has the movie A Kiss at Midnight at 9.
• There's a new Clone Wars on Cartoon Network at 9.
• At 10, ABC has a new 20/20.
• TLC has Miss America: Countdown to the Crown at 10.
• Travel Channel has a new Most Haunted USA at 10.
• STARZ has a new Crash at 10.
• Also at 10: E! has a new episode of The Soup.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• Discovery has a Mythbusters marathon all night.
• Sci-Fi's Twilight Zone marathon continues into the night.
• Disney has a Wizards of Waverly Place marathon.
• TV Land is showing The Cosby Show all night.
• More marathons: G4 is showing Cops.
• At 8, NBC has a new, two-hour Deal Or No Deal.
• FOX has the FedEx Orange Bowl at 8.
• PBS has a new Great Performances at 8.
• Also at 8: TCM has King Kong, then Them!
• At 9, Food Network has a new Iron Chef America.
• HGTV has HGTV Dream Home 2009 at 9.
• There's a new TNA Impact on Spike at 9.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• Bravo has a Project Runway marathon all night.
• Comedy Central has a South Park marathon all night.
• There's a Deadliest Catch marathon on Discovery.
  
• At 8, NBC has Greatest Holiday Moments: Hilarious Home Video Countdown, then new episodes of Deal Or No Deal and Momma's Boys.
• ESPN has the Valero Alamo Bowl at 8.
• TCM has Ron Howard: 50 Years in Film at 8.
• At 9, USA has a new Monday Night RAW.
• MTV has a new Bromance at 9.
• A&E has a new Intervention at 9.
• Hallmark has the movie A Grandpa For Christmas at 9, followed by the movie A Town Without Christmas.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

• HGTV has Christmas programming all night.
• SoapNet has old Christmas episodes of General Hospital all night.
• At 8, NBC has a new, two-hour Deal Or No Deal.
• TNT has the Cavaliers/Wizards game at 8, followed by the Mavericks/Trailblazers game.
• Comedy Central has Bad Santa at 8.
• Alton Brown makes cookies on Good Eats at 8, on Food Network.
• Nickelodeon has Christmas episodes of various shows starting at 8: iCarly, SpongeBob, Home Improvement, George Lopez, and more.
• Also at 8: Disney has Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas.
• TCM has Casablanca at 8, then The Big Sleep.
• At 9, Hallmark has the movie Our First Christmas.
• TLC has two Christmas episodes of Little People, Big World at 9.
• Lifetime has the movie A Very Merry Daughter of the Bride at 9.
• At 11, Lifetime has two Christmas episodes of Will & Grace.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

When NBC announced that Jay Leno would take over the 10pm slot every weekday night, a lot of people worried that not only would this mean that some of their favorite 10pm shows would either be canceled or moved to another time slot, they also worried that NBC was signaling that they were giving up on scripted shows. NBC sent out a memo saying "this does not reduce NBC's commitment to scripted programs" and that it "enables us to focus on scripted development for 8-10pm." But it seems like they'll have no room for any more scripted shows.

I hope I'm wrong about this but just looking at what NBC has on their schedule it makes me wonder.

Here's a list of the reality and/or games shows that NBC has or will have on the schedule:

• At 8, ABC has a new Wife Swap, followed by new episodes of Supernanny and 20/20.
• CBS has a new Ghost Whisperer at 8.
• NBC has a new Deal Or No Deal at 8, then new episodes of Crusoe and Lipstick Jungle.
• FOX has new episodes of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? and Don't Forget The Lyrics.
• The CW has a new Everybody Hates Chris at 8, followed by a new episode of The Game.
• There's a new Washington Week on PBS at 8, then new episodes of NOW and Bill Moyers Journal.
• MyNetwork TV has a new Smackdown! at 8.
• TLC has a new Real Simple, Real Life at 8, followed by a new What Not To Wear.
• Food Network has Thanksgiving-themed shows all night, starting at 8 with two episodes of Good Eats and then Thanksgiving Disasters and Road Tested with The Neelys.
• Cartoon Network has a new Batman: The Brave and the Bold at 8, then new episodes of Secret Saturdays, The Clone Wars, and Ben 10: Alien Force.
• Also at 8: Disney has a new Suite Life on Deck.
• At 9, Sci-Fi has a new Stargate Atlantis, followed by a new Sanctuary.
• At 10, CBS has a new Numb3rs.
• E! has a new episode of The Soup at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

• At 8, ABC has a new Supernanny, then the series premiere of Super-Manny, and the Barbara Walters Special.
• CBS has a new Ghost Whisperer at 8, followed by The Price is Right Salutes The Troop, and a new Numb3rs.
• NBC has new episodes of Deal Or No Deal, Crusoe, and Lipstick Jungle.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? at 8, then a new Don't Forget The Lyrics.
• The CW has a new Everybody Hates Chris at 8, followed by a new episode of The Game.
• There's a new Washington Week on PBS at 8, then new episodes of NOW and Bill Moyers Journal.
• TBS has The Wizard of Oz at 8.
• Disney has a new Suite Life on Deck at 8.
• Cartoon Network has the series premiere of Batman: The Brave and the Bold at 8, followed by new episodes of The Secret Saturdays, The Clone Wars, and Ben 10: Alien Force.
• TCM has a new Elvis Mitchell: Under The Influence, with guest Joan Allen.
• At 10, USA has a new episode of The Starter Wife.
• Food Network has the special Treats of the Trade: Dessert at 10.
• Also at 10: E! has a new episode of The Soup.
• At 11, HBO has the season finale of Real Time with Bill Maher, with Ashton Kutcher, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
  

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

What the...? Deal or No Deal has 200 episodes under its belt? It seems like only two years, 10 months and 46 days since the show premiered on NBC. Never in the history of game shows has a simple concept like that of Deal been stretched and bent in order to keep the format fresh. There were two-hour episodes, audience participation episodes, episodes that focused around the contestant. and episodes featuring naked briefcase models. All right, the last one is a fantasy of mine. However, should the executives at Endemol be listening...

For the 200th episode, which preempts Chuck tonight at 8 p.m., Deal will be offering another variation of the game. Four lucky contestants will get the chance to take the Banker's challenge or find the million dollar briefcase in a series of speed rounds. Normally, contestants have a pretty big window to determine if they want to take the offer from the Banker -- the whole concept of the game. This episode they will only have a mere 20 seconds to make the decision.