The 2007-08 TV Season

The major television networks - and the CW - have announced their fall programming lineups, and some surprises abound. NBC, still trying to recover from the ratings disaster that began after "Friends" went off the air," is actually bringing back "The Bionic Woman" - presumably, with someone other than Lindsay Wagner in the title role - and those who miss it can see it on the Sci-Fi Channel on cable at a different time. Meanwhile, Jerry Seinfeld returns to NBC nine years after his self-titled sitcom ended to produce live-action comedy episodes based on an animated movie he's making. It will most likely be a limited run, so he escapes any talk of the "Seinfeld" curse applying to his very self. (As for the Thursday night sitcoms on right now, they're all staying put. So is "ER," a show that has lasted longer than the Republican majorities in Congress did.)

Speaking of "Seinfield" alumni, Julia Louis-Dreyfus got some good news and bad news about "The New Adventures of Old Christine." Though the series won her an Emmy and though it's genuinely funnier than any post-"Seinfeld" show from Jason Alexander, it got picked up as a midseason replacement only. The news for fans of "How I Met Your Mother" - including me - is nothing but good, as that show got renewed for a third season despite rumors that CBS leader Les Moonves wanted it canceled due to his personal distaste for the show. Wiser heads prevailed. "Jericho," the nuclear holocaust drama, got cancelled because of lost momentum due to too many reruns during the season. "Can" brings back the always excellent Jimmy Smits in a drama about a power Cuban-American family in Portland, Oregon. (Okay, it's really set in Miami, but I just wanted to see if you were paying attention.)

Most ABC favorites are returning, with Wednesday nights devoted entirely to new dramas: "Pushing Daisies," a supernatural thriller of sorts, "Private Practice," yet another doctor series, and "Dirty Sexy Money," whose title explains it all.

Fox, meanwhile surprised me with picking a new sitcom starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton as co-anchors of a local broadcast news show in "Back To You," the kind of show I wouldn't expect Kelsey Grammer to bother with. If this series is a hit, Grammer will have had three successful sitcoms in a row, practically unheard of these days. Not surprising is the cancellation of "The Wedding Bells," a comedy-drama about a trio of wedding planner sisters that only lasted two months. The idea and the writing were so bad, and the set was so devoid of any style, that even Teri Polo couldn't save it. This is perhaps the fourth failed series she's done, and I doubt I would have watched this one even once if she hadn't been in it.

I think she needs a new agent.

The less said about the CW, the better. :-p "Everybody Hates Chris" will be back, that's all you need to know. ;-)