It's A Dancing Frog--With A Really Big Eye

So I haven't posted in a while--work, as well as limited internet access, hamper such things--but the news that UPN and WB are merging to form The CW (standing for CBS-Warner, as media giant Viacom owns both UPN and CBS) is too big to go unnoted.

I think this is a smart move for both networks. Neither network has a full, seven-day, prime-time schedule. Many of the programs that "made" the WB are now gone or leaving (I'm thinking of Dawson's Creek, Buffy and Angel, and Seventh Heaven), and the ones that have replaced them (Gilmore, Everwood, One Tree Hill, Smallville) bring in big ratings but uneven quality. UPN's schedule has been, by and large, a black hole for years--but they've still got the best show on tv right now, 'Veronica Mars,'(1) and one of the funniest, 'Everybody Hates Chris.'(2) Aside from that, are you watching 'South Beach?' Or 'Cuts?'

Luckily for fans of 'Mars' and 'Chris,' both those shows are successful enough that they'll find a slot on the new network. CBS honcho Les Moonves (a guy I'm very conflicted about--he backed 'ER' and 'Friends,' but also 'CSI' and now eschews long-form storytelling. And then there are his ideas about how to get people to watch the network news again--by making it less info and more tainment.) mentioned 'Veronica' by name in the press conference, saying he'd like to do a night of 'Gilmore' and then 'Veronica,' which could work out really well. (Although I do wonder how the sweet and sincere tone of 'Gilmore' would lead into the "let's call our child abuse episode 'Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner'!" insanity of 'Veronica Mars."

The new network means more publicity on CBS and elsewhere, which means that shows like "Chris" and "Mars" truly have a chance to compete on the network level. On the other hand, competing on that level is going to raise expectations, which could lead to cancellation.

And shows like those don't deserve to go the way of Freaks and Geeks.

1. New episodes start tonight. You better watch. Or I will find you.

2. I watch 'Arrested Development' on DVD, so the funniest show on tv right now for my money has to be 'Scrubs.' I'm still trying to decide what was funnier last night: the gospel rendition of "Payback's a bitch," or the very-meta end, with Lawyer Ted's acapella band doing the folk-ukelalie version of 'Over The Rainbow.'