The CW has laid out its plans for the fall:

Monday, September 1
8:00-9:00 p.m. “GOSSIP GIRL”
9:00-10:00 p.m. “ONE TREE HILL”

Tuesday, September 2
8:00-10:00 p.m. “90210” (Two-Hour Premiere)

Wednesday, September 3
8:00-10:00 p.m. “AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL" (Two-Hour Premiere)

Tuesday, September 9
9:00-10:00 p.m. “PRIVILEGED”

Thursday, September 18
8:00-9:00 p.m. “SMALLVILLE”
9:00-10:00 p.m. “SUPERNATURAL”

Friday, October 3
8:00-8:30 p.m. “EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS”
8:30-9:00 p.m. “THE GAME”
9:00-10:00 p.m. “AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL” (Encore Presentation)

Wednesday, October 29
9:00-10:00 p.m. “STYLISTA”

Eagle-eyes will note that "Chris" and "The Game" have moved from Monday to Friday and that "Reaper" isn't on the schedule. The supernatural comedy is returning but the CW hasn't announced a premiere date yet.

Earlier this week we had a chance to visit the set of the swell, and now Emmy-nominated, AMC drama "Mad Men."

Creator Matt Weiner led us around the Sterling Cooper offices and the home of Don and Betty Draper pointing out the tiniest details from cigarette butts bearing traces of different shades of lipstick in the ashtrays to the new rotary phone installed by the Draper's bedside. (I resisted the urge to lean against the Draper's dryer.)

I noticed an evacuation plan on the wall in the break room and Weiner, an amazing stickler for details, said it was indeed the plan for Sterling Cooper not the studio itself. When I asked Weiner why the upwardly mobile couple would choose to sleep in a double bed he said that in 1960 "this is the biggest bed there is." (Apparently, the queen had been introduced in 1958, but Weiner pointed out frequently during the tour that to be as realistic as possible many of the items in the home would be a few years old).

The sets are, in a word, amazing, meticulously dressed and pretty spacious by television standards: the house feels as big as a real house with rooms having four walls and the offices are as open as they seem on-screen with each desk outfitted with a period typewriter, typed letters in the in/out boxes and even trash in the trash cans. (One letter I noticed was addressed to department store heiress and SC client Rachel Menken). And there's not a single whiff of cigarette smoke in the air. (The cast smokes the herbal kind).

Emmy nominated stars Jon Hamm and John Slattery - who grew up in Newton- took a break from filming to check in about the glorious critical reception to the show and January Jones flounced through in a delicious, multi-colored vintage dress. The series returns for a second round of 13 episodes July 27 and the action picks up almost two years later in 1962. Having seen the first two, fans can breathe easy that the quality of the storytelling remains first-rate.

I pulled Bryan Batt, a Broadway musical veteran, aside to talk about one of my favorite characters, closeted art department head Salvatore Romano. I asked if he would get a love interest this season and he replied, "Yes." When I pressed for more, he said, "He thinks that he's in love, but everything comes with a price."

There were no spottings of the "Relaxi-cizer," which Weiner said was an actual product (with a different name) and that none of the actresses was willing to test drive it in real life.

The creators of the the "Beverly Hills 90210" spin-off "90210" announced this morning that Brenda Walsh will indeed make an appearance on the new show. Shannen Doherty has signed on to do an episode as a guest drama teacher who comes in to direct the high school musical.

According to a CW press release this is what happened after Brenda went off to study acting in London:

Brenda became a successful theater actress, splitting her time between London and New York. The character soon transitioned to directing for theater and had equal success in that career.

Doherty joins original castmates Jennie Garth, who reprises her role in recurring appearances as Kelly Taylor -now a guidance conselour at West Bev- Tori Spelling, whose Donna Martin is a now an upscale boutique owner, and Joe E. Tata as Nat, master of the Peach Pit. (The Pit has been transformed into a hip coffee shop).

The new cast - which includes Lori Loughlin, Rob Estes, and Tristan Wilds of "The Wire"- seem to be taking the focus on guest appearances by the old cast in stride. The producers dismissed my concern, however, that they are flirting with a rip in the space-time continuum since Estes played Kyle McBride on original "90210" spin-off "Melrose Place."

