Can "Smash" save NBC? Well, it certainly can't hurt. And the Peacock needs this one. Bad.

Here's the nutshell version of tonight's big series debut (10 p.m.), in case you've missed the nine million promotional spots NBC has been pushing for weeks (but considering how few people actually watch NBC, maybe the pilot isn't as overexposed as many believe?):

"Smash" is a musical drama about a group of Broadway producers attempting to stage an original show about the life of Marilyn Monroe. It has a great cast (Debra Messing, Angelica Huston, Katharine McPhee), great original music, and lavish choreography.

Even for the most casual theater fans, "Smash" is an intoxicating insider's look at putting on a Broadway show, from the first spark of an idea through financing and casting, all the way to opening night.

The Voice (8pm, NBC) - 'The Voice' follows their post-Super Bowl debut with a two-hour episode containing more blind auditions. Coaches Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton at left.

House (8pm, Fox) - Following a violent incident involving a patient, House and the team are placed under review by the neurology chief.

The Bachelor (8pm, ABC) - The remaining women (both North Carolina women are still in the mix, but something tells me that changes tonight!) visit Panama, and hopefully, Emily from Chapel Hill can stop talking about Courtney for five seconds.

Alcatraz (9pm, Fox) - We've only seen prisoners up to now, but tonight an old guard resurfaces and encounters an old acquaintance.

Hart of Dixie (9pm, CW) - Tonight's Valentine's dance episode features a performance by Raleigh native Tift Merritt.

Smash (10pm, NBC) - This much-hyped debut of NBC's (much better!) answer to "Glee" follows a group of professional adult people staging a Broadway show. In tonight's debut, a writing duo come up with the idea to base a musical on Marilyn Monroe, and an experienced chorus girl competes against a promising newcomer. It has a great cast, which includes Debra Messing, Angelica Huston and Katharine McPhee. Here's my full review.

Lost Girl (10pm, Syfy) - Bo protects a human woman after a fury tries to hire Bo to kill her husband's mistress.

Television is a tough business, and so, history is strewn with failed series.

Some failed because they were bad; others because they were before their time.

Today, we offer two giveaway 2-packs that offer the shows' full first seasons AKA the complete series.

First up, "Sherri," the short-lived Lifetime sitcom based on the life of "The View" host Sherri Shepherd. The two-DVD set includes 13 episodes plus bonus webisodes featuring Ms. Shepherd's standup comedy.

We've paired that with "Huge," an acclaimed ABC Family show that starred Nikki Blonsky as a girl who attends fat camp and her relationships and adventures there.

The second package features "Off the Map," the ABC show from the preoducers of "Grey's Anatomy." You'll get more than 500 minutes of the show about young hot doctors in the South American jungle, plus bonus features like the cast discussing jungle medicine and cures.

That comes with the complete series of "Outsourced," the NBC sitcom about an American working at a call center in India. More than 7 hours of viewing with this one, plus a gag reel.

Want in? Just email here for the first package; and here for the second. We'll take entries until 7 tonight (12/20). We'll have a random drawing.

And we won't judge.

Every once in awhile, we can't handle things ourselves. We need a hero.

That's why today we've concocted a DVD 3-pack!

You'll get the "The Cape," the short-lived NBC series about a cop on a corrupt police force who, after he's framed for murder, goes into hiding and becomes The Cape, his son's favorite superhero. It starred David Lyons, Jennifer Ferin and Ryan Wynott. It includes a little more than 7 hours of viewing.

We've put that together with "Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Escape From Aggregor" Vol. 1 and "Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: The Return of Heatblast." Both are 2 disc sets with 10 episodes each, featuring the teen-age alien who works to save the planet.

So if you need a hero or know someone else who does, send an email by 10 tonight (Dec. 8) and we'll have a random drawing. No heroics necessary.
 

Right after this morning's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, NBC will air the ever-popular "National Dog Show Presented by Purina."

This is the 10th anniversary of the National Dog Show, which begins at noon.

Six new American Kennel Club-sanctioned breeds will be announced and a 2011 champion dog will be crowned out of a crowd of 170 breeds.  The actual competition, put on by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia, took place this past Saturday.

The six new breeds being introduced are The Entlebucher Mountain Dog, Norwegian Lundehund, Xoloitzcuintli, American English Coonhound (pictured here), Cesky Terrier and Finnish Lapphund.

The two-hour show is hosted by John O'Hurley ("Seinfeld," "Dancing with the Stars") along with dog authority David Frei.

I recently did an interview with a writer who said everything we fear and everything we need to overcome those fears are in fairy tales. That's good to keep in mind while watching "Grimm" (9 tonight, NBC) a clever show that uses fairy tales as fodder for a police procedural.

Nick Burckhardt (David Giuntoli) is a detective in Oregon, and, it turns out, a Grimm family member. That makes him capable of seeing and killing the monsters hidden among us. As he and his partner Hank (Russell Hornsby) are searching for a monster attacking women, Nick is learning more about his legacy from his dying aunt (Kate Burton). Along the way, he meets Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell), a werewolf who has learned to control his ways.

NBC has canceled "Free Agents."

I really like Hank Azaria and wish this had worked out for him. It wasn't a terrible show, and the ratings weren't awful, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

NBC will fill the timeslot with a repeat of "Whitney," a fairly lame sitcom that NBC has already picked up for a full season.

Also canceled today, "H8RS," a CW reality show produced by Mario Lopez in which unlikable "celebrities" confront and try to win over people who hate them. That's a just cancelation right there.

I gave this drama the benefit of the doubt based on a not-terrible pilot, but the episodes that followed were awfully boring. NBC pulled the plug on the low-rated and controversial show today, putting the poor little bunnies -- and a sad Eddie Cibrian -- out of their misery.

NBC will fill the Monday 10 p.m. slot with repeats of the crime drama "Prime Suspect" (which you should watch) until the new Brian Williams show "Rock Center" debuts at the end of this month.

NBC also announced today full season pickups for "Up All Night" (not surprising) and "Whitney" (a little surprising).

In "Whitney" (9:30 tonight, NBC), comedian Whitney Cummings plays Whitney Cummings, a photographer in a three-year relationship with her boyfriend Alex (Chris D'Elia); she has no interest in marriage.

The first episode is about whether the pair is having enough sex, which sounds very much like the kind of issue you have when you're married. 

"Whitney" needs to be a whole lot funnier, and needs a lot more creativity to distinguish itself, and I can't see the makings of that kind of transformation from the pilot.

I did see a to-die for trench coat worn by one of Whitney's friends.

"The Playboy Club"
Monday, 10 p.m. on NBC

Hardcore fans of "Mad Men" will resent Eddie Cibrian for his Don Draper impression in NBC's new 1960s drama. But I don't mind it. "Playboy Club" isn't in the same zip code as "Mad Men" as far as quality, but I do like it more than the other show it's constantly compared to: ABC's own retro offering, "Pan Am" (more on that show later this week).

Cibrian is Nick Dalton, a bigshot attorney in Chicago who spends his free time carousing with bunnies at the legendary Playboy Club. It's 1960s Chicago, so not only are there lots of frolicking Bunnies (and even glimpses of Hef at the Playboy Mansion), but dangerous gangsters also figure prominently in storylines. There's also a little social and political unrest thrown in for good measure. And for  what it's worth, despite the provocative title and subject manner, the vibe in the pilot is pretty innocent, especially by today's standards. There's lots of innuendo, but it's far tamer than many other 10 p.m. dramas. Amber Heard is the other star of the show, playing a new Bunny in town who gets into serious trouble her first night on the job. Dalton comes to her rescue and the two are then bound together by a dangerous secret.