“Scrubs” has always deserved better than it’s gotten.

When it debuted eight seasons ago on NBC, it was lauded by critics, especially those of us who need a little goofiness and slapstick in our lives. In the early going, it also had healthy ratings.

And then NBC started shifting it around the schedule, moving it four times in the second half of the first season and many more times after that. It was almost canceled and then renewed more than once by the Peacock Network’s programming gurus.

Throughout its mistreatment, however, “Scrubs” maintained a loyal following — fans who would find the show no matter where NBC hid it and who loved Zach Braff and his merry band of medical pranksters.

When the end finally came on NBC last year, ABC stepped in to save it. So the little-sitcom-that-could makes its ABC debut tonight with back-to-back episodes starting at 8.

Good that it’s back, bad that it’s on opposite the only new hit of the season, CBS’s “The Mentalist,” and NBC’s oddly popular “The Biggest Loser.”

So does “Scrubs” have a shot? Maybe. The first episodes are not only up to previous runs, they actually are better. Rev up the DVR and take a look if you’re already committed to one of its competitors. And play it after a really bad day at work.

If you can’t get a chuckle or two out of it, you might want to have your funnybone checked.

But in this part of the country, on this cold and rainy night, Central Texans will be glued to the Fiesta Bowl (7 p.m. on Fox), starring the UT Longhorns and challenger Ohio State. There may be a few stray eyeballs watching something else, but not many.

‘Horn lovers should at least be aware of what they’re missing, in case next week they find themselves looking for regular programming in the absence of college football.

Tonight at 7, ABC finally (after interminable weeks of promos) presents the latest installment of “The Bachelor,” featuring the show’s first-ever single father.

Jason Mesnick, who was rejected by Deanna Pappas on “The Bachelorette,” will consult with his 3-year-old son Tyler before selecting a new wife/stepmother. Given the overly-sexy, slightly goofy nature of some of the 25 female contestants, this idea could very well turn out to be child abuse.

After the 2-hour mega-debut of “The Bachelor,” ABC’s icky new reality show, “True Beauty,” arrives at 9 p.m. If you’ve managed to miss these obnoxious promos, good for you. A bevy of men and women who believe they’re all gorgeous will be making utter fools of themselves while a trio of judges attempt to assess their “inner beauty.” As if …

Meanwhile on NBC tonight at 7, “Superstars of Dance” twirls into contention, presumably going after viewers who are pining for ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” Michael (“Lord of the Dance”) Flatley and MTV personality Susie Castillo host.

NBC may be late to the TV dance party (ABC and Fox have been hoofing it up with reality shows for years), but the network hopes to make up for its tardiness with more flash and eight competing dance teams from eight countries around the world. These are pros, not amateurs, so the hope is that the talent will be so dazzling that people will be sucked into the beauty.

PBS’s fabulously lush documentary series “The Story of India” premieres tonight at 8, and the CW’s youthfully chic sudser “Gossip Girl” returns at 7 p.m. with new episodes.

Now that you know what you’re missing, go ahead and wallow in the Fiesta Bowl. Considering the weather, I’m thinking chili and beer will be on the menu.

“Desperate Housewives,” 8 p.m. on ABC — New episodes return featuring the glamorous gals of Wisteria Lane. The biggest fun promises to be Bree locking horns with her gay son Andrew’s future mother-in-law. Meeeow.

“Superstars of Dance,” 8 p.m. on NBC — If you’ve been pining for some fancy dancing since “Dancing with the Stars” went off the air, NBC has this new hoofing competition, pitting teams from eight countries against one another.

“Masterpiece Classic: Tess of the D’Urbervilles,” 8 p.m. on PBS — A lovely adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel.

Monday

“Fiesta Bowl,” 7 p.m. on Fox — The University of Texas Longhorns bump helmets with Ohio State. It’s not for the national championship, but it’s a BCS bowl game, OK?

“The Story of India,” 8 p.m. on PBS — Michael Wood’s journey through the history of India chronicles the richness and diversity of its peoples, cultures and landscapes. A more lush-looking documentary you’ve never seen.