I'm hosting a chat today in honor of the 2008 Emmy nominations, which are listed here, at the bottom of the file. If you have anything to celebrate ("Mad Men," woo-hoo), or anything to gripe about (where's "The Wire," where's "Big Love"?), click here around noon.

I have reached a new milestone with this show: I'm now able to recognize a Mia Michaels routine without being told who choreographed it. That angels-almost-die-while-listening-to-Celine-Dion number bore her trademark, after all; It was beautiful in a freaky way. (And the female dancers looked beautiful in a freaky way, thanks to the Emmy-nominated makeup department.) Still, I fear that little dance got the audience depressed -- or, at least, relieved when it was over. Meanwhile, how about that Nigel, choreographing the guys? Next up, I really want to see him dance.

Another milestone: I am now able to successfully predict the bottom four, though not necessarily the bottom two. More on that after the jump.

In adddition to announcing the fall season premiere schedule ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson fielded questions about everything from "Wipeout" to Katherine Heigl.

But the funniest moment of the executive session occurred during the beginning of the Q&A when a reporter identifying himself as being from "the Sarasota Star-Herald Tribune" turned out to be ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel needled the ABC head about rumors that the network was courting Jay Leno for 11:30 after he leaves NBC in 2009. That hypothetical scenario could lead to the pushing back of Kimmel's show from midnight to 12:30, as well as the cancellation of "Nightline."

"If you were even to talk to Jay Leno, wouldn't that be like contract tampering? Wouldn't that be illegal? Couldn't you go to jail for that?" he asked. Then he wondered how McPherson kept "his hair so nice." Then he finally asked "Are you at all afraid that if you do replace Jimmy Kimmel, he might do something crazy to you or your car?" To which McPherson replied "Yes. Actually, very afraid."

Other ABC headlines:

-But seriously, folks. "I can't say enough about Jimmy," said McPherson. "His show has just exploded this year. He's done an amazing job. I think everybody knows all the YouTube stuff, and the videos have been just an explosion. The live commercials he's doing are groundbreaking. The show creatively is firing at all cylinders, and we're hugely supportive of it."

As far as Leno goes, McPherson said, "To me it's a question for NBC. I can't believe that they're going to let this guy go at the top of his game, and if that happens, I guess we'll look at it at the time, and Jimmy will be involved in those discussions."

-Despite recent comments regarding the dearth of good material to qualify her for an Emmy nomination, which many interpreted as a bid to get out of her contract, McPherson said Heigl is staying put on "Grey's Anatomy." "There's an unbelievable storyline for her this year, which is really central to everything that's going to go on this season."

-The creators of the lovable musical dramedy "Eli Stone" will try to juice viewership by bringing Katie Holmes on for an episode. She will play an attorney and, like the rest of the cast, will be singing and dancing. The casting reunites Holmes with her "Dawson's Creek" boss, "Stone" creator Greg Berlanti. (Berlanti, in a panel for the show later in the day, essentially admitted he begged her to do it and that the show might explore some kind of "Dancing With the Stars" crossover. "DWTS" will be its lead-in in the fall.)

For reasons that were not entirely clear Sikking was one of a handful of stars attending an evening event for the new Hulu-esqe website Fancast.

Sikking is best known as nutty Lt. Howard Hunter on "Hill Street Blues" and Doogie's dad on "Doogie Howser, M.D." "Star Trek" fans also recall him as Capt. Styles in "The Search For Spock." He's currently at work on an independent feature called "American Primitive" but I couldn't keep myself from approaching Sikking and ignoring all of the above to tell him that my favorite TV movie of all time is "Doing Time on Maple Drive". When I told him this, he kissed me. Twice. (On the forehead).

He was, apparently, pleased to hear praise for the 1992 film - in which he plays a stern ex-military man dealing with the drama of his three children respectively getting an abortion, coming out of the closet, and drinking themselves into oblivion - that he thought was one of his best as well. (If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's got a great cast- Bibi Besch, Lori Loughlin, Jim Carrey, heartbreaking in a dramatic role-and a perfect mix of campy TV movie message melodrama and actual good acting.) Fun fact: The film's writer James Duff went on to create "The Closer."

