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closeTuesday, Oct. 27, 2009
Get ready for sweeps: premieres, stunts and guests galore
Get ready for sweeps, and brace yourself for premieres, stunts and guests galore.
By ROBERT PHILPOT
dfw.com
Fox
The Cleveland Show, one of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane’s other prime-time cartoons, airs Sundays on Fox. Fox
CBS/Sonja Flemming
In Part 1 of a three-part crossover that starts Nov. 9, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’s Dr. Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne), left, travels to help Horatio Caine (David Caruso) and the team with a brutal murder case with ties to Las Vegas, on CSI: Miami. CBS/Sonja Flemming
The CW
Gossip Girl gets musical, with star Leighton Meester performing her new single, Somebody to Love, with R&B star Robin Thicke on Nov. 9, and Lady Gaga appearing Nov. 16. The CW
FOX/Patrick Ecclesine
Seth MacFarlane stars in Fox’s variety special Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show on Nov. 8. FOX/Patrick Ecclesine
With TV offering new programming virtually year-round, networks don’t trumpet their November "sweeps" offerings as loudly as they once did, but sweeps are still important enough for advertisers that any network that wins the month is going to brag about it. (And, because of various demographic breakdowns, there are a lot of ways to win.)
Sweeps run today through Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving. It brings audience-generating guest stars, stunts, crossover appearances, awards shows and general goofiness, all in hopes of grabbing your attention. We break down some of what you’ll see, limiting ourselves to the five major commercial-broadcast networks.
What’s new
V: ABC launches this "reimagining" of the 1980s series about Earth-visiting aliens who seem benevolent but have a hidden world-domination agenda. Thing is, they’ll have a tough time merely achieving ratings domination, since this show will air against the potent NCIS. And although an early pilot looked good, buzz has been growing that the series — which will air four episodes in November and then take a break — is having problems. Dallas’ Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) stars, along with Morris Chestnut, Joel Gretsch (who already dealt with weird doings in The 4400), Lourdes Benedicto, Laura Vandervoort, Scott Wolf and Morena Baccarin. Premieres 7 p.m. Tuesday, WFAA/Channel 8
The Wanda Sykes Show: The outspoken comedian-actress really gets to be outspoken with a topical late-night talk series featuring regular panelists and weekly guests. Premieres 10 p.m. Nov. 7, KDFW/Channel 4
What’s ending (for now)
America’s Next Top Model: The "cycle 13" winner is chosen. Meanwhile, we continue to wonder what happened to past winners, other than their occasional cameos on ANTM episodes. A season — er, cycle retrospective follows. 7 p.m. Nov. 18, KDAF/Channel 33
Dancing With the Stars: At this writing, Donny Osmond, Mya and Mark "The Chairman" Dacascos look like the favorites to be in the finale, but predicting anything with this show is risky, especially given how erratic folks have been this season. Whoever makes it to the finale will be dancing Nov. 23 and getting the word on who gets the disco-ball trophy Nov. 24. 7 p.m. Nov. 23, 8 p.m. Nov. 24, WFAA/Channel 8
Be our guest
30 Rock: Not only does Dallas-bred ventriloquist Jeff Dunham have his own new hit Comedy Central show, but he also has a cameo on this week’s 30 Rock, which also features Betty White, as Jack and Liz (Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey) take a trip down South to seek a new star for their struggling TV show. More cameos to come: NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams shows up next week. 8:30 p.m. Thursday (tonight), KXAS/Channel 5
Gossip Girl: GG is practically a factory of sweeps guest stars and stunts. Not only does Hilary Duff continue her recurring role as actress Olivia, on Monday’s episode she (Olivia, that is) appears on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (hey, that’s an NBC show!) with Fallon playing himself. The Nov. 9 episode features GG star Leighton Meester’s new single, Somebody to Love, recorded with R&B star Robin Thicke. And Lady Gaga performs in the Nov. 16 episode. 8 p.m. Mondays, KDAF/Channel 33
90210: Not to be outdone by Gossip Girl in the pop-music department, 90210’s Tuesday episode will feature an appearance by DJ Samantha Ronson and a performance by N.E.R.D. And the whispers are that there will be a death in the Nov. 17 episode. 7 p.m. Tuesdays, KDAF/Channel 33
Mercy:Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss, who made her breakthrough playing President Bartlet’s daughter on NBC’s The West Wing, guest-stars on this new NBC medical drama in an episode that also features Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara of Stiller & Meara comedy fame. 7 p.m. Wednesday, KXAS/Channel 5
