A combination of baseball and pre-sweeps repeats made for a bit of an odd week. Repeats don’t mean there aren’t numbers of note however. We had Jay Leno’s first shot against CSI: Miami and NY repeats, and a look at what running repeats on Friday does for FOX. That is, nothing good for Dollhouse season 3. Also interesting this week — The Mentalist finally topped CSI in viewers and the demo, and even a repeat Gibbs appearance is worth 16 million viewers. Read the rest of this entry »

Our pals down at the ‘Bench have had what I would call a reasonably successful season so far. The show has been entertaining, and has even managed to draw more viewers than 90210 more often than not, despite the weekly faceoff with the Idol juggernaut.

Unfortunately, as they continue to strive for mediocrity, The CW has narrowed its beams on that young women demo, where 90210 really puts the boots to Sam and his pals. That all adds up to the notion that we are probably watching the final few episodes of the show. The good news is, it’s going out on top. “To Sprong With Love” had a little something for everyone to do. Read the rest of this entry »

As you know, tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day. What’s that? You forgot? Ho boy, you’re gonna have some ’splaining to do. Well, if you have someone to ’splain to, that is. Now, I could go ahead and make a cutesy list of the best ’ships on TV or the ten kinds of chocolate I’d eat off Sienna Miller’s ass, but today is Friday the 13th, and I thought it fitting to honor the truly unlucky people who’ve graced our TVs all these years. And what better number than a lucky seven of them?

Wile E. Coyote – Looney Tunes
It’s not often Mr. Coyote would have a lucky streak when it came to desperately hunting down his meal, a.k.a. Accelleratti Incredibus, a.k.a. Tastyus Supersonicus, a.k.a. the Road Runner. Contrary to what most people think, the Road Runner was not Wile E.’s most feared an dangerous enemy. No, his greatest enemy was something most of us rarely ever have the chance to escape: gravity.

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Spotlight Show of the Night

Heroes (NBC, 9:00 p.m./8:00 p.m. Central, Fall Finale) – Tonight, it all comes down to this in the final chapter (I believe) of “Villains.” Arthur Petrelli may be dead, but you know how well death sticks on this show. Nevertheless, this chapter of Heroes comes to a close tonight and we set the stage for the next. The show has really come together stronger these past few weeks. Tonight’s blurb says that the Petrelli brothers face off and Nathan makes a move with global implications.

Beginnings, Endings & Specials

Cat Dancers (HBO, 8:00 p.m./7:00 p.m. Central) – A 90-minute special looking at the sole survivor of an exotic-cat act recalls his days with the troupe, the challenges of training wild animals and the bond the three performers had, which was romantic all the way around, before a white bengal tiger tore it all apart.

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When you think of Peanuts in newspaper form, what comes to mind? Probably a comic strip that, when created, was heralded for its social commentary and barbs on current events. Originally running from 1950 to February 13, 2000 (one day after creator Charles Schultz’s death), Peanuts was one of the longest running series about one person — a round-headed, luckless boy — and the world around him.

Now, when you think of Peanuts on television what comes to mind? Why, holidays of course! From Christmas to Easter to Arbor Day, Charlie Brown and the gang have covered pretty much every major and minor holiday since first being animated for the small screen in the mid-1960s. The earliest ones have become holiday classics that are honored, imitated and broadcast somewhere around the world on a daily basis. The earliest of these, A Charlie Brown Christmas, gave us melodies and scenes that we still remember from our childhood. It also gave us a message, thanks to a little boy with a security blanket and a round-headed kid with a tiny, sickly Christmas tree, about the real meaning of the holiday.

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(12/7 – 12/13)

I work with a guy that has the barest of the bare bones cable packages. Thirteen channels. It amounts to the networks, Discovery, PBS, and shopping. It was a tough week of television for him. There were a lot of repeats. The CW only managed 3½ hours of original programming for the week, for example. Add in a host of Christmas specials and the pickings were a little thin. Taking advantage of all of that, CBS had great numbers for the introduction of Laurence Fishburne on CSI. Some of the other shows that did manage to air originals were not so lucky.

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