‘Deal’ clinches weekly spot on NBC

America, what are you thinking? “Deal or No Deal,” which started its second weeklong run after receiving successful ratings in its December U.S. debut, will now be a weekly staple on NBC.

It will settle into its new time slot at 8 p.m. Monday, March 6.

According to USAToday.com, the show averaged 12.9 million viewers over five nights in December, but critics are wondering if it will hold up.

A little piece of trivia the article listed is that host Howie Mandel not only looks like Mr. Clean, but he’s a germophobe and won’t shake hands with any of the contestants.

And though it looks like Mandel will be around for a while, we’re going to have to wait a little longer than expected for “The Contender” to come back. Scheduled to appear on ESPN in April, the premiere date has been pushed back to 10 p.m. July 18.

The good news is the show will feature more boxing and less emotional baggage than in its previous form.

With the focus now more on the fighters, the boxers’ children won’t be allowed to come to the fights.

One of the previous problems with the show that drew lower than expected ratings is that it was male-skewed and couldn’t attract a female audience. (I guess I was an exception.)

ESPN’s audience is primarily men, so the station appears confident that this time around “The Contender” will prove to be a success.

A proven success, “The Amazing Race 9,” is off and running again. The family edition didn’t do as well as expected, and the show is back to its original two-person team format.

Contestants John Lowe and Scott Braginton-Smith were the first ones out of the race Tuesday.

I’m hoping the show has got it together and this season will be better than the last. Otherwise, I’m predicting they might not be around for a try at Season 10.

Last but not least, the worst news of the week. I missed the first “Apprentice” episode, but luckily the power of the Internet has kept me in the loop.

It appears that contestant Summer Zervos, a 30-year-old restaurant owner from Huntington Beach, Calif., didn’t see any of the first four seasons to learn that The Donald doesn’t like being interrupted, and was the first to go in the new Monday night time slot.

As long as work doesn’t get in the way, I plan to tune in next week because I’ve heard that the troublemakers have been identified and The Donald already has his mind made up that “Apprentice” hopeful Tarek Saab is “totally overrated.”