If you’ve been watching any of the Viacom owned stations in the last few days you’ve no doubt seen the black bar scrolling across the bottom of the screen publicizing the feud between Viacom and Time Warner Cable.

The companies were squabbling over pennies per subscriber, and their heated stand-off was only going to hurt Time Warner customers in the end.

As luck would have it, somebody blinked – and the two have reached a deal. So Time Warner subscribers can now get “South Park”, “The Daily Show”, “Chocolate News”, and “Spongebob” without having to go through the hassle of calling one of half a dozen other options that most people have.

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess it was Time Warner who blinked – but that’s just a guess.

Almost 40 Million people tuned in on Saturday to watch Michael Phelps win his 8th Gold Medal.

It was the most watched program on NBC in 18 years. It averaged 31.1 million viewers with an audience peak of 39.9 Million viewers.

NBC is averaging 30.1 million prime-time viewers through the nine days of the Olympics. With swimming over and track and field being almost exclusively tape-delayed it is unlikely that NBC will be able to keep that high of an average…but you never know.

Adam West, best known as the 1960s “Batman” or possibly “Mayor West” from “Family Guy”, may be back again on ABC according to the New York Post. West is being considered for a spot on the new season of “Dancing with the Stars”…even though he’s 80 years old.

West is in outstanding shape, and could be an interesting addition to the show. Final casting decisions are due on August 25, so if you’d like to see the Batusi make its way back to ABC you might want to let them know.

As further proof that Hollywood is running out of ideas, the 2002 Jennifer Lopez film “Maid in Manhattan” is heading to the small screen via ABC.

The plot from the original film was about a struggling single mother from the Bronx who works as a maid in a posh Manhattan hotel and falls in love with a rising politician.

This new television incarnation will be an hour long drama with the same basic premise of a struggling single mother from the Bronx working in a posh hotel – but instead of falling in love with a rising politician, this series will focus on her relationships with her co-workers.

This is the second attempt by ABC to turn the film into a series. Previously they had developed a script with a different writer for the 04-05 season.

MTV is airing promos for the upcoming VMA Awards. Many of you may remember that last year Britney Spears attempted to show the world she was “ok” by performing at the VMAs – and what she did was prove to the world that something was seriously wrong with her.

Now, after a few months of “getting her act together” she’s back in these new ads with VMA host Russell Brand. The commercials are very conversational and appear to be improvised. The joke behind them is pretty obvious (and pretty funny) as no one is talking about the elephant in the room…who is literally in the room in these ads.

Good Stuff.

Word around the street is that “Robot Chicken” mastermind Seth Green, and cohort Breckin Meyer are extremely close to signing a deal that would see them make multi-episode appearances on the third season of “Heroes”.

There is no official word on the names of their characters, but the rumor is that they will be playing comic book geeks who encounter one of the “heroes” in real life, and become involved in that heroes story.

ABC has ordered a pilot for an updated “Witches of Eastwick” TV series. This marks the 3rd time a series has been attempted based on the 1987 film. Previously Warner Bros TV attempted to do a series in 1992 for NBC, then again in 2002 for Fox.

Maggie Freeman of “Dawon’s Creek” fame is spear heading the script.

CBS is also on the train to remake town with the classic “Hawaii Five-O”. “Criminal Minds” executive producer and showrunner Ed Bernero is writing an update to the iconic 70s series. The show is expected to focus on Chris McGarret, son of Steve and the Hawaiian state police department from the original series.

Joining Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, and Prince – Bruce Springsteen is going to headline the Super Bowl Half Time Show next year.

We all remember the Justin Timberlake/Janet Jackson debacle from several years ago. The networks have yet to recover from it, and are continuing to book older, more “safe”, acts for the Half Time show spectacle.

Frankly, I miss the days of the big marching bands and that sort of thing. Springsteen will be performing 3 songs during his Half Time run, and you can bet “Born in the USA” is going to make its way into the mix. Regardless of his age, Springsteen is and always will be a headliner, so you can bet the crowd will be lively for this set.

Well, I finally have something to look forward to on Superbowl Sunday. No offense to “the big game”, but I’ve never been into football all that much. Still, the Superbowl manages to find its way onto my television set almost every year. I have no idea why.

This year, however, I’ll be sure to tune in AFTER the show, for a very special hour-long episode of “The Office”. Many of you may remember that this slot was supposed to go to an “Office spin-off” this year – but that concept has been shelves for the time being, and the original show is going to take the slot in its place.

I love the hour long episodes of the series – and I honestly think they should just extend this show to an hour rather than do a spin-off to begin with. We know we’re getting at least 2 one hour episode of the series this season because the first new episode of season 5 will also be an hour long special when it airs in Sept.

Starting on the first day of September, all the way through to the 30th of October we have new shows debuting on all the major networks. Below you’ll find a complete list of all the new and returning shows and their premiere dates!

Be sure and check back here at TV Jab for reviews of these new programs as they premiere…we’ll be covering almost all of them this year!
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