via EW’s Ausiello Files:

NBC has just unveiled its post-Olympics, Leno-free midseason schedule, and there’s good news for fans of Friday Night Lights who don’t have DirecTV. The drama’s fourth season — the one currently airing on DirecTV — will make its Peacock debut on Friday, April 30.

Although $5 million has already been raised by text donations already, the citizens of Haiti are still very much in need of your help.

via THR/Showbiz 411:

Clooney is putting out the call today to all his celebrity friends and performers to participate from both coasts on Friday, January 22nd — and he’s gotten MTV’s Judy McGrath to agree to air the show on MTV, VH-1, etc. That may be one reason McGrath was a guest at last night’s shindig.

 Remember, to donate you can text “HAITI” to 90999 ($10 – Red Cross).

Even though they need new shows to fill the hole left by Jay Leno, Execs over at NBC have decided that the show will work best as a movie…

Day One has a familiar plot and is high concept – the apocalypse. The creator – Jesse Alexander – described the show as: “the story of ordinary people working together to save the world from an extraordinary threat. Though Day One’s prime time adventures are simple and compelling, its mythology is vast and designed to be experienced across multiple media platforms.”

NBC must’ve looked at canceled one series shows like Jericho and decided that 13 episodes would’ve been too much of a risk (plus, it’s not like they need their averages spoiled!)

The big story of the night was the return of American Idol (sans Paula) and how well NCIS fared at 8pm.

American Idol opened its 9th season with very solid (and almost identical) ratings, pulling an 11.7 (18-49) rating between 8-10pm and averaging 29.8 million viewers. Versus last year this was just a tick down in the key demo (0.1) and just a small drop in audience size (just 200,000 viewers)

NCIS performed roughly level with its last new airing, remarkably pulling a 4.3 (18-49) rating and 20.7 million viewers against way stiffer competition. It was NCIS: LA that was really affected by Idol’s return, pulling just a 3.0 (18-49) rating and 15.5 million viewers – a season low. Good news for The Good Wife though, which was up in the key demo (3.0 vs. 2.8) and in total viewers (13.9 vs. 13.4).

As usual, NBC’s The Biggest Loser was solid against heavy competition, pulling a 3.3 rating and 8.2 million viewers between 8 and 10pm. Leno (and the late night controversy) were up again to a 1.9 rating and 6.2 million viewers.

ABC opened the night with reruns of Scrubs (0.8, 2.5 million) and Better Off Ted (0.8, 2.2), both of which are surely dead. New episodes the the shows returned at 9, with Scrubs posting a 1.2 (18-49) rating and Better Off Ted pulling just a 1.0. the forgotton was again sub par, pulling just a 1.3 (18-49) rating and 4.4 million – why did they pick up additional episodes?

The CW went with repeats of 90210 and Melrose Place which averaged a 0.3 (18-49) rating and 0.7 million viewers overall.

Full Breakdown:

8:00 – FOX – American Idol (premiere) – 10.8 (18-49) rating – 27.9 million viewers
CBS – NCIS – 4.3 - 20.7 million
NBC – The Biggest Loser – 3.1 – 7.9 million
ABC – Scrubs (repeat) - 0.8 - 2.5 million
CW – 90210 (repeat) – 0.3 - 0.8 million

8:30 – ABC – Better Off Ted – 0.8 - 2.2 million

9:00 FOX American Idol (premiere) 12.7 (18-49) rating - 31.7 million viewers
NBC – The Biggest Loser – 3.4 -  8.3 million
CBS – NCIS: LA – 3.0 – 15.5 million
ABC – Scrubs – 1.2 - 2.7 million
CW – Melrose Place (repeat) – 0.3 - 0.7 million

9:30 – ABC – Better Off Ted – 1.0 -  2.5 million

10:00 – CBS – The Good Wife – 3.0 (18-49) rating - 13.9 million viewers
NBC – The Jay Leno Show - 1.9 – 6.2 million
ABC - the forgotten – 1.3 - 4.4 million

According to series co-creator, Josh Schwartz’ twitter, the Quantum Leap and Star Trek star will be back….

The tweet in question read:

Very excited #ScottBakula will be back on #Chuck as Dad. Nicest man on planet. And storyline will be epic!! 36(ish) Hours til premiere!

You can follow Schwartz by clicking here.

Also, FOLLOW US!

On a night with competition all over the place, Chuck returned to Monday nights with very strong overnight numbers…

Lets take a look a CBS first: HIMYM posted its best numbers since last spring with a 3.9 A18-49 rating and 9.8 million viewers – a solid start to the night against House. Accidentally on Purpose was once again the weak link, pulling just a 3.2 (18-49) rating and 8.5 million viewers – which is why it’s moving to Wednesday nights. 9pm saw Two and a Half Men post its highest viewership for a while and a very good 5.4 (18-49) rating leading into a new Big Bang – which was again better in the key demos posting a 5.7 (18-49) rating. At 10, CSI Miami was level with its season average with a 3.7 (18-49) rating.

