Source : Globe & Mail

Oh, cheer up, for heavens sake. It's Tuesday already. There is lots to look forward to: Somebody is probably going to be shot tonight on 24 (Fox, Global, 9 p.m.), in a thrilling twist. Me, I have money on that whiny guy from CTU who is dating Kim. That dude is asking for it.

Maybe you're still not cheerful? Well consider the situation of network TV executives, both here and in the United States -- those people are eithernervous ninnies right now or a handful are gleefully congratulating themselves. Locally, it looks like Global made horrendous programming decisions when all of those Canadian execs went trooping down to L.A. in June to buy new shows. On the other hand, CTV didn't spend a lot of money on new programs and now looks a lot smarter. We'll get to that in a minute.

Frasier (NBC, 9 p.m.) is an alternative to 24 at 9 p.m. tonight, but I doubt if there will be a big rush to see it. This being a sweeps period, Frasier includes an inevitable gimmick. As usual during a sweeps period, Frasier Crane's ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) makes an appearance.

The plot synopsis sounds equally predictable: Somebody sets up Frasier on a blind date and, lo-and-behold, the date is with Lilith! I'm sure that the Frasier writers will turn this bit of mistaken-identity comedy into fine, light humour and several delicious one-liners will be delivered. However, Frasier is a show that's slowly dying.

Now in its 11th season, it was widely expected to end forever next May. But NBC has carefully avoided making an official announcement and never began a build-up to a celebratory final episode.

Late last week, NBC head Jeff Zucker began a courtship dance with the show's executives and its star, Kelsey Grammer. "The door is open," Zucker said. And Grammer, in a timely appearance on a talk show, acknowledged that while he hadn't said he wouldn't come back for another season, he hadn't been invited to stay -- yet.

It all makes some sense in the context of this crazy season for the U.S. networks. Shows considered certainties have been cancelled already. At this time of the year, the networks are already looking at next year and at their development slate.

If they don't see much to inspire confidence in new hits, they start to get desperate about keeping existing shows on the air. Nobody will be surprised if Frasier is back next season, a little less frisky and a little more repetitive, but still making money for NBC.

Law & Order: SVU (NBC, CTV, 10 p.m.) marks its 100th episode tonight and its continued, solid success illustrates what NBC (and CTV) have been doing right. In a topsy-turvy network environment, the three Law & Order franchises perform consistently well for NBC.

Tonight's episode appears to be based on the usual recipe for all the shows. A woman psychiatrist whose specialty is the treatment of sex offenders is found beaten to death in a crackhouse. At first detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) believe that a recently paroled sex offender, known as the Duct Tape Rapist, is responsible. But then their investigation leads them to suspect a law clerk. This is the sort of plot that the Law & Order shows produce all the time: There is something very lurid in the crime and the victim is a professional person, allowing all those middle-class viewers to identify with the circumstances. Also, as so often on L&O shows, the chief suspect is a professional, too. Thus, all those people who really don't admit that they watch much TV can feel that somehow their world of doctors, lawyers, psychiatrists and money managers is being reflected in a TV show about crime. Naturally, they feel reassured by the end.

I imagine that Global wishes it had bought the Law & Order franchise years ago. When Global execs went to L.A. with their chequebooks, they bought loads of new shows from NBC, Fox, ABC and CBS. Right now, those shows are simply disappearing.

One of the first to fall was Coupling, the NBC show expected to keep alive the NBC and Global line-up of sexy sitcoms on Thursdays. Soon after, Fox killed off Skin, which Global bought to air on its CH channels. Now it appears that The Lyon's Den, that heavily promoted vehicle for Rob Lowe, is also on the brink of cancellation. Even Tarzan, a silly show that looked like a no-brainer for the WB network and Global, is in trouble. Also, such high-profile new entries as Miss Match (a vehicle for Alicia Silverstone), and A Minute With Stan Hooper, are doing very badly indeed.

CTV stuck with an established format and depended on the Law & Order and CSI franchises. Among the few new shows it bought was Joan of Arcadia, which has emerged as the surprise hit of the season.

Mind you, while it's safe to say that CTV was shrewder and is now the winner in a grudge match with Global, the entire argument only bolsters the fact that commercial Canadian television is merely a delivery system, purchasing American shows and delivering them to local viewers. Buying isn't creating and buying badly is a bad business decision, not a failure of creativity.