TVSquad

The CW certainly seems to have embraced their new goal of pushing the entire network in a very "female" direction. They've scheduled their new fall preview special on Sunday, August 30 at 6:30 PM, smack between a special spotlighting the top ten moments from The Tyra Banks Show and their red carpet coverage of the night's Daytime Emmy Awards.

That's nestled in a huge bed of estrogen from where I'm sitting. No wonder a show like Reaper didn't make it if this is the new demographic The CW is seeking. The manliest shows on the network are Supernatural and Smallville, and both of those do well with the ladies, certainly better than Sock did. Other than that, it's Gossip Girl, 90210, The Vampire Diaries, America's Next Top Model -- how did this happen?

It's almost all teen dramas now, and it's definitely skewing female. They managed to abandon comedies and African-American featured shows in one fell swoop by canceling Everybody Hates Chris and The Game, and they dumped the hellishly fun Reaper. All that's left is pretty people pouting. Is this what America wanted out of our fifth network?

When The CW dropped half-hour comedies from their schedule after this past season, it left The Game out in the cold. The show had been performing respectably for the network, so it was more a victim of changing direction than poor performance.

A little late, but maybe not too late, BET is showing interest in bringing The Game back for a fourth season. The original options on the cast of the show have lapsed, but that's not to say BET couldn't negotiate anew. There's still an audience out there for the show, and I'll bet its more hardcore base felt a little betrayed by The CW's quick dismissal.

BET already airs repeats of both The Game and its parent series Girlfriends, so a continuation there fits well. The network hasn't had much luck in establishing a successful original comedy, so why not take a stab with one that's already established? From there, it'd be easy to grow into wholly unique properties.

• At 8, ABC has the two-hour season finale of America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by a new 20/20.
• CBS has the season finale of Ghost Whisperer at 8, then the season finales of Flashpoint and Numb3rs.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 8, followed by the special Farrah's Story.
• FOX has the two-hour series finale of Prison Break at 8.
• The CW has the season finale of The Game at 8.
• PBS has new episodes of Washington Week, NOW, and Bill Moyers Journal.
• MyNetwork TV has a new Smackdown! at 8.
• Cartoon Network has a new Secret Saturdays at 8, followed by a new Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
• Also at 8: TCM has You Only Live Twice at 8, then Diamonds Are Forever.
• At 10, E! has a new episode of The Soup.
• AMC has a new AMC Storymakers at 10.
• Current has a new SuperNews at 10.
• There's a new Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• TNT has a Leverage marathon all night.
• ESPN has Basketball Playoffs all night.
• At 8, ABC has a new Wife Swap, followed by new episodes of Supernanny and 20/20.
• CBS has a new Ghost Whisperer at 8, then new episodes of Flashpoint and Numb3rs.
• FOX has new episodes of Prison Break and Dollhouse.
• The CW has a new Everybody Hates Chris at 8, then a new episode of The Game.
• PBS has a new Washington Week at 8, followed by new episodes of NOW and Bill Moyers Journal.
• Nickelodeon has a new Fairly Oddparents at 8.
• At 9, NBC has a new, two-hour Dateline.
• History Channel has a new Patton 360 at 9, then a new Battles B.C.
• BBC America has a new Mistresses at 9.
• Also at 9: National Geographic Channel has a new Dog Whisperer.
• At 10, HBO has a new Real Time with Bill Maher.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

It's strange how barely anyone has noticed that The CW has slowly started weeding out their half-hour comedies. The few that remain are stuck on Friday night. The rest, with the exception of the always interesting Reaper, are the same tired boy-meets-girl teen dramas that every high school guy who hopes to score on his prom night has to watch and fully document.

One sitcom, however, isn't going down without a fight. It is scratching and clawing its way through earth and sand as it dangles on the edge of a cliff and tries to maintain its identity...by completely changing it.

The Hollywood Reporter says that the half-hour sitcom The Game will completely re-pitch itself to The CW as an hour-long comedy- drama. Some call it a "dramedy," but I like to call it a "comma" just to #*$& with people's heads.

To the programming monkeys over at The CW: Do you really believe that you are an honest-to-goodness competitor in the market right now? Because, if you were, then you would probably be doing something more than just relying on the teen angst shows that populate your weekday schedule.You would probably be trying again to get original programming up and running on the weekends, as well. Particularly on Sunday nights.

Sadly, you're not doing this. In fact, according to the most recent press release you sent out, you're pretty much caving in on Sundays. Instead of giving viewers some new shows to try out, or even reruns (or, as you say, encores) of your more popular programs, from 5-8 pm you're giving us first season episodes of Everybody Hates Chris and The Game, second season episodes of The Drew Carey Show and first season episodes of Jericho. The only people I can see being even remotely happy about this schedule are Jericho fans.

