It's on, it's off, it's on again. Rules of Engagement has served as a true utility player for CBS, but that means it never has a permanent place on the schedule — and is forever teetering on the bubble.
read more
It wouldn't be a Rules of Engagement season without more bumps in the road.
Just when things were looking up for the sitcom — moving to Thursdays after being scheduled on Saturdays — it was dealt a blow this week: CBS will pull it off the schedule at midseason to make way for Rob Schneider's new comedy and has cut its episode order down to 15.
CBS replaces Rules with ¡ROB!; sets return date for Undercover Boss
The news is just another chapter in the topsy-turvy life of the show, which has been shuffled around the schedule since its midseason premiere in 2007, and it comes as no surprise to star Patrick Warburton.
"If they're going to pull one show for midseason, they're ...
read more
Tom Hertz was waiting for the call, like he usually does.
After CBS pushed his Rules of Engagement's dreaded Saturday premiere one week to Oct. 15 (which was already punted from Sept. 24), he knew it would get called up to the plate for a prime weekday slot soon. How to Be a Gentleman had premiered in the coveted post-Big Bang Theory Thursday berth to weak numbers and didn't seem long for this world (measured against CBS' high standards). "They told us we would not be premiering on the 8th, but instead the 15th, and I figured that meant they were going to give How to Be a Gentleman one more shot airing to see if it went up, and if not, then we would jump in at some point," Hertz tells TVGuide.com. "But yeah, I didn't believe we would air on the 15th."
CBS moves How to Be a Gentleman to Saturdays; Rules takes Thursdays slot
The call came Friday, Oct. 7 after Gentleman posted an even worse ratings erosion. The shows will swap time slots, though CBS has since pulled Gentleman from Saturdays as well.
"For all the buzz about 'the first scripted show on Saturdays in 10 years' and 'could they take Saturday nights?' it just didn't happen. And it's better that ...
read more
Rules of Engagement's recurring status as a midseason show is sort of like being a second-string player.
"I feel like we've been discounted quite a bit," Patrick Warburton tells TVGuide.com of his CBS sitcom, which kicks off its fourth season Monday (8:30/7:30c).
The show, which debuted at midseason in 2007, performed well enough to earn a full Season 2 pickup. But the writers strike cut short its season after it began in the fall — a bit like being yanked from the lineup before getting a chance to shine. Then for Season 3 and this season, CBS ordered just 13 episodes to debut this deep into the TV year.
So does the show deserve a starting position? Its ratings have remained consistent at various places on CBS' schedule, and its third-season viewership numbers are stronger than the averages of new comedy Accidentally on Purpose, whose timeslot Rules is taking over.
Warburton acknowledges the show had difficulties as it's developed...
read more
While Aliens in America is still on the bubble, the show's costar, Adhir Kalyan, has sewn up a recurring role on FX's Nip/Tuck. As Ausiello reported, Nip/Tuck was casting for a young Dr. Raj (really young), and they've found their boy, says the Reporter. Dr. Raj is a 16-year-old, socially awkward doc who joins the medical group to help Dr. Troy with surgeries. No premiere date has been set, but the show's next season is in production.Kalyan fans will also find him in several upcoming movies, including Fired Up and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Are you ready for the addition of Kalyan to the show? Hoping he'll just get to keep his Aliens job? Let us know. — Anna DimondUse our Online Video Guide to get a little Nip/Tuck of your own.
read more