FX Digs for More "Dirt"

In a season plagued by shortened seasons of nearly every scripted series, networks have had to make tough choices about whether to press ahead with condensed installments of returning series or wait until after the strike ends to try and complete them.

So it's no surprise that FX has pulled the trigger on Season Two of its tabloid magazine drama Dirt, starring Courteney Cox as icy editrix Lucy Spiller, despite having only filmed half of the season.

While 13 episodes of Dirt had been ordered by the cabler for its sophomore season, only seven were completed before the start of the writers strike in November.

FX will launch Season Two of Dirt on Sunday, March 2nd at 10 pm, hoping to use the drama to launch a Sunday night lineup. In addition to Cox, Ian Hart, Alexandra Breckenridge, and Josh Stewart will return for the second season as series regulars; Laura Allen, Rick Fox, and Jeffrey Nordling will pop up either as recurring or guest actors.

Also on tap for FX: the final season of The Shield and another season of Morgan Spurlock's reality series 30 Days, though the network has not yet released launch dates for either returning series.

The cabler has also completed several episodes of the sophomore season of The Riches (a Televisionary fave), but has not announced whether it will air a partial season of the Eddie Izzard/Minnie Driver-starring drama.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Power of 10 (CBS); Deal or No Deal (NBC); Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants (CW); Wife Swap (ABC); Back to You/Back to You (FOX)

9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS); Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC); Gossip Girl (CW); Supernanny (ABC); 'Til Death/'Til Death (FOX)

10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Law & Order (NBC); Cashmere Mafia (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Back to You.

One Televisionary reader will be extremely happy that I am going back and watching this multi-camera sitcom (which fell off of my TiVo Season Pass thanks to too many timeslot conflicts) which airs two back-to-back repeats tonight. On the first ("Gracie's Bully"), Kelly and Chuck disagree about how best to handle a bully who is harassing Gracie. On the second ("Something's Up There"), Kelly's plans for Gracie's birthday party are thrown off course when she discovers a raccoon trapped in her attic.

9 pm: Gossip Girl.

Wow, a first-run episode of something tonight. On tonight's installment ("A Thin Line Between Chuck and Nate"), Serena is spotted buying a pregnancy test and word of this sighting makes its way to the Gossip Girl site, before all the facts are in hand. Oops.

10 pm: Project Runway on Bravo.

On tonight's episode ("What a Girl Wants") the designers take a trip down memory lane when they are tasked with designing prom dresses for a group of teenage girls, a challenge that has many at their wits' ends, while Ricky once again turns on the waterworks.