"ABC, CBS and NBC scurried back to regular programming as fast as they could -- NBC following the president's appeal with quizmaster Howie Mandel asking, 'Deal, or no deal?' There was a trace of irony there," the WP's Tom Shales says.

He adds: "For the record, CBS was the last of the Big Three to sign off (at 9:28)." Here's the rest of his review...

> Also: "None of the major broadcast networks bothered to carry the Democratic response to the Bush speech..."