• At 8, CBS has a special edition of The CBS Evening News.
• NBC has a new Knight Rider at 8.
• FOX has new episodes of American Idol and Lie To Me.
• PBS has a two-hour installment of Make 'Em Laugh at 8.
• At 9, ABC has a new Lost, then a new Life on Mars.
• Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay at 9.
• There's a new Ghost Hunters International at 9 on Sci-Fi.
• Fine Living has a new Whatever, Martha at 9.
• Sundance has a new Spectacle at 9.
• At 10, NBC has a new Law and Order.
• TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns at 10.
• FX has a new Damages at 10.
• MTV has a new Real World at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Top Chef.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

It helps when the series you create (or at least adapt for American audiences) becomes successful right from the start. Now the creators of the American version of Life on Mars, Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg, are creating a new series for ABC called Happy Town in the vein of ABC's cult drama Twin Peaks.

While I'm sure Mrssrs. Appelbaum, Nemec and Rosenberg are very good at what they do, I don't think they have the mind-set to emulate the strange workings of that of David Lynch. It's likely that there will be superficial similarities but I don't think the comparison to Twin Peaks will work. However, I could be wrong.

I've enjoyed Life on Mars since its inception and will give the trio the benefit of the doubt, particularly since their previous original series October Road lasted two seasons when it's tough to last past one. Hopefully they will show as interesting a story with their original creation as they did with their adaptation.

Random House defines outrageous as highly unusual or unconventional; extravagant; remarkable. It's as though they've been watching TV, and wrote their definition to fit some of the crazy characters on television shows today.

Oh, don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining. I love these larger-than-life characters, played to perfection by the talented actors who grace these roles. Some fit in perfectly with their surroundings, others stand out like a sore thumb amongst castmates. One thing they all have in common, though, is that watching them is pure entertainment.

Patrick Jane (played by Simon Baker on The Mentalist)
Jane doesn't quite have the social graces to blend into society, and that's why I love him. The frumpy suits, the obnoxious antics, and the constant pushing of the envelope make for some good TV. From card counting in the casino to reading Lisbon's mind; hypnotizing suspects to making a sandwich in a victim's home, Jane's done it all. Unconventional, to say the least.

How can we enter a new year without celebrating the last year's best and worst TV? Not a lot of the new shows were impressive, but I've been entertained for the last year, so I can't complain.

In making out my lists, I realized I must be a half-full type of gal, because even my worsts aren't that bad, and I had a heck of a time coming up with them.

So, here are my lovin'-life, lovin'-TV best and worst lists for 2008:

Best new show -- Leverage
Man, I love everything about this show -- the chemistry between the characters, the quotable quotes, the clever jobs, the flashbacks. It's the most entertaining hour on television right now. Thank you, TNT!

Since I'm still new enough at TV Squad not to exist on the "Meet the TV Squad" page, this is my first Festivus. It's nice to be able to dig deep into my heart for all of my TV wishes in hopes that some internet fairy will grant them and make the television landscape just a little bit more awesome... for me, at least.

Without further ado, here is what I want for Festivus:

• Christina Hendricks and the rest of the Mad Men cast should guest-star on more shows. Ever since I started watching Mad Men, I've noticed Hendricks popping up places. She's on an episode of Without a Trace here, an old episode of Cold Case there... I love me some Joan Holloway and Mad Men isn't returning soon enough. I loved seeing Jon Hamm host SNL, and I'm super excited about his upcoming guest stint on 30 Rock. More please!

...Nine foreign Americans

With all of the starry-eyed, out-of-work Midwesterners who litter Sunset Blvd., one would assume that our television landscape would be similarly populated with corn-fed blonds. You would, however, be wrong. In fact, there are a ton of non-Americans who have come to Hollywood to take all of our primetime show-starring jobs.

What's fun for me is watching the shows to see who does a good version of an American accent, and who needs to spend a little more time with their dialect coaches. Below are nine stars who've jumped the pond to come to the good ol' U. S. of A.

It's Thanksgiving morning right now and I'm sitting in my dad's kitchen watching people cook. I'm thankful for so many things this year, but since this is a TV site, let's talk about the things in TV that I'm thankful for--things besides the murder that the poor Detroit Lions are going to face at the hands of the Tennessee Titans today.

1. Netflix Watch Instantly
I've had Netflix basically since its inception, but with all of the TV that I watch, my Netflix movies have had a bad habit of collecting dust for months (I finally sent No Country for Old Men back after about six months on top of my DVD player). Even though I've known about the Watch Instantly feature for a while, I've never actually tried it out. I just watched Friday Night Lights Season 2, and let me tell you. it's so nice to just hit "Next" and have all of the episodes right there without having to change disks. Does that make me ridiculously lazy? Probably. I don't care.

It's that time of year again, isn't it? That brief period between the humongous holidays of Halloween and Christmas that television and retail outlets have forgotten about. I talk about Thanksgiving, of course. The holiday of football games, unbuttoned pants, family arguments, and giant Snoopy balloons. It is also the time to give thanks.

Thanks for what? Well, we aren't trading chickens for a gallon of gas yet, so that's something. And, we still have television, which we can eventually trade in for chickens in order to get a gallon of gas. But, since our television shows are more important than driving in many cases, we may just start riding our bikes and eat peanut butter sandwiches instead.

