Fox has decided that “Family Guy” and “The Cleveland Show” just aren’t enough, and have decided to renew “American Dad” for a 5th season. The show will have 109 episodes once that 5th season has been completed, and that will be more than enough for the series to make its way into syndication.

I’ve never been a big fan of “American Dad”, even when I did enjoy “Family Guy” a few years ago. Still – SOMEONE is digging it – and Fox is happy to bring more of it our way.

On Wednesday night more than 33.5 million viewers tuned in to see Senator Barack Obama’s informercial (it was a paid political advertisement) that aired on seven primetime networks…including NBC, Fox, CBS, MSNBC, BET, TVOne, and Univision.

Those numbers are slightly down from both his acceptance speech earlier this year (which saw 38.4 million viewers) and Senator John McCain’s acceptance speech which saw 38.9 million viewers tune in.

One thing is clear here – Americans are more interested in this election that just about any other in history.

Early voting in many states ends TODAY.

Chances are the polls on November 4th are going to be so jam packed you’ll have to wait for hours on end – so I highly recommend you head out today and cast your vote for the candidate of your choice.

Your vote counts – make sure your voice is heard. Go vote.

This has been a week of terrible TV news for me. First David Tennant is leaving “Doctor Who”, then we saw the last episode of “The Office” with Holly in it…and now…NOW Fox has cancelled “King of the Hill”.

I’ll be honest with you, if I was making a “Top 10 animated shows of ALL TIME” I would put “King of the Hill” at the very top. I mean that. I think the show has been one of the most consistently funny series on television, and I think if you compare 13 years worth of “King of the Hill” versus 13 years worth of “The Simpsons” you will find “Hill” to be a more consistently funny show, with an even quality rating, where “Simpsons” is a little more hit or miss.

I know that not everyone that reads this is going to agree with that – and that’s ok.

The show really had its perfect ending two seasons ago, and I’m not sure if this year will even have a “series ending” episode – but I am happy to say that “Hill” will live on in syndication…probably forever.

The fact that this series is going to be replaced by a 3rd Seth MacFarlane series, “The Cleveland Show”, however, makes me a little sick. The last thing the world needs is an hour and a half of that crap every Sunday.

I’m sure not everything that reads this is going to agree with that either…and that’s ok.

If you’ll excuse me now, I’m going to watch one of the 48 episodes of “King of the Hill” I have DVRed and make a sandwich.

Yup.

(S04E04) “Life During Wartime”

It appears as if the writers and producers of Grey’s Anatomy are looking to stir things up a bit. Besides the normal high drama and romance infused plot twists, two new characters have also been introduced to the show. As I previously called it, Journeyman’s Kevin McKidd has found a home at Seattle Grace. Already causing quite a stir, ex-Iraq trauma soldier Major Long made enemies with just about every member of PETA by throwing several pigs to the surgical table in tonight’s episode. ABC was quick to point out that no actual animals were harmed, but oh if they had been, I’m sure Izzie wouldn’t have been the only one upset.

Having first pegged Long as a potential love interest for Cristina I’m now beginning to wonder if that storyline is more meant for her new intern Ryan or if you’d prefer, 4.2. Now I know, there hasn’t been any signs of flirting, interesting or really any chemistry whatsoever between the two, but if we’ve learned anything about character entrances in Grey’s it’s that someone who gets their fair share of camera time with only a limited role on screen, is about to bloom into one of the shows better known.

Besides the Ryan’s attention grabbing performance, another, much younger performer proved herself as a TV star. Hero’s Adair Tishler shown in her brief few minutes on screen as the patient who’s life seemed destined to end. As an actress who once played young Carrie Bradshaw in Sex in the City, obviously the writers couldn’t let that happen. This truly loved child must be saved, but, of course, not without a lot of drama, a medical break-through and a surgical break-down throw in for good measure.

Mostly importantly, tonight’s episode brought a lot of hot topic issues to the surface. Just in time for the elections if you ask me. And good for them, we can all retire from the TV screen with opinions of homosexual realtionships, wartime psychology and animal rights in mind. The producers of Grey’s did more tonight then offer entertainment with the chance of escapism, they also invited you to take the underlying subplots a step further. Ponder, discuss and explore at your own speed, but remember Tuesday’s the big day to state what’s important to you. No matter what you decide, don’t miss your chance.

