TV Squad

Looking over the cast lists of TV shows airing this coming season, you'll find a lot of familiar names that have been lying low of late.

Some are returning just before becoming a "whatever happened to ..."; others seem to be virtually emerging from witness protection. And we're not talking 'I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here,' either. These comeback stories are lined up with some of the hottest projects headed our way.

Matt LeBlanc
The 'Friends' spinoff 'Joey' was primetime's highest profile flop of the '00s (OK, maybe it was 'The XFL'). Now we find LeBlanc thousands of miles away from Hollywood, but that might be a very good thing.

Here's tonight's lineup of new shows and events (all times Eastern). Check your local TV listings for additional information.

* = Series/Season Premiere
** = Series/Season Finale

I haven't suggested catching up on your DVR shows in awhile. However, time to bring that idea back for this evening.

8:00 to 9:00
ABC: 'Saturday Night College Football'* -- LSU vs. North Carolina
Style: 'How Do I Look?'
TLC: 'Dateline: Real Life Mysteries'

9:00 to 10:00
FOX: 'America's Most Wanted'
CNBC: 'The Suze Orman Show'
Discovery: 'Soul Survivor'
HGTV: 'Antonio Treatment' -- 9:30 start
NatGeo: 'America's Wild Spaces'
Style: 'Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?'
TLC: 'Dateline: Real Life Mysteries'
We: 'The Cupcake Girls'

10:00 to 11:00
CNBC: 'Til Debt Do Us Part' -- Two episodes
Discovery: 'Surviving Death'
FOX News: 'Geraldo: Celebrating 40 Years'
MSNBC: 'Lockup Special Investigation'
Style: 'The Dish'
TLC: 'Dateline: Real Life Mysteries'

Welcome to the Soap Round-Up, our weekly recap of all the soap action this past week. Each week, we sum up all the best stories from each and every soap, from 'All My Children' to 'The Young and the Restless.'

If you don't want to know what aired already, consider this a SPOILER ALERT. ... Oh, one last thing, please comment and join the conversation.

For instance, did you watch 'As the World Turns' and how they handled Nancy Hughes' death? It was incredibly emotional, especially the classic clips from the 1950's and beyond. Helen Wagner was truly a soap legend. What did you think of how her death was portrayed on the soap?

Fifteen years ago, the world was introduced to a television treasure: 'Xena: Warrior Princess.' Yes, 'Xena' is a treasure, because despite what some people may think, despite its over-the-top cheesecake factor and despite its blatant disregard for history, it was a gem of a TV show. Plus, it introduced us to Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor.

'Xena' was a trailblazer. 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' 'Alias' and even newer shows such as 'Covert Affairs' and the new 'Nikita' remake owe a certain something to the beloved Warrior Princess. The series helped reshape the leading lady on TV for good, and for that reason alone, we as an audience should be eternally grateful.

Kara DioGuardi is departing 'American Idol.'

After months of speculation of whether or not the 'Idol' judge would return for a third season, Fox issued press release late Friday stating DioGuardi is leaving.

"I feel like now is the best time to leave 'Idol,''' said DioGuardi in the release. "I am very proud to have been associated with 'American Idol -- it has truly been an amazing experience.''

DioGuardi's work on 'Idol' was praised by Fox executives and 'Idol' producers alike in the release.

"Kara was a great addition to our 'Idol' family," said Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company, in the release. "I've been fortunate to get to know her well, and have always been amazed by her eye for talent and her commitment to developing and mentoring artists. She will be missed, and we wish her continued success."

Steven Seagal is back on the job! According to the Live Feed, A&E will air eight episodes of 'Steven Seagal: Lawman' that were previously shot starting Oct. 6 at 10PM.

In April, the martial arts star was accused of sexual harassment and production was stalled and he was suspended from the force. The charges were dropped in July. There's no word on whether A&E will produce more episodes of the series.

In other TV news ...

• TV producers McG ('Chuck,' 'Nikita') and Paul Scheuring ('Prison Break') are developing a private investigator series for ABC. The P.I. learned everything he knows from his childhood shows like 'Magnum PI' and 'Simon & Simon'

• Nielsen is predicting that 40 percent of new TV homes will be Hispanic. According to the data measurement company it's a 3 percent increase compared to last season. [Live Feed]

• 'Top Gear' season 15 will premiere on BBC America on Sept. 27. Look for Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz to guest. [BBC America]

Fans of 'Cougar Town' haven't seen much of the family of Courteney Cox's character of Jules Cobb, outside of her son Travis and always-there ex-husband Bobby. But that will change during the show's second season, according to creator Bill Lawrence... and fans of 'Scrubs' will see a familiar face in the role.

"I hired Ken Jenkins this morning to play Courteney's father," Lawrence told me earlier today. "Because I only work with the same 20 actors, Joel, you know that."

Jenkins played crusty hospital administrator Dr. Bob Kelso on 'Scrubs' for nine seasons, the last two of which showed Kelso having to deal with a forced retirement. Lawrence hopes that Jenkins will stick around the ensemble for a while.