Tuesday

“Scrubs,” 8 p.m. on ABC — Back-to-back episodes launch the resurrection of this slapstick sitcom, which was axed by NBC last year. Zach Braff and his merry co-stars are up to their usual medical mischief.

“Nip/Tuck,” 9 p.m. on FX — Sean got knifed and left for dead by deranged Colleen (Sharon Gless) in last season’s cliffhanger. As the fifth season begins, he’s alive but emotionally woozy. Christian gets a bit of bad health news, too.

Wednesday

“Cyrano de Bergerac,” 7 p.m. on PBS — Kevin Kline stars as Cyrano in the play’s first return to Broadway since 1984.

“35th Annual People’s Choice Awards,” 8 p.m. on CBS — Queen Latifah hosts this public-opinion-determined award show, which always has an impressive turnout of nominees.

“Barbara Walters Special,” 9 p.m. on ABC — Babs gets the low-down on Houston’s own Patrick Swayze and his battle with cancer.

“Damages,” 9 p.m. on FX — The season opener finds Ellen (Rose Byrne) out for revenge against powerful Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), and Patty tackling a complicated murder case for a man from her past (William Hurt). Frobisher (Ted Danson), last seen left for dead in a field, has survived … at least for tonight’s episode.

Thursday

“BCS National Championship Game,” 7 p.m. on Fox — The one the Longhorns wanted but didn’t get. The Florida Gators take on the Oklahoma Sooners for the title of No. 1 in college football.

Friday

“Monk,” 8 p.m. on USA — New episodes return: Monk’s half-brother Jack Jr. breaks into Monk’s apartment and manipulates him into helping him beat a murder charge.

“Psych,” 9 p.m. on USA — New episodes here, too: Shawn uncovers a conspiracy that has something to do with the death of a sea lion. There’s always wackiness happening in this comedy-drama.

Saturday

“Golden Globe Awards Preview,” 8 p.m. on TV Guide — For those who just can’t wait, Joey Fatone hosts a look ahead to the first serious award show of the season. The Globes are handed out Sunday (Jan. 11) on NBC.

I make a gazillion resolutions every New Year’s Eve, and by the end of the new year, I’ve probably kept three of them. I made progress on physical fitness in ‘08 and wrote dozens of thank you notes for generosities other than gifts.

Recognizing where change is needed and following through on that need are entirely different challenges.

One new resolution I’ve made this year may actually be successful: to cut way back on my cable news obsession.

Now that the dramatic and historic presidential election season is over, I think I can actually cut back on my cable news consumption. It’s unhealthy to be so obsessed that you have CNN alerts pop up on your computer all day.

Of course I’m not going to begin my cutbacks until after the Jan. 20 inauguration.

I plan to hunker down with cable news from early morning through the swearing-in ceremony and the parade and a hefty chunk of the swanky inaugural balls. The broadcast networks don’t give a hoot about the balls, but I do, so I’ll be ogling whatever CNN, MSNBC and Fox have to offer in the evening.

I’m going to try to cut back on my “American Idol” obsession in ‘09, too.

The new seasons starts Jan. 13, and I’ll watch what I need to watch to maintain my employment as a TV critic. But watching every single second of the competition is not going to happen.

Seriously … I’m really going to try. The number of times I’ve abandoned friends at dinner to rush home and watch “Idol” live is simply embarrassing. That has to stop … I’m a grown woman, for heaven’s sake.

Do you have any ‘09 TV-related resolutions you’d like to share? We’d love to hear ‘em.

In a contract showdown, Viacom, which owns 19 cable networks on Time Warner’s lineup, had threatened to take a hike if the cable company didn’t agree to an increase in its carriage fees.

Word came just before the midnight deadline that a deal had been reached, and MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and all the other Viacom networks would remain.

On Wednesday customers saw a “crawl” warning viewers that the aforementioned channels would go dark at midnight if Viacom and Time Warner didn’t reach a deal. More than 13 million subscribers nationwide and 300,000 in Central Texas would have been affected.

