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GOOD WEEK/BAD WEEK: Week 3

GOOD WEEK: "RULES OF ENGAGEMENT"
When CBS's fall schedule came out last May and Rules of Engagement was slotted for Saturdays at 8pm, many assumed it was a dead show walking and merely sticking around for syndication purposes. But then CBS's new Thursday comedy How to Be a Gentleman stumbled out of the gate and CBS pushed back the Saturday premiere of Rules of Engagement. When Gentleman fell in Week 2, it was shipped to a Saturday burnoff and Rules will return to its old timeslot - Thursdays at 8:30pm - starting October 20 with the season premiere. This seems to be the little show that could - it is shockingly in its sixth season, yet do you know one person who would count it among their favorite shows?

BAD WEEK: THE 1960s
Period dramas are hard to market and have traditionally had trouble on the broadcast networks. Even the highly acclaimed Mad Men is not one of AMC's top rated dramas. This year, both ABC and NBC tried to evoke the Mad Men appeal with a period drama - NBC's controversial The Playboy Club and ABC's glamorous Pan Am. The Playboy Club premiered to DOA ratings and was yanked after three episodes. Pan Am got off to a good start but had one of the biggest Week 2 drops of any new show. While Pan Am might succeed still, it was not a good week for 60s dramas, which is a shame because I love period shows.

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