It's been a very long time since any new show has come to the over-the-air U.S. networks, thanks to the prolonged writers and actors' strikes of the summer and beyond. Add to that the time it takes to ramp up production and most of them are touting their delayed fall season for February. 

But last week, sandwiched in between two football games on NBC, the network unveiled what it hopes will be a new hit sitcom. It's called "Extended Family," and it boasts a somewhat ridiculous premise about a divorced couple who insist on sharing the family home, even though she's getting remarried. (They're doing it for the kids, you see, who seemingly don't want either of them around.) It stars Jon Cryer and Donald Faison and it's gotten mostly fair-tepid reviews from critics. 

So why did we miss it here in Southern Ontario? WGRZ decided to pre-empt it for a special on the Buffalo Bills, so neither the new show nor the first original Night Court episode that preceded it made it to air in this area. 

I saw it on a friend's satellite dish (he gets WNBC from New York) and it was just OK. And yes, I know the Bills are huge in Buffalo. And I know I'm mostly alone on this and the sport gets great ratings, but especially after three games in a row on Christmas Day, aren't you footballed out yet?

In any event, if you missed this premiere, it premieres again - this time on the first Tuesday night in January. And I expect WGRZ will show it in pattern then.