He has a billable (or kill-able!) hours quota

I've been following the recent news releases from television networks which discuss all the new shows premiering this fall. I was looking, rather fearfully, to see if any are similar to the one I've been working on. Thankfully, none are, but less thankfully - or rather, unfortunately - the new shows are crap.

There are no less than two shows about alien life appearing in the Atlantic ocean and humanity's response to it. My response? Click. Another drama - or is it unintentional comedy? - has Jennifer Love Hewitt talking to ghosts. (Pilot episode: a seance with a dead career, perhaps?) And then there are countless new crime scene shows, no doubt exploring new ways to zoom into any number of uninteresting objects. I have a feeling that when networks come up with a crappy idea, they send a memo to other networks in the hope that, when it inevitably gets cloned, the original looks less crappy by comparison.

Of course, from all this comes unbelievably good news, that the best/funniest/most original television show around, Arrested Development, is coming back next season. The show is great for constantly breaking the rules of a half-hour sitcom (such as having everything return to normal after 22 minutes) and doesn't need to tell viewers when to laugh. If my show, by some twist of fate, ever got somewhere, it would owe a huge deal to this show.

Oh, and Jack Bauer officially replaces John McClane as the most imperiled American: after four seasons of finger-breaking and co-worker killing, Kiefer Sutherland of 24 is back for two more. That'll make six days in total: will he go for the full week, or does Jack witness the Sabbath?

(And yes, I'm aware, this is two 24-related headlines back to back. The show is that good people.)