The Super Bowl never seems as interesting as the counterprogramming the other networks and cable channels come up with to draw away those viewers who think a shotgun formation is the marching band of the National Rifle Association.
In past years, the counterprogramming was aimed at women viewers, but not anymore. Some of it is intended to draw male viewers away from the endless hours of pregame programming that will flood CBS ---- KFMB/Channel 8 in San Diego ---- and ESPN.
NBC is airing two hours of poker just before the Super Bowl starts. "World Poker Tour" will air at 1 p.m. on KNSD/Channel 39. USA will rebroadcast all three episodes of "Traffic: The Miniseries" from noon to 6 p.m.
Both NBC and Bravo are counting on the five hottest guys on television, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," to draw viewers away from the game, at least on the East Coast. Bravo will start an afternoon marathon of the show at noon locally, while three episodes of the hit makeover show will air on KNSD at 8 p.m. On the East Coast, the shows will air directly opposite the Super Bowl.
TNT is definitely aiming for young, female viewers with a "Charmed" marathon, beginning at 2 p.m., and Toon Disney is looking for young viewers with 13 hours of "Timon and Pumbaa," what the cable channel is calling the "Pumbaa Bowl 2004."
Knowing it will have millions of viewers tuned in, CBS will launch "Survivor: All-Stars," a rematch of past contestants, following the Super Bowl.
Two weeks after he was scheduled to return from a vacation, KFMB weekday anchor Graham Ledger has not returned to the air. Calls to the station had not been returned before publication, but Ledger's picture and biography have been removed from the station's Web site. KFMB's marquee anchor, Michael Tuck, has been filling in on the 4 and 6 p.m. weekday broadcasts.
San Diego resident "P.J." ---- she's staying anonymous for security reasons ---- is appearing in "Starting Over," a daytime reality show that gives women a chance for new careers, relationships and lives. It airs at noon weekdays on KNSD.
Meredith, aka "The Bachelorette," didn't choose "Damon" to stay on the show when she gave roses to 10 of the 15 bachelor candidates on last week's show. The show's Web site says Damon lives in Cardiff. Two other San Diego residents ---- "Rick" and "Ryan R." ---- did make the first cut. "The Bachelorette" airs at 9 p.m. Wednesdays on KGTV/Channel 10.
"San Diego Insider" will profile the North County Resource and Recycling Facility in San Marcos, which is being remade into Spirit Horse Productions, a new movie and television production studio. The news magazine program will also interview the parents of Marla Bennett, who was killed by a terrorist bomb in Jerusalem two years ago; an effort to slow traffic in residential neighborhoods; and City Arts, which brings art projects into downtown San Diego.
"San Diego Insider" airs at 9:30 p.m. today on Channel 4 San Diego, available on Cox Cable.
If you're accustomed to watching the "Hallmark Hall of Fame" on Sundays, be sure to tune in to KFMB at 9 p.m. Wednesday for "The Blackwater Lightship." Angela Lansbury and Dianne Wiest star in a television movie based on Colm Tobin's novel about three generations of women coming to reconciliation.
While the "Hallmark Hall of Fame" usually airs on the Sunday before Valentine's Day, CBS is airing the Super Bowl this Sunday and the Grammys the following Sunday.
If the Super Bowl preview hype is overwhelming you this weekend, Turner Classic Movies is airing classic thrillers Saturday night. Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (James Stewart, Kim Novak) airs at 5 p.m., followed by his masterpiece, "Psycho," (Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh) at 7:30 p.m.
Then the 1962 version of "Cape Fear" (Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum) airs at 9:30 p.m.
Buena Vista is not bringing back "The Wayne Brady Show" next season, according to the trade publication Broadcasting & Cable. The show airs locally at 1 p.m. weekdays on KUSI/Channel 51.
The publication reports "Hollywood Squares" will also go off the air after this season and that CBS has reduced the number of episodes it wants of the Friday night drama "The Handler." The show stars Joe Pantoliano, previously of HBO's "The Sopranos."
Fox is also sending "Boston Public" to hiatus, reducing the number of episodes it airs this season from 22 to 15. Fox moved the gritty high school drama to 9 p.m. Fridays this season, placing it opposite the popular "T.G.I.F." lineup of comedies on ABC and "JAG" on CBS.
On the plus side, Bravo is picking up "Project Greenlight," the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck project that follows young filmmakers as they create their first studio feature film. The series aired on HBO for two years and didn't produce very good movies but made for interesting television.
Broadcasting & Cable reports Bravo will air new episodes of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" on Feb. 17 and will air a second season of "Celebrity Poker Shootout" this summer.
Many readers responded to last week's story on Jody Hammond's documentary "A Hand Up." It seems the proliferation of Vietnamese-owned nail salons has caught many people's attention. The fact I misspelled Tippi Hedren's last name also caught the eye of some readers. Those birds I've spotted lately can stop following me around.
Ann Zivotsky writes about television for the North County Times.