With those happy thoughts, here is what I am thankful for when it comes to the flat screen idiot box.

As you all know by now, ABC failed to pick up three of its sophomore shows -- Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, and Eli Stone -- for a full season, essentially ending each after 13 second-season episodes (in other ABC news, Scrubs will start on Tuesday, January 6, and Life on Mars gets four additional episodes for its new post-Lost timeslot, which starts on January 28).

Daisies and DSM (and Private Practice, which is being moved to Thursdays after Grey's Anatomy in the "duh" move of the season) were both held back after the writers' strike last year and didn't come back until the fall. Seems like a logical thing to do, right? I mean, the shows had growing followings but still very modest ratings. ABC learned from the CBS Jericho disaster that holding a freshman show for any period of time will sink the ratings. Turns out, though, that holding them for even longer will sink the ratings even further. Who knew?

All sarcasm aside, though, ABC was in a tough spot. What could they have done differently? More thoughts after the jump.

(S01E07) In what would have been the season finale if this were the British version of the show, Sam finally meets his father (and talks to himself as well, in an amusing timey-wimey sort of way). Originally, his father left him on his fourth birthday right after the party. Now, something else happened.

On a tangential note, I do wish this show had theme music of some sort. Preferably something akin to the style of '70s police television dramas. The opening montage seems to go too quickly. At least, this is what I thought while listening to the '70s-style music during the opening chase scene.

Life on Mars does has a slower pace than most of the other shows on television. Fortunately, it is kept interesting by being filled with eye candy such as wide shots and different colors. The shirts and the wallpapers alone fascinate me. I even got a laugh from Gene Hunt's loafers.

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, then new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Life on Mars.
• CBS has a new Survivor, followed by new episodes of CSI and Eleventh Hour.
• NBC has new episodes of My Name Is Earl, Kath & Kim, The Office, 30 Rock, and ER.
• FOX has a new Kitchen Nightmares at 8.
• The CW has a new Smallville at 8, then a new Supernatural.
• TBS has four great episodes of Friends starting at 8.
• TCM has 1925's Phantom of the Opera at 8, followed by 1923's Hunchback of Notre Dame.
• Also at 8: Cartoon Network has a new Chowder.
• At 9, PBS has a new Live From Lincoln Center.
• Food Network has another Dear Food Network: Thanksgiving special at 9.
• HGTV has a new Rate My Space at 9.
• At 10, FX has the season finale of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10, followed by a new Testees.
• There's a new Tim Gunn's Guide To Style on Bravo at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Sarah Silverman Program.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

(S01E06) Gotta love that old school funk that the episode started with. I've been constantly commenting about how similar the individual plots and characters are to the original British version of the show (which has been noticed in the feedback), but in this episode I saw a lot of the show coming into its own. Some of the plot differences even make more logical sense that the original version.

The attention to detail from the entire series is superb. Little bits like Sam's frustration with using an old style typewriter add to the flavor of the show. As usual, Michael Imperioli gets the best lines. It wouldn't surprise me if he got a best supporting actor Emmy nomination for this role, despite its cartoonish nature.

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Life On Mars.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then new episodes of CSI and Eleventh Hour.
• NBC has a new My Name Is Earl at 8, followed by new episodes of Kath & Kim, The Office, 30 Rock, and ER.
• FOX has two new episodes of Kitchen Nightmares at 8.
• The CW has a new Smallville at 8, then a new Supernatural.
• NFLNet has Football at 8, the Jets vs. the Patriots.
• TBS has four excellent Friends repeats starting at 8 (in case you don't want to watch Jennifer Aniston on 30 Rock).
• Cartoon Network has a new Chowder at 8.
• At 9, Spike has a new TNA Impact!
• CNN has the special Escape From Jonestown at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, then a new Testees.
  
• Bravo has a new Tim Gunn's Guide To Style at 10.
  
• VH-1 has a new Celebrity Rehab at 10.
• Also at 10: Sundance has a new Iconoclasts, with Venus Williams and Wyclef Jean.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Sarah Silverman Program.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

A few days ago, ABC announced that Lost would premiere on January 21 from 8 to 11 p.m. and that it would take the Wednesday at 9 p.m. timeslot starting the following week. That news left the Private Practice fans wondering what would happen to their show come January 28 because the Wednesday at 9 p.m. timeslot has been PP's for over a year.

Answers have arrived and they'll affect not only the Private Practice fans but also Life on Mars's viewers.

(S01E05) "Have you died and gone to moron heaven?" - Gene Hunt

What we had here, my friends, was a real theological episode. There were lots of references to angels, miracles, prayer and the question of whether or not Sam is dead. If so, is he in purgatory or hell or heaven? Does that explain his predicament? And is the old gray beard a vagrant or a heavenly messenger?

Overall, what I really thought made the show percolate was the teaming up of Sam and Clams. "Clams" we learn is Fletcher Bellow, Sam's mentor, and he pops up in the middle of a potentially explosive riot, with African-Americans going after Puerto Ricans when a little girl plummets from a rooftop at the hands -- or so it seems -- of Angel Ramirez.