More news...
First from Fox as this broke just as I started to post this: "Dollhouse" will not get any more episodes this season. 13 and done. But Fox quickly said this DOES NOT mean the show is cancelled. It just means you all must sweat it out until sometime next year before a decision on the future is made. Again.

ABC has decided on the future of "Hank" at last...Like "Eastwick" yesterday, it gets Das Boot. Production halts after 10 episodes, which is last night. But the show is now off the schedule, as schedule changes mean various repeats Wednesdays at 8 PM ET starting next week. 5 episodes are left unaired.

The CW unveiled it's Monday schedule plans for midseason starting in January:
"Life UneXpected" premieres January 18 and will air Mondays at 9 PM ET. On March 8 it moves to 8 PM ET.
"Gossip Girl" goes on hiatus after January 11 and returns March 8.
"One Tree Hill" airs until March 1, then it goes on hiatus. It returns April 19.

Edit on Dollhouse: Despite what The futon critic said above, that's my original source by the way, Zap2it says in a brief posting the show is cancelled. I'll keep you posted.

2nd edit: Sorry, everyone but...it's now official. Cancelled. All 13 episodes this season will air as planned and that's it.

This message was edited by DCRage on Nov 11 2009.

In Friday news, the nightmare is finally over...well, for now. The cable network TLC is finally giving "Jon & Kate Plus 8" Das Boot. The show's final episode is November 23, then "Cake Boss" takes over, ending Jon & Kate's series after 5 seasons. Now the "for now" part: The planned "Kate Plus 8" re-branding won't happen but TLC is developing another show for Kate. Guess it's safe to say the L in TLC sure doesn't stand for "Learning" anymore. And TLC sure isn't Learning from the past.

Don't count on it yet.

Elsewhere, CBS announced what presumably is a one-time schedule change: "Three Rivers" and "Cold Case" will swap timeslots this Sunday only, meaning Case airs at 9 PM ET, Rivers at 10 PM ET. This is designed to see how Rivers fares at 10 instead of against "Desperate Housewives" and "Family Guy" at 9, but it also comes after Rivers did it's best numbers yet Sunday-8.45 million viewers and a 2.0 in 18-49. Case did 9.2 million viewers and 2.1 in the demo. It's assumed both will return to their regular timeslots on December 6 (they're pre-empted November 29 for a Hallmark movie).

Obituary: Rumors over the weekend that Ken Ober, the comedian best known as host of the MTV game show "Remote Control" from the 1980s, was dead have been confirmed. Ober passed away over the weekend at 52. No other details available. Remote Control aired on MTV from 1987-1989 and was a popular game show based around TV, it even spawned an NES video game. I myself was a fan of the show even though I was only 10 or so at the time. Those chairs and what happened when contestants were eliminated was so cool.

In cable news, Syfy announced a schedule change for after New Year's: The new series "Caprica", the prequel to "Battlestar galactica", will now air Fridays at 9 PM ET following the 2-hour premiere on January 22. The original plan was to air Caprica Fridays at 10 PM ET. That timeslot will now be filled by "Warehouse 13" repeats.

11/18 edit: Some ratings notes from last night...
Heather Locklear finally returned to "Melrose Place" last night. Did it help the show? The CW says yes. The truth is no. It was up 33% in the target women 18-49 demo, but was still off 30% from it's 90210 lead-in and the total viewership was only 1.5 million. That's a gain of only a few viewers. 18-49 was up a bit, but to only a .8. So let's just play it safe and say Push.
On ABC, episode 3 of "V" continued the show's trend of dropping ratings. Down to 9.3 million and 3.1 in 18-49. The demo number is down nearly 40% from the premiere.

This message was edited by DCRage on Nov 18 2009.

More ABC news:
The Alphabet announced a schedule change of sorts: When it returns for it's final season in February, "Lost" will be in yet another new timeslot-Tuesdays at 9 PM ET. The 6th & final season is to begin February 2 with a clip show at 8 PM ET then a 2-hour epsiode, then it will return to 1 hour and it's regular timeslot the week after. This is leading to rumors that "V" will move to Tuesdays at 10 PM ET when it returns from hiatus, due to be in March. It was about all that could work now-ABC didn't want to break up the Wednesday comedy block, Monday is Dancing & The Bachelor, and the Lost executive producers didn't want a 10 PM ET timeslot, so no Thursdays. So it's Tuesday, which is good and bad: The good-it fills the weak link in ABC's schedule. The bad: It goes up against the Olympics when it returns...and The Juggernaut.

And although no announcement has been made, future listings indicate that, not surprisingly, ABC has renewed Dancing for a 10th season, scheduled to premiere in March.

And some schedule changes/notes from NBC:
"Chuck" returns January 10. It premieres with 2 episodes on Sunday that night at 9 PM ET, then movse to it's regular timeslot-Mondays at 8 PM ET-the next night. A reminder that the plan for this season is 19 episodes as NBC ordered 6 more episodes a few weeks back.
"Heroes" moves to Mondays at 9 PM ET on January 11 after 2 new episodes on January 4.

Late item that's going to send ripples through the TV world whether you care or not: September 9, 2011 reportedly will be the final episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show". Rumor is the long-running and top-rated daytime talk show, airing in syndication, will end on that date after 25 years. Expect an announcement tomorrow.

This message was edited by DCRage on Nov 19 2009.

Early Friday news:
Man, NBC clearly has lost it this season. First they give "Trauma" Das Boot and now guess what? They've Un-Das Booted it! They now say the show WILL NOT be cancelled...in fact, it's being renewed! The report is that in addition to the 13 original episodes all being produced as planned, NBC is now going to order more episodes. How many is not yet known but the number I'm hearing is 3 for a total of 16 episodes. What saved it, you ask? Stop me if you've heard this before-ratings. They weren't the best but since the cancellation rumors and announcements they've been going up. The show is still going in hiatus after the holidays as there won't be room for it on Monday when Chuck returns, so it's probably off until spring.

A bit of Monday news:
ABC has shut down production on "Cougar Town" for now. They claim it's to allow star Courteney Cox to attend to "private family matters". No word on how long the hiatus will last, although the show is to go on hiatus airing-wise next week, that should be for a month. Also no word on how many episodes are ready to go if it becomes a long hiatus.

Ratings-wise, the results of CBS's one-time swap of "Cold Case" and "Three Rivers", likely a last-ditch attempt to save Rivers from Das Boot, are in...Push. The numbers are skewed again thanks to NFL overruns but early estimates are 9.2 million for Case with a 2.0 in 18-49, down just a tick from last week, with a half-hour of Rivers doing 7.7 million and a 1.6 18-49, matching a series low in the demo. The American Music Awards on ABC had it's best numbers in years-14.2 million-but NBC still edged out a win with NFL even though only 15.5 million watched Philly-Chicago.

In cable news, USA has renewed the popular comedy series "Psych" for a 5th season of 16 episodes. It's done solid ratings so far but faces a tough challenge when it returns for the second half of season 4, expected to be in January-no "Monk" as a lead-in. Monk is to wrap up it's 8th and final season in December. Psych is expected to stay in the Friday 10 PM timeslot but that's not confirmed. The rumored return date is January 29.

TBA. USA hasn't finalized the schedule yet but I think it's going to be some form of original programming. If there's one thing that might help Psych in terms of scheduling that week, it's that USA is also bringing back "Burn Notice" the night before, it's scheduled to come off hiatus on January 28. Of course when I hear anything I'll post it here.

This message was edited by DCRage on Nov 24 2009.

Tuesday news:
ABC has halted production on "Flash Forward" for a short time. They claim this was pre-planned before the show's launch although the ratings haven't been good-they have steadily declined since a solid premiere. "They want to maintain the high quality of the show, and this gives the writers the opportunity to do so," an ABC rep told Variety. Production is to resume next Monday (11/30). Ratings-wise, it has lost more than 33% of it's premiere crowd and 40% of it's 18-49 demo, which is red flag territory (meaning in danger of Das Boot). And this announcement comes after the last episode hit new lows with 8 million viewers and a 2.4 18-49. As far as production goes, it has 3 completed episodes left to air and when it resumes, they'll start at episode 13. Schedule-wise, one more episode is to air next week then it goes on hiatus until after the holidays.

