Thursday is going to be very tough night for us this season. Before the month is over, there will be nine shows vying for our primetime eyeballs including, "Alias," "The OC," "The Nightstalker," "Survivor: Guatemala," "The Apprentice 4," "CSI," "ER," "Reunion,"and "Everybody Hates Chris." Phew! Let us catch our breath....

The thing is, our TiVos and VCRs can only do so much, and we haven't mastered the art of watching one show while also watching another show in that tiny screen-within-a-screen set-up our TV has. Of course we watch some of these Thursday shows purely out of habit (::cough:: ER ::cough::), and we're also hoping some new shows will turn out to be total duds, so that we (or the networks themselves) can just kiss them good-bye (it looks like "Reunion" may be the first to suffer that fate).

For now, we'll just have to do our best to keep up, starting with "Everybody Hates Chris" at 8 p.m. on UPN. The pilot episode is another show we actually got to see in advance, and we are happy to say, it was very funny! For those of you who haven't heard the premise (or seen the billboards, or signs on the sides of buses, or print ads, or TV commercials) the half-hour show is a slightly fictional take on Chris Rock's childhood as a 12-year-old kid in Bed-Stuy New York, with Rock lending narration to each episode. While the kid who plays Chris (Tyler James Williams) relies a little too much on the bug-eyed reaction shot, Rock's funny voice-overs and the talent of the rest of the cast (especially Tichina Arnold and Terry Crews as his parents) makes up for it. We especially liked some of the show's smaller details, like how one of Dad's uniforms reveals that he works at the Overlook Hotel. We really hope the network decides to move it to another night, and not just cancel it if it has a hard time in its difficult time-slot.

We caught last night's Martha version of "The Apprentice," and we never thought we'd say this, but....we kind of missed Trump. Martha either has to get meaner, or tell her daughter to get pissier (she's no Carolyn!) because we found it a little...dull. We'll still be watching, of course! But for a taste of "Apprentice," OG-style, we'll also be tuning in to tonight's season premiere at 9 p.m. on NBC. Granted, the last two seasons of the show were big disappointments, so all can do is hope the current cast (alas, no locals this season) will have what it takes to, if not become "The Apprentice," at least keep us entertained with a few good cat fights or boardroom breakdowns.

Tonight's "CSI" season premiere continues where the finale left off, minus the presense of Quentin Tarantino, and thus most likely minus a bunch of atypical pop culture-centered conversations beteeen the CSI team. As for ABC's entry into this evening's entertainment, it's ALL "Dancing with the Stars," almost all night, starting with a rerun of Tuesday's "dance off" show at 8 p.m., and the ultimate results show at 9 p.m. We're quaking with anticipation...over this ridiculous thing finally ending so we can get the hell on with our lives!!

Tomorrow: Friday, Saturday AND Sunday!...Well, Saturday remains a virtual graveyard of TV programming, but we'll definitely get Sunday in there!