Tonight’s episode of Survivor Gabon reminded my, once again, why Survivor has made it through seventeen wonderful seasons. One of the longest running reality show sitcoms out there, spawning a reality show revolution in the U.S. when it was first aired in 2000.

And sure, a lot of that can be explained away by the fact that reality television, introduced cheap television. Producers jumped at the fact that they were now being shown a way to not only make their audience feel like a personal part of the game (if only they just apply), but the amount of money spent on set, scripts, etc. completely flew out the window. What’s not to love?

If you take a closer look though, Survivor is something more than just a production-cheap show. Instead, it’s a way for audiences to simultaneously live through the hardest and yet most rewarding moments one could possibly have, with all of the beauty a country like Africa has, without once having to fear being bitten by their own snake. Over at my house, we have plenty of rice.

Specifically this evening was set apart in it’s ultimate greatness by a few different highlight moments. The first came during the second challenge when host Jeff Probst announced that the teams would be randomly paired up in a log roll face off working towards earning individual immunity. Easing the audience into seeing the teams meld together led to the anticipation that a merge was next on the agenda and would surely be Probst’s “second surprise.”

A surprise indeed, the tribes were instead told that instead of just one immunity up for grabs, the teams would be kept separated and Marcus, having won the challenge would choose a member of his opposite team, Fang, giving a gift of safety to Sugar. (After sending her to exile island for the 5th time in a row and breaking a show record, Kota sure does like to toy with players minds.)

Seeing as only Marcus and Sugar had immunity, both tribes went to council. A first in U.S. Surivor history to my knowledge. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Proving that what she lacks in physical ability she makes up for in intelligence, Sugar teams up with Crystal and Kenny to take out an unsuspecting Ace. While he may have been her strongest alliance, she knew well enough how close he was to stabbing her in the back and saved him the trouble. Not bad pin-up girl, not bad.

Kota’s tribal council was a lot less interesting. It was obvious and unsurprising that both lackluster Susie and the unstable Dan were on the chopping block. Due to the most minute of fears, Dan headed home just in case he was carrying exile island immunity from his brief stay there. I foresee some anger from that one when the cast-offs are asked back to place their own votes for the win.

As for my number one choice for victory right now? Marcus. We rarely see him, but that just means that right now he’s boring and otherwise golden.

I have to say I am saddened by this news. The BBC is reporting that David Tennant is leaving the role of “The Doctor” when the 2009 specials are over.

Frankly, I don’t know why this is being reported now. The 2008 Christmas special is coming up soon, and with the bad news of Tennant leaving the role all of the specials in 2009 are going to have a shadow cast over them.

It seemed pretty clear from the beginning that the 2009 specials were happening to give Tennant a break from the role, but if he’s not sticking with it, I don’t know why we couldn’t have just moved on straight into another series. (yes, I’m a pull the band-aid off quickly kind of guy).

So – now for an entire year we can all speculate on who is going to be the next Doctor, and Tennant will go out with a whimper instead of the bang he deserved.

Bummer.

(s08e06 “Identity”)

Official Episode Description:

Jimmy (Aaron Ashmore) snaps a picture of Clark (Tom Welling) super-speeding to save Lois (Erica Durance) from a mugger and manages to catch a red and blue blur on film. Jimmy shows it to Tess (Cassidy Freeman) who decides to run it on the front page of the Daily Planet. Clark fears his identity will be discovered so he asks Chloe (Allison Mack) to run interference with Jimmy, but she refuses. Justin Hartley and Sam Witwer also star. Mairzee Almas directed the episode written by Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer

What a fantastic episode. Smallville’s 8th season – thus far – is the best season of this series yet.

Tonight Clark’s identity was called into question after Jimmy snapped a blurry red and blue photograph of someone saving Lois from getting hit by a car. Olsen was determined to figure out who the red and blue blur was, and he was quickly convinced that it was Clark.

Meanwhile Lois was being stalked by a freak with memory reading powers that was hired by Tess to discover who took her missing crystal.

I don’t honestly want to talk much about this episode. To say anything is to truly spoil a FANTASTIC episode of this series. I’m not sure where they’re going – but I’m enjoying the hell out of the ride.

(s04e05 “Employee Transfer”)

Official episode description

“Employee Transfer.”
Pam (Jenna Fischer) is embarrassed when she is the only person at corporate wearing a costume on Halloween. Holly (guest star Amy Ryan) and Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) take the long trip to Nashua after they get some shocking news from corporate. Meanwhile, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) torments Andy (Ed Helms) and tries to get under his skin.