Not on its programming of course. But FX president John Landgraf did lay out end dates for two of FX's signature series along with other news.

-"The Shield" begins its final season September 2. During the session for the show CCH Pounder (Claudette) claimed that Vic Mackey gets "what he deserves" in the finale, but others on the panel quibbled with what that means exactly.

-"Nip/Tuck" just finished production on the final eight installments of the 22-episode season five that will begin airing in January 2009. Landgraf announced that FX is also ordering an additional 19 episodes and that these will be the final episodes. The series total will come to 100 when it ends its run in early 2011.

-"Rescue Me" is returning in spring 2009 and star Denis Leary's good friend Michael J. Fox will be appearing in a four-episode storyline as the wheelchair-bound boyfriend of Tommy's ex-wife Janet.

-Timothy Olyphant of "Deadwood" fame and Oscar winners William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden are joining the cast of the newly-minted Best Drama Emmy nominee "Damages" in its second season. Even though Landgraf said that Ted Danson's character was "not terribly healthy at the moment, but as you now know, he did survive" in his morning remarks, later in the day the creators of the show said not to read too much into that or Danson's appearance on the panel. His character, Arthur Frobisher, could be appearing only in flashback sequences. Or not. Danson himself didn't even know. (Cheers to him for his deserved Emmy nomination.)

More FX news after the jump...

Also hanging at the Fox party at Santa Monica Pier was Whedon, who was excited and nervous about his web series "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." (If he had known what was going to happen we're sure he would've been thrilled. From a demand standpoint, that is).

"Act One went live about a half hour ago," he said. "Act Two comes up in two days, Act Three comes up on Saturday and it's up for a week. And then we yank it and then we hope to sell it through downloads, ad-supported streaming, and DVDs and make a profit if we can. But the real idea was 'we're going to make a superhero musical 'cause there should oughta be more of those!' Apparently, the only studio willing to back one was the studio of me."

After the web launch Whedon hopes to make enough money to pay the crew and actors, who all worked for free.

In other Dr. Horrible news, DH himself was nominated for an Emmy today.

Check out this extensive L.A. Times piece for DH's origin story.

There’s plenty of good news in the list of 2008 Emmy nominations, which was announced this morning. (See the list below, after the jump).

Oh, there’s bad news, too, of course -- (cough) seven nominations for “Boston Legal” and “Two and Half Men” (cough), (cough) zero major nominations for “Friday Night Lights” (cough) ??? -- but lets suck on a cough drop and start with the happy stuff first, shall we?

To wit, AMC’s evocative “Mad Men” won a whopping 16 nominations, including best drama, best actor for Jon Hamm, and best supporting actor for John Slattery. The show, about ad men in the early 1960s, has quickly become a Hollywood favorite, and small cheers could be heard in the auditorium this morning as announcers Kristin Chenoweth and Neil Patrick Harris read off the names of “Mad Men” and Jon Hamm. “Mad Men” and Hamm won Golden Globes earlier this year.

Emmy voters also saw fit to give kudos to another first-season basic cable drama, FX’s “Damages,” which has seven nods including best drama, best actress for Glenn Close, and best supporting actor for both Ted Danson and Zeljko Ivanek. While pay cable has been no stranger to all Emmy categories over the years, “Mad Men” and “Damages” are the first two basic-cable shows ever to be nominated for best series.

Voters also decided to overlook the creatively troubled “Grey’s Anatomy” as best drama to make room for Showtime’s “Dexter” and Fox’s “House,” shows that are as compelling as their lead actors, as well as ABC’s resurgent “Lost.” “Grey’s” did walk off with supporting actress nods for Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson, however, but not, as we all know too well, Katherine Heigl.

The series with the most nominations -- 17 -- is “30 Rock,” which won best comedy last year. The NBC sitcom was given nods for best comedy, best comedy actress for Tina Fey, best comedy actor for Alec Baldwin. Notably absent from the best-comedy category: “Desperate Housewives” and “Ugly Betty.” And while “Ugly Betty” did get notice for performances (by American Ferrara and Vanessa Williams), “Desperate Housewives” did not. That officially counts as a snub, don't you think?

