world series

I have to admit that, when the Yankees are in the playoffs, most of my regular TV watching gets obliterated. Thankfully, DVRs and online TV sites (and, in the mid-'90s, VCRs) help me catch up. For instance, even though I have to review Cougar Town, I'll likely won't watch it until tomorrow morning, on either ABC.com or Hulu. Why? World Series game one, of course. Nothing, not even the Yankees being behind 22-0, is going to tear me away from FOX at 9:30, when I should be watching Cougar Town on ABC.

Which leads me to something that I've been wondering lately: Didn't networks used to program more reruns against the World Series? Tonight, NBC has a lineup of new episodes, as does ABC (except for Charlie Brown in Hank's slot, for understandable reasons). Tomorrow, all three of FOX's competitors have new episodes.

• At 7:30, FOX has Game 1 of The World Series.
• At 8, ABC has It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, followed by new episodes of The Middle, Modern Family, Cougar Town, and Eastwick.
• NBC has Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space, then new episodes of Law and Order: SVU and The Jay Leno Show.
• The CW has a new America's Next Top Model at 8.
• At 8:30, Disney XD has four new episodes of Naruto: Shippuden.
• At 9, DirecTV has the season premiere of Friday Night Lights.
• Discovery has a new Mythbusters at 9, followed by a new Time Warp.
• Syfy has a new Ghost Hunters at 9, then a new Destination Truth.
• Showtime has a new Inside The NFL at 9.
• At 10, Bravo has a new Top Chef: Las Vegas.
• Comedy Central has a new South Park at 10, then a new Secret Girlfriend.
• FX has a new Nip/Tuck at 10.
• There's a new Dinner: Impossible on Food Network at 10.
• Also at 10: TCM has Harold and Maude.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

The World Series is just around the corner and Fox has done something to make the coverage a bit more interesting. No, they have dictated that the umpires be replaced with androids, although after the screw-ups from Game Four of the ALCS, that might not be a bad suggestion. Fox Sports has added White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to the pre and post-game analysis.

Aside from being a World Series winner, Ozzie is a character. He's funny, audacious, occasionally inappropriate, but highly knowledgeable about baseball and entertaining. He won't hold back what he thinks and if you want to hear real inside baseball talk, that's what Ozzie will deliver.

Take that, NBC! When the word leaked yesterday that the performers from Glee had been uninvited to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade because the folks at NBC didn't want to give the Fox show a national platform to strut their stuff, plenty of people thought it was a low blow. Well, something else has come along that's just as big a national stage.

On October 31, the Glee cast will sing the National Anthem at the World Series. That's game three, and it'll be a chance for the singers to put their own unique spin on "The Star Spangled Banner."

• At 8, CBS, FOX, NBC, MSNBC, BET, TV One, and Univision have The Barack Obama Show.
• ABC has a new Pushing Daisies at 8, then new episodes of Private Practice and Dirty Sexy Money.
• Discovery has two new episodes of Time Warp at 8, followed by new episodes of Mythbusters and Prototype This!
• At 8:30, FOX has Game 5 of The World Series.
• CBS has a new Old Christine at 8:30, followed by new episodes of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY.
• NBC has a new Deal Or No Deal at 8:30, then a new Lipstick Jungle.
• At 9, PBS has a new Great Performances.
• John McCain is the guest on a new Larry King Live, on CNN at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters at 9.
• Showtime has a new Inside The NFL at 9.
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, followed by a new Parking Wars.
• At 10, Comedy Central has a new South Park, then a new Chocolate News.
• There's a new Sons of Anarchy at 10 on FX.
• Food Network has a new Dinner: Impossible at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Top Design.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

How long will baseball fans have to wait to watch the end of game five of the World Series between the Phillies and the Rays? Well, it'll be at least another day. Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has canceled tonight's resumption of the suspended game five.

Oh, and you know that Barack Obama ad that is going to be shown from 8-8:30 on NBC and CBS (but not ABC)? It's also going to be on Fox, too. The World Series game will be pushed back to accommodate the Democratic Presidential candidate.

Don't flip out and cry foul! The TV gods anticipated that there might be a conflict when they sold the time slot to the Obama campaign. In fact, they had the opportunity to turn them down. But Fox was inclined to take the ad revenue.

• Bravo has election-themed episodes of The West Wing all day until 10pm.
• At 8, ABC has a new Dancing with the Stars, then new episodes of Samantha Who? and Boston Legal.
• NBC has a new Chuck at 8, followed by new episodes of Heroes and My Own Worst Enemy.
• FOX has Game 5 of The World Series at 8.
• The CW has new episodes of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill.
• Food Network has a new Good Eats at 8, followed by new episodes of How'd That Get On My Plate? and Unwrapped.
• TCM has An American In Paris at 8.
• At 9, USA has a new Monday Night RAW.
• Disney has a new episode of The Replacements at 9.
• Also at 9: Spike has two new episodes of Unsolved Mysteries.
• At 10, TNT has a new Raising the Bar.
• Food Network has the season premiere of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by new episodes of The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and The Unit.
  
