October Road

• A film clip tribute to Dom DeLuise, who died Monday night. — Popwatch
• Mad Men won't be on till August, but there's some fun casting news to make up for the wait. — TV.com
• Zac Efron's 17 Again costar (and former State guy!) Thomas Lennon chats about the possibility of making 18 Again. — MTV Movies Blog
• Remember Wayne Coyne's feud with the Arcade Fire? He's apologized. — The Music Mix
• A great Summer for movies: 1985. — Cinematical
• Fun with the October Road finale, which is in stores today. — Watch With Kristin
• Five memorable workplace movies. — SavvySugar
• Would you watch Milo Ventimiglia's geek battle show? — TV Squad

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These days, it seems like the first move for a network series that's in danger of being canceled is to find a cable network or other partner that's willing to take it on. See: Law & Order: Criminal Intent moving to USA from NBC last year, or Friday Night Lights trying to get a deal with DirecTV to bring it back.

So I guess it's no surprise that ABC wanted to shop its low-rated Men in Trees and October Road to another network. It's not even surprising that they chose Lifetime, which is also owned by Disney. But what's a little shocking is that Lifetime said no.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, network executives reviewed the tapes of both shows but decided to pass on picking them up, leaving the shows in limbo. The paper reported that Men in Trees still has support at ABC proper (not that it's obvious from the way the show's been treated there) and could return for a third season on the network — but it sounds like this was the final nail in the coffin for October Road.

Both shows have been ratings duds this year: October Road's most recent episodes got just 4.7 million viewers, and Wednesday night's Men in Trees pulled in 5.8 million people. But they both have fervent fans, and there must be something to like about them for ABC to want to save them at all. So, fans, this is your chance: Why do Road and Trees deserve to come back? Sound off below.

Photos copyright 2008 ABC, Inc.

With The Bachelor done for the year and Dancing with the Stars nearing the end of its season, ABC is introducing a revamped Monday lineup tonight. Samantha Who? moves up half an hour to 9 p.m., followed by the season premiere of Notes From The Underbelly at 9:30. October Road will hold down the 10 p.m. slot. (Dance Wars, the Dancing with the Stars spinoff, will take over the 8 p.m. hour in January.)

Being paired with Samantha Who?, the season's one true breakout comedy, should give Notes a lift for its second season. I was utterly ambivalent about the show when it premiered last spring, but I did like the performances of Jennifer Westfeldt and Peter Cambor as the couple preparing for their first child, and I always got a kick out of Rachael Harris as the single-and-fabulous Cooper — though I wished she'd gotten more to do in the episodes I watched. Did any of you stick with it?

Meanwhile, October Road gets another chance tonight to prove it can hold down a time slot after its dismal ratings last Thursday. Maybe people were confused that ABC promoted that episode as a "sneak peek" and tonight's episode as the season premiere; I know I was.

To watch promos for both the Notes premiere and tonight's October Road, just read more

• USA Today has the first photo from Mike Meyers' next comedy The Love Guru.
• David Chase talks — sort of — to the Associated Press about the finale of The Sopranos.
• Juno writer Diablo Cody has yet another project in the works: a supernatural comedy titled Jennifer's Body that will star Megan Fox, writes Hollywood Reporter.
• In a super-slow week for album sales, Bruce Springsteen topped the charts again, Billboard reports.
• The Futon Critic has a slew of ABC scheduling updates: Men in Trees is moving to 8 p.m., October Road is coming back in November, and Dance War starts in January.
• The Zac Efron movie 17 just got a lot cooler with the addition of Leslie Mann (Knocked Up) to the cast, as ComingSoon reports.
• Champion tennis player Maria Sharapova is pitching a drama about female tennis players to the CW, Variety reports. Hey, anyone else remember Phenom?
• According to ComingSoon, Billy Bob Thornton will join Shia LaBeouf in the thriller Eagle Eye.
• Zap2it has introductions for the new cast of The Amazing Race.
• Billy Ray Cyrus has landed himself a movie role in the family drama Flying By, writes Hollywood Reporter.

