PBS moves Burns epic back a week; tells crix, "OK, OK, we get it!"

We actually groaned, we critics did, earlier this month, when PBS president Paula Kerger broke the news that "The War," Ken Burns' latest doc-tacular, would be airing in the teeth of fall network premieres, starting Sept. 16.

But the network has relented, and in a letter to critics today, informed us that "The War" will begin instead one week later, on Sept. 23, when it won't have to compete with every network program in creation for cover space in the nation's newspapers and magazines.

Adult Swim mans up for Boston fiasco

I'm still not sure it's the fault of the too-hip-for-Dad cartoon channel — although no such doubts bother Anderson Cooper, who seems to have learned nothing from Sago Mine — but it's nice to see Adult Swim apologizing tonight for the marketing campaign that caused Boston to shut down and go bananas earlier today.

"We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger," read the first slide that appeared three minutes ago, at the start of tonight's Adult Swim block. "We appreciate the gravity of this situation and, like any responsible company would, are pulling all necessary resources toward understanding the facts surrounding it as quickly as possible."

PBS to Supremes: Take off your robes

A really fascinating PBS series — and lord knows I wish I could say that more often — begins tonight: "The Supreme Court," which is not only an absorbing history of the highest court in the land, but an unprecedented look inside the new Roberts Court. My review, and three questions for legal expert Jeffrey Rosen, who advised the series, in today's podcast.

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• Earlier: Why Burke ain't leaving "Grey's Anatomy"
  
• Coming Thursday: Letterman at 25

TV Barn's TV Picks for Jan. 31

SITTIN' HERE ON CAPITOL HILL
Norman Lear's "The Powers That Be" featured cast members from all of the following series but ...?

A) "Frasier"
B) "Lost"
C) "3rd Rock From the Sun"
D) "24"
E) "Two and a Half Men"

27 essential stories from Winter Press Tour

As many of you know, I used to shun the TV critics’ tour held twice a year in California. The reason was simple: I thought I would get more unique stories the DIY method — going out to L.A. and, by myself, arranging for set visits at the hottest shows on TV.

In theory, a great idea. But in practice, I learned what every mid-market TV critic learns: that no matter how well known you are on the Internet, no matter how friendly or persistent you are, Hollywood publicists have a death grip on access, and they tend not to grant it to mid-market Midwesterners. The pecking order seems to be the trades, the national newspapers, and magazines, then the rest of us, maybe. Oh, I'd come back with a good story or two — but the dollars-to-stories ratio made it hard to justify visiting L.A. more than once a year.

So, in 2004, I tried press tour again. Lo and behold, I came back loaded with stories that would appear in my paper, with my byline, for the next six months. Some required more enterprise than others, but the common thread was that most of these stories would have been impossible for me to cover except for TCA. (Note: In all candor, "NCIS," on whose set this photograph was taken, is not one of those stories. But it made for a nice picture, and it is a top ten show. Besides, I learned a couple of things while on the set: there really is a NCIS, and show creator Don Bellasario's picture is on the set's "most wanted" wall.)

"The Sarah Silverman Program": Kinda Jewy, kinda chewy, kinda bluey

Sarah Silverman is often called a “dangerous” comic, which means that whenever she performs on stage, while much of her audience is falling out of their seats in hysterics there's likely to be a few just sitting there, stone-faced and cross-armed, because they were told this was one of the funniest women in America and what is so funny about jokes where black people and “retards” and making “dooky” are the punchlines?

  Well, fans and haters, good news: “The Sarah Silverman Program,” debuting at 9:30 p.m. CT Thursday on Comedy Central, may intensify your feelings toward the 36-year-old comedian, but is not likely to change them.

TV Barn's TV Picks for Jan. 30

POTENT POTABLES
The final scene of most episodes of "Boston Legal" finds Denny Crane and Alan Shore sitting on the balcony of Crane, Poole & Schmidt, smoking cigars and hoisting glasses of which beverage?

A) beer
B) bourbon
C) brandy
D) red wine
E) Scotch whisky

Why Burke isn't leaving "Grey's Anatomy"

Call it an educated guess, but I have my reasons why Isaiah Washington's character isn't likely to be checking out of Seattle Grace Hospital anytime soon. Today with Paul Harris, we discussed the behind-the-scenes contretemps at "Grey's Anatomy" and what Washington's "rehab" assignment means to the show's future.

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• Last podcast: On the set of "24"

Podcast-a-palooza

After a week's r-and-r of sorts, we're storming back with a vengeance this week, with podcasts looking ahead to Super Bowl Sunday (later today), the PBS doc-tacular "The Supreme Court" (Wednesday), and David Letterman's 25th anniversary (Thursday).

• Meantime, if you haven't heard CNN's Jim Walton explain why there's less world news on TV now than there was before 9/11, listen to my podcast from earlier this month.
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What to watch this week

In a nutshell: Plan on staying up late Wednesday.

Link: Kansas City Star.

TV Barn's TV Picks for Jan. 29

TICK ... TICK ... TICK ... BOMB!
Before playing Chloe on "24," actress Mary Lynn Rajskub played a character named Chloe for 15 episodes on which "Must See TV" sitcom?

A) "Boston Common"
B) "Caroline in the City"
C) "Frasier"
D) "Suddenly Susan"
E) "Veronica's Closet"

The SAG Awards only match the Oscars in pretentiousness

The kindest things that can be said about the 13th SAG Awards, as a program by and for television, are that it was only two hours long and it helped ensure that NBC's low-rated comedy “30 Rock” earns a well-deserved renewal.

