To get back onto topic following last week's SciFriday column, I wanted to take a minute (or a column) to address CBS directly. And CBS, you know who you are ... the offices with the big eye staring down at you from every corner, where your paychecks are signed by Les Moonves, and where your colleagues are on the phone with advertisers trying to convince them they have nothing to do with The CW.

CBS, you are a wonderful network. You brought to those who go to bed early David Letterman. You made a small town in Wisconsin look like a big city with "The Young and the Restless." You put a bunch of yucks on a so-called deserted island and then filmed the results and called it "Survivor." You took the ideas that worked so well in "Angel" and turned it into its own interesting series called "Moonlight."

Those are the things that warm my heart. But, CBS, you're not perfect. No one is. And some of your mistakes really burn my ... well, you know where that is going.

It was so amazing that you brought "Jericho" back after the huge fan outcry and having to sign for 40 tons of peanuts being delivered to your door by that nice guy in the brown shorts. You did bring it back, and are giving us seven wonderful episodes thanks to an awesome cast and an amazing crew (including Carol Barbee), and I have been enjoying every minute of this new season, even if it does feel a little bit rushed.

At the same time, I have to say, "Shame on you, CBS!" You brought back "Jericho," but looked for the worst timeslot in the world to air it in. Tuesdays at 10 p.m.? Why not just air it after Craig Ferguson in the overnight slot ... at least it would have a better lead-in.

I'm not a programming executive, and I won't pretend to be one here, but it just seems that there could've been a little common sense exercised here. You have a Tuesday lineup that begins with "NCIS." I've never seen the show, but I hear great things about it, and it by far leads all Tuesday night programming for the network (a rerun this past week, despite being pre-empted in one of the major markets, still won the night for the network ... that should show you how strong it is).

What would be a perfect lead-out show for "NCIS"? Everyone has their opinion on it, but only one actually counts, and that's CBS. Their opinion? "Big Brother."

Yes, separating what I think are two very complementary shows is a bridge called "Big Brother." You have got to be kidding me. That's almost like deciding to replace the yummy creme filling in an Oreo with a slice of bologna. It's absolutely disgusting, and I feel it's hurting "Jericho."

Just take a look at this most recent Tuesday night. "NCIS," in rerun form, earned a 7.3 rating/11 share from Nielsen Media Research's Fast National ratings. That was second, and amazingly half the audience of "American Idol," and beat new episodes of "The Biggest Loser" on NBC and "Just For Laughs" on ABC (which I think ABC scheduled in that slot just for laughs).

In the next hour, "American Idol's" audience grows 4.4 percent before losing more than half its audience to a new episode of "Back To You." At the same time, "The Biggest Loser's" audience kicks up nearly 27 percent from a 4.5 rating in the first hour to a 5.7 in the second hour.

Even The CW had better numbers in the 9 p.m. hour with a new episode of "One Tree Hill." But not CBS. Nope. You air "Big Brother" to a 4.4/7, a loss of nearly 40 percent of your audience. Yes, 40 percent. From a rerun.

How is "Jericho" supposed to recover from that? Knowing "Big Brother" was coming on, viewers bailed to watch the end of "American Idol" and the end of "The Biggest Loser." The only major network not to beat "Big Brother" was some crap sitcoms on ABC that no one watches anyway.

That means any promotion for the next hour that might draw viewers into "Jericho" aren't being watched. People are forgetting it's on, and decide that, "Oh, looks like 'Primetime Live' is on ABC, so I guess I'll watch that before I go to bed since there isn't anything else on."

And what happens? Few people show up for "Jericho." More than a 40 percent drop from the "NCIS" rerun, and slightly less than "Big Brother."

Wouldn't it be nice, CBS, to not lose 40 percent of an audience that tuned in to a rerun to see fresh programming in the 9 p.m. hour? You can, and it's simple. Take "Big Brother" out of there, and put "Jericho" into its place.

