TVSquad

What do you do when you're losing a race, coming in last in a field of four, and have to justify your dismal performance? You change the scoring. What am I talking about? When asked about why his network is doing so poorly in the ratings, president and chief executive officer of NBC Universal, Jeff Zucker told Television Week, "It's not just about the ratings anymore."

What? (Imagine that as said by the Aflac duck). Do you think he really meant it, or is Jeff just hoping that the advertisers won't mind that his primetime lineup is getting its collective butt kicked by CBS, ABC and Fox most every night on the week?

Just to be fair, Zucker explains that the ratings don't matter because the network is fulfilling the expectations of the advertisers. "We're in an era where - we've made a commitment to our advertisers to a schedule. Advertisers have an expectation. It's not just about the ratings anymore. It's about our relationship with our advertisers and what their expectations are."

Sometimes reruns from a cable series can do rather well on network television as a bigger audience pool checks them out. That wasn't the case with Monk and Psych.

The two USA network hits (often in the top 10 in the Nielsen cable ratings) didn't fare too well when NBC ran them on Sunday nights the past couple of months, so the Peacock Network is pulling the shows immediately. Fans of The Office will be happy to hear that NBC will air a two hour marathon of Office repeats in the 9 to 11 time slot. That is, until they decide to put another reality show at that time.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then a new Cold Case and two episodes of Dexter.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7, then episodes of Monk and Psych.
• At 8, FOX has a new Simpsons, followed by a new King of the Hill, the season finale of Family Guy, and a new American Dad.
• There's a new Everybody Hates Chris on The CW at 8, then new episodes of Aliens in America and The Game.
• PBS has a new Nature at 8, followed by a new Masterpiece.
• Also at 8: TCM has the 1965 special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music.
• At 9, Showtime has a new episode of The Tudors, then the season premiere of This American Life.
• At 12:15am, Cartoon Network has a new Squidbillies, then a new Assy McGee.

Check your local TV listings for more.

One of the most eagerly anticipated new series from USA Network, In Plain Sight, will premiere on June 1st, a week earlier than previously announced. The Mary McCormack-Frederick Weller drama, the latest in USA's "characters welcome" campaign, was originally going to air on Sunday, June 8th, at 10 p.m., but that would have put the show up against two tough cable competitors -- the return of Lifetime's Army Wives for a second season, and History Channel's second year of Ice Road Truckers. This is USA's way of giving In Plain Sight a leg up on the competition -- unless Lifetime moves Army Wives and History moves IRT, respectively, to June 1st. Quick, who's going to blink?

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by a new Big Brother and the new movie Sweet Nothing In My Ear.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7, then episodes of Monk and Psych.
• At 8, ABC has the finale of Oprah's Big Give, then new episodes of Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters.
• The CW has a new Everybody Hates Chris at 8.
• PBS has a new Nature at 8, followed by a new Masterpiece.
• VH-1 has a new Celebrity Fit Club at 8, then a new Rock of Love with Bret Michaels reunion show.
• Also at 8: TCM has The Naked City, followed by Topkapi.
• At 9, The CW has a new episodes of The Game.
• There's a new Iron Chef America on Food Network at 9.
• HBO has the series finale of John Adams at 9.
• Showtime has a new episode of The Tudors, then a new Tracey Ullman's State of the Union.
• At 10, Comedy Central has standup special John Oliver: Terrifying Times.
• At 12:15am, Cartoon Network has a new Squidbillies.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then new episodes of Big Brother and Cold Case, then an episode of Dexter.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos at 7, followed by new episodes of Oprah's Big Give, Desperate Housewives, and Eli Stone.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7, then episodes of Monk and Psych.
• At 8, FOX has a new Simpsons, followed by a new King of the Hill.
• There's a new Everybody Hates Chris on The CW at 8.
• PBS has a new Nature at 8, then a new Masterpiece.
• Comedy Central has the live Night of Too Many Stars charity event at 8.
• Also at 8: ESPN has the Red Sox/Yankees game.
• At 8:30, Nickelodeon has a new Dance on Sunset.
• At 9, The CW has a new episode of The Game.
• HBO has a new John Adams at 9.
• Showtime has a new episode of The Tudors at 9, then a new Tracey Ullman's State of the Union.
• National Geographic has the special Human Footprint at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new Dirt.
• Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay at 10.
• At 12:15am, Cartoon Network has a new Squidbillies.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then new episodes of Big Brother and Cold Case and an episode of Dexter.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos at 7.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7, then episodes of Monk and Psych.
• At 8, The CW has a new Everybody Hates Chris.
• PBS has a new Nature at 8, then a new Masterpiece.
• Nickelodeon has new episodes of Zoey 101 and Dance Sunset.
• Disney has two new episodes of The Wizards of Waverly Place starting at 8.
• Also at 8: VH-1 has a new Celebrity Fit Club, followed by a new Rock of Love with Bret Michaels.
• At 8:30, FOX has a new King of the Hill.
• At 9, ABC has a new Oprah's Big Give, followed by a new Here Come The Newlyweds.
• The CW has a new episode of The Game at 9.
• Food Network has a new Iron Chef America at 9, then a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
• HBO has a new John Adams at 9.
• Showtime has a new episode of The Tudors at 9, then a new Tracey Ullman's State of the Union.
• At 10, FX has a new Dirt.
• At 12:15am, Cartoon Network has a new Squidbillies, then a new Assy McGee.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Last night, USA Network invited some of their favorite advertisers -- and a few reporters -- to their upfront presentation, held at The Modern, a sleek restaurant and lounge located at New York's Museum of Modern Art. It was an opportunity for USA and NBC Universal executives to crow about the network's continued success as well as let advertisers know what's coming up in 2008 and how they can combine their advertising message with the unique "characters" that USA offers.