Viacom demanded fee increases of about 25 cents per subscriber per month for its channels, according to The Associated Press. Time Warner said it would not pay more, claiming it would have to pass on that increase to customers. At this time we do not know whether Time Warner agreed to pay more or Viacom agreed to take less.

In November Time Warner had a similar smackdown with LIN TV, which owns our NBC affiliate KXAN and several other TV stations around the country. LIN wanted cash for carriage; Time Warner didn’t want to pay. At the end of the face-off, however, Time Warner did pay.

Whatever the contract resolution between Viacom and Time Warner, the result is that our cable lineup still includes “SpongeBob,” Jon Stewart and many hours of MTV reality shows. Happy New Year.

Seems like only yesterday (actually it was only a month ago) that Time Warner had a smackdown with LIN TV, which owns our NBC affiliate KXAN. At issue was money, of course. LIN wanted cash for carriage, and Time Warner didn’t want to pay. At the end of the face-off, however, Time Warner did pay.

Now it’s Viacom, the media giant that has 19 cable channels on Time Warner — including Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV and VH1. The message that greeted viewers of “SpongeBob” this morning and “The Daily Show” late last night said that all of the Viacom channels will disappear from Time Warner at 12:01 a.m. Thursday if an agreement is not reached.

The last time Time Warner was in this position we lost our NBC station on cable for a month. The breakdown will affect 13 million Time Warner subscribers nationwide, which you would think would be a very big deal. This is, by the way, a national corporate confrontation, not anything that the Central Texas Time Warner folks have anything to do with.

Viacom has asked for fee increases from Time Warner about 25 cents per subscriber for its channels, according to the Associated Press. Time Warner is refusing, claiming they would have to pass on that increase to customers.

Here is the full list of Viacom channels that could go off Time Warner at midnight tonight:

Comedy Central, CMT: Pure Country, Logo, Palladia, MTV, MTV 2, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, MTV Tr3s, Nickelodeon, Noggin, Nick 2, Nicktoons, Spike, The N, TV Land, VH1, VH1 Classic and VH1 Soul.

Negotiations are either ongoing or not, depending on which corporate statement you believe.

Time Warner says the two sides are at the table, trying to work things out. Viacom insists Time Warner is not negotiating at all. The truth may lurk somewhere in between: negotiations are ongoing, but nobody is prepared to compromise.

Can’t we all just get along?

A series of 20 stamps, dubbed The Early TV Memories Collection, will be available Aug. 11 and feature tributes to classics such as “I Love Lucy,” “You Bet Your Life,” “Dragnet” and “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

You don’t have to be a hard-core philatelist to appreciate a stamp with Joe Friday barking, “Just the facts ma’m,” or Lucy and Ethel losing their wits trying to keep up with an assembly line of baked goods. Hopalong Cassidy, Alfred Hitchcock, Howdy Doody and even Lassie will grace the 42-cent face of other stamps in the collection.

It may seem a shame to slap these things onto your depressingly huge cable bill, but don’t wait to use them (unless you just plan to collect them). The Post Office probably will raise the rate again in 2009, and you’ll be stuck with useless stickies featuring the Lone Ranger and Perry Mason.

Yes, Dick Clark will rock on New Year’s Eve

“American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest may be front and center in Times Square this New Year’s Eve, but Dick Clark will be there with him to make a brief appearance for his 36th year.

Clark’s long run as host of ABC’s “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” ended four years ago when he suffered a stroke that made it difficult for him to speak. Ever upbeat and determined, Clark, now 79, will pop in sometime before the big crystal ball drops.

Reruns, awful specials and reruns of awful specials take up about 80 percent of the air time. With the exception of Sunday’s packed NFL schedule, TV has been decidedly dead for longer than any of us would like to admit.

What’s new tonight on network TV? I’m embarrased to say, but here goes:

NBC has the allegedly new but simply re-packaged “Greatest Holiday Moments,” a compilation of home-video holiday disasters; “Deal or No Deal” (seriously, who needs to see Howie Mandel this much?); and the odious new reality show “Momma’s Boys.”