Parks & Recreation: Megan Mullally, who starred in NBC’s former Thursday hit Will & Grace, appears in this sitcom as the ex-wife of the imperious Ron (Nick Offerman, who is married to Mullally in real life). 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5, KXAS/Channel 5
Smallville: It’s not so much the guest star here as the character that matters: Julian Sands plays Jor-El, Clark Kent’s real dad, making his first on-screen appearance as he comes to Earth to search for Kal-El, aka Clark (Tom Welling). 7 p.m. Nov. 6, KDAF/Channel 33
Brothers: For a relatively low-rated Friday-night sitcom, this show sure snags guest stars. Snoop Dogg, who has already appeared once, returns as the conniving Cousin Kenny in an episode that also features former NFL player turned action-movie star Fred Williamson and, playing himself, former Dallas Cowboys coach/current Fox analyst Jimmy Johnson. 7 p.m. Nov. 13, KDFW/Channel 4
Melrose Place: Heather Locklear returns as Amanda Woodward, and Amanda is in fine form. But is she in fine enough form to rescue this update from oblivion, as she did with the first one? 8 p.m. Nov. 17, KDAF/Channel 33
Bones: Good night, Seeley-Boy: The Waltons’ Ralph Waite guest stars as FBI agent Seeley Booth’s grandfather, who tags along when Booth (David Boreanaz) and Brennan (Emily Deschanel) investigate a case. 7 p.m. Nov. 19, KDFW/Channel 4
Look at these stunts
The Biggest Loser: In next week’s episode, the remaining contestants take a trip to Washington, where they tour the White House kitchen and race around the National Mall — which, if you’ve been there, you know isn’t tiny — recruiting people to participate in the biggest workout in Loser history. 7 p.m. Tuesday, KXAS/Channel 5
Supernatural:Supernatural doesn’t need sweeps to have a clever, gimmicky episode, but it has one nonetheless: The Trickster tosses Sam and Dean (Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles) into TV hell, where they become characters in a sitcom, a medical drama and a forensics show — coincidentally, all genres represented by shows that compete directly with Supernatural. (If that’s not self-reflexive enough for you, the following episode features a fan convention with folks dressed up as Sam and Dean.) 8 p.m. Nov. 5, KDAF/Channel 33
CSIs: Crossover insanity, as CSI: Miami’s Horatio Caine (David Caruso) calls CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’s Dr. Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne) for help on a case, which takes Langston to Miami, where the case happens to have a connection to something Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) and his CSI: NY team are working on, so Langston rushes to New York (some scenes were even shot there!) before the case takes Langston back to Las Vegas. And this all takes place in one week. One TV week, that is. 9 p.m. Nov. 9 (CSI: Miami), 9 p.m. Nov. 11 (CSI:NY), 8 p.m. Nov. 12 (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), KTVT/Channel 11
Isn’t that special?
Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show: Remember when Fox canceled Family Guy, only to realize that it had made a mistake when DVD sales took off? Apparently, neither does Fox, as it’s now treating Family Guy’s evil-genius creator Seth MacFarlane as the best thing to happen to the network since Rupert Murdoch. This special, featuring MacFarlane and fellow Family Guy voice Alex Borstein, anchors a Seth MacFarlane night that also includes new episodes of MacFarlane’s ’toons Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show. The special is a mix of live action and animation that was originally going to have one sponsor, but Variety reported this week that the sponsor, Microsoft, withdrew because it was shocked — shocked! — to find that the special would have politically incorrect content. Hard to believe that no one at Microsoft has ever seen Family Guy, huh? 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8, KDFW/Channel 4
The 43rd annual CMA Awards: Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley (both of whose houses must have run out of shelf space for awards by now) return as co-hosts of the country-music awards show, which sounds a little like an episode of CMT Crossroads with its pairings of Dave Matthews and Kenny Chesney, and Vince Gill and Chris Daughtry. Other scheduled performers include Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Billy Currington, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Darius Rucker, George Strait, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Zac Brown Band. Oh, and Paisley and Underwood. 7 p.m. Nov. 11, WFAA/Channel 8
2009 American Music Awards: Why, look — it’s Underwood! Only this time, she’s part of a collection of American Idol-made stars who will perform at this year’s AMAs. Other Idols include Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry and his band, and Adam Lambert. It’s not called the American Idol Music Awards, because other scheduled performers include Jay-Z, the Black Eyed Peas, Jennifer Lopez and Alicia Keys. 7 p.m. Nov. 22, WFAA/Channel 8
Robert Philpot, 817-390-7872
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