dennis haysbert

CBS is trying to build on the great ratings it had for the premiere of The Unit on Tuesday night, by offering an 'encore' episode of the pilot this Saturday. The Unit premiered up against new ABC comedy Sons & Daughters and against ratings juggernauts American Idol and House. So, while it didn't beat AI or the unfriendly doc, it did kick ABC's sorry butt by more than 10 million viewers. The Unit, about a covert, special ops miltiary unit, stars former 24 president Dennis Haysbert and is executive produced by genius playwright David Mamet.

The sad thing about this is the general consensus (and Jonathan's review) that The Unit really sucks, while Sons & Daughters is terrific (just ask Joel).

Well no sense in sugar-coating it. I'm gonna have a hard time recommending this show, but I'm still willing to give it a few more episodes before I completely give up on it. The Unit just wasn't that good. On paper it reminded me a lot of E-Ring: spectacular cast with some great minds behind it (in this case David Mamet and Shawn Ryan).

But it turns out that, thus far, The Unit is going to suffer the same fate as E-Ring because last night's pilot episode had an unbelievably boring storyline.

Things are really starting to heat up on the networks this week as seven new shows grace the schedule. Most notable, Dennis Haysbert returns to television in The Unit, which is produced by genius playwright David Mamet. ABC also launches its new part-scripted, part-improvised comedy, Brothers and Sisters, and the race-swapping reality show, Black.White, makes its debut on FX. Oh, and Lil' Kim gets her last 15 minutes of fame before going to the slammer.

• Pros Vs. Joes, Mondays @ 10pm on Spike (premieres March 6)
• Ordinary people face off against pro athletes like Karl Malone, Bo Jackson, Jerry Rice, Jennie Finch, etc. This is for sports fans with big mouths.

• The Unit, Tuesdays @ 9 on CBS (premieres March 7)
• Dennis Haysbert returns to action-packed television, this time as the leader of a special ops team that goes on risky missions across the globe. The show is about the missions, but also about how the families at home handle the stress of living in secret. Produced by David Mamet.
  

NBC's gamble paid off. Last year, the Golden Globes got its butt kicked by new episodes of Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. So, NBC moved the Globes to Monday night where it faced part two of the 24 season premiere. The Globes prevailed, capturing an estimated 18.7 million viewers, which is about 2 million more than watched the awards show last year. 24 ended up with an estimated 14.9 million viewers.

I guess I'm not too surprised by that story. ABC dumped its programming and CBS ran repeats so all those viewers had every reason to flip to NBC. Personally, I chose 24 over the Globes. I find awards shows to be disappointing because the winners never say anything interesting.

"Somebody has lost their mind."

That quote from an angry Columbia, SC fan of 24 pretty much sums up this situation. Some genius over at WACH, Columbia's FOX affiliate, decided to start the news on time on Sunday night... cutting off the last 10 minutes of the season premiere of 24. For East coasters, 24 started about 10 minutes late on Sunday night because an NFL playoff game went over the time allotted. Apparently no one who works at WACH actually watches the programming there, because they just flipped over to the news right at ten o'clock. Even if they weren't watching 24, the newsroom should have known to slide their programming by 10 minutes because FOX usually notifies all of its affiliates over an audio "black box" when schedule changes occur.