Someone with a good sense of humor must be running local affiliate Fox-2's programming department. With the Lions blacked out on local television for the first time since Ford Field opened six years ago, the station is filling two hours of airtime Sunday (1-3 p.m.) with the movie "Best Laid Plans" — the non-Lions story.

OK, so the movie has nothing to do with one of the NFL's two remaining winless teams, but it's a pun-ful choice in the middle of an 0-6 season.

About 5,000 tickets still remained as of Thursday's 1 p.m. deadline, meaning the Lions will play in front of their first (official, at least) non-sellout since the second-to-last game at the Pontiac Silverdome in 2001. That's a span of 51 straight regular-season home games — the last 50 at Ford Field.

"It sucks. It's not fun. It doesn't make you feel good about yourself," quarterback Dan Orlovsky said. "But I know this team won't get too caught up in it. It's a brutal reality that we're not doing enough right now to put fans in the seats."

The Lions toyed with blackouts several times last year and in their home-opener last month, when Gardner-White Furniture bought unsold seats to give away as part of in-store promotion.