Twice a year, a bunch of TV critics submit their lists of the best and worst shows of the season so far, tracking which shows are on the rise and which are tanking. The results of the latest poll were just published in TV Week, and maybe the biggest surprise is "24"'s huge decline — from No. 4 on last summer's list of best shows to No. 2 on this summer's worst list. Critics seemed mostly to berate the series for not living up to its own standards, something you've also mentioned. TV Guide's Michael Ausiello points out that this news came on the same day that "24" had to delay production for the seventh season after Fox scrapped the planned storyline.

"Grey's Anatomy" also took a tumble in the critics' poll — albeit a much smaller one — from No. 4 on the winter list of best shows to No. 9 on the summer list. "Lost," on the other hand, moved up from No. 6 after the fall portion of its season to No. 2 after that intense season finale.

The best overall show in the summer poll was "The Sopranos" — even after the controversial finale — while the worst was "October Road." Check out the full list, then let me know if you think the critics got it right. Or, to see the top 10 best and worst, read more

• Elizabeth Berkeley: Showgirls star and adviser to America's youth? Why, that makes perfect sense, writes Best Week Ever.
• Pop Candy has a cryfest over a list of the saddest songs of all time.
• Cinematical tells us that Die Hard 4 will be rated PG-13, somehow.
• Giving Tim Gunn a female co-host for his new show sounds like the worst idea ever to PopWatch.
• Randomly, ScreenGrab rounds up the best of the Internet's Star Wars spoofs.
• The TV Addict has the latest positive report about "Veronica Mars."
• ComingSoon has news that Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk's book Choke will be adapted for the big screen and has begun production.
• Buddy TV tells us about a contest for the best "Lost" fan sites.
• Idolator tracks the quasi-backlash against fan-made music videos.
• TV Squad asks the question I, too, want someone to answer: What's so great about "October Road"?

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Considering the slump NBC's Thursday lineup is having these days, we can probably hand tonight's ratings crown to ABC right now. The last time all three of the network's Thursday shows were new was March 21, but it feels like even longer ago than that, so it's a good thing that at least two of the three appear to have great episodes lined up for the evening. (I've checked out of "October Road" — anyone still watching?) On "Ugly Betty," Daniel reverts to his hard-partying ways, Betty somehow ends up at a club, and the diaries of Fey Sommers get leaked to the press. Then, on "Grey's Anatomy," well, this happens. Can I contain my excitement? No, I cannot. To see a preview of all three shows, read more

Hope you weren't getting too attached to "The Wedding Bells" or "Six Degrees." They were two of the shows axed this week as the networks reshuffled their schedules. Among the other casualties: "The Black Donnellys," which might only get to air two more episodes, and "7th Heaven," which is being canceled (supposedly for real this time). According to Variety, the networks said low ratings were behind all of the decisions.

Here's a summary of the changes:

• "The Wedding Bells" will air this Friday but is unlikely to be back after that.
• "The Black Donnellys" will get bumped from its time slot on April 23 to make way for "The Real Wedding Crashers." It's unclear if NBC intends to pull "Donnellys" completely before the 23rd or air the remaining episodes at another time; it only will have aired eight of its 13 episodes by then.
• "Six Degrees" is done, effective immediately, and — for the moment, at least — it will be replaced by episodes of "Wife Swap" (hey, at least it's not more "George Lopez").
• "7th Heaven" is scheduled to air its finale on May 13.

There's some good news for fans of "October Road": The show was only going to get to air four of its six episodes, but it's doing well enough that ABC is planning to let it finish out the season on Thursdays at 10. It will take a one-week break April 12 to make way for the premiere of "Notes from the Underbelly," but then "Notes" will move to Wednesdays at 8:30.

The CW's "Hidden Palms," which sounds like "Desperate Housewives" crossed with "Dawson's Creek," also finally got a time slot, and it will start May 30 at 8 p.m.

Photos courtesy of ABC, Fox, and NBC

• I challenge you to think of a new cast for the TV series "Bewitched" — and no Ferrells or Kidmans allowed.
• Which new movie would you most like to see? Vote in my poll!
• You can watch Lindsay Lohan in the new trailer for Georgia Rule, but you won't be seeing her in The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond.
• Most of the new TV shows, like October Road, Raines, and The Riches, leave much to be desired. Andy Barker P.I., however, is awesome.
• Celebrate Spring Break and South by Southwest with my Youthful Abandon Playlist.
• Can you name this movie?
• Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to make a baby and a movie together, while Clint Eastwood and Angelina Jolie will just do the movie part. Probably.