Apologies for the lateness of this week's column, but I've been busy working away on some tubetastic projects that should come to fruition in the next few weeks. Anyway, enough teasing, let's talk...

Stephen: "Hi Neil. I'm really enjoying Jane Hall (never thought I'd say that about an ITV programme!). Can you let me know how it's faring in the ratings please???"
Neil: She's been getting just under 4 million viewers, which you wouldn't imagine to be great - but it's pretty damn good for ITV1 right now.

Megan: "If Matt Czuchry will be on Veronica Mars as a guest star, does that mean he won't be a regular on Gilmore Girls anymore? And are there any websites where I can find the channel list for the CW network?"
Neil: He's staying put. Click here for a full list of all the new shows on the CW this season.

Sam: "can someone tell me why everyone that reads this column is obssesed with the gilmore girls?"
Neil: Why is the sky blue? How high is up? And whatever happened to Mrs Healy? (*)

Matthew Fenton: "You can have some pastries, but i need some reliable season 3 battlestar galactica spoilers. I'm having withdrawal symptoms! ;-)!"
Neil: OK, I give in. Skip to the spoiler spot to see what the exec producer has to say about the new season.

Claudia: "As Sky + gets more popular, does this affect viewing ratings as the programs are no longer watched live?"
Neil: BARB - the organisation responsible for measuring TV ratings - now counts Sky+ viewing, although this is only in consolidated figures. Sky+ ratings aren't included in overnights data - the ones you see most often.

On offer in this week's Swag Spot are five copies of Medium season one on DVD. As well as the first sixteen episodes, there is also an hour's worth of bonus features, including a look at the real-life Allison DuBois.

Click yourself here to flex your mental muscle and be in with a chance of winning. As always, entry is free and the answer a toughie.

Nicky: "Hi Neil, loving your work. And ta muchly for the Afterlife snippet, but what happened to the series one repeats on Sunday nights? ITV1 showed the first episode and now it's disappeared... has it passed over to the other side!?"
Neil: No, Channel 4 passed on it. The repeats - while a nice idea - were swiftly ditched after the premiere rebroadcast drew just 2 million viewers, around a quarter of what ITV1 could normally expect to gain in the slot. The latest I've heard on series two is that it will go out in the last week of September.

Gary Wilkie: "Do you know whether a second series of Love Hurts?"
Neil: Oh it does. Badly.

Rachael Daniels: "i was just wondering wheather itv attept at saturday kitchen was beating the original on BBC one"
Neil: You can probably guess, but no. BBC One has around a million, while ITV1 has half that.

Christopher: "I love hit show Jane Hall. Will It Be Back For A Second Series!?"
Neil: I've heard nothing formal yet, but I'd imagine so. And the first series ends with a mini-cliffhanger that demands a second (head to the Spoiler Spot for more).

Naomi: "Hi! Bit of a sad question really, but do you know when the Disney Channel's High School Musical is going to be shown, from the US?"
Neil: Nothing sad about it at all. High School Musical airs on the Disney Channel at 6pm on September 22 and BBC One later in the year. Look out in the coming weeks for some clips, advance previews and details on how this show became a huge success in the US.

David: "I know you probably get asked this frequently, especially with series' that have already aired, but I was wondering why Channel 4 made such a poor attempt at showing the American version of QAF? After purchasing it from BBC3 (that showed the 1st season), I thought they would have aired it properly, but only seem to have recently shown it in the kind of dead zone, post midnight slot. Why? I know shows like Sugar Rush are much tamer, but it's more or less the same content material. What's wrong with Channel 4!??!"
Neil: Let's leave the final question aside for the moment (that's actually our competition question for next week). In the case of this particular show, I'd imagine that it probably is the best slot to reach its target audience. Although as you'll have seen, there does seem to be a madman wreaking havoc on the E4 schedules of late.

Early next week I'll be chatting with Matt Frewer and Colin Ferguson of Eureka fame - do direct any questions to the usual place. Also, keep your eyes peeled for an exclusive 4400 chat coming up very soon...

