You'd have to discount how good The Inside is to just brush it aside as unable to take a chunk of CSI's audience.

Not at all. Wonderfalls was great; quality was not the issue when it was canceled. Now you can say that comparing CSI to Wonderfalls is comparing apples to oranges, but unless I completely missed your argument you are saying that there's enough similarity between CSI and The Inside that it's more a comparison between types of apples and that the 20 million Red Delicious lovers who watch the former contain a bunch of Macintosh lovers who'd be delighted to switch to the latter. And you're almost certainly right. The question is, how big does that chunk of Macintosh lovers need to be to satisfy Fox?

If The Inside grabs 5 million viewers then CSI goes from a top 2 program to a lower-top 10 show. Some of the O.C. audience (roughly 7 million viewers) will watch either CSI or the Apprentice. For the sake of argument (yes, I'm making up the numbers that follow), and ease of computation, let's say that 2 million OC/CSI watchers stick around for The Inside, but a million Apprentice watchers leave. So we have 6 million of the 7 million tuning in, plus 3 million more disgruntled CSI watchers (the 5 mil posited above minus the overlap 2 million), which makes 9 million and which would have put it at #16 last week. Hard to imagine Fox not being happy with that.

But say another million OC watchers don't tune in for whatever reason, that would drop it into the 20s. Of course it would still a) add viewers to the OC lead in, and b) be better ratings than what Point Pleasant is getting. Is Fox happy then? That's the wild card in the whole scenario: what are the network's hopes/expectations for the show, and how much institutional support are they willing to give it to see that it meets them? If it's an immediate hit it will be kept around whether the network PTBs believe in it or not. If it needs the opportunity to "find an audience" then the network's support is indispensable. Here's hoping it gets it.

I always resort to food comparisons, and CSI has the sort of salty reliability of a bowl of chicken soup. It's fulfilling and familiar, but given the choice between that and a rich slab of prime rib...

Funny that you use that analogy given my earlier reference to last year's election. It made me think of this Times Magazine article from last fall comparing two restaurants in New Martinsville, WV. Will Fox be happy with a Baristas or does it want a franchise to rival Bob Evans/CSI?

When networks sell advertising, they pretty much guarantee a certain share. If the show doesn't bring in the guaranteed share, they have a make-goods clause in the contract and they end up having to refund a portion of the fee paid by the advertiser. Networks don't wanna give money back.

What a great story, Joe! Thanks for the link.

Kristen is exempt because she's Official Make Minear Look Great Gurl.

I'm forwarding you my server bills.

Flip flops probably don't leave the best clues behind, either, so they are untraceable.

Muffin Buffalo: Fat Pat would disagree with you!

I'm forwarding you my server bills.

No no, send it to: The Tim Minear Fund for Little Wanderer Fans

I'm sending it to you. I know where you live.

Lilty, I just meant that if everybody is wearing flip flops, well, then they're going to be very difficult to trace.

I think it should be a show about a psychic profiler who figures out the culprit of every crime by examining their footwear. And she finances her good work by using her incredible math skills to guess their ATM codes and clean out their bank accounts while they're getting booked. And maybe it should set be on an island. And she should wear a lot of wigs and blow things up.

I like it.

It needs a theme song, though.

Maybe we could make one up. Like, "What's Shoes Got To Do (With It)?"

ETA: And thank you, Alibelle. With all the work that's happening, I think I'm going to need all the luck I can get.

You're welcome.

I have them. I fie-nuh-lee have them. Wonder if I'll be able to stretch it out over the whole weekend. We'll see.

The quality is kind of icky, but I thought you'd all like to see Adam and Katie.

I had to lighten it a lot, forgive.