What we're watching tonight:

• CBS (1080i) premieres Survivor in HD at 8 p.m.
• NBC (1080i) lines up season premieres with My Name is Earl at 8 p.m., The Office at 9 p.m. and E.R. at 10 p.m.
• ABC (720p) has the season premieres of Ugly Betty at 8 p.m.and Grey's Anatomy at 9 p.m.
• CW (1080i) lines up Smallville at 8 p.m. and Supernatural at 9 p.m.
• FX (720p) has It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
• Showtime (1080i) brings Comics Without Borders at 10 p.m.
• A&E (720p) has Jacked: Auto Theft Task Force at 10 p.m.
• Discovery (1080i) has Destroyed in Seconds at 9 p.m. and Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein at 11 p.m.
• ESPN HD (720p) has USC/Oregon State college football at 9 p.m.
• ESPN2 HD (720p) has MLS action with LA/Chicago at 9 p.m.

Mark your calendars, the 17th season of Survivor makes its HD debut September 18. The entire fall debut schedule for the 2008-09 CBS lineup is available at TV Squad or in the embedded video after the break, but considering there's just one top rated show that we've waited years to watch (or not watch, considering the glut of reality TV) we'll focus on this one for a moment. Apparently this season's caught the bug of production problems already, although none seem to have anything to do with Sony's slick XDCAM production system that promises real time human drama, backstabbing and tribal council votes in 1080i.

[Via TV Squad]

Sony's NAB 2008 announcements continue to roll out, hope you didn't think Survivor and OLED were the only items getting a touch of its HD DNA, because Fox Widescreen standby Cops is going real HD for its 21st season courtesy of Sony's XDCAM technology. Just like Survivor, the rugged disc-based system makes it easy for producers to make the HD upgrade. While PBS' sets may not be as rough as the mean streets, we can still appreciate the news that Sesame Street has switched to HD with a whole new studio based on Sony's equipment that will also see use in several other projects on the way. Finally, ESPN has stayed ahead of the curve on high definition, and is putting the company's tech to work in its L.A. Live studio. Big Bird, extreme sports and repeat criminal offenders? Our HDTVs say bring it on.

Read - Sesame Street
Read - XDCAM technology, Survivor & Cops
Read - ESPN L.A. Live studio

That's right, one of the biggest shows still stuck in 480i is making the switch when it begins shooting this summer, as announced by Sony and CBS at NAB2008. Coming into its 17th season (to air in early 2009), it's the first CBS reality show to make the HD jump, via Sony's XDCAM production system. Executive producer Mark Burnett is calling it a "new era" for the show, we're calling it "about time". It's just a bit embarrassing that the Miss USA pageant made the jump first, but we won't complain about more HD footage from the beautiful locales Survivor tends to visit. No word on how much that extra resolution will cost CBS, but with more people buying HDTVs everyday we don't see how they could afford not to.

With nearly every scripted primetime show on television airing in HD nowadays, it's downright baffling that hits such as Survivor and The Amazing Race are still showing up in pixelated standard-definition. There's no doubt these shows are raking in millions from advertisers, but producers are still refusing to make the HD leap. Reportedly, Mark Burnett (executive producer of Survivor) was quoted as saying that "HD would be a nice addition to [the show], but [it] already has a high visual quality." We've also heard a battery of excuses surrounding the risk of expensive HD cameras being damaged in the wild, but it's easy to see the real reason behind the holdout is dollars and cents. Until viewers start turning their eyes to alternatives that are in high-definition, these giants are apt to keep on cranking out new seasons with the least total upfront cost. Needless to say, it's been a hot minute since anyone 'round these parts have tuned into any reality show not broadcast in 720p / 1080i, but we're definitely hoping to revert our attention back whenever the bigwigs in charge get with the program.

[Thanks, Will P.]