NBC scraps Thursday night comedies

On Friday, NBC announced its midseason schedule, which will be entirely devoid of sitcoms on Thursday nights. This will be the first time that has happened since the early 1980s. "Cheers," which premiered on Thursday nights in 1982, is still considered among the finest comedies of all time. It was a darling of the Emmys for many years, thanks to a cast led by Ted Danson (top left).

"The Cosby Show" dominated the ratings through much of the mid- and late 1980s and remains a standard against which family comedies are measured. (In recent months, reruns have been pulled from TV Land after allegations about Bill Cosby and sexual assault.)

Michael J. Fox, left, shot to stardom after portraying stalwart Republican (in a family of liberals) Alex P. Keaton on "Family Ties."

"Night Court," starring Markie Post and Harry Anderson, was a perfect show to follow "Cheers" on Thursday nights, another workplace comedy with quirky characters.

"Wings," with Tim Daly, center, and Steven Weber, left, was sort of the "also-ran" show during the "Cheers" heyday, but it was able to muster eight seasons.

"Cosby" spinoff "A Different World" continues to be beloved among viewers who were around the same age as Whitley (Jasmine Guy, right) and Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) in college.

"Seinfeld" inspired a cult-like following usually reserved for science fiction TV series. Between the Junior Mints, the "yada-yada," Elaine's crazy dancing and Festivus, there were many memorable moments. The show also stands the test of time in reruns.

"Friends" is seen as synonymous with the 1990s, inspiring fashion, humor and music (that catchy theme song even hit No. 1). Jennifer Aniston emerged as an A-list star after it ended in 2004, and the others haven't done badly, either.

"Cheers'" spinoff "Frasier" was like catnip to Emmy voters. As Frasier Crane, Kelsey Grammer, right, played off against a number of wacky characters, especially David Hyde Pierce, second from left, as brother Niles.

"Mad About You," starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt, was often seen as the companion series to "Friends" and "Seinfeld," sharing the comedic sensibilities of both. Hunt went on to movie fame during and after its run.

"Will and Grace," starring Debra Messing, left, and Megan Mullally, broke ground in portraying the relationship between a straight woman and a gay man, and may very well have set some sort of record for guest stars over the years.

One of the first "single camera" comedies with no studio audience, "Scrubs" was another NBC series that developed a cult following despite so-so ratings.

"30 Rock" was willing to bite the hand that fed it: an NBC comedy set at NBC. The stars were, from left, Tracy Morgan, Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Jane Krakowski and Jack McBrayer.

NBC was dying for comedy hits in the middle of the last decade, and along came "The Office," the remake of the acclaimed British series. It made Steve Carell, right, and Ed Helms into stars, and was the anchor for the network's revamped "Comedy Night Done Right."

"My Name is Earl's" first season was a big hit for NBC, though ratings for the show, about the dim-witted hero's (Jason Lee) search to make up all his past wrongs, steadily declined over four seasons.

"Community" was anything but a ratings hit -- something it almost wore as a badge of honor -- but fans on social media weren't ready to give up on it after five seasons at NBC. Yahoo! is allowing it to have a sixth season, following in the footsteps of "Arrested Development."

Not quite a spinoff of "The Office," Amy Poehler and the cast of "Parks and Recreation" slowly gained a fan following, especially in recent years. The Thursday mainstay will live out its final episodes on Tuesday nights in early 2015.

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• NBC announces that Thursday comedies will be replaced by drama in the new year


• "The Blacklist" will be the centerpiece of the new lineup


• Thursday has been the home to hit NBC comedies for over three decades

(CNN) -- There was a time when Thursday night on NBC was truly "must-see TV" -- and it was thanks to comedies.

The lineups changed gradually over the years, but they always brought in huge ratings and trounced the competition.

The golden age began in the 1980s with a lineup of classics including the top-rated "The Cosby Show," "Family Ties," "Cheers" and "Night Court." The 1990s brought the debuts of "Seinfeld" and "Friends," which went on to become two of the decade's top TV sitcoms.

Those days are long gone. On Friday, NBC announced a new midseason schedule completely absent of Thursday night comedies. "Parks and Recreation," the last of the string, is set to finish its run on Tuesdays.

The new Thursday will have hit drama "The Blacklist" as its centerpiece.

