Brace yourselves for the post-strike rush

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We’ve got a full-column edition of What’d They Do to My Show? today because - and here’s the good news - there’s lots of new TV episodes coming our way, with actual airdates and everything.

We’re talking “House,” “CSI,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Office” and “Reaper,” shows with scripts and actors and all the stuff we used to watch before the writers’ strike. Even “ER” is on its way back, but you take the bad with the good.

It starts tonight when ABC’s charmer “Men in Trees” returns (at 10 p.m.) with the first of 11 new episodes.

At least ABC has 11 episodes ready to go. But the way the network has abused this show with herky-jerky scheduling, there’s no guarantee we’ll see all of them. Still, we are totally doing happy today, so I’m going to pretend there is no problem ahead for the oddball gang in Elmo, Alaska.

Staying with the happy theme - but before we get to those airdates - there’s also a ray of hopeful news for NBC’s “Friday Night Lights,” the brilliant, wonderful, terrific (How many ways can I say it?) drama that’s been one of the best shows on TV for two seasons now.

The Hollywood trade papers have reported that the network is casting about for ways to keep the show on the air, which includes possibly sharing “Friday Night Lights” with CW, TNT, Comcast Entertainment Networks or even DirecTV.

How would that work? Nice question. Maybe with a first run on NBC, then repeats later in the week, or a few weeks behind, on one of the other outlets. Other routes include running the full season on NBC, then repeating it on, say, cable’s TNT, or, possibly, offering “Lights” on DirectTV’s on-demand earlier than it would air on NBC.

Whatever the plan, I’m for it if it keeps this smart, genuine, tender series alive. It’s encouraging to hear NBC is even thinking about something like this, and it tells you someone there either really likes the show or, more likely, they really like that the audience, even if small, is one of TV’s most affluent.

OK, now for the return of scripted television. Here are the dates of shows scheduled to re-start new episodes this spring, with some additional programming notes.

Some shows have not been re-scheduled, which probably isn’t a good sign.

Also - and this is gonna sound dumb, but I’m saying it anyway - this doesn’t cover shows already on with new episodes like, for some reason, “According to Jim” and “Carpoolers.”

ABC:
“Samantha Who?” – April 7 at 9:30 p.m.
“Boston Legal” – April 8 at 10 p.m.
“Desperate Housewives” – April 13 at 9 p.m.
“Brothers & Sisters” – April 20 at 10 p.m.
“Ugly Betty” – April 24 at 8 p.m.
“Grey’s Anatomy” – April 24 at 9 p.m.

And note that, on April 24, “Lost” moves to 10 p.m.

ABC also says “Women’s Murder Club” will return at some point this spring, and “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Private Practice” and “Pushing Daisies” will return in the fall.

CBS:
“How I Met Your Mother” – March 17 at 7 p.m.
“The Big Bang Theory” – March 17 at 7:30 p.m.
“Two and a Half Men” – March 17 at 8 p.m.
“CSI: Miami” – March 24 at 9 p.m.
“Cold Case” – March 30 at 8 p.m.
“Criminal Minds” – April 2 at 8 p.m.
“CSI: New York” – April 2 at 9 p.m.
“CSI” – April 3 at 8 p.m.
“Without a Trace” – April 3 at 9 p.m.
“Ghost Whisperer” – April 4 at 7 p.m.
“Numb3rs” – April 4 at 9 p.m.
“NCIS” – April 8 at 7 p.m.
“Moonlight” – April 11 at 8 p.m.
“Rules of Engagement” – April 14 at 8:30 p.m.

CBS says “Shark” will be back at some point. There’s no word on “The Unit” or “Cane.”

CW:
“Everybody Hates Chris” – Sunday at 8 p.m.
“Aliens in America” – Sunday at 8:30 p.m.
“The Game” – March 23 at 9:30 p.m.
“Smallville” – April 17 at 8 p.m.
“Gossip Girl” – April 21 at 8 p.m.
“Reaper"_April 22 at 9 p.m.
“Supernatural” – April 24 at 9 p.m.

Fox:
“Back to You” – tonight at 9:30 p.m.
“Til Death” – March 25 at 9:30 p.m.
“Bones” – April 14 at 8 p.m.
“House” – April 28 at 9 p.m.
“24” won’t return until January 2009. There’s no decision on the fate of “Prison Break.”

NBC:
“My Name is Earl” – April 3 at 8:00 p.m.
“30 Rock” – April 10 at 8:30 p.m.
“The Office” – April 10 at 9 p.m.
“Scrubs” – April 10 at 9:30 p.m.
“ER” – April 10 at 10 p.m.
“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” – April 15 at 10 p.m.
“Chuck,” “Heroes” and “Life” were all renewed for next season, but won’t be back until the fall.