TVSquad

Recently, The Onion had a really funny article called "Nation Suddenly Feels Old After Seeing Nick-At-Nite Lineup" (funniest line: "Why are they playing shows from 1988? That's only...fuck, that's 19 years ago? Oh God, I've wasted my life."). But it seems like even The Onion can't keep up with the rapid changes in the nostalgia network's lineup. Nick at Nite has not only rocketed past the eighties and started concentrating on sitcoms from the nineties (Home Improvement, Fresh Prince), but they've decided to start airing shows from the 2000s as well.

How do I know this? I turned on Nick at Nite last night and saw an episode of... George Lopez.

A new study at Marymount Manhattan College has concluded that real-life dads are less supportive and accepting than dads on sitcoms. Happy Father's Day!

The study went like this: a communications researcher showed episodes of various TV comedies, including The Simpsons, Everybody Loves Raymond, My Wife and Kids and George Lopez, to 108 college students and then asked them how the TV dads compared to their real-life dads. In every instance, the TV dad was better than the real dad.

Even before this morning's presentation of the 2007-08 ABC fall schedule, George Lopez knew that his show wasn't going to be on it. That's because ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson, gave him the bad news over the weekend. Apparently, McPherson and ABC thought George Lopez was going to be a money loser if it got picked it up for another season. Lopez isn't buying it, as he told the LA Times today.

He not only told the newspaper that he should have gotten one more season to tie up some loose threads, but that his show outperformed other shows, like Notes from the Underbelly, that got renewed. "TV just became really, really white again," he told the Times.

• At 8, ABC has a new, one-hour George Lopez, followed by new episodes of Dancing with the Stars and Boston Legal.
• CBS has a new NCIS at 8, then a new episode of The Unit.
• NBC has new episodes of Dateline, Law and Order: CI and Law and Order: SVU.
• FOX has a new American Idol at 8, then a new House.
• The CW has a new Gilmore Girls at 8, then a new Veronica Mars.
• There's a new Nova on PBS at 8, followed by a new Frontline.
• At 9, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter.
• At 9:30, Food Network has a new Road Tasted.
• At 10, FX has a new episode of The Shield.
• TLC has a new Miami Ink at 10.
• Bravo has a new Work Out at 10.
• Also at 10: Spike has a new ECW.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Back in January, comedian George Lopez went on WOMX and told hosts Scott and Eric that Jay Leno is "the biggest two-faced dude on TV," "one of the worst interviewers on TV," and a "backstabber." So when Leno saw Lopez at The Laugh Factory's salute to Richard Jeni (who committed suicide earlier this year), he wanted to bury the hatchet with him. The two started talking, and Leno wanted to find out why he said those things.

One problem: it wasn't George Lopez, it was Paul Rodriguez!

As if that's not embarrassing enough (Leno has known Rodriguez for 30 years!), but Leno's explanations were lame too. First he said he didn't have his contacts in, and then he said he was confused because he was upset over Jeni's death.

Ouch.

• At 8, CBS has a new NCIS, followed by a new episode of The Unit.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 8, then new episodes of Law and Order: CI and Law and Order: SVU.
• There's a new American Idol on FOX at 8, then a new House.
• The CW has new episodes of Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars.
• TNT has coverage of the NBA playoffs at 8.
• At 8:30, ABC has a new George Lopez, followed by new episodes of Dancing with the Stars and Boston Legal.
• At 9, Larry King Week continues on CNN with guest Oprah Winfrey.
• A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter at 9.
• At 10, TLC has a new Miami Ink.
• FX has a new ep of The Shield at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Work Out.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S04E11) ABC brought George Lopez back out of mothballs this week, so there was no 8:00 recap show. Instead, Tom and Samantha ran through the performances quickly at the beginning of the show. The best part of that was seeing Ian's reaction to the judge's comments last night. Much like many of the readers here, Ian didn't really understand where they were coming from.

It's a good point, and something that seems to happen every season. For whatever reason, the judges get a burr under their saddle and just go after one of the better contestants, while soft-pedaling some of the lesser routines. His best course of action is to move along and know that he's in good company.

