How To Find "The Office" This Week

When Ch. 5 folks bought local TV rights to Thursday’s Bengals-Ravens telecast – a simulcast of the new NFL Network – they figured it could be a good game. But they didn’t anticipate that NBC would chose the day after November sweeps to relaunch a two-hour comedy block, with new episodes of "The Office" and the entire Thursday lineup (even "ER"). So while Bengals fans are happy, "The Office" fans definitely are not.
"We’re getting a lot of e-mails from fans of 'The Office.' They want to know when to set their DVRs. Most people recognize it’s a good decision to carry the Bengals, and we’re trying to provide the best of both worlds, even if on a slight delay," Dyer said this morning
"This is unusual. The network usually goes into reruns, at least temporarily, right after sweeps ends," he says.
Getting the Bengals game was a coup. It’s a crucial rematch, with playoff implications for the Bengals. And with Time Warner refusing to carry the NFL Network, and with Insight cable carrying the channel but not the eight NFL games (too expensive, they say), Ch 5 is the only way to see the 8 p.m. Thursday game – unless you have a dish.
But if you want to see "The Office," you’ll have to wait until 7:30 p.m. Saturday – unless you can get Dayton’s Ch. 2. Here how to find the NBC shows delayed by Ch. 5:
--"My Name Is Earl," 7 p.m. Saturday.
--"The Office," 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
--"Scrubs," 3:30 a.m. Sunday (late Saturday)
--"30 Rock," 4 a.m. Sunday (late Saturday)
--"ER," noon Sunday.

NFL Network
I was in a Comcast cable home for Thanksgiving – in New Jersey – and saw part of the NFL Network’s debut game. It was great to hear Cris Collinsworth back in the booth, as a game analyst. He’s paired with Bryant Gumbel. The graphics reminded me of Fox games, without sound effects. Collinsworth will appear on Ch 5’s 7-8 p.m. pregame show Thursday, "Ready to Roar." (Did any of you see the game? What did you think?)

Prairie Home Companion
On the drive back from Jersey Saturday night, I caught Garrison Keillor’s "Prairie Home Companion" broadcast from Music Hall. He certainly did his homework. If you missed it, he paid tribute to the city’s broadcasting and music heritage, talking about WLW-AM and 500,000 watts in the 1930s to make it truly "The Nation’s Station," and about Syd Nathan and King Records, and Rosemary Clooney and Roy Rogers. Keillor ended the national broadcast with a sing-along of "White Christmas," in memoriy of Rosie, and "Happy Trails," Roy's signature song. Nice touch. If you attended the show, tell me all about it.

Network news
"The Nine" is down to zero. ABC has pulled the serial drama from 10 p.m. Wednesday – the last day of sweeps – for a "20/20." ABC says it’s on hiatus and returns sometime later in the season. (Yeah, sure.) ABC also has moved Anne Heche’s "Men In Trees" to 10 p.m. Thursday in place of "Six Degrees." Sweeps end Wednesday. More shows will be pulled. Which ones are goners?