Well, so it begins. The carousel is getting started and the under performing television programs are meeting their inevitable fates. I don't totally disagree with anything that either FOX or NBC are doing, but I always question the point of producing shows that any normal guy could see were destined for failure. Who on earth thought that the Lithgow/Tambor golden years comedy 20 Good Years would succeed? Anyone? Well, no more. 20 Good Years has been given the old boot and will be replaced by, to add insult to injury, a special two-hour edition of The Biggest Loser. Ouch. Here's the complete rundown of the changes:

• 20 Good Years is canceled. The Biggest Loser will be two hours long this week and a special 2-hour edition of Medium will show up the following week.
• Subsequently, 30 Rock, starring Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan, will be moved to Thursdays where it will become a part of a two hour comedy block from NBC. For the first two weeks, NBC will air super-sized, 40-minute editions of My Name is Earl, The Office, and 30 Rock. Then, on November 30, Scrubs will join the party, creating the best two hours of comedy on TV.
• Kidnapped which has been jerked around far more than it's deserved (moved to the black hole of network television that is Saturday nights) will finish its 13-episode season at NBC.com.
• The jury is still out on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, as well as Friday Night Lights. They are both under performing, but NBC likes both shows.
• New episodes of The OC will run on both Wednesday and Thursday at 9PM this week. After that, FOX is looking for The OC to settle into the Wednesday 9PM time slot. With Lost going on a 13-week hiatus that week, this might be a clever move. CSI and Grey's Anatomy absolutely destroyed The OC last week, so FOX had to do something.
• FOX has canceled short-lived game show The Rich List.
• Happy Hour, after being given another airing, has again been taken off the air, which probably means its canceled for good.

I'm really happy with NBC for their schedule changes, both bringing back Must-See Thursday comedy and having faith in Friday Night Lights and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. FOX, also, is giving The OC a fighting chance by moving it to Wednesday. If they were to keep it on Thursday, it would compete against CSI, Grey's Anatomy, Scrubs and 30 Rock. That's a formidable time slot, if I've ever seen one. Stay tuned, many more changes will occur before the new year. -Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer