TVSquad

You wouldn't know that Fox football was ready for prime time based on the lame broadcast of the Tampa Bay Buccaneer-Miami Dolphin game the other night. The number one team in the booth -- Joe Buck and Troy Aikman -- seemed ill-prepared for the game. It was embarrassing to watch them call the game.

Listen, I know it's only pre-season and everyone -- including the networks -- are working out the kinks, but I expect Buck and Aikman to be on top of their game. They usually are, so I guess I was surprised by the sloppy effort.

I'm dreading the fall 10 PM ET/PT time slot on NBC. Oh, I know there's still a lot of time between now and then. But I figure I need to plan ahead. Sure, I realize I'm a Letterman fan who never took to Leno. However, I don't think I'd enjoy seeing Letterman each weeknight in a primetime slot, either. Sigh.

If you've been living under a rock, you might not realize that Jay Leno will be hosting his show every night during the 10 PM hour while Conan O'Brien hosts The Tonight Show at 11:30. I don't like this, not at all.

So I have to get a contingency plan in place. I've been trying to think of what I'll do for my TV fix at that hour.

Did you hear this one, folks? NBC is throwing in the towel. The boss of bosses, NBC Universal CEO, the head honcho himself, Jeff Zucker, was at an industry event recently and declared, "I don't think we'll ever be able to say, 'NBC is number one in prime time.'"

Okay, there it is. The man has given up. He's basically admitting that his product is inferior and he doesn't think he'll ever catch up with his competitors. So, as a TV viewer, I have to wonder why I should invest in anything Zucker churns out at NBC if he doesn't believe that he's ever going to be number one again?

The networks are cold, heartless bastards.They want us to watch their shows in order to grab ratings and ad revenue; yet, they mess around with their schedules so much that it's frustrating. Eventually, it gets hard for us not to pick up the damn television and throw it out the window. Well, more like get a few people to pick it up and throw it out of the front door. Come on, those flat screens are heavy!

You're probably wondering what I'm ranting about, aren't you? Well, it involves tonight's primetime schedule during the 8 pm time slot. On CBS, we have The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother, while FOX has a new House. The 100th episode of House, to be exact. Now, this wouldn't normally be an issue, since I could watch one network and record the other on my DVR. But, NBC decided to bring back Chuck tonight, as well.

While NBC is committing all its ten o'clock hours next fall to Jay Leno, MSNBC is looking for a ten o'clock star. They want a show to secure stronger foothold on prime time by filling that hour with a new show.

Right now, it presents a rerun of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, but that's not how it's going to remain. Phil Griffin, MSNBC prez, would like to develop a new hour to go along with Countdown and The Rachel Maddow Show, and presumably build on the audience Olbermann and Maddow are generating.

I read Brad's post about NBC keeping Jay Leno in the fold and I think it's the latest move by NBC to ruin TV. Can Jeff Zucker be impeached? I'm so fed up with the way he's be running -- ruining -- the network that I'm ready to bust. Seriously, is there anybody over there that still has any connection to what viewers want to see?

Basically, NBC is ready to try something completely radical and -- in my estimation -- ridiculous, even though it would keep Leno from being lured to another network.

The reviews from the political talking heads -- right and left -- have been mostly positive. The visuals were spectacular and riveting. History was made at Mile High Stadium in Denver last night when Senator Barack Obama accepted the nomination of the Democratic party as the first African-American presidential candidate. There were 80,000 people packed in the stadium, and now Nielsen has determined that 38 million people tuned in to watch on TV.

How impressive is that number? It's more than the opening ceremonies from the Beijing Olympics. It's also more than the 2008 Oscars and the finale of Fox's American Idol.

The networks cleared just one hour of prime time -- from 10-11 ET -- and the Democratic organizers made sure to present Obama's speech right in that slot, not drifting into the local late news.

• NBC has Olympics coverage all night.
• At 8, ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker.
• ABC Family has a new Secret Life of The American Teen at 8.
• TCM has Pushover at 8, followed by 5 Against The House.
• At 9, ABC has a new Wanna Bet?, then a new Primetime: Medical Mysteries.
• CBS has a new Big Brother at 9.
• PBS has a new Wide Angle at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Eureka at 9, then a new ECW.
• There's a new Flipping Out on Bravo at 9, followed by a new Million Dollar Listing.
• At 9:30, Food Network has a new Road Tasted with The Neeleys.
• At 10, FX has a new Rescue Me minisode.
• Lifetime has a new How To Look Good Naked at 10.
  
