TVSquad

Today marks 30 years since the premiere of ESPN. Happy birthday, ESPN! Hard to believe there was actually a time when there wasn't a cable channel devoted completely to sports. In fact, the idea of a cable network that just covered sports was considered as ridiculous as one that only reported the news. Don't even get me started on the radical notion of an all-food channel or one that specialized in weather!

Yes, once upon a time, all those concepts were deemed losers. Back in 1979, if you wanted to know the score of a game in progress, you had to hope it was playing on the radio or TV to tune in. Or, more often than not, wait till the local news broadcast at six o'clock for the score. How did we ever get by?

(S02E01) "Shut your mouth, that's my sister! I have dibs." -- Sock, to Ben who referred to Sock's stepsister as "smokin' hot"

Reaper's back, and our resident lovable losers are in full form: homeless (evicted from their apartment), jobless (though they get them back with a little blackmail), Sam's in the doghouse with Andi, and it's just another devilish day at The Work Bench.

That all may add up to a typical episode of Reaper for you, but they've taken a couple of steps to bring this show to the next level, as well as bringing us everything we loved so much about the first season.

(S03E01) Some changes are in the air for Dexter and its crew this season, judging by the happenings in the first episode. Batista is promoted to sergeant -- yay for him -- and he seems to be taking his new position very seriously. Will this responsible cop deal last? I like Batista and hope that it will, but the set-up makes me wonder.

Deb has turned over a new leaf: no drinking, no men and no smokes -- at least she still swears like a truck driver because I'd sure miss that. She sports a short, sassy new haircut to go with her no-nonsense new 'tude. She may be able to stick with the no smoking, but will she succumb to the men or booze first?

What are they going to do with Rita's pregnancy? No good can come of this, I assure you. Dexter as a dad only works part-time for me; I can't picture him without his bachelor pad, his privacy, his little haven complete with research laptop and hidden slides of blood.

Arguably the best show on television (in fact, it's killer!), it is no mystery why I have been looking forward to the start of Dexter, season three. Top-notch writing, geared toward viewers with a brain and a personality, has always been Dexter's M.O. I'm happy to say this continues in season three.

I've been lucky enough to see the first four episodes of the season, and you really, really don't want to miss them. Really. They continue where season two left off, and I surely don't miss the obnoxious, vile Lilah. I don't want to give anything away, but here are some tidbits:

Perhaps my favorite thing about Dirty Sexy Money is how the stellar acting from the entire cast makes you actually like and feel for this disgustingly rich and seemingly shallow family, the Darlings.

Why would anyone love a patriarch who manipulates and plays dirty, in both his business and personal life? Tripp Darling does it, and portrayed by Donald Sutherland, you love him anyway. He's got a sensitivity and down-home kind of style that lets him get away with it all.

Well, good news abounds in television these days: Dexter's third season is about to begin, Bones' fourth season is officially underway and there will be a Dirty Sexy Money marathon -- the whole first season, in order -- on SOAPnet.

You could make a case for Fringe being the biggest premiere of the fall season. Through the involvement of J.J. Abrams, and a boatload of promotion from the network, the show has generated an incredible amount of buzz. The thing about buzz though, is that it's often fleeting. At some point the show will have to back it up. There are still many weeks to go before we'll have a good idea of the result of the Fringe experiment, but where's the fun in waiting for the numbers? I ask you, TV Squad readers, to put on your ratings analysis caps and make the call. How will Fringe fare?

It's a complicated question. The biggest sticking point for me is the "serialized drama" question. The producers seem to be going out of their way to make sure everyone knows that this isn't like Lost. The LA Times quotes Abrams as saying that Fringe will be "a show that people can watch as frequently and as infrequently as they want to." That's all well and good to say, but in the same article he refers to "a larger mythology." In addition, lead actress Anna Torv says that what she loves about the show is the conspiracy. That's not the stuff of easily accessible procedurals.

Dexter's got it all: murder, mystery, mayhem, even romance and humor. My excitement barometer has started to rise, what with the hype surrounding the new season, premiering on September 28 on Showtime.

Man, I wish the creators of Dexter could package and sell their formula, although I'd be a very busy woman if all shows were this good. In fact, a show this good rarely comes around, with top-notch writing and incredible acting talent coming together.

Speaking of which, Hispanic Business has a quality interview up with the actor who plays Angel Batista on Dexter, David Zayas.

September first brings Labor Day, back-to-school, impending autumn, and... Cinemax HD. TV Squad received a press release stating that as of September first, Cinemax will be the only 100% HD channel, promos and all.

So what's this mean to us as viewers? I'm having a hard time wrapping myself around this one. Sure, they mention some new-ish movies they will premiere, like The Bourne Ultimatum, Shrek the Third and The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. But to me, Cinemax is synonymous with B movies from a decade or so ago, one of those channels that you get for free in your cable TV movie package bbut never watch.