The day has been on the horizon for years. After "The Office" and "30 Rock" ended and "Community" was canceled, Thursday comedies began to dwindle.

Shawn Pasternak, a hardcore TV watcher who posts his musings at @ShawnCP92, said ABC and CBS have made strides on Thursdays in recent years, loosening NBC's grip on the night.

"What was really interesting to me was what happened last season, when NBC made a concerted effort to sign NBC Must See TV Thursday alumni Sean Hayes and Michael J. Fox to very prominent sitcom deals, both of which flopped completely in the 9 p.m. hour," he observed.

It's also a sign of changing TV viewing habits, Diane Gordon of The Surf Report said.

"Today's viewers watch TV in entirely different ways than they did in the 1980s and 1990s and broadcast networks are hit hardest by this change," she said. "Many viewers, especially younger viewers, watch shows on demand via DVR and via streaming services like Hulu, Netflix and Amazon. This means there are almost no TV shows that are appointment TV like there were in the '80s and '90s."

That could have signaled the real end for NBC's comedy legacy on Thursdays.

Nows, NBC's Monday hit drama "The Blacklist" will make the move to that night, following a prime showcase after the Super Bowl.

NBC is hoping to make a ratings dent in ABC's Thursday night dramas, not to mention CBS' Thursday night comedy lineup, led by "The Big Bang Theory."

This comes in a season where many of the canceled shows have been comedies, including NBC Thursday night shows "Bad Judge" and "A to Z."

"As a longtime fan of TV comedy, it's sad to see a broadcast network make this decision," said Gordon. "I hope they're not permanently abandoning the Thursday comedy lineup."

Surgeon general confirmed despite NRA

Washington (CNN) -- The Senate confirmed Vivek Murthy as surgeon general on Monday night as Democrats -- in the final days of their majority control of the chamber -- overcame stiff opposition from the National Rifle Association.

The 51 to 43 vote ends more than a year of uncertainty over Murthy's nomination. Obama had tapped the founder of the pro-Obamacare group Doctors for America for the post in November 2013.

But a confirmation vote had been held up after the gun lobby pointed to a letter Murthy had signed calling for new gun control measures in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut, school shootings, and promised to score a vote in Murthy's favor against senators in its ratings of how strongly lawmakers support gun rights.

Murthy, 37, is America's youngest-ever top doctor, and he is also the first surgeon general of Indian-American descent.

Obama lauded Murthy's confirmation, saying he will help the United States combat the threat of Ebola.

"As 'America's Doctor,' Vivek will hit the ground running to make sure every American has the information they need to keep themselves and their families safe. He'll bring his lifetime of experience promoting public health to bear on priorities ranging from stopping new diseases to helping our kids grow up healthy and strong," Obama said in a statement.

"Vivek will also help us build on the progress we've made combating Ebola, both in our country and at its source," he said. "Combined with the crucial support for fighting Ebola included in the bill to fund our government next year, Vivek's confirmation makes us better positioned to save lives around the world and protect the American people here at home."

But soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican whose party will take control of the chamber once new members are in place next month, called Murthy a political appointment.

"The surgeon general is known as America's doctor and the men and women chosen to fill that role in the past have usually been highly qualified individuals with substantial experience in patient care," McConnell said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, Dr. Murthy's nomination had more to do with politics -- he was a founder in 2008 of a group called Doctors for Obama, and has been an outspoken political advocate of Obamacare and gun control -- than his medical experience," he said. "With America facing the challenge of Ebola and other serious health challenges, it's unfortunate that the President chose a nominee based on the candidate's political support instead of a long career delivering patient care and managing difficult health crises."

This story has been updated

Watchdog: VA misled Congress

• A new report says the Department of Veterans Affairs misled Congress and the public


• The VA's Office of Inspector General highlights multiple errors in the department's previously reported findings


• Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Florida, the committee chairman, said the mistakes are either intentionally deceitful or grossly incompetent

Washington (CNN) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs misled Congress and members of the media about how many veterans died or suffered serious harm as a result of extreme treatment delays, according to a new report by the department's top watchdog.

The VA shared a fact sheet in April with Congress and the press that said 23 veterans died and a total of 76 suffered serious harm throughout the nation while waiting months or years for health care since 1999. But the report released Monday by the VA's Office of Inspector General highlights multiple errors with these findings and a lack of evidence for statements the VA released about them.

