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

Have a Burning Question for Team Darlton, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, or Michael Emerson?

Lost fans: you don't have to make your way to the island via Ajira Airways in order to ask a question of the creative team or the series' stars. Televisionary is taking questions from fans to put to Lost 's executive producers/showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and stars Matthew Fox ("Jack Shephard"), Evangeline Lilly ("Kate Austen"), and Michael Emerson ("Benjamin Linus") for a series of on-camera interviews taking place this weekend. If you have a specific question for any of the above producers or actors from Lost , please leave it in the comments section below . I'll be accepting questions until midnight PT tonight and, while I can't promise I'll be able to ask any specific inquiry due to the brevity of these on-camera interviews, I am looking for some insightful and thought-provoking questions to add to the mix. So who knows: your burning question might get asked after all.

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What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

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Pilot Inspektor: CBS' "Smith"

I may just have to change my original "What I'll Be Watching This Fall" post, as I sat down and finally watched CBS' new crime drama Smith this weekend. (What? It's taken me a long time to make my way through the stack of pilot DVDs.) While it's on following Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesday nights (10 pm ET/PT, to be exact), I'm going to be sure to leave enough room on my TiVo to make sure that I catch this compelling, amoral drama. While one can't help but be impressed by what might just be the most marquee-friendly cast in primetime--Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, and Franky G all star and Shohreh Aghdashloo has a recurring role--the pilot's premise alone earned major points in my book: it's a crime drama from the point of view of the criminals, who engage in high-stakes heists. But don't be alarmed; it's nothing like NBC's short-lived Heist . Instead, think of it as The Italian

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