The new season is just around the corner, but the wheels of development keep turning in the background. There was a lot of news this week about new pilots, mid-season shows, and casting for some of our favorites. Some of that is hit and miss, depending on your preferences. For example, I’m not exactly thrilled with the Party Down casting news. On the other hand, anything that puts more Rachelle Lefevre on our TVs is always okay by me.

• Mad Men continues to toil in relative obscurity, but those few fans it has are very loyal, and they should be happy to learn that AMC has ordered up another season of the show.
• HBO has ordered a pilot from Mike White and Laura Dern called Enlightened. A self destructive woman has a spiritual awakening and becomes determined to live an enlightened life, which creates havoc at home and work. It sounds nothing like The C Word, which sounded nothing like United States Of Tara.
• FOX, on the other hand, is going a little more traditional. They have  ordered 13 episodes of Jack and Dan. It sounds more interesting if I also tell you that the show was created by Matt Nix, creator and executive producer of Burn Notice. It’s a buddy cop show that Nix calls an action comedy.

• Jane Lynch is busy with Glee, which means they need a new funnywoman over at Party Down. They’ve chosen Megan Mullally to fill the spot, as a middle-aged divorcee that has moved to Hollywood so her 13-year-old daughter can become an actress.
• Lena Headey has been added to the cast of HBO’s Game Of Thrones. She’ll be playing Cersei Lannister, and that works for me. Bonus, when the time comes, and it will, she can lay the smack down on GRRM for missing deadlines.
• Apparently MTV has ordered a pilot for a TV series based on Teen Wolf. WTF? They describe their “fresh take” as having “more of an American Werewolf In Paris feel to it.” I’ll buy that, assuming they mean that like American Werewolf In Paris it will be a subpar imitation of the original that is mostly ignored.
• I don’t think this is a True Blood spoiler, but Mehcad Brooks (Eggs) has signed on to ABC’s mid-season drama The Deep End. The fact that nobody is even talking about The Deep End yet suggests he’ll have plenty of free time when True Blood starts filming again. But I am kind of rooting for the show, for the simple fact that it has Tina Majorino, Clancy Brown, and Rachelle Lefevre (Life On A Stick!) in it.
• We’re still months and months away from the return of Chuck, but news is trickling in. It turns out that Smallville’s Kristin Kreuk has signed on for multiple episodes as Hannah, a girl that gets in the way of the Chuck/Sarah for a couple episodes Chuck has feelings for.
• Chuck, Gossip Girl, and developing a CBS comedy  just aren’t enough work for Josh Schwartz, so now he is producing a pilot for ABC. This one is about a divorce lawyer that decides never to get married after witnessing what her clients go through. Phew. For a minute there I thought we might run out of new lawyer show ideas.
• What will it mean for Grey’s Anatomy now that both Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigl will be taking time off this season? Pompeo will be on maternity leave, and Heigl is leaving to make a movie. It’s just the opening Dr. Langston and his new wardrobe have been looking for.
• I’ve seen a lot of stories about Showtime’s new reality show, The Real L Word: Los Angeles, but most of them ignore one simple thing. They keep referring to the show as some kind of answer to Bravo’s Real Housewives series. And they keep ignoring the fact that it sounds a whole lot more like Logo’s Gimme Sugar. Props to shewired for making the connection.
• Can you believe that One Tree Hill is entering its 7th season? You can read all about the premiere episode, and watch the first four minutes of it below.

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Yesterday, I looked at the five new shows that I’m most looking forward to this season. It’s a pretty short list, unfortunately. Heck, I only had one on the “Honorable Mention” list. Thankfully, there’s quite a bit of good stuff returning to the network schedule this season. I could, however, come up with just as long of a list of stuff that I wish was coming back that’s not. I should, as Brett has been known to tell me, “shut up and quit my whining” (my words, not his).

First, a cheat. I know I said that this was about the upcoming TV season, but we cover Web Shows here on the ‘Clack, so I’m taking a (very appropriate) liberty. The third season of The Guild started this week (or last week, if you’re an Xbox Live Gold Member), and I can’t wait. I only found The Guild after Dr. Horrible introduced me to Felicia Day, but I’m glad that I did, as it’s one of the most consistently funny things out there on any medium. The addition of CliqueClack favorite (and my hero as a kid) Wil Wheaton to the cast is only going to ramp things up for the third installment. If you haven’t seen it, head to www.watchtheguild.com right away.

10) The death of The Unit is my loss, but Lie to Me’s gain. Show-runner Shawn Ryan joins the FOX drama that I thought was already pretty good last season (especially Tim Roth), but additions like Ryan and Mekhi Phifer are really going to drive this show over the top this season. Plus, Kellie Williams deserves a winner after making it through thirteen episodes of Medical Investigation.

9) My favorite surprise from last season was Castle. Don’t get me wrong, I love Nathan Fillion, but I doubted Stana Katic from the way her character was written in the pilot script I read in advance. Thankfully, I was wrong about that. Plus, they tweaked the character over time. I think they’ll build nicely on the first season. And hey, I’ll bet the poker games are back!!

8) Three shows on this list had incredible finales , but I don’t think any of the endings on TV last season could compare to the mind-frak that was Fringe . Between the revelation that Peter Bishop, at least ONE Peter, had been dead for a while, and the fantastic voyage that must have been Olivia’s elevator ride, I was left speechless — or as close to speechless as I could be at any given time. The show started slow, but definitely finished strong. One can only speculate what is going on in J.J. Abrams’ latest world.

7) Chuck was one of two renewals that, honestly, I just didn’t see coming. Not that I’m not glad … far from it. I just lost so much faith in NBC with this whole Leno thing, that I figured the spy comedy would have its bubble burst. Now we get to see how the crazy happenings in the finale will continue to change the life of Chuck Bartowski.

6) Next on the list of great cliffhangers last season was NCIS. Ziva, separated from the team, was sent undercover, and the final shots were of her getting tortured. There’s a good concern about how splitting the crew (for the new NCIS: LA) will affect show quality this year, but I’ve got faith that it will be another great season.

5) Dollhouse’s renewal came as an incredible shock to anyone who can read the daily ratings report. At first thought, I figured it might have been FOX’s way of apologizing to like every fan of Firefly, Wonderfalls, The Inside, and every other cult show they ever canceled. Then, the world was able to see “Epitaph One” (My review, Brett’s review), which I think was the decision maker, and a great setup for the second season.

4) Once, there was this incredibly badass super agent named Jack. Then, after awhile, he turned into a more reflective version — some would even say a ” wimpy Jack,” though he still did manage a perfectly executed “Bauer-Slide” during the First Husband rescue. I think this might be the last season of 24 for our favorite CTU agent, and if the new characters don’t catch on, I say dump them all next year, and just give us Chloe saving the world!!

3) It’s funny … I almost never gave Bones a chance. Procedurals, especially in the CSI vein, aren’t really my cup of tea, or at least weren’t at the time. But, thanks to a little rule I have about actors/writers from my favorite show, I’ve watched. Thank goodness, as there hasn’t been better chemistry between two leads since Moonlighting.

2) We won’t get to see the final season of Lost until January, but it’s probably, in general, the most anticipated show on TV this year. There was such an incredible ramp-up in both pace and story at the end of last season, and it literally ended things with such a bang that you can’t help but be dying to know what happened to Juliet, and the rest of the gang.

1) If I were a betting man, I’d lay down money that How I Met Your Mother will probably pay off two long running bits this season. Obviously, the time is nigh for Barbin? … Robney? … Swarl-in? And if you don’t think the idea of the domestication of Barney is funny, then, well, you just don’t get good comedy. Plus, I think all of the pieces are in place for us to finally meet the titular mother. We know she is in Ted’s class this year, and I think it’s now only a matter of time before the audience gets clued in.

(Honorable Mention: Friday Night Lights, the first two episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, NBC’s Day One, watching Heroes hopefully not fail, wishing I won’t hate the “new” Scrubs, and maybe a little bit of The Mentalist).

Which shows are you looking forward to most? Wondering when they premiere? Check out CliqueClack’s guide to the 2009-2010 fall season for all the info.

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And just like that, finale season is upon us. Over the next few weeks, all of our favorite shows will be pulling out all the stops and heading off into the summer break, with hopes of returning for another go in the fall. Some of them, no doubt, will be disappointed in that regard. Aside from the marriages, pregnancies, and lives left hanging in the balance, finales are interesting from a ratings perspective because they provide the possibilities of a numbers boost. One last data point to point to as you make the case that this show shouldn’t be canceled. NBC got the ball rolling last week as Chuck and Heroes both fired off their finale salvos. The results were something less than stellar. The news was better for Fringe, the NCIS spinoff, and the CW Thursday.

NBC - Chuck (6.19m/2.4) has really come to the forefront in the Internet TV world over the last week, so let’s begin there this week. Last week was the big season finale, and the show posted almost identical results to the week before. No finale gain for the kids down at the Buy More. Heroes (6.47m/3) found itself in a similar situation, dropping just a tenth in the demo from the previous week. Despite scattered Internet reports, Chuck’s fate remains up in the air, but some form of return is looking more and more likely. Heroes will be back for another season. Now it’s just a question of how long that season will be.

Elsewhere, the lack of a boost to Heroes didn’t do Medium (6.71m/2.2) any favors. The news was better on Tuesday, as The Biggest Loser (9.26m/3.6) continued its fantastic run, combining with L&O SVU (10.55m/3.9) to finish second in the demo. Thursday was again a disappointment. My Name Is Earl (5.16m/2.1), The Office (7.41m/3.7), and 30 Rock (5.95m/2.9) were all below their averages. Meanwhile, Parks & Recreation (5.07m/2.2) continues to drop. More troubling though, are the numbers for Southland (6.62m/2). It’s now lost over three million viewers and more than a point in the demo from the premiere on April 9th (9.72m/3.2).

ABC - The crumbling of new shows is something ABC knows all about. Desperate Housewives (13.64m/4.7), Brothers & Sisters (9.31m/3.1), and Dancing With The Stars (19.29m/4.3) got the week off to a nice start, but then the new shows started. Surviving Suburbia (8.98m/2.2) continues to drop, while Castle (8.24m/2) seems to have found its level. It would just be really nice if that level was a little higher. Probably the best news for Castle is the revelation that Cupid (5.59m/1.6) and The Unusuals (4.86m/1.5) are both struggling. If one of them is going to survive, Castle certainly has the inside track.

In happier news, Lost (9.04m/4.1) was back above 4 in the demo, and the combination of Grey’s Anatomy (14.12m/5.1) and Private Practice (9.7m/3.5) made gains on Thursday. In addition, According To Jim (3.11m/.9 – 3.56m/1) continues to punish the network for continuing to air this show. Finally, Ugly Betty (6.72m/2), while not outstanding, did offer an improvement over the recent sit-com experiment.

