Disney has upped their orders for the latest seasons of their tween-magnet programs. In an effort to get as much out of Miley Cyrus as they can before she gets to old and is no longer welcome at the “House of Mouse”, the company has upped the episode order of “Hanna Montana” to 30 episodes this season.

Now, it’s not completely uncommon for kids shows to get at larger than 24 episode per season order, but it is obvious that Miley is getting older, and the older she gets, the less likely it is that she’ll remain the “queen of tweens”, so it’s not surprising that Disney is pumping the “Hanna Montana” well dry while it still can.

Also of note, “The Suite Life on Deck” the latest incarnation of the “Zack and Cody” franchise, has had its episode order upped as well. Again — they’ll only be young for so long.

CBS has decided to order five more episodes of “Eleventh Hour” which will bring the season order to 18.

The show benefits from a “CSI” lead-in, and has maintained an average of 12 million viewers per episode, as well as a 3.3 rating/9 share.

The show is based on a British series that starred Patrick Stewart. I enjoyed the UK version of the show, but so far, I have found the US series rather flat. We’ll see if the series makes it to a full series pick up based on the success of these episodes.

William Shatner may be wrapping up his run on “Boston Legal”, but that isn’t stopping him from jumping immediately into a new project.

That project is “Shatner’s Raw Nerve” a new interview series where “The Shat” sits down with celebrities in an intimate, almost psychiatrist-like environment.

Sadly, I don’t have Bio Channel, so I won’t be able to watch the series, but it does look promising. Hopefully, Bio will make it available online in some capacity. The show premieres tonight at 10/9c.

Ladies and Gentlemen…this may be the greatest news I’ve ever heard in my life.

A&E – a network that once stood for “Arts and Entertainment” – has signed none other than Steven “Under Siege” Seagal to star in a new reality series that will follow him in his day job as a Louisiana Sheriff’s deputy.

NO – I am not making any of this up.

The show is going to be called “Steven Segal: Lawman” – it could potentially be the great television show of all time. There is no official word on when the series will launch, but you can bet your sweet ass that we’ll be covering it right here on TV Jab.

We’re moving into the holiday break for television shows, and with the possibility of another strike looming, it’s time to reach into the DVD vault and find some TV from yester-year that’s worth watching again.

At the very top of that list for me is “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. I haven’t watched this show since it’s original run ended over 5 years ago. Recently, Wal-mart put the first 4 seasons on sale for $14.95, and Best Buy put the remaining seasons on sale for $19.95. Since my wife and I both loved the show when it originally aired, we decided to purchase them and re-watch the show.

Over the last few weeks I have been watching Season 1 and 2 of the series while I work, and I’m getting to watch the show with entirely new eyes now that I’m far removed from the high school life these early shows depict.

I’ll warn you now that there are a few stinker episodes in the first season, but this show finds is footing very quickly, and ascends to greatness faster than any series should.

We’re finishing up Season 2 tomorrow, and will be moving directly into Season 3 and beyond without stopping. This show is teen drama, comedy, and horror all wrapped into one…and all at its absolute best.

If you’ve never watched Buffy – then go grab the DVDs and get started. If you haven’t watched it in a while, this is definitely TV worth re-watching.

We can’t technically use the word “cancelled” because the networks refuse to use that word these days for some reason. What we can say, however, is that “Pushing Daisies”, “Eli Stone”, and “Dirty Sexy Money” will not be getting picked up past their 13 episode installments.

“Daisies” shot its last episode last week – and I sincerely hope they have some kind of wrap-up to the series. It’s been a very interesting journey, and you can seriously factor in the “writer’s strike” into the demise of this show.

The others I haven’t followed, so I can’t speak much on – but it’s a shame that the sophomore shows all seem to be getting axed.

Now I know that the upcoming “Star Trek” feature film isn’t going to debut on TV. It is, however, based on a long running television property, and is being helmed by a top television producer, and after if bombs terribly I’m sure it will air on cable all the time…oops…I just showed my hand in regard to my opinion on this thing didn’t I?

Yeah, I kinda did – and I don’t have a problem with that.

I have followed the development of this film since the beginning, and I have kept an open mind. I must admit up front that I love “Star Trek”. I wouldn’t have a problem being called a “Trekkie”, but I’m not the type of guy that goes to conventions dressed in costume…I’m more the type of guy who would build a media room in his house to look like the bridge of the TNG Enterprise.

Anyway, I’ve been very open to the idea of rebooting the franchise – even though I don’t think it’s the direction everything should head. I don’t have a problem with the idea of starting over if it gets “Star Trek” back out there into the public.

Everything I’ve seen about this film thus far, though, seems wrong somehow. The Enterprise above is just the latest example. It’s not that it looks TOO different from its predecessor, or that it looks different AT ALL from its predecessor…I don’t really have a problem with that…to me…it just looks disproportioned and uninspired.

Nothing about this ship, or this crew of 90210i inspired children, looks like the hopeful future that “Star Trek” used to be…a very long time ago.

Instead it looks like a remake action movie that is using elements from an old TV show…which is what I think it is. I don’t think the people involved with this really understand the concept of “Star Trek” – or maybe they do – and they just don’t think it will work in a theater these days.

I don’t know. Whatever it is…I just don’t like it. The trailer for the film will be playing before the new Bond movie this Friday, and I’ll be there to check it out – but I don’t have high hopes…not after seeing this.

WGN America is turning into the new “Nick at Nite” – and I’m loving it. I spent a large portion of yesterday watching “Alf”, “WKRP in Cincinnati”, and “Newhart”. It was nice having the TV on without having to watch kid’s programming while my daughter was up – and I plan to do more of it.

Tonight, WGN America is starting a week long run of forgotten 80s sitcoms. The first one up is “Three’s A Crowd” – which was a spin-off from “Three’s Company” starring John Ritter. The show aired from 1984 to 1985, and had 22 episodes produced before it was axed.

Tonight we’re going to get to see 4 of those episodes, but there is no official word from WGN America if all 22 will ever air on the network.

The premise of the show was actually set up at the end of the “Three’s Company” run. Jack’s girlfriend from the 8th season of that series was named Vickie — and at the end of the series he asked her to marry him. She said no, because she didn’t want to get married – but she did love him, and wanted to move in together.

So in the series “Three’s a Crowd” Jack and Vickie live together, and her father (played by Robert Mandan) is constantly getting in the way and causing trouble because he doesn’t like Jack.

If you want to check out this classic spin-off you can see it tonight on WGN America.

Old franchises – no matter how old, or how much no one really seems all that interested – will always come back it seems. In Hollywood’s infinite wisdom it is better to repackage something from 20 years ago than it is to try something new.

I guess there’s probably a certain truth to that, but sometimes you have to wonder -why even bring it back if you’re going to change everything about it? Case in point – Cartoon Network is bringing “Pink Panther” back as a new series.

This time, however, he’s going to be a teenager. Classic characters like Ant and Aardvark will also appear. Why? You got me. Kids today don’t know who the Pink Panther is – and if they do – they don’t think he’s a teenager. There is no word on if the series is going to be set in a school or not – but you’d almost bet it would have to be.

Franchises like this that return “in name only” seem kind of odd to me. I don’t know exactly what the point of doing this is. If you’re going to create something completely new with an old coat of paint on it – why not just create something completely new?

Anyway – look for it at some point in the future…you know…if you care.