TVSquad

The failure of Secret Talents of the Stars has had ripple effects on the CBS prime time schedule. With Big Brother coming to an end and Secret Talents unable to make it past one episode, the return of Shark, which was going to come back on Tuesdays at 10 p.m., will now return on Tuesday at 9 p.m. for three broadcasts beginning April 29. Had Secret Talents worked, CBS wouldn't be scrambling on Tuesdays.

The CBS Tuesday lineup for next Tuesday, therefore, will be NCIS, Shark and a rerun of CSI. Then on May 6, it'll be NCIS, Shark and a CSI: Miami rerun. On May 13, NCIS, Shark and a Criminal Minds rerun.

What'll be interesting for Shark fans -- and TV geeks in general like us -- will be to see exactly how well the James Woods legal drama performs with a strong lead in like NCIS. Even the reruns scheduled to follow the three episodes are all strong support. Will this Tuesday hammock experiment be advantageous to Shark, securing the kind of Nielsen numbers that will be a deciding factor in the show's renewal for next season?

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.

(S04E02) "Oh, I'm looking forward to a lot of things. A nice big breakfast, a trip up to Aqueduct, and finally being able to sleep on my stomach again!" - Uncle Teddy

Well for all of you naysayers, get over it. Sheila is alive. Although I have to admit, I'm in the "I wish she were dead" camp too. As it is, we're already getting close to no Jimmy this season and I personally think Sheila would have made a great addition to Tommy's ghost parade. Although, after the brief glimpse of Johnny under the couch covers, it looks like he might be joining the ranks. Tommy's hallucinations aside, what a great episode. There is a reason this show gets such great reviews. From "the spank bank" to Cousin Eddie and his support of Tommy's "ineffective" penis to Lou trying to promote racial harmony, you can't miss a second of this show.

Interesting bit of news from the Watching 24 blog, if it's true...

FOX is thinking very seriously about marketing a DVD that contains the first four episodes of the upcoming season of 24. The rumor is the DVD is scheduled to come out on Tuesday, January 16, which the day after the two-day, four-hour season premiere airs on FOX. The price will be $14.95.

Like the Watching 24 folks, I think this is an intriguing marketing experiment, but am not sure why FOX is doing this. Do they think the DVD will stem the tide of downloading via BitTorrent and other services? Why would fans pay half the price of a full season just to see four episodes? And won't fans of the show just wait until the entire season comes out on DVD and buy it then? If FOX succeeds in selling a lot of copies of this disc, I wonder if other networks are going to follow suit?

According to The New York Times, NBC will announce some shifts in its schedule this week-- which will likely include a new night and/or time for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. In an article about the network's announcement that it is picking up Studio 60 for the entire season, there's also a little quote from NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly, saying Studio 60 will "not necessarily stay on Monday."

Where can it go? There's an open time slot on Wednesdays at 10pm since NBC pulled Kidnapped off the air. That would put Studio 60 up against The Nine on ABC and CSI: NY on CBS. Or, NBC could separate the two Law & Order franchises on Tuesday night and slide Studio 60 into one of those time slots.

Any other ideas? Maybe NBC stole my ideal schedule.

Last week, I invited readers to send in sign-offs that Katie Couric can use on the CBS Evening News, offering stars for the best ones. Many people gave very creative answers; so many of them, that I haven't gotten a chance to read them all, especially after running around all day at the NY Television Festival.

So, I'm extending the contest, which was supposed to end yesterday, until Tuesday. So if you have a sign-off line, post one in the comments. The winner will get three stars, second place gets two stars, and third place gets one star. Our star system is down right now, but they will be awarded when it comes back up.

Let me ask our male readers a question: have you ever had a woman in your group of friends who was super cool, one that drank with you and made jokes and was a complete riot? You always thought she was attractive, but her personality and humor were what you saw first. Now, did one day that woman come to lunch or work wearing a skirt, or with different hair or makeup, and you were just blown away by how hot she was? Well, that's how I think of Bonnie Hunt.

Bonnie's a funny gal. Really funny. She's quick on her feet, and is particularly adept at improvisation, telling funny stories about her life and the people she knows inside and outside show business. Those improvisational skills made the show-within-a-show scenes on her ABC sitcom Life With Bonnie extremely funny, since they were largely unscripted. Those scenes also showed that she could hold her own with comedy's finest, since many of the guests on her fictional morning show were played by improv legends like Jonathan Winters.