TVSquad

Sure, we always talk about NBC, how they are usually fourth in the ratings and and they don't give shows a chance and they show Deal Or No Deal way too many times, but they are number one in one important area: selling ad time for this fall.

The network has already sold $1.9 billion (yes, that's with a B, as in Bionic Woman) of advance advertising sales for this fall's prime time schedule. And they did this even though they didn't do a regular upfront and didn't have pilots to show. That's $100 million more than they did last year.

Summer hasn't even started yet (though I always consider Memorial Day the start of summer), but FOX has all of the premiere dates for the new and returning shows. Some of the shows were announced as starting the week of August 25, but those dates have been pushed to September 1. In fact, all of the FOX shows bow in September this year. But that's OK. Better than waiting until October like a lot of networks, right? (Of course, the World Series starts on FOX at the end of October so there will be an interruption.)

After the jump, the rundown (except for 24 and Dollhouse, which premiere in early '09). Feel free to print out and post on your refrigerator!

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

1. CSI (CBS)
2. Dancing with the Stars - Mon (ABC)
3. Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
4. Sunday Night Football (NBC)
5. Desperate Housewives (ABC)
6. House (FOX)
7. NCIS (CBS)
8. Dancing with the Stars - Tues (ABC)
9. CSI: Miami (CBS)
10. Criminal Minds (CBS)
11. Without A Trace (CBS)
12. Survivor (CBS)
13. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
14. Pushing Daisies (ABC)
15. Cold Case (CBS)
16. CSI: NY (CBS)
17. Private Practice (ABC)
18. Heroes (NBC)
19. Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
20. Extreme Makeover (ABC)

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?

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

1. CSI (CBS)
2. Dancing with the Stars - Monday (ABC)
3. Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
4. Desperate Housewives (ABC)
5. Dancing with the Stars - Tues (ABC)
6. House (FOX)
7. Heroes (NBC)
8. Dancing with the Stars - Weds (ABC)
9. Without A Trace (CBS)
10. CSI: Miami (CBS)
11. Sunday Night Football (NBC)
12. Private Practice (ABC)
13. Extreme Makeover (ABC)
14. Survivor (CBS)
15. Bionic Woman (NBC)
16. NCIS (CBS)
17. Cold Case (CBS)
18. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
19. Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
20. 60 Minutes (CBS)

Hollywood is the most impatient entity in the entire galaxy. Industry experts and execs are already worried that the new season isn't living up to expectations.

Please note that we are one week into the new season.

There are only two new shows so far that have shown any strength: Bionic Woman and Private Practice. Of course, they've only had one episode each, less than a week ago, so who knows if those numbers are even solid? Returning shows, such as Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and CSI: Miami are still big ratings-getters, but even their numbers are down. ABC, CBS, NBC are down in the 18-49 demo too

I'm trying to decide on my feelings about Aliens in America, the new comedy premiering Monday at 8:30 on the The CW. When I first reviewed the show back in June as part of a preview of The CW's new shows, I said that it actually had some potential However, after reviewing the re-shot pilot and the episode following it, I'm not too sure anymore. Oh, as a coming-of-age comedy about a boy just trying to make it through high school it has its moments. But, there are just some elements to the show that leave me uneasy. More about that uneasiness later in the review. For now, let me talk about the premise of the show, which you can see after the jump.

(S04E01) Man, I'm having a hard time finding an opening for this review. I want to say that the season premiere of Atlantis was so much better than any episode of SG-1 that aired in its final season. However, that will probably piss off the SG-1 fans who say that Atlantis doesn't hold a candle to the original series. I want to say that, despite the standard science-fiction storyline that was the plot of this episode, the writers and producers did a great job of making it different, interesting, and a bit suspenseful. Yet, fans of science-fiction might get angry and say its all been done before and better.

(S01E01) Los Angeles and Toronto -- two cities that I will probably never end up moving into or near. Why? Because of the dense population of vampires that make those cities their home. I could understand Toronto: it's cold and gloomy in the winter and you can transverse the city through a myriad of underground passageways. But, Los Angeles? The place is sunny for most of the year. Why the hell would a vampire want to move there? Frankly I would think Seattle would be a better city to live in, or one of those towns up in Northern Alaska. I mean, those places don't see the sun for months at a time. What a perfect location for a vampire to live!

Now that I got that out of my system let's talk about the first episode of the new CBS supernatural drama Moonlight. If you read my early look of this show you could see that I wasn't really enamored with the program. Besides the fact that the acting was sub-par and the featured crime was something you would see on any standard criminal procedural, the whole thing just left me empty.

The first big Thursday ratings battle was won by Grey's Anatomy, but CBS won overall for the night with their lineup of Survivor: China and the season premieres of CSI and Without A Trace.

ABC was a close second, even though Ugly Betty was down 20% from it's premiere last season. After Betty, the network had the season premiere of Grey's and the series premiere of Big Shots. Grey's was down 20% from last season too, but still won the time slot. Big Shots won the 10pm race, though it lost viewers halfway through to Without A Trace and and ER.

(S14E01) So, here we are.

After 13 years, numerous cast changes, various relationships, and a number of staff deaths, we come to what will probably be the final season of NBC's medical drama ER. This show has come a long way since Doctors Greene, Lewis, Benton, Carter, and Ross (and Nurse Hathaway) entered our Thursday nights. Some of the journey has been rocky (Season 7 was one of the rockiest, in my honest opinion). But, for the most part the trip has been a very good one.

Even more series and season premieres rule Thursday...

• At 8, NBC has the one-hour season premiere of My Name Is Earl, then the one-hour season premiere of The Office and the season premiere of ER.
• ABC has the season premiere of Ugly Betty, then the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy and the series premiere of Big Shots.
• CBS has a new Survivor: China, followed by the season premieres of CSI and Without A Trace.
• There's a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader on FOX at 8, then a new Don't Forget The Lyrics.
• The CW has the season premiere of Smallville, then a repeat of the Reaper debut.
• At 9, PBS has a Political Forum with Republican candidates, hosted by Tavis Smiley.
• At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
• Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
• FX has a new It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Tim Gunn's Guide To Style.
• At 11:30, STARZ has a repeat of the first episode of Richard Roeper's series STARZ Inside, focusing on "Fog City Mavericks" such as George Lucas, Clint Eastwood, and Francis Ford Coppola.

Check your local TV listings for more.