Reposting this from features editor Adrienne Johnson Martin and our TV blog:

The recession has hit lots of folks hard, and among the hardest, are children.

Kids, after all, are one of the most ecomonically disadvantaged groups; more than 13 million are poor by the official poverty standard, and nearly 30 million live in low-income families, according to the National Center for Children in Poverty.

You can imagine, too, how scary it is for a child to see a parent lose a job, and struggle. It can cause feelings of instability and even anger.

Which is why it's so great that there's journalist Linda Ellerbee. On Sunday night at 8, Ellerbee and Nick News present "$tressed Out! The Economic Crisis and You," a show in which young people talk about how they and their families have been affected by the nation's economic
woes.

Durham's Darius Evans (that's him, next to the girl in red) is among the kids talking. He's an 8th grader at Shepard Magnet Middle School, who says he likes science and wants to be a song producer.

Click Read More to learn more about Darius and the program.

WiSpots CEO Kevin Flannery got mauled by TV sharks Sunday night, but he was licking his wounds today, ready to swim again.

Flannery got a chance to pitch his Cary company, which sells wireless devices for physicians’ waiting areas, to billionaire investors on ABC’s new show “Shark Tank.” The ruthless investors, or sharks, were quick to dismiss the concept and essentially told Flannery not to waste any more time or risk any more money.

Since the show’s segments were taped mostly in January, Flannery has known for months that the outcome would sting.

“They didn’t listen and they didn’t really give me a shot,” he said by phone today. “But I also know that [millions of] people saw me and my products.”

And the former Marine has been busy since the taping. In June, he agreed to merge WiSpots with Worthington Healthcare of Raleigh.

Kevin Flannery didn't exactly get eaten alive Sunday night, but close.

As Brooke Cain writes on our Happiness is a warm TV blog, the CEO of WiSpots pitched his Cary company to a panel of billionaire investors on ABC's "Shark Tank." The idea is to install wireless gadgets in physicians' offices for patients to use while they wait.

But the investors pointed out that many people already have phones and other devices with wireless Internet access. They also urged him to cut his losses and stop risking his family's future (and his financial well-being) on the venture.

Of course, there might be a bright side: The free publicity from the show could help Flannery find some cash anyway.

What to watch when you're not on the water

Maybe. It seems, once again, the long-time NBC show is on the bubble -- that insecure spot where its unclear whether the ratings (or advertising dollars) warrant the show's return for another season.

(Although with reruns of the various L&Os on Bravo, TNT, USA and network TV we'll always have Jack, Lu, Lenny and the gang.)

And what of "Chuck" and "Medium"? Or the CW's last comedies "The Game" and "Everybody Hates Chris"?

This Variety piece explores what's bubble-licious and how showrunners deal with the uncertainty. Read it and find out whether you need to get those 'save my show' campaign ideas rolling.

Or what you can write off without a look. So why not take some time and see what the networks have cooking for the fall season.

Click here for the overview of dramas and then click here for the show rundowns for each network.

Then click here to read about how the networks want to find humor in the recession. And then at the bottom of that page, you'll see a rundown of Fox's comedy offerings and links to the other networks.

Congress has set June 12 2009 as the final date to convert to digital. However, two stations in the area will stick with the original date February 17 2009; those stations are CW22 and MYRDC.  The change for both of the stations will go in effect at 11:59 pm on February 17. For more information on CW22: http://www.raleighcw.com/dtv/index.shtml  and for MYRDC: http://www.wrdc28.com/dtv/index.shtml.

Stations that will be converting June 12 2009:

UNC TV
WRAL
ABC 11
NBC 17
ION
Fox 50

These stations will be holding off, because the Government ran out of money for the Converter Box coupons. They are hoping to solve this issue between now and June 12.  For more information about the new date visit http://dtv.gov/.

The FCC has just released a list of that want to drop analog before or on Feb. 17, despite the new June 12 date.

Unfortunately for viewers not ready, local stations are on the list, including WUNC, WTVD, WNCN, WRAL, and WRAZ. Here's the story. Here's the list. (List is a pdf.)

Update:  As some smart and observant posters pointed out, I overstated the local stations going digital before June. It looks like only watchers of MyRDC, The CW and WRAY will be affected. Sorry about that. And thanks to those who posted.

Time Warner's public-access show 'Second Cinema' is proving to be competent and entertaining.

Daddy Day Camp.

Boat Trip.

Snow Dogs.

Rat Race.

All those films get erased off Cuba Gooding Jr.'s "for shame" movie list because of "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story." It's on TNT Saturday night at 8.

I just loved it. Ben Carson (that's him with Cuba in the photo) is the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center, and watching his life story made me want to be a better mother.