Sweeping changes for February TV

• Share
  • Email
  • Digg
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Buzz up!
  • Del.icio.us
  • Reddit
  • Newsvine
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google
• Print
• Comments (0)
• Feeds
  • PopMatters
  • Watch
  • PopWire

How’s this for brilliant: The Nielsen ratings service moved the traditional February ratings period (or “sweep”) to March because of the digital TV transition ... that’s now happening in June.

And thus, for the second year in a row, February sweeps is screwed up for no good reason. Last year it was the unnecessary writers’ strike, brought on by corporate greed, that resulted in reality shows like “Big Brother” and walking-dead shows like “Welcome to the Captain” and “quarterlife” being parked in the spaces reserved for first-run episodes of first-rate scripted shows.

Things won’t be that bad this year, but they won’t be that great, either, as the networks have pushed a lot of the good stuff into March.

Until then, the highlights for the shortest month include:

The Grammys (8 tonight, CBS). I think this is a nice gesture: Every winner tonight will have one copy of his or her new album downloaded at full price on iTunes.

“The Big Bang Theory” (8 p.m. Monday, CBS) introduces Christine Baranski as Leonard’s mom, which is a big deal to groupies of TV producers - “Big Bang’s” co-producer, Chuck Lorre, worked with Baranski on “Cybill.” Then at 7:30, another entertaining mature woman, Frances Conroy of “Six Feet Under” fame, appears as Barney’s mom on “How I Met Your Mother.”

Also on Monday, “Worst Week” (9:30 p.m., CBS) wraps up a brilliant, rerun-free first season with an episode titled, “The Epidural,” which suggests that Jamie’s birth will hurt so much it’s funny.

“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” moves to 8 p.m. Fridays on Fox beginning this week, followed by the new series “Dollhouse” at 9.

“Chuck” (Feb. 16, NBC) moves into “Andy Barker, P.I.‘s” neighborhood, apparently, as Chuck (Zachary Levi) must stake out a quiet suburban block inhabited by guest stars Andy Richter and Jenny McCarthy.

“ER” (Feb. 19, NBC) marks the return of Noah Wyle, as the storied medical drama gets the band back together for one last bow before signing off.

The Oscars (Feb. 22, ABC) should help answer this future trivia question: What movie won Best Picture the year that Clint Eastwood’s most popular and beloved movie was snubbed by the academy?

“The Bachelor: The Ladies Tell All” (Feb. 23, ABC). With not one but two bachelorettes from Kansas City spurned by current hunk Jason Mesnick, this look-back special should be interesting for once.

“Frontline” on Feb. 24 (PBS) is titled simply, “Ten Trillion and Counting.” This would be the one TV newsmagazine that could make sense of our national debt, which is rivaled only in its absurdity by Zimbabwe’s new $1 note (which is worth $1 trillion of that country’s old dollar notes).