When I first heard about a reality show called The Shark Tank, I thought, oh great. They've taken things too far and are planning to throw people into tanks with sharks. It's not quite that insane, but budding entrepreneurs might want to tune in for some pointers.

Helmed by Mr. Reality himself, Mark Burnett, The Shark Tank has been ordered to pilot by ABC. As I understand it, the unscripted project is adapted from a Japanese show called Money Tiger, which aired on Nippon Television from 2001 to 2004. The show has since been produced in Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, Nigeria, and the U.K.

The premise is interesting: aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to moguls, a.k.a. "Sharks," in hopes of landing investment funds.

(S01E17) I'm praying that those of us still watching this show witnessed the series finale of On The Lot and not a season finale.

If this show ever gets a second season, I may be forced to boycott all future Burnett and Spielberg productions, and I really want to see the next Survivor and Jurassic Park IV. Well, maybe not so much Jurassic Park IV.

Anyhow, take all the things you disliked about this season and point the world's most powerful electron microscope at them. That's about what these last two episodes have been like.

(S01E16) Initially, I was opposed to the way they planned to do this finale. It just seemed natural that the final three directors should have had to complete some monumental 5-10 minute piece of work that truly exemplified their talents as a director. The prize is a million dollar deal with Dreamworks, after all, not a first place trophy at the local film festival.

Then, after thinking about it for a bit, it actually made some sense for them to do it this way.

To make the directors create a new piece of work, and totally neglect their previous body of work would have been unfair - particularly if they were having an off day. It'd have been nice to what these guys could do given something more than a couple of minutes, but I can see how that could be construed as a little unfair to the contestants who didn't make it to the final three.

• At 8, ABC has two new episodes of Just For Laughs, then new episodes of Primetime: Crime and i-Caught.
• FOX has a new On The Lot at 8.
• NBC has a new America's Got Talent at 8, followed by a new Singing Bee.
• ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker starting at 8, then a new episode of The Bronx Is Burning.
• At 9, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• CNBC has a new Conversations with Michael Eisner at 9.
• There's a new Bill Engvall Show at 9 on TBS.
• A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Eureka at 9.
• Also at 9: History Channel has a new episode of The Universe.
• At 9:30, Food Network has a new Giada's Weekend Getaways.
• At 10, FX has a new Damages.
• TLC has a new L.A. Ink at 10.
• A&E has a new Criss Angel: Mindfreak at 10.
• Bravo has a new Flipping Out at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E15) It's a sad thing when the reveal of who's leaving a reality show is more interesting than the actual show.

Case in point, Zach went home this week and we were forced to hear his stifled crying while Adam, Jason, Will, and Sam were named the final four. I liked Zach, but his odes to such-and-such director were getting old and lacked any originality.

• At 8, CBS has the premiere of Power of 10, then a new Big Brother.
• FOX has a new On The Lot at 8.
• NBC has a new America's Got Talent at 8, followed by a new Singing Bee.
• TCM has Jane Russell in The Outlaw at 8.
• Also at 8: ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker, then a new installment of The Bronx Is Burning.
• At 8:30, ABC has a new Just For Laughs, then a new Primetime: Crime and the premiere of i-Caught.
• At 9, Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs.
• A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter at 9, then a new Criss Angel: Mindfreak.
• History Channel has a new episode of The Universe at 9.
• There's a new Decorating Cents on HGTV at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new Damages.
• At 10:30, Food Network has a new Giada's Weekend Getaways.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E14) Throughout the season I've commented on how many of the director's films end up looking more like car commercials thanks to the heavy placement of Ford vehicles throughout their features.

This week the problem was exacerbated because everyone had to make films using "automobiles" as a loose theme. I find it a little suspect that "automobiles" was considered the theme since in previous weeks we had genres like comedy, horror, action, and romantic comedy.

• At 8, NBC has a new America's Got Talent, then a new Singing Bee.
• FOX has a new On The Lot at 8.
• ESPN has two new episodes of the World Series of Poker at 8, then a new episode of The Bronx is Burning.
• At 9, ABC has the season finale of Shaq's Big Challenge, followed by the special Prime Time: Family Secrets.
• "Shark Week" continues on Discovery all night.
• CBS has a new Big Brother at 9.
• PBS has a new Wide Angle at 9.
• Larry King interviews Vice President Dick Cheney on CNN at 9.
• There's a new Eureka on Sci-Fi at 9, then a new ECW.
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, then a new Criss Angel: Mindfreak.
• At 10, Bravo has the premiere of Flipping Out.
• FX has a new Damages at 10 (repeated at 11).
• At 10:30, Giada has one of her Weekend Getaways in Santa Barbara, CA. It's on Food Network.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E12) The only romantic comedies my palette can tolerate are of the British variety. This may or may not make me a complete tool. I haven't quite decided.