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, then new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
  
• NBC has a new Football Night In America at 7.
• The CW has new episodes of In Harm's Way, Valentine, and Easy Money.
• At 8, PBS has a new Nature, then a new Masterpiece Contemporary.
• FOX has Game 4 of The World Series at 8.
• Lifetime has the movie Sex and Lies in Sin City at 8.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 8, followed by new episodes of Iron Chef America and The Chef Jeff Project.
• Disney has a new Wizards of Waverly Place at 8.
• At 9, HBO has a new True Blood, then new episodes of Entourage and Little Britain.
• Showtime has a new Dexter at 9, followed by a new Californication.
• At 10, AMC has the season finale of Mad Men.
• At 11:45, Cartoon Network has a new Superjail, then a new Young Person's Guide To History.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, FOX has Game 3 of The World Series.
• NBC has a new America's Toughest Jobs at 8.
• ESPN2 has College Football, Notre Dame vs. Washington
• TCM has Psycho at 8.
• Starting at 8, Nick has Halloween episodes of some of their shows, including iCarly, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, and Ned's Declassified.
• Also at 8: Food Network has a new Paula's Party.
• At 9, CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show.
• There's a new Primeval at 9 on BBC America.
• At 9:30, HGTV has a new Divine Design.
• At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
• CNN has the series premiere of D.L. Hughley Breaks The News at 10.
• TLC has a new Trading Spaces at 10.
• At 11:30, NBC has a new Saturday Night Live, with Jon Hamm and Coldplay.

Check your local TV listings for more.

CBS has a killer Monday night lineup. The sitcom block from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., followed by the very popular CSI: Miami consistently delivers in the Nielsens. The only vulnerable, flexible and soft spot is 9:30, after Two and a Half Men, before Horatio Cane and company.

The network apparently isn't sure that Worst Week has earned that coveted spot -- even though it's doing well enough in the ratings -- or else they're wondering what they have in Gary Unmarried.

Next Monday, Gary Unmarried will get a shot at 9:30. The pilot episode of Gary Unmarried -- which was pretty good -- will be rerun in that cushy timeslot with the idea of getting more people to sample it.

Yes, we've got yet another giveaway today. This one borders on the TV/sports line that we usually don't cross, but I think the readers won't mind. This giveaway is for three copies of The Boston Red Sox: 2007 World Series Collector's Edition DVD, which is available on November 13. In fact, order before November 19 here and get 30% off plus $1 shipping.

All you've got to do is submit a comment below before 5PM Eastern, November 16, and mention your favorite professional baseball player of all time. We'll randomly choose three winners to receive the DVDs!

Some other details:

• To enter, leave a confirmed comment below stating your favorite professional baseball player of all time.
• The comment must be left before November 16, 2007 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
  
• You may enter only once.
• Three winners will be selected in a random drawing.
  
• Three winners will receive a copy of The Boston Red Sox: 2007 World Series Collector's Edition DVD (valued at $79.95).
  

Click here for complete Official Rules.

Here are the weekly Nielsen ratings, by number of viewers.

Week after week I post these numbers, and one thing is always abundantly clear: NBC really doesn't have any big, consistent hits on its hands. Sure, Heroes sneaks in once in a while, maybe a Law and Order: SVU here and there or a Deal Or No Deal, but the top 20 is always filled with reality shows, the CSI shows, and doctor shows. I'm looking at this list, and if you take out The World Series - which I watched only because I'm a Red Sox fan - I only watch one of these shows: 60 Minutes. I'm either really out of touch or there are better shows on TV right now (I always fear the former but pray for the latter).

And can someone tell me what Extreme Makeover: Home Edition means? Is there an edition outside, or in space?

1. Dancing with the Stars - Mon (ABC)

• At 8, FOX Game 3 of The World Series.
• ABC has college football at 8, Ohio State vs. Penn State.
• TLC has Halloween Madness at 8, followed by two new episodes of Flip That House and a new Trading Spaces.
• More baseball: TCM has Fear Strikes Out at 8, with Anthony Perkins.
• The History Channel has Vampire Secrets at 8.
• At 9, CNBC has a Suze Orman Show Halloween special (?)
• Cartoon Network has two new episodes of Naruto at 9, then a new One Piece.
• Also at 9: BBC America has a new Torchwood, then a new Graham Norton Show, with guests Gabriel Byrne, The Backstreet Boys, and Letitia Dean.
• At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, FOX has Game 2 of The World Series.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8.
• ABC has new episodes of Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, and Big Shots.
• NBC has a new My Name Is Earl at 8, then new episodes of 30 Rock, The Office, Scrubs, and ER.
• There's a new Smallville on The CW at 8, then a new Supernatural.
• The History Channel has a new Modern Marvels at 8.
• At 10, CBS has a new Without A Trace.
• USA has a new Law and Order: CI at 10.
• FX has two new eps of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Drawn Together.

Check your local TV listings for more.

FOX is the only network who seems to have two seasons every year, doesn't it? You have the fall, when the baseball playoffs and World Series wreak havoc with the network's primetime lineup, then the new year happens and everything starts anew with American Idol and 24; all of a sudden, the "fourth network" becomes a ratings juggernaut.

It's something that FOX Entertainment president Peter Liguori is concerned about, and he addressed it at his TCA session this morning. He almost sounded like a victim, held hostage by the sports' division's suckage of time during the month of October and hamstrung by what it forces him to do. It strikes me as a bit disingenuous, because FOX paid a lot of money for the playoffs, and it was their decision to air so many games. Anyway, Liguori seemed almost happy that the network, who lost the division round and one LCS round, will broadcast less games this fall.