It was a long, long, lonnnng first official TCA day yesterday, with CBS, Showtime, and the CW trotting out their newest and finest in front of the critics, followed by the epic Survivor anniversary party Bob mentioned the other day. I'll spill out some highlights later on. But I wanted to quickly start with CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler's very confident executive session.

Why was she so confident? Shows that are often winning their time periods helps. But she also seems to be in a "told ya so" mood about NBC and its Leno / Conan mess. In her opening remarks, for instance, she mentioned how good the freshman slate of shows was doing on every network... except NBC. During the Q&A, she said that the other networks "fared very well during this experimental phase for NBC."

Howdy from Pasadena! I'm here covering the Winter TCA tour, and the first bit of news has already come up. During her executive session, CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler was asked by the throng of reporters here if the Alex O'Loughlin medical drama Three Rivers was cancelled. Her response?

"You know what? Yes."

She went on to say that she didn't want to beat around the bush on it; the show just took longer to develop than they hoped. She was heartened by the stories she heard from transplant patients who appreciated the show's message, but that wasn't enough to save the show.

In the reporter scrum after her press conference, Tassler told me that she didn't anticipate as many angry letters from O'Loughlin fans as she got after she cancelled Moonlight, but judging from some of the notes we got here, I doubt that.

Alfre Woodard is the latest addition to 'Delta Blues,' the TNT pilot executive produced by George Clooney. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that she will play a tough police lieutenant who attempts to exert her will over her subordinates, especially Dwight Hendricks (Jason Lee).

From Warner Horizon and Smokehouse, in conjunction with Clooney, 'Delta Blues' will follow the life of Dwight who spends his days on the force and nights as an Elvis impersonator. As we recently reported, Jason Lee has accepted the role of Dwight, while Sam Hennings, Robyn Lively and Leonard Howze will play Dwight's partner, ex-wife and co-worker, respectively. Celia Weston rounds off the cast as Dwight's mother, with whom he lives.

Somebody call 911.

CBS has confirmed that it's pulling the rookie medical drama 'Three Rivers' off of its Sunday-night schedule, effective this week. The reason: bad ratings, according to the Live Feed.

The series, which stars Alex O'Loughlin ('Moonlight') as the leader of a group of Pittsburgh-based transplant specialists, was unable to hold onto the audience from its lead in, 'The Amazing Race.'

You knew it was a bad sign in November when CBS decided to flip flop Cold Case and Three Rivers to test whether it was the time slots that were dictating the sliding ratings of the Sunday night dramas.

The results were hardly conclusive, but consistently drawing less than 2.0 in the demographics has doomed Three Rivers. CBS has pulled Three Rivers off the schedule for December. Merry Christmas, Alex O'Loughlin lovers.

This is the first step to cancellation and anyone who tells you otherwise is blowing smoke. Despite a big star in the center, Three Rivers is an earnest medical drama that's just not catching on with viewers. CBS will complete the 13-episode order and then kiss the show bye-bye.

Can CBS transplant some hope into its Sunday night lineup?

The network is about to find out after announcing a one-time scheduling swap between 'Three Rivers' and 'Cold Case.' The swap will take place next week, according to the Live Feed.

'Three Rivers'' current 9PM time slot makes it the beneficiary of a traditionally strong lead-in from 'The Amazing Race.' But so far this season, 'Rivers' has failed to 'Race''s audience, and is also being blamed for offering a weak lead-in for 'Cold Case.'

There is speculation that CBS is deciding whether or not to pull the plug on 'Three Rivers' altogether -- that is, unless the network can find the heart to order more episodes after this last-ditch programming attempt.

Sundays have always been a good night for CBS. It's been a good day for years, thanks to the NFL. Traditionally, the football games bleed right into prime time, which commences at seven o'clock because of 60 Minutes. Even in the days when CBS broadcast Sunday night movies, the network has done well on that night of the week.

However, the advent of the NBC Football Night in America has put a dent in CBS's strength. Also the ABC lineup and Fox's animation domination are no slouches either. So, CBS is going to do something to bolster Sundays. Three Rivers and Cold Case will switch time slots.


