The SCI FI Channel has unveiled their summer schedule, boasting a mix of returning hits and new programming.

New Series’

• Destination Truth - Wednesday, June 6 – 10/9c
• Derren Brown Project (Title TBD) – Wednesday, July 25 – 10/9c
• Flash Gordon – Friday, August 10

Returning Series’

• Ghost Hunters - Wednesday, June 6 – 9/8c
• Doctor Who - Friday, July 6 – 9/8c
• Eureka – Tuesday, July 10
• Who Wants to be a Superhero? – Wednesday, July 25 – 9/8c

I haven’t ever really gotten into SCI FI programming, but I’m really pumped for Flash Gordon, and I hear that Doctor Who is good, too.  Looks like there will be no shortage of stuff to keep us entertained for the summer months ahead.

Dancing With The Stars – ABC – 8/7c

I’m not sure how Heather Mills went home before Ratzenberger.  I mean, sure, he’s got some charm, but, like Idol is a singing competition, this is a dancing competition, and Cliff can’t dance.  Tonight in a one hour, forty-five minute episode, the stars throw down a ballroom dance and a Latin dance.

24 – Day 6: 1:00 A.M. – 2:00 A.M. – FOX – 9/8c

As the clock ticks closer to the final hours of Day Six, Jack Bauer copes with the consequences of taking matters into his own hands. While Audrey endures what appears to be a post-traumatic reaction to being held captive. Emotions escalate as CTU responds to a setback and the Administration receives an alarming message from Russian President Suvarov.

So, all that Audrey can say is “Help me, Jack…don’t let them do this to me”?  Is she suffering from a post-traumatic reaction, or has she undergone some kind of brainwashing?  Answers tonight, hopefully!  Also, when we last saw the Russian president, I think we were on pretty good terms.  Looks like the next phone call may be a bit different.

Heroes – String Theory – NBC – 9/8c

If you missed last week’s online novel recap, you should probably check it out before tonight.   

I’m probably more excited about this episode than any that have come before.  Tonight, we head five years into the future.  Our heroes are treated like terrorists, Nathan Petrelli is in the White House, Mohinder is some kind of liaison between the heroes and the government, and Peter seems like some kind of super-charged Neo-like fighter.  I’m really intrigued about how Nathan will balance the secret that he is ’special’ with the fact that his people are being hunted.  Looks like a fantastic episode…check back here tomorrow for our recap of the episode.

Michael over at AppleGazette cut the cable cord a month ago, and went 30 days without conventional television, using iTunes and the new AppleTV.  That 30 days has come to a close, and he now has his verdict.

So to break down who this is, and isn’t for, let me say this – if you get most of your entertainment off of the Internet and want to watch it on your TV…get an AppleTV. If you don’t watch a lot of television, and want to keep the shows that you do watch when you watch them – get an AppleTV. If you buy boxsets instead of paying for cable – get an AppleTV.

But if you’re a sports fan, a channel flipper, or a videophyle, don’t get an AppleTV as a primary means of watching entertainment. If you want one to get your downloaded content onto your television, or to watch podcasts, then – by all means – go pick one up.

Now, the big question is – am I going back to cable?

Head on over for the full review!

The Star Wars films are the movies that completely shaped the passion that I have for every form of entertainment media today.  He probably doesn’t remember it, but Michael, from sister sites AppleGazette and ForeverGeek, introduced the far, far away saga to me back in 8th grade, and it radically transformed me.  I could go much deeper into that, but let’s save that for when the TV series gets closer, shall we?

I saw over at ForeverGeek that uber-producer Rick McCallum gave an interview to Star Wars fansite Toche Station, with a few updates about the pre-production of the sci-fi saga’s first entrance into the small-screen, live action genre (ignoring the Holiday Special, of course).

