Feast or Famine (UPDATED)

With the demise of NBC's "Must See TV," an interesting phenomenon has developed on Thursday nights. Because the night is a potentially highly profitable night for broadcasters in terms of advertising sales, the networks have been scratching and clawing to pick up any portion of the Thursday night audience that was set free when Seinfeld ended, Friends took its leave, and ER stopped being entertaining. The new fall season promises a glut of popular programming all competing for viewers on Thursday nights. The OC, Survivor, Smallville, Alias, Joey/Will & Grace, Everybody Hates Chris all duke it out in the 8 o'clock hour. These are all either established hits, quality shows, cult favorites, or (in the case of Chris) a new show with serious buzz. Aside from those who have multiple VCRs, DVRs, or ADD, a person simply can't watch everything that's worth watching among those shows.

Me? I'll be watching Alias. It's not even a difficult decision for me, though I'll likely tape the first couple of episodes of Everybody Hates Chris. The teasers suggest its way too good to pass up altogether.

UPDATE: Zap2It has an interesting article about the WB's attempt to grab some Thursday night viewers with the Smallville/Everwood move to the crowded Thursday night.