Even reliably entertaining cable networks are running on empty with bad movies (FX’s “White Chicks”) and endless repeats of “Project Runway” (Bravo).

Don’t these network progammers know there are eager eyeballs out here searching for something good to watch?

Fellow couch potatoes, now is the time to sign up for Netflix, and watch all the series you missed last season, or start pecking through that list of movies you’ve been meaning to rent to watch on your brand new Blu-Ray DVD player.

Out of desperation, I ripped the best-seller list out of Sunday’s newspaper, fully intending to read a few books before good viewing returns in January … we’ll see how far I get on that project.

Sunday

“The Sound of Music,” 6 p.m. on ABC — Kids love it, and the music never gets old. A young nun becomes governess to Capt. Von Trapp’s seven children in Austria before World War II. The 1965 classic stars Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and a bunch of adorable moppets.

“Nick News Special Edition,” 8 p.m. on Nickelodeon — Linda Ellerbee takes a look at the pros and cons of gender separation in public schools.

Monday

“Greatest Holiday Moments: Hilarious Home Video Countdown,” 7 p.m. on NBC — Christmas is over. Shouldn’t we be finished with all this stuff? And yet, there’s this, for those who just can’t move on. Note the word “hilarious” is in the title, not our description.

“Great Performances at the Met,” 8 p.m. on PBS — Baritone Gerald Finely plays J. Robert Oppenheimer in “Doctor Atomic,” director Penny Woolcock’s version of the creation of the atomic bomb. Sounds festive, no?

Tuesday

“31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors,” 8 p.m. on CBS — The Washington gala honors Morgan Freeman, George Jones, Barbra Streisand, Twyla Tharp, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. Beyoncé, Garth Brooks, Randy Travis and Denzel Washington are scheduled to appear; and newly revealed U.S. Senate wannabe Caroline Kennedy hosts.

“Eli Stone,” 9 p.m. on ABC — Watch it while you can, because this imaginative series won’t be around for long. In tonight’s new episode, Eli has a vision that causes him to question Nathan’s fiancée’s devotion, and then he comes out of his fog and defends a minister against discrimination.

Wednesday

“Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” 9 to 10 p.m., 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on ABC — Don’t be sad if you’re home on New Year’s Eve. (You’ll feel so much better than your hard-partying pals tomorrow.) Ryan Seacrest hosts the traditional countdown to the drop of the crystal ball in Times Square. The Jonas Brothers, Ne-Yo, Jesse McCartney, Natasha Bedingfield, Fall Out Boy, Solange and Robin Thicke will perform.

“New Year’s Eve With Carson Daly,” 9 p.m. on NBC — The countdown begins in Times Square with T.I., Katy Perry and Elton John scheduled to appear.

“New Year’s Eve Live,” 10 p.m. on Fox — Spike Feresten and Mark Thompson host this one, with performances by David Cook, Daughtry, Scott Weiland and Lynyrd Skynyrd and a 200-foot jump attempt by daredevil Robbie Knievel.

Thursday

“Rose Bowl Parade,” 10 a.m. on ABC and NBC — Smell the roses, see the floats!

“Rose Bowl,” 4 p.m. on NBC — The granddaddy of all bowl games features Penn State against USC.

“Orange Bowl,” 7:30 p.m. on Fox — It’s Cincinnati versus Virginia Tech.

Friday

“Cotton Bowl,” 1 p.m. on Fox — Texas Tech’s Red Raiders take on Mississippi.

“Sugar Bowl,” 7:15 p.m. on Fox — It’s Alabama and Utah this year.

Saturday

“NFL Football,” 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on NBC — An AFC or NFC wild card game. We know not which or who.

Kristin Chenoweth, the tiny actress with the mousey speaking voice and rafter-rattling singing pipes, has landed yet another starring role in a buzz-worthy TV show — just a few weeks after the official cancellation of ABC’s “Pushing Daisies.”

