I never watched Must-See-TV in its heyday, I was too busy watching Martin or something to that effect. Now, Im a big fan of The Office and My Name is Earl, but now I have a schedule conflict with the OC. So now I might have to buy another... vcr.

Unfortunately, the new style and tone of The Office and Arrested Development has not really taken off, at least to network audiences. Both shows have struggled, with AD recently getting the ax. Shows that have a laugh track, on the other hand, become hits such as How I Met Your Mother, 2 and 1/2 Men, and (WTF?) The War at Home. What's up with that, by the way? Do people like being told when to laugh?

B.'s got it right. NBC's Must See Thursday's were never more than two good shows. While I disagree on what the filler is (Scrubs instead of The Office), My Name Is Earl and The Office are both strong enough to carry the night in a few years. It's a rebuilding year.

My Name is Earl had me at:

"Come on kids and eat your spaghetti."

One I got over the hold trailer trash angle, I still tuned in because (I can't believe I'm gonna say this) the show has heart. The guest stars like Bret Butler ["Don't judge me"] are added bonuses.

This is the only new show that I actually look for each week. Moving it to Thursday is fine with me, since that's one night I look at a lot of TV (I grew up on Must See TV, so now I've been conditioned, I guess).

Back when NBC's "Must See" Thursdays ruled the earth, the format was a great show at 8:00, filler at 8:30, another great show at 9:00, more filler at 9:30. Scrubs and Earl fit well at the 8:00 and 9:00 spots. The Office, well, it's better than Wings, and Will and Grace is better than Veronica's Closet.

My two tiny, humble cents:
The new style and tone used in The Office and Arrested Development will drive comedy for the next 10 years. Exit live audiences, they have laughed too much at too many bad jokes. Comedy has always been hard to sell to a mainstream audience, only a few cleverly written shows are remembered (Seinfeld, Friends...), the others being either too soft or too outrageous.
With the popularisation of easy tools for filmmaking, expect new talents to increasingly emerge from online communities, much like Andy Samberg and friends who just pumped in new juice in SNL in just one sketch.
The road will be bumpy, with some crap along the way, but the final destination is an improved comedy world.