CBS - The week started out with another good run from the Monday comedies – Big Bang Theory (9.24m/3.4), How I Met Your Mother (8.87m/3.7), 2 ½ Men (14.16m/4.9), and Rules of Engagement (11.3m/3.9). Of note there, Rules Of Engagement has taken advantage of the post-Men slot and made a pretty good case for getting another season. The good news continued Tuesday as the backdoor pilot for the NCIS spinoff (16.7m/3.5) posted solid numbers. As good as that is, I remain skeptical about the spinoff’s prospects. That was followed by The Mentalist (17.11m/3.7) and Without A Trace (12.21m/2.5).

After a solid Wednesday, thanks to Criminal Minds (13.61m/3.3) and CSI:NY (12.5m/3.2), the puzzlement continued on Thursday with CSI (15.54m/3.7). The show now finds itself tied with The Office in the demo, with Grey’s being completely out of sight. It’s probably a very lucrative time to be William Petersen. Meanwhile, Survivor (11.73m/3.6) was up week to week. And Ghost Whisperer (9.67m/2.3), Flashpoint (9.57m/2.1), and Numb3rs (9.46m/2.2) easily took Friday night.

FOX – There was less to worry about at FOX. The week was off to a bit of a rocky start, as Sit Down, Shut Up (4.21m/1.9) dropped again, despite the cushy spot between The Simpsons (6.01m/3) and Family Guy (6.67m/3.4). That was quickly forgotten as House (11.69m/4.6) returned on Monday. That brought a little boost to 24 (10.43m/3.4). Tuesday also made for an easy win, thanks to Idol (23.26m/8.1) and Fringe (9.62m/4). Worth noting there is that while Idol was down a tenth, Fringe was up. Things weren’t so happy on Wednesday. Despite the fact that ABC, NBC, and CBS all handed the night off to Obama, Lie To Me (7.75m/2.3) couldn’t make any gains. Wednesday’s Idol (22.37m/7.7) was still number one, but I really don’t get the thinking behind not having Idol at 8.

Bones (8.94m/2.3) and Hell’s Kitchen (6.85m/2.8) remained down a bit on Thursday, but that’s nothing compared to what has become the weekly forehead slap of the FOX Friday. Prison Break (3.2m/1) and Dollhouse (3.09m/1.1) both managed small gains in viewers, while Dollhouse hit a new low for the demo. But small gains aren’t going to cut it here.

CW - The week didn’t get off to a good start. Gossip Girl (1.97m/1), One Tree Hill (2.28m/1.1), Reaper (1.77m/.7), and 90210 (1.79m/.9) were all down. The tides turned on Wednesday, as Next Top Model (4.01m/1.8) remained the highest rated show on the network. You do have to wonder why they waste that Wednesday at 9 spot on repeats, though. Thursday was also good, as Smallville (3.23m/1.4) and Supernatural (2.95m/1.3) both bounced back.

For the coming week … Monday finds Medium taking over the Heroes slot with a special two hour episode. The NCIS spinoff pilot continues on Tuesday. Scrubs lets loose with the big one hour finale on Wednesday. And Dollhouse finishes off season one (if you ignore that 13th episode) on Friday.

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Monday nights are the best/worst nights on television. There are so many great shows on (especially in the 8:00 hour), that it can be overwhelming. So it’s no surprise that the majority of our quotes this week come from Monday night shows. Between Chuck’s awesome finale, Barney on HIMYM and Castle and Beckett’s witty repartee, it’s an embarrassment of riches.

These are our favorite quotes from this week. As always, feel free to leave your own favorite quotes in the comments.

Chuck

“Why are you letting Sam Kinison and an Indian lesbian ruin your wedding?” – Dr. Awesome

“Oh… Chuck me.” – Casey

“Guys. I know Kung-fu.” – Chuck

Gossip Girl

“NYU? What was I thinking? You know how I feel about ironic facial hair!” – Blair

House

Wilson: “Why are you in my office?”
House: “Why aren’t you in MY office?”
Wilson: “Because I understand the definition of ‘MY’”?

Castle

“I feel so stupid. Here I am looking for evidence and all I had to do was make something up.” – Beckett

Beckett: “If you’re looking for a happy ending, you’ve come to the wrong place.”
Castle: “Next time I’ll have to try that massage parlor on Seventh Avenue.”

How I Met Your Mother

Ted: “The three days rule is insane. I mean who even came up with that?”
Barney: “Jesus.”

Big Bang Theory

“What exactly does that expression mean, ‘friends with benefits?’ Does he provide her with health insurance?” – Sheldon

“I’m telling you Leonard: Video slots, free drinks brought to you by a bosomy barmaid, and all-you-can-eat shrimp for $3.99. Disneyland can suck it. This is the real ‘happiest place on earth.’” – Raj

“Too bad he wasn’t here for that hooker. She was exactly his type: a hooker.” – Raj

30 Rock

The Office

“The old Michael Scott might have taken this, but not the new Michael Scott. They are in for a bitter surprise. I am not to be truffled with.” – Michael

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I sure as hell am, and I am officially proposing the moniker change for next season. It’s certainly appropriate considering what went down at the end of the episode, and it fits in perfectly with the geek sensibility of the show. When the writers promised that everything would change on Chuck by the end of this season, they weren’t kidding.

We still don’t know where a lot of the characters are going and what could possibly be planned next, but the stakes are higher than we imagined and the potential for this series just rose exponentially. It’s a credit to the quality of the writing that halfway into this I felt sure that it was almost over, and again ten minutes later. They packed so much action and drama in such a short amount of time it’s amazing they got it all in. And we did get everything.

After Morgan’s dramatic departure from the Buy More last week, it was all too appropriate that Chuck, and Casey, walked this time around. Granted Operation: Bartowski was complete and there was no need for Casey to stick around, but this was a big move for Chuck. Now he’s finally free to get on with the rest of his life, which at the time could have meant anything. Remember he finally got that degree from Stanford. Oh the Places You’ll Go indeed!

He turned down the General’s offer to be involved in the new Intersect project. He didn’t know what he wanted to do but knew it would be something different. Without the Buy More, and with Morgan considering leaving for Hawaii and his own dreams, Chuck was adrift.

All of this provided a beautiful sense of closure for the series. If it were to have ended with Ellie’s second wedding, it would have been an incredibly satisfying conclusion. Hell, even the ending we got wasn’t bad as a series finale. But how how good is it as a season finale!?

Chuck wired up with a new Intersect with capabilities and functionality Orion doesn’t even know about. I’m sure the kung fu surprise was just the first of many that could come. And with Fulcrum revealing that they are just a piece of a larger conglomerate, The Ring, how amazing could the show get next year?

Without the Buy More, though, I’m not sure how they would balance that patented Chuck humor and drama. I would hope they wouldn’t abandon it altogether, but at the same time it would be disappointing if Chuck were to have to return to the Buy More and re-establish his cover. Why can’t he be a college instructor for his cover? Or take over Roark?

I wonder if they’re considering a sweeping change in cast and tone for next year, if they get one. Eliminate the Buy More goons, keeping probably Anna, Big Mike and Morgan since they have a more personal connection to Chuck. Establish a whole new locale and give the show a whole different feel? Do you think that would work, or should they leave well enough alone? I do hope we get another season to find out what they come up with next, no matter what it is!

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Last week was a bit of an odd one for programming as the networks went a bit experimental. Over at FOX, Bones tried its third night in a week. On ABC, The Unusuals took over for Cupid and someone gave the OK for another Lost clip show.  CBS continued the shuffling of their procedurals by bumping NCIS, The Mentalist, and Criminal Minds back an hour. The results, as you might have suspected, were varied. While a lot of that was strange, the biggest surprise of the week was Thursday, which found just about everything  taking a hit in the ratings. In other news, According To Jim still stinks out loud.

ABC - With Desperate Housewives (13.85m/4.8) and Brothers & Sisters (9.46m/3.3) back with new episodes, the week got off to a great start. The good news continued on Monday as Dancing With The Stars (20.53m/4.7), Surviving Suburbia (9.87m/2.4), and Castle (8.21m/2.1) were all up in viewers, week-to-week. Although, Surviving Suburbia was down in the demo. The party ended on Tuesday.

Seriously, what the hell is with ABC and According To Jim (3.37m/1 – 3.35m/1)? I mean, I get it. Syndication money, blah, blah, blah. But come on. We have to wait until random distant Saturday in the future to get the final episodes of Pushing Daisies and Eli Stone, but According To Jim gets 8 PM on a Tuesday? With 3 million viewers? And a 1 demo? The facts are these … According To Jim sucks. Anyway … the news was better at 9, with the DWTS Results (14.73m/3.2). That led in to the special broadcast of The Unusuals (5.81m/1.5), which fell short of what Cupid has been doing there. Worse for The Unusuals, that was better than the regular installment on Wednesday (4.74m/1.4). That one certainly didn’t receive any help from another Lost clip show (6.75m/2.9), and those two episodes may have sealed the fate of the show. That’s too bad, I really like it. Earlier on Wednesday, Scrubs (4.6m/1.9) and Better Off Ted (4.19m/1.7) continued to struggle.

On a very strange Thursday where viewers just didn’t really show up, In The Motherhood and Samantha Who? were benched for a Grey’s Anatomy repeat before the regular Grey’s broadcast (13.51m/5) and Private Practice (9.08m/3.3) got the week back on track. Those numbers are oddly low for Grey’s, but as you’ll see, everyone had issues on Thursday, so we’ll need to wait and see how these numbers go.

NBC - It was another rough week for the peacock, which started off with nobody interested in Miss USA (4.99m/1.4). The Celebrity Apprentice (8.41m/3.2) is holding up, as is The Biggest Loser (9.26m/3.7), but that doesn’t really soften the blow for the weekly Monday results. Again, things didn’t look good for Chuck (6.11m/2.4) and Heroes (6.45m/3.1). Both shows remain mired in fourth place, despite the fact that Dr. House made way for Bones, and four of the five CBS shows were repeats. That means that Chuck remains on the bubble. Heroes will be back in the fall, but with a shortened season. Somewhat better, Medium (7.34m/2.5) managed to win the 10PM hour in the demo, while finishing third in viewers.

As with ABC, NBC was also oddly down on Thursday. My Name Is Earl (5.54m/2.2) was the lone exception, gaining slightly in viewers over the previous week. The rest of the shows all took a drop. Parks & Recreation (5.2m/2.3) wasn’t really a surprise. The show just isn’t very good, yet anyway. It has only been two episodes. More surprising, though, were the results for The Office (7.28m/3.8), 30 Rock (6.3m/3.1), and Southland (8.11m/2.4). It’s too early to say whether this was just a wacky Thursday, or if this is what it looks like when Southland goes up against a new Private Practice. That’s a matchup to keep an eye on, though.

CBS - I’m really not sure what the programmers at CBS are up to. For two weeks now they have been juggling things around the schedule. This week, that meant a repeat Mentalist in the CSI: Miami spot on Monday, NCIS and The Mentalist repeats both moved back an hour on Tuesday, and the new Criminal Minds (13.72m/3.5) moving to 10 on Wednesday. I can only guess that it’s all a series of tests for setting the schedule next fall. Perhaps something to do with how they plan to take advantage of NBC’s Leno shenanigans. With that in mind, it is worth noting that the Criminal Minds numbers are above what CSI: NY usually does in that spot.