"To me what was fun was casting somebody that hopefully will be in the world too and poke his head around. He's such a great actor... the guy's funny as sin."

Talk about black comedy: There is a television show currently airing in Iraq that pranks celebrities by planting bombs in their cars, then films them via hidden cameras as they are stopped at a security checkpoint and accused of terrorism.

We're not kidding. This show actually exists. They wrote about it in The New York Times.

Maybe this happened to you: You're watching 'Mad Men,' and zipping past the commercials on your DVR. All the sudden, it looks like the show has started up again. Except, this isn't the offices of Sterling Cooper Draper Price, and these well-coiffed gentlemen are not ones that you have seen before. In fact, you're not watching 'Mad Men' at all -- you're watching a Dove ad.

Or maybe it's a Breyers ad. Or Suave, or one of half a dozen Unilever-owned products. Unilever, a multi-national corporation, owns over 400 brands. For this season of 'Mad Men,' they have chosen six to feature in minute-long retro vignettes. These vignettes take place in fictional ad agency, Smith Winter Mitchell, a slightly less-drunk version of Sterling Cooper Draper Price.

Recently, TV Squad spoke with Stacie Bright, the communications marketing manager for Unilever, about how these vignettes came about, and what we can expect to see during future episodes.

Based on the news story earlier this week that Kelsey Grammer is seeking advice about doing a 'Frasier' redux, a sequel to the hit NBC sitcom which earned the actor four Emmy awards as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy, it seems like there are some other -- perhaps better -- suggestions for what Kelsey should do next if he comes back to television.

Here, then, are five prime time ideas that could bring luster back to Grammer's career after the disappointing 'Back to You' and the truly dismal, 'Hank.'

1. Take a Tip from the 'Modern Family' Model

Instead of looking for a star sitcom, Kelsey needs to become part of an ensemble cast. We know he's a star, but he doesn't have to be the star of whatever he does next. If he can, he should learn from his co-horts on 'Modern Family,' the producers and writers who did 'Frasier' with him, that right now big casts are in.

Known for his, um, hard-hitting interviews, Larry King got a taste of his own medicine when bulldog journalist Ryan Seacrest turned the interrogation lights around. The retiring CNN veteran fielded tough questions on 'Dancing With The Stars' and possibly taking over for Dr. Laura on Seacrest's radio show Thursday.

"I just think it's embarrassing," King said of the possibility of appearing on 'DWTS.' "I'm not a dancer but my wife I think ... I'm telling them now ask her."

As for taking over Dr. Laura's gig: "This advice thing, I couldn't," he said, then joked about what a potential show of his would be like. "People call in with problems, I help them. Because I've had every known problem!"

Finally, Seacrest put King to the ultimate test: Could he finish the lyrics to "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga, a song we hear is popular with the kids these days? Watch the video on the next page for the surprising answer. Or don't, if you don't want to have nightmares for weeks.

He may have a tough time landing a new job -- we'll assume future employment at CBS is a long shot -- but Robert "Joe" Halderman, the former '48 Hours' CBS producer who tried to blackmail David Letterman, has been freed from the hoosegow.

Halderman, 52, had been sentenced to serve six months at Rikers Island jail in New York after admitting to trying to soak 'The Late Show' host for $2 million to keep Letterman's affairs with his staffers a secret. But after serving four months, Halderman was given time off for good behavior and released on Thursday, and will now begin completing 1,000 hours of community service.

And try to get a new job, obviously.

Continuing its quest to populate its programming with more original shows, IFC has added two new series to its fall lineup. The first, a 15-minute commercial-free pop culture roundup called 'The Grid,' premieres on Sept. 9 at 7:45PM, and the second, a musical documentary show featuring artists such as Snoop Dogg and La Roux called '360 Sessions,' premieres on Sept. 7 at 9PM, according to The Wrap.

'The Grid' will be a fast-paced "mashup" of movie, music and video game recommendations, The Wrap reports. The channel chose a 15-minute format to make it easier for viewers to process. "You're getting lots of info, but you don't want to overload the audience with so much info that they're turned off," Debbie DeMontreux, senior vice president of original programming at IFC, said.

While Hoda Kotb introduces a segment on adult toys, Kathie Lee Gifford blurts out that she wouldn't know one "if it slapped me in the face," drawing giggles from her co-host and show staffers on 'Today' (weekdays, 7AM ET on NBC).

I'm still watching 'True Blood,' and I'll grimly hang on until the Sept. 12 season finale of the HBO show, but what happened to this once-fun drama? What used to be a romp has turned into a forced march.

'True Blood' is supposed to be our slightly loony summer escape; if the show has a theme, it's this: "Crazy stuff happens in the woods around Bon Temps!" But this season, the show has often been short on the things that made it so addictive in the past.

There have been a few bright spots: Denis O'Hare as Vampire King Russell has been a delight, some of the werewolf moments were memorable, scenes involving Eric are usually good and Lafayette and Jesus' courtship has had its share of sweet moments. But much of the show has been as messy as the remains of a recently staked vamp, and nothing in season 3 has even begun to approach the pathos and impact of season 2's Godric arc.