NBC has officially added ‘Knight Rider’ to the 2008-2009 line up. This comes as no surprise after the 2-hour pilot did solid numbers when it premiered in Feb. The telefilm was not received terribly well by critics (although, I must say – I loved it.), but the network cares more about ratings than it does reviews.

The show may end up in a Friday night time slot, but there is still quite a bit of time before the show premieres this fall, so anything could still happen.

Last night was the biggest event in sports entertainment. For wrestling fans there is no bigger night on television, and last nights PPV was over 4 hours long, and jam packed with content. Below is a quick rundown of the results.

Prior to the show’s official beginning, Kane won a battle royal, and earned the right to take on ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero for the title on tonight’s PPV.

John Legend sings “America The Beautiful” as a video package airs.

JBL defeated Finlay in a “Belfast Brawl” match

CM Punk defeated 6 other competitors to win the 2008 Money in the Bank match.

Batista defeated Umaga in a Smackdown vs. Raw match

Kane defeated Chavo Guerrero to win the ECW World Title in a matter of seconds in what could be the fastest win in Wrestlemania history

Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair in one of the most spectacular matches in the history of Wrestlemania. Flair’s career was on the line, and with this defeat the 35 year wrestling veteran is officially retired.

WWE Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix & Melina defeated Maria & Ashley Massaro in a “BunnyMania” match

Randy Orton defeated John Cena & Triple H to retain the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat Match

Floyd Mayweather defeated Big Show in a match that saw the boxing superstar booed by 70,000 fans. It took 3 of Mayweather’s “handlers”, a steel chair, and brass knuckles to knock down the Big Show, and all of this was after Mayweather had already tried to walk away from the match. Surprisingly, this match delivered, and was one of the best of the night.

Undertaker defeated Edge to win the World Championship, and maintain his undefeated streak at Wrestlemania.

In addition to all this celebrities were abound at Wrestlemania. Snoop Dogg, Kim Kardashian, and Raven Symone all made appearances at the event, adding to the spectacle of the evening.

All in all, it was a pretty good Wrestlemania. The moments from the Mayweather/Big Show match, and the astonishingly great Ric Flair/Shawn Michaels match will certainly be on the highlight reels for years to come.

I love USA Network. Their original programming is better that a lot of stuff that you see on network television, and a lot of it is new during the traditional downtimes, like summer. Add to that the fact that NBC Universal, USA’s parent company, will be rolling out a 52-week programming schedule, and there should never be a time when you can’t find quality, fresh programming on the network. Now, USA has increased its lineup considerably, ordering up four new shows.

White Collar follows the Frank Abagnale/Catch Me If You Can story, with a con man, captured by the FBI, who puts his expertise to work catching criminals. Continuing in the unusual crime-solvers vein, The Nanny Files deals with a nanny who, in her spare time, I assume, solves crimes. Royal Pains is about a doctor who goes to work for the rich in the Hamptons…seems like Private Practice meets Dirty Sexy Money. Finally, Shirleyville is about a retired war veteran who is elected mayor of his small town…which strikes me as pretty underwhelming.

Hey guess what? American Idol is still a ratings winner! In other news, the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. Dancing with the Stars continues to dominate as well, with Two and a Half Men rounded out the top five, and causing me to question humanity’s place in the universe.

1. American Idol – Tues (FOX)
2. American Idol – Weds (FOX)
3. Dancing with the Stars – Mon (ABC)
4. Dancing with the Stars – Tues (ABC)
5. Two and a Half Men (CBS)
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Fred Savage, that plunky Kevin Arnold from “The Wonder Years” and recent director of “Daddy Day Camp” may be headed back to television. A pilot called “Single White Millionaire” has been ordered by CBS that will see Fred playing an “unassuming, thirtysomething millionaire ready to settle down”.

I know – it sounds revolutionary right?

Ok, maybe not so much – but that doesn’t mean that the show won’t be good. We’ll just have to wait and see how the premise is handled. The series comes from the mind of Ricky Blitt, a former “Family Guy” writer. I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not – I mean, I certainly wouldn’t want to see a lot of “Family Guy” styled jokes in this pilot – but the guys who created “Avatar – The Last Air Bender” were “Family Guy” alums too – and that show is one of the most engaging kid’s shows…well, ever.

So the jury is still very much out on this new pilot, but I’m looking forward to seeing what it has to offer, and if it makes it onto the fall schedule.

Well, it really was just a matter of time. Despite a stellar second season, Jericho has, once again, been shut down.

CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler issued the following statement.

The March 25th episode of Jericho will be the series finale. Without question, there are passionate viewers watching this program; we simply wish there were more. We thank an engaged and spirited fan base for keeping the show alive this long, and an outstanding team of producers, cast and crew that went through creative hoops to deliver a compelling, high quality second season. We have no regrets bringing the show back for a second try. We listened to our viewers, gave the series an opportunity to grow, and the producers put a great story on the screen. We’re proud of everyone’s efforts.

Word is that Carol Barbee is shopping the show on other networks, like Sci Fi or USA, but that’s just gossip.

I suppose you can blame CBS for failing to really market the show or put it in a decent timeslot, or the Neilsens for being a broken system…but the fact is, sometimes good shows just can’t find an audience. I’m sure we’ll see some kind of variation of the “Nuts” deal, but, does anyone really think that any kind of “Save Our Show” campaign will work for the same show twice?

