TVSquad

If you had the return of Ugly Betty in your datebook -- or PDA -- for Friday, October 9, it's time for an update. ABC has moved the season premiere of Ugly Betty to October 16. It'll be a double shot of Betty, two-hours instead of just one. After the premiere, Ugly Betty will fall into its regular slot of Friday at 9 p.m.

Unfortunately, a double dose of Ugly Betty won't be enough to pump up the ratings. ABC isn't doing Betty any favor by plunking it on Friday nights when there are less people watching TV. Sure, there are lower expectations, but what does it say about the network's faith in the show? Why not just put it on Saturday when even less viewers tune in? (What happened to programming for Saturday night anyway? Once upon a time, great shows actually thrived on Saturdays!)

A few days ago, ABC announced that Lost would premiere on January 21 from 8 to 11 p.m. and that it would take the Wednesday at 9 p.m. timeslot starting the following week. That news left the Private Practice fans wondering what would happen to their show come January 28 because the Wednesday at 9 p.m. timeslot has been PP's for over a year.

Answers have arrived and they'll affect not only the Private Practice fans but also Life on Mars's viewers.

CBS announced its plans for the 2008-2009 season today. For the most part, things are staying the same, but there are two new sitcoms and four hour dramas planned. Here are the highlights:

Returning: The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Rules of Engagement, The Unit, Cold Case, Numb3rs, Criminal Minds, The Ghost Whisperer, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, NCIS, 60 Minutes, Without A Trace, Survivor, The Amazing Race

Out: Shark, Moonlight, Cane, Kid Nation, Power of 10, Secret Talents of the Stars, Viva Laughlin, Welcome to the Captain

New: The Worst Week, Project Gary, The Ex List, Eleventh Hour, The Mentalist

Mid-season: Harper's Island, Rules of Engagement

Schedule and detailed descriptions of the new shows coming soon, after the jump.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the CW is using the opportunity of the WGA Strike to experiment with its schedule. This includes a relocation of its entire Monday comedy block to Sunday. Gossip Girl and Reaper will also move, eventually settling on Monday and Thursday nights, respectively.

Leave it to corporate America to turn a negative into a positive like this. With the WGA Strike in full swing and many of the networks unable to broadcast new material, the most fledgling of all the networks is going to try and see if they can get their ratings up by moving more established shows to new nights.

Now I have two chances not to watch this show.

CBS' Power of 10, carrying on the proud and recent tradition of primetime game shows that involve absolutely no skill whatsoever, will air Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. in addition to its usual timeslot of Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. The two-nights-a-week format will continue for the remainder of the summer, bumping NCIS to 10:00 p.m.

ABC has yanked The Knights of Prosperity and The Nine off its schedule... again. Both series performed poorly in the ratings last season and were officially canceled in the spring. But, ABC was taking the opportunity to burn off the final episodes during this summer. Apparently even that wasn't garnering enough ratings for the network, because they've been replaced by reruns of According to Jim and NASCAR in Primetime.

There are still four episodes of The Nine that have not aired and two episodes of Knights that never aired. No word from ABC on whether they will ever see the light of day, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Last month, Isabelle told y'all the lineup for FOX this fall. Well, some changes have been made, so check them out below and be sure to change your wedding and baptism plans accordingly.

• Bones will air Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m., starting September 25.
• Kitchen Nightmares will air Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m., starting September 19.
• Are Your Smarter Than A Fifth Grader will kick off its next season at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 6, followed by Don't Forget the Lyrics at 9:00 p.m. The two shows will air back to back on Thursday nights.

Meanwhile, New Amsterdam has been moved from September 25 to sometime midseason.

Also, as mentioned previously, Anchorwoman will debut on August 22 rather than August 21.

Minus the changes listed above, the aformentioned schedule is still correct.

Fox has announced that the final two episodes of Drive will be on the show's MySpace page starting on Monday, July 16th. The network had originally scheduled those episodes for air on July 4th, then bumped them to July 13th, then flat-out took them off the schedule, much to the frustration of the few surviving fans of Drive.

