This is really, really good news. This is the kind of news that has to make every television fan cheer ... and breathe a sigh of relief. The season three premiere of 'Breaking Bad' was seen by two million viewers. For a network show, that would be cause for alarm. For AMC, it's a reason to celebrate. Those two million viewers were the most to ever tune in to an episode of 'Breaking Bad.' Did you hear that, world? 'Breaking Bad's' most-watched episode ever.

The numbers were spun, naturally, and they got even better. There were two repeats of 'No Mas' that night, and the total number of viewers climbed to 3.3 million.

If your garage looks like this picture, you may have a bit of a problem. The fact that this is somebody's kitchen means they have a BIG problem. This is an image from A&E's hit series Hoarders. I can't even fathom how somebody puts so much stuff into a kitchen to make it look like that, but I assume they're not doing any cooking on that stove or opening that refrigerator.

Hoarders has become a sensation on A&E. Monday night's season two premiere of Hoarders was a record breaker. More people watched it than any other A&E season opener ever -- 3.2 million viewers. That was more viewers than Intervention, which has been A&E's big drawer.

This should come as no surprise to even the most casual of TV Squad readers. Mad Men has been picked up for a fourth season, assuring that Matthew Weiner's engrossing and demanding tale of Don Draper and the people at Sterling Cooper will be played out for at least another year.

When a show like Mad Men comes along, not unlike The Sopranos in quality and pop culture appeal, the question usually isn't whether the network will stand behind it for the duration, but whether or not the creative team envisions a long run.

In the war between the cable channels, score this week for Lifetime over Bravo. The battle for Project Runway had been a legal wrangle that delayed Lifetime getting to show the fashion reality series until last Thursday, but when it finally appeared it was a ratings bonanza. Project Runway was the highest-rated series premiere in Lifetime's history. That's 25 years!

Like Jason wrote in his reviewcap of the American Idol finale, I too think that America got it right. But more than that, I think the outcome of last night's vote has some deeper significance to AI's future.

First of all, it was not only a record-breaking number of votes, but the outcome was more distinct than in years past. That means that America really wanted David Cook to win. That's not to say David Archuletta can't belt out a good tune, but for America to pick the more original contestant who brought a unique style to everything he sang is notable.

The relevance to future Idols is this: If America actually picked the more talented contestant, the singer most likely to have a bang-up career, the hipper, cooler dude who should have had more appeal, then the future is bright for AI.

Once again, American Idol lived up to its reputation as a juggernaut -- or large, overpowering, destructive force -- by drawing more viewers during Wednesday's night telecast than all of the other major networks combined. According to recent Nielsen ratings, American Idol drew 36.9 million viewers total, leaving ABC, CBS, NBC and the CW Network all out in the cold.

There hasn't been much talk about NBC's broadband video site DotComedy, and I've only poked around it a little bit myself, but before the end of this year, NBC plans to kick the site into high gear with clips of old shows, including Late Night with David Letterman, Coach and Dream On, and classic TV shows like Leave it to Beaver and The Munsters.

In an effort to woo viewers, the site will take on an aesthetic more akin to Comedy Central's Motherload site and feature both original and viewer-submitted content. The original series include "Hot Tub in Space," about a group of friends, in a hot tub, in space; "Untitled Comedy News Show," a parody of news programs that will actually pay viewers for jokes; "Easter Bunny Begins," a prequel to "The Easter Bunny Hates You" (video after the jump); "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog: Live In Las Vegas;" and "Kyle's in a Coma," about a guy named Kyle, who, funny enough, is in a coma.

The improved DotComedy will also feature clips from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Saturday Night Live. What, they can show classic Letterman, but not Carson?

[via Market My Monkey]

ABC's Ugly Betty is the most-watched new series so far this season. Nielsen Media Research says about 16.1 million people watched the series premiere last Thursday, almost beating Survivor, which had 16.6 millon viewers. The viewership for Betty really is amazing considering it didn't even have a lead-in since it aired in the 8 pm hour. Nielsen says ABC hasn't seen ratings this big for a scripted show at 8 pm since Matlock in 1995. Evidently, America is in the mood to see a regular girl stick it to the beautiful people in the fashion industry.

What's your favorite new show so far this fall?

What happens when the season premieres of CSI and Grey's Anatomy go head-to-head? Duh. I can't understand why the press is having such a fit over the fact that Grey's Anatomy had higher ratings than CSI on Thursday night. Of course it did. Grey's Anatomy ended last season with a cliffhanger. Grey's is hot and buzzworthy, while CSI is old and predictable. Grey's Anatomy had 25.4 million viewers for its season premiere, while CSI had 22.6 million. Congrats to the folks at Grey's Anatomy for toppling the highest-rated show on television in their first match-up!

What did you watch at 9 pm on Thursday?

We've all been there. It's late at night, and you're totally wired and all you want to do is watch something on television that you normally wouldn't find entertaining, but at this particular moment your brain is just slightly out to lunch so it's willing to view something below your usual acceptance level. TBS apparently hopes to tap into the bored insomniac market with a new viewer participation game show called Midnight Money Madness, which kicks off at midnight (natch) on August 28. The show will have two versions, one East coast and one West coast, and will allow the people at home to play the games by calling in, or text messaging, or whatever. There will also be occasional comedians and man-on-the street segments. That doesn't sound even remotely interesting to me, but that's because it's only early evening as I type this. Tonight when I'm still awake and bored with watching Betty Boop cartoons on my video iPod, the show may actually be the only thing saving me from absolute boredom. This is either a really dumb idea or an ingenious one, I haven't figured out which.

Yes!

Whoa. I'm getting ahead of myself here. And, really, I was asking your opinion.

After visiting with CBS viewers in different cities, anchor Katie Couric says viewers are hungry for more, in-depth news and information. The big three networks all have 30-minute newscasts and, unfortunately, an hour-long newscast is unlikely because that extra half-hour of network space makes some decent cash with syndicated programming. You have to go to cable news or public television to get that.

Although, cable television is evidence that an hour-long newscast doesn't necessarily mean you'll get any in-depth news and information. Thirty minutes is such a short amount of time for so much news that it's super dumbed down and, in many cases, stories are generalized in order to get everything in.

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.