The State of the Television Address! Plus, Fox Goes Sweeping!

My fellow TV viewers, we are blessed with an abundance of quality, entertaining programs on our television sets. It is an era with exciting characters, excellent writing and top notch acting. A time so fruitful that any show that falls slightly short of the excellent set standard that it is instantly canceled (sorry Heather Graham), but are there too many quality shows and not enough hours in primetime or our own schedules to squeeze them all in? In the spirit of last night's The State of the Union Address, I thought we could take a look at the current state of television and how we would like to see it progress for seasons to come. How do excellent shows like Everwood, Alias, Scrubs and 24 get cast aside for weeks and sometimes months while other shows take their places? It doesn't seem fair, and low ratings just doesn't seem like a sufficient answer. It's because there are other good shows that also need a chance to shine as well. The current crop of television is so strong that it's the equivalent to having so many good players on your favorite football team that the coach has to sit out some of the star players from time to time just to ensure all star players get their playing time. It's a problem, but it's a good one to have. Dramas are flourishing, especially crime dramas such as Cold Case and Without a Trace, which strike the perfect balance between engrossing cases and character development, but so are more serialized dramas such as Veronica Mars, Everwood, Lost, 24 and Grey's Anatomy. But, that's old news because the age of the drama has been upon us now for several years. What's new and interesting about this genre is its sustainability. Not only are there oodles of crime shows to fill your schedule, but also the serialized variety, and viewers are lapping up both. Just a quick glance at last week's Nielsen ratings shows a top ten full of dramas from CSI and Cold Case to Lost and Grey's Anatomy (see the full top ten in Quick Cuts), proving most viewers like a nice balance between the crime and the character, and today's drama landscape offers plenty of both.

It isn't just the dramas that are flourishing. A year ago, you couldn't find a television critic in all of TV land that wasn't ready to proclaim the sitcom dead. Now, the sitcom is alive and thriving with plenty of funny. Scrubs is having a banner year with more laughs a minute than you can absorb and Two and a Half Men has easily taken over the most watched comedy title from the long running and hysterical Everybody Loves Raymond. New comedies have made a splash as well with My Name is Earl, Everybody Hates Chris and How I Met Your Mother all garnering tremendous buzz and critical acclaim. Jenna Elfman's recently premiered Courting Alex opened to big ratings and earned the 13th spot on the Nielsen top 20 list last week. Some shows are blending both comedy and drama, so an entire new genre has been created called the dramedy. Shows like Desperate Housewives and Gilmore Girls know how to make us laugh, but they also know how to bring some moving dramatic moments as well. And then there's the reality genre, which has fine tuned itself since it burst on the scene in a big way earlier this decade. Gone are the cheesier, more outrageous shock shows (Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?, Married by America) and in their place, are more human interest and entertaining shows (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Wife Swap). The king of reality shows, Survivor, still lands in the Nielsen top 10 and it's about to enter its 12th edition, and American Idol is just as strong as ever (landing the top 2 spots in last week's Nielsens) in its 5th season. There's also The Amazing Race, which blends competition and human interest and has improved its ratings over the course of its eight editions (the 9th edition premieres February 28th on CBS). With so many wonderful dramas, comedies, dramedies and even reality series on the air, it's impossible not to find something to watch on television every night. Yes, television is thriving, and we can only hope that it will continue to do so. God bless you, and God bless television. Good night.

What do you think about the current state of television? Are you overwhelmed by all the good choices out there? Or, are you feeling like it's a little lacking? Leave me a comment with your thoughts.

Fox is releasing its big plans for the sweeps period this month. Here's a show-by-show breakdown of the highlights. As usual, I will try to keep them as spoiler free as possible, but be warned that the following may contain minor spoilers. All dates are subject to change.

House - Julie Warner guest stars as a suburban housewife with inexplicable muscle flailing and Sela Ward returns on the February 7th episode. The following week, House attempts to treat a severely burned man with unusual blood test results, and he signs himself up as a guinea pig for his own unofficial tests on a former colleague's migraine medicine. The show makes a special Monday appearance on February 20th as House treats a teenage supermodel for drug addiction and discovers a shocking secret.

24 - Four all-new episodes highlight this sweeps month. Jack navigates CTU to a new lead while the hostiles up the stakes on February 6th. On February 13th, President Logan reassesses Jack's ties to CTU and the first lady deals with the position her husband is about to take regarding the horrific events that are unfolding. Next up, the terrorist mastermind intimidates the administration on February 20th. Finally, the first lady takes matters into her own hands and Jack comes face to face with someone from his past on February 27th.

American Idol - February sees the final night of the audition round (Feb. 7th), the Hollywood round begins (Feb. 8th and 14th), the 24 finalists are revealed (Feb. 15th), the first male semifinalist round (Feb. 21st and 28th) and female semifinalist round (Feb. 22nd and March 1st) and the elimination of the first two male and female contestants (Feb. 23rd).

Bones - Booth enlists Brennan's help when a body in found in an alley, and Brennan finds that she has something in common with the victim on February 8th. On February 15th, Booth and Brennan investigate a Salvadorian gang member when a body is found in his trunk.

The O.C. - In the February 2nd episode, Summer learns the truth about Seth, Marissa finally tells Johnny how she feels and Kaitlin wonders which Cooper Johnny really likes. The following week finds the gang in the midst of Valentine's Day, but tragic news looms. Nikki Reed guest stars as Johnny's cousin Sadie, Kaitlin's winter break ends and Marissa and Ryan's Valentine's Day doesn't go as planned.