After you watch the last two episodes, which will likely not provide any sort of closure, check out this post from Isabelle detailing what the producers wanted to happen to the story if the series had lived on. Unfortunately, the producers don't say who would've won... maybe even they didn't know yet.

Sorry, Drive fans. It doesn't look good. After promising that it would air the final two episodes of Drive on July 4th, Fox rescheduled them for this Friday, July 13th.

Well, guess what?

They're off the schedule... again. I just spoke to a Fox spokesperson who confirms that they've been pulled (in favor of Bones and Standoff) and he doesn't have any explanation for the change. He also told me that the final two episodes of Drive have not been rescheduled at this point and he doesn't know if they ever will be.

At this point, they should at least put the final two episodes online.

Great news for Adult Swim fans who wanted an extra night to watch episodes of Family Guy and Futurama for the three-hundredth time: the late night block of (im)mature cartoons now airs on Friday evenings, which means you'll never be without it again, shivering cold and alone in the corner praying for tomorrow to come so you can watch all your favorite shows again.

Basically, there won't be anything new on Fridays, just the usual repeats and anime. Saturdays will still be anime night (with episodes of Astro Boy starting July 14) and Sundays, as always, will be home to original series and premieres. Look for the final two episodes of Harvey Birdman July 15 and 22, new Robot Chicken and Frisky Dingo in August, and the premiere of Lucy, Daughter of the Devil in September.

Check out the schedule grid here.

In April, I told you about NBC's The Great American Singing Bee, a new competition series in which contestants are challenged to sing the correct lyrics to a song. Then, recently, I told you about Don't Forget the Lyrics, a show on FOX with pretty much the exact same concept.

The Great American Singing Bee was supposed to air this fall, but NBC isn't about to let FOX steal its thunder by releasing Don't Forget the Lyrics next month. What does that mean for you, the home viewer? It means that this summer, with The Great American Spelling Bee's debut bumped up to July 10 at 9:30 (and Lyrics debuting the next day), you'll have two chances to catch a premise no one really found that interesting in the first place.

Forgive me, that was presumptuous, but I maintain a show centering on strangers butchering songs is a concept that will get old rather quickly.

Live TV has this way of being, well live. And that means hard to schedule. As any PVR owner who's tried to record The Simpsons after a football game can tell you, that sometimes means your shows will be cut off.

So on the one hand, it shouldn't be that surprising that this week's American Idol finale ran about 9 minutes long. On the other hand, it's not like the producers aren't used to putting together a live program every week. Anyway, thousands of viewers missed the big finish where Jordin Sparks was crowned miss... err.. the next idol.

Here's what's coming up on Adult Swim:

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, as mentioned previously, has received an order for thirty new episodes.

Moral Orel has also been picked up for a third season (which I already knew, but I was sworn to secrecy until it was officially announced). Also, the latter half of the second season kicks off this Sunday.

ABC is cowering in fear. Ok, all of the networks are (rightfully) cowering in fear from the ratings behemoth that is American Idol. This time it's the new comedy, Notes From the Underbelly, that is being shifted to stay out of Ryan Seacrest's path.

The comedy, about a couple expecting a baby and dodging crazy advice from friends and family, has been moved from Wednesdays at 9:30 pm to Thursdays at 10 pm after Grey's Anatomy. The move is in response to Idol's announcement this week that it will expand its results shows to one hour, starting April 11th. Now, Notes From the Underbelly will premiere with back-to-back episodes on April 12th instead of April 11th.

Giving a comedy the 10 pm time slot, even if its lead-in is Grey's Anatomy, is a terrible idea. From the promos, it does not look like a prime time show. Let's face it: ten o'clock is the hour for sex and violence. Underbelly looks like it belongs in the 8 o'clock hour (or not on television at all, if you ask Joel).