T Dog's Four Pack

This week's Four Pack contains the baseball playoffs, some dancing, and Rachael Ray - oh my!

Winners

- Postseason baseball. Ratings for the divisional baseball  playoffs on TBS were up from last year.... maybe because the Cubs and White Sox weren't in it?

- Rachael Ray. Her talk show is renewed until 2011-12 in 90 percent of the country, including WGN-TV here in Chicago. She's a winner, but for the rest of us....


- No more Jon & Kate. At least on TLC - it looks like society's most hated couple will get a little less exposure, with TLC mercifully pulling the plug on this inane program.


- Chicago radio. Yes, you read right! Many Chicago-area scored ratings increases in September in Arbitron's PPM survey, as schoolkids return from vacation and adults wind down summer activities.

Losers

- Dancing With The Stars. With a less-than-exciting cast (except for Mya and Donny Osmond) and ratings down by double-digits - not to mention negative press coverage, Dancing is this year's Heroes... and speaking of which...

- Heroes. Claire involved in a lesbian kiss. Wow, that'll boost ratings. No, not really.


- Secret Girlfriend. ... and speaking of lesbian kisses, this Comedy Central farce features a point-of-view angle where the viewer is friends with two guys - who are obsessed with boobs, liquor, and sniffing paint thinner all day. Then, their female "friends" comes to you, the viewer - and whine, whine, and whine .It makes the viewer go grab a shot gun and put all these idiots out of their misery. Secret Girlfriend by far, is the worst sitcom of the fall season - and in all of television history, even topping My Mother, The Car and Homeboys in Outer Space for this dubious honor.

- Wednesdays, 8 Eastern/ 7 Central. With all the programs airing on the broadcast networks down tremendously from year-ago time period ratings and shares, the real winners in this time slot are... Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann?