Our sister site, TV Squad (where I occasionally write long-winded looks back at Star Trek: The Next Generation) revealed earlier today that NBC has announced a new late night poker program, called Poker After Dark (anyone remember Playboy After Dark? It was on before I was old enough to see it, but I always figured it must have been filled with the naked ladies my fellow middle schoolers talked about all the time.)

The show will feature a group of top-name pros, who will compete for a $120,000 top prize. Names announced include Daniel Negreanu, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman, Gus Hansen, Erick Lindgren, Chris Ferguson, Doyle Brunson, and Phil Ivey. NBC must have come up with a release form that's more player-friendly than the WPT's, because Howard and Jesus are involved in this show, so that's a positive step for televised poker, especially for viewers who miss seeing those guys on TV.

The show will be hosted by Shana Hiatt, formerly of the World Poker Tour, which initially tried to prevent her from taking the job, and will air every night of the week at 2:05am on the coasts. The show has the potential to be really cool, because they will spend an entire week on one table, as it plays down to one winner. On Saturday night, that winner will join Shana for what NBC lamely calls "the director's cut," which will be an hour-long program after SNL, where the winning player will look back on the week's programming, and discuss their winning strategies.

The Saturday night show is where I think this show could truly break out and shine. I guess the audience for poker shows breaks down into two categories: the casual viewer who wants to be entertained, and the poker player who hopes to learn something by watching the masters at work.

Congratulations to Shana for successfully booking this job, a fart in the general direction of the World Poker Tour for trying to prevent her from doing it, and a thank you to NBC for bringing late night poker -- a longtime staple of UK programming -- to the USA.