On Monday night, ESPN had one of the best NFL match ups of the season -- the undefeated New Orleans Saints versus perennial powerhouse New England Patriots. The game was, perhaps, a preview of the Super Bowl because it's entirely possible that the Saints and the Pats could make it through the playoffs to the ultimate game.

Well, without much more than the usual hype, ESPN's Monday Night Football got the huge audience this kind of contest warrants. It was the second most-watched cable program of all time. Yes, you read that correctly. The second most-watched cable program of all time. Over 20 million total viewers -- 21.4 million -- tuned in to watch the game... which turned out to be a bit of a dud. But that doesn't matter to ESPN because they scored big time.

If you're like me, when you hear the name Martha Stewart you think of football. Now those two things are coming together in a new contest.

Martha and NBC have teamed up for Martha's Sunday Night Football Sweepstakes, a contest where, if you win the grand prize, you get a trip to New York City, a stay in a hotel, $100 in spending money, and you get to attend a live taping of Martha Stewart or Football Night in America. Runner up prizes include Martha's new book Dinner at Home and autographed footballs.

Another year, another Thanksgiving, and another Fall TV season with plenty of reasons to be thankful. Here's what's winning me over this holiday season...

FX's Sons of Anarchy -- Talk about a complete 180°. This show went from near the bottom of my list last season to one of the most superb dramas on TV right now. Midway through last year's up and down freshman season, I argued that that show had more to offer at a second glance, but for the most part, Kurt Sutter and his team were still finding their footing. Well, they found their footing and then some this year. Season two has been expertly plotted and executed this season and this past week's penultimate episode put the pieces in motion for a season finale that no TV fan should plan on missing.

One of the perks NBC has over the other networks when it comes to its football coverage is what's called the flex schedule. Unlike CBS and Fox and ESPN which get the games that are scheduled months in advance without regard for ideal match ups, NBC has the option of plucking a better game for the Sunday Football Night in America broadcast. Hence the term, flex, as in flexible.

Thus far this season, NBC has had three chances to flip the switch and passed. However, on December 6, NBC has chosen a Vikings/Cardinals game over a Pats/Dolphins match.

It seems like ESPN has been around forever, doesn't it? Can you even remember a time when there hasn't been an ESPN to turn to for a score or breaking news or updates? I can't. But along with the news ESPN provides, the ESPN brand has expanded to include a bunch of networks, a magazine, restaurants and lots of tchotchkes. But let's just look at the TV shows, shall we? One note: SportsCenter is not included because it's more of a daily news show as opposed to the programs that are more talk and game-oriented. Here's the top ten ESPN created shows, from the worst to the first.

10. Sports Nation
This is a relatively new daily show on ESPN with radio talker Colin Cowherd and Michelle Beadle co-hosting. It's supposedly an interactive program with surveys that include the fans, but all the bells and whistles can't change the fact that Cowherd is an obnoxious know-it-all that dominates the conversation – when they have one. It's new and shiny, but it's a mess.

What does it say about the state of television broadcasting when the voice of television football is a guy who's voice is indiscernible? Is there really nobody that's filled the void since John Madden stopped acting out in the booth with the booms and the pows and the turducken and horse trailer references? Afraid so. According to Sporting News' list of the Top 25 Football Broadcasters in America, CBS football broadcaster Gary Danielson is number one.

Sporting News used a measuring system based on fan reaction and the input of its reporters and editors (including SportsBusiness Journal/SportsBusiness Daily), and despite the fact that Danielson's voice is pretty much just like Bob Griese's (I always confuse the two), he's considered the best because "he explains it before most of us have seen it." That's on target. He is pretty smart, just unmemorable.

If you are counting the seconds until the new big screen remake of American Gladiators hits a theater near you, please seek immediate medical attention or the nearest clergyman for guidance.

Screenwriter Peter Iliff has developed a script for the project. The TV tough guys and gals will be turned into "superheroes" in the new movie.

That's it? Isn't that obvious? What the hell else were they going to be?

- A bunch of muscleheaded meatwads pretending to be British nannies in order to see their estranged children.

- Sinewy wimp-eaters who must constantly pull a bus with their teeth at a speed of at least 30 mph or it will explode.

Or perhaps the storyline could go something like this: A ruthless mob boss looking to bump off a key witness traveling overseas plants twelve Gladiators injected with anger inducing pheromones on his plane and unleashes them over the ocean.

Feel free to share your own ideas for this movie in the comments below.

