TVSquad

(S03E06)

The normal audition process came to an end this week as aspiring entertainers performed in front of the three judges and the crowd. The last auditions episode will air next week when people who entered the competition via MySpace will face off the dreaded Xs.

Sadly, I was not able to watch this week's episode