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If I were an executive at CBS, I would never want to do business with actor Mandy Patinkin again. Even though Mandy is a terrific actor and one of my personal favorites -- I loved him on Broadway in Evita and Sunday in the Park with George, not to mention on screen in The Princess Bride and Yentl -- his history with CBS is abominable.

He was an Emmy-winning star on Chicago Hope, then left after a couple of seasons to be closer to his family in New York. Okay, that was understandable. Then after getting Criminal Minds off to a great start, he walked out of that show, citing creative differences.

Apparently, someone has said let bygones be bygones because Mandy Patinkin will be a guest star on Three Rivers. Maybe because this is a very personal issue with Mandy, he's convinced the powers that be to let him return to the network, albeit for just a guest appearance.

A little over a year ago, CBS was all a flutter with thoughts of a new Hawaii Five-O. Jane wrote about it and even allowed herself to get geeked about a new Jack Lord and company. Well, that incarnation by Criminal Minds executive producer Ed Bernero failed to make it into production. I guess it didn't have enough "Book 'em, Danno's" -- or maybe it had too many. Whatever the reason, that version died and a new one has been ordered. CBS now has a new plan for an updated Hawaii Five-O.

Each year, as the new fall season approaches, I go through all the magazine and online sources talking about the various shows to try and figure out which ones I'm going to be excited about, and which I'm going to avoid like the plague.

Inevitably, I wind up sampling plenty of shows from which I should have steered clear. At the same time, a few shows will slip between the cracks, and then I'm bashing my head against the wall because I missed out on the beginning of something special. I hate coming into things late.

This year, I decided to share my top and bottom five selections. I'm sure the rest of the Squadders and you will have differing opinions than mine, but that's what makes America great, right? Chime in with your own lists in the comments.

The networks have had a quiet summer, quietly introducing scripted bomb after scripted bomb, so they're certainly ready to jump into the new fall season. And It looks to be an interesting one. ABC is scheduling a two-hour block of new comedies on Wednesdays as the sitcom tries to make a comeback.

Even more risky is NBC handing 10:00 to Jay Leno every night of the week. Everyone's waiting to see how that one plays out. FOX is banking on huge positive buzz for Glee to make it a hit, while ABC is hoping FlashForward can pick up where Lost is leaving off when it wraps its run this season.

To help you with it all, TV Squad has put together a handy calendar of all the premieres so you can schedule responsibly in this busy time of TV watching. Some nights have as many as twelve premieres scheduled, so you might need to invest in a few more DVRs to catch all your favorites; Monday's still look grim. Bookmark this page and you'll have it handy to help see you through.

Through all of The L Word's ridiculous six seasons, Kate Moennig played Shane, the character that put butterflies in the tummies of men and women alike, gay, straight or otherwise. Hey. No use in deny it. We all felt it.

And watching this behind-the-scenes video of Three Rivers, it just seems like Shane decided to clean up her womanizing act and throw on some scrubs. There was a similar effect when Moennig played a small part in Art School Confidential. Is Moennig going to be able to convince viewers that Shane is in her past?

Amid the CBS Summer Press Tour this week, the subject came up about why the network had cancelled Without A Trace. It wasn't ratings, which is clearly the truth because just this past weekend, Without A Trace was pulling over six million viewers for a rerun, doubling the number of people who tuned in for the brand new ABC series, Defying Gravity. Therefore, if Without A Trace was still capable of besting the fodder produced by the competition, why on earth would CBS dump it?

"Every show has its own life cycle," said CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler, who went on to explain that the shows the network had in development were just too good to wait. In other words, The Good Wife, Three Rivers and NCIS: Los Angeles, none of which are proven hits, were more important than an established success.

Lauren Lee Smith is leaving the scene of the crime. The actress, who joined the cast of 'CSI' last season, will not return as a regular for the show's upcoming 10th season.

Also in the news today: Shawn Pyfrom exits 'Desperate Housewives,' while USA Network renews 'Burn Notice' and 'Royal Pains.'

See more of today's top TV headlines after the jump.