This image was lost some time after publication.


[Note: UPDATE about the misguidedness of the above graphic follows after the jump] Today's NY Post reports that Friday Night Lights will "quietly" be taking over Studio 60's spot on the schedule this Monday night, a once-off shift that can be read as a) an attempt to expose S60's scarce-but-rich viewers to the compelling, and even lower-rated, world of Texas high school football, b) a chance to give S60 a one-week breather from the crushing expectations the network once placed on it as their primetime savior, or c) the precise rearrangement of deck-top furniture on the doomed ocean liner of NBC's 10 p.m. timeslot. The network is publicly and firmly on the side of Option A, telling the Post:

"Studio 60" had scheduled a repeat that night anyway.

Network officials insist it's not the end - nor even the beginning of the end - for "Studio 60."

"It's not a disaster," says an NBC source. "You have to look into the quality of the audience. This is the type of show that really targets and delivers affluent, upscale viewers."

We were all ready to take NBC on its word about the innocent swap-out of a S60 repeat, but then the cynical little gremlin living in our head reminded us, "Hey, wasn't Matthew Perry's character supposed to try and get laid by a Maxim model next week to forget all about the Christian chick he's always saying is so talented?" A quick trip to NBC's schedule page seems to reveal [or see the above graphic] that an ALL NEW episode was set to air on Monday, so either the Post got their facts wrong*, or the Peacock's PR people need to keep their web team in the loop when they're going to spin the media.

In the interest of trying to end this on a positive note, at least the Studio 60 folks aren't so desperate that they're getting into bed with Jessica Simpson. As they've already proven, they know that what the "affluent, upscale" viewer craves is Sting rocking out on a lute.

*UPDATE AND CORRECTION: A reader points out that the swap is supposed to occur on the 30th, not the 23rd, so it appears that in our rush to make a smarty-pants graphic with a big red arrow (which we will leave up to better marinate in our shame) we allowed ourselves to be led astray by The Post's statement that it was happening "next week" rather than the more accurate "ten days from now." However, we stand by all wiseassery about deck chairs and scarce, wealthy viewers not related to this error.