I thought that Cheech and Chong and Ann Coulter's gloves-off, no holds barred showdown/friendly exchange of ideas was the weirdest match up of all time. I officially stand corrected.

Rapper 50 Cent's posse and sportcaster Marv Albert got into a little backstage tussle on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live and no one seems to know exactly why. If only we had someone at the scene who could describe what was happened "blow by blow" and then utter some kind of high energy word or phrase when something really exciting happens.

Apparently, a security guard just announced that Marv was walking down the hall the same time that 50 Cent and his crowd and the two threw down. Whatever the cause, it's unfortunate that it happened but more unfortunate for 50 Cent. If Marv Albert can walk away from your security entourage, maybe you need to consider some corporate restructuring.

Lately, Detroit Tiger all-star outfielder Curtis Granderson has been in the news because he might be joining the New York Yankees. However, if Major League Baseball free agency doesn't make him a household name, television might. Granderson has an idea for a reality series that's being shopped around now and it's not like anything else other athletes have pitched.

Granderson's series is called Stadium Secrets and it will be like History Channel's Cities of the Underworld. In fact, it might be suited to the History Channel. Granderson would host the show and lead viewers into the inner recesses and hidden passages of famous stadia around the world -- although it'll probably start with American locations.

Things are not going well for Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis. He's in the midst of a rough season, not likely to make a bowl game, and rumors are rampant that he will be fired after a five-year-term that has not brought the university a national championship. The number one name on the lips of everyone to replace Weis is ESPN analyst, and Super Bowl-winning head coach, Jon Gruden. However, this morning ESPN locked up Gruden with an extension on his current contract which expands his responsibilities as an ESPN talking head.

In addition to sticking with the ESPN Monday Night Football color commentary role -- in which he's pretty much been Mr. Enthusiasm -- Gruden will be working the NFL Draft, the Pro Bowl, Super Bowl week, and on radio the Rose Bowl and the BCS game. Basically, if Gruden is talking football, he's doing it on ESPN air.

Okay, I couldn't resist the nod to Abbott and Costello's Who's On First. But the fact is that Sports Illustrated has spread the word that The Who will star in the Super Bowl big, overblown half-time pageant. This follows the safe pattern the NFL has been employing since the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake costume malfunction; that is, stick with classic rock stars who are guaranteed to do their hits and not disrobe. That's why we've had Prince, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and now The Who. All superstar acts, no controversy.

We don't usually have open threads about sporting events here at TV Squad, but last night was the big finale of the 2009 World Series of Poker on ESPN, and I wanted to post this for two reasons. One, to find out what you thought of the exciting battle between logger Darvin Moon and 21 year-old Joe Cada, and two to find out how many people are actually still interested in watching poker on television.

Poker was massive on TV a few years ago, but is it still?

Part of me is surprised that this deal took this long to happen. But when you watch the recent crop of new shows on the Chortle Network (with the exception of Tosh.0), it really shouldn't surprise anyone.

Comedy Central has ordered a half-hour scripted pilot based on the Onion's Sports Network. The OSN is part of the popular satirical magazine's online TV news network that launched a little under a year ago.

This isn't the first time the network has tried to do a satirical sports show. Comedy Central also shot a pilot for a Daily Show-esque sports show called Sports Central that died in the pilot stage. This incarnation sounds much more promising since it will spoof not only sports figures and stories, but also the tone and style of sports media. Sweet sassy molassey, this is gonna rock!

Considering the incredible overnight ratings that Fox got for Game Six of the World Series, you might think I'm crazy to suggest that the network would be rooting for the New York Yankees last night to beat the Philadelphia Phillies, but I have evidence. All through the game, Fox was promoting Fringe and Bones, urging viewers to tune in tomorrow night -- tonight -- for new episodes. Why would the network be sending that message when there was a possibility of a Game Seven?

I try to cover professional wrestling here on TV Squad only when something happens that hints at a ratings spike, a celebrity tie-in or a television publicity war. Today, we have news that could score a pin on all three fronts, "Brother!"

Hulk Hogan (in yellow, right), the 80s legend that put WWF WWE on the mat map, announced this week that he's returning to the squared circle and joining the ranks of Spike TV's TNA Wrestling. It's a big step up in exposure for the Florida-based promotion as it struggles to pull away a little market share away from Vince McMahon's Connecticut Death Grip.

While the WWE has either live or taped shows on various cable outlets Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights (with occasional weekend specials on NBC), TNA has used the last couple of years to build an ever-growing following in Spike's Thursday night schedule.