Several Golden Globes winners repeated Sunday nights as Actor winners, including America Ferrera (ABC's “Ugly Betty”), Hugh Laurie (Fox's “House”), Helen Mirren (“Elizabeth I” on HBO) and Alec Baldwin for “30 Rock.” The top comedy award went to the cast of “The Office,” while “Grey's Anatomy” won for drama.

In a telecast filled with gracious, funny and brief acceptance speeches, Baldwin's stood out because he thanked his mother. He even paused as he said, “I love you, Mom.”

But the prize went to Chandra Wilson, who walked away with the female actor award for her role as a loud, domineering nurse resident on “Grey's Anatomy.” She replicated the part on stage, with a little girlishness injected.

“First of all, it's about those 10 cast members sitting over there and the other one in rehab,” Wilson said. Her reference to Isiaih Washington drew knowing howls of laughter and applause from the audience, who were well aware of Washington's homophobic slur uttered after the Golden Globes. It touched off a furor that, judging by his absence, has still not died down. (He really is in "rehab," though judging from the descriptions I've read, it's a facility where the primary goal is to keep Washington from further indulging his appetite for shoe leather.)

The trouble with Harry

For months, readers have been advising me that Independence author Jim Butcher's popular Harry Dresden novels were coming to the small screen, thanks to the SciFi Channel and Nicolas Cage's production company. Now that the series has arrived -- the first two episodes air at 7 and 8 p.m. CT Sunday on SciFi -- well, color me confused. Who exactly is this TV show for, anyway?

  Is it for the hardcore fans of Butcher's books about a wizard-detective who solves the cases the cops can't crack? If so, then it is clear that many Dresdenphiles are disappointed with what they saw when the first episode aired last week.

  “He's pretty much been made everything he's NOT,” one fan posted about the TV version of Harry at the Jim-Butcher.com bulletin board. “I'll keep watching, but it's not nearly as great as it could have been.”

  Or was it meant for a wider audience, fandom be damned? Well, then those viewers are going to feel let down, too, compared to earlier SciFi programs (“Eureka,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “The Lost Room”). The first episode of “Dresden Files” was a mess, frankly, not to mention a tad bewildering. Had I not done some journalistic boning up on this Harry Dresden fellow, I would have been totally lost.

TV Barn's TV Picks for Jan. 26-28

LOCO MOTION
Which blink-and-you-missed-it series featured Train's "Calling All Angels" as its theme song?

A) "3 lbs."
B) "Day Break"
C) "Kidnapped"
D) "Justice"
E) "Six Degrees"

TV Barn's TV Picks for Jan. 25

SOMEWHERE UNDER THE RAINBOW
"It's nothing like where you live, and nothing like you imagine." So said the promotional ads for the debut of which series?

A) "The Amazing Race"
B) "Farscape"
C) "Lost"
D) "The O.C."
E) "Three's Company"

TV Barn's TV Picks for Jan. 24

THE ROBE
Which cast member of Comedy Central's "Beat the Geeks" costarred in "My Big Fat Independent Movie"?

A) J. Keith van Straaten
B) the TV Geek
C) the Movie Geek
D) the Music Geek
E) Blaine Capatch

Paul Harris: The TCA catch-up episode

On Monday, Paul Harris and I chatted on KMOX about my visits to the sets of "24" and "Studio 60" with the creative teams behind those shows; and Apple TV, the device that will further blur the line between our home computers and televisions.

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• Last podcast: Aaron Sorkin, in his own words
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TV Barn's TV Picks for Jan. 23

AMERICA YOU'RE DULL
Which of the following series would you not find a regular cast member named Randy, Paula, or Simon?

A) "Alvin & the Chipmunks"
B) "Home Improvement"
C) "My Name Is Earl"
D) "Oz"
E) "The Wonder Years"

Dateline Pasadena: Simon Cowell tries to convince us _he's_ the crazy one; plus, the real NCIS speaks

PASADENA, Calif. -- Simon Cowell gets paid a reported $36 million a year to do “American Idol.” That includes appearing on the show, enduring countless atrocious auditions and helping whittle the field of several thousand self-styled music artists down to the two dozen semifinalists you see on TV.

  However, it seems that Cowell's job description has grown to include a less publicized but far more essential task. Increasingly he is called on to act as a one-man heat shield for a program that sometimes looks like it will be crushed under the intense pressure of its own mad success.

  Twice during a session with TV critics here Saturday, Cowell fell on his sword, manfully taking the blame for show-related embarrassments that probably weren't his doing. The first happened when a critic asked why the press conference, on a day jam-packed with presentations, had started 40 minutes late.

  “It was my fault,” Cowell said. “I flew in late from London, so I apologize.”

  Nobody, and I mean nobody in the assemblage of critics was buying that. Suspicion fell, instead, on fellow “Idol” judge Paula Abdul, whose wacky behavior has become such a given that Defamer recently celebrated the show's return with the headline, "America Cheers as Paula Abdul Climbs Back on the Crazy Train."

TV Barn's TV Picks for Jan. 22

THE FAB FIVE
Who would most likely have been told to "put a sock in it" on "Fox After Breakfast"/"Breakfast Time"?

A) Bob
B) Carol
C) Ted
D) Alice
E) Tom Bergeron