Thursday brought the normal lineup, but as with the other networks, lowered numbers. Survivor (11.3m/3.5) wasn’t too far off, but CSI (14.64m/3.7) remains concerning. We’ll give a pass this week, but that demo number is one to watch. With things going the way they are, there is actually the possibility that a new CSI could finish fourth in the demo before the end of the year. That was unthinkable last fall. Friday brought the expected win for the night with new episodes of Ghost Whisperer (9.15m/2.1), Flashpoint (8.18m/1.6), and Numb3rs (8.84m/1.8).

FOX - The premiere of Sit Down, Shut Up (5.18m/2.3) made for a bit of a disappointing start to the week. Given the talent, and the cushy spot between The Simpsons (6.58m/3.1) and Family Guy (7.34m/3.8), that’s not a good number. Things were also a bit slow on Monday, with Bones (8.57m/2.5) taking over for House. I’m not going to take anything away from Bones on that one, though. That’s what happens when the network airs the show on three different nights in a week. Bones also got in on the strange Thursday with its regular episode (8.42m/2.3). That was followed by an also low Hell’s Kitchen (6.8m/3).

There was better news elsewhere, as 24 (10.34m/3.2) held up ok without Dr. House batting lead off. American Idol, of course, was an easy winner on Tuesday (23.96m/8.2) and Wednesday (23.95m/8.3). And while many still question what Fringe (9.89m/3.9) could do on its own, you can’t argue with the results it’s getting post-Idol. It leaves me very curious to see what they do with the show in the fall. The ever dwindling results of Lie To Me (7.97m/2.3) have to be giving pause to any thoughts of Fringe anchoring a night. That leaves the FOX Friday, which was a whole new kind of disaster this week. Apparently, not too many people care what ultimately happens to Lincoln and Michael on Prison Break (3.05m/1). And that led to Dollhouse (2.99m/1.2), which found a new low, despite having a very interesting episode.

CW - Gossip Girl (2.37m/1.3), One Tree Hill (2.45m/1.2), and Reaper (2.15m/.9) got the week off to what is a pretty standard start at this point. Things were a little more unusual with 90210 (1.88m/1) and Next Top Model (4.01m/1.9). 90210 was down a fair bit from the previous week, and Next Top Model actually finished second in the demo. And really, given the way that Lie To Me is going, it’s not inconceivable that the CW could actually win a night in the demo at some point. Wednesday at 8 is now the exact opposite of Monday at 8. Finally, Smallville (3.1m/1.3) and Supernatural (2.7m/1.1) wrapped up the wacky Thursday.

For the coming week, some numbers to watch … Monday brings the season finales of Chuck and Heroes. I think it’s far too late in the game to expect a huge change, but the prospect of a finale could offer boosts to both of them. Cupid returns on Tuesday, to make a case for a second season, and to possibly rule one out for The Unusuals. Keep an eye on the CSI demo Thursday, and watch what happens when Private Practice and Southland square off again. And Friday, Alan Tudyk stops by FOX to try and offer a boost to the sagging Dollhouse ratings.

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I’m sure there’s no way Bakula and Chase will be sticking around beyond next week for long (if there is a beyond next week), but it’s been a lot of fun having them around. The creators promised us some serious game changers in the status quo by the season finale and they’ve already started delivering.

I expected the “on the run” portion of Sarah and Chuck’s adventure to last a lot longer than it did. Don’t get me wrong, I know Casey is good but they didn’t even make it 24 hours. Still, you knew something was going to get in the way of Chuck and Sarah finally consummating their deeply hidden feelings.

It does look like those feelings are going to be a lot less hidden now, though. Her comment after they were captured regarding Chuck suggesting a cell with two beds (”Two beds?”) was pretty evident that she’s finally done denying her feelings.

But the biggest surprise was when his father rigged up a fake Intersect initiation program to remove the Intersect from Chuck’s brain. I’m assuming it removed both; the Fulcrum one and the government one. Did his father know about both Intersects in his brain?

There was a nice synchronicity with Morgan finally taking a stand at the Buy More and deciding to move on with the rest of his life at the same time that Chuck was suddenly freed to move on with his. In fact, it looked like everything was wrapping up nicely with a neat little bow until Roark showed up, having survived the explosion at the Fulcrum Drive-In after the Intersect fake-out.

Things are heating up nicely for a horrible wedding for Ellie and Devon in next week’s finale.  It’s a shame that their ceremony is inevitably going to be destroyed because they’ve been developed as two of the most sincere and decent people in all of television. They don’t deserve anything bad to ever happen to them.

One of my theories as to the big game change was that Chuck’s family would find out about his spy work and/or the Intersect. Then, out of nowhere, Devon was in on the secret and proved himself not nearly as awesome as I expected at keeping his cool around Ellie while maintaining Chuck’s cover. Will the rest of his clan find out?

More importantly, will Chuck really stay rid of the Intersect? I have a hard time imagining him keeping his government affiliation without it. At best he is a terrible agent, and without the Intersect he doesn’t really have an edge information-wise either.

I picture him somehow having to take back on the burden again, voluntarily. Maybe to save his father or as a response to a sacrifice his father makes. Yeah, I think Scott Bartowski (Bakula) may not survive the season. Or maybe he’ll just go back into hiding.

Or maybe they’ll really throw things for a loop and make Morgan the Intersect and Chuck will be one of his handlers. What a disaster that would be!

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It was another up and down week for numbers, where we saw some shows rebound (Heroes, Lost), while others continue to raise eyebrows (Better Off Ted, Samantha Who?, CSI). Through it all, the most intriguing story is again the FOX Friday night. Prison Break took over where Terminator:TSCC left off, literally and figuratively. What does that mean for Dollhouse? Elsewhere, ABC has a strange mess on their hands with a handful of both comedies and dramas that are all returning mediocre numbers at best, with no clear standouts. How do you decide what to keep?

FOX - Let’s get right to the big Friday. First, what the hell was FOX thinking? Was there actually someone at the network that thought it would be a good idea to bring Prison Break back with a repeat? If so, that person should be kicked in the crotch on Monday. That repeat at 8 (2.68m/.8) was barely watched, and didn’t do any favors for the new episode at 9 (3.38m/1.2).  As to what that means for Dollhouse… I think it’s bad news. I saw some positive reaction that Prison Break fell short of the numbers Dollhouse has been delivering, but that really doesn’t mean anything. Prison Break has already been canceled. Narrowly beating it isn’t exactly a feat worth bragging about. The best thing that could have happened for Dollhouse was to see Prison Break post much better numbers than what Terminator:TSCC had been, leading to an improvement in lead in. That isn’t happening, and it doesn’t bode well for Dollhouse’s future.

Elsewhere, it was a mostly typical week for the network. House (12.19m/4.5) and 24 (10.86m/3.6) were off a bit week to week, but still solid. American Idol was the usual force on Tuesday (24.38m/8.5) and Wednesday (24.11m/8.2). And Fringe (10.15m/4) was right on pace with the return from last week.  The only real break from the norm was Bones (11.01m/3) taking over Wednesday for Lie To Me, and improving the network’s results. As always, the Bones fans will follow the show wherever it goes.

ABC - It’s a strange situation the network finds itself in. On the drama front, Castle (7.28m/1.9), Cupid (6.09m/1.7), and The Unusuals (6.01m/1.8) are all very similar. Much like the situation with the comedies, with Scrubs (5.06m/2), Better Off Ted (4.62m/1.9), In The Motherhood (4.62m/1.4), and Samantha Who? (4.84m/1.5). Nothing really stands out to be brought back next season, but it would be a surprise to see all of them canceled. Given a choice, I’d pick Castle and Better Off Ted from that list.

Elsewhere, Dancing With The Stars keeps rolling on Monday (19.46m/4.6) and Tuesday (15.24m/3.5). The second week of Surviving Suburbia (9.71m/2.6) dropped a million and a half viewers, and I’m still not sure why that one was chosen for the post-DWTS slot. Good news this week for Lost (9.23m/4), as the demo number rebounded nicely after an off week.

NBC - It was a better week for NBC, relatively speaking. Dateline (6.45m/1.6) took over for Kings on Sunday, and was an improvement. That led into Celebrity Apprentice (8.07m/3). More good news on Monday, as all three shows, Chuck (6.22m/2.3), Heroes (6.83m/3.3), and Medium (7.65m/2.7), were up for the week. Chuck remains firmly in the question mark spot. And while still a distant fourth place finish, the Heroes demo is an encouraging sign.

The Biggest Loser (9.11m/3.8) had another successful Tuesday. And after a slow opening with My Name Is Earl (5.36m/2.2) and Parks & Recreation (6.02m/2.5), The Office (8.37m/4.2), 30 Rock (7.32m/3.5), and Southland (9.61m/3) made for a pretty solid Thursday. Southland is particularly notable. It managed to retain almost all of its audience from the premiere. Finally, the debut of Kings on Saturday (2.41m/.6) went almost unnoticed.

CBS - Everything started off  business as usual for CBS this week. Amazing Race (10.57m/3.1), Cold Case (10.56m/2.5), and The Unit (9.05m/2.4) on Sunday. The comedy block, Big Bang Theory (10.06m/3.9), How I Met Your Mother (9.59m/4.1), 2 ½ Men (15.03m/5.3), Rules Of Engagement (11.6m/4) on Monday. That’s all just what you would expect. Things were a little different the rest of the week.

Tuesday brought repeats of NCIS (13.56m/2.6) and The Mentalist (12.18m/2.4) leading into a new episode of Without A Trace (13.23m/3). CSI: NY (12.14m/2.9) got the same treatment on Wednesday, as the only new episode of the night. Encouraging numbers for both of those shows, given that they had to do things mostly on their own. The real weirdness starts with Thursday. Survivor (11.64m/3.6) was fine, but CSI (15.72m/3.8) is again oddly low in the demo. It’s quite possible that the show will fall to third place in the time slot before the end of the season. Harper’s Island (9.61m/3) finished off the night, losing a good portion of the premiere audience.

CW - Another very slow week leaves not much to report. Reaper (2.05m/.9), 90210 (2.13m/1.2), and Next Top Model (3.78m/1.9) were the extent of the new programming for the week. Worth noting there is that Next Top Model finished third in the demo Wednesday at 8.

For the coming week… Bones gets its third time slot in six days on Monday (WTF?), which could offer a small boost to Chuck. On Tuesday, The Unusuals gets a shot following the DWTS Results, which doesn’t exactly speak well for Cupid’s chances. Lie To Me returns Wednesday, and tries to live up to what Bones did last week, right before Lost tries to pass off a clip show as something other than a clip show. The doctors at Grey’s return on Thursday, to try and put CSI into that third place spot. And Friday, Prison Break/Dollhouse.

Related posts

• Ratings Clack – Good news for Castle, not so much for Dollhouse
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Man … last week was just a bloodbath in the ratings. With the exception of Thursday night, it was bad news for all of the shows at the top of my list for every night. Kings on Sunday, Chuck and Heroes on Monday, Reaper on Tuesday, Better Off Ted and Lost on Wednesday, and Dollhouse on Friday. Not a lot of good to report for any of them. On a brighter note, there was good news for the returning Fringe, and the debuts of Parks & Recreation, Southland, and Harper’s Island.