Nina Tassler, one of the head honchos there at CBS (you may have heard of her) told us, the fans, that we had to do our part in trying to bring viewers in. And from what I can see, fans are doing just that, even if they don't really count unless they TiVO it or recruit someone who happens to have a Nielsen diary lying around.

But these are just fans. They can only do so much, and CBS, you have a responsibility to "Jericho" as well. You have to put it in a timeslot that also will help bring in viewers, because unless fans get the cooperation of the network in bringing in this audience, all of us are going to look pretty stupid for bringing this show back.

Now I know, CBS, you have been working to promote the show and everything else, and you can only do so much as well. We understand that. But there is a lot of room for improvement, and that can begin as early as next week by moving "Big Brother" to some timeslot on Saturday morning where we never have to hear about it again, and giving "Jericho" the timeslot -- and the lead-in -- it deserves. I would rather have "Jericho" following a rerun of "NCIS" than following a new episode of just about any other show out there. It's a marriage made in heaven, and could make Tuesdays a night you don't want to miss on CBS.

SyBits

We have a few letters I want to address this week, so let's get to them!

What a waste of a "story" (last week's SciFriday column). Just when we really, really need support for "Jericho," you decide you need to talk about yourself?

-- Amanda

Yes, Amanda, one of the perks about owning your own site is that you can talk about whatever you want, including yourself. But it's your e-mail which represents why I wrote what I did last week, asking some of these bad apple "Jericho" fans (which, by the way, do not represent "Jericho" fans in general, because I have found them to be wonderful, passionate and sensible people) to not start kicking sites like Airlock Alpha in the shin because we are tasked with reporting what we feel should be out there.

Instead of getting all up in arms and attacking messengers, you could instead be concentrating your energy and time in trying to bring in new audiences for the show, contacting sponsors, and writing letters (using the Post Office, and not e-mail) to CBS. And you could've done at least one of those things in the time it took for you to write me that letter above.

I have been using your site on a regular basis for many years. I love almost all the great sci-fi shows you have covered, and am one of the diehard "Jericho" fans who sent over four batches of nuts and many letters/phone calls that I had not done for any show previously.

I'm quite frankly shocked with all of the promotion that "Jericho" got in the news, and by CBS, that it is not having better ratings, but I can accept the reality and appreciate at least the seven episodes and chance for fans to make a difference. The only lingering hope I am holding out is I know a lot of people got the first three episodes online that were released in bit torrents, but I think you gave tremendous support to "Jericho" over the last year.

-- Charles Kravitz of New London, Conn.

Thanks, Charles, and it's good to see that at least some people remember we are supporters of "Jericho" and want to see it back for a third season.

CBS has indeed promoted the show a lot, and I'm grateful to them. But the timeslot, as I talked about above, is what I feel is really killing this show. Plus, the seven months off didn't help much either.

Why even air genre shows in the first place? Instead of "Jericho" or "Bionic Woman," why not just double the number of "Dancing With the Stars" or "The Amazing Race"? I'm sure the networks know they would make way more money doing this with way less risk.

Although us genre geeks love to complain about anything and everything, we truly don't know how good we have it that these shows air at all. Maybe the networks just feel sorry for us. Mind you, they have to put something on Friday nights ...

-- Jason

I hear you loud and clear there, Jason, but even the networks know that if you put too much unscripted programming out there, you're going to alienate a large portion of your audience. The highest-rated shows (not including sports) continue to be scripted programs, and that's not changing any time soon.

I think it's good to have a lot of genre shows out there, but they need to be good shows. "Bionic Woman" wasn't good. Maybe "Journeyman" was, I don't know. But I would rather have two good shows surrounded by reality programming than 20 mediocre shows.

But hey, that's just me.

Send your letters to mhinman@airlockalpha.com, and maybe you'll eventually read them right here in this very spot, complete with my arcane responses.

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Michael Hinman, a cult leader twice awarded "Best Kool-Aid Drinker," is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha, writing out of Tampa, Fla. He can be reached at mhinman@airlockalpha.com