• Discovery has a new Smash Lab at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, FOX has a new, two-hour So You Think You Can Dance.
• CBS has a new Greatest American Dog at 8.
• Discovery Channel has a new NextWorld at 8, followed by new episodes of Mythbusters and Man vs. Wild.
• At 9, NBC has a new Baby Borrowers.
• TBS has four new episodes (including the season finale) of Tyler Perry's House of Payne starting at 9.
• Bravo has a new Project Runway at 9, then a new Shear Genius.
• There's a new MonsterQuest on History Channel at 9.
• HGTV has a new Deserving Design at 9, followed by a new Design on a Dime.
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, then two new episodes of Criss Angel Mindfreak.
• At 10, ABC has a new Primetime.
• TruTV has a new Black Gold at 10.
• Also at 10: TCM has The Graduate.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Lewis Black's Root of All Evil.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Even as fear grips the business that there'll be another strike that will lead to a work stoppage, there are some who can look back on the Writer's Strike and actually find a silver lining in that dark cloud. At a recent at the ArcLight Cinemas, sponsored by the L.A. Times, the folks who bring us House, including creator David Shore and director Katie Jacobs, revealed that the strike actually was beneficial for them in a strange way.

Since Fox had the Super Bowl last season, House had been given the plum spot following the game. That always means a huge audience will be watching, and even a show as successful as House wouldn't mind a boost in the ratings.

Ah, the world of TV, where everything old is new again. Failed sitcoms become cartoons, Adam West gets reimagined as a doddering cartoon mayor, and every old game show is remade into a new, more sparkly version.

Now the twirling-light, ominous music treatment has reached an old favorite: Password. According to Variety, CBS and Fremantle Media are teaming up to produce a new version of the word-association game show, redubbing it Million Dollar Password. And, not only will the old show will be recycled, so will an old host: Regis Philbin has been tapped to host his first prime-time game show since the ABC version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire breathed its last a few years ago.

There have been a lot of Muppet projects in and out of development over the last couple years or so. Some came to fruition, some never quite made it, and others still remain in limbo.

There has been talk for awhile now about the possibility of a brand new, primetime Muppet series, a rumor TV Guide recently perpetuated, although Jim Henson Studios denies such a project exists. Citing an inside source, TV Guide writes that the new series would use modern technology to allow the Muppets to actually get up and walk around.

• At 8, NBC has a new, two-hour America's Got Talent.
• FOX has a new On The Lot at 8.
• At 9, ABC has a new Shaq's Big Challenge, followed by a new Primetime: Family Secrets.
• PBS has a new Wide Angle at 9.
• Lifetime has the new movie The Staircase Murders at 9, with Treat Williams.
• HGTV has a new Decorating Cents at 9.
• The only good thing about having FOX Reality Channel: they're showing repeats of the Anderson Cooper-hosted The Mole. Two episodes start at 9.
• Also at 9: Sundance has a new Big Ideas For A Small Planet.
• At 10, TLC has a new Miami Ink.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, FOX has a new, two hour American Idol.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 8.
• CBS has a new NCIS at 8, then a new episode of The Unit.
• At 9, ABC has a new Primetime, followed by a new Boston Legal.
• There's a new Pussycat Dolls Present at 9 on The CW.
• Food Network profiles Sandra Lee on a new Chefography at 9.
• At 9:30, TCM has the original The Thin Man from 1934.
• At 10, PBS has a new episode of Independent Lens.
• TLC has a new Miami Ink at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• Also at 10: FX has a new episode of Dirt.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, FOX has a new American Idol.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 8.
• On Food Network at 8, Sam Choy guest stars on a new Emeril Live.
• FX has the movie Paparazzi at 8, followed by (appropriately enough) a new episode of Dirt.
• Also at 8: TCM has 1951's Detective Story, followed by 1948's The Naked City.
• At 9, ABC has a new Primetime.
• The CW has a new Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search For The Next Doll at 9.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9.
• At 10, TLC has a new Miami Ink.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Orange County at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• Also at 10: HBO has a new Costas NOW.

Check your local TV listings for more.