Other Fox sweeps notes - Mary Tyler Moore will guest star on the February 2nd episode of That 70s Show, The Bernie Mac Show celebrates its 100th episode on February 3rd, Arrested Development ends its season with four back-to-back episodes with guest stars Judge Reinhold, William Hung, Justine Bateman, Jamie Kennedy and Bud Cort on February 10th and the network gives us a sneak peak of its new partially improvised comedy Free Ride on March 1st. For more on Fox's sweeps plans, visit The Futon Critic. Tomorrow, we'll take a look at ABC's plans for this month.

About Last Night... Fox took the first hour of the night with American Idol, followed by CBS's NCIS (r) and reruns of ABC comedies According to Jim and Rodney. At 9, The State of the Union Address took over with Fox garnering the most viewers during this hour and the 10 p.m. hour. For more on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

~Primetime Pass~
@8 p.m. - The auditions continue tonight on Fox's American Idol. Over on NBC, JT works to find a missing high ranking officer after he is kidnapped in Spain on E-Ring.

@9 p.m. - OK people, Lost is a rerun tonight, so you have no excuse not to watch tonight's all-new episode of UPN's Veronica Mars. Tonight, Veronica helps Wallace clear his name after trouble follows him from Chicago. Jeffrey Sams returns as Baseball Legend Terrance Cook.

@10 p.m. - A billionaire and a model are impaled by an arrow at a hip party on CBS's CSI: NY.

QUICK CUTS

*The WB's Everwood is getting a new timeslot when it returns in March. The critically acclaimed family drama will move from Thursday nights to Monday nights (where it spent its first three seasons) when it returns with a special two-hour episode March 20th. In other WB news, Supernatural will move to Thursday nights after Smallville beginning March 16th, new Rebecca Romijn romantic comedy Pepper Dennis will premiere April 4th after Gilmore Girls and new show The Bedford Diaries will premiere March 22nd following the return of One Tree Hill.

*Actress Connie Nielsen will report for duty on NBC's Law & Order: SVU while series star Mariska Hargitay goes on maternity leave. The Gladiator star will play an NYPD detective temporarily assigned to the special victims unit while Hargitay's Det. Olivia Benson works on a special assignment. Hargitay's real-life pregnancy will not be written into the show. According to TV Guide's Mike Ausiello, Det. Benson will be involved in some sort of shocking twist in the April 4th episode that will pave the way for Hargitay's maternity leave. Nielsen will appear in six episodes later this year of the popular NBC series.

*Fans of CBS's Survivor will have a chance to catch the episodes after they air on television. The network announced today that it will make available on its web site each episode of the next installment after the west coast broadcast on Thursday nights. Each episode will set you back $1.99, the same price as the popular iTunes television episode download service. Survivor: Panama -- Exile Island will premiere on television tomorrow night, February 2nd, on CBS with the download available after midnight.

*And finally, it's Nielsen Wednesday! CBS was back on top last week with the most viewers, squeaking past Fox (Fox won the coveted 18-49 year old crowd). The eye network was led by CSI (#3), Without a Trace (#4), CSI: Miami (#5) and a three-way tie for ninth between Two and a Half Men, NCIS and Cold Case. Fox's American Idol (Tuesday and Wednesday were #1 and #2, respectively), ABC's Dancing with the Stars (#6) and Grey's Anatomy (#8) rounded out the top ten. For the list of the top 20 shows from last week, click on over to USA Today.

That's all for today. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for thoughts on Veronica Mars (Aren't you just chomping at the bit to find out what's next for these characters now that Duncan is gone?) and a sneak peek at ABC's sweeps plans! Plus, all the latest television news.

And now a very important message regarding one of our favorite shows...
Ok Everwood fans, it's time to take action to ensure that this show stays on the air for another season (at least)! As you know, the WB and UPN will no longer exist as of September of this year. Instead, a new network will form as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and CBS Corp. This new network, dubbed The CW, will have current UPN President Dawn Ostroff in charge and will combine programming from both UPN and WB for its schedule. With only 13 primetime hours available, that means a lot of shows are going to get dropped. The only shows that seem to be secure for the moment are:

Veronica Mars (yay!)
America's Next Top Model
Everybody Hates Chris (yay again!)
WWE Smackdown
Smallville
Gilmore Girls
Reba
Beauty and the Geek
Supernatural
Girlfriends

In other words, no mention of Everwood. Things are looking even more grim today because Mike Ausiello from TV Guide (a huge proponent of the show) is reporting that a supposed early draft of the new CW's fall schedule has been making the rounds this week and Everwood is not on it! So, what can you do to save it? Write, write, write! Your letters can make a difference! Write to Dawn Ostroff and let her know how wonderful Everwood is, and how she has to include it on her schedule, even if it's just a midseason replacement (and runs every week with new episodes for half a season 24 style). It is imperative that we start writing now because this is the time of year when networks set their schedules. So, get out that pen and paper or sit down on your computer and send a glowing letter about Everwood to:

Dawn Ostroff
UPN
11800 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025

We can't let another quality show go down the drain!!


AND, don't forget to help Veronica Mars with the $4,000 Shower Campaign! Click HERE for details