Could you tell us something about the status of the Star Wars television series? Something about the actors maybe?
I can’t tell you anything about actors because we’re not there yet. This is a long process to get it right. First of all: where are we going to shoot? Then: who’s going to write? And finally: who’s going to direct? George has been working for the last seven, eight months on the story arc line of where the series goes. The dream is to do way over one hundred hours of it. If we can get it right, we have some fantastic characters that nobody has ever met before and start a whole other world of Star Wars that comes out every week instead of every three years.
Will any of the older characters appear in the series?
It’s a whole different group of characters.
When do you expect the first episode will be televised?
That’s tough. The TV world is changing a lot. Hopefully we will have finished the first episode by the end of 2008, so that in 2009 it can come out.

2009?!?  *sigh*  It’s a long road ahead.  Next year, though, we can expect a Clone Wars-based, all CG animation cartoon to hit.  I would expect an official announcement on this on or around May 25, as that’s the 30 year anniversary of the original film’s release. 

You can expect us to follow both of these releases closely.

It’s been kind of a slow news day, but hopefully this will brighten your weekend.

Having been yanked due to less than stellar ratings, Zap2It reports today that the remaining six unaired episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip will make a return.  From the article:

The Aaron Sorkin drama, which arrived last fall as the season’s most hyped show and vanished from NBC’s schedule amidst sinking ratings, will move to Thursday nights at 10 p.m. starting on May 24, at least according to the network’s website for the show.

Not-so-coincidentally, that Thursday is the day after the end of the crucial May sweeps period and it comes a week after the upfront presentation at which NBC will reveal to advertisers whether or not “Studio 60″ has a future on the network next season.

I’ve made no secret that I think that Studio 60 was one of the best new shows of the season, but it just never managed to find a foothold.  I’m hoping beyond hope that the NBC upfront will have Studio 60 down for next season, and this will be an effort to gain some more viewers.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t look too promising, though.

For the first time, Nielsen has officially released the ‘time-shifted data’ that showed how much of a boost shows have gotten from DVR viewings.  Hollywood Reporter has the story:

Fox’s “House” and ABC’s “Lost” led a recent week in increases in absolute viewers, with “House” gaining 2.7 million viewers in DVR playback — on top of the 19 million who watched the show live — and “Lost” adding 2.5 million to its 10.8 million viewers seeing the show when it first aired for the week ending April 8.

NBC’s “Office” was the leader in terms of a percentage gain, jumping 31% from 5.8 million viewers to 7.6 million viewers. Other shows — including “Lost” and Fox’s “24″ and “Prison Break” — did well in DVR playback that week. So, too, did an NBC show that has struggled to find a following: “Friday Night Lights” saw a 17% jump in viewership from 4.9 million to 5.7 million viewers that week.

Click here to view the rest of the story.

I wonder how much of this is taken into account when networks look at what shows should be renewed and what shows should be dropped.  As everyone knows, viewers translate into advertising dollars, which is, understandably, one of the largest objectives of the networks.  But, as the article states, roughly 50% of commercials are fast forwarded through by DVR viewers.  And if 16% of American households are DVR households, as the article also says, that translates to roughly 1 million viewers who did not see commercials on Lost, and 1.7 million who skipped them on House.

This is really interesting for me, because I never watch live TV.  The majority of my TV time usually comes between 10:00 and midnight.  And I skip pretty much all of the commercials, which I think more than just 50% of DVR viewers do, as well. 

It will be interesting to see, as the DVR becomes more and more commonplace in the American home, how it will affect the way that the networks choose their programming, and how they manage their advertising.

Busy night tonight, so let’s get into it…

My Name Is Earl – GED - NBC – 8/7c

After Earl is rejected to apply for a credit card for not having a high school diploma, a job, or a real place to live, he decides he needs to take some big steps towards finally growing up. When Earl returns to school to re-learn everything he needs to know to take his GED, he finds out how hard it is for teachers when they have to deal with students like the one he used to be when he was a kid.

