BBC Worldwide and PBS have decided that it's time for a new 'Sherlock Holmes.' The 1984 series, which ran ten years and 41 episodes, had Jeremy Brett as Sherlock and is still widely regarded as the best Holmes since Basil Rathbone's incarnation in the movies, but after the success of Guy Ritchie's kinetic Robert Downey Jr. version last Christmas, the people in a position to make things happen are ready to give us a 21st century variation on Holmes and Watson and 221B Baker Street.

Thus far the casting is promising. Martin Freeman, who is best known as the British version of Jim in the UK 'The Office,' will play Dr. Watson. In the role of Sherlock, the actor chosen is named Benedict Cumberbatch. That's a great name for an actor cast as Holmes; it just sounds so British. But Benedict also has the look of a Holmes, and he was in 'Atonement' and was nominated for a BAFTA playing Stephen Hawking in a BCC drama.

On the heels of yesterday's cancellation of 'The Unit,' CBS is now saying goodbye to 'Without a Trace' and 'Eleventh Hour.'

'Eleventh Hour' ran for one season in the network's 10PM slot, which will now be filled by ratings juggernaut 'The Mentalist,' according to Variety.

Meanwhile, the Ausiello Files says 'Without a Trace''s cancellation came down to the wire. 'Trace' battled 'Numb3rs' for the network's final spot, but lost out because 'Numb3rs' is reportedly "less expensive to produce."

'ER'
(9PM, NBC) series finale
The Emmy, Golden Globe and Peabody-winning series closes out its 15-season run with an appropriate send-off that will give fans updates on their favorite characters.

More 'ER' friends – Eriq LaSalle, Alex Kingston, Sherry Stringfield, Laura Innes and Thandie Newton – return to the hospital tonight to support John Carter (Noah Wyle) as he opens his new medical center.

Meanwhile, the new crew gets some final screen time, too, as John Stamos' Gates treats a teen whose boozy games have led to alcohol poisoning, and Carter helps a new intern (Alexis Bledel) whose pregnant patient is about to deliver twins. Hmmm, a 'Gilmore Girl' in the ER? Sounds like spin-off potential to us ...

'ER'
(10PM, NBC)
Is he or isn't he? That's the not-so-secret secret, as original series star George Clooney is rumored to make a cameo appearance.

What's confirmed: Clooney's fellow former co-stars, Eriq La Salle and Julianna Margulies return just weeks before the April 2 series finale, as La Salle's Peter pops in to visit Noah Wyle's ailing Carter. Margulies is back as Carol Hathaway, and the actress says she only agreed to visit when Clooney agreed to return as Hathaway's love Dr. Doug Ross.

As for what the on-screen lovers might be up to now, it's all very hush-hush, but producer John Wells has hinted that Hathaway-Ross fans will be happy with the storyline.

'CSI' and 'Eleventh Hour'
(9PM & 10PM, CBS)
The theme for CBS' dramas tonight: Seemingly unrelated events that turn out to have quite a bit in common.

First up, 'Dukes of Hazzard' star and 'Smallville' papa John Schneider gets mixed up in the 'CSI' mess, as the crime scene investigators quickly surmise that three murders – an art dealer whose been beaten to death, a Hollywood woman who's been shot in a sleazy motel and a P.I. who was slain in a parking lot – are all tied together.

And on 'Eleventh Hour,' Hood has a hunch that when 30 people are killed when they're struck by lightning during one ten-minute thunderstorm, there's more than coincidence or really, really bad luck at play.

'Hell's Kitchen'
(9PM, Fox) 5th season premiere
The largest pool of contestants ever -- 16 -- will try to win Chef Gordon Ramsay's reality show this season, and more contestants means more chances for the prickly Gordo to go off on one of his trademark rants.

Like in tonight's opening challenge, in which the chefs are told to prepare their signature dishes. All goes well at first, with Gordon calling the food the 'best ever.' But when it comes time to serve, things turn disastrous, including a major meltdown in the kitchen before the dinner guests are even seated.

Meanwhile, the prize for the chef who can ultimately withstand Gordo's kitchen heat: A job as the head chef at the Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City.

Today's news that CBS ordered five more episodes of Eleventh Hour is not a big surprise. A big surprise would have been if the network didn't give the freshman drama a re-order. The Jerry Bruckheimer production has been in the most-favored nation position at CBS -- meaning whatever Jerry wants, he usually gets.

The network enjoys a very fruitful/profitable relationship with the TV/filmmaker. Together, CBS and Jerry share Cold Case, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Without A Trace and The Amazing Race. They're thinking of changing the initials CBS to Columbia Bruckheimer System. (Kidding!)

Last night's second episode of ABC's new drama Life on Mars, the American version of the British hit, took a precipitous drop in the ratings. This is really bad news because Life on Mars may be the best new show of the season, unless you're in love with The Mentalist, which I am not, or maybe The Eleventh Hour or My Own Worst Enemy has tickled your fancy.