NBC - Let’s rip the bandage off quickly and start with NBC. The week got off to an awful start as Kings (3.62m/1.1) hit a new low. That’s low enough that the show has now been shuffled off to Saturday to finish its run. The bad news continued on Monday. Chuck (6.09m/2.1) was actually up in viewers week-to-week, but that’s still 4th place in both categories. The news wasn’t any better for Heroes (6.11m/2.6). That’s also good for 4th place. More troubling, though, is the demo number. That’s shockingly low for Heroes. The news was better on Tuesday, with The Biggest Loser (8.09m/3.2) and SVU (9.27m/3.3).

And then it all went off the rails again on Wednesday, with the season (series?) finale of Life (4.6m/1.3). Of all the shows that are going to get the axe over the next six weeks, that’s going to be the one I miss the most. Thursday brought better numbers, although they come with some caveats. Parks & Recreation (6.77m/3) had a reasonable debut, but that was behind a one time shot of The Office at 8 (7.2m/3.3). With Earl in that spot for week two, expect a drop. A second Office episode at 9 (7.94m/3.9) was around usual levels, followed by 30 Rock (6.75m/3.1). Southland (9.72m/3.2) debuted with numbers right on pace with what ER has been doing all season, but that was a premiere, and it didn’t face a new Private Practice, so we need more data. Finally, Friday Night Lights (4.36m/1.3) finished off the season rather weakly, but it is operating on an entirely unique system, so that number is not of much consequence.

ABC - It was an interesting start to the week, with Dancing With The Stars (19.88m/4.6) leading in to Surviving Suburbia (11.25m/3). That’s a good number for Suburbia, but it is almost certainly a function of the lead in, as we’ve all learned by now from the Samantha Who? numbers. More interesting was Castle (9.03m/2.3). It held almost the same number as last week, despite the weaker lead-in. That’s good news for Castle, because the same can’t be said for Cupid (5.71m/1.6). Week two saw the demo number cut in half, and that was following the DWTS Results (14.56m/3.3).

That puts Cupid in a similar position to The Unusuals (6.83m/2.1), which also struggled. The weakness of those two shows may be the best thing that has happened to Castle. Earlier in the night, Scrubs (4.55m/1.9) and Better Off Ted (4.04m/1.7) continued to struggle. And Lost (8.57m/3.8) managed to hit an all time low in the demo. Finally, Thursday brought another drop for In The Motherhood (4.57m/1.3) and Samantha Who? (4.87m/1.4), who would, no doubt, like that cushy slot following DWTS back.

FOX - By comparison to those two, the Idol mothership had a much better week. House (13.29m/5.1) and 24 (10.96m/3.8) stood strong against DWTS and basketball to start the week. And that carried through to Tuesday with Idol (22.81m/8.1) and Fringe (9.88m/4). That was right on pace with the last Fringe in February. News was not so good Wednesday, with Lie To Me (8.56m/2.5) continuing to drop since the move of Idol to 9 (22.98m/8). I’m still not sure why the network made that move. Lie To Me would probably be doing Fringe-like numbers with the two reversed.

Thursday remains vastly improved with the combination of Bones (8.88m/2.5) and Hell’s Kitchen (7.59m/3.3). And Friday remains a trainwreck, with Terminator:TSCC (3.56m/1.3) and Dollhouse (3.56m/1.4). Both shows finished the night 4th in viewers and 3rd in the demo, behind the likes of Wife Swap, Supernanny, and Howie Do It. More troubling? Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader averaged around 5.75 million viewers and a 1.3 demo for new episodes Friday at 8. Don’t Forget The Lyrics was around 5.14 million and a 1.5 demo for new episodes at 9.

CBS - Awards and sports got the week off to a great start. Sunday’s Country Music Awards (14.77m/3.8) were an upgrade to the usual schedule. Ditto for Monday’s presentation of the NCAA Championship game (17.65m/6.3). The rest of the week was, for the most part, by the crime-filled book. NCIS (17.81m/3.6), The Mentalist (16.92m/3.6), Without A Trace (12.15m/2.7), Criminal Minds (13.61m/3.3), and CSI:NY (12.5m/3.3) were all at expected levels.

Things were a little different on Thursday. Survivor (11.32m/3.5) remains strong, but the demo weirdness continues for CSI (16.36m/3.7). Seeing CSI below a 4 is as strange as seeing Lost there, or Heroes below a 3. Did everyone not get the message that CSI had Charisma Carpenter dancing in her underthings? That fantastic sight was followed by the premiere of Harper’s Island (10.49m/2.7). That’s a good number, considering what the show is. Following CSI, it would be cause for concern if it was a regular series, but for the expanded mini, it should be fine. Finally, the network easily won all three hours Friday with Ghost Whisperer (10.23m/2.5), Flashpoint (9.72m/1.9), and Numb3rs (9.72m/2.2).

CW - It was a short week, with the entire schedule boiling down to Reaper (2.11m/.9), 90210 (1.96m/1.1), and Next Top Model (3.69m/1.7). It’s worth noting that Reaper has more viewers than 90210, despite airing against Idol, but the demo is still too low to expect a third season for the gang from the ‘Bench.

For the coming week, According To Jim returns (again?), but nobody cares about that. So, we’ll be looking to see if Heroes has hit bottom or not on Monday. Wednesday will find Bones filling in for Lie To Me, and most likely the Bones fans will follow right along. Thursday we’ll learn what an Earl lead-in means for Parks & Recreation. And Friday, Prison Break tries to right the FOX Friday ship.

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Last week was a great week on television in general, which means that it was a great week for quotes. Between the suicide on House, Scott Bakula guest-starring on Chuck and Portia De Rossi just being awesome on Better off Ted, there were a lot of hilarious lines. These are some of our favorites from this week. As always, feel free to leave your own quotes in the comments section.

House

Cuddy: “I’m sorry for your loss.”
House: “It’s not my loss.”
Cuddy: “I’m sorry you don’t think it is.”

“Suicide means you could have helped him; murder means you’re off the hook.” – Cameron

“You can’t feel that much guilt without love.” – Taub.

Chuck

“Hooo Boy!” Chuck’s father (Scott Bakula), in response to his daughter’s reaction at seeing him (And, for those not initiated to the world of ‘Quantum Leap’, Sam used to end each episode with the same two words).

Castle

“Awesome right? It’s my first cold case. C’mon, it’s a little funny.” – Castle

“Wow… I feel like Alfred in the Batcave for the first time.” – Beckett

90210

“Sesame Balls? Is that your nickname for Navid?” – Naomi

Reaper

Sock: “If we were meeting at the bar for the first time, I’d probably try and pick you up with my best line.”
Kristen: “OK. Pick me up.”
Sock: “Excuse me. Hi. I think you’re standing on my penis.”

Rescue Me

“So you fight fires once or twice a month, then the rest of the time you sit around picking your ass.” – Dwight

Sheila: “Are you staring at my tits?”
Her therapist: “Tommy’s staring at your tits.”

The Mentalist

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Who knew? Did you? I’m gonna be honest with you, I totally didn’t see the “twist” coming in the latest episode of NBC’s Chuck until they told us. And I guess I should have. Sure, you could say “that’s a helluva coincidence,” or rather you could realize that maybe there’s less coincidences than usual.

I guess with the inclusion of both Scott Bakula and Chevy Chase there wasn’t much time left for any Buy More shenanigans. But I really didn’t mind. While Chase’s role was pretty cardboard, Bakula was really able to sink his teeth into a character that turned out to be far more complex than it started. And he did so masterfully.

In the beginning of the episode, he played it like the slightly off-kilter absent-minded absent-bodied father that Ellie and Chuck thought he was. He shuffled around slowly and had a noticeable defeated stoop about his shoulders even. But all that fell away when he revealed himself as Orion, the tech mastermind behind the Intersect and ultimately everything Chuck has been dealing with.

I thought for a moment that this might be the first chapter in the “game changing”  alterations to the series’ status quo that we’ve been promised for the season’s final episodes. Hell, maybe it still is, but in the end things are kind of back to status quo and we can have more filler episodes like last week’s ultimately turned out to be.

Hopefully, we’re not done with Bakula as I thought he added something nice to the cast. His presence alone was enough to inspire Chuck to really work on getting rid of the Intersect, which in turn led to him getting all super spy (he took out Casey!). And considering that Casey didn’t kill him after that played out, I think he’s even earning the big lug’s respect a bit more each episode. There may be a great spy in Chuck yet.

As much as I want to say poor Ellie, and I do feel bad for her considering how much she’s kept in the dark about what’s really going on with both Chuck and now her father as well, it’s hard to when she keeps lording the bachelor party over Devon. I know there are women out there who just can’t let things go, but you would think that after the years they’ve spent together, Devon would have earned her trust.

I was none too pleased when she went behind his back to find out what happened. I will say that I feel bad for Devon. Not only is the bachelor party incident clearly affecting his relationship with Ellie, but he’s beating himself up over it as well. And Devon, as Steven (Bakula) pointed out, is a true straight arrow. He was just a victim of Cylon Number Six’s brutal tactics last week.

I do like how out of nowhere we got the Roark Instruments is bigger than Microsoft or Apple. Where did that come from? What a strange world they live in where there’s room for an even bigger operating system than the big two. Are Linux and Unix still out there too? It sounded like it was a free OS so that puts it more in line with those latter two.

I know, speculating on the operating system wars in Chuck’s world is maybe even a bit too geeky for the Nerd Herd. Still, you can’t help but wonder if Ellie and Devon ever sit at home snuggling on the couch and watching Ted Roark on Dancing With the Stars.

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… finally. Much of last week could be described as more of the same for the folks over at NBC. But this particular Thursday was different. Not only because of ER taking over the entire night. It also brought a clear win for the night to the network, calling to mind the Must See TV of years gone by. The unfortunate bit of that is that it’s not repeatable. But it was fun for the night. In other numbers news for the week, nobody cares about In The Motherhood or Samantha Who?, Cupid premiered to somewhat iffy numbers, and both Lie To Me and CSI had numbers that should make their networks say, “Hmmmmm.”

NBC - Given that it has been such a train wreck of a season for the peacock, let’s start there. ER owned Thursday night. The retrospective at 8 (10.63m/3.5) was just barely edged out by Survivor, but the big series finale (16.38m/6) easily dominated the rest of the competition. That is certainly a far cry from what the show did in the Must See heyday, but an overall win is how the show should have gone out. Other good news came in the form of Celebrity Apprentice (8.66m/3.3), Biggest Loser (8.78m/3.5), and L&O: SVU (9.37m/3.4).

Elsewhere, the news wasn’t so good. It seems that the tribe has spoken where Kings (4.52m/1.3) is concerned. As has become the pattern, Chuck (5.72m/2.1) and Heroes (6.42m/3.1) continue to disappoint. It is worth noting that despite another drop in viewers, Heroes did gain back some of its demo, which is something. Similar gains were made at Life (5.69m/1.5), which was helped by L&O repeats replacing Chopping Block. Unfortunately, improving from terrible to not quite as terrible still isn’t much to crow about.