The Office – Product Recall – NBC – 8:30/7:30c

The office is in crisis mode after a large shipment of Dunder Mifflin paper is accidentally sent out with an obscene watermark — and Michael tries to manage the media with an impromptu press conference. Jim and Andy also attempt to calm the high school principal who has sent out prom invites on the affected stationery.

I think this premise has the makings of the funniest episode of Office we’ve seen.  I’m loving the new Andy, and can’t wait to see how he and Jim play off of each other.   

30 Rock - Hiatus – NBC – 9/8c

As TGS’ summer hiatus approaches, Liz deals with the difficulties of her long-distance relationship with Floyd while she enlists Kenneth’s help in locating on-the-lam Tracy. Meanwhile, Jack’s impending marriage to Phoebe brings his mother, Colleen Donaghy, to town.

Scrubs – My Turf War – NBC – 9:30/8:30c

J.D. feels a little left out when Elliot’s wild sorority sister, Melody comes to town. Not able to deal with being the third wheel he turns the girls against each other in the hopes that he will once again be Elliot’s priority friend and, if he is lucky, that he might get to “mash” it with Melody. Meanwhile, Turk and Dr. Cox go head to head when they disagree over whether or not a patient requested surgery is necessary. Elsewhere, Carla discovers an unlikely ghost haunting pediatrics in an attempt to keep it clean.

A ghost?  Really?  Come on…I know that Scrubs has never been what you’d call realistic, but a ghost?

ER – Lights Out – NBC – 10/9c

A busy ER is putting the pressure on Kovac to take care of the overflow of cases prior to being shut down for renovations. A lonely Sam befriends a terminally ill photojournalist with a negative outlook. Pratt gets a scare when his brother unexpectedly shows up in the ER. Meanwhile, the tension between Gates and his father hits an ultimate boiling point.

Grey’s Anatomy – Desire – ABC – 9/8c

The attendings are extra-attentive to a patient, who is the chairman of the hospital board; Cristina helps Burke plan the wedding.

I’m normally not a big fan of Jin/Sun episodes.  It seems to me like they’ve almost always been lacking in either the flashback or the island aspect.  But D.O.C. succeeded on both fronts, delivering a solid, if question-filled island experience, with a nice character-driven flashback.

Let’s start with the flashbacks.  Usually, if I’m going to enjoy the time we spend off of the island, it has to be something that radically affects what we know about what’s happening on the island, like in Desmond’s Flashes Before Your Eyes or Locke’s Man from Tallahassee.  D.O.C. didn’t really affect what we see happening on the island, but it did a tremendous job of deepening Sun’s character, in particular, and I give it full points for that.  Catch 22 would have been a very appropriate title for this episode, as well, as Sun continued to find herself between a rock and a hard place throughout the episode.  She has to choose between crushing Jin with shame about the fact that his mother was a prostitute, and forcing him into a lifetime of servitude for her mobster father.  She chooses the latter, and that brings her to what I feel like was her best performance, as she threatens Jin’s blackmailing mother.  Great flashback.

On the island, Sun still seems stuck, as she finds out that, if her baby is the result of her one-night stand with another man, she lives, but if her baby is Jin’s she will die.  I love that her reaction was to burst into tears when she found out that it was her husband’s baby…not because she knew that she was doomed, but because it was Jin’s. 

So, we know that everyone who’s gotten pregnant on the island has died in the middle of their second trimester, but we also know that Claire, who was pregnant before she came to the island, survived.  According to a friend’s precise calculations, if the show continues at the same rate that it has, Sun would have until about when the show is scheduled to end when she hits that point.  I think that we’ll find out that, if they can get off of the island, Sun and her baby will survive.  Thus, at the end of the series, we’ll have a whole other reason to cheer on their rescue.

They just keep pulling back layers on Juliet, don’t they?  We knew that she was playing the Losties, but we couldn’t be sure if she was with the Others 100%, or if she was working against her will.  We can see now, with the “I hate you” to Ben, that it’s pretty obvious that she’s not happy about what she’s being forced to do.  There are rumors that Ben may die by the end of the season…and I feel like, after last night, if he dies, Juliet will be the one to kill him.

