TVSquad

It's not really possible that every summer premiere on the great American broadcast TV schedule crashed and burned, is it?

But, out of all the original programs that premiered on the major networks after the completion of the fall 2008 season, not a single one got traction.

According to analysis reports, you can take your pick from any of the following shows: Defying Gravity, The Superstars, The Listener, Mental, The Philanthropist, Hitched or Ditched, Merlin and Great American Road Trip. All of them bombed -- each hovering just above a one market share.

In fact, you don't need numbers to prove that the fall crop crapped out. Ask your friend what his/her favorite summer replacement show was. You'll be waiting awhile.

• At 8, ABC has two new episodes of Samantha Who?
• CBS has a new Big Brother at 8.
• At 9, FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• USA has a new Burn Notice at 9, followed by a new Royal Pains.
• BBC America has a new Torchwood: Children of Earth at 9.
• Also at 9: Spike has a new TNA Impact!
• At 10, NBC has a new episode of The Listener.
• Comedy Central has a new Tosh.0 at 10.
• Bravo has a new episode of The Fashion Show at 10.
• There's a new Penn & Teller: Bullshit! on Showtime at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Pulling in anemic ratings week after week, despite a lot of promotion for the series, it's no real surprise that NBC is pulling The Listener off the air. They're leaving it on the air for two more episodes, but come July 30, it's another Law & Order repeat slot.

I made it through exactly one episode of The Listener and then decided that I just couldn't bring myself to care. Despite a dramatic car crash and a missing child, I still found the first episode kind of boring. And Craig Olejnik just isn't very engaging in the lead.

I'm usually pretty patient with a new show, and it's pretty rare that I actively dislike a show right from the beginning. On paper, The Listener should have been the kind of show I do like; I'm a sucker for the supernatural. Maybe NBC was hoping it could be their new Medium, though it looks more like they were just hoping for something to prop up a few hours through the summer.

• At 7, G4 has the 1000th episode of Attack of the Show.
• At 8, ABC has two new episodes of Samantha Who?
• CBS has the season premiere of Big Brother at 8.
• At 9, Discovery has a Billy Mays tribute episode of Pitchmen.
• USA has a new Burn Notice at 9, then a new Royal Pains.
• Spike has a new TNA Impact at 9.
• At 10, NBC has a new episode of The Listener.
• Comedy Central has a new Tosh.0 at 10.
• Bravo has a new episode of The Fashion Show at 10.
• Also at 10: Showtime has a new Penn & Teller's Bullshit.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• USA has a Burn Notice marathon all night (but no new episode).
• Sci-Fi has a Twilight Zone marathon all night.
• At 8, ABC has a new Samantha Who?, followed by a new In The Motherhood.
• TCM has The Wizard of Oz at 8.
• G4 has a new X-Play at 8.
• At 9, FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• Larry King Live broadcasts from inside Neverland Ranch on CNN at 9.
• Spike has a new TNA Impact at 9.
• At 10, NBC has a new episode of The Listener.
• Showtime has a new Penn & Teller: Bullshit at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, ABC has a new Samantha Who?, followed by a new In The Motherhood and a Michael Jackson Tribute.
  
• Cartoon Network has a new Chowder at 8.
• At 9, FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance at 9.
  
• USA has a new Burn Notice at 9, then a new Royal Pains.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• ESPN2 has a FIFA Confederations Cup soccer semifinal match at 9.
• At 10, ABC has Farrah Fawcett: Her Life, Her Loves, Her Legacy.
• NBC has a new episode of The Listener at 10.
  
• Showtime has the season premiere of Penn & Teller's Bullshit at 10 (two episodes).
• Comedy Central has a new Tosh.0 at 10.
• At 10:30, Current has a new Rotten Tomatoes Show.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, NBC has a new I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.
• At 9, FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• USA has a new Burn Notice at 9, followed by a new Royal Pains.
• The Jonas Brothers appear on Larry King Live on CNN at 9.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• Bravo has the special Real Housewives of New Jersey: The Last Supper at 9, then a new episode of The Fashion Show.
• Also at 9: Spike has a new TNA Wrestling.
• At 10, NBC has a new episode of The Listener.
• Comedy Central has a new Tosh.0 at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

• At 8, ABC has a new Jimmy Kimmel Live, followed by the Lakers/Magic game.
• NBC has a new I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here at 8.
• Cartoon Network has a new Chowder at 8, then a new The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.
• At 9, FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• USA has a new Burn Notice at 9, then a new Royal Pains.
• TLC has a new American Chopper (with Jon & Kate) at 9.
• TV Land has the season premiere of She's Got The Look at 9.
• At 10, NBC has a new episode of The Listener.
• Bravo has a new episode of The Fashion Show at 10.
• Also at 10: Comedy Central has a new Tosh.0

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Update: The post on Grunberg's page was a retweet originally written by someone else. (Apparently, I need Grunny to control my mind and actions!)

Greg Grunberg is reading my mind.

Yesterday, the Heroes actor tweeted a short rant about The Listener, NBC's new show about a paramedic who can read people's minds. As everyone who watches Heroes knows, Grunberg plays a mind reader on his show, which also airs on NBC.

Here are Grunberg's thoughts on the new mind reader in town:

"wht is ths "The Listener" crap. thr's alrdy a show abt a mindreader on tv, its called heroes, & @greggrunberg is all we need."

The producers of The Listener, a new NBC semi-supernatural drama created in Canada, seemingly spent too much time "listening" to moody, do-gooder predecessors such as Medium or Ghost Whisperer. The end result is just a little too familiar to generate much excitement.

The Listener is a rare animal -- a Canadian production from Shaftesbury Films and CTV picked up by an American network for prime time TV. You're left wondering if NBC might have bought a show directly inspired by programs already on the air in the U.S.

It's not uncommon for networks to remake shows popular in other countries. The Office is an obvious direct example in the U.S., and reality shows just change titles as they jump back and forth over the Atlantic.

The Listener looks like CTV wanted to clone the success of the American mini-genre of the average human struggling with a supernatural gift that calls him or her to an extraordinary life. We've seen that plenty in the U.S., but NBC thought we might like to see it again.

NBC is showing a set of international low-budget science-fiction television shows this summer. The network is also moving some of its season finales to June to help Conan O'Brien with his initial ratings when he takes over for Leno on June 1st.

I've heard lukewarm reviews about the BBC's Merlin (a show I've already written about) and I'm glad to get the opportunity to watch it and judge for myself. The Listener is a Canadian production about a telepathic paramedic. NBC is definitely taking a page from the Sci Fi Channel by having a couple of science fiction disaster mini-series to fill some summer programming space with The Storm and Meteor.

I just wonder if the WGA strike had something to do with their choice of programming. It is a lot cheaper to license an international program (particularly when you don't even need to use subtitles) than try to create original programming, particularly if your only goal is to fill timeslots.

Actually, NBC already had its upfront over a month ago. This is a "spotlight event," a Part 2, if you will (a walk-thru set up at 30 Rock for advertisers and the media), but they did make some interesting announcements today.

This biggest announcement (though hardly a surprise at this point) was that Jimmy Fallon will take over on Late Night when Conan O'Brien takes over for Jay Leno. This will happen next year.

Here are some of the other announcements made at today's even and a recap of the new shows and the shows that have been canceled. And in this post, I promise not to fail you, rainbow chicken.