• Bravo has a Swingtown marathon all night.
• At 8, ABC has a new Wife Swap, followed by new episodes of Supernanny and 20/20.
• CBS has a new Ghost Whisperer at 8, then new episodes of The Ex-List and Numb3rs.
• NBC has new episodes of Deal Or No Deal, Crusoe, and Life.
• The CW has a new Everybody Hates Chris at 8, followed by a new episode of The Game.
• PBS has a new Washington Week at 8, then new episodes of NOW and Bill Moyers Journal.
• MyNetwork TV has a new Smackdown! at 8.
• There's a new Real Simple, Real Life on TLC at 8, then a new What Not To Wear.
• Also at 8: Cartoon Network has a new Secret Saturdays.
• At 8:30, Lifetime has a new Rita Rocks.
• Food Network has a new Rachael's Vacation at 8:30.
• At 9, Sci-Fi has a new Stargate Atlantis, followed by a new Sanctuary.
• Cartoon Network has a new Clone Wars at 9, then a new Ben 10: Alien Force.
• Hallmark has the movie Ladies of the Night at 9.
• At 10, USA has a new episode of The Starter Wife.
• At 11, HBO has a new Real Time with Bill Maher.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

When you're a ratings-challenged fledgling network like the CW, you're going to do anything you can to get a leg up on the competition. Releasing sex-filled advertisements for your most high-profile show is a good start, but that alone won't get the job done. To that end, the CW has just announced that it's moving its fall premiere dates up to September 1st, well ahead of the beginning of the traditional broadcast season.

The idea behind the move is that you're already going to be hooked on Gossip Girl and Top Model by the time the other networks get around to premiering their fall shows, sometime around mid-to-late September. The season isn't the only thing the CW is starting early, however. Starting in November, they're also extending prime time, with original programming beginning at 6:30 on Sunday nights.

Check out CW's full premiere schedule after the jump.

As I said in my post about the 90210 panel, CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff doesn't like to give us definitive answers. For some reason, she doesn't feel she has to. Problem is, that doesn't make the critics very happy. We don't like it when someone isn't being forthright with us, and we can sense it.

In her executive session, Ostroff avoided saying anything definitive on two major topics: the lack of "urban" shows on the schedule and the mechanics of the network's deal with Media Rights Capital to produce the network's entire Sunday block of shows.

• At 7, ABC has two new episodes of Extreme Makeover, followed by the two hour season finale of Desperate Housewives.
• CBS has a new 60 Minutes at 7, then The Country Music Awards.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7, followed by a marathon of The Office.
• At 8, The CW has the season finale of Everybody Hates Chris, then the series finale of Aliens in America and the season finale of The Game.
• FOX has the season finales of The Simpsons and King of the Hill at 8.
• History Channel has the special Indiana Jones and the Ultimate Quest at 8.
• TV Land has the M*A*S*H series finale at 8.
• Also at 8: Food Network has a new Challenge.
• At 8:55: Sci-Fi has the Indiana Jones-related documentary The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece.
• There's a new episode of The Tudors on Showtime at 9, then a new This American Life.
• At 9:30, FOX has the season finale of American Dad.
• At midnight, Cartoon Network has a new Metalocalypse, followed by new episodes of Squidbillies and Assy McGee.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Ok, it is after midnight here in the Jet City, and as I sit down to bang this post out on my beloved Model M it would appear that my tasty glass of juice is half empty. Maybe I'm just not in the right frame of mind to spin this news in a positive direction that will lead to a 2009 full of Dollhouse win.

Tucked away in a report on various network goings on over at Hollywood Reporter is a little line that says "Dollhouse is expected to launch mid-season." This is me shaking my fist in the general direction of Fox and screaming "Khaaaaan!" Just, because. Doesn't this seem like a road that has been traveled before? It's one that usually leads to a pretty disappointing destination. We haven't seen the finished fall schedule yet, but I would wager that most of us could easily find three or four hours where the network would be better served by inserting Dollhouse. Highlights of what the networks have planned are available after the jump.

Sweeps period is not only important for networks but also for TV viewers. Sweeps periods are when some of the biggest events in a TV series happen: deaths, explosions, extra special guest stars, etc.

To prepare you for November sweeps, I've combed through the networks' sweeps press releases and official episode descriptions and extracted what seems to be the juicy information for almost all scripted series on the five major networks.

All spoilers listed after the jump are actually spoilers the networks want you to know!

(S01E01) "I am pretty sure a lot of us are going to crash and burn pretty horribly." - Fred, the 45-year-old virgin

Okay, let me start by saying I won't follow this show on a consistent basis unless you guys beg me to. Really there is not much of a point. There isn't a whole lot to analyze here, nothing to obsess over, nothing to make this an addictive reality competition on par with your So You Think You Can Dances and those Dancing with the Starses.

(S01E15) The plot of The Game sounded kind of cheesy at first. The idea of a civilization style game that actually controls a world initially put me off a bit. I had a hard time getting into the show because of it. Once the situation escalated a bit, it was much easier to get into things.

• At 8, ABC has a new Dancing with the Stars, then a new episode of The Bachelor.
• CBS has a new How I Met Your Mother at 8, followed by new episodes of Old Christine, Two and a Half Men, King of Queens, and CSI: Miami.
• NBC has new episodes of Deal Or No Deal, Heroes, and The Real Wedding Crashers.
• There's a new Everybody Hates Chris at 8 on The CW, then new episodes of All Of Us, Girlfriends, and The Game.
• TLC has two new eps of Little People, Big World at 8.
• At 9, FOX has a new 24.
• Larry King Week starts on CNN at 9.
• USA has a new Monday Night RAW at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new episode of The Riches.
• Also at 10: Food Network has a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, followed by a new The Secret Life Of...

Check your local TV listings for more.