She has joined the cast of David E. Kelley’s offbeat (is there any other kind of Kelley show?) comedy-drama “Legally Mad.” The pilot has been bought by NBC, but no premiere date has been set.

Here’s the best part: Chenoweth will play an attorney named (ready? wait for it …) Skippy Pylon. Seriously, I’m not making that up.

“Variety” describes Skippy as “a cheerful and brilliant attorney who nonetheless exhibits flashes of psychosis” when she joins her father’s powerful Chicago law firm.

The Kelley-Chenoweth collaboration should be a match made in heaven, not unlike James Spader’s turn as Alan Shore on Kelley’s recently departed “Boston Legal.” Kelley’s snappy, witty dialogue delivered in Chenoweth’s trademark Betty Boop voice could be wildly entertaining.

Chenoweth played Olive Snook on “Pushing Daisies,” a role that enabled her to sing on more than one occasion and generally flit through scenes like a firefly. She earned an Emmy nomination for her effort. She also had a brief turn on “The West Wing” as Annabeth Schott, and she co-stars in this season’s holiday movie “Four Christmases.”

But she’s probably better known for her portrayal of Glinda in Broadway’s “Wicked.”

A little bit of the high-energy, Munchkin-like Chenoweth can go a long way, so it will be imperative for Kelley to populate the rest of the show with calmer characters. We’ll see.

If you’re not awash in family, heading to church or partying like it’s 2009, give yourself the gift of calm solitude tonight. Sink into a good book … or settle into an evening with your old pal Mr. Television.

Don’t mope. Celebrate!!

PBS serves up the always inspiring “Christmas With the Mormon Tabernacle Choir” (at 7 p.m.). Turn up the volume almost as high as it’ll go (unless you’re in a cardboard-walled apartment building) and let the glorious voices wash over you.

If you haven’t gotten to the point where your skin crawls when you hear the title, indulge in the umpteenth showing of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” at 7 p.m. on NBC. Comfortable as an old shoe, this syrupy-sweet saga is about a suicidal family man (Jimmy Stewart) who is reborn on Christmas Eve after his guardian angel shows him what Bedford Falls would have been like if he’d never been born.

A considerably more modern movie option is “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” at 7 p.m. on ABC. Based on the novel by C.S. Lewis, this 2005 movie finds children and a mystical lion on a mission to free the land of Narnia from a witch’s winter spell. The story may not make a lot of sense, but the movie is glorious to look at.

Jim Carrey’s frantic rendition of the green-faced Grinch might be the ticket with “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” at 7 p.m. on Family Channel. This is for anyone needing to rev up instead of calm down.

And if you just want to pretend Christmas isn’t coming at all, CBS has its usual smorgasbord of crime: “Criminal Intent” at 8 p.m. and “CSI: New York” at 9 p.m. Nothing like a gruesome murder to the blood pumping.

Cheers!

Coke on the range

Just when you thought mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s enormous plate was finally full …

HBO has picked up a new Bruckheimer offering called “Cocaine Cowboys,” a drama series about the 1980s drug trade in Miami. No word on when the show might arrive or who might be cast.

Bruckheimer, of course, has churned out an enormous chunk of the current prime-time series — including “CSI,” “CSI: Miami,” “CSI: New York,” “Without a Trace,” “Cold Case,” “Amazing Race” and “The Eleventh Hour.” The man can’t seem to stop churning.

The station is debuting its new high-def local newscasts.

The NBC affiliated station is the third Austin station to offer local news in HD. KEYE led the way in November 2007, and KVUE followed this past June (2008).

KXAN worked with the Emmy award-winning lighting design firm FX Group to design a flexible news set that will be used for all newscasts.

And the station has updated its studio cameras, weather and graphics equipment for HD telecast.

“High definition newscasts and cutting edge visuals highlight our commitment to quality and clarity, in both content and presentation,” news director Michael Fabac said in a release.

This ominous rustling of a labor union is more controversial than usual because of the sagging economy and cutbacks throughout the entertainment industry.