What's clear is that ABC is trying to build a solid Thursday with Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty and Life on Mars, but Ugly Betty is off to a rocky start, Grey's isn't the powerhouse it once was, and the pressure is on Mars to keep Grey's lead and improve on it.

The show got off to a good start in the premiere, but last night was off 25%. That's not good.

'Life on Mars'
(10PM, ABC) series premiere
Imagine life before cell phones, the Internet and 'CSI'-type forensics ... that's where detective Sam Tyler finds himself after he's hit by a car in modern-day New York City.

Tyler awakens in 1973 NYC, with a different boss (Harvey Keitel), new cop cohorts (including 'The Sopranos' Michael Imperioli) and no idea why he's ended up back in time, though there are striking similarities between the bad guy he was pursuing in 2008 and the one he's investigating in 1973.

Is Sam actually in a coma? Is he dead, and 1973 is his afterlife? All questions that will be answered, assuming network execs let him live long enough to make it back to the future.

Behind the scenes of fall's hot new procedural

'Eleventh Hour,' CBS' new medical mystery drama from producer Jerry Bruckheimer (premieres Thurs., Oct. 9 at 10PM EST), investigates futuristic-sounding cases like cloning for personal use, mysterious heart attack-related deaths among healthy young boys and a long-dormant disease suddenly being spread again.

Rufus Sewell plays Dr. Jacob Hood, the genius biophysicist who's brought in on extreme cases when all else fails, and Marley Shelton plays FBI Agent Rachel Young, who's charged with keeping Hood in line.

We hung out on the set at the Warner Bros. Ranch Stage 33 in Los Angeles to chat with the two stars -- keep reading to get the scoop on what to expect.

A CBS press release landed in my inbox today with this earth-shattering news: CBS's fall programming ads (20 total) will be featured exclusively in People's Sept. 22 issue.

From the release: "In a special arrangement with the magazine, CBS will be the exclusive broadcast advertiser in the issue, on stands Sept. 12." Of course, that's right before the launch of CBS's new fall lineup.

And it sounds like this might be a first. George Schweitzer, president of CBS Marketing Group says, "CBS has long valued its relationship with People, and we're elated that they worked with us to pull off this first-time strategy to be the sole broadcast advertiser in this well-timed issue." You know, whatever. Blah, blah, blah.

So why should we care? Honestly, I really don't. I just keep thinking, People? What, they couldn't come up with anything snappier? Like, I dunno ... maybe Entertainment Weekly? Vanity Fair? I guess with 43 million readers, they'll reach a lot of people in People.

The four CBS show panels on Friday involved four of the five new programs the network is rolling out in the fall (there was no panel for Gary Unmarried, or whatever they're calling it today, because Jay Mohr and his wife Nikki Cox are renewing their vows overseas). While the panels for The Mentalist, The Ex List, Eleventh Hour, and Worst Week had their moments, none of them were particularly newsworthy or interesting.

At least Diane Ruggiero, the creator of The Ex List, was entertaining enough to keep me from jabbing a pen in my arm to keep me awake. In fact, she might have actually convinced me to watch The Lake House, as long as I have a drink in my hand.

Nothing is exempt from betting, including television shows. According to Horizon Media's annual television report, Fox's new show Fringe and CBS' sci-fi drama Eleventh Hour will fare best of the new wave of freshman television shows. Doing worst would be NBC's Kath & Kim and CBS' Worst Week.

The report produced some unsurprising claims, such as that Grey's Anatomy, Heroes and Survivor will continue to kick butt in the ratings. The report did produce some surprises such as ABC overthrowing CBS on Friday nights and the Fox sitcom Do Not Disturb finding success. I guess we'll have to wait until the fall season to see how correct the report is.

What irks me is that after combing through the article I found no mention of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. Did they forget to review that one? Is this a sign of things to come that Horizon Media didn't even find the show important enough to rank?

Yesterday, CBS presented their new schedule for 2008-09. If you'd like to see a sample of the new shows coming to CBS next year, click over to TV Week. There are clips from Eleventh Hour, The Ex-List, Harper's Island, Project Gary, The Mentalist and Worst Week. I've given them a once-over (actually, I watched them more than once) and here's my impressions. That means if you want to watch them fresh without my observations mucking up yours, take a look at them first before reading on.

It looks like the American version of Eleventh Hour is already heading to series. The Bruckheimer-produced series is based on the short-lived ITV series of the same name which starred Patrick Stewart and Ashley Jensen. It will be shown on CBS and the selected showrunners will be Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reiff, formerly of Sleeper Cell.

The British version of the show has developed something of a cult following, despite the fact that only four two-part episodes were aired. It is science fiction, but it tries to be very realistic science fiction. It's mood is closer to CSI than to most of the more fantastic sci-fi shows out there.