TVSquad

Earlier this year I asked readers which network had "the best political team on television." CNN officially uses the line, but it doesn't mean it's true. Though I do have to say that I find myself watching CNN the most this election season because they truly do seem to go out of their way to be fair and bal...

OK, I won't say that exact phrase, but they do have a good mix of people, from Dems Paul Begala and Donna Brazille to Republicans William Bennett and Alex Castellanos, not to mention analysts like Gloria Borger and John King. It can get pretty unwieldy though, all those pundits spread across various tables. It's like that big World Series of Poker room mixed with a game show set, and if you have HD and can see the scorecards on the sides of the screen, it actually is like a game show.

• At 8, ABC has a new Pushing Daisies.
• CBS has a new Old Christine at 8, followed by a new Gary Unmarried.
• FOX has more Baseball Playoffs, the Dodgers vs. the Phillies.
• There's a new America's Next Top Model on The CW at 8
• Discovery has two new episodes of Time Warp at 8.
• At 9, the last Presidential Debate airs on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox News, BBC America, CSPAN, and other channels.
• Bravo has the Project Runway season finale at 9.
• HGTV has a new Beyond the Box at 9.
• Showtime has a new Inside The NFL at 9.
• Also at 9: Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters, followed by a new Destination Truth.
• At 10, Comedy Central has a new South Park, then the series premiere of Chocolate News.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

Remember this name: Michelle Loewenstein. No, she's not running for political office, or a network executive, or part of a sex ring that Charlie Sheen participated in at one time or another (and, what sex rings hasn't Charlie Sheen participated in?). You want to remember that name because Michelle became Wheel of Fortune's first million dollar winner.

If you recall, a few months ago we mentioned that Wheel, now in it's 26th syndicated season, was upping the maximum amount a contestant could win during the Bonus Round. The only thing they needed to do was hit the million dollar spot on the wheel (slotted between two Bankrupts, those bastards), not get another Bankrupt throughout the rest of the rounds, chance on hitting the right slot on the bonus wheel (a 1 in 25 shot) and solve the Bonus Round puzzle. Seemed like a pretty big feat to accomplish.

• At 8, ABC has a new Opportunity Knocks, followed by a new Dancing with the Stars and the season premiere of Eli Stone.
• CBS has a new NCIS at 8, then new episodes of The Mentalist and Without A Trace.
• NBC has new episodes of The Biggest Loser and Law and Order: SVU.
• FOX has a new House at 8, then a new Fringe.
• PBS has a new Nova at 8, followed by a new Frontline.
• ABC Family has a new Lincoln Heights at 8, then a new Greek.
• At 8:40, BBC America has a new Gavin & Stacey.
• At 9, Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta.
• CNBC has the special The Nuclear Option at 9.
• There's a new Dirty Jobs on Discovery at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 9, followed by two new episodes of Scare Tactics.
• Also at 9: ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker.
• At 10, FX has a new episode of The Shield.
• MTV has the season premiere of Paris Hilton: My New BFF at 10.
• IFC has a new episode of The IT Crowd.
• Travel Channel has a new Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

If you've been thinking that the new TV season isn't exciting, you're not alone. Some top TV critics have been thinking the same thing.

Time's James Poniewozik calls it "The Ratings Drought" and thinks that viewers didn't want to go back to watching the old shows after the writers strike, they wanted something new. Tim Goodman over at The San Francisco Chronicle says that the ratings for returning shows and new ones show a real disinterest from TV fans. Chuck, Heroes, and Life (all NBC shows) have seen big drops, and ABC's Pushing Daisies is even being beaten by...well, I'm let Goodman say it:

Interesting piece in The New York Times that asks the question: where the hell is 30 Rock?

The third season of the show won't bow until October 30, but you would think that the show would want to launch a week or two earlier because of all of the attention that Tina Fey is getting for her Sarah Palin impersonation on Saturday Night Live, her Emmy win, and her new mega-million dollar book deal. So how come the show hasn't premiered yet? They must have an episode or two done for the new season.

• At 8, ABC has a new Dancing with the Stars, followed by new episodes of Samantha Who? and Boston Legal.
• CBS has a new Big Bang Theory at 8, then new episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Worst Week, and CSI: Miami.
• NBC has new episodes of Chuck and Heroes, followed by the series premiere of My Own Worst Enemy.
• FOX has more Baseball Playoffs at 8, the Dodgers vs. the Phillies.
• The CW has a new Gossip Girl at 8, then a new One Tree Hill.
• History Channel has a new Modern Marvels at 8.
• At 8:30, ESPN has Monday Night Football, the Giants vs. the Browns.
• At 9, USA has a new Monday Night RAW.
• IFC has I, The Jury at 9.
• Food Network has a new Unwrapped at 9.
• At 10, TNT has a new Raising The Bar.
• Food Network has a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

That's his salary as a police forensics guy, not as a killer.

That's just one of the many revelations in this article about TV character salaries. CareerBuilder.com figured out what each person would make in real-life. For example, Samantha from Samantha Who? makes around $145,000 a year as the VP of a real estate company.

Not sure about the numbers for Mad Men's Don Draper though. It says he would make $41,000, but I'm guessing that means if he was doing it today, not in the early 1960s (because that would be a massive amount of money then). But he's the Creative Director at an ad agency and got a raise, so I'm pretty sure he'd make more than that. Olive on Pushing Daisies would make around $15,000 or so as a waitress (though she'd probably make more if she worked at an upscale restaurant). Other people on the list include Christine from The New Adventures of Old Christine and Olivia Benson from Law and Order: SVU.