Other treats: Gabriel Byrne got his best-actor due for HBO’s “In Treatment,” crazy-eyed Michael Emerson was given the only “Lost” acting nod, as best supporting drama actor, and Amy Poehler is the first “Saturday Night Live” performer to be nominated for series comedy, for best supporting actress. Also, HBO's “John Adams” was a big name in the miniseries categories. It has a whopping 23 nominations, including, of course, best miniseries, best actor for Paul Giamatti, and best actress for Laura Linney.

But seriously, what is the story with “Boston Legal,” “Two and Half Men,“ and the Emmy voters? I will never understand the obsession. How can those shows win so many kudos while the likes of "In Treatment," "The Wire," "How I Met Your Mother," and "Friday Night Lights" are given such short shrift?

TAKE THE JUMP FOR A LIST OF NOMINEES:

Boy, these "Project Runway" contestants know what's expected of them, TV-wise. Either that or they're prepped from the start to project obnoxious confidence. But it's hard to breathe in a roomful of Santinos. Worst offender: Blayne, who is trying a little too hard to be this season's Christian Siriano, and who apparently thinks "girlicious" is an original term. Don't tell Robin Antin!

And here's the rub: They've studied the show enough to be distastefully cocky, but not enough to realize that when you're sent to the supermarket to find dress materials, you shouldn't start with a tablecloth? (Honestly, I wasn't impressed with Korto's kale-and-tomato collar, either.) The judges picked the right winner. As for the bottom two, it was a toss-up.

But the most entertaining part of tonight's season premiere? The previews for next week's epiosde. Tim Gunn is in fine form: "It's a pterodactyl out of a gay Jurassic Park," he says of somebody's dress. Let's hope he'll be able to be just as perfect on Lifetime next year.

Wow. Weren't Will and Katee were meant to be together, in a cosmic dance-pair sense? Their technical skills really put them over the edge tonight, and when they dance as a duo, you realize just how good each of them is. Will is especially mesmerizing to watch, a likely favorite to win it all.

I also think the Chelsie-Gev pairing is a good one (and I'm not just being height-ist here). Mark and Kherington, perhaps a little less so, though I love the way Mark carries himself during routines. And Comfort, saved by a few fractured ribs, finally gets a guy who can match her in hip-hop-ness. She and Twitch might not be able to waltz, but they can groove.

In addition...
Solos that struck me, though I'm no expert on these things: Gev, Courtney, Joshua.
In danger, I suppose: Kherington, Comfort (again), Mark, Gev (because the judges were harsh about that jive).
Strange moment of the night: Hearing a David Archuleta single. Though that pas-de-deux routine was breathtaking.
Moment of realization: The country two-step looks awfully hard.

Fox held its party at Santa Monica Pier and stars and creative types came to chat, play games, and ride the rollercoaster.

Among the faces we were able to make out in the throng: David Boreanaz of "Bones," one of the few tall actors standing out in the crowd, he also had his young son along for the fun; Co-star Emily Deschanel; Robert Sean Leonard of "House"; Carlos Bernard from "24"; Kal Penn from "House" and "Harold & Kumar"; Maggie Siff of the new FX show "Sons of Anarchy" but known to "Mad Men" fans as "Rachel Menken" (absolutely gorgeous); J.J. Abrams; Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku confabbing; Mark L. Walberg of "The Moment of Truth"; for some reason Nicki Clyne of "Battlestar Galactica" (who has a blog!); Amy Acker of "Angel"/"Alias" fame who is another Whedon alum joining "Dollhouse"; Matt Groening creator of "The Simpsons"; J.B. Smoove of "Til Death"; Glenn Close of FX's "Damages"; Cat Deeley of "SYTYCD"; Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell of "Prison Break"; and the "stars" of the new Fox Reality series "Gimme My Reality Show" Kato Kaelin, Ryan Starr, and Bobby Trendy

I also talked to a few folks:

-Tahmoh Penikett, Helo on "Battlestar Galactica," is stoked to be getting out of his flight suit and slipping into the duds of Special Agent Paul Smith on Joss Whedon's show "Dollhouse." "All I can tell you is that I'm the FBI agent that's chasing the urban myth of the dollhouse. I've heard about it, I'm somewhat obsessed with it, and I've been chasing it long enough that I've pretty much lost any shot I have at a promotion." As for "BSG," Penikett got a little teary talking about how he had just wrapped his last scenes the previous Friday. He would not tell me who the fifth Cylon is. When I asked if it was him, he didn't comment. Hmmmm....