Amongst the misleading facts highlighted in the report, the VA overstated the timeframe of its review by eight years, since the VA said it examined unresolved requests for health care since 1999, but in reality only examined requests dating back to 2007.

READ: Phoenix VA chief Sharon Helman fired

Moreover, the inspector general says there may have been "overstatements or understatements" about the number of deaths or illnesses resulting from delays at specific VA hospitals and that the fact sheet contained a number of other errors.

CNN probe prompts VA overhaul, firings

These errors also included an incident reported to have occurred at one VA facility when it actually happened at another, and the number of "institutional disclosures" -- where the VA admitted delays caused severe harm -- as being overstated at one facility.

VA reveals 'largest reorganization' ever

The report raises questions about how many veterans may have had their appointments erased by VA staff before they received treatment.

VA firing 4 senior officials over scandal

The VA reported that between September 2012 and April 2014, the number of appointments delayed more than 90 days dropped from 2 million to less than 300,000, but the inspector general found that the VA did not document how staff members were closing these appointments and did not ensure veterans received the care they were waiting for.

As a result, the inspector general could not determine what happened to 1.7 million appointments.

VA leaders, including a top VA health official, Dr. Thomas Lynch, shared many of these statistics on patient deaths and harm during a congressional staff briefing on April 7 and repeated them at a House Committee on Veterans' Affairs hearing on April 9.

Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Florida, the committee chairman, described the errors as either intentionally deceitful or grossly incompetent.

"VA's statistics regarding the number of veterans harmed by department delays in care are almost certainly wildly inaccurate and we may never know the actual number of veterans affected by gaps in the VA system that existed for years," Miller said in a statement Monday.

"Accountability for the VA leaders responsible for misleading Congress and the public on this important matter is sorely needed," he added.

Miller also said the VA eventually contradicted itself in correspondence with the House committee by saying a review of delayed requests for health care dating back to 1999 would not be possible.

The VA previously issued an apology for the misleading and incorrect statements saying, "VA inadvertently caused confusion in its communication on this complex set of reviews that were ongoing at the time. For that, we apologize. There was no intent to mislead anyone with respect to the scope or findings of these reviews."

A separate VA audit released in June found that about 57,000 newly enrolled veterans were waiting at least 90 days for medical care and that almost 64,000 who enrolled in the past decade requested, but never received, appointments.

VA Secretary Robert McDonald has since taken steps to reform the embattled agency by creating new partnerships with private organizations, giving veterans greater access to private health care and establishing a VA-wide customer service office, among other programs.

81 hospitalized: Zamboni to blame?

• Officials: 81 people are treated at local hospitals for dizziness, nausea, headaches


• The incident started when several players complained of headaches


• WISC: Officials say the leak came from the ice resurfacer


• Some players had vomited and one had fainted, authorities say

(CNN) -- A carbon monoxide leak at a Wisconsin ice rink left 81 people hospitalized -- and a Zamboni could be to blame.

The leak occurred Saturday at the end of a minor league hockey game between the Dells Ducks and the Ice Hawks in Lake Delton.

Dozens of people were treated at local hospitals for dizziness, nausea, headaches, vomiting and fainting, authorities said.

Delton Fire Department officials said the cause of the leak was the rink's resurfacing machine, also known as a Zamboni, CNN affiliate WISC reported.

The incident started when several players complained of headaches and dizziness. Some had vomited and one had fainted, the Delton Fire Department said in a statement.

It said it recorded high readings of the gas from inside the Poppy Waterman Ice Rink, but at the time of the leak, many hockey players, staff and spectators had left.

Fire and emergency personnel went to various locations to seek out those who had attended the game and transport them to hospital, the fire department said.

Activities at the ice rink were canceled for Monday.

"The good thing about this is a lot of people got sick all at once, so it was recognized quickly and the exposure was pretty limited," Matt Lazio, director of St. Clare's emergency department, told WISC. "But this is a potentially fatal kind of poisoning."

Cheney: I'd 'do it again in a minute'

• Several George W. Bush administration officials defended the tactics used to interrogate terrorism suspects


• Their defense came after the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on the issue


• Dick Cheney sharply criticized the report and said he'd use the same tactics again "in a minute"

Washington (CNN) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney led a parade of George W. Bush administration officials who denounced a report on harsh interrogation techniques used against terrorism suspects, saying he would "do it again in a minute."