Elsewhere, ABC has spun some more DVR/Tivo date because DVRs boosted the "V" premiere to final numbers of 16.7 million viewers and a 6.2 18-49 rating. The original numbers were about 14 million and 5.2. But even with that, factor DVRs in and it's still off 30-40% since the premiere. The show goes on hiatus after tonight and is to return in March.

In "this should be no surprise" news, the cable network FX has already scored the basic cable rights to the "Twilight" movies. The deal includes all 4 movies, including 2 yet to hit theaters (the 4th film is only planned). The deal is for the standard 10-12% total box office take for the films...which, if we do some MMAth, will probably wind up being around $100 million. Twilight can premiere on FX in late '11, New Moon in late '12, "Eclipse" (#3 in the series) in '13 (it hits theaters in June '10). This is only for basic cable, the pay cable rights have already gone to Showtime.

TNT also confirmed return dates for several of it's shows, of interest to most here is that "Southland" is confirmed for Tuesdays at 10 PM ET starting January 12. The first season will air first with the new episodes that were to have made up the second season scheduled to begin airing on March 2. After that a decision will be made regarding the future of the show on TNT.

More news:
Fox has made it's first midseason schedule change: "Fringe" is going on hiatus for 7 weeks. It's believed to start February 11 and the series should return April 1. It's understood the hiatus is designed to ensure the series will run repeat free in 2010 (although it's bordering on being a big ratings bust this season too). Fox plans to launch midseason drama "Past Life" during the hiatus. It's believed to be a 2-hour premiere then air Thursdays at 9 PM ET for 5 of the following 6 weeks, with the show bumped that one other week for Idol. Shouldn't be a big surprise, first Fox announced Past Life would get the primo post-Idol Tuesday timeslot, then Fox cut the order from 13 episodes to 7, now this. Just another day at The Fox. Speaking of which, The Fox now likely won't announce it's midseason schedule until probably next week. It was originally set for about now.

Quick ratings notes from Monday: New ABC series "Find My Family" premiered to 12.9 million viewers last night, but only a 2.9 18-49 rating. Dancing gave it a lead-in of nearly 20.5 million. It helepd ABC win the night in total viewers but CBS won 18-49, and of note was for the first time, "The Big Bang Theory" actually improved on it's "Two And A Half Men" lead-in among total viewers, not just 18-49. It won the night in the demo and trailed only Dancing in total viewers with 14.2 million. No doubt it was helped by everyone's (certainly my) favorite Cylon-frakking femme fatale, "Battlestar Galactica" alum Katee Sackhoff, making a guest appearance last night. Sadly, I missed it...damn 9:30 PM timeslot. It's past my bedtime.
(Fox was 2nd in 18-49 last night and 3rd in viewers, NBC was a distant 4th in both. The CW went with repeats)

This message was edited by DCRage on Nov 24 2009.

That's Fox for you.

Speaking of Fox, they did announce their midseason schedule yesterday. I'll post the full schedule later today but here are some highlights:
"24" returns January 17 with a 4 hour premiere over 2 nights.

The Idol Juggernaut returns January 18.

The 450th episode of "The Simpsons" airs January 10.

Lie To Me, 'Til Death and American Dad all will go on hiatus at some point.

Dollhouse ends January 22.

Notable schedule changes:
Glee gets the post-Idol Tuesday timeslot in April.
New series "Our Little Genius" and "Human Target" get the Wednesday post-Idol timeslot, although Genius gets it for only one week.
The Cleveland Show moves to Sundays at 9:30 PM ET starting March 14.
A Simpsons 20th anniversary special scheduled for January 14 will now air January 10.

Full schedule later.