Darren: "So is 4400's in HD in the UK? But not on the USA Network in america as I thought USA Network didn't have any HD shows yet. Season Three has been truly utterly bizarre yet still gripping (unlike HEX were you got the feeling they had no idea where the story? was going). Love the column (of course, creep creep) and could you please tell us how well Eureka is doing now its rating have had chance to settle a bit after the pilot (Sci-Fi, ratings for ep 2-4, Sky One, ratings for pilot & ep 2) - good hopefully."
Neil: The 4400 is indeed HD over here. As for Eureka - or should that be A Town Called Eureka? - the premiere had a solid half million on Sky One and a record-breaking 4.4 million Stateside. Those figures then dropped off slightly to 450,000 and just over 3 million respectively.

Lucia Gardinai: "Hey There Neil - I'm an Avid reader of tube talk - great column.. anyhows - just watched the brilliant, if slightly anit-climatic finale of Big Love - As I know the viewing figures havent been that fab, is there going to be another series? Also any news on a Veronica Mars UK dvd release?"
Neil: There is a second season in the pipeline. As for Vera, I previously dropped the bombshell that a region 2 release is upcoming, but there's nothing more concrete just yet.

Liam Gascoigne: "Hi, could you tell me up to which series More4 will be showing repeats of "The West Wing" up to? Thanks a lot..."
Neil: Every season, from the start.

Mike: "Hi, do you know the ratings for the new TMF Live?"
Neil: Over the first three weeks on air it's averaged a little over 8,000 viewers. Rather than a reflection of the production values it's more indicative of the short attention spans of music channel viewers these days. Unlike ten years ago when MTV Select was on air, if an unappealing video begins playing, you start flipping until you find one you do like. The knock-on effect being that it's cheaper to just play music videos than attempting to package them in a live format.

Kevin: "Will there be another series of Playing It Straight as I really enjoyed the first one?"
Neil: PR person says no.

Beckie: "hi, i was wondering if you knew whether the Fox show Reunion is going to be shown in the uk as it has recently been cancelled in america b4 the series finished, and if they do show it here would they show the whole seasonor just up to the point where it got cancelled in america?"
Neil: Finally this show has got a slot on E4, although - as you would guess - its scheduling is a tad strange. The series airs Sundays at 4pm beginning August 27 and, as I understand it, the full thirteen episodes will be shown (including the final four not shown in the US).

As always, select the area to the right of each programme to read the text - but be warned that you may well be spoiled.

24 season six: The latest from the US - straight from the mouth of almighty scoop-God Mike Ausiello - is that Eric Balfour (of many an axed show) will be back next season to reprise his role as season one CTU techy Milo. On a different note, I happened across a piece of hitherto-unheard gossip from a source earlier this week: did you know that when 24 first started back in 2001, the original plan was to have a different character at the focus of each season? Apparently the (surely inevitable) popularity of Keef made them rethink the idea soon after. 24 season six premieres in January

Battlestar Galactica season three: Here's what BSG ep Ron Moore told SciFi Pulse about S3, specifically on how things will play out with the Cylons: "We will definitely be seeing more of the Cylons and getting a better understanding of how their society operates this season. We're doing a whole arc taking place entirely on one of the Cylon Baseships and a great deal of information will be detailed about their faith and their culture. Baltar may or may not be the Cylon God and he may or may not be a Cylon and both questions will be raised (but not necessarily answered) this year."

Jane Hall finale: Check out last week's Tube Talk for gossip on this week's Jane Hall, but if you're feeling sufficiently adventurous, read on to find out what happens in the finale the week after. And it's twisty. The first revelation concerns who the rapist is - and, although I'm not allowed to reveal his/her identity, it does involve a person who once guested on Gimme Gimme Gimme. After the big fallout, Richard eventually reconciles with Jane and the wedding plans are back on, with Rob as the best man. With just a couple hours to go before the wedding, Rob proposes to Jane, revealing that he has booked a registry office so they can tie the knot right away. Thankfully "who will she choose?" isn't the cliffhanger; we actually get a resolve of that plot point straight away. But look for the series to end with Jane uttering two confusing words... The final episode of Jane Hall airs on Wednesday, August 23 at 9pm on ITV1

Send your requests for shows to be featured in the Spoiler Spot to the usual place.

More next Thursday. Promise. And I never break promises.


(*) The first person to email me in to identify that quote wins a super swanky National Georgraphic Channel boomerang.