SATURDAY NIGHT DEJA VIEW

Saturday night used to be one of the display cases to show off the jewels of CBS - 'All In The Family', 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', 'The Bob Newhart Show', 'The Carol Burnett Show'. (That 8:30 slot always seemed to be the problem child.) The other networks threw up programs to combat the Tiffany lineup.

Now, the night has been basically abandoned by all of them and I'm cool with that. Especially since it provides the broadcast networks an opportunity to match the cablers in at least one aspect - repeating their shows from earlier in the week.

For example, take tonight's skeds for CBS and NBC. The Network of the Great Eye will be re-showing 'Jericho' and 'Smith' beginning at 8 pm, while the Peacock Throne will repeat 'Kidnapped' at 10 pm. (Times listed are EST; check your local listings. I LOVE getting to type that!)

ABC will be showing a Notre Dame/Michigan State college football game tonight, but they used several Saturday nights to push 'Lost' and 'Desperate Housewives' two years ago, as well as 'Grey's Anatomy' last season. Getting a second chance to sample these shows must have proven successful for ABC, and now its two main rivals are following suit.

So, it's little advance notice, but hopefully it'll help somebody out.

Again:
'Jericho' - CBS, 8 pm EST
'Smith' - CBS, 9 pm EST
'Kidnapped' - NBC, 10 pm EST

BCnU!
Tele-Toby

"Any schedule without Buddy Ebsen sucks eggs."
George Utley
'Newhart'