ABC - The home of the dancing stars also had an up and down week. The Monday performance (20.48m/4.9) show continued to dominate 8-10. It will be interesting to see what happens Monday, when  Surviving Suburbia jumps in to the 9:30 slot. The results show (13.51m/3.1), back against Idol, took a hit, but still ended up well. Also good, Lost (9.57m/4.3) is holding up against Idol.

Not quite as encouraging, Castle (9.09m/2.4) suffered another small drop. Those aren’t terrible numbers, yet. But you have to be concerned that this week Surviving Suburbia will be inserted between DWTS and Castle. I expect that to bring another drop, probably putting Castle on that uncomfortable renewal bubble. It’s too early to call, but that’s quite possibly the same situation Cupid (7.22m/2.3) will be in. The premiere did manage to best what Eli Stone was doing there, but it was the premiere. And… it is certainly fairing better than any of the comedies. Scrubs (4.97m/1.9), Better Off Ted (4.67m/1.9), In The Motherhood (5m/1.6), and Samantha Who? (4.7m/1.6) were all disappointing.

CBS - Things were much better for CBS. The Amazing Race (11.98m/3.7) got the week off to a good start. And the good news continued as the Monday comedies rebounded from the strange numbers of last week. Big Bang Theory (9.74m/3.8), How I Met Your Mother (9.2m/3.9), 2 ½ Men (14.56m/5.2), and Rules Of Engagement (11.03m/4.1) were all strong. As were NCIS (17.23m/3.5) and The Mentalist (16.96m/3.8). Most notable though, was the surprise of I Get That A Lot (10.35m/3.4). That is well above anything that Christine or Gary has managed to do in that spot.

Survivor (11.27m/3.6) managed to edge out the ER retrospective on Thursday, and led in to a CSI (14.63m/3.8) that doesn’t exactly sound alarms, but it should get some attention. Those are still really good numbers for most shows, but not for CSI. The demo number is particularly surprising. For now, we can probably chalk it up to the novelty of the ER finale, but you could also use it to start building your case that the lack of Grissom is starting to show in the numbers.

FOX - Star Trek helped Family Guy (8.12m/4.1) start the week on a high note, and that carried through to Monday. The return of House (12.51m/4.8) meant a bump for 24 (11.27m/3.7). American Idol, of course, won everything on Tuesday (24.41m/8.9) and Wednesday (24.34m/8.4). That big lead in didn’t do anything for the Osbournes Reloaded (8.39m/3.7). Bones (9.25m/2.7) was off a bit, but with Hell’s Kitchen (6.95m/3.3), made for a solid Thursday.

On the other hand, the results for Lie To Me (9.18m/2.6) are troubling. That is against almost no competition, Scrubs and Ted, I Get That A Lot, and a L&O repeat. The show really should be doing better than that. It’s something to watch in the coming weeks to see if it’s just an oddity, or what the audience for the show really amounts to without Idol in front of it. And, of course, there was Friday. There is just no way to spin the Terminator:TSCC (3.35m/1.3) and Dollhouse (3.49m/1.4) numbers now. More people watched a repeat Ghost Whisperer, Wife Swap, and Howie Do It than watched TSCC. Sure, it beat Howie in the demo, but if that’s what you are clinging to, yikes. Dollhouse isn’t much better. It was beaten outright, in viewers and demo, by Flashpoint and a Supernanny repeat(!!!). It did manage to best Friday Night Lights in the demo, but still landed 4th in viewers.

CW - For the most part, it was another week of the same for CW. Gossip Girl (2.45m/1.3) and One Tree Hill (2.36m/1.3) did make small gains, but both remain below what they were doing earlier in the year. Reaper (2.37m/1) seems to have found its level, and I don’t think it’s enough for renewal. Arguing for renewal though, is the fact that it did manage more viewers than 90210 (2.04m/1.1). Smallville (3.85m/1.7) and Supernatural (3.27m/1.5) were also at normal levels. The biggest change came from Next Top Model (3.97m/1.8), which took advantage of not facing Idol.

For the coming week, there are a bunch of interesting premieres to keep an eye on. Surviving Suburbia finally sees the light following Dancing With The Stars on Monday. That’s good news for Bob Saget, bad news for Castle. Over on NBC, Scott Bakula and Chevy Chase do what they can to lift Chuck’s prospects. Tuesday, Fringe returns to see if anyone remembers what the hell was going on, and Cupid tries to hang on to every last viewer from the premiere. Wednesday, we’ll find out if there was anything to that Lie To Me drop, and get our first look at The Unusuals. Thursday, The Office takes over for Earl at 8, because NBC desperately wants Parks And Recreation to do better than the promos suggest it will. Later in the night, the network also has the premiere of Southland, which will face off with the also-premiering Harper’s Island. And Friday, we can all stand by and shake our heads as Supernanny kicks the crap out of Dollhouse, again. It’s a strange TV world.

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(3/22 – 3/38)

It was another screwy week of ratings. The combination of the Obama address and the NCAA tournament made for all kinds of scheduling nuttery. That doesn’t meant there weren’t some interesting numbers to look at. The ongoing dramas of the Heroes and Dollhouse ratings continued. Chopping Block managed to post a number so low that even NBC was forced to cancel it immediately. And the trio of Dancing With The Stars, Biggest Loser, and Idol continued to prove why reality TV isn’t going anywhere.

NBC - Oh, Heroes… There are a lot of shows that were handed excuses this week. The President… Idol moved to their night… NCAA tournament gobbling up younger demos… Heroes (6.47m/2.9) didn’t have that luxury. This was the big Bryan Fuller episode, and it had the added bonus of facing a 2 ½ Men repeat and a 24 that was weakened by not having a new House as a lead in. Still, with all that going for it, the show managed to hit an all time low. That’s really bad. Not, ‘it won’t be back next year’ bad, but I also wouldn’t count on another 25 episode order.

The Heroes weren’t alone in the bad news this week. Kings (4.6m/1.3) got things off to a rocky start, as the second week numbers plummeted. Chuck (6.16m/2.2) signed in with low numbers as well. Even My Name Is Earl (5.89m/2.1), which is usually steady, if not impressive, was down. And Chopping Block (2.58m/.9)? Wow. Those numbers are so bad that NBC announced the next day that L&O repeats will be taking over immediately. The bright spots were, as usual, The Biggest Loser (9.83m/4.1), The Office (8.65m/4.5), and 30 Rock (7.17m/3.4).

FOX - It was a bit of a slow week for the network. Animation Domination checked in at usual levels on Sunday, with The Simpsons (6.19m/3), King Of The Hill (5.51m/2.6), Family Guy (7.34m/3.7), and American Dad (5.83m/2.9). With House taking the week off, 24 (10.37/3.4)  was down a bit. Idol made way for Obama on Tuesday, instead posting the usual dominating numbers on Wednesday (26.03m/9.3), and Thursday (23.1m/7.7).  That Thursday installment also brought about a big jump for Hell’s Kitchen (10.13m/4.5). And then, there is Friday. Terminator:TSCC (3.83m/1.3) again managed minor gains, while Dollhouse (3.87m/1.3) fell to a new low in the demo. The two are virtually tied at this point, and that’s not a good thing for either of them.

CBS - I have no idea what the network was thinking with the Monday schedule. It’s odd enough to mix repeats and new episodes of the comedy block when it is doing so well. But what was the thought process behind moving  How I Met Your Mother (7.36m/2.9)  to 8 for the week? Clearly, it didn’t work. Even without the usual House competition, HIMYM was well below what it normally does for a new episode. It is worth noting that Rules Of Engagement (9.37m/3.4) did well out of a 2 ½ Men repeat.

Elsewhere, NCIS (17.83m/4) and The Mentalist (17.62m/3.9) were both bumped back an hour, and it didn’t seem to matter. The relocated Survivor (8.07m/2.3) took a hit against Idol, but it was a clip show, and still a slight improvement over what the comedies usually do there. Criminal Minds (14.36m/3.4) remained strong. And like last week, the NCAA Tournament was both good and bad. Thursday was a downgrade, averaging somewhere near 9 miollion viewers and a mid three demo. Friday saw a boost, hovering around the usual 10 million viewers, but adding to the demo, coming in around 3.6.

ABC - Monday’s Dancing With The Stars (20.34m/5) was again the most watched show on the network. It was also tied for second in the demo, with Desperate Housewives (14.75m/5). The demo crown went to Grey’s Anatomy (16.1m/5.6), which benefitted from the tournament sidelining CSI. More good news for Brothers & Sisters (10.15m/3.4) and Private Practice (10.12m/3.6), which are both performing very well following the hits. The DWTS Results (16.12m/3.9) show also perked up this week, with no Idol to contend with.

The news was not quite as good for Castle (9.14m/2.5). Another week brought another drop. Those aren’t horrible numbers, but the show needs to find it’s level sooner, rather than later. Lost (9.04m/4.1) suffered a drop of its own. Idol is just the thorn in the side of the show. That was following what was a disappointing second outing for the new Scrubs (5.36m/2.1) and Better Off Ted (4.6m/1.8) combo. That’s too bad. Better Off Ted is a funny show. And in premiere news, In The Motherhood (6.69m/2.2) and Samantha Who? (6.57m/2.2) came in close to the normal numbers for Ugly Betty in that spot. I have to believe that will change with episode two though. In The Motherhood is not good. They should have kept Chelsea Handler.

CW - Some worrisome results for the little network this week. Much like Heroes, this was the spot for Gossip Girl (2.25m/1.1) to make gains. No new House or Big Bang Theory. Somehow, it managed to actually lose audience week to week. Is it really wise to be talking about a Gossip Girl spinoff? One Tree Hill (2.4m/1.2) held steady week to week. That cracked the door just a little bit for Reaper (2.69m/1.2) which managed to out perform Gossip Girl. Still probably not enough, but it’s a start. Next Top Model (2.87m/1.4) suffered the wrath of Idol, making way for Smallville (3.79m/1.6) to be the highest rated show of the week. Supernatural (3.13m/1.2) joined in to again make Thursday the most successful night of the week. One last note, I usually skip the CW Friday ratings, but it is worth noting that The Game (2.01m/.9) was up this week. I can only attribute that to the appearance of ‘The Blond Stranger‘, Stacey Dash. And here’s one to blow your mind. Stacey Dash is 43?!

For the coming week… It’s a full slate on Monday, with everything new. Did the return of Bryan Fuller do enough to change the fortunes of Heroes? Tuesday brings the premiere of Cupid on ABC, but I’ve already dismissed it out of spite. I’ll just go ahead and watch Dave Mordahl trying his hand at barstool sledding. We’ll also be getting our first look at The Osborne’s Reloaded that night. Unfortunately, I’m guessing the ratings will be depressingly good. CBS tries their hand with I Get That A Lot on Wednesday, while Thursday brings the big series finale of ER. And Friday, it’s all about what happens with Terminator:TSCC and Dollhouse.