Among the 150 or so high-profile actors who adamantly oppose a strike are Tom Hanks, Robert Redford and George Clooney.

But SAG says nearly 100 biggies, including Mel Gibson and former SAG president Ed Asner, have declared their support, arguing that the studios’ latest contract offer is unacceptable.

The union has been deeply divided on the issues, most of which concern profits from digital distribution of movies and TV shows.

The union’s 120,000 members had planned to send out ballots for the strike referendum on Jan. 2, but in an e-mail to board members Monday night, SAG director Doug Allen said he and SAG president Alan Rosenberg have agreed to delay the vote until after the board meets on Jan. 12.

The union’s leadership believes a strike authorization will give SAG much-needed leverage in stalled contract negotiations. But there is growing resistance to a strike, which only a small percentage of working actors could actually afford.

A work stoppage has to be approved by 75 percent of the members who vote. Here’s hoping it doesn’t happen. A year after the disastrous writers’ strike, an actors’ strike could tank the entire TV industry.

Unprintable title or quirky good show?

Fox has ordered a pilot script for a dramedy about a group of female friends who are werewolves.

“Bitches” (the title may not make it into some family newspaper TV listings) comes from film writer Michael Dougherty (“Superman Returns”) and focuses on four New York women who turn into wolves at every full moon.

On December 8, “Boston Legal” ended its run with Alan and Denny tying the knot in a ceremony presided over by Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia. The sparring, loving legal couple allegedly wed for financial reasons, but fans of the show know these guys have been the perfect duo from the beginning. Scotch and cigars on the balcony … sigh.

On December 15, KVUE’s new prime-time partner for Tyler Sieswerda finally arrived. Terri Gruca slipped into the seat formerly occupied by Christine Haas, who left Austin in the summer for a morning anchor gig in Houston. Like Haas, Gruca comes from Minneapolis, which means she must really think Austinites are wimps for whining about 32-degree weather.

And Michelle Valles, who departed KXAN’s evening news in a nasty contract dispute, made her debut as Fred Cantu’s co-anchor on KEYE’s early morning news.

By the way, kudos and thank you to colleague Gary Dinges, who reported the aforementioned anchor changes in my absence.

In the November overnight Nielsens, KVUE held onto its traditional No. 1 perch at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., but KXAN eked out a victory at 6 p.m. and finished first in the 6 to 7 a.m. slot.

KTBC’s Fox 7 was No. 3 at 5 p.m. with its hour-long newcast.

KEYE was last (fourth) at 5 p.m. but third at 6 p.m. and an impressive No. 2. at 10 p.m.

In the sagging world of the broadcast networks, NBC more or less officially gave up on prime time when it announced a week ago that Jay Leno will have a talk-variety show Monday through Friday at 9 p.m. next fall, after his “Tonight” hosting concludes. (Conan O’Brien steps into “Tonight” after Leno’s finale May 29.)

The decision to bail on hour-long dramas in the 9 to 10 p.m. hour means NBC will save millions of dollars, but if Leno bombs in prime time, the Peacock can kiss its tail feathers goodbye. NBC also has mulled pulling out of programming on Saturday nights.

I’m sure lots of other things happened during the two weeks the TV blog took its December break, but re-entry has rendered me semi-blank. Better to look ahead for now, which we’ll try to do in the coming days.

Tonight’s the night, KVUE viewers.

After flying solo for nearly four months, Tyler Sieswerda will be joined by new co-anchor Terri Gruca on the station’s 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts.

Gruca arrives from Minneapolis, where she was weekend anchor and consumer reporter at CBS-owned WCCO. Here, in addition to her anchor duties, she’ll be filing investigative stories as part of KVUE’s Defenders franchise. In fact, her blog — featuring tips galore for saving money — is already live on the station’s Web site.

Another anchor debut happens later this week, when Michelle Valles returns to the Central Texas airwaves.

Valles, who walked away from her evening gig at KXAN earlier this year, will be teamed with Austin veteran Fred Cantu on KEYE’s 5 a.m. newscast starting Wednesday.