(S02E04) “Past Tense”

And the vote goes to …

Addison?

How could I even be surprised. Without the Grey’s star, Kate Walsh, Private Practice wouldn’t have ever seen it’s day in the sun. Personal opinion? She definitely should have stuck to Grey’s, a show that was going somewhere.

The only place Kate Walsh is going now is to yet another gossip session, coffee mug in hand, patient not to be seen and an uncomfortable amount of truly tight clothing clinging to the flesh of almost each and every actor. One has to wonder if the shows budget went down as the plot continued to lose appeal.

Tonight though, luck may have found those of us who continue to stick with Private Practice through it’s awkward painful phase. Like a cool breeze, seasoned sitcom actress Jayne Brook swept into Oceanside Wellness Group spicing things up with one saucy kiss. Way to make an entrance girlfriend.

While I must admit I initially balked at a Brothers and Sister’s reoccurring character landing in yet another ABC show, but after seeing the proven radical differences in the two characters I calmed myself down a notch. One night a young highly republican mother finding difficulty accepting her gay son’s relationship status, and then the next a confident world traveling with that excellent “I don’t change for anyone” attitude. How can we resist? Brook’s nothing if not dynamic.

So yes, I was bored again by the big office drama which ultimately resulted in Addison’s winning control of the practice. I had my own personal grievances with the way the patients cases were presented, especially the highly controversial fake rape turned religious re-virginization (If you didn’t catch it, you didn’t miss much). The biggest problem is that they don’t dig deep enough. Addison always comes in judging and you’re hardly left to see the other side of the story, even when it could be smacking you straight in the face if they let it. Instead, I hardly care about the patient and am more angry at the doctor.

So my advice going forward to the writers, producers, directors, etc. of Private Practice? Take that next step. Make me care. Let me in on Violet’s obviously disturbing past. Let Pete tell some of his own story instead of bringing in a new character we’re still adjusting to, to do it for him. And for crying out loud, give that S.W.A.T. guy another shirt!

Over the last two episodes, House has really found itself again. Its been nice to see as I was concerned that House might have peaked as a series. The last episode convinced me that there are some high points yet to be found. Two more weeks like the previous one and I’d say House is totally back  on track.

This weeks insane patient is missing large chunks of time. The symptoms make him appear to be sleeping even while awake. While his brain is asleep, he gets up, leaves his home and buys cocaine from a street dealer.  This might be the best excuse ever for  being pulled over with drugs. “Officer, I was sleeping. In fact, I’m sleeping now.”

House instructs the crew to go buy cocaine from the street dealer to try and isolate whatever is causing the patient’s missing time. Its a hilarious and goofy scene watching 13 try the coke because she wants to be sure its of as poor quality as their looking for.

As the diagnosis drags on, the group discovers the coke-walking patient’s daughter also is a sleepwalker. This last piece of knowledge -and some Dr Wilson banter- breaks the case wide open. I could take three or four sentences here to explain the diagnosis, but its so ridiculous and obscure that it would make your head spin.

The real thrust of the episode is Cuddy and her desire to adopt a child. Her longing has finally led her to a birthmother. House is his usual cajoling and prick-ish self, although he does actually seem to care about Cuddy. Even so, he sets up a betting pool on how long it will take for the adoption to fail. Right on cue, the birthmother has a mysterious rash and Cuddy appears to overreact. I say appears because there just isn’t anyway this doesn’t end in tragedy. Tests show the fetus’ lungs are underdeveloped. Things predictably go from bad to worse for the baby. Cuddy realizes that the mother may be in danger if she has the child, but her desire to save the baby she wants so much is killing her. Its a good scene and it gives Cuddy some room to act, which she usually doesn’t get much of an opportunity to do. The scene in the operating room with the baby being born and Cuddy begging her to cry is really great.

Cuddy’s adopted baby does cry and it appears she might get a happy ending out of this terrible situation. That would be completely out of character for House, so in a move that defies logic, the former meth-head decides to keep her baby denying Cuddy the adoption. All of this Cuddy subterfuge really leads to the big ending. House comes to comfort Cuddy and in doing so, the two finally kiss. Lord knows where this will lead next week, but I’ve finally found the House I’ve been looking for.