Schedule jiggery pokery

It's January. Time for all the midseason shows to come out of hiding and the networks to muck with their schedules.

First up this week we've got two returning shows. Scrubs returns to TV this Tuesday night at 9:00. If you have a Tivo season pass you will not get it. Why? Because it's not on NBC anymore. Scrubs has moved to ABC. Change your recordings appropriately. Sunday the 11th sees the first of the two-night, four-hour 24 premiere. 24 was killed completely by the writers strike last year, so other than the pretty lame two hour movie we got a couple months ago, this is your first 24 in two years.

The first couple weeks of January ramp up slowly, and then the scheduling nightmare begins. I think I'm going to have to go night by night just to make it make sense. Return dates in ().

MONDAY
Even though Fox has moved Terminator, and I had stopped watching it because of the conflict anyway, they've created a new one by moving House (Jan 19) from Tuesday to Monday at 8:00. So the 8:00 hour train wreck continues with House, Chuck (Feb 2), and How I Met Your Mother (Jan 12). Only now it's three shows I'm actually invested in instead of it being an easy choice. 24 also eventually settles at 9:00 Monday night starting on January 19. Heroes (Feb 2) will be up against 24 at 9:00. I'm pretty sure it's going to get crushed. Nathan Fillion's new show, Castle (March 9) will be on at 10 against nothing, from what I can tell. Maybe this one will survive.

TUESDAY
On Tuesday the train wreck moves to the 9:00 hour. Scrubs eventually settles in to 9:30, putting it up against several hour long dramas. Fringe (Jan 20) will probably stay on my radar. I've been enjoying it. It's weird and dark. One of the breakout hits of the fall season is a show called The Mentalist  (Jan 6). I've heard good things about this show, and actually still have all the episodes on the Tivo, but if it's just going to drop off the list anyway, I might just kill it now. By the time March rolls around and Reaper (March 17) returns, one or all of the conflicts might be off the air anyway. Or I just won't pick it up again. It was good, but by no means was it appointment TV last season. It also suffered from a strike shortened rookie outing. A late entry for Tuesday nights in Cupid (March 24), which is a reboot of the show that used to star Jeremy Piven and was canceled. It was created (both times) by the guy who brought us Veronica Mars, so keep an eye on this one, it might be good.

WEDNESDAY
Lost (Jan 21) returns to its Wednesday at 9:00 slot where it did well. There's another new show called Lie to Me (Jan 21) which looks like it could be an interesting procedural if it doesn't get crushed by Lost (and Criminal Minds) and canceled in a week. In moving Life on Mars (Jan 21) to Wednesday at 10:00, ABC has made that the train wreck hour of the night. It wil have to contend with the reenergized Law & Order (Jan 7) and CSI:NY (Jan 14). I think Life on Mars is screwed.

THURSDAY
It's back to 8:00 for the log jam on Thursday night. Survivor (Feb 12), Smallville (Jan 15), and My Name is Earl (Jan 8) are all lined up against Fox's popular show Bones (Jan 15). I've never seen Bones, even though I've heard it's good. This schedule pretty much guarantees I won't see it. Last season of Survivor was apparently quite good. I was contemplating going back to it, but not on the Tivo. Maybe I'll watch in online. The 9:00 hour has CSI (Jan 15) in its usual slot and facing 30 Rock (Jan 8). Thank goodness I don't have to pick. At 10:00 Eleventh Hour (Jan 15) got a few more episodes ordered bringing it to a total of 18 for the season. It's still pretty dumb, but something to watch while you fold laundry.

FRIDAY
Ah, Friday. The "Death Slot" for so many TV shows gone by. Battlestar Galactica (Jan 16) returns for it's final 10 episodes. This is also where Fox moved Terminator (Feb 13) so they could pair it with Joss Whedon's new show Dollhouse (Feb 13). Personally, I think they're both going to die quickly, which is a shame. I miss Joss on TV.

SATURDAY
There is still nothing to watch on Saturday night.

SUNDAY
The Simpsons (Jan 18) will duke it out with The Amazing Race (Feb 15) at 8:00. Beyond that I got nuthin.

Hope that helps you plan your TV winter.