Defenders of the CIA's use of interrogation techniques used the weekend's news programs to make a passionate case, following the release of a scathing report, composed by Senate Democrats, condemning the Bush-era practices.

In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Cheney said the methods described in the Senate Intelligence Committee's report -- including mock executions, rectal feeding and sleep deprivation -- don't amount to torture.

Torture, Cheney said, "is an American citizen on a cell phone making a last call to his four young daughters shortly before he burns to death in the upper levels of the Trade Center in New York City on 9/11."

"There's this notion that somehow there's moral equivalence between what the terrorists do and what we do. And that's absolutely not true," he said. "We were very careful to stop short of torture. The Senate has seen fit to label their report torture. But we worked hard to stay short of that definition."

The Republican added that he had no regrets about the techniques used by the Bush administration. He called the Senate panel's report "seriously flawed" and said the committee should have talked to officials involved in the interrogation program.

"I would do it again in a minute," he said.

Michael Mukasey, Bush's attorney general, said the Senate panel's investigators cherry-picked the evidence they included in the report.

The report, he said in an interview with John Catsimatidis on AM 970, is "jam-packed with untruths" and will "demoralize the CIA."

"It's even worse than that," he said. "They were cherry-picking, throwing away the cherries and they printed the pits."

One of the report's bombshell assertions was that the CIA kept details of its tactics from Bush. The president's former top political adviser, Karl Rove, said that's untrue in an interview with "Fox News Sunday."

Rove said Bush was briefed on the CIA's tactics and authorized some of the specific ones that were used.

"He made the decision. He was presented, I believe, 12 techniques. He authorized the use of 10 of them, including waterboarding," Rove said.

All Republicans weren't as defensive of the Bush administration's tactics. Arizona Sen. John McCain argued the tactics outlined in the report do amount to torture, and said he would "urge everyone to just read the report."

"These are the communications within the CIA as to what happened," he said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "You can't claim that tying someone to the floor and have them freeze to death is not torture. You can't say 183 times someone is waterboarded."

McCain said calling the tactics used under Bush "EITs" -- an acronym for enhanced interrogation techniques -- is "Orwellian."

Most fascinating person of 2014 is ...

Amal Alamuddin, an Oxford-educated lawyer from England, married George Clooney in September 2014. Here the couple are seen leaving Berners Tavern in London on October 24, 2013.

Alamuddin is photographed outside her hotel in New York on March 19.

Alamuddin leaves her hotel in New York on March 19.

Alamuddin departs Berners Tavern in London on October 24.

Alamuddin appears at the launch of the Limoland clothing line on May 7, 2013, in New York.

• Clooney topped the annual list


• Not much is known about her


• Taylor Swift and Michael Strahan also made the list

(CNN) -- Barbara Walters' pick for the most fascinating person of 2014 is interestingly a celebrity who shuns such a spotlight.

On Sunday night Walters named Amal Clooney as the top selection for her annual list. The former Amal Alamuddin married Clooney, one of the world's most eligible bachelors, in September.

Already an accomplished international human rights attorney, the new Mrs. Clooney was not well known by the general public prior to being linked to the award-winning actor.

"I guess the question is: 'What does it take to fascinate one of the most fascinating men in the world?' " Walters said introducing Mrs. Clooney as the selection. "She is known primarily through her spouse. And while we now little about her, we know a great deal about him."

Clooney had famously told Walters in a 1995 interview "I'm never going to get married again." The word spread so successfully, Clooney told Walters in 2006 that he no longer had to tell women he dated that he planned on staying single. "You did my work for me," he told her.

Snagging the perennial bachelor is what grasped the "most fascinating" title for his wife.

"Amazingly, Amal has been the subject of very little snark or envy," Walters said. "Maybe because we, like George Clooney, find it impossible to resist perfection. Or maybe it is because it is heartening to think that no matter how long it may take the perfect someone is out there for everyone."

Taylor Swift, Michael Strahan, Chelsea Handler, Oprah Winfrey, Scarlett Johansson, Elon Musk, Neil Patrick Harris, George R.R. Martin and David Koch also made this year's list.