FOX took second for the night with a sold ep of House (4.6 rating, 12.2 million viewers) and an old new episode of Fringe (those who saw it know what i’m talking about), which posted a 2.8 rating and 7.8 million viewers – much better than how it’s performing on Thursdays.

ABC went with new episodes of the Bachelor between 8-10pm, averaging a sold 3.7 (18-49) rating and 10.5 million viewers. Castle was also good (by Castles standards) with a 2.6 (18-49) rating and 9.5 million viewers.

The biggest story of the night was Chuck returning to its 8pm timeslot where it outperformed Heroes’ season-to-date average by almost 20% and even its own average from last year by almost 15%. The show was also against a very solid 100th episode of HIMYM and grew .2 in its second half hour. It was again a bad night for Heroes though, with it dropping to a 2.1 rating in its old timeslot, good enough for fourth place. Leno posted his best Monday numbers in a while at 10pm, averaging a 1.6 rating and just under 4.8 million viewers.

The CW was in repeats — and who cares?

Full Breakdown: 

8:00 – FOX – House – 4.6 (18-49) rating - 12.2 million viewers
CBS – How I Met Your Mother – 3.9 - 9.8 million viewers
ABC – The Bachelor: On The Wings of Love – 3.3 - 9.8 million
NBC – Chuck – 2.6 - 7.3 million
CW – One Tree Hill (R) – 0.4 - 1.2 million

8:30 – CBS – Accidentally on Purpose 3.2 - 8.5 million

9:00 – CBS – Two and a Half Men – 5.4 (18-49) rating - 17.3 million viewers
ABC – The Bachelor: On The Wings of Love - 4.0 - 11.2 million
FOX – Fringe – 2.8 - 7.8 million
NBC – Heroes – 2.1 - 4.7 million
CW – Gossip Girl (R) – 0.3 - 0.74

9:30 – CBS – The Big Bang Theory – 5.7 - 15.8 million

10:00 – CBS – CSI: Miami – 3.7 (18-49) rating - 13.7 million viewers
ABC – Castle – 2.6 - 9.45 million
NBC – The Jay Leno Show – 1.6 - 4.79

It was business as usual last night, as the NCIS’ led CBS to victory.

NCIS led off CBS’ night with a 4.3 rating and just over 20 million viewers at 8pm. NCIS: Los Angeles continued to keep the eye in the lead at 9 with a 3.7 rating and just over 17 million viewers. The Good Wife rounded out the night with a lacklustre 2.8 rating and 14 million viewers.

NBC were second for the night with The Sing Off between 8-10pm, which improved on its lead in to a 2.6 (18-49) rating (+ .2) and 6.8 million viewers. At 10, Leno posted a solid 1.8 rating and 5.2 million viewers t0 hold on to second place.

FOX took third overall with So You Think You Can Dance 2.4 rating/6.3 million viewers at 8pm. Gordon Ramsey: Cookalong Live pulled just a 1.7 rating and 4 million viewers.

ABC started the night with A Charlie Brown Christmas (2.3, 6.6 million) leading into a new Scrubs (1.8, 4.3 million) which was down almost 25% and Better Off Ted (1.3, 3.2 million), which was down over 25% from last weeks premiere. A rerun of the forgotten posted just a 1.0 rating and 3.3 million viewers at 10pm.

As with all this week, the CW was in reruns with The Vampire Diaries averaging a 0.6 rating and 1.3 million from 8-10pm.

8:00 – CBS – NCIS – 4.3 18-49 rating -20.6 million viewers
FOX – So You Think You Can Dance – 2.4 – 6.3 million
NBC – The Sing-Off – 2.4 - 6.3 million
ABC – A Charlie Brown Christmas (special) - 2.3 - 6.6 million
CW – The Vampire Diaries (repeat) – 0.7 - 1.3 million

9:00 – CBS – NCIS: Los Angeles – 3.7 (18-49) rating – 17.3 million viewers
NBC – The Sing-Off – 2.8 - 7.4 million
ABC – Scrubs – 1.8 - 4.3 million
FOX – Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live (special) – 1.7 - 4.0 million
CW – The Vampire Diaries (repeat) – 0.6 – 1.4 million

9:30 – ABC Better Off Ted – 1.3 - 3.2 million

10:00 – CBS – The Good Wife – 2.8 (18-49) rating - 14.1 million viewers
NBC – The Jay Leno Show 1.8 - 5.2 million
ABC – the forgotten (repeat) - 1.0 - 3.3 million

ABC has confirmed that Elisha Cuthbert has joined the cast of The Forgotten in a recurring role.