I was crushed when they ‘killed’ Mikhail a few weeks ago before we really got to know him, so when he reappeared last night, I was thrilled.  As with every other stinking thing that happens on this show, it presents us with more questions.  Was he just knocked into some kind of deep unconsciousness when he went through the fence?  Did he die and then somehow healed by the island?  Or did he fake the whole thing?  I know you can fake the foamy mouth, but the blood coming from your ears is a little tougher.

And then, we’ve got the big reveal that the wreckage from Oceanic 815 was recovered, and there were no survivors.  We discussed it yesterday, but now that it’s ‘official’, discuss away!!!

Aint It Cool has graciously posted the official NBC rundowns of the episodes through the end of the season.  Be advised, there are some spoilers about what will be going down at Dunder Mifflin, so steer clear if you don’t what to know!

April 26: “Product Recall”
UNPRINTABLE? AN OFFICE IN CRISIS — The office is in crisis mode after a large shipment of Dunder Mifflin paper is accidentally sent out with an obscene watermark — and Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) tries to manage the media with an impromptu press conference. Jim (John Krasinski) and Andy (Ed Helms) also attempt to calm the high school principal who has sent out prom invites on the affected stationery.

I’ll discuss tonight’s episode in the What’s On later this afternoon.

May 3: “Women’s Appreciation”
CAN’T LIVE WITH ‘EM, CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT ‘EM — Outrage breaks out in the office after Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) gets an unexpected eyeful from a flasher while Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) makes some important personal decisions when he takes the women on a special outing. Meanwhile, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Andy (Ed Helms) work on catching the predator.

Looking ahead, I think this is where we’re going to see Michael make the decision that he wants to move up in the company.  I’m especially looking forward to the investigation with Dwight and Andy, especially with the tension that’s been building between them…well, I guess just with Dwight…since Andy came back.

May 10: “Beach Games”
LIFE’S A BEACH — Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) is being considered for a position in corporate and has to recommend his replacement, but while the group expects a fun outing at Lake Scranton, Michael has planned a day of “Survivor”-like competitions to find his successor. Meanwhile, Pam (Jenna Fischer) is not asked to join in any of the activities and is forced to watch Jim (John Krasinski) and Karen (Rashida Jones) have fun together.

So Michael is officially planning to go to corporate.  The ‘Survivor’ competitions seem like they could be gold, especially considering that we already know who wins…

May 17: “The Job, Parts 1 & 2″
THE FINAL REVIEW IS ONE-HOUR SEASON FINALE — In a special one-hour finale, the office is still buzzing from the events of their day at the beach. A job opening in Corporate pits coworker against coworker as Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell), Jim (John Krasinski) and Karen (Rashida Jones) all head to New York for final interviews. In Scranton, Dwight’s (Rainn Wilson) new regime institutes sweeping reforms, Pam (Jenna Fischer) plays an interesting role and Jan (Melora Hardin) comes in with exciting news.

Jim, Karen, and Michael are all competing for that corporate spot, huh?  Rumors abound that Rashida Jones, who plays Karen, will not be back as a regular star next year.  I would guess that she gets the job, with Jim and Michael headed home, beat down as ever.  And my prediction for Jan’s exciting news…I’m guessing bun in the oven.  (EDIT:  I originally wrote ‘Pam’ instead of ‘Jan’…it’s amazing how two little letters can cause so much trouble.)

Well, shoot.  I just don’t understand FOX.  TVGuide is reporting that they’ve dropped the drama about the illegal cross-country race after just three episodes.  I was just really getting into it, and then they yank the rug out. 

I’ve always had the impression that FOX just preferred to have the quantity over quality approach to programming…they just throw as much out there as they can and see what sticks.  But this is ridiculous.  Drive hasn’t even had time to stick.  I feel so bad for Nathan Fillion…between this and Firefly, I wouldn’t touch FOX with a ten foot pole.