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The shenanigans of the episode involved the addition of the Beverly Hills Buy More, and saw Big Mike take things into his own hands in a very unexpected, and slightly out of character, way. I guess Morgan’s mother is a bad influence on him. Hell, he’s acting positively fatherly toward Morgan!

Still, I have a hard time reconciling Big Mike’s character as it’s been presented so far with the Big Mike we saw this week, following through on a plan to literally trash a rival Buy More. The man is a company man through and through. Emmett is even more company than him, and he was on board as well, but the Emmett arc has taken the most bizarre turns of any on the show. How did an efficiency expert brought in from corporate wind up as a lowly assistant manager? Just to keep Tony Hale on board?

But the main thrust of the episode was Orion, who reminded me a lot of Rebel from Heroes. Just like Rebel, Orion was able to tap into virtually any and all of the computers and cell phones that he wanted to in order to communicate with Chuck.

And while I absolutely believed that Orion was legitimate, I found myself starting to doubt the General. Wouldn’t it be a cluster … well you know … if the General turned out to be Fulcrum. She could be just all military, as Sarah indicated, but she seemed even more sinister tonight toward Chuck. Probably a stretch, but if I’m right I expect a cookie or something.

I’m also not buying that Orion is really dead. It seemed too easy and Orion should be way too smart to fall for that simple of a ploy. How easy is it to put someone else in a trenchcoat and sunglasses and give him the handy arm strap keyboard?

The intensity of the show is really ratcheting up the past few weeks. Continuity is growing and the back story is getting more serious as well. And while I have no idea how long they can successfully keep the serious spy business going on right underneath, literally, the goofy world of Chuck’s day-to-day life, I hope they get at least another season. I have no idea what the “game change” is, unless it’s revealing the General as Fulcrum and Chuck, Casey and Sarah have to go completely underground (but what about Chuck’s friends and families then), but I’m anxious and excited to find out!

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It was an odd week of television. The current sweeps period continues to cough up odd nights of repeats. This time, NBC took Monday off, to disastrous results. In not quite as disastrous news, the mid-season debuts continued, as ABC premiered Better Off Ted and NBC finally gave us all a look at Kings. On the happier end of the scale, the CBS Monday comedies were all up, the Idol reign of terror continued, and it sure looks like we won’t have to put up with The Chopping Block for much longer.

NBC - It’s really not how anyone wants to start their week. You might remember that once upon a time, Kings was set to take over ER’s Thursday night slot. The fact that it ended up being moved to Sunday suggests that the network lost a little faith in the show after seeing how it turned out. And unfortunately, it looks like they were right. I like the show, but seem to be in the minority. The premiere numbers (6.08m/1.6) were not good. Those are Friday night Dateline (6.07m/1.7) numbers, not big budget Sunday night drama numbers.  The only thing worse, is that you could also call that double the Heroes viewership on Monday.

I do generally ignore most repeat numbers, but good grief, the NBC Monday is such a train wreck. Repeats of Chuck (3.95m/1.3), Heroes (3.01m/1.1), and Medium (4.38m/1.4) were destroyed by the competition, and leave me wondering why the network chose to take a week off during sweeps. Repeat or not, it never looks good when your big budget action show, Heroes, finishes fifth in the demo for time slot. And really, that’s being kind, and not pointing out that if you add in Manana Es Para Siempre on Univision, Heroes was 6th. Aye, caramba! That Bryan Fuller episode better be frickin’ amazing.

After a brief respite on Tuesday, with The Biggest Loser (7.99m/3.2) and SVU (10.74m/3.5), Wednesday was also terrible for the peacock. The ratings black hole that is The Chopping Block (3.4m/1.2) now has Life (4.31m/1.5) and Law & Order (7.14m/2.1) in its gravitational field. It all serves to make Thursday look pretty good. Despite the fourth place finish for the night, My Name Is Earl (6.43m/2.5), The Office (8.07m/4), 30 Rock (7.13m/3.2), and ER (9.47m/3.2) are keeping the lights on.

CBS - For the most part, it was business as usual at CBS last week. Sunday brought The Amazing Race (10.33m/3.1), Cold Case (13.03m/2.9) and The Unit (10.87m/2.7). No real surprise, although that is above the season average for The Unit, which could complicate things when decision time comes. Monday was along similar lines. With a drop from the premiere numbers for DWTS, and NBC in the toilet, the comedies were all up from the previous week. Big Bang Theory (9.69m/3.7), How I Met Your Mother (9.29m/3.9), 2 ½ Men (14.12m/4.8), Rules Of Engagement (11.42m/4).

News wasn’t quite as good Tuesday, as NCIS (15.84m/3.1) and The Mentalist (15.49m/3.3) were both off a bit. For lack of a better explanation, I’m going with St. Patrick’s Day, because everything on Tuesday seemed to be off, even Idol. They were followed by another pretty standard Wednesday, featuring Old Christine (7.21m/2.1), Gary Unmarried (7.37m/2.2), Criminal Minds (13.74m/3.3), and CSI:NY (12.79m/3.3). Christine and Gary make one of the most interesting hours on the schedule, from a ratings standpoint. The numbers are decidedly low for the network, and it would be easy to justify cancelling either or both of them, but they are both really consistent, and either one could do similar numbers to Rules if paired with 2 ½ Men.

Finally, Thursday and Friday brought the return of the NCAA tournament, with mixed results. The network took a hit on Thursday, averaging about 8.5 million viewers and a 3.1 in the demo. That’s far below what they could expect with the usual lineup. On the other hand, Friday’s games were just below that, at 8.3 million viewers and a 2.9. That’s again down in viewers from the usual shows, but it did gain quite a bit in the demo.

ABC - After an amazing debut last week, it was pretty likely that DWTS (21.22m/5.3) would drop in the second week, but it didn’t go far. Shows that top 20 million viewers and demos in the 5s are hard to come by. That led into the second episode of Castle (10.97m/2.9), which did quite well. It was up just a bit in viewers, and down a tenth in the demo. That’s outstanding for a second week.  Things weren’t as exciting on Tuesday. The DWTS Results (12.74m/2.8)faced off with Idol, and took a pretty big hit. That is still an upgrade from what Private Practice was doing in the same spot at the end of last year.

Wednesday, the powers that be at the network had this crazy idea to try two comedies leading into Lost. How could it not be golden. Remember how well that worked with George Lopez and Freddie?… It wasn’t good. Scrubs continues to struggle (5.62m/2.2) and Better Off Ted (5.51m/2.1) was the lowest rated comedy premiere for the network since Hot Properties. Remember that one? Lost (9.4m/4.3) looked better in that light, but facing Idol is not doing the show any favors, as that is the lowest rated episode of the season. Thankfully, Thursday brought some bona fide good news with the Grey’s Anatomy (14.61m/5) and Private Practice (9.74m/3.5) combination. The move has worked. The DWTS results have improved Wednesday at 9, and Private Practice has improved Thursday at 10.

FOX - As usual, American Idol was the big winner for the week, but the numbers were down on both Tuesday (21.89m/8.1) and Wednesday (23.71m/8.7). Other winners for the network included House (13.13m/4.9), 24 (11.36m/3.7), Bones (10.51m/3), and Hell’s Kitchen (7.54m/3.3). Not quite a winner, Lie To Me (10.26m/3.1) suffered a drop from a week earlier, but I’m chalking that up to the weirdness of Tuesday, where everything was down. We’ll have to wait and see what happens with the next episode.

Also gaining, was Terminator:TSCC (3.65m/1.3). That’s certainly better than losing more viewers, but the bleeding had to stop at some point, right? The news was a little better for Dollhouse (4.13m/1.5). Those numbers are down from the previous week, but not by much. And the show did just have the best episode of the season. If ever there was a time for the ratings to really start to climb, the next episode is it.

CW - Finally, something that looks like a real week of programming from CW. Gossip Girl (2.33m/1.2) and One Tree Hill (2.41m/1.2) returned to the levels they were at before the extended break, but both are well below where they were at the beginning of the season. Reaper (1.96m/.9) remains steady, but that’s steady at a level that probably isn’t going to make for another season. Next Top Model (3.79m/1.7) was the big winner for the week, managing to place 4th in the time slot. Smallville (3.49m/1.5) and Supernatural (3.37m/1.4) managed to wrap things up nicely on Thursday. Nice to see Supernatural rebound nicely from the oddly low demo number last week.

For the week ahead… Heroes brings out the big Bryan Fuller episode on Monday. Conditions are as good as they are probably going to get. 2 ½ Men is a repeat, and 24 will be following a repeat House. President Obama will muck with the schedule on Tuesday, which makes things very bad for Better Off Ted. They were already going to get stuck with facing Survivor, relocated because of NCAA basketball. Now the Idol performance show moves to Wednesday too. Look for a drop for Ted. And the dominos keep falling on Thursday. The Idol results now lands right in the path of In The Motherhood and the returning Samantha Who?.

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… and hates Marco White, apparently.

It was a strange week on television. The calendar keeps insisting we are in a sweeps period, but the networks are dropping repeats all over the schedule. Even Lost, which ABC promised would run uninterrupted, went the repeat route. There were still some big events. As usual, Idol dominated, but ABC made some noise of their own with the return of Dancing With The Stars, spinning the loss of Jewel and Nancy O’Dell into ratings gold by signing up jilted bachelorette Melissa Rycroft. At the other extreme we found NBC’s latest disaster, The Chopping Block. There were also interesting numbers, good and bad,  for Chuck, Heroes, Castle, Kath & Kim,  CSI: Miami, Lie To Me, Next Top Model, and Dollhouse.

ABC - While it fell short of Idol, Dancing With The Stars (22.83m/6.1) was still the big story for the week. In a season that finds so many shows struggling to retain the ratings they once had, DWTS came back with more viewers and a higher demo than it had with its last premiere. That was due, in large part, to the appearance of Melissa Rycroft. She went from 17 million viewers the week before on The Bachelor, to over 20 million on DWTS, and now looks to be one of the early favorites to win the big mirror ball. It was a shrewd bit of casting from ABC.

DWTS led in to the premiere of Castle (10.76m/3). Those numbers aren’t quite as exciting. It was enough for second place in the time slot, but the show will need to retain most of that audience going forward. Before the big Monday, Desperate Housewives (13.65m/4.7) and Brothers & Sisters (10.32m/3.4) easily won on Sunday. Desperate Housewives is one of those shows struggling to attain the numbers it once had, but is still a force.

Things went off the rails on Tuesday and Wednesday. It would be fair to say that the network didn’t even try, as evidenced by 4(!) repeats of Scrubs (2.85m/1, 2.69m/1.1, 3.56m/1.2, 3.25m/1.2) and another Lost (4.34m/1.6) repeat. The best theory I’ve heard for the Lost repeat is that the network was hoping FOX’s Lie To Me experiment would fail, forcing the show back to 9. Otherwise, I don’t know. Lost repeats do so horribly the network should go out of its way to avoid running them. Bailing on Wednesday 8-10 tossed Life On Mars (4.49m/1.4) under the bus. The only other bright spot was Grey’s Anatomy (13.64m/5), which is down from a season ago, but still easily wins the demo.

