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Killjoy: ABC's
'Dancing with the Stars'

Fresh CBS sitcoms must face ABC's hit series

By Diego Vasquez
Mar 17, 2008

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After three months of schedules disrupted by the writers’ strike and dominated by reruns, low-rent reality shows and unpromising scripted series, tonight the networks’ schedules start returning to normal. Three CBS comedies begin airing fresh episodes, but the night’s big ratings winner will likely be “Dancing with the Stars.”

The ABC show, which ranks No. 3 for the season behind Fox’s “American Idol” with an average 20 million tuning into its two weekly editions, returns tonight at 8 p.m. with a 90-minute episode. It will also air Tuesdays, where it will serve as a lead-in to new comedy “Miss Guided” tomorrow night.

The sixth season of “Stars” has at least one intriguing new wrinkle. The show will feature its first deaf contestant, Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, and her presence has already led to a substantial amount of press attention, similar to when Heather Mills, who has a prosthetic leg, competed last year.

“Stars” always dominates its timeslot on Mondays, where it powered ABC to three months’ worth of wins last fall. The competition has slipped since then.

CBS’s sitcoms are fairly strong, but they draw a different audience than ABC’s female-skewing show. Meanwhile, NBC has the low-rated reality show “My Dad is Better Than Your Dad” and Fox has the disappointing new series “Canterbury’s Law.”

Even a middling spinoff, the midseason’s “Dance Wars: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann” pitting the “Stars” judges against each other with teams of non-celebrity dancers, probably won’t hurt “Stars.” That simply went to prove that, unlike “Idol,” no one tunes into “Stars” for the judges.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
MONDAY, MARCH 17
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	ESPN	“NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Special” (S)	The men had their day yesterday, now it's time to analyze the women’s tourney field.
8 p.m.	Fox	“ Canterbury’s Law” (D)	Premiered poorly among 18-49s, but did decently among total viewers. How will week two fare?
8 p.m.	ABC	“Dancing with the Stars” (R)	Season premiere. Adam Carolla, Steve Guttenberg and Jason Taylor are among this season’s male dancers.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Two and a Half Men” (C)	Hey, a new episode! Charlie shows Alan how to break up with women.
9 p.m.	TLC	“Jon & Kate Plus 8” (R)	The couple tries to install new carpet in their house, which of course is much tougher with eight kids.
10 p.m.	MTV	“Making the Band” (R)	In his no-nonsense way, Diddy tells the girls of Danity Kane what’s wrong with their image.
10 p.m.	NBC	“Medium” (D)	Allison has visions of a violent dentist while trying to solve an arson case.
TUESDAY, MARCH 18
Time	Network	Program	Description
7:30 p.m.	ESPN	“College Basketball” (S)	The play-in game to make the 64-team field of the NCAA tourney.
8 p.m.	NBC	“The Biggest Loser” (R)	The contestants get makeovers and compete in a treadmill challenge.
8 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (R)	One down, 11 finalists to go.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Dancing with the Stars” (R)	The six female contestants, including Marlee Matlin and Monica Seles, show what they’ve got.
9 p.m.	CW	“One Tree Hill” (D)	A makeshift family reunion breaks out at Lucas and Lindsey’s wedding.
10 p.m.	FX	“The Riches” (D)	Season premiere. Dahlia and the kids head out of Eden Falls, and Nina wants to go with.
10:30 p.m.	ABC	“Miss Guided” (C)	Series premiere. A young-ish woman becomes a guidance counselor at her high school.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	NBC	“Today” (N)	Peter O’Toole and Jonathan Rhys Meyers both guest.
7 p.m.	ESPN2, ESPN Classic	“College Basketball” (S)	First-round action from the NIT, the other college basketball tournament.
8 p.m.	CBS	“Survivor” (R)	Moves to Wednesday this week and next due to college basketball.
9 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (R)	Another singer is bounced, whittling the field down to 10.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Supernanny” (R)	Jo tries to deal with a pair of boys whose mother is embarrassed to take them out in public.
10 p.m.	NBC	“Law & Order” (D)	An art dealer may have been murdered by a religious group that has ties to his son.
10 p.m.	MTV	‘Real World/Road Rules Challenge” (R)	Season finale. The teams endure the final challenge to determine a winner.
THURSDAY, MARCH 20
Time	Network	Program	Description
Noon, 7 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	First-round play from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
8 p.m.	ABC	“Miss Guided” (C)	The first of back-to-back episodes of ABC’s new comedy.
8 p.m.	CW	“Smallville” (D)	Clark is kidnapped and held in a cell lined with kryptonite.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Lost” (D)	Ben tries to get Alex to escape Locke’s camp when he finds out about an incoming attack.
9 p.m.	NBC	“Celebrity Apprentice” (R)	The field is cut to two, and the finalists begin to put together a charity auction and concert.
10 p.m.	TLC	“LA Ink” (R)	Pixie goes off at the shop, and it could damage her relationship with Kat.
10 p.m.	VH1	“I Know My Kid’s a Star” (R)	Series premiere. Stage parents and their kids compete to be trained by, of all people, Danny Bonaduce.
FRIDAY, MARCH 21
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	ABC	“Good Morning America” (N)	Ryan Phillippe guests and the Counting Crows perform.
Noon, 7 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	More first-round action from the NCAA men’s basketball tourney.
7:30 p.m.	ESPN	“Figure Skating” (S)	Coverage of the World Championships, from Gothenburg, Sweden.
8 p.m.	TCM	“The Wizard of Oz” (M)	This classic is now 69 years old.
8:30 p.m.	Fox	“The Return of Jezebel James” (C)	Sarah goes all-out to sign a 15-year-old author.
9 p.m.	Lifetime	“Your Mama Don’t Dance” (R)	Another team is bounced, leaving seven behind.
SATURDAY, MARCH 22
Time	Network	Program	Description
2 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	Second-round play from the NCAAs; who’ll make the Sweet 16?
2 p.m.	NBC	“PGA Golf” (S)	Third round of the WGC-CA Championship from Miami.
3 p.m.	ABC	“Figure Skating” (S)	More coverage of the World Championships from Sweden.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Cops” (R)	Cops in Las Vegas go on a chase following a hotel shooting.
9 p.m.	Sci Fi Channel	“Rock Monster” (M)	A college student tries to be a hero after he unwittingly unleashes a monster in an Eastern European Village.
11 p.m.	VH1	“Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony” (A)	Madonna and John Mellencamp are among this year’s inductees.
SUNDAY, MARCH 23
Time	Network	Program	Description
Noon	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	Still more second-round games, and after today, just 16 teams will remain.
1 p.m.	ABC	“NBA Basketball” (S)	A Texas showdown between the Spurs and Mavericks.
3 p.m.	NBC	“PGA Golf” (S)	Final-round play from the WGC-CA Championship, won last year by -- who else -- Tiger Woods.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Oprah’s Big Give” (R)	The final seven are given hundreds of thousands of dollars to give away in 24 hours.
9 p.m.	HBO	“John Adams” (M)	Second of a seven-part miniseries has Adams and Ben Franklin in France to drum up support for the revolt against England.
9:30 p.m.	Fox	“Unhitched” (C)	Gator has to change his ways if he wants a chance with an animal rights activist.
10 p.m.	FX	“Dirt” (D)	Lucy falls back into her tryst with a studio executive.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.