TVSquad

I remember watching the halftime show of the 2004 Super Bowl and seeing Janet Jackson's nipple at the end of her duet with Justin Timberlake. I couldn't believe what I had just seen and I knew it was going to be a big thing. Of course, no one knew at the time just how big it was going to become. It actually changed the way TV shows are presented now.

But here's some good news for logic: a federal appeals court has thrown out the $550,000 fine that the FCC gave CBS for broadcasting the football boob scene. In the ruling the court said the FCC acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" when they handed out the fine.

Invented a new product that you'd like to pitch to millions of sports fans? Think you could pack all your thoughts into one second? Got a hundred thousand dollars kicking around?

Didn't think so.

According to Reuters, NBC (they're airing Super Bowl XLIII in Jan. '09) is expected to announce that the starting rate for a 30-second spot during the big game will be $3 million. Wow. That factors out to a hundred grand per second. Last year's going rate was a mere $2.7 million.

While I'm sure this comes as no surprise (I mean, c'mon - the rates jump every year, don't they?) to the big companies known for their Super Bowl commercials (think Budweiser, Coke, Pepsi, Fed Ex, etc.), it still makes you wonder how some of these smaller random companies can afford it. Every year there's some new Internet start-up you've never heard of and they'll end up having one of the most talked about commercials - like GoDaddy.com from a few years ago. It just seems like a real gamble. Rather than put all of your footballs in one field (eggs in a basket, get it?), I would think that spreading your money over numerous smaller ad campaigns would make more sense.

There are probably two reactions to that headline:

1. No big deal, I didn't really watch that show anyway.

2. There's a show called Inside the NFL?

Actually, there's a third reaction possible, when you realize that the show has been on for 31 years! I had no idea the show was on for that long, nor did I know that HBO has existed for that long. I wonder how many people had cable in 1977?

My roommate is incredibly upset about what happened to The New England Patriots on Sunday night. He now has to get his "19-0" tattoo removed via laser, and that's going to be painful.

But I'm not here to rehash the game and what happened and what should have been done, I'm here to talk about the ratings for the game. The FOX broadcast actually garnered the highest rating for the Super Bowl ever. 97.5 million watched the game (a 37.6 rating), according to Nielsen. This makes it not only the most-watched Super Bowl game, but also the second most watched show in TV ever, just behind the M*A*S*H finale in 1983.

Do I really have to say anything about this ad? It features a Victoria's Secret model dressed in a lingerie, holding a football, and looking sensually into the camera. I guess if there words to say about this ad they would be: perfect, wonderful, best ad ever, amazing, and...Duh!

Hey, it's the Super Bowl -- holiday for the male chauvinist pig! You expect me to be sensitive and caring? If you want that then call Alan Alda or Hugh Grant. Me, I'm just going to stare at her a little bit more.

I'm not into football, but I do watch the Super Bowl every single year. I watch it for the new expensive commercials (which we'll be covering here at TV Squad). But if you're the type of person who doesn't like the game or the commercials, here's what you can watch instead on Sunday (not just during the game at night but during the all-day pre-game show too). Puppies and Klingons and Beatles, oh my!

Advertisers still spend a ton of money on the Super Bowl. They use it to launch new products, advertise new movies, and convince guys that only one special beer will make us irresistible to scantily clad models. We'll have full coverage of the Super Bowl ads again this year, but maybe we can go one step further. The New York Times reports that there's still one ad slot left for the game, and FOX is only asking for $2.7 million for the 30 second ad.

So how about we all pool all of our money and buy the spot for TV Squad?

• At 7, ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and the premiere of Cashmere Mafia.
• The CW has a new CW Now at 7.
• NBC has a new, two hour Deal Or No Deal at 7 (with Corey Feldman and Debbie Gibson!), then the two hour premiere of American Gladiators.
• At 7:30 (or after football), CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then new episodes of The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and Shark.
• At 8, FOX has a new Simpsons then a new King of the Hill.
• PBS has a new Nature at 8.
• There's a new Life is Wild on The CW at 8.
• At 9, HBO has the season premiere of The Wire.
• At 9:30, FOX has a new American Dad.
• At 10, Food Network has Mario Batali vs. Jamie Oliver in a new Iron Chef America, which is followed by the premiere of Oliver's new show Jamie At Home.
• At 12:30am, Cartoon Network has a new Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job.

Check your local TV listings for more.

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

Two things strike me as I look at this week's list: 1.) if crime didn't exist, CBS probably wouldn't be in the top 20 as much as they are, and 2.) NBC had a lot of football on last week. So many football games, shows, and pre-kicks in the top 20 that it's actually a little confusing.

1. Sunday Night Football (NBC)

The move by the NFL to exclusively air this weekend's game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants on their own NFL network, which reaches only 40% of US households, was met with much criticism and frustration. With a win this weekend, the Patriots would become the first team to go undefeated in a 16-game season (the Dolphins did it in the 14-game '72 season).

Now it looks like pressure from Washington has changed their mind and suddenly the game is airing on NFL Network and both NBC and CBS. Of course, several local affiliates to the two teams had already negotiated exclusive rights to the game and sold ads at inflated rates, so they can't be too happy about having to share the game now with CBS and NBC.

I haven't Googled it, but I'm just going to assume that this is the first time a major TV network has opened a restaurant with a major sports franchise.

CBS and The New England Patriots (that's football for those readers who don't watch sports) have announced that they are joining together to open a new restaurant/bar called CBS Scene, and it will be one of the major attractions at the new Patriot Place entertainment and shopping complex in Foxboro, MA. The place will be 15,000 square feet and have tons of televisions, all showing CBS programming.

• AMC is showing Alfred Hitchcock movies all day and night.
• At 7am, NBC's Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America, and CBS' Early Show will all have Thanksgiving features, including cooking tips and reports from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

(S12E01) Out of all the shows in the FOX animated universe King of the Hill has been the most consistent when it comes to the quality of their shows. I don't believe that there has been any season during the show's existence that fans and critics have declared weak. Sure, there are individual episodes that stand out more than others, but that's to be expected in a series that is beginning its twelfth season. I'm saying that, as a whole, King of the Hill has remained pretty steady during its time on the air.