CBS - The Monday comedy block took it on the chin with the return of DWTS, with numbers down for Big Bang Theory (9.47m/3.6), How I Met Your Mother (8.68m/3.6), 2 ½ Men (13.44m/4.8), and Rules Of Engagement (9.94m/3.7). While those numbers are down, it’s still a good showing on what has become a very crowded night. CSI: Miami broke the trend, following the comedies up by posting its second highest demo of the season.

Like ABC, CBS took Tuesday off. The difference is that CBS shows repeat very well. Encores from NCIS (13.52m/2.8), The Mentalist (14.32m/2.8), and Without A Trace (10.22m/2.1) were good enough for second in viewers and third in the demo for the night. Even better, that was the worst of it. Wednesday, Criminal Minds (14.34m/3.6) and CSI: NY(13.63m/3.5) were topped only by Idol. And Thursday, Survivor (12.82m/4.1) and CSI (17.13m/4.2) helped the network to win the night outright. Friday, of course, Ghost Whisperer (11.1m/2.6), Flashpoint (9.4m/1.9), and Numb3rs (10.1m/2) all won their night.

FOX - House (12.38m/4.8) and 24 (11.37m/4.6) faired a little better going against DWTS, but both did suffer a small drop. Idol was as expected on Tuesday (25.77m/9.5) and Wednesday (25.55m/9.1). The bigger news there was the shift of Lie To Me (11.25m/3.4). That was down three tenths in the demo from the last new episode (10.2m/3.7) following Idol, but oddly up in viewers. It’s a good sign for the show.

Elsewhere, the Thursday experiment with Bones (9.66m/2.8) looks like a success. It seems that wherever they plug the show in, it’s going to get around 10 million viewers and a 3 demo. Hell’s Kitchen (7.71m/3.5) remains solid following, as well. And on Friday… the news was better. Terminator (3.5m/1.2) and Dollhouse (4.3m/1.6) were both up over last week. I don’t think that offers much hope for Terminator, but it keeps the door open for Dollhouse. 4.3 million viewers and a 1.6 demo is still cancellation territory, but it’s good to see the show moving in the right direction as it heads into the mythical sixth episode. It continues to be the most interesting ratings story going.

NBC - It was a case of the good, the bad, and the ugly this week. The good? Celebrity Apprentice (7.69m/3.2) did well enough on Sunday. The Biggest Loser (9.38m/3.8) remains the most consistent show on the network, and paired with SVU (11.07m/3.6) for a successful Tuesday.  The Office (7.87m/4.1), 30 Rock (6.43m/3.3), and ER (10.86m/4) made a good showing on Thursday. Although, the return of Doug and Carol to ER should have done better. It was odd that the network didn’t go out of their way to promote their return.

Moving to the bad, we start on Monday. Chuck (5.79m/2.1) and Heroes (6.7m/3.2) are clearly not fans of DWTS returning, as both shows are as low as they have ever been. Life (5.21m/1.7) looks to just be playing out the string. And while Friday Night Lights (4.4m/1.5) did see gains, and rumors of a renewal, those are still bad numbers.

And the ugly? Chopping Block (3.78m/1.4) wasn’t just the lowest rated premiere for the network this season, it was also beaten by Next Top Model on CW. Almost as awful, was the season (hopefully series) finale of Kath & Kim (3.89m/1.7).

CW - It was another shortened week for the little network. Reaper (2.17m/.9) kicked things off on Tuesday. On the bright side, the show held all of its demo from the premiere. Unfortunately, the numbers still need to go up to bring a third season. Next Top Model (4.45m/1.9) followed on Wednesday, bringing a rare third place finish for CW. After an extended break, Smallville (3.57m/1.6) and Supernatural (2.84m/1.1) were back Thursday. That demo number is curiously low for Supernatural, but now that the fifth season has been given the go ahead, it’s not nearly as troubling.

In the week ahead, we’ll get a look at NBC’s next great hope, Kings. Castle has a big episode Monday, where we get a look at the non-premiere numbers. After standing strong against Idol, The Mentalist faces Idol and the DWTS results show on Tuesday. ABC debuts Better Off Ted on Wednesday. CBS kicks off March Madness on Thursday and Friday. And Dollhouse breaks out the big sixth episode.

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Spoiler Blinders On! Be warned that the casting news after the jump may contain slight spoilers about the roles the actors will play. Consult with your physician for any other questions.

This week, we have casting news for: the new Melrose Place, the new V, The Wonderful Maladys, 90210, and many more.

Current Series

Shannen Doherty will be returning to her former television zip code one more time. Doherty will be reprising her role as harlot Brenda Walsh for the season finale of 90210. What she will be back for, other than making Kelly’s life a bit more hellish, is unknown. [Source: Watch with Kristin]

The stars are coming out for an upcoming episode of NBC’s Medium directed by star Patricia Arquette. In addition to a return appearance by Angelica Huston, look for guest stints by Rumer Willis and Brothers & Sisters star Balthazar Getty. [Source: People]

New Series

Big news! Former O.C. actress Mischa Barton is NOT being added to the cast of the Melrose Place remake. However, she will be staying with the CW for the Ashton Kutcher produced A Beautiful Life. Don’t worry about this, though. Being a Kutcher produced show, it’ll probably be canceled in no time at all. [Source: The Envelope]

Over in the world of webisodes, theWB.com has cast Internet star Jessica “LonleyGirl15″ Rose for a new web horror series entitled Blood Cell. Rose will star as a woman racing against the clock to stop a psycho killer. [Source: Cynopsis]

After a couple of guest-starring stints and a recurring role on Chuck, former Arrested Development star Tony Hale is working to obtain a steady paycheck. He is set to star in the FOX comedy Cop House and will play an officer who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. A perfect casting for Hale, in my opinion. [Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

Here come the neighbors! Joining the cast of the Melrose Place reboot is Ashlee Simpson-Wentz. The former star of the more innocent 7th Heaven will play Violet, a character whose disarming outer naivete masks a calculating sex vixen inside. [Source: Entertainment Weekly]

Get ready to feel old (like you don’t already). Former Full House sibling, and sister to Kirk Cameron, Candace Cameron Bure, is joining the cast of ABC Family’s Perfect 10. Following a group of Olympic hopeful gymnastic teenagers, Candace will star as a — ready for it — step-mom-to-be of one of the competitors. Get me my rocking chair, please! [Source: The Ausiello Files]

Last week we mentioned the casting of Scott Wolf to the remake of the ’80s sci-fi series V. This week the role of the villain was given to former Firefly Morena Baccarin. She will play Anna, the leader of the Visitors who is remarkably knowledgeable about human culture and media manipulation. [Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

Pilots

Ashley Jensen, currently starring on Ugly Betty, is moonlighting on a CBS comedy pilot titled Accidentally on Purpose. She will play the best friend to show star Jenna Elfman. [Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

Former Jericho star Skeet Ulrich is coming back to CBS in a drama pilot titled Back. He will play a man who was reported missing right after the events of 9/11. [Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

Another Ugly Betty star, Rebecca Romijn, is moving on in her television career with a role on the ABC drama pilot Eastwick. Based on the movie and novel Witches of Eastwick, Romijn has been cast as the third witch. She will join already cast Lindsay Price and Jamie Ray Newman. [Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

Now that Scrubs is finishing up its run, its cast members are out looking for other jobs. One of these is Donald (Turk) Faison. He’s joining Cedric the Entertainer in the ABC comedy pilot The Law, which focuses on the lives of a few LAPD reserve officers. [Source: seattlepi.com]

Sarah Michelle Gellar is finally getting some siblings for her HBO pilot The Wonderful Maladys. Joining the actress, who will be known as Buffy until she is laid in the ground, will be former Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and current United States of Tara star Nate Coddry and Deadwood actress Molly Parker. Coddry will play Gellar’s younger bookish brother while Parker will play her older therapist sister. [Source: Entertainment Weekly]

If you want to learn more about the actors and their roles, click on the source links at the end of each entry.

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It certainly worked for CSI this week. And, really, considering the way the Fox Friday is hemorrhaging viewers, I don’t think they should rule anything out. Once again, both Terminator and Dollhouse were down. They shared bad news with Chuck, Heroes, and Life On Mars. Reaper, Lie To Me, and Jesse Stone found themselves somewhere in the middle. Good news this week went out to Brothers & Sisters, The Bachelor, and CSI.

CBS – The week got off to an interesting start with the latest Jesse Stone (15.24m/2.2) movie. Fifteen million viewers is an outstanding result, but the 2.2 demo is oddly low. Jesse Stone skews old even for CBS. That could be better, but still should probably lead to another movie. Things only got better on Monday. Big Bang Theory (10.83m/3.9), How I Met Your Mother (11.09m/4.2), and 2 ½ Men (15.47m/4.9) were all at normal levels. And as a bonus, Rules Of Engagement (11.82m/3.9) returned to the schedule with a marked improvement over what Worst Week was doing.

After taking Tuesday and Wednesday off, the good numbers kept coming. Survivor (11.85m/3.8) was again solid against Idol, and a guest spot from Taylor Swift brought a boost to CSI (20.88m/5.3). Eleventh Hour (12.05m/2.9) finished off Thursday. Friday was another easy win for the network with Ghost Whisperer (11.1m/2.6), Flashpoint (9.8m/2), and Numb3rs (10m/2.3) easily taking the night.

ABC - Like CBS, ABC started the week strong with Extreme Makeover (11m/3.5) and a special 2 hour Brothers & Sisters (11.98m/4.1). That number is down from what the Housewives normally do, but also up from the Brothers & Sisters average. It’s also quite encouraging because it shows that Brothers & Sisters does have its own audience. More good news from The Bachelor finale on Monday (15.48m/5.4), and two After The Final Rose installments on Monday (17.47m/6.7) and Tuesday (10.9m/4.1).

Lost (10.65m/4.9)  was back up again, due to Lie To Me being back on the schedule at FOX and a Criminal Minds repeat. Unfortunately, that didn’t do much for Life On Mars (5.33m/1.9) which had another bad week of ratings, and was cancelled by the network. Ugly Betty (6.34m/1.7) struggled against Idol on Thursday, and 20/20 (8m/2) wrapped things up with a good showing on Friday night.

FOX - Idol continued to dominate the schedule, with three airings for the week on Tuesday (24.31m/9), Wednesday (22.78m/7.8), and Thursday (21.49m/7.6). Those were the highlights. Monday was down, due to no new House, as 24 (11.14m/3.3) had a two hour event. Lie To Me (10.2m/3.7) returned to the schedule with the usual Idol fueled numbers. It is worth noting though that the show is now being beaten in viewers and the demo by Lost. It will be interesting to see what happens when it goes to 8 and isn’t being gifted 20 million viewers at the start of the hour.

