SueTube – Let’s talk TV with critic Susan Young

For all you briefcase addicts, NBC announced the Howie Mandel hosted game show “Deal or No Deal” will be back on the air in March after the Winter Olympics.

So just what is the draw of a show in which all the contestants have to do is whittle down briefcases to win money.

“There’s nothing else on television that allows you to go home with a lot of money with absolutely no skill,” Mandel told critics at the winter press tour. “And I think it’s really obvious there’s no skill. You can be a rock and move into another tax bracket.”

For years, networks have used the slot after the Super Bowl to pump up ratings for new or fledgling series.

But seldom has a network tried to bump up a series seen primarily as a chick show during the testosterone-charged event. ABC entertainment head Stephen McPherson told critics at the winter press tour that basically he believes the Super Bowl is less about rabid football fans and more about families sitting down to watch TV.

“We chose (‘Grey’s Anatomy’) because it’s one of the best shows on television, and it’s gaining momentum. It’s doing some of the most amazing work in drama that I think is being done anywhere right now. We feel like it’s an asset that is only growing, and we wanted to expose it to a larger audience and keep that momentum growing.

It’s also the first show that’s ever been shown after the Super Bowl in its regular time spot.

Heather Graham went from ubiquitous poster girl for ABC’s “Emily’s Reasons Why Not” to the invisible woman after just one airing of her tepid comedy.

What happened, inquiring critics wanted to know during the ABC executive session with entertainment president Stephen McPherson.

“Well, we had spent the majority of the big long-lead advertising money before we even saw a script. You have to measure your patience based on how you believe in the creative, and there we felt like, unfortunately, it was not going to get better.”

They could have saved a boatload of money if they just listened to the TV critics last summer….

NBC confirms that this will be the last season for “The West Wing.”

Early reports had series creator Aaron Sorkin coming back for the final episodes, but producer John Wells says that won’t happen.

“I’ve always tried to get Aaron back, but he’s been too busy. Right now he’s working on ‘Studio 7’ for NBC, and he just doesn’t have the time,” Wells said.

Wells said series co-star John Spencer, who recently died of a heart attack, had already shot his episodes up to five days before the election storyline featured this season on the show.

Spencer’s character was a staffer turned vice president candidate.

“We knew where we were going when this happened, so it didn’t change much about what we were going to do with the series until the final few epsiodes,” Wells, who had just come from a memorial service for Spencer. “It’s difficult to think of the series and where it is going when you are still grieving for a friend.”

Three comedies won’t be returning to the Fox schedule this fall: “Arrested Development,” “Malcolm in the Middle” and “That ’70s Show.”

The eighth season of “That ’70s Show” ends on May 18, but no word yet as to whether Ashton Kutcher or Topher Grace will return to send off their old show.

And “Malcolm in the Middle” signs off on May 14.

As previously noted, the critical darling “Arrested Development” will have its final airing on Feb. 10 _ opposite the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics.

Gee. Thanks Fox.

There’s no hope for the WB series “7th Heaven,” which will be axed this year.

Garth Ancier, chairman of the network, says it all boiled down to dollars and cents.

“This year the show will lose $16 million for the WB and that’s with a license fee reduction from last year,” Ancier says. “At least to us, that’s a big number…As much as we all love the show, you do have to run a business.”

On the other hand, “Everwood” will be back stronger than ever after “Beauty and the Geek” wraps up. The series will have 13 episodes airing without a single repeat.

Country legend Reba McEntire , star of the WB sitcom “Reba,” says she doesn’t really care if they put a pair of $1,250 jeans in her Golden Globes goodie bag.

“That’s nice, but my favorite goodie bag item was from a country music awards program: a $5,000 gift certificate for Tupperware. I was so excited. I called back to make sure I wasn’t reading that wrong,” Reba says. “When I found out it was right, I called everyone in my family and we went shopping!”

New series? We’ve got your new WB series.

Or at least a few proposed series.

Former Jessica Simpson life partner Nick Lachey is set to star in a half-hour comedy created by Danny Jacobson (“Mad About You”).

Matthew Bomer, who was in “Flightplan” with Jodie Foster, has just been cast as the lead in “Cult,” a sci-fi show.

“Cult” is written by Rockne S. O’Bannon, who created “Farscape.”

Comic Ellen DeGeneres teams with her brother Vance DeGeneres (Mr. Bill on “Saturday Night Live”) for a new WB sitcom, “My Dog Sparky,” depicting family life from two different perspectives: both the people and the pets.

Ellen will be voicing the lead character, Sparky the Dog.

“Joining forces with my brother has long been a dream of ours. Of course, that dream used to involve world domination. But a show on the WB works, too,” DeGeneres says. “I’m really looking forward to working with Vance on a project that doesn’t involve a late Mother’s Day gift for our mom.”

Yep. That’s the title of the WB’s next reality series.

Seven really rich, spoiled kids team up with seven economically challenged kids for a chance to win $200,000 _ or a dinner out for some of these rotten little scoundrels.

Also on the reality agenda is “Fountain of Youth,” now being cast by “Beauty and the Geek” creator Ashton Kutcher. The series is sort of an “Amazing Race,” teaming a young person with a “senior citizen.”

By WB standards, that means anyone over 40.