Report Card III: Insert Clever Nickname Here

The CW seems to be born behind the 8-ball.

The product of the union of two failed networks, the grade for the fledgling CW probably should be "incomplete" as it wraps up its first fall.

After all, anything you say about the CW seems to be a qualified statement, as in "Veronica Mars gets good ratings FOR THE CW," point out that pretty much any show on the CW would be ratings toast if it appeared on one of the other networks.

Still, the outlook isn't all bleak. The CW manages to stay pretty competitive in the much-loved 18-49 age group, always a good sign.

THE GOOD: Again, you have to qualify this by remembering it's good FOR THE CW.

Culling the herd to bring with it the best the defunct UPN and WB had to offer, the CW doesn't have the worst lineup in the world. The network does pretty well with "America's Next Top Model," and its Thursday offerings of "Smallville" and "Supernatural" have been solid both ratings-wise (for the CW, anyway) and creatively.

"Veronica Mars" has actually seen a slight ratings bump on Tuesdays.

THE BAD: "Gilmore Girls," as much a signature show as anything the CW offers, has suffered both a ratings and critical decline since the move. Most of the new dramatic offerings by the network, such as "Runaway," were DOA. Very little new stuff seems to be coming on the horizon.

THE IRONIC: "Reba," a show the CW didn't want but sort of had to take because of certain contractual obligations, seems to be the network's best offering on Sundays in terms of ratings.

OUTLOOK: New shows that appear on the CW almost seem to have an instant death sentence. Still, the holdover shows from UPN and the WB seem to have their built-in audience and are holding steady for the most part. GRADE: Incomplete

AROUND THE DIAL: FX announced it's picking up a third season of documentarian Morgan Spurlock's series "30 Days." ... Orlando Jones will have an upcoming part on ABC's "Men In Trees." ... The Golden Globe nominees will be announced Thursday morning. ...

In the latest reality offering that makes me want to drive an icepick through my temple, CBS is coming out with ‘‘Armed & Famous’’ starring the likes of Erik Estrada, LaToya Jackson, Jack Osborne and other C-listers as volunteer cops with the Muncie, Ind. police force. Already, there have been issues with the show, since the producers and cops have had difficulties getting suspects to sign waivers so their face can appear on TV.

WEDNESDAY'S BEST BETS: Thank you, cable TV, for forcing networks to broadcast more first-run episodes this late into the holiday season. On the drama side, you can get "Bones" (Fox, 8 p.m.), "CSI: NY" (CBS, 10 p.m.) and one of the final episodes of "Day Break" (ABC, 9 p.m.), though I gave up on this one about two weeks ago.

On the comedy side, there are two episode of "The King of Queens" (CBS, 8 p.m.), while reality TV offers the two-hour finales "America's Next Top Model" (CW, 8 p.m.) and "The Biggest Loser" (NBC, 8 p.m.)

Speaking of finales, you can also catch the final part of the miniseries "The Lost Room" (Sci-Fi, 9 p.m.) I've yet to catch Part 2, but Part 1 was pretty cool. You can catch Part 2's rerun at 7 p.m.

Finally, I promised updates on when to catch "Heroes" reruns. NBC.com is supposedly offering all of the fall episodes of "Heroes" and its other shows on its Web site through the rest of the month. I find NBC.com rather aggravating to navigate, but it should allow those of you who need to catch up the opportunity to do so before new episodes arrive in January.