I’ll never understand the thought process behind TV on DVD release dates. Why do so many of them end up coming out just weeks before the new season starts? After everyone just had a whole summer with a drastically reduced television schedule. Shouldn’t there really be a flood of new season sets in May and June? Whatever the case … as has become the norm, with the new seasons approaching we have a bunch of current shows releasing new sets. Among those you’ll find Supernatural, Heroes, Two And A Half Men, The Game, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Rescue Me, and CSI. My pick for the week actually isn’t even a TV show. It’s the latest Bring It On movie, Fight To The Finish. I’ll explain that, and have the rest of the releases, after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

The 2008-2009 television season is quickly coming to a close. Last week saw some 30 season/series finales hitting our screens. The resulting numbers were all over the place. Some shows took advantage of the situation, pulling out all the stops and hitting numbers they hadn’t seen in some time. Others held steady. And a few signed in with troubling drops.

I’ve mentioned before that these final numbers could hold sway as the networks prepare to release the fall schedules this week. That does still apply, although, after all the shenanigans over the weekend, with Dollhouse and Better Off Ted being renewed, just how much sway becomes a little more cloudy. Read the rest of this entry »

(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.

Read the rest of this entry »

8:00p/7:00 Central

• It’s the first season finale of Toughest Race on Earth: Iditarod on the Discovery Channel. Nome is less than 100 miles away and it’s time for the racers to dig deep.
• Tonight on ABC, Wife Swap features switches between a mother who’s given up her own dreams to allow her husband 30 years of delusions that he can still be a rock icon and a mother of nine who rules with an iron fist. TLC brings another Real Simple. Real Life.
• Over on CBS, Melinda tries to help a man suffering from amnesia on Ghost Whisperer. And I’ll bet Jim’s hanging around, too. In fact, if you’ve seen last week’s episode take a wild guess who the man with amnesia is.
• Much easier to figure out is MyNetwork TV’s WWE SmackDown! See a man. Smack him down. All hail Vince! Have we had the wrestling edition of FOX’s Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? yet? How about the babes of wrestling edition of NBC’s Deal or No Deal?
• Chris’ popularity is put to the test in high school when the dorkiest girl in school asks him out on The CW’s Everybody Hates Chris. Then, on The Game, Melanie finds a “McHottie” at work.

Read the rest of this entry »

Animal Planet

8:00p/7:00 Central

• While FOX still wants to know Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, NBC just wants to know if it’s a Deal or No Deal.
• TLC offers up another Real Simple. Real Life. helping real women with their … real lives. Yeah, I guess that was kind of obvious. So do I have to explain what ABC’s Wife Swap is about? Do people think it’s a show about swingers? Ha! Even the official description of the series makes sure to clarify this: “The wives exchanges husbands, children and lives (but not bedrooms) to discover just what it’s like to live in another woman’s shoes.” That, my friends, is hilarious!
• MyNetwork TV doesn’t have to explain that WWE SmackDown doesn’t have men smacking their women down. Even though, I think that has happened on occasion actually.
• When a kid’s make-believe friend causes havoc, Melinda has to play a game of hide-and-seek on Ghost Whisperer. Also, does death come knocking? You know it would be sometime this month (sweeps!) if it’s gonna happen.
• The CW offers Everybody Hates Chris, with Chris trying to break up Doc’s relationship, followed by The Game, with Kelly and Jason both trying to move on. Meanwhile, Discovery is relocating Toughest Race on Earth: Iditarod to face all this competition. Tonight, Eskimo Nelson considers dropping out of the race while the Busers make a move to help Martin secure another win.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sci Fi

7:00p/6:00 Central

• SciFi is pre-empting their entire lineup tonight to bring a special 7-hour live edition of Ghost Hunters. You can even follow along live online, and even alert the team to anything you might see on the official website.

8:00p/7:00 Central

• The team of TLC’s Real Simple. Real Life. help a woman reclaim her home from her new baby. Or you can just watch guys hitting each other on MyNetwork TV’s WWE SmackDown!
• ABC’s Wife Swap switches up a Rastafarian mother with a hard working mom who believes in strict discipline. Also swapping this week, apparently, is the ghost of a high school athlete who’s haunting a family other than her own on CBS’s Ghost Whisperer. Maybe she died during a filming of Wife Swap.
• Chris starts helping the football team with their homework while Julius takes another job on Everybody Hates Chris on The CW. Then, on The Game, Penny Marshall guests as Rick Fox’s mother.
• In game shows you have to choose between a new Deal or No Deal on NBC or a new Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? on FOX.

Read the rest of this entry »

SciFi

8:00p/7:00 Central

• Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? I ask this assuming you’re beyond the fifth grade. Actually, FOX wants to know. Enough of us are watching this show; I wonder how we’re stacking up to the kids?
• Or is NBC’s Deal or No Deal more your style? That don’t need you to know nuthin’! On ABC’s Wife Swap, take a Louisiana Cajun wife who’s overrun by her wild kids and husband and swap her with a California ballerina. That’s bound to be a hoot!
• CBS’s Ghost Whisperer takes Melinda and Jim on a romantic, and of course haunted, cruise. For funnier fare, though, check out The CW’s Everybody Hates Chris. Classic sitcom hijinks as Chris tries to watch a movie instead of read the book for a class project. You know how this one ends. Then, on The Game, Kelly wants Jason to help her tell their daughter about their separation but he’ll have none of it.
• He’ll probably be watching WWE SmackDown! on MyNetwork TV instead. Does anyone know how the ratings are over there for the perennial series?
• TLC offers up another Real Simple. Real Life. Can they help Cheryl get organized? Have you figured out yet if Rita Rocks? At the half-hour, Lifetime’s five-night premiere for this new comedy wraps.

Read the rest of this entry »