A few months back, I took cursor to digital paper and wrote an ode to shows that I’ve lost over the years. With yet another network television season complete, I believe it’s time to revisit that list, and add an addendum cataloging the massacre that accompanies the close of each season.

For all of you still out there fighting the good fight for these shows, this should in no way be seen as final. I’d love to come back and correct myself. So, keep sending those watches, bulletproof vests, lottery tickets, live butterflies, pitchforks, or whatever else you can think of. But, if this is the end, I figure now’s as good a time as any to pay my respects. And, if you’re wondering why the following’s light on the jokes … the fresher the wound, the deeper the hurt.

I’ve already written about the plight of The Unusuals. A lot of people have applied the show’s title to the conceit, and either used it as a pro or a con for what they see as different or ordinary, respectively. The only thing “unusual” about the show was the following: it was great from the get go. Sure, each character had a quirk, and there was an otherwise infrequently seen mix of excitement and comedy to the scripts, but what stood out the most for me was honestly how enjoyable an hour it was to spend in front of my television. I’d absolutely love to see it live to air another day (beyond closing out the episodes already in the can), but if it’s not to be, at least it went out as great from beginning to end. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Two things to clarify before we begin:

1. Definitions: Stupid shows make us groan, and they even take the low road from time to time (or always), but they generally have smart concepts, smart writers, smart jokes, or all three. In contrast, dumb shows simply have no saving grace. They’re made for a group of people who don’t exist; bubbly, stupid female 18-34s, who are also intelligent and well-versed, love to shop and spend money, believe in sleeping around and monogamy, treat friendship as a precious object and also back-stab everyone around them. The shows themselves lack smart concepts, writers (or so it would seem from the work they turn out) and jokes. For example: while there’s a lot about 30 Rock (forgive me!) that makes me groan, I recognize that it’s stupid funny, not dumb. Tina Fey is a brilliant writer, while at the same time, everything that comes out of Jane Krakowski’s mouth makes me feel like I’m losing braincells. But at least I’m using some of them.
2. I watch Greek. There, I said it. Now, let’s begin. Read the rest of this entry »

(1/12 – 1/18)

Yes, of course, the big story this week was the return of American Idol. It didn’t disappoint, from a numbers perspective. Both installments easily won their nights. We all expected that though, right? The more interesting bit of the Idol story was the effect the show had, or didn’t have, on the ratings of other shows. While J.D. and the kids over at Scrubs were probably shaking their fists in the general direction of Idol, the CBI, and their pals at NCIS hardly even noticed. In addition to all the Idol shenanigans, CSI said goodbye to Grissom. Read the rest of this entry »

(1/05 – 1/11)

TV for 2009 started spinning up the turbos last week, and will be at full boost when Idol comes online this week. That will, of course, send numbers in all kinds of crazy directions. It should anyway, unless I got the animal sacrifices and the Gregorian chanting right this time. Once I find the formula, Idol will be finished! But we’ll talk about Randy, Simon, Paula, and that new chick, next week. This week, there were a few surprises on the schedule. Superstars Of Dance and True Beauty debuted to better numbers than I expected. Flashpoint looks to be a perfect fit for the CBS Friday. And, apparently, Old Christine fans are g0ing to watch anyway, new or repeat. Read the rest of this entry »

So we’ve been doing these ‘Tonight on the Tube’ articles for awhile. Occasionally we even get a comment from you guys about a particular show you watch or are excited about. But all in all these go down pretty quietly. Are you liking them? Do you find them helpful? Too wordy? Not informative enough? This is your blog and we want this particular feature to benefit you as much as possible.

As such, we’re going to start experimenting with how we present this information to you. Do you want to see a full listing of what’s new on television tonight, or would you rather we use this space to spotlight a few key episodes or specials? Maybe you don’t want any of that and would prefer a basic list. Or maybe you just want me to ramble on about my belly button lint for five or six hundred words. And I can totally do that. Today it was the brightest blue you ever saw. Really, I should knit a sweater with it.

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(Ratings Clack 11/30 – 12/6)

It was an interesting week for TV numbers. With Tom & Samantha packing up the ballroom, there were viewers to be had on Monday and Tuesday. That meant there were winners (Chuck, The Mentalist), and losers (Samantha Who?, Heroes).

The other big story was just how well all of the Christmas programming did. Shrek, The Grinch, Santa Claus, and Rudolph all had nice showings, as did the Christmas in Rockefeller. We also saw the return of Jericho to the airwaves. If you were holding out hope that this could revive the series, well… nuts.

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