CBS has four new shows. ABC is in a rebuilding mode with adding ten shows. NBC is adding six shows. FOX is adding three new shows.  The CW is adding three, including a reboot of the 1980s series starring Linda Hamilton, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

Other new shows include a 1960s (as if THE PLAYBOY CLUB and PAN-AM worked) series called VEGAS starring Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis. Set in 1960s Las Vegas, the series is partially based on the Sheriff Ralph Lamb, a fourth generation rancher tasked with bringing order to the city. The series will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on CBS.

Also on CBS is the series ELEMENTARY. As in “Elementary by dear Watson.” Yep, CBS is adding another Sherlock Holmes series to the mix. Jonny Lee Miller stars as Sherlock Holmes,  who tackles the NYPD’s toughest crimes. Along for the ride is Dr. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu).  The set up puts a spin on the famous gumshoe. After a fall from grace in London and a short stint in rehab, Holmes lands in New York City.

Dick Wolf returns to NBC with the series CHICAGO FIRE. The series focuses on the firefighters and paramedics in Firehouse 55. Think bits of the movie BACKDRAFT with the drama of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES.

NBC is also adding the sci fi series, REVOLUTION, to mix of new shows. Set 15 years after the world goes dark, the series follows a super secret military outfit searching for two brothers who know more about what led to the electric grid going kaput. J.J. Abrams created the series.

Check out Zap2It.com for the complete schedule break-down.

On the move

To make room for the new series, the networks have moved around shows. The biggest move is perhaps CBS’s decision to move TWO AND A HALF MEN from Mondays to Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. The move is no doubt to help boost the series’ ratings with its lead in of THE BIG BANG THEORY. In other CBS moves, THE MENTALIST is moving to Sundays at 10 p.m. to take over the spot vacated by CSI: MIAMI. CSI: NEW YORK is moving to 8 p.m. on Fridays.

ABC has made some schedule changes as well. REVENGE will move from its Wednesday night spot to Sundays at 9 p.m.

Goodnight and good luck

CBS was in a rock in a hard place when it came to scheduling decisions. CSI: MIAMI performed better in the demos, CBS chose to keep CSI: NEW YORK instead. Which is smart because now they can run promos calling Fridays “New York Fridays.” The cancellations of A GIFTED MAN (which did well for a Friday) and UNFORGETTABLE came as no surprise. Nor did the cancellation of the mid-season series NYC 22. When you’re the top network, its difficult to open spots for incoming shows.

ABC bid farewell to DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES.

Season finale round up

ABC’s CASTLE surely is going to leave fans wondering what will happen when the series returns for its fifth season. When the finale aired, Esposito was on suspension, Beckett resigned from the force, Alexis graduated from high school, and well… after turning in her gold shield, Beckett paid a visit to Castle. Let’s just say, the moment that Caskett (or is that Beckle) fans have been waiting for presumably happened.

NCIS ended with a bang. The domestic terrorist Duerring planted a bomb in a SVU that Director Vance parked right outside of Abby’s lab. Well, at the end we see all our major characters: Vance, McGee, Tony and Ziva (in an elevator), Gibbs and Abby becoming victims of the bomb blast. Meanwhile, on a beach, Ducky gets the phone call about what happened and he collapses, suffering a heart attack.

NCIS: LA ended with G killing a man in cold blood before the news media. It ends with him shoved into the back of a squad car and Hetty (again) turning in her resignation.

CSI ends with several major characters in turmoil as a big bad squares off against the team. If there was ever a time to bring Grissom and Katherine back–this would be it for at least one or two episodes.

BONES ends with Temperance one the lam with the kid after she she is framed for murder. Booth is not in on this as he would lose his job as an FBI agent.

CRIMINAL MINDS ended on a somewhat happy note but it also see the departure of Paget Brewster who left the series for a second time as she presumably takes a position at INTERPOL.

HAWAII FIVE-O saw the death of Tom Sizemore’s character and the possibly death of two more characters while McGarrett gets the shock of a lifetime: he sees his mother, whom he thought was dead. Danny is going to fight to keep custody of his daughter after his wife is going to move off the island with her husband.

This fall, I’ll begin a new journey. One that’ll hopefully broaden my horizons and at least make feel like I’m doing something worthwhile.

That journey?

A Master of Arts in History. No, I’m not moving anywhere. I found a university in Kansas that offers the degree online with the opportunity to move there if I desire later on in my academic studies.

The future holds a bit of a quandary for me as I continue to search for a solid job that pays decently that’ll allow me to dig myself out of this mess that I’m currently in and one that’ll allow me to continue my studies without causing a lot of stress on the home life.

As for what I’ll do with a degree in Masters, I’ll go into teaching. Something of which I’ve always thought about but never really gave it much consideration until I started getting involved in academics again. That said, I feel as though I can help mold the future leaders into being solid citizens by knowing a bit about their past. After all, we can never truly move forward unless we know how we arrived at the place of where we are today.

Throughout my years of education, I’ve had the opportunity to meet several wonderful teachers who’ve inspired me. From Mr. Green and Mrs. Berry in elementary school,  Mr. Gleissner middle school, Mr. Wilkinson and Ms. Kizer in high school and lastly, to the two people who made remember why history was so much fun in the first place, Dr. Z and Dr. N in college. They’ve made me realize my potential as a writer and as a scholar. They’ve been my supporters and when I needed a knock on the head to get myself straightened out, they did so with words of encouragement.

