As we kick into Week 10, we’ve already got casualties. No more Ben Elton: Live From Planet Earth, House is bouncing around, there’s talk of 6PM with George Negus becoming 6:30PM, Southland & The Shield have vanished unceremoniously, & Top Gear is in trouble. Who’d be a TV programmer? I’d offer, but I suspect my brain would need to be removed before I could operate at levels acceptable to the Networks.

In the meantime, there is still so much to enjoy…

CAN’T MISS

• Sunday Night – Sun 6:30pm, Ch7
• Biggest Loser Australia: Families – Sun 6:30pm; Wed/Thu/Fri 7:30pm, Ch10
• 60 Minutes – Sun 7:30pm, Ch9
• Modern Family – Sun 7:30pm, Ch10
• Bondi Rescue – Sun 8pm, Ch10
• Hawaii Five-O (double ep) – Sun 8:30pm, Ch10
• 83rd Annual Academy Awards – Mon 11:30am, Ch9
• Glee – Mon 7:30pm, Ch10
• Movie: Silence of the Lambs – Mon 9:30pm, GEM
• The Office (US) – Tue 8:30pm/9pm, Eleven
• Top Gear – Tue 8:00pm, Ch9
• Conviction Kitchen – Tue 9:30pm, Ch7
• Californication – Tue 10:05pm, Eleven
• Adam Hills In Gordon St Tonight – Wed 8:30pm, ABC1
• Blue Bloods – Wed 8:30pm, Ch10
• Laid – Wed 9:30pm, ABC1
• Fringe (double ep) – Wed 9:30pm, GO!
• Zumbo – Thu 7:30pm, SBS one
• Party Down – Thu 8:30pm, ABC2
• Movie: The Incredibles – Sat 6:30pm, Ch7

BURIED TREASURE

• The Love Boat (rpt) – Daily 11am & 2am, Eleven
• Compass (Julian Morrow) – Sun 10pm, ABC1
• Boston Legal (rpt) – Sun 11pm, 7mate
• Rake (rpt) – Mon 8:35pm, ABC2
• Black Books (rpt) – Tue 8pm, ABC2
• Hoarders – Tue 8:30pm, GEM
• Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares Revisits – 11pm, Ch9
• Bob’s Burgers – Wed 8:30pm, Eleven
• Movie: Starship Troopers – Wed 8:30pm, 7mate
• Megastructures – Thu 8:30pm, 7mate
• The Golden Girls – Thu 8:30pm, GEM
• Cops – Various days and always after 11:30pm, Ch10

SECRET TV PLEASURES

• NZ’s Next Top Model – Sun 7:30pm, Eleven
• The Mentalist (double ep) – Sun 8:30pm, Ch9
• 6pm with George Negus – Weeknights 6pm, Ch10
• The 7pm Project – Weeknights 7pm, Ch10
• $#*! My Dad Says – Mon 8pm, Ch9
• Q and A – Mon 8:35pm ABC News 24 (Qld); 9:35pm ABC1
• Media Watch – Mon 9:15pm, ABC1
• Good Game – Tue 8:30pm, ABC2
• Mike and Molly – Wed 8pm, Ch9
• V – Wed 8:30pm, GO!
• CSI – Thu 8:30pm, Ch9
• Undercover Boss (USA) – Fri 8:30pm, Ch10

AT YOUR OWN RISK

• Bones – Sun 8:30pm, Ch7
• Dexter – Mon 9:30pm, Eleven
• Packed To The Rafters – Tue 8:30pm, Ch7
• Britain’s Missing Top Model – Wed 9:30pm, ABC2
• Grey’s Anatomy – Thu 8:30pm, Ch7

LAST CHANCE(S)

• My Kitchen Rules – Mon/Tue/Wed 7:30pm, Ch7
• The Late Session – Tue 10:05pm, SBS1
• Farmer Wants A Root Wife – Wed 8:30pm, Ch9
• CSI:NY – Thu 9:30pm, Ch9

DO. NOT. BOTHER.

• Cougar Town – Tue 10:30pm, Ch7
• Hellcats – Tue 7:30pm, GO!
• Deperate Housewives – Thu 9:30pm, Ch7
• 30 Rock – Thu 11:30pm, Ch7

Tuesday night is left in an interesting position for Ch7 – the highest rating program of the week in Packed to the Rafters needs to have a good follow up program to share that ratings love with, and it’s not finding it in Parenthood (rested last week and this week for Conviction Kitchen). Perhaps things will pick up for the Ron Howard movie-based series once it’s back on our screens.

Ch9 has a whole other Tuesday drama to deal with. Top Gear is not the ratings puller it once was, and with Ben Elton: Live From Planet Earth now shelved permanently slotting in an adults-only 20 to 1 doesn’t seem like the answer for any question people are asking – like where is the new series of Survivor: Redemption Island. The first ep is a cracker and Australia is now 2 weeks behind the airing of the series in the US. It would do the network well to catch the audience up and actually fast-track the eps into a Thursday 9:30pm timeslot, showing just how easy it is to do and saving on spoilers for a Survivor-starved audience.

Poor Ch10. They are in no better position, with an all but permanent “3rd place” stamped on their column on the daily ratings. Shows like Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation & Blue Bloods aren’t getting the support they should (although the demos Ch10 is chasing are following them). Also their additional news services are under the spotlight with new “interim” CEO Lachlan Murdoch… please give them a chance, sir.

What are you watching this week? What do you think of the first round of changes (& axings)?