Nine-"30 Rock": NBC Swaps "Scrubs" Timeslot for Tracy Jordan and Co.

There might only be three all-new installments of 30 Rock left this season (the truncated season is, of course, due to the strike), but that doesn't mean I can't get behind NBC's decision to shift the hilarious and subversive comedy series to a later timeslot.

Beginning this week, 30 Rock will move from its 8:30 pm home to a 9:30 pm berth, directly behind The Office. I am sure NBC is hoping that the ratings of the (lately) inferior Office will create a halo effect for 30 Rock and viewers will stick around for the travails of Liz Lemon and the TGS staffers.

I am also sure that NBC was a little concerned that the return of original episodes of Ugly Betty over on ABC might, er, unduly influence the ratings and put 30 Rock in a precipitous position. Sure, the timeslot change puts them opposite ratings powerhouse Grey's Anatomy, but I feel like that series' audience is different than that for 30 Rock.

Personally, I think it's great news. I've been saving 30 Rock for after The Office the last two weeks anyway, just in case I got disappointed by The Office and needed cheering up. (Believe me, this week I definitely needed it.)

And Thursdays are getting very crowded, starting this week, what with Ugly Betty at 8 pm, The Office and 30 Rock snugly at 9 pm, and Lost at 10 pm. Moving 30 Rock means less conflict. For me, anyway.

As Tracy Jordan might say: Thank you, NBC, for coming up with a Thursday night schedule that is pretty attuned to my unique way of life.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Big Bang Theory/How I Met Your Mother (CBS); Deal or No Deal (NBC; 8-10 pm); Gossip Girl (CW); Dancing With the Stars (ABC; 8-9:30 pm); Bones (FOX)

9 pm: Two and a Half Men/Rules of Engagement (CBS); One Tree Hill (CW); Samantha Who? (ABC; 9:30-10 pm); House (FOX)

10 pm: CSI Miami (CBS); Medium (NBC); The Bachelor: London Calling (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Gossip Girl.

The naughty teen soap returns tonight with a brand new episode! On tonight's episode ("The Blair Bitch Project"), a dethroned Blair tries to find the strength to return to school while Jenny tries find a way to have her wallet keep up with the financial demands of being popular.

Comments

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In Defense of Downton Abbey (Or, Don't Believe Everything You Read)

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Which means, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute, that in order to judge something, one ought to experience it first hand. One can't know how the pudding has turned out until one actually tastes it. I was asked last week--while I was on vacation with my wife--for an interview by a journalist from The Daily Mail, who got in touch to talk to me about PBS' upcoming launch of ITV's period drama Downton Abbey , which stars Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Elizabeth McGovern, and a host of others. (It launches on Sunday evening as part of PBS' Masterpiece Classic ; my advance review of the first season can be read here , while my interview with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and stars Dan Stevens and Hugh Bonneville can be read here .) Normally, I would have refused, just based on the fact that I was traveling and wasn't working, but I love Downton Abbey and am so enchanted with the proj...

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