Hell’s Kitchen (9.71m/4.4)also had another Idol boosted outing. And that led to Friday, which can only be described as a disaster. Terminator:TSCC (3.0m/1.0) and Dollhouse (3.5m/1.5) both dropped again to what are clearly cancellation levels. The game now turns to watching to see how long they will be allowed to run before being replaced by random repeats. Dollhouse does have the mythical sixth episode out there still, where everything is supposed to get better. I just don’t know if there is going to be any audience left to see it.

NBC - Things got a little better for NBC this week, thanks to the return of Celebrity Apprentice (8.83m/3.9). Unfortunately, after that, it was business as usual. And by that I mean The Biggest Loser (8.95m/3.5) on Tuesday,  The Office (8.54m/4.5) and 30 Rock (7.25m/3.7) on Thursday, and a whole lot of train wrecks.

Chuck (6.65m/2.4) and Heroes (7.15m/3.3), crazy as it sounds looking at those numbers, were actually up slightly for the week. Still, just horrible ratings. Not to worry Heroes fans, NBC has confirmed that the show will be back next season. One of the perks that comes with being on a network that has two scripted successes. Elsewhere, Knight Rider (5.68m/1.7) finished its run. How bad is that? Paired with a repeat of Life, NBC was beaten in the demo by the CW. Thursday found Earl (5.45m/2.2) and Kath & Kim (4.09m/1.8) struggling. And Friday Night Lights (3.8m/1.2)? Well, they can say they have more viewers than Dollhouse.

CW – The littlest network offered up three hours of programming this week and it was a mixed bag, where ratings are concerned. Reaper (2.31m/.9)had its premiere on Tuesday. Those numbers are low, but the show was against Idol. For comparison, a month ago 90210 went up agains Idol in the same slot and had 2.38m/1.2. So, Reaper is in the ballpark, but the show really needs to better those numbers to have a shot at a third season. Wednesday brought another premiere, from Next Top Model (3.92m/2.2). The show is down from where it was in its heyday, but still a solid performer for the network.

Looking to the week ahead… The pressure doesn’t let up on the stacked Monday night. The Bachelor has left the building, but Tom &  Samantha and their dancing stars are back. NBC, CBS, and FOX will all bring new episodes to welcome them. My guess, ABC wins the night in viewers, but not the demo. Wednesday, Lie To Me jumps to 8, and the ratings drop with the move. CSI and Grey’s are both new again on Thursday, to give us an idea where that rivalry now stands. And Friday, we can all rubberneck, as we look to see if Terminator and Dollhouse drop again.

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The boss: Big Mike (and Harry and Emmett) vs. Ted: Not much to say about Michael “Big Mike” Tucker (Mark Christopher Lawrence). He rarely does any work, though he often yells at others for failing to hustle, and he loves fishing. Oh, and he loves him a good breakfast. Get the picture? At Buy More, it’s really the assistant manager who runs the show. We’ve already seen a few, as the sheer power of the position seems to lead people to self-implode. Harry Tang (CS Lee) ended up getting shipped to Hawaii by Casey (not job-performance related), while Lester’s (Vik Sahay) short stint in the role drove the store into the ground. The most recent holder of the office is Emmett Milbarge (Tony Hale, of Arrested Development). That resume is punishment enough. Plus, I can’t stop picturing him with a hook. I’d rather they went back to Lester.

Ted (Donavon Stinson) seems to be right out of the Harry Tang mold. Pompous and rigid, Ted rarely acts human (though why should he on a show about souls?) At the same time, what’s he supposed to do when three (and by the end of last season, four) of his employees are missing work, sleeping on the job, and raiding inventory for their personal needs? For sheer comic relief in this department, I have to go with the Tang. Or maybe Lester. I’m not sure; it’s a tough call.

The “other” boss: Sarah (and Casey) vs. The Devil: First of all, while General Diane Beckman (Bonita Friedericy) is technically Chuck’s superior, his relationship with her is not what I’d call direct report. Therefore, I chose not to include her in our discussion. Second, to minimize the debate, I’m going to stick to where these outside employers affect the main character’s day job.

Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski), and John Casey (Adam Baldwin), both appear to have never held down a regular job. Neither seems to understand that it’s really not so feasible for an employee to simply be whisked away all day long. And while the show recently addressed the issue when new assistant manager Emmett called Chuck (Zachary Levi) to task, we’ve never even seen Chuck stop to tell Morgan that he was running out, ostensibly on a Nerd Herd call. As far as consideration goes, Sarah and Casey are low down on the totem pole.

But, they’re eons above The Devil (Ray Wise). Sam (Bret Harrison) generally finds himself walking from the parking lot outside The Work Bench directly into a meadow or a concert hall, no warning provided. But, it’s Ray Wise! Sure, the work sucks, but hanging out with Lucifer? Played by Wise? Hands down winner.

The girlfriend (sort of): Sarah vs. Andi: The truth is that Chuck’s saga with Sarah makes him a stud. As unbelievable as it is (to Chuck’s fellow Buy Morons as wells as to us) that these two are together, the couple sells it, and sells it, and sells it. Even if it’s fake, you have to realize that Chuck comes out a winner here.

On the other hand, Sam and Andi have real feelings for one another. But they spent most of the first season apart, because Sam’s a coward (in love). The guy who faces The Devil each day couldn’t summon up the courage to tell Andi he liked her. And for her part, why not enter the twenty-first century a bit? Be the aggressive one yourself. Not cool. However, the feelings there are real, and have finally been admitted to. The feelings between Chuck and Sarah are clearly genuine, but Sarah maintains her denial. Even so, for being on the show that calls for lingerie (sorry), and for being much cooler and less annoying, Sarah is our champion.

_

And that’s that. You know, I considered really pitting one big-box against the other, declaring a winner, maybe even sending out a coupon booklet to the store. But then I figured, why should I make your minds up for you? You can choose your own fictional store to shop at (catch Chuck on NBC, Mondays at 8:00 PM. Reaper premieres tonight on The CW, Tuesdays at 8:00 PM.) Just make sure you send some of those savings my way … it’s not nice to forget about whoever turned you on to a good thing!

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It was a bit of a strange week for ratings. The Academy Awards (36.31m/12) sent most of the Sunday lineup into repeats. And the Obama address to Congress mixed things up on Tuesday, shifting Idol to Wednesday and Thursday. That, of course, had a ripple effect throughout the ratings. Elsewhere, the new FOX Friday suffered another drop that now calls into question whether or not we will even see the final episodes of Terminator:TSCC.

ABC - The Academy Awards (36.31m/12.1) was the biggest show of the week, topping even Idol. Better yet, those numbers were up over last year’s telecast. It made for a great start for the week as The Bachelor (10.93m/3.7) followed up on Monday with another good night. Finally, the numbers didn’t go up, but they are still very good. Lost (10.05m/4.4) continued its roller coaster ride as the relocated Idol performance show was enough to make the show drop over a million viewers and .8 in the demo. That was more bad news for Life On Mars (4.88m/1.7), which also dropped. Lost wasn’t the only one to suffer the effects of Idol. Ugly Betty (6.73m/1.9) struggled against the results show on Thursday.

CBS - The Amazing Race (7.81m/2.6) took on the Oscars to get the week started, and did about as well as you would expect. With Monday night all repeats, the good news started on Tuesday. NCIS (18.27m/3.9) had another good night in what has been a fantastic season. Criminal Minds (13.93m/3.5) followed that up on Wednesday. It did drop half a million viewers, week-to-week, with Idol in the picture, but managed to hold all of its demo. Survivor (12.05m/3.9) didn’t fare quite as well, having to take on Idol on Thursday, but those are still great numbers, making it understandable that two more seasons have been ordered.

More concerning were the numbers for CSI (17.72m/4.3). Still great numbers, but the demo actually dropped this week, even with Grey’s airing a repeat. We might be able to chalk that up to the Idol fueled Hell’s Kitchen that faced CSI, but it could also be a chink in the armour. Friday, as usual, was a cake walk for the combination of Ghost Whisperer (11.57m/2.8), Flashpoint (9.17m/1.9), and Numb3rs (9.61m/2.1). All three of them won their time slots in viewers and demo.

FOX - NASCAR (10.21m/3.7) had a rare foray into prime time, coming up against the Oscars on Sunday, and did well considering the competition. That led to another easy Monday win for House (14.86m/5.5) and 24 (11.68m/3.8). After taking Tuesday off, the Idol juggernaut returned on Wednesday (24.54m/9.1) and Thursday (20.89m/7.1). It’s probably worth noting that the numbers for Idol continue to be down slightly from last season, but at these levels, I doubt anyone is really concerned. The relocated results show gave a bump to Hell’s Kitchen (9.85m/4.3), but it did leave me wondering why they didn’t try throwing Dollhouse in that slot for the exposure.

Because, really, the show could use it. Week three of the new Friday experiment was more of the same. Terminator (3.42m/1.2) finished fourth in viewers and demo, behind Ghost Whisperer, Howie Do It, and Wife Swap. Really. Wife Swap. Dollhouse (4.13m/1.6) was only marginally better. That was good for fourth in viewers and third in the demo.  We now have to at least consider the idea that Terminator may be pulled. Bringing back Prison Break early may, or may not, offer a better lead in for Dollhouse, but it’s hard to imagine it could do worse. As to Dollhouse, those really good episodes can’t come soon enough. The numbers have to go up, or this will be another 13 episode series.

NBC - What can you say about Heroes (7.07m/3.4)? The new chapter that was supposed to fix things doesn’t seem to be working for the viewers. The show was fourth in viewers and third in the demo. It just managed to edge repeats of Men and Christine in the demo. As bad as that was, it was still better than Chuck (6.59m/2.3) which was fourth in both categories, despite the CBS repeats. Medium (8.43m/2.6) looked a little better, finishing second in both categories.

The news was better on Tuesday, with The Biggest Loser (9.87m/3.7). The show also appeared on Wednesday (8.61m/3.3). Those numbers were down over the Biggest Loser averages, but also a huge improvement over the usual occupant, Knight Rider. Unfortunately, the improved lead in didn’t do much for Life (4.89m/1.6). It’s looking like this will be it for Charlie. Thursday brought more bad news as Kung Fu Panda (4.03m/1.3) was well below what Earl would have done. And Kath & Kim (3.39m/1.5) was well below what a reasonably attractive test pattern would have done. Seriously, why is that show still on? 30 Rock (6.39m/2.9) took a hit, due to an Office repeat. Finally, while still disturbingly low, Friday Night Lights (4.22m/1.5) was actually up over the previous week.

CW – The lone original last week was the finale for Privileged (1.53m/.7). There has been no official word on the series, but it’s a pretty safe bet that it was a series finale.

Things to look for in the coming week? Heroes could fall below 7 million for the first time as it goes up against the Bachelor finale, new comedies on CBS, and a special two hour 24. Speaking of the CBS comedies, Rules Of Engagement returns to put the final nail in the Worst Week coffin. Tuesday brings the return of Reaper. It will be interesting to see how those numbers compare to what 90210 was able to do against Idol in that spot. Lost should rebound again on Wednesday, with a repeat Criminal Minds and a returning Lie To Me lessening the competition. And of course, Terminator and Dollhouse give it another go on Friday.

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