The television upfronts continue, this time it’s CBS’ turn at the podium for a look at their Fall lineup, designed specifically to attract more female viewers. Okay… A number of casualties, most notably the fan favorite Moonlight, make room for new one-hour series The Ex-List (a tarot card reading lets a woman know she needs to marry by year’s end to a man already in her life), The Mentalist, Jerry Bruckheimer’s Eleventh Hour, and sitcoms Worst Week and Jay Mohr’s Project Gary. The big news is that the network has held onto Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ New Adventures of Old Christine, which moves from Monday to Wednesday to front a one hour comedy block preceding Criminal Minds and CSI: New York. Seriously?! Nothing like a comedy appetizer leading into two hours of crime drama. Meanwhile, they are also holding onto Rules of Engagement as a midseason replacement show, should either of the new comedies fall flat, or should low ratings dictate a schedule shuffle.

For full details visit ( Variety )

ABC has also announced its prime-time schedule for the fall. Not much in the way of new content: Scrubs moves over from NBC for its final 18-episode season; Mike Judge gives us yet another dysfunctional animated comedy in The Goode Family; British scifi import Life on Mars will keep Lost’s schedule spot warm until January; and Ashton Kutcher cranks out two new reality series — one revolves around a beauty pageant competition, partnering with Tyra Banks, and the other is an in-your-face “Publishers Clearing House” vehicle in which a mobile production team drives to unsuspecting families’ homes to test their on-the-spot knowledge of each other for cash and prizes. Other than that, it’s pretty much business as usual. Casualties of last season include: Men in Trees, Miss Guided, October Road, Women’s Murder Club, Big Shots, Cavemen (did anyone ever watch that show?), and Cashmere Mafia.

For full details visit ( Variety )

The fledging CW network announced their fall lineup today, beating their peers to the punch by three weeks with a September 1 start date. New series include the reboot of 90210; Surviving the Filthy Rich, the small screen adaptation of the “How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls” book series, their next hope of catching lightning in a bottle; and Tyra Banks reality series Stylista, which follows the trials and tribulations inside the world of Elle magazine. Reaper has been given a 13-episode pickup for mid-season. Gone are the WWE, Aliens in America, and Back to You.

For full details visit ( Variety )

On such rare and fanciful moments when Saturday Night Live can still make people laugh, we here at TV Verdict must celebrate by posting a clip:

PS. The sketch? It’s a MacGyver joke. FYI.

Last night’s episode of The Office found everyone’s favorite boss, Michael Scott, taking a group of employees from Dunder Mifflin to man a booth at the local high school job fair. Of course, Michael has a different perception of how to handle a job fair… and hilarity ensues.

The other main storyline in “Job Fair” found Jim working extra hard trying to woo a former customer on the golf course. After last episode’s suspension warning from Ryan, Jim is forced to care about his job to avoid being fired. I was beginning to wonder why Jim was so successful within the branch when he seemingly did nothing.

Overall, I loved last night’s episode. The antics on the golf course with Jim, Andy, and Kevin were great. I always appreciate Kevin’s unending seriousness about competition and gambling. Meanwhile, the job fair stuff allowed us to see a little more of Pam’s character in action (and the fact that she’s been getting a lot of harassment from Michael lately leads me to believe that she and Jim are going to be moving out of there).

Next week is the season finale for the show, and they’re claiming it’s going to be pretty big. Of course, any attempt to surprise us is thrown out the window, because the Office’s website plainly reveals that it’s Toby’s going-away party next week. Too bad that spin-off show that’s starting next season won’t be about Toby’s bachelor life.

For those of us who grew up as first generation Sesame Street-ers, the companion show was The Electric Company — Easy Reader, Spider-man, Letterman, J. Arthur Crank, Fargo North Decoder, and much more. In fact, one of the show’s head writers was Tom Whedon, father of Buffy and Firefly creator Joss Whedon. Here’s a little memory jog for you.

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It’s a sign of fame when you become a Jeopardy! question. It’s a sign of declining fame when none of the contestants recognize you from the answer. I was watching the Jeopardy! college championship tonight when Alex Trebek asked who wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. One of the students on the show piped up with “Arthur C. Clarke,” and no one came up with the correct answer. If they’d have asked that one way back in the ’80s when I went to college, someone would have answered “Douglas Adams.”

Just think, in 25 years, Harry Potter may not even be a memory.

I almost didn’t notice it before it was gone, but Animal Planet’s running those lost episodes of the American version of Creature Comforts. If you’ve forgotten it, as many have, it’s an Aardman Animation (Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit) series that puts the opinions of real people into the mouths of animated animals. Two episodes run tonight (Thursday, May 8, at 7 p.m. EST). I checked the schedule and don’t see it listed after that.

Yes, I am old enough to remember the early days of Sesame Street, when Oscar was orange, Big Bird had a tiny head, Gordon was played by Holly Robinson Peete’s father, Kermit was a frog on the street reporter, and Mr. Hooper owned the corner store. The legacy of Joan Ganz Cooney and Jim Henson is astounding, and these classic bits still bring a smile to my face.

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“I have to know what the world’s best steak tastes like,” Andrew Anthony says. To find out, he’s skipping the steak he’s about to prepare on the grill and heading for Japan to taste a Kobe steak that’ll set him back around $700.

Life’s a Trip is the latest Travel Channel newcomer, airing Mondays at 11 p.m. EDT. Each hour features two adventures, each starting with Anthony deciding there’s something he must do.

Japan might not have been the best choice for an opener, since anyone who’s watched the Travel Channel a little bit won’t be surprised by maid cafes, beer and liquor vending machines, karaoke, or sumo wrestling. It’s too fast an overview in half an hour, and Anthony’s above-it-all attitude makes it feel rather distant. When Anthony gets to the Kobe beef himself, he manages to slip in enough foodie info with the snarky narration to pull off this last segment.

The second half of the opener finds Anthony in New Zealand to learn about Maori culture and dance. It’s more focused than the Japan trip, and Anthony seems more interested and involved. He’s also more foolhardy, bungee jumping off a tall building in a single terrified bound to make a building into a symbol of his “personal inner strength.” Still, it’s hard to get involved in Anthony’s adventures.

Life may be a trip, but I’d like more of a feeling of being along for the ride. It won’t make you change the channel in disgust, but Life’s a Trip won’t have you setting the TiVo.