I know what you are thinking... your burning question that you are too embarrassed to ask...

That question in the title may be a bit unfair, and slanted, given that I haven't actually seen the new 90210 yet. I could have just as easily titled this, "Is the new 90210 like totally awesome?" What I couldn't do is actually give you an opinion one way or the other, because The CW isn't going to let anyone see the show before the September premiere. Get a look at the message that drifted into TV Squad HQ from The CW.

"The CW and our studio partner CBS Paramount Network Television have made the strategic marketing decision not to screen "90210" for any media in advance of its premiere. We're not hiding anything . . . simply keeping a lid on 90210 until 9.02, riding the curiosity and anticipation into premiere night, and letting all our constituents see it at the same time."

Big Brother 9 is premiering tonight on CBS! I repeat, Big Brother 9 is premiering tonight on CBS!

Several of us here at TV Squad couldn't be happier (myself included), so in honor of this off-cycle winter season of Big Brothery goodness, we'll be hosting a live chat during the one hour season premiere.

The chat will begin a few minutes before the show starts and can be accessed via the link in the recap post. The recap post will hit the front page around the same time so check back then if you'd like to join the conversation.

Seriously, what else are you going to be watching tonight? Come join the chat and let your opinions be known in real-time with like-minded Big Brother fans. What could be better? I promise to bring the beer if you guys bring the slop.

See everyone tonight at 9:00 EST.

(S01E01) TV Squad has already done an early look at this series. What follows is a more in-depth review of the pilot episode.

To recap, the episode begins in 1999. It takes place between the second and third movies in the franchise. Sarah Connor (played by Lena Headey) and her son John Connor (played by Thomas Dekker) are on the run from the future.

In the future, John Connor saves mankind from a supercomputer called Skynet that was built by a human creator and financed by the military. Shortly after going online, Skynet became hellbent on making the human race extinct. Unfortunately, future John wasn't able to finish the job before Skynet invented a working time machine. Skynet also uses cyborg foot soldiers called Terminators to do its dirty work.

Sarah and John have to be careful not to leave any clues to their location while they're on the run from both the law and the future. If they do, at best they'll be arrested. At worst, Skynet can find them and send Terminators back in time to kill John before he saves the world.

Episode spoilers after the jump...

If you've been following my posts from the New York Television Festival, you may remember my mentioning that I'd post details of the Chuck premiere the festival was going to hold on Friday. Well, that didn't really turn out as planned. The "premiere" turned out to be just a screening: no red carpet, no panel, no one involved with the show attending. So I decided to skip posting about that (though I enjoyed the pilot, which is one of the few I haven't seen) and move right along to the premiere for Pushing Daisies, which was held on Saturday night.

You've already read a little about it, as I had director Barry Sonnenfeld address stories about cost overruns on the show. But, as I also said, that wasn't the only thing I asked him that peeved him a little bit. More on that after the jump.

One of the fun side benefits of covering the New York Television Festival is that you get to see a few selected fall pilots projected up on a big screen. Oh, and you also get to talk to some of that show's actors and producers, as well. FOX's New Amsterdam was the first of three network pilots to premiere at the festival; shot in New York, it's a procedural whose main character, NYPD homicide detective John Amsterdam, has lived in the city for over 400 years, searching for his one true love. If it sounds familiar, you're right.

More details and pictures after the jump.

Drew Carey and The Price is Right will premiere on October 15th on CBS. Just like Bob Barker's final episode, Drew Carey's inaugural episode will include some pretty spendy prizes. While the network isn't saying exactly what will be won, it does say that contestants will have a chance to win "some of the most expensive cars" ever on the game show.

Carey began filming the 36th season of The Price is Right on August 15th. He had a slight mishap when he got his arm wrenched in one of the games, but now it sounds like smooth sailing for Carey. The Price is Right continues filming through October and apparently free tickets are still available, if you're going to be in the Los Angeles area. CBS has now made tickets available on this website.

In March, I told you about a new TV Land series called Back to the Grind in which celebrities from classic TV shows actually attempt to do the jobs their characters performed on television. I told you it debuted on October 10, but clearly I was lying because it actually kicks off this Wednesday, July 18 at 10:30 p.m.

If you don't have TV Land, don't worry. You can actually watch full episodes on TV Land's site starting July 16. Right now you can just see a few clips, but I think they give a pretty good idea of what to expect. I especially enjoyed watching Erik Estrada continuously fail both the written examination and driving test for his motorcycle license. Also, Loni Anderson doesn't look that much different than she did when she was on WKRP in Cincinnati. It's almost as if she had some kind of surgery performed on herself to make her look younger than she really is.