Characters not on the list that I'm curious about: Liz Lemon, Michael Scott, and anyone from Heroes, because they never seem to be actually working.

• TLC has a new Little People, Big World marathon all night.
• At 7, ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
  
• CBS has a new 60 Minutes at 7, then new episodes of The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and The Unit.
  
• NBC has a new Football Night In America at 7, then the Patriots/Chargers game.
  
• The CW has a new In Harm's Way at 7, followed by new episodes of Valentine and Easy Money.
• At 8, FOX has the Dodgers/Phillies game.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 8, then new episodes of Iron Chef America and The Chef Jeff Project.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece Contemporary.
• HBO has a new True Blood at 9, followed by new episodes of Entourage, and Little Britain.
• Showtime has a new Dexter at 9, then a new Californication.
• Nickelodeon has a new Nick News at 9.
• At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
• There's a new Army Wives on Lifetime at 10.
• BBC America has a new Skins at 10.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken, then a new Superjail.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 7:30, ABC has the Sprint Cup: Bank of America 500 NASCAR race.
• At 8, CBS has College Football, LSU vs. Florida.
• FOX has a new Cops at 8.
• NBC has the Macy's Passport Celebrity Catwalk Challenge at 8, followed by a new Knight Rider.
• TBS has the Red Sox/Rays game at 8.
• Nickelodeon has a new iCarly at 8, then a new H20.
• TCM has Rebecca at 8, followed by Hud.
• At 9, FOX has a new America's Most Wanted.
• CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show at 9.
• Lifetime has the movie Murder on Her Mind at 9.
• Also at 9: BBC America has a new Primeval.
• At 9:30, HGTV has a new Design on a Dime.
• At 10, Style Network has a new episode of The Dish.
• At midnight, FOX has a new Talk Show with Spike Feresten.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Fourteen million. That's not the number of dollars that are being lost in the stock market every second (I'm sure it's much, much more). It's actually the number of views that Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy reached during three weeks on the Interweb. Now, if he only got those numbers during the initial run of Family Guy on FOX.

To those that are totally lost because you've been staring at your 401K numbers for the last month, Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy launched on YouTube on September 10th. Sponsored by Burger King, it featured original animated content from Seth MacFarlane and his gang of miscreants. In a press release from Media Rights Capital, Cavalcade became the number one most-viewed channel on the video website a mere 48 hours after its launch. Since then, it has garnered not only the 14 million views mentioned above but 100,000 subscribers to the 'sethcomedy' channel. Making it one of the most subscribed YouTube channels of all time.

• At 8, ABC has a new Wife Swap, followed by new episodes of Supernanny and 20/20.
• CBS has a new Ghost Whisperer at 8, then new episodes of The Ex-List and Numb3rs.
• NBC has a new America's Toughest Jobs at 8, followed by new episodes of Deal Or No Deal and Life.
• FOX has new episodes of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? (with Ken Jennings) and Don't Forget The Lyrics.
• PBS has a new Washington Week at 8, then a new NOW.
  
• There's a new Smackdown! on MyNetwork TV at 8.
• Cartoon Network has a new episode of The Secret Saturdays at 8.
• Also at 8: ESPN has College Football, Louisville vs. Memphis.
• At 8:30, TBS has Game 1 of the Red Sox/Rays playoff game.
• Food Network has a new Rachael's Vacation at 8:30.
• At 9, USA has the season premiere of The Starter Wife.
• Sci-Fi has a new Stargate Atlantis at 9, then a new Sanctuary.
• Cartoon Network has a new episode of The Clone Wars at 9.
• At 10, E! has a new episode of The Soup.
• At 11, HBO has a new Real Time with Bill Maher.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

This really isn't stunning news, as both shows are loved my millions and get great ratings every week, but I think it will bring a smile to people's faces as we watch the Dow go down again.

USA Network has renewed Burn Notice for a third season and Psych for a fourth season. This means the new seasons that will begin in the summer of 2009, not the current season which had its summer finale this summer and will launch the second half of their seasons in January.

You know, TV seasons used to be a lot easier to figure out.

This news is going to upset fans of Knight Rider. Both of them.

Senator Barack Obama has bought 30 minutes of airtime on NBC on October 29 at 8pm, which means that he'll knock Knight Rider off the air for the night (no idea what NBC will put in the other 30 minutes, perhaps a repeat). Obama has also bought 30 minutes at the same time on CBS, which means that The New Adventures of Old Christine will air at 8:30 and the new Jay Mohr sitcom Gary Unmarried won't be on that night at all. FOX won't air the ads because of the World Series, and ABC said they'd air it only if Obama would dance with someone and/or get an extreme makeover.

And yes, if you're curious, the networks have of course offered Senator John McCain the same deal, though analysts aren't sure if he has the money to afford the 30 minute ads.

I don't mind this move because I don't watch either show. Now, if he were to interrupt 30 Rock or Mad Men or Heroes, well, then we'd have a problem.

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, then a new episode of Grey's Anatomy and the series premiere of Life On Mars.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, followed by the season premiere of CSI and the series premiere of Eleventh Hour.
• NBC has a new My Name Is Earl at 8, then the series premiere of Kath & Kim, then a new episode of The Office, then the series premiere of SNL Thursday Weekend Update, and a new ER.
• FOX has Game 1 of the National League Championship, the Dodgers vs. the Phillies at 8.
• The CW has new episodes of Smallville and Supernatural.
• At 8:30, HGTV has a new Myles of Style, followed by a new Rate My Space.
• At 9, History Channel has a new Modern Marvels.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new It's Always Sunny..., then the series premiere of Testees.
• Food Network has a new Ace of Cakes at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has another new episode of The Sarah Silverman Program.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.