TVSquad

You've probably heard the news that GM is ending the Pontiac line of automobiles. Here's a commercial from their glory days, the 1980s. And I mean the commercial screams 1980s. The song, the editing, the way it was filmed, the clothing. The only thing missing is a cameo by Don Johnson having a shootout with a drug dealer. So long, Pontiac. You served Jim Rockford and Michael Knight well.

Did you know that double Oscar winners Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro acted in soap operas? It's true. Many of today's biggest stars honed their craft by doing New York soaps like As the World Turns and Another World. Before she was Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Sarah Michelle Gellar was Susan Lucci's daughter on All My Children.

Hollywood soaps like Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, and The Young and the Restless also produced stars. Tom Selleck, for instance, was a Y&R hunk before becoming Magnum, P.I. There are a lot of current stars right now on hit shows who were daytime characters just a few years ago. After the jump, we count down the top ten primetime stars who started in soaps.

• 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.

• At 7, G4's Attack of the Show reports from the NY Comic Con.
• At 8, NBC has a new Knight Rider, followed by a new Life and a new Law and Order.
• CBS has a new Old Christine at 8, then new episodes of Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY.
• FOX has a new, two-hour American Idol.
• At 9, ABC has a new Lost, then a new Life on Mars.
• There's a new Ghost Hunters International on Sci-Fi at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new Damages.
• TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne at 10.
• MTV has a new episode of The Real World at 10.
• A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter at 10.
• Also at 10: Travel Channel has a new Man vs. Food.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has the season premiere of Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, NBC has a new Knight Rider, then new episodes of Life and Law and Order.
• FOX has a new American Idol at 8, followed by a new Lie To Me.
• At 9, ABC has a new Lost, then a new Life on Mars.
• CBS has Katie Couric's All Access Grammy Special at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters International at 9.
• G4 has two new episodes of The Chaser's War on Everything at 9.
• There's a new Spectacle on Sundance at 9.
• Showtime has a new Inside The NFL at 9.
• At 10, TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne.
• FX has a new Damages at 10.
• Bravo has a new Top Chef at 10.
• Travel Channel has a new Man vs. Food at 10.
• Also at 10: MTV has a new Real World.

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.
• FOX has a new American Idol, followed by the series premiere of Lie To Me.
• NBC has a new Knight Rider at 8.
• The CW has a new 13: Fear Is Real at 8.
• There's a new, two-hour Make 'Em Laugh at 8.
• At 9, ABC has the season premiere of Lost.
• CNBC has a new American Greed at 9.
• Showtime has a new Inside The NFL at 9.
• Also at 9: Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
• At 10, NBC has a new Law and Order.
• Bravo has a new Top Chef at 10.
• TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns starting at 10.
• MTV has a new episode of The Real World at 10.
• At 10:30, G4 has the season finale of Human Wrecking Balls.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Good news for fans of Thursday night comedy: NBC has renewed both 30 Rock and The Office. The Biggest Loser has also been renewed (and Heroes is noted as 'very secure'), but the final verdict has not been reached for the low-rated Lipstick Jungle, Kath & Kim and Knight Rider. In other news, the sky is blue.

Seriously, this should come as no surprise to anybody who watches either show, as they are both brilliant. NBC seems to be trying to make Thursday nights into "Must See TV" again. As someone who enjoys The Office and is pretty much addicted to 30 Rock, I think they're succeeding.

At this stage, it is only known that the series is renewed, and not whether or not the shows will stay in their current time slots. I cover Smallville on Thursday nights. If they move either series to the 8 PM hour on Thursday, then I have to make sure my video recorders are properly working.

• At 8, FOX has a new, two-hour American Idol.
• CBS has new episodes of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Criminal MInds, and CSI: NY.
• NBC has a new Knight Rider at 8.
• PBS has the premiere of Make 'Em Laugh at 8.
• The CW has a new 13: Fear is Real at 8.
• TCM has The Apartment at 8, then Some Like It Hot.
• At 9, Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
• There's a new Ghost Hunters International on Sci-Fi at 9.
• Sundance has a new Spectacle at 9.
• Showtime has a new Inside The NFL at 9.
• At 10, NBC has a new Law and Order.
• TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns at 10.
• FX has a new Damages at 10.
• Bravo has a new Top Chef at 10.
• Travel Channel has a new Man vs. Food at 10.
• Also at 10: MTV has a new Real World.
• At 10:30, G4 has a new Human Wrecking Balls.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, NBC has a new Knight Rider.
• PBS has a new Great Performances at 8.
• The CW has the series premiere of 13: Fear Is Real at 8.
• At 9, ABC has a new 20/20, followed by Barbara Walters Special: Patrick Swayze.
  
• CBS has The People's Choice Awards at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters International at 9.
• Fine Living has a new Whatever, Martha at 9.
• Showtime has a new Inside the NFL at 9.
• Also at 9: Sundance has a new Spectacle.
• At 10, NBC has a new Law and Order.
• TBS has the series premiere of Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns at 10 (two episodes).
• FX has the season premiere of Damages at 10.
• There's a new Top Chef on Bravo at 10.
• MTV has the season premiere of Real World: Brooklyn at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

It looks like NBC's new Knight Rider is on its last turbo boost, and the show's executive producer claims NBC has no one to blame but themselves.

Mediaweek's Alan Frutkin sat down with the show's executive producer Gary Scott Thompson to talk about the show's already troubled times before it hits the air again on Wednesday.

Thompson said the show has undergone some usual first season changes like differences in creative direction and story outlines, but the changes the network handed down cut far deeper to the bone.

BEST

1. Mad Men. The best show on TV.
2. 30 Rock. The funniest show on TV.
3. Lost. Just when I started to drift away from this show they pull off an amazing year.
4. Chuck. I really hope NBC sticks with this show. One of the more entertaining hours on television.
5. The Colbert Report. Both Colbert and Jon Stewart handled the election well this year, but Colbert did something special.
6. The Mentalist. My favorite new show and one that deserves all the ratings.
7. Burn Notice. With 30 Rock and The Office, Thursday is a great night of TV again.
8. The Late Show with David Letterman. Dave is always great, but he got involved in the election too and really shined.
9, Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. Sure, she may look like Palin, but that doesn't mean her impression would be automatic. Fey became a pop culture phenom this year.
10. Whatever, Martha. Really odd idea for a show, but it works.

• TBS has a Tyler Perry's House of Payne marathon all night.
• Sci-Fi has a marathon of the original Twilight Zone all night.
• Disney has a Totally New Year's Eve marathon.
• HBO2 has a True Blood marathon.
• Comedy Central is showing South Park all night.
• Food Network has a new Next Food Network Star marathon all night.
• At 8, NBC has a new Knight Rider.
• PBS has a new Live From Lincoln Center New Year's Eve concert at 8.
• At 10, ABC has Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest (whew!).
• NBC has New Year's Eve with Carson Daly at 10.
• CNN is covering New Year's Eve too, with a special Anderson Cooper 360 at 10.
• At 11, FOX has New Year's Eve Live.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

NBC had planned to bring the popular BBC and BBC America car show Top Gear to us yanks. Instead, NBC has decided to cut its brake cables in the middle of a brilliant power slide.

The official Top Gear blog announced that NBC won't air their US version of the show as a mid-season replacement in 2009.

This means the show and their hosts, Adam Carolla, Eric Stromer and Tanner Foust, are up to grabs for the highest bidder like a drug dealer's impounded Cadillac Escalade at a municipal car auction.

... Eleven babes worth watchin'

Oh sure, there may be 12 shows a stinkin', but there's still reason to tune in. See just like advertisers, show-runners and TV executives know that sex sells. And hot chicks sell. And hot chicks selling their sexuality sell like hotcakes ... or chicks ... I never can get that right. But just being hot and sexy isn't enough. To really sell it, they need to be as close to naked as legally allowed on the airwaves. We're talking "Oops, sorry to barge in on you standing there in your underwear bending over the bed pulling on your fishnet stockings. Nice rack."

Sometimes near-nudity, and even nudity, legitimately serves the plot. Let's face it, Anna Paquin had to bang that vampire on True Blood so she was going to have to get naked. It's a necessity. But Yvonne Strahovski on Chuck? Does she have to be in her underwear that often to protect the Intersect? Was it required by Simon Elder that Karen Darling be in her underwear in order to talk to him? Of course not. But it's hot and that's the way we like it. Hell, they made Catalina a stripper on My Name is Earl.

... Twelve shows a stinkin'

That aroma tickling your nose is not one from an oven full of fresh gingerbread cookies. No, it's from a television full of burned-out ideas and gutted hulks of viewers who can't take the crap that is heaped upon them. That's because, more than ever, there is a lot of stink on the television landscape. Most of it is due to inordinate amounts of reality programming which has flooded the market. The rest is due to the lack of new ideas for an industry that is rapidly changing.

In order to start our annual Festivus countdown we have compiled a scientifically proven list of 12 shows just stinking up the flat screen. And, when I say 'scientifically proven' I mean I just asked a bunch of people off the street about shows they disliked. So, it's as accurate as it possibly can be. Nevertheless, I'm sure you'll have opinions, one way or another, on these shows and others not on the list. So, if you have your nose plugs, let's begin.