• At 8, ABC has two new episodes of George Lopez, followed by new episodes of Dancing with the Stars and Boston Legal.
• CBS has a new NCIS at 8, then a new The Unit.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 8.
• There's a new American Idol on FOX at 8, then a new House.
• PBS has a new Nova at 8, followed by a new Frontline.
• The CW has new episodes of Gilmore Girls and Pussycat Dolls Present.
• At 10, TLC has a new Miami Ink.
• Food Network has a new Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• FX has a new ep of The Shield at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Work Out.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• America's Funniest Home Videos - Motherhood Madness
• George Lopez - Season 1 and Season 2
• Ghostbusters - Complete Series
• Happy Days - Season 2
• Highlander - Best of the Best
• Larry King Live - Greatest Interviews
• The Larry Sanders Show - Not Just The Best of The Larry Sanders Show
• Laverne & Shirley - Season 2
• Masters of Horror - Family
• Mork & Mindy - Season 2
• Murder, She Wrote - Season 6
• SpongeBob SquarePants - Friend or Foe
• The Venture Bros. - Season 2

• At 8, ABC has two new episodes of George Lopez.
• CBS has a new Jericho at 8, then new episodes of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY.
• NBC has new episodes of Friday Night Lights, Crossing Jordan, and Medium.
• There's a new 'Til Death on FOX at 8, then a new American Idol.
• The CW has a new America's Next Top Model at 8.
• Food Network has a new Emeril Live at 8.
• At 9, Discovery has a new Mythbusters.
• Travel Channel has a new World Poker Tour at 9.
• At 9:30, ABC has a new In Case of Emergency, followed by a new Lost.
• At 10, HGTV has a new Top Design.
• Also at 10: Comedy Central has a new South Park, followed by a new Halfway Home.
• At 10:30, Food Network has a new Dinner: Impossible.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, ABC has two new episodes of George Lopez, then new episodes of According To Jim, In Case Of Emergency, and Lost.
• CBS has a new Jericho at 8.
• NBC has new episodes of Friday Night Lights, Crossing Jordan, and Medium.
• FOX has a new Bones at 8, followed by new episodes of American Idol and 'Til Death.
• There's a new America's Next Top Model on The CW at 8.
• American Life has spy shows starting at 8: I Spy, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.
• Discovery has a new episode of Hazard Pay, about repo men. It's on at 8 too.
• At 9, The Travel Channel has a new ep of The World Poker Tour.
• At 10, Food Network has a new Good Eats, all about espresso.
• Also at 10: Comedy Central has a new South Park, then a new Halfway Home.
• At 11, HBO repeats The Comedian Award, with Jerry Seinfeld honored by Chris Rock, Robert Klein, Garry Shandling, Anderson Cooper, and others.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, FOX has a new Bones, then new episodes of American Idol and 'Til Death.
• ABC has a new George Lopez at 8.
• CBS has new episodes of Survivor (special night), Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY.
• NBC has a new Friday Night Lights at 8, then a new Crossing Jordan.
• There's a new America's Next Top Model on The CW at 8, then a new Pussycat Dolls Presents.
• At 9, HGTV has a new Design on a Dime.
• GSN has the special Gameshow Moments Gone Bananas. It's on at 9 too.
• At 9:30, ABC has a new In Case of Emergency, followed by a new Lost.
• At 10, Comedy Central has a new South Park, then a new Halfway Home.
• Bravo has a new Top Design at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, ABC has a new George Lopez.
• CBS has a new Jericho at 8.
• There's a new Bones on FOX at 8, then new episodes of American Idol and 'Til Death.
• The CW has a new America's Next Top Model at 8.
• TNT has an ER marathon starting at 8.
• Daniel Boulud joins Emeril in the kitchen on a new Emeril Live, at 8 on Food Network.
• At 9, ABC has a new According To Jim, followed by new episodes of In Case of Emergency and Lost.
• NBC has a new Crossing Jordan at 9.
• Discovery has a new Mythbusters at 9.
• At 10, Food Network has a new Good Eats, then a new Dinner: Impossible.
• Bravo has a new Top Design at 10 (actually starts a little bit before 10).
• Also at 10: Comedy Central has a new South Park, then a new Halfway Home.

Check your local TV listings for more.

I grew up on a farm, so I could only watch cable when visiting friends in town, at least until I was in high school and my family got a satellite dish. This was in the '90s, and one of our favorite channels to watch as a family was Nick at Nite: we'd watch The Donna Reed Show, The Patty Duke Show and Mr. Ed. You know, classic TV.

Fast forward to today and you have shows like Home Improvement, George Lopez and Saget-era America's Funniest Home Videos slated to appear on the cable channel, none of which feel especially "classic" to me. And George Lopez is still on, for the love of God.

Who knew that putting a niche-y comedy up against American Idol, then sandwiching it between two aging and unfunny shows, was a bad strategy? Just about everyone, including me. But that didn't stop ABC from putting The Knights of Prosperity at 8:30 on Wednesdays, between According to Jim and George Lopez. The strategy was designed to give the show a bit of a safety net, taking it away from the 9 PM airing of Idol, but the ratings remained anemic, sinking like a rock when Idol started airing at 8.

So, ABC did the inevitable and pulled the show from the schedule, starting this week, replacing it with reruns of Jim and Lopez. No word on whether the pulled episodes (the announcement linked above lists three) will be rescheduled. But given the fact that the show only averaged just over five million viewers, it doesn't seem likely the show will return any time soon.

[thanks to Trevor for the tip]