According to the press release ABC issued earlier today, Cuthbert will play Maxine Denver, a strong and successful Chicago professional who is forced to put her skepticism of “amateur detectives” aside when The Forgotten Network begins investigating a case close to home.

Cuthberts eps are slated to begin airing in February and will presumably run until pretty much the end of the season (Althouhg I can’t see it making much difference to the ratings…!)

Press Release:

Cuthbert is slated to debut on the ratings-challenged freshman drama in February, which is not long after she wraps up her multi-episode 24 return.

Getting back to the question I posed in the headline: Can Kim Bauer save The Forgotten? Or at the very least, will she get you to start watching (if you’re not already)?

The Monk series finale aired on Friday and we found out who murdered Trudy, meaning record ratings for USA network. It brought in 9.4 million viewers and a 2.4 18-49 rating.

With a nice lead in from Monk, White Collar also set series highs with 5.5 million viewers and a 1.7 18-49 rating.

Press release:

9.4 MILLION VIEWERS OBSESS OVER MONK SERIES FINALE

MONK Finale Becomes Basic Cable’s Most-Watched Original Drama Episode Ever

USA’s Newest Original Series WHITE COLLAR Also Hits Series Highs

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – December 7, 2009 – After eight successful seasons on the air, the series finale of the USA Original MONK on Friday Night (9pm) set records as it became the most-watched basic cable original drama series telecast of all time in total viewers.  Hitting series highs for its final episode, a rare feat in the TV landscape shared by only an elite group of iconic series, the finale brought in 9.4 million total viewers, beating the prior series high by +37% (MONK had never been above 7 million total viewers in its eight seasons).  The series that experts say started the resurgence of original programming on cable garnered seven best comedy actor Emmy nominations (and three wins) for Tony Shalhoub in the title role throughout the run.

• The finale delivered series high in P18-49 with 3.2 million beating the prior series high by +10% (This was the first time MONK surpassed the 3 million benchmark in this demo).
• MONK delivered 3.7 million P25-54 viewers beating the prior series high by +2%.
• The MONK finale now holds the title of USA’s top original series telecast of all time among total viewers, is #2 among P25-54 and #3 among P18-49.
• MONK easily topped everything on broadcast for the night in P2+, P18-49 and P25-54 based on fast nationals for broadcast.
• Among cable entertainment telecasts for 2009TD, the MONK finale on Live+Same is the #1 P25-54 scripted telecast on basic or pay cable, the #1 scripted telecast on ad-supported basic cable in total viewers and the #1 P18-49 scripted telecast on basic cable.

The fall season finale of USA’s newest original WHITE COLLAR (10pm) also hit series highs.  The show delivered 5.55 million total viewers topping the series premiere – the prior series high – by +3%.  This is the best performance for USA in the Fri 10-11 time slot in total viewers in more than three years.  The finale also garnered amazing demo deliveries, including 2.1 million P18-49 (topping the series premiere by +18% and best in time slot since 1/11/08) and 2.25 million P25-54 (topping the series premiere by +3% and best in time slot since 2/15/08).  WHITE COLLAR also beat new originals on broadcast in total viewers and key demos (based on fast national data).

USA Network is the #1 network in all of basic cable and is seen in over 98.5 million U.S. homes.  A division of NBC Universal, USA is the cable television leader in original series and home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, acquired television series and entertainment events. The award-winning USA website is located at www.usanetwork.com. Characters Welcome.

USA Network is a program service of NBC Universal Cable a division of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.

ABC easily won the night with the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship where the Texas Longhorns defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers with a late field goal. FOX was a distant second to the football action with its longstanding lineup of Cops and America’s Most Wanted.

CBS’ repeats of CSI: NY, Medium and a new 48 Hours Mystery were third for CBS. NBC was last with reruns of Parks and Rec, The Incredibles and The Office.

Full Breakdown: 

8:00 ABC Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship 3.3/10 11.13
FOX Cops (original & repeat) 1..8/6 5.47
CBS Medium (R) 1.2/4 4.69
NBC Parks & Recreation (R) 0.3/1 1.40

8:30 NBC The Incredibles (R) 8:30p-10:30p 1.0/3 2.61

9:00 ABC Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship 3.4/10 11.26
FOX America’s Most Wanted 1.8/5 5.68
CBS CSI: NY (R) 1.0/3 4.65

10:00 ABC Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship 3.7/11 11.53
CBS 48 Hours Mystery 1.5/4 5.77

10:30 NBC The Office (R) 1.3/4 3.74