It wasn't a total loss. This is a contrarian view on the season that will go down in the Nielsen annals as the lowest rated on record for the Big Four nets, but there was some good news to be found here and there, amid the wreckage.

For sure, the season-long stats on the 2007-08 campaign are pretty darn ugly, as Variety ratings guru Rick Kissell smartly and soberly details in this season wrap. But in actuality we didn't have a season, we had two abbreviated seasons -- pre- and post-strike. Writers Guild of America leaders were as strategic as Eisenhower and Marshall carving up the European theater in triggering the work stoppage to begin on Nov. 5, to ensure maximum impact on current production and pilot development.

Of course, most everything the WGA was fighting for in its 100 Days War has been at work in force  -- on steroids -- in this topsy-turvy season: the increasing popularity of web streaming of programming and DVR time-shifted viewing, the increasing use of digital extensions of traditional programs to drive traffic to network-affiliated websites and to generate new revenue streams for our half-dozen favorite media congloms.

Beyond the fairness issue and the wonky oh-my-god-younger-generations-will-never-watch-TV-the-same-way-again considerations, let's look at what the nets have to show for themselves program-wise out of the fall and spring mini seasons of '07-'08.

POSTED BY MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

vs.

Get ready for the Monday night battle between TV's slightly dweeby "awesome" peddlers.

CBS' critical fave "How I Met Your Mother" has helped restore the term "awesome" into the current lexicon (rescuing it from its use as '80s retro fodder). Neil Patrick Harris' character, Barney, is such a proponent of "being awesome" that Tuesday's TCA panel for "How I Met Your Mother" promised a primer on the path to awesomeness.

But now comes NBC's "Chuck." Not only does "Chuck" lead Zach Levi (above, left) bear a passing resemblance to "HIMYM" star Josh Radnor (right), but the new series includes a character who goes by the name... wait for it... "Captain Awesome."

On stage at the TCA, Harris couldn't resist poking fun at the fact that both shows will now face off Mondays at 8.

"A war is brewing!" he quipped.

Then there's the case of this rather unusual "Family Circus" comic, which ran in papers on Monday. In the post below, Stu writes that Thomas joked during the session that he found the mention "better than an Emmy nomination."

But later, exec producer Carter Bays (who created the show with Craig Thomas) admitted after the session that the cast and crew were a little bit puzzled by the strip.

Were "Family Circus" writers Bil and Jeff Keane simply looking for a hip pop culture reference? Were they trying to make a clumsy statement about the dangers of watching too much TV?

But On the Air might add, what are little Billy and Dolly -- and especially pre-schooler Jeffy and toddler P.J. -- doing watching such a grown-up show in the first place? Shouldn't those kids be watching "How I Met Dora the Explorer"?!

Bays suggests a future "Family Circus" strip: "Instead of watchin' 'Rules of Engagement'... tonight I'll tell you MY 'Rules of Engagement'!"

-- Michael Schneider