OK, here is Fox's full midseason schedule:

Mondays
January 4: Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
January 11: TBA
January 18: 24 (Night 2 of 2-night 4-hour season premiere)

Starting January 25:
8 PM ET-House
9 PM ET-24

Tuesdays
January 5: FedEx Orange Bowl
January 12: Idol (Part 1 of season premiere)

Starting January 19:
8 PM ET-Idol
9 PM ET-Our Little Genuis

Starting April 13:
8 PM ET-Idol
9 PM ET-Glee (new timeslot)

Wednesdays
January 13:
8 PM ET-Idol (part 2 of season premiere)
9 PM ET-Our Little Genius (premiere)

Starting January 20:
8 PM ET-Idol
9 PM ET-Human Target

Thursdays
January 14-February 4:
8 PM ET-Bones
9 PM ET-Fringe (last episode before hiatus)

February 11: Past Life (2 hour premiere)

Starting February 18:
8 PM ET-Bones
9 PM ET-Past Life

Starting April 1:
8 PM ET-Bones
9 PM ET-Fringe (returns from hiatus)

Fridays
January 1: Allstate Sugar Bowl

January 8-22:
8 PM ET-Bones repeats
9 PM ET-Dollhouse (ends January 22)

Starting January 29:
8 PM ET-Bones repeats
9 PM ET-Kitchen Nightmares

Saturdays
No changes

Sundays
January 10:
8 PM ET-The Simpsons 450th episode
8:30 PM ET-The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special In 3D! On Ice!
9:30 PM ET-The Cleveland Show

January 17:
4 PM ET-NFL Playoffs-NFC Divisional Round
8 PM ET-Human Target (Preview)
9 PM ET-24 (Night 1 of 2-night 4-hour season premiere)

January 24: NFL Playoffs-NFC Championship

Starting January 31:
No changes (FYI: CBS has the Super Bowl this season)

Starting March 14:
8 PM ET-The Simpsons
8:30 PM ET-Sons Of Tucson
9 PM ET-Family Guy
9:30 PM ET-The Cleveland Show (new timeslot)

Notes:
Lie To Me returns in late spring.
No return date for 'Til Death. If it returns this time.
No return date for American Dad after March 7.

This message was edited by DCRage on Nov 25 2009.

Other news...
Fox has given "Lie To Me" the "back 9" for a full 2nd season of 22 episodes. It's been struggling a little in ratings this season despite having House as a lead-in.

The season 5 finale of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" Sunday night drew 1.3 million viewers on HBO. That's the best season finale numbers for the series. No word on if this is it for the series, star/creator Larry David typically waits several months to decide if he has enough material for another season.

Fox is now projected to win the November Sweeps in the 18-49 demo for the first time ever. It's currently averaging a 3.6 rating in the demo thanks in large part to the World Series and NFL. If you take out sports then ABC would likely win. It's currently 2nd by .1 ratings point over CBS. NBC will finish 4th and of course The CW last.

USA also confirmed what had been rumored for a while now-"Burn Notice" gets a 4th season.

This message was edited by DCRage on Nov 25 2009.

Plenty of post-holiday news:
If you missed it earlier this week, another Obama primetime address this coming Tuesday, which means schedule changes, here's what's known so far (the address is scheduled for 8 PM ET):
ABC: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" likely will be pre-empted. Another airing is scheduled for December 8 at 8 PM ET. A Disney special, "Scrubs" and "The Forgotten" likely will air as scheduled starting at 8:30 PM ET.

CBS: An "NCIS" repeat will air at 8:30 PM ET, then a "Two And A Half Men" repeat at 9:30 PM ET and the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at 10 PM ET. No "NCIS LA", which would've been a repeat.

NBC: One hour of news coverage here instead of 30 minutes. "The Biggest Loser" will then air at 9 PM ET and be 2 hours as usual, so no Jay Leno at 10 PM ET for the first time.

Fox: TBA, but expect business as usual meaning "So You Think You Can Dance".

The CW: Business as usual, meaning "90210" and "Melrose Place".

The cable network USA also is making some surprise schedule changes for midseason:
The biggest change is when "Psych" returns it will move to Wednesdays at 10 PM ET. It usually aired on Fridays at 9 PM ET. "White Collar" will move from Fridays at 10 PM ET to Tuesdays at 10 PM ET, and "Burn Notice" will stay on Thursdays, but move from 9 PM ET to 10 PM ET. Said lineup will give USA original scripted programming at 10:00/9:00c on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The news marks a significant shift from the network's usual drama homes which have been limited to Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays in recent years.

Damnit, I liked Psych being on Fridays with Monk (which ends in a couple weeks ). I guess they're showing movies on Friday nights?