All or Nothing
The networks spend millions to create and promote new shows, then toss them aside if they aren’t instant hits. Will rising costs, falling ratings and the challenge of new media finally force some real change? Plus:

• NBC’s new strategy
• The networks’ serial crunch
• The CW’s numbers game
• The foreign licensing boom .

Confidence Game
He may be a comic genius, but writer-producer Ricky Blitt, creator of Fox's new series The Winner, can't shake the feeling he's a hapless shlemiel.

Gold Standard
60 Minutes and Frontline still set the bar, but investigative units at the networks are also doing Woodward and Bernstein proud. Can the pressure for corporate profits mar TV’s new golden age of investigative reporting? Plus:

• Local stations dig deep
• NBC’s Predator catches ratings.

Deal of a Lifetime
He was a hard sell, but now Howie Mandel is riding high as host of NBC’s super-hot game show, Deal or No Deal. Plus:

• Game show fever: Deal’s model magic