SATURDAY NIGHT: THE ELEPHANT'S GRAVEYARD

I'm glad I decided to tape the second half hour of 'Commander In Chief' this past Tuesday. Seeing that it was supposed to be repeated last night, I figured it would be a good time to check out 'My Name Is Earl' again (having missed the second episode while I taped the 'C-In-C' debut).

As it turned out, all three episodes of 'My Name Is Earl' were repeated on NBC Saturday while ABC ditched their sked at the last minute to show 'Desperate Housewives' instead of 'Commander In Chief'.

It doesn't make sense. 'Housewives' is comfortable in its ratings on a Sunday. And just about every network has given up on chasing the numbers on Saturday. Instead, most of them are using that hour to push their fledgling shows. ABC led the way in this regard last season, when they used Saturday nights to build the buzz for both 'Lost' and 'Desperate Housewives', and both of them flourished.

The Alphabet should keep that repeat hour for 'Commander-In-Chief'. I'm sure it's going to be a hit, but it can use the nurturing for now.

Here's what I think happened - ABC is afraid that 'Invasion' will lose steam with flagging viewer interest. So they buttressed its repeat with 'Lost' and 'Desperate Housewives' as its bookends, instead of surrounding it with 'C-In-C' and 'The Night Stalker', let's say.

I just wish they had been so considerate to 'Eyes'!

BCnU!
Tele-Toby