Television -- you know, that big dusty thing in the living room you used to watch in the good old days of 2007, before everything turned into reruns and reality shows -- is slowly coming back to life. The first show to return with new material since the Hollywood writers strike was settled last week will be The CW's sitcom Aliens in America, which kicks off a run of eight original episodes on March 2. By April, most programs that are coming back this season will be on the air. The initial wave of returning shows will be sitcoms, which are produced with a shorter lead time, The dramas won't begin showing up until late March.
Here's a list of announced returns:
March 2: Aliens in America (The CW).
March 3: Everybody Hates Chris (The CW).
March 17: How I Met Your Mother (CBS); The Big Bang Theory (CBS); Two and a Half Men (CBS).
March 23: The Game (The CW)
March 24: CSI: Miami (CBS)
March 30: Cold Case (CBS)
April 2: Criminal Minds (CBS); CSI: New York (CBS)
April 3: My Name Is Earl (NBC); CSI (CBS); Without a Trace (CBS)
April 4: Ghost Whisperer (CBS); Numb3rs (CBS)
April 8: NCIS (CBS)
April 10: The Office (NBC); 30 Rock (NBC); Scrubs (NBC)
April 11: Moonlight (CBS)
April 14: One Tree Hill (The CW); Rules of Engagement (CBS)
April 15: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC)
April 21: Gossip Girl (The CW)April 22: Reaper (The CW); Law & Order (NBC)
April 24: Supernatural (The CW)
Fox and ABC still haven't issued comprehensive lists of post-strike programming, although ABC will present new episodes of Desperate Housewives and Lost this spring, and Fox its sitcom Back to You.
Some shows won't be back. The CW has canceled entertainment-news program CW Now and sitcom Girlfriends (although it may return for a single retrospective show). And the network hasn't ordered new episodes of family-on-safari drama Life Is Wild, an ominous sign.
NBC, on the other hand, has announced that its first-year dramas Chuck and Life won't be back this spring but have been renewed for the fall. Same goes for Fox's 24.
Other shows renewed for next season: ABC's Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Samantha Who? and Ugly Betty; CBS' The Big Bang Theory, Cold Case, Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, Numb3rs, Two and a Half Men, Without a Trace, and all 300 versions of CSI.
-- GLENN
GARVIN
