TV with MeeVee

Here's Hoping They Don't Send "Reaper" To Hell

CW's "Reaper" was one of my favorites among the new shows last fall, and now we're fighting to save it. How much does that suck?

Already it appears that "Aliens In America," another smart CW show, has been canceled, since cast members are taking other jobs, including a gig for Adhir Kalyan, who played Raja, on "Nip/Tuck."

Now "Reaper" has been listed as "on the bubble," and star Bret Harrison's web site is half-seriously suggesting that we follow the lead of "Jericho" fans and their peanuts and bury CW executives under an avalanche of tube socks. Because, you see, Harrison's everyman hero Sam Oliver finds much-needed comic relief with Tyler Labine's feral, Belushian sidekick Bert 'Sock' Wysocki.

I can't say the example of "Jericho" is ultimately all that inspiring - they got the show back on the air, for seven episodes, and even fewer people watched it this season. So buh-bye. In a way that sucks even more than a simple cancellation. But "Reaper" deserves to live.

CW Serves Up Spring Sked

More news from the busy bees at CW. After all the other recent fun, the network has announced a new spring schedule that puts fresh episodes of "Gossip Girl" (right) and "One Tree Hill" back to back on Mondays, beginning April 21, and shifts some other shows, but not the Thursday duo of "Smallville" and "Supernatural." The whole press release follows, including all the premiere dates...

THE CW NETWORK LOCKS IN MIDSEASON SCHEDULE
WITH NEW EPISODES AND NEW TIME PERIODS

New Episodes of Freshman Hit GOSSIP GIRL Return on Monday, April 21, Paired with Originals of ONE TREE HILL, Creating New Night of Drama for The CW

March 4, 2008 (Burbank, CA) ─ The CW Network has set its new midseason schedule, featuring brand new episodes of its scripted series and several strategic moves to bolster new nights and new time periods.

New episodes of freshman sensation GOSSIP GIRL return to The CW schedule beginning Monday, April 21 (8:00-9:00p.m. ET). On April 7, ONE TREE HILL moves to its new night and time on Mondays (9:00-10:00p.m. ET), following GOSSIP GIRL and creating a powerful night of drama for The CW.

With ONE TREE HILL moving to Mondays in April, the climactic final original episodes of PUSSYCAT DOLLS PRESENTS: GIRLICIOUS will air on Wednesdays starting April 9 (9:00-10:00p.m. ET), following AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL.

CW Giveth, CW Taketh Away

We told you yesterday about CW's early pickups for shows like "America's Next Top Model" and "Everybody Loves Chris." What they of course didn't mention was that at the same time they were sending out that press release, they were whacking 25-30 employees behind the scenes, including their entire comedy department.More reality shows are definitely coming down the pike for the fall, sez the Hollywood Reporter. Why? CW's decision not to renew pro wrestling means the network now has to find a low-cost Friday night programming lineup.

What all this means for shows that didn't get "early" renewals - notably our favorites "Reaper" (pictured) and "Aliens in America" - is not yet clear.

CW Announces Post-Strike Schedule

CW became the final network to announce its post-strike plans for original episodes of show like "Gossip Girl." But it's late on Friday afternoon and I'm all written out. So here's the dealio...I'm just gonna use the snip tool in Windows Vista and show you the chart they sent me. Finally, something good about Vista.

CW Sets Its "Midseason" (Strike) Schedule

The "big" moves are the return of three variously skanky reality shows and the reshuffling of some of the network's scripted series, most of which will be in reruns any second now if they're not already, thanks to the writers strike.

First if not foremost is the return of "Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious," premiering Feb. 18 at 9 as part of its new Monday line-up (right, Robin Antin). "Gossip Girl" moves to Mondays on Jan. 28. The catfights and insanity of "America's Top Model" return for a tenth cycle on Feb. 20 at 8, with Paulina Porizkova stepping in as a new judge. Repeats of "Girlicious" will follow on Wednesdays.

Then CW’s "social experiment" (yeah, right) "Beauty and the Geek" bows for a fifth cycle at 9 on March 11,  stepping into the post-"One Tree Hill" slot. "One Tree Hill" is the only scripted series with a significant amount of new episodes in the can for this season, as it bows tomorrow night with the new great-leap-forward storyline (apologies to the Chinese communists) that moves its characters four years into their futures.

Meanwhile, "Reaper" moves to Thursdays at 9 on Feb. 28, where it will follow "Smallville" for a night of entertaining reruns. There's also some Sunday stuff, but hell, I'll just paste the schedule in after the jump.

Review: "Aliens In America" Rocks The Fatwa

Sitcoms provide plenty of evidence for the idea of America as the Great Satan. Just think of Fox's "'Til Death." But tonight, CW's "Aliens in America" proves that the sitcom can also take on potentially explosive material like a Pakistani Muslim in small-town Wisconsin and handle it with smarts and subtlety and lots of genuine laughs. Of course the real subject here is how difficult it is to be a teenager of any religion or ethnicity, anytime, anywhere. Justin Tolchuk and his Pakistani exchange student pal Raja are both fish out of water in the local high school.

It will be interesting to see how the Muslim community reacts to this sweet, funny show about cross-cultural relations. At press tour this summer, the most hostile questions came from midwestern reporters who felt their people were being stereotyped as bigoted hicks. But it's not midwesterners - it's people everywhere whose prejudices and rationalizations are lampooned, and the high schoolers are far crueler than the few adults onscreen. Raja comes across as the most level-headed person on the show, but he too has his blindnesses. I wouldn't say this is a brilliant show, but it's astonishingly even-handed and humane. Perhaps because of that, I do not picture Osama bin Laden cracking up when he dials it up on the satellite in his mountain redoubt. Everyone else ought to find it full of laughs and sweetness, the best new half-hour this season.