TVSquad

The Ghost Hunters name is starting to rival CSI and Law & Order in the spinoff department. What else do all three of these franchises share? There's just as much hard paranormal evidence in the last two as appears in the first.

Please don't misunderstand me -- since I've gone off on this topic before. I'm not saying ghosts don't exist. I'm not saying there's no afterlife. I don't begrudge any scientific investigation into parapsychology or realms described as paranormal. I'd just like any of the endless march of "ghost-based" shows to dig up one scintilla of proof that they found something and, therefore, deserve to be on TV every week.

The latest entry is Syfy's Ghost Hunter's Academy -- sort of Most Haunted meets The Rookies from the 70s. Each week, ghost hunting "professors" (the show's conceit, not mine) Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango welcome first-time paranormal investigators onto The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) team.

If a show like Top Chef never found a meal, would you watch it? If Ice Road Truckers couldn't find snow, would you pay attention?

Yet, every week, paranormal investigation shows like Ghost Hunters or Paranormal State hit the air and unveil the whole pile of absolute squat they found. Now, there's a new contender in the "Hey! Look! We found pretty much nothing!" category with the Discovery Channel's Ghost Lab.

Each week two thick slabs of Texas beef named Brad and Barry Klinge (right) take their Everyday Paranormal investigation team out into the wild haunted yonder. They come armed with their traveling "ghost lab" -- a 24-foot car hauler "capable of providing 200,000 watts of electricity to power audio, video and photo analysis stations; flat-screen televisions and an interactive touch-screen smartboard."

Now that Eureka is back to deliver my weekly feel good sci-fi fix, I'm eagerly anticipating the death and darkness promised by the producers of the upcoming Stargate Universe. The wait will be over October 2 when the series premieres with a two-hour episode on Syfy.

Tentatively titled "Air," the premiere will follow a research team that gets cut off from Earth after boarding an Ancient ship with failing life support and a steampunk Stargate. The premiere will feature appearances by franchise vets Richard Dean Anderson and Michal Shanks and will, of course, introduce us to the new crew, including Robert Carlyle, David Blue and Lou Diamond Phillips. (Does anyone else out there have the feeling that LDP is gonna bite it, Robert Patrick style, in the premiere?)

Syfy also announced fall premiere dates for returning shows, including Sanctuary and Destination Truth. Check out the schedule:

• A&E has a Dog The Bounty Hunter marathon all night.
• At 8, ABC has a new Wipeout, followed by new episodes of I Survived A Japanese Game Show and Primetime: Crime.
• FOX has a new, two-hour So You Think You Can Dance at 8.
• PBS has a new Time Team America at 8, followed by a new Ascent of Money.
• At 9, NBC has a new America's Got Talent, then a new episode of The Philanthropist.
• TNT has the season premiere of Leverage at 9, followed by the series premiere of Dark Blue.
• Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay at 9.
• BBC America has a new Gordon Ramsay's F Word at 9.
• Also at 9: Syfy has a new Ghost Hunters International.
• At 10, Bravo has a new Top Chef Masters.
• MTV has a new Real World at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has the series premiere of Michael & Michael Have Issues.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, NBC has a new Biggest Loser, followed by a new Life.
• FOX has a new, two-hour American Idol at 8.
• At 9, ABC has a new Lost, then a new Life on Mars.
• CBS has a new Criminal Minds at 9, followed by a new CSI: NY.
• PBS has a new America's Ballroom Challenge at 9.
• History Channel has a new MonsterQuest at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters International at 9.
• At 10, TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne.
• Bravo has the season finale of Top Chef at 10.
• FX has a new Damages at 10.
• MTV has a new Real World at 10.
• A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter at 10.
• Also at 10: Food Network has Guy's Big Night.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, CBS has a new Old Christine, then new episodes of Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY.
• NBC has a new Knight Rider at 8, followed by new episodes of Life and Law and Order.
• FOX has a new American Idol at 8.
• At 9, ABC has a new Lost, followed by a new Life on Mars.
• PBS has a new American Masters at 9.
• History Channel has a new MonsterQuest at 9.
• There's a new Spectacle on Sundance Channel at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters International at 9.
• Fine Living has a new Whatever, Martha at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new Damages.
• TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne at 10.
• A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter at 10.
• MTV has a new Real World at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Top Chef.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

If you can't get enough of Ghost Hunters, then the Sci Fi Channel is ensuring that you'll never be able to get enough of it.

The network is expanding the popular paranormal reality show into "dozens of hours of programming" with renewals of some current spin-offs and pick-ups of even more spin-offs. At the rate they keep spinning this show off, it's going to have its own family tree by the end of the decade.

Right now there's the original Ghost Hunters and its international cousin, the cleverly named Ghost Hunters International. Both of those will return next season with new episodes.

Well, this was probably inevitable. With the success of A&E's Paranormal State hanging over the heads of the SciFi Channel, the network has given a thumbs-up to a new Ghost Hunters pilot that will join the original as well as Ghost Hunters International and Ghost Hunter Babies. All right, there is no such thing as Ghost Hunter Babies, but it would be a good idea. Think about it for a moment -- the babies would literally be peeing and pooping in their pants when they saw or felt something ghost-like rather than just saying that they did.

The new pilot is called Ghost Hunters: College Edition. In this edition the hunters would be, you guessed it, college students. Instead of teaming up and performing investigations on their own -- like they do on Paranormal State -- these students would team up with professional investigators to examine claims of paranormal events across the globe. In other words, look for some cross-overs between this show and its two older siblings.

I understand that Ghost Hunters is one of the SciFi Channel's hits, but isn't the network heading towards the point of saturation by adding a third series? With three series you begin to parse out smaller and smaller groups of viewers to each show, which brings down the popularity of the original. Something to think about, network executives, when you decide on giving a green light to Ghost Hunters: The Animated Series.

• At 8, FOX has a new, two hour So You Think You Can Dance.
• PBS has a new Click & Clack's As The Wrench Turns at 8, then a new Nova scienceNOW.
• At 9, NBC has a new Baby Borrowers, followed by a new Celebrity Circus.
• History Channel has a new MonsterQuest at 9.
• HGTV has a new Deserving Design at 9, followed by a new Design on a Dime.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters International at 9, then two new episodes of Scare Tactics.
• At 10, ABC has a new Primetime: Crime.
• There's a new Black Gold on TruTV at 10.
• TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne at 10.
• Food Network has a new Dinner: Impossible at 10.
• MTV has a new Real World at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Shear Genius.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Mind of Mencia.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, CBS has a new Power of 10, then new episodes of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY.
• ABC has a new Wife Swap at 8, followed by new episodes of Supernanny and Cashmere Mafia.
• There's a new Deal Or No Deal at 8 on NBC.
• PBS has a new installment of Pioneers of Television at 8, focusing on late night talk shows.
• The CW has new episodes of Crowned and Gossip Girl.
• At 9, Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters International.
• At 9:30, HGTV has a new Design on a Dime, then new episodes of House Hunters and Sleep On It.
• At 10, NBC has a new Law and Order.
• Bravo has a new Project Runway at 10.
• HBO has a new Inside the NFL at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.