-Glenn Howerton of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" told me that this season, premiering in September on FX, that Sinbad and Rob Thomas will be making guest appearances that are insanely funny. Yes, that Sinbad and that Rob Thomas. A huge music fan he also recommended checking out the band Why?

-Amy Acker was excited to be reteaming with "Angel" boss Whedon for "Dollhouse." She'll be playing "Dr. Claire Saunders." "I take care of all the dolls and make sure they're all recovered and healthy for their engagements," she said. She's not sure if she's good or evil yet. "I'm thinking I'm probably good judging by the one script I've seen so, of course, I'm probably evil."

The creators of all the Fox Sunday night animated comedies- "King of the Hill," "Family Guy," "American Dad," "The Simpsons," and the upcoming "Family Guy" spin-off "The Cleveland Show"- came together for one presentation.

Some highlights:

-"Simpsons" creator Matt Groening and "Family Guy" main man Seth MacFarlane say there is no bad blood between them even though the former show has taken a few shots at the latter as being derivative. "You know, we love Seth," said Groening. "You know, if we weren't so rich, we would be very depressed." Added MacFarlane, "Matt and I get along very well. People want us to hate each other. We get along extremely well. He's a wonderful guy. Serious." MacFarlane also said, sincerely, that no one on the panel would even be there without "The Simpsons."

-Groening said that he will keep making "The Simpsons" "as long as FOX will have us." He also has no problem with "The Simpsons" never getting nominated in the straight comedy category on the Emmys. "It doesn't bother me at all. If anything, I think with the Emmys, the animation category should be divided up into adult animation and children's animation," he said. "It seems like an adult animated TV show wins almost every year, and it would be nice to see some of the great children's animation that's out there that seems to be always coming in second or third."

-When asked what someone might say to try and persuade a friend who says "I can't watch this. It's just a cartoon." MacFarlane responded, "Give 'Scrubs' a chance?" (More on this later). He also said the "The Empire Strikes Back" episode of "Family Guy" was just shipped off to the animators and that Cleveland will return for that episode.

That's what Variety and Deadline Hollywood are reporting. Somehow, I can't picture her in a sitcom, but it could well work out brilliantly...Variety also reports that, except for some shared producers and some love from NBC, this isn't really going to be an "Office" spinoff at all.

ABC announced its fall premiere dates today. Lotta "Dancing With the Stars," lotta two-hour specials. Without further ado:

Friday, September 19
10:00-11:00 p.m. "20/20"

Monday, September 22
8:00-10:00 p.m. "Dancing with the Stars" (special two-hour performance show premiere)
10:00-11:00 p.m. "Boston Legal"

Tuesday, September 23
8:00-9:00 p.m. "Opportunity Knocks" (new series debut)
9:00-11:00 p.m. "Dancing with the Stars" (special performance show)

Wednesday, September 24
8:00-9:00 p.m. "Dancing with the Stars Results Show Special" (special day and time)
9:00-11:00 p.m. "David Blaine Special"

Thursday, September 25
8:00-9:00 p.m. "Ugly Betty"
9:00-11:00 p.m. "Grey’s Anatomy" (special two-hour season premiere)

Sunday, September 28
7:00-9:00 p.m. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (two-hour season premiere)
9:00-10:00 p.m. "Desperate Housewives"
10:00-11:00 p.m. "Brothers & Sisters"

Tuesday, September 30
9:00-10:00 p.m. "Dancing with the Stars Result Show" (regular day and time period premiere)

Wednesday, October 1
8:00-9:00 p.m. "Pushing Daisies"

9:00-10:00 p.m. "Private Practice"
10:00-11:00 p.m. "Dirty Sexy Money"

Friday, October 3
8:00-9:00 p.m. "Wife Swap"
9:00-10:00 p.m. "Supernanny"

A friend of mine dragged me to "Sex and the City: The Movie" last night, hoping to see me change my mind about the fact that it was made in the first place. (In this piece, I bemoaned the fact that the season finale was not really final.)

