Fall 2009 television premiere dates – ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, NBC

Following are the premiere dates for the fall 2009-10 television schedule for the five major networks. Click here to read more about the new and returning series for the fall.
ABC
Sept. 5: “Saturday Night Football” (8 p.m.)
Sept. 11:  “20/20″ (10 p.m.)
Sept. 21: “Dancing with the Stars” (8 p.m.);  “Castle” (10 p.m.)
Sept. 22: “Dancing with the Stars” results show (8 p.m.);  “The Forgotten” (10 p.m.)
Sept. 23: “Modern Family”(9 p.m.); “Cougar Town” (9:30 p.m.)
Sept. 24: “Flash Forward” (8 p.m.); “Grey’s Anatomy” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 27: “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (7 p.m.); “Desperate Housewives” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 29: “Shark Tank” (8 p.m.)
Sept. 30: “Hank”(8 p.m.); “The Middle” (8:30 p.m.)
Oct. 4: “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (7 p.m.)
Oct. 9: “Ugly Betty” (8 p.m.)
Oct. 16: “Supernanny” (8 p.m.)

CBS
Sept. 17: “Survivor: Samoa” (8 p.m.
Sept. 21: “How I Met Your Mother” (8 p.m.; “Accidentally on Purpose” (8:30 p.m.); “Two and a Half Men” (9 p.m.); “The Big Bang Theory” (9:30 p.m.; “CSI: Miami” (10 p.m.)
Sept: 22: “NCIS” (8 p.m.); “NCIS: Los Angeles” (9 p.m.); “The Good Wife” (10 p.m.)
Sept. 23: “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (8 p.m.); “Gary Unmarried” (8:30 p.m.); “Criminal Minds” (9 p.m.); “CSI: NY” (10 p.m.)
Sept. 24: “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (9 p.m.); “The Mentalist” (10 p.m.)
Sept. 25: “Ghost Whisperer” (8 p.m.); “Medium” (9 p.m.); “Numb3rs” (10 p.m.
Sept. 26: “Crimetime Saturday” (8 p.m.); “48 Hours Mystery” (10 p.m.)
Sept. 27: “60 Minutes” (7 p.m.); “The Amazing Race” (8 p.m.); “Cold Case” (10 p.m.)
Oct. 4: “Three Rivers” (9 p.m.)

CW
Sept. 8: “90210” (8 p.m.); “Melrose Place” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 9: “America’s Next Top Model” (8 p.m.)
Sept. 10: “The Vampire Diaries (8 p.m.); “Supernatural” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 14: “One Tree Hill” (8 p.m.); “Gossip Girl” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 16: “The Beautiful Life” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 25: “Smallville” (8 p.m.)

Fox
Sept. 12: “Cops” (8 p.m.); “America’s Most Wanted” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 16: “So You Think You Can Dance” (8 p.m.); “Glee” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 17: “Bones” (8 p.m.); “Fringe” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 18: “Brothers” (8 p.m.); “Til Death” (8:30 p.m.); “Dollhouse” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 21: “House” (8 p.m.)
Sept. 27: “The Simpsons” (8 p.m.); “The Cleveland Show” (8:30 p.m.); “Family Guy” (9 p.m.); “American Dad” (9:30 p.m.
Sept. 28: “Lie to Me” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 29: “Hell’s Kitchen” (8 p.m.)
Nov. 7: “The Wanda Sykes Show” (11 p.m.)

NBC
Sept. 13:  “NBC Sunday Night Football” (8 p.m.)
Sept. 14: “The Jay Leno Show” (10 p.m.)
Sept. 15: “The Biggest Loser” (8 p.m.)
Sept. 17:  “Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday” (8 p.m.); “Parks and Recreation”(8:30 p.m.); “The Office” (9 p.m.); “Community” (9:30 p.m.)
Sept. 21:  “Heroes” (8 p.m.)
Sept. 23: “Parenthood” (8 p.m.); “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 25:  “Law & Order” (8 p.m.); “Southland” (9 p.m.)
Sept. 26:  “Dateline NBC” (8 p.m.); “Saturday Night Live” (11:30 p.m.)
Sept. 28: “Trauma” (9 p.m.)

Michael Jackson the musician was magical

I spent a good deal of time over the weekend watching Michael Jackson music videos that were aired in tribute to the pop star, who dies last week due to heart complications.

Photo by The Associated Press

Man, I forgot just how good he was.
When you get a chance, find some his videos and take a look. “Bad.” “Thriller.” “Beat It.” All classics.
Even his “second tier” videos were phenomenal. Hardly anyone noticed his last studio album at the start of this decade, “Invincible.” But it was good. Really good. And its lead single, “You Rock My World,” was really good and produced a solid video.
And then there’s “They Don’t Care About Us,” “Scream” (his duet with sister Janet) and “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough,” any of which would be the career pinnacle for just about any other performer.
Those of us who lived through Jackson’s peak can recall the events that his video premieres were. I didn’t even have much of an interest in music as a pre-teen, but I made sure I caught his videos. I just knew there was something special going on there.
Why did it take until he died for these videos to be pulled out of the vault? His music was outstanding, his showmanship was superb and his instinct for what sounds/looks right was honed to perfection. It will be years until there’s another performer who’s on his level – if another one ever comes around again.