I AM LIVID!!!

So before I wrote my Pick of the Week post Sunday, I checked the ABC website to make sure they hadn't changed their mind about airing the "In Case of Emergency" season finale. After all, I had been burned by ABC schedule changes before. But the show was still listed, so I made it my Pick of the Week...

So tonight, still on my Sanjaya is gone from "American Idol" high, I rewound the tape to watch it. I hit play, and there on the screen was last week's "Lost." That's right. ABC pulled the one episode "Emergency" had left to air a "Lost" repeat. I was--and still am--livid.

Upon further investigation, I realized that the decision had been made last Friday. ABC just hadn't bothered to update their website...

There has been no announcement as to whether ABC will make the season finale available on-line.

I don't know why I even bother watching ABC shows because they just screw them up and screw us over. I should've learned my lesson last year with "Commander In Chief"...

As I've said before. No one has ever accused ABC of being very bright...

Pick of the Week: An "Emergency" Finale

You may recall that when I first wrote about “In Case of Emergency,” I said the show’s emergency contact person should be a new writer.

Well, apparently someone listened because “Emergency” has become one of my favorite shows.

It’s not always funny, but the continuing story has somehow sucked me right in. I find myself caring about the characters that I originally said weren’t worth caring about. And lately, the show has added some great 80s music to give us that high school reunion vibe since the show is about four reunited high school classmates.

This week, the “Emergency” finale is my Pick of the Week. It’s also a momentous occasion for ABC since this is the only one of ABC’s new sitcoms allowed to finish its run—even if it was out of order.

No doubt the finale will end in a cliffhanger, but the real cliffhanger is whether or not the show will be back next season. That depends on ABC’s development slate.

But if I had to choose between “Emergency” and a show about the GEICO cavemen, I know which one I would go with…

“In Case of Emergency” airs Wednesday, April 18th at 9:30 p.m. on ABC…

Photo courtesy of Gannett News Service

I'm so confused...

So yesterday, after I reported to you that “The Black Donnellys” would end its run April 16th, NBC changed its mind and pulled the plug immediately. Next week it will be replaced by “Thank God You’re Here,” the improv program that was originally scheduled to air at 9 p.m. “The Real Wedding Crashers” will start in the slot April 23rd. You can see the unaired episodes of “Donnellys” on NBC.com…

And I hesitate to even tell you anything about ABC’s schedule because they change it on an almost hourly basis, but here goes anyway. After TV critics almost universally trashed ABC’s decision to replace “October Road” with “Notes From the Underbelly,” the network has changed its mind. “Underbelly” will premiere Thursday, April 12th at 10:00 p.m. with back-to-back episodes. Then April 18th, it will move to Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m., allowing “Road” to finish its six week run. So, does this mean “Men In Trees” will come back this season after all? ABC has made no announcement yet…

ABC has also changed its mind about “In Case of Emergency,” deciding to allow the show to air all 13 of its episodes. I like this show, so I’m happy about this decision and hope they stick with it. The only problem is that because ABC had originally planned to air only 11 episodes, they started showing them out of order to get the Jane Seymour arc in before the end and now things are a little confusing (Yeah, ABC. That’s the way to get people to watch. Mess up the order of a serial comedy.). “Emergency” airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m…

ABC Kills My Buzz...

Leave it to ABC to kill my "24" buzz...

This week's "In Case of Emergency," featuring a guest spot by Jane Seymour (which ABC has been advertising for months) has been pulled to make room for a "Lost" repeat.

For the next two Wednesdays, ABC will air the previous week's episode of "Lost" at 9 p.m., bumping both "Emergency" and "According to Jim."

I think I'd call this an emergency for both shows...

All Hail the "Knights of Prosperity"!

Congratulations! You’ve made almost every major TV critic’s list of the best new shows on TV this year. So what kind of reward will you get from your network?

How about a postponement in your premiere date of three months? Then when you finally premiere, you’ll get very little promotion, and it’ll be against a major BCS bowl game. Plus, your second week will be delayed 20 minutes by the President’s speech, so most people will miss it. And as an extra bonus, we’ll throw you up against the #1 show on television…

Welcome to the world of “The Knights of Prosperity.”

I have to give ABC kudos for moving “Knights” away from “American Idol,” but I’m concerned it’s too little too late. The whole reason ABC said they postponed the show’s premiere was because they were afraid it wasn’t getting enough promotion. But if this was the best they were going to do, wouldn’t it have been better to have premiered the show when everyone was talking about it?

As I told you in my earlier post, “Knights” can now be seen at 8:30 p.m. after “George Lopez.” Since it’s no longer against “American Idol,” I urge you to tune into this one—especially if you’re a Nielsen family…

Basically everything you need to know about “Knights” is in its wonderfully cheesy theme song (written by Paul Shaffer of “The Late Show”) performed by Kevin Michael Richardson (Rockefeller)…

“Eugene Gurkin was a janitor cleaning toilets for the man.
Then he decided that he’d had enough. It was time to take a stand.
So he put a crew together and he made a master plan.
Now they’re the Knights of Prosperity doing crimes the best they can…”

The master plan the song speaks of is robbing Mick Jagger. The crew is Eugene, his co-worker, “Squatch;” Gary, a cab driver; Rockefeller, a former bouncer; Esperanza, a waitress; and Louis, the intern. Each week, the Knights—complete with their own t-shirts—overcome another obstacle, getting them one step closer to their goal.

In the premiere, the gang had to get the apartment number and the key. In week two, after discovering they also needed a code, Louis was able to get it from a woman who worked at the security company (Reiko Aylesworth [Michelle, “24”] in a hysterical guest appearance) by getting her to take him back to her apartment. Then, in week three, when she followed Louis to the gang’s hideout (a phony Jewish supply store), Eugene cleverly solved the problem of needing a thumbprint by sticking her thumb in the cream cheese. However, the Knights realized they’d also have to take on armed guards, so Esperanza sweet-talked a security expert into training them. When a security guard saw Rockefeller use his training against a guy hitting on Esperanza, he offered Rockefeller a job interview—at the company in charge of security at Jagger’s apartment. Last week, Rockefeller aced the interview, but had to pass the test of taking a suitcase full of money to Atlantic City. The gang turned on each other as they debated on taking the money and running, but they decided in the end to let Rockefeller deliver the case. It turned out to be the best decision as the money was revealed to be fake and Rockefeller got the job…

As you can tell, “Knights” is not your traditional sitcom, (especially when ABC is stuffing it with four commercial breaks), but if you enjoy funny television—traditional or not—you need to check it out.

“The Knights of Prosperity” airs tonight (Wednesday) at 8:30 p.m. on ABC. You can watch previous episodes on-line at http://www.abc.com/ and be sure to check out the music video…

I also recommend that you tape “In Case of Emergency” at 9:30 p.m. Jonathan Silverman’s Harry gives you a recap at the beginning of each episode, so you won’t be lost. And trust me, you’re going to want to be there when Jason (the adorable David Arquette) finally gets his girl (the surprisingly sexy Lori Loughlin)…