Last night I watched The Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll, and it wasn't just out of curiosity about what had replaced VM.  The first time I met Robin Antin, I told her all about how her brother's failed WB teen drama Young Americans was my favorite show ever.  When I found out that Steven Antin (who not only created YA but also starred as Troy in The Goonies) was exec producing PCD along with Robin's long-time boyfriend McG (exec producer of The O.C. and Supernatural), I had to check it out.  These are two guys I admire for their ability to mesh tired formula with sheer audacity.  

I was freakishly surprised by how entertaining it was.  I could not stop laughing throughout the whole thing.  I had to make popcorn.  Seriosuly, I laughed so hard I had tears running down my cheeks.  I haven't had this much fun watching an ep of VM since 2.17. 

If they re-air this baby sometime this week, check it out.  But it's not for the faint of stomach.

As for the ratings, I would say it's a moderate win for The CW.  PCD got a 1.7/4 in the 18-49 demo, off GG's 2.0/5.  That's a vast improvement over VM, whose highest rating in that demo *ever* was a 1.6/4.  But PCD failed to hold GG's audience, even though the competition was much less at that hour.  In the plus column, however, the ratings held perfectly steady at the half hour mark, which is a good sign for potential audience retention next week.

Ultimately, I don't think this has much of an impact on VM either way.  It shows that pretty much anything put in that slot can get better retention out of GG than VM did, but The CW already knew that.  It's possible that if PCD had bombed, things might've looked up a bit for VM, but it's doubtful.  The rumor is that the show has already been cancelled.  I've heard that rumor from multiple sources, and I believe it.  Of course, at this point, that may just be wishful thinking on my part.

This started out as my overview of the 2006 Fall Season, but it turned into an overview of the last six years of network television.  So beware.

I haven’t even done my commentary on the new shows yet, and already the networks are canceling shows and giving the old back nine to others.  Heroes gets the distinction of being the first official pick-up, and it’s already been joined by Jericho and Ugly Betty. The winner of the dishonor of first cancellation is harder to call; Smith gets the official title, since it’s the first to be yanked from the schedule.  But it was a day earlier that NBC told the producers of Kidnapped to wrap up the storyline in 13 and then shipped it off to Saturday, the network equivalent of Hospice.  

Greetings, folkses.  Sorry I’ve been away for so long; I was actually hoping to kill this journal and the "depudor" identity altogether in favor of reinventing myself in a more anonymous fashion, but then I realized that I would rather just quit working in television and be able to post whatever the hell I want on the internet without fear of retribution.

So now that the new TV season is upon us, I have lots and lots of stuff to post, including my thoughts on all the new shows (hated them) as well as returning favorites: VM (yes, my love/hate lives on), GG (warning: I ‘ship Lorelai/Christopher all the way, and I loved the finale), The Office (which I must thank all of you kind people for getting me to check out – I got all caught up over the summer), and the wild card, The O.C., which I’ve rarely watched over the past couple seasons but predict (completely unspoiled) that it’s about to have the best season it’s ever had and will finally fulfill my dearest wish of a Ryan/Summer/Seth love triangle. (You didn’t think they killed off Marissa just because we hate her, did you?)

But before we get to that, I sold my soul to the devil so that I could get the Adults 18-34 demo ratings that the CW will be basing its decisions on, and I’ve been tracking them like crazy, because if there’s one thing I love as much as TV romances, its numbers on spreadsheets.  Beneath the cut you will find the demo ratings for all the CW shows that have premiered thus far, as well as my estimation of how VM will have to do to keep running with the pack.  You will also find the names of all the people currently on my ratings filter.  If your name isn’t there and you want it to be, please let me know, likewise if your name is there and you don’t want it to be, or if you’re waiting to be friended and would like a free opportunity to point out how rude I’ve been.  Future ratings posts will be filtered, since some of you can’t handle the truth.

I've watched the VM premiere on MSN but probably won't post my complete thoughts until after Tuesday, so if you don’t read TWoP and would like to see some of said thoughts, I’ve excerpted a post at rack_of_lamb. And while we’re on the subject, I should wish our Lambilicious community a happy birthday (Happy Birthday!) and point out that Michael Muhney is every species of awesome currently known to Man. 

And one other big shout-out to ladypuppy, my new best friend and, I believe, my first third-generation VM recruit, since I hooked playmayt, who in turn hooked her.  So I guess that makes her the Drusilla to my Darla. (Haha, Annette!  That makes you Angel, not Spike! :P)

OK, on to the serious stuff…