These comedies usually star Hugh Grant playing Hugh Grant and are full of witty banter, unlikely but enjoyable scenarios, and slightly tolerable romance.

Going with that criteria, none of tonight's films came close for me and that's pretty sad considering I've set a pretty low bar for the genre. For the most part, the judges disagreed with me.

Is this really a surprise to anyone?

CBS has canceled the lame Survivor redo reality show Pirate Master. And that's right away, folks. There are still five episodes that haven't aired, so CBS is going to (you guessed it) run them at CBS.com for all you fans dying to find out what happens.

I wonder if this is a rejection of a Survivor knock-off (which would be a good thing), a rejection of Mark Burnett (add to this his failure with On The Lot and so-so response for the latest Apprentice) or a rejection of reality shows in general? I hope for the latter but it's probably just a specific rejection. But we can dream can't we?

(S01E11) I'm really surprised On The Lot has made it this long without getting yanked.

My suspicion is Fox doesn't quite have the guts to cancel a show produced by the venerable Steven Spielberg, but they're covertly doing everything in their power to get this stinker off the air. Hence, the double eliminations for the last two weeks.

By my calculations, if we continue cutting two people a week, we'll only be subjected to four or five more episodes tops.

I think this may be the first time I've ever consistently watched a show on a weekly basis while simultaneously wanting it to die.

• At 8, NBC has a new America's Got Talent, then a new episode of The Singing Bee.
• FOX has a new On The Lot at 8.
• ABC has two new episodes of something called Just For Laughs at 8, then a new Shaq's Big Challenge.
• ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker at 8, then a new installment of The Bronx is Burning.
• At 9, CBS has a new Big Brother, followed by a new Pirate Master.
• TBS has the premiere of The Bill Engvall Show at 9.
• There's a new episode of Dirty Jobs on Discovery at 9.
• History Channel has a new episode of The Universe at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Eureka at 9, followed by a new ECW.
• At 10, TLC has a new Miami Ink.
• A&E has a new Criss Angel Mindfreak at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.
• At 10:30, there's a new Giada's Weekend Getaways on Food Network (in New Orleans).

Check your local TV listings for more.

A couple of times a year, TV Week asks TV critics from print and online media to fill out a survey with their lists of the best and worst TV shows of the season. The summer list this year doesn't hold too many surprises in the "best" category, though I think the "worst" has a few (worst lists are always more fun to read anyway, right?). First, the ten best:

1. The Sopranos (HBO)
2. Lost (ABC)
3. Friday Night Lights (NBC)

(S01E10) I'm pretty sure the On the Lot studio audience is tricked into thinking they're at a "My Favorite Things" taping of an Oprah show each week.

The only way they could possibly be as enthusiastic as they let on is if they think they're getting a free iPhone, a fresh batch of crepes Fedexed in from Paris, or an early copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Seriously, the crowd is in such a frenzy each week, it's nearly impossible to hear Adriana Costa during her introduction. She practically has to shout and the funny part is, she's using a microphone.

There is no way a sane human being could like this show that much. It's against nature.

• At 8, FOX has a new On The Lot, then a new Hell's Kitchen.
• TLC has two new episodes of Little People, Big World starting at 8.
• There's a new Kyle XY on ABC Family at 8, then the premiere of Greek.
• Food Network has a new Good Eats at 8.
• ESPN has the Home Run Derby at 8, then the premiere of the miniseries The Bronx is Burning.
• Also at 8: American Life has 77 Sunset Strip, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Newhart, WKRP, and The Bob Newhart Show.
• At 9, ABC has a new Extreme Makeover.
• NBC has a new Age of Love at 9, followed by a new Dateline.
• PBS has a new History Detectives at 9.
• USA has a new Monday Night RAW at 9.
• TNT has a new episode of The Closer at 9, then a new Heartland.
• A new Unwrapped tours Chicago. It's on Food Network at 9.
• At 10, a new Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network features retro food places.
• At 10:30, BBC America has a new Hollyoaks.

Check your local TV listings for more.