(12/14 – 12/21)

This week, the other networks just made it easy for CBS. After taking second on Sunday night, to NBC’s Sunday Night Football, the Tiffany network went on to win the next five nights in viewers and the demo. Granted, there were more repeats than usual, but even the CBS repeats were in on the game, as replays of CSI and Eleventh Hour more than doubled the viewers of their repeat competition. For the rest of the networks, the news was not quite as bright. Read the rest of this entry »

Spotlight Show of the Night

A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa (8:00 p.m./7:00 p.m. Central) – Say what you want about NBC, but they’re the ones airing the new Muppets Christmas special, and that’s always a good thing. We need more Muppets in our lives, and especially during these tough times. I know, it sounds a bit heady, but I really do think the Muppets are one of those feel-good creations.

Beginnings, Endings & Specials

Chocolate News (Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m./9:30 p.m. Central, 1st Season Finale) – Feauturing a trip to black Comic-Con and a look at our expectations for the nation’s first black president. David Alan Grier is great in his monologues on this, but the stories themselves are rather hit or miss.

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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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8:00p/7:00 Central

• MyNetwork TV traveled with a group of celebrities like Dean Cain, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Sir Roger Moore to Africa to learn more about one of its most infamous nations in Eyes on Kenya.
• FOX kicks off their latest reality show with a two-part two-hour premiere of Secret Millionaire, in which real life millionaires enmesh themselves in ordinary lives for awhile before ultimately gifting at least $100,000 of their own cash to one deserving new friend.
• Time Warp takes a look at sharpshooters and barefooters on Discovery while NBC spends an hour offering an early Christmas in Rockefeller Center 2008.
• While Chuck must deal with the consequences of her actions, Ned and Olive have a comfort food cook-off on a new Pushing Daisies on ABC.

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(11/23 – 11/29)

It really wasn’t a good week for television, for the viewers, or the networks. The holiday had schedules shuffled all about, and actual new content was a little tougher to come by. The story of the week, of course, was the return of Jack Bauer, briefly. FOX let loose with their 24 event movie, and the results were impressive. Having less success with a big event, thankfully, was NBC with Rosie Live. The show tanked, and will not be getting an order of more episodes. Those numbers, the crazy ratings for the DWTS finale, and much less talk about Heroes, after the jump.

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Eonline.com

Oh my. For a few of the reality shows, this past Thanksgiving holiday week meant it was time for clips shows. You know the promos — “with previously unseen footage.” What they don’t mention is the percentage of “already seen” footage. Alas, they’re usually outright recap shows with teensy tidbits of new footage. Goodness knows, we don’t have enough recap material at the start of each episode already!

The huge reality television happening of the week was the season finale of Dancing With the Stars. Well, that is unless you count the debut of Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood as the big event. Each has its audience.

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8:00p/7:00 Central

• Dwight begins wooing Vivian, while the gang investigates the murder of a millionaire and the modern day Robin Hood who may have done her in on ABC’s Pushing Daisies. Over on FOX’s Bones, Brennan’s father shows up to help work a case involving bones in a wooded preserve.
• MyNetwork TV offers up The 2008 World Magic Awards, while NBC tests a new format with Rosie’s Variety Show: Rosie Live. It’s just weird to me that they’re talking about this like it’s a format we haven’t seen on television in a long-time when Nick Lachey & Jessica Simpson just did one a few years back. If you watch this one in enough numbers, it might become a regular thing.
• Discovery’s Time Warp looks at warped trail bikes and cheerleading tonight. CBS looks at a warped woman on The New Adventures of Old Christine, when Christine and Matthew head home for Thanksgiving. Then, Gary and Allison argue over which one of them is hosting the annual feast on Gary Unmarried.
• The CW has a repeat of the fifth installment of Stylista.

9:00p/8:00 Central

• History takes us to The White House: Behind Closed Doors in a 90-minute special. The CW’s Stylista offers up a clip show of unseen footage from the first five episodes, while NBC throws out a special Deal or No Deal. Showtime, meanwhile, takes you Inside the NFL.
• It’s a surprise visit from her brother, who’s also a surgeon, on ABC’s Private Practice. Uh-oh. It’s a pick-up artist who’s at the core of the new case on CBS’s Criminal Minds.
• FOX offers up the second half of last season’s House finale.

10:00p/9:00 Central

• Barbara Walters is back at it on ABC with Barack Obama: The Barbara Walters Interview. Bravo’s Top Chef is offering up a Foo Fighters Thanksgiving.
• Reality offerings include Discovery’s Prototype This, Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter, and A&E’s Parking Wars. At the half hour you can flip to G4 for another Human Wrecking Balls, or check out David Alan Grier on Comedy Central’s sketch comedy Chocolate News.
• The investigators must extract the bones of an unidentified body in a crushed car on CSI: NY over on CBS. On NBC’s Law & Order it’s a falling crane at the center of that investigation. FX has the 90-minute season finale of Sons of Anarchy.

11:00p/10:00 Central

• TruTV has the two-part season finale of Ski Patrol to wrap up the night.