Poetic Justice

I got a press release from Fox today informing me that "Vanished" had been pulled from tonight's schedule and the final four episodes will be aired on the network's Web site.

Fox is following the playbook of NBC, which pulled the similarly-themed-but-way-superior "Kidnapped" from the broadcast network and having it finish online instead.

I have to admit a little schadenfreude at Fox's decision. "Vanished" was a pretty awful show that killed the audience for "Kidnapped" by debuting first. It's a common strategy over at Fox, which has ripped off other shows over the years and then rushed them to the air first, hoping to undermine the other network's show.

NBC has so exasperated me by not even putting up all of the episodes of "Kidnapped" online (and making the ones they do have up next-to-impossible to find) that I am unlikely to finish out the series, even though I enjoyed what had aired so far.

"Vanished" was a show that took place in Georgia written by people who had evidently never stepped foot here. The upside of Fox's decision is that "Justice," which just got yanked off Monday's schedule, will get a final shot on Friday's beginning Dec. 1.

I don't have a lot of high hopes that the Victor Garber series will survive much longer, but it's good that Fox is at least giving those who are watching the series the chance to see the final episodes on network TV rather than the Internet.

In other Fox news, the network has ordered six additional episodes each for "Standoff" and "Til Death," an encouraging sign for fans of those shows since both were on life support ratings-wise.

As for the other networks, the CW will begin airing new episodes of the comedy "Reba," (Sunday, 7 p.m.) formerly of the late WB network. However, the CW has yet to announce it will pick up the back nine for dramas "Veronica Mars" and "One Tree Hill," something it was contractually supposed to do this week. With the season-long arcs "VM" creator Rob Thomas uses for his show, it's getting into crunch time because if the back nine isn't ordered, the current arc would have to be re-written for a 13-episode run, making it very difficult to tie up a lot of plot lines.

*****EDIT****: My brother sent me a link to a blog that says "VM" will receive a back order, but only seven instead of nine. Since this hasn't been posted anywhere officially, it still remains to be seen, but if it's true, then it's pretty good news, though I would have preferred the full nine episodes.

FANS GETTING A BREAK?: TV Guide reports that "Prison Break" may return in January instead of March, citing the show's strong ratings and a lack of other quality shows on Fox. Are you paying attention, ABC?

FRIDAY'S BEST BETS: "Monk" fans who are in withdrawal until the new season begins in January get a holiday treat tonight, with a special new episode (USA, 10 p.m.). Monk (Tony Shalhoub) finally gets together with his long-lost dad (guest star Dan Hedaya), who is in need of the defective detective's help.

Sci-Fi fans have plenty of options tonight as well. TV Land is airing the "Star Trek" episode "Space Seed," which introduced Ricardo Montalban as Khan at 9 p.m., followed by the movie "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" at 10 p.m.

"Doctor Who" (Sci-Fi, 8 p.m.) begins the first part of a two-parter called "The Impossible Planet," in which the Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose (Billie Piper) land near a black hole. That's followed by "Battlestar Galactica" (Sci-Fi, 9 p.m.), an Adama (Edward James Olmos)-centric episode featuring key flashbacks.

"Numb3rs" (CBS, 10 p.m.) features guest stars Kathy Najimy and Josh Malina.

WEEKEND'S BEST BETS: Michigan and Ohio State square off (ABC, Sat., 3:30 p.m.) in a game the BCS will ultimately render meaningless if it puts them in a re-match in January.

Helen Mirren takes her final bow as Jane Tennison in "Prime Suspect 7" (PBS, Sun., 9 p.m.). The TV landscape will be the poorer for it once the series ends.