O’Donnell quickly learned that sometimes less is more and audiences avoided her talk show like it was the plague.

While it is hard for a new network to get a corner in an already crowed market, O’Donnell’s show was pegged early on as a show that’ll help the network. In fact, within three episodes the talk show lost nearly half its audience.

Over the past few weeks rumors started floating around that O’Donnell had put her Chicago area home up for sale and wanted to move the show back to New York. There were also stories of staff troubles with many Harpo Studio staff leaving the company after many years of loyal service because of O’Donnell’s demanding attitude. Can’t win favor with the crew if you’re yelling at people for no reason.

O’Donnell’s personality no doubt played a role in that.

OWN is on borrowed time, much like Oprah Winfrey’s earlier venture into owning a cable network. A few years ago, Winfrey and others sold the Oxygen Network to NBC Universal when the network failed to materialize up to their expectations.

Growing up in Indiana most folks assume you love basketball. After all, I have a connection to one of the best beloved basketball stories of all time when Milan High School beat Muncie Central for the state championship. My guidance counselor for my freshman year in high school was Marvin Wood, the coach of the Milan team.

I grew up playing basketball–I played in elementary school but didn’t continue because I was too short and not fast enough. That didn’t stop me from playing hoops at a neighbor’s house whenever I could.

However, basketball is hardly a favorite sport nowadays.

The only two sports that I watch religiously are baseball and auto racing. Everything else is usually the big match-ups or the championship games. When it comes to NCAA March Madness–I’m tuned in with my bracket. I usually do somewhat decent on my brackets–though those Cinderella teams often bust ‘em right in the very beginning.

This year I picked Duke and North Carolina to go to the final game with Duke coming out on top.

Sadly, I think Notre Dame is going to get knocked out in the third as they’ll have face off against Duke. I have Indiana making it into the Sweet Sixteen before Kentucky bumps the Hoosiers off.

My NCAA Men’s bracket

Everyone knows the economy is tough, but is it so tough that people are willing to raid the shelves at the local Wal*Mart for Tide to trade on the black market or on the streets? According to police in Minnesota, that’s exactly what is happening.

In what has to come from the News of the Weird files, there’s been a rampant crime spree involving Tide. Yes, Tide, the laundry detergent. The story is not all the baffling to cops, however, as they say the thefts are connected to the drug trade. Strange as it seems, Tide apparently has a high black market value (as if it’s not expensive already) whereby junkies will steal the popular detergent and in return sell or trade it to dealers to feed their habit.

Laugh all you want, but businesses lose millions of dollars each year to shoplifting. It results in higher costs to the consumer and forces businesses to beef up security. The next time you see someone walking down the aisle at the local supermarket with a bunch of Tide in their cart–alert store officials.

The Bild is equal to something of a National Enquirer, Globe, etc. here in the United States, or its cousins in the U.K. The Mirror and The Sun.

Read more:http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/09/10626219-top-german-paper-bild-takes-topless-women-off-front-page

It was the first of many feats for the NASA space program leading up the July 20, 1969 moon landing.

More about the Mercury program

The Mercury program included 20 unmanned flights with two suborbital and four orbital flights with astronauts. The first unmanned space flight came on May 5, 1961. Two years later, Gordon Cooper became the first American to spend one day in space and completed 22 orbits of the Earth. Cooper was also the last astronaut to fly in space solo. It was also the last flight of the Mercury program.

All over the news this morning, Phil’s human handlers boasted that he’s been right for 125 years straight. He’s never been wrong in his forecast. It turns that an ABC report reveals just how wrong Phil is when it comes to his yearly predication.

According to the National Climatic Data Center, no correlation exists between Phil and the actual weather over the next six weeks. Take a look at the data for yourself. More often than not, Phil is wrong.

I take comfort in the fact that Phil is wrong. And really, it is six weeks to spring either way. So there!

P.S. I know you are just shattered to know that regardless of what Phil says, spring is just a mere six weeks away. I feel for you. I remember how I felt when the story of Princess Mishawaka was a complete lie.

But anyways. This weekend is the not-so final Xena convention in Burbank, California. I’ve been to three conventions in the Southern California area. It’s no-so final because Creation Entertainment had a change of heart and decided that it was best not to end the convention. I think it was the thought of having nearly 1,000 Xenites crushing you with cries of disappointment that made them change their mind. Xenites can be very persuasive you know. Even when they’re not cosplaying.

Getting back on topic, you know it’s a Xena convention weekend when the forums and mailing lists (yes, they still exist) come to a grinding stop. I feel like I’m talking to myself on my Xena board. Nearly 65 members (that’s like like 3/4 of the semi-daily posters on the board) are off at the Xena convention this weekend.

But the fact that I’m not at the convention (and missing the awesomeness that exists at these things), I already know that while I’m missing a special moment. I can also effectively figure out the questions (asked a million times before) generally receive the same answers (a million times over). But there is the occasional awesome sound byte that rues the weekend.

This one came from Ted Raimi. Ted is known for being a great presence on stage at these things and he usually is one of more entertaining guests that you know never know what you’re going to get from him.

The audience wanted him to sing The Joxer the Mighty Song. (See clip at the end of this post). To which Ted lovingly responded: Fuck off.

Why is that such a awesome sound-byte? Because it is about the only time anyone can tell anyone to “fuck off” and make the audience erupt with laughter. Now that is what I call awesome.

(Sorry about the poor video quality. I wish people would learn to do videos without the episode audio…)

Joxer the Mighty song