All that's well and good -- be ready for more product placement and ad pods that other networks have recently adopted -- but the best part about an upfront presentation are the stars that the network drags out to schmooze and booze with those advertisers. And USA brought the big guns, including Tony Shalhoub from Monk, Debra Messing from The Starter Wife, Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell from Burn Notice, Dulé Hill, James Roday, and Corbin Bernsen from Psych, Kathryn Erbe and Chris Noth from Law & Order: Criminal Intent, the WWE's Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and Mary McCormack from the network's new show In Plain Sight. I got to speak to a few of them; audio of those interviews is after the jump.

Things will never be the same in Llanview. Rapper Snoop Dogg will be guesting on One Life to Live. Following in the footsteps of other big name music stars Mary J. Blige, Nelly Furtado, Chris Botti, Erykah Badu, Timbaland and Keri Hilson, Snoop is going to sing at the Ultra Violet dance club in episodes airing on ABC (and SoapNet) May 8 and May 9.

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

The headline for the Nielsen cable ratings this week is "Odd Baby Beats Up Wrestling Stars." Nickelodeon's new Fairly Odd Baby movie (from the Fairly Odd Parents series) got the #1 slot this week, as well as the #9 slot. The debate is Texas got the second slot, while the Anderson Cooper 360 analysis of the debate came in third.

1. Fairly Odd Baby (Nickelodeon)
2. Democratic Debate (CNN)
3. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
4. Monk (USA)
5. WWE Monday Night RAW - 10pm (USA)
6. WWE Monday Night RAW - 9pm (USA)
7. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
8. Tennessee/Memphis Basketball Game (ESPN)
9. Fairly Odd Baby (Nickelodeon)
10. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)

• At 8, CBS has a new Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular.
• NBC has a new 1 vs. 100 at 8, then the series premiere of Amnesia and a new Dateline.
• PBS has a new NOW at 8, followed by new episodes of Washington Week and Bill Moyers Journal.
• There's a new Smackdown! on The CW at 8.
• At 9, USA has the season finale of Monk.
• At 9:30, HBO has a new In Treatment.
• At 10, Comedy Central has a new Comedy Central Presents.
• Sci-Fi has a new Stargate Atlantis at 10.
• At 11, HBO has a new Real Time with Bill Maher.

Check your local TV listings for more.

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

Wait a second...what is this "basketball" that has suddenly invaded the top spots in the weekly Nielsen cable ratings? It knocked Monday Night RAW out of the top spots, and those wrestlers can't be too happy about that. But they still got the 5th and 7th slots, with USA's Psych in between. Both Psych and Monk have been doing well in the ratings this season.

And SpongeBob? Well, there's really no stopping him.

1. NBA All-Star Game (TNT)

• At 8, NBC has a new 1 vs. 100, then the two-hour season finale of Las Vegas.
• PBS has a new NOW at 8, followed by new episodes of Washington Week and Bill Moyers Journal.
• The CW has a new Smackdown! at 8.
• At 9, USA has a new Monk, then a new Psych.
• VH-1 has a new Best Week Ever at 9.
• At 9:30, HBO has a new In Treatment.
• At 10, Food Network has a new Paula's Party.
• There's a new Stargate Atlantis on Sci-Fi at 10.
• At 10:30, Bravo has a new Top This Party.
• At 11, HBO has a new Real Time with Bill Maher.

Check your local TV listings for more.

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

Now this is a varied ratings list. Sure, we have Monday Night RAW in there just like every week, but thrown into the mix are politics (the Democratic Debate from CA, the State of the Union and analysis), Law and Order, a movie on Disney, an episode of Monk, and not one but two - two! - episodes of Anderson Cooper 360. The episodes were helped by the fact that they followed the Democratic Debate - one is from 9:52 p.m. on Thursday and the other from 10 p.m. the same night. Eight minutes later. Crazy ratings.

1. Democratic Debate (CNN)

• At 8, NBC has a new 1 vs. 100, followed by new episodes of Friday Night Lights and Las Vegas.
• PBS has a new NOW at 8, then new episodes of Washington Week and Bill Moyers Journal.
• The CW has a new Smackdown! at 8.
• There's a new Flash Gordon on Sci-Fi at 8.
• G4 has a new X-Play at 8.
• At 9, USA has a new Monk, followed by a new Psych.
• Lifetime has a new How To Look Good Naked at 9.
• Hallmark has the new movie Daniel's Daughter at 9.
• At 9:30, HBO has a new In Treatment.
• At 10, ABC has a new 20/20.
• E! has a new episode of The Soup at 10.
• Lifetime has two new episodes of Top This Party at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new Stargate Atlantis at 10.
• Also at 10: Comedy Central has two new episodes of Comedy Central Presents, with Eugene Mirman and Jordan Rubin.
• At 11, HBO has a new Real Time with Bill Maher.
• At 12:05am, HBO Family has the reunion movie The Odd Couple: Together Again.

Check your local TV listings for more.