Nah. The movie only confirmed my fears. Sure, it was nice to see the ladies again. But watching them on the big screen was like scratching an itch -- and then scratching it and scratching it until the skin becomes irritated. It felt good for a quick minute, and then it started to hurt, and by the end I wished I'd never started scratching in the first place.

There were a number of problems -- the saggy length, the way Jennifer Hudson's character was dashed off, and the mixed messages about materialism were just a few of them. But the problem that I think about today is the pure pointlessness of the whole storyline. We'd seen almost all these plots already on the series, many times. Indeed, the redundancy of watching Carrie get hurt and watching Miranda get defensive and watching Samantha get horny and watching Charlotte be Charlotte -- that was why the show was ready to end on HBO back in 2004.

Will the inevitable movie sequel have Big dump Carrie yet again, so that she can suffer and learn life lessons all over again, so that she can return to him to get dumped again? Maybe Big will be a kind of Saturday-matinee horror monster, brought back again for another adventure, and then another, and then another. Each time, he lures in his victim, scares the hell out of her, then becomes a teddy bear all over again.

We got a teaser glimpse of the two hour "24" prequel that will air November 23. Like the series, it will play out in real time and take place on the day the first female president (Cherry Jones) is being sworn in just as a ripped-from-the-headlines crisis between rebel groups and refugees erupts in Africa. Sooner than you can say "damnit, these are just innocent children!" Jack springs back into action.

There was no formal session, just the unleashing of some of the prequel actors into the foyer of the ballroom including Jon Voight and Robert Carlyle. It was Sutherland, however, who was swarmed by a group of nearly thirty tape recorder-wielding reporters. I stuck my hand in the fray and extracted a few tidbits.

Contrary to what you saw last week, you haven't seen the last of Comfort Fedoke. Jessica King injured her leg and has had to leave the competition opening the door for Comfort to return. The "SYTYCD" panelists - Nigel, Mary, Mia, and Cat- were tight-lipped about the injury only saying it was serious and that it would require four to five weeks of rest. (We're guessing Fox wants to save the story for air).

Mia, surprisingly, thinks this could be a good chance for Comfort. "When I heard she was coming back, I was actually very happy about it," she said. "Last week we said that she hadn't reached her potential yet. So I have a feeling that she's going to step it up now. I really do."

Mary also revealed that she understands if some viewers don't exactly love her trademark shriek. "You're always free to hit the mute button," she said. "Unfortunately, Nigel doesn't have that opportunity. I guess as Entertainment Weekly last week measured -- they actually came in with a machine and measured how loud my scream can be at full tilt, and I am here to inform you today that I am louder than a vacuum cleaner, a rock band, and a small jet engine."

Like the show they were trying to promote, the session for "Do Not Disturb" an upstairs-downstairs comedy set in a chic New York hotel didn't draw too many laughs. But it wasn't for want of the likable stars Jerry O'Connell and Niecy Nash - of "Reno 911"- and executive producer Abraham Higginbotham trying.

It's unlikely that Higginbotham, who worked on the Kelsey Grammer-Patricia Heaton sitcom "Back to You," will endear himself to his former co-stars with answers like this. When asked about the differences between the shows he said, "with this, we're trying to have some fun with a younger cast, fresher faces, and -- oh, my God. Am I going to get in trouble for that?"

When asked if he had heard from Tom Cruise about the widely seen web parody video he did of Cruise's Scientology film, O'Connell got a little nervous. "First of all, in that parody video that I did... we never mentioned anyone by name or any specific group by name. It's funny that you made that assumption. Possibly because of the way my hair was combed or the turtleneck I was wearing. No, there has been no contact, thank goodness. I'm kidding. No, I'm not. I'm actually scared."