Season 4, Episode 8 – Meet Kevin Johnson

So last night saw the last episode of “Block One” of Season 4, and also heralded the return of Michael, who we haven’t seen in almost two full years. I really enjoyed the structure of this episode…rather than hopping back and forth off the island, we had a solid block of flashforward, bookended by our island time. Last year’s Desmond-centric “Flashes Before Your Eyes” did the same thing, and I think it’s a nice breath of fresh air to mix it up.

The semi-major revelation was the fact that, somehow, the island has some kind of far-reaching abilities. There have been several events that have happened off the island that have seemed a bit contrived, but now we see that the island somehow can control events extra-island events. For example, if a person as more work to do, the island will not let that person commit suicide. That explains why Jack couldn’t jump off the bridge in last season’s finale. I think I like it…I’m not sure. The idea that, once you’re caught up in this island’s net, you can’t get out…it has some serious consequences for our castaways.

We can finally be assured of what the freighter’s true objective is…they are there to wipe out everyone on the island. Apparently Mr. Widmore has his sights set on the island for some reason, and is determined to kill everyone who knows anything about it. I wonder…has he been intrigued about the island for a while, and his daughter’s lover, Desmond, just happened to stumble upon it…after crashing while competing in a race that Widmore himself arranged? He sure did go to a lot of effort to throw off the chase, knowing that 815 crashed there…what with digging up bodies, buying a 777 airliner and dressing it up Oceanic-style, and sinking it where no one could ever hope to resurrect it.

Anyway, it would appear that not everyone on the boat shares this evil intent. Frank, who seems to be the resident expert on Flight 815 (though he didn’t recognize Michael…curious), is interested in saving the survivors. I hate that we didn’t get to see any of Faraday…and Miles, assuming he sticks around, could become my favorite character on the show.

One thing that I really appreciated was that we know that Ben is telling the truth while the islanders don’t. He’s sitting there telling them that the people on the boat are only there for one purpose…to kill every person on the island. For once, the audience is saying, “Listen to Ben!” How did he become the protagonist all of a sudden…

…or is he? Saying that he wanted to protect Alex, he sent her away to “the Temple”, presumably another DHARMA station, and Danielle and Karl followed her. Once they get there, they come under sniper fire, and Alex’s mother and boyfriend are both, possibly, killed. First of all, surely Danielle isn’t dead. I mean, come on, it’s the French Chick…she’s been a pretty huge player so far…and the only send off she gets is an episode with a handful of lines and getting shot down? I don’t think so. Karl’s a loser, though, so who really cares? Next, who is/are the shooter/s? Surely Ben wouldn’t have sent his daughter on a death march. Could it be the freighter team? They haven’t struck me as a shoot first, ask questions later group.

Can you imagine if this episode was the last bit of Lost that we would get in 2008? Talk about unfulfilling…man, I am so glad we’ve got more new episodes coming our way. I really enjoyed it…no real gripes to speak of. Only a month left until it returns in its new post-Grey’s slot.

Episode grade: A-

In a move that I find sad and slightly disturbing, “The History Channel” is being renamed to just “History” to broaden it’s viewership and expand into other forms of media.

Frankly, I find this upsetting on a variety of levels. If there is one channel on television you can count on to learn SOMETHING everytime you watch, it’s “The History Channel”. I love watching this channel at the end of the day, or on weekends and learning things about history that I never knew before. From Colonial times, to classic cars, gangsters, wars, holidays – you name it – you can learn a lot of amazing things by watching The History Channel.

While renaming itself “History” doesn’t bother me in concept, it’s the fact that the network is obviously trying to be more “hip” that I find disturbing. Any added “hipness” is going to alienate the channel’s older viewing audience, and their desire to expand their programming options will likely do the same.

Do we need History themed game shows and reality shows? How long do you think it will be before they start running dramas or sitcoms set in historical times? We’ve already seen them jump into making video games, and producing shows about chasing monsters…what’s next?

Do you think this move could be good for the network, or are we about to see the end of “The History Channel”?

We intentionally stay as far away from talking about politics as we can here at TV Jab. We’re a TV blog, not a political blog. But occasionally, especially in an election year, the two intersect.

If you’ve been following the current U.S. Presidential race at all, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the speech that Democratic hopeful Barack Obama gave on Monday about comments that his hometown pastor made about race. Well, that live speech pulled in over four million viewers, compared to the usual two million and change that usually watch the cable news networks.

Obama will appear on Larry King Live tonight, and will also be a guest on The View on Friday, March 28.

The networks are really bringing out the big guns to get viewers watching once shows return to air with new post-strike episodes.

On April 15, Law & Order: SVU returns to air, and it will feature guest star Robin Williams. In this first new episode, Williams plays an engineer whose life takes a tragic turn. NBC says, “He becomes an ardent believer in the necessity of challenging authority. His purpose in life turns to making people aware that there are risks posed by leading unquestioning lives.”

I’ve never gotten into any of the L&O’s…but this just may force me to tune in. I very much prefer serious Robin Williams over “funny” Robin Williams, and I just may have to check this one out.

Law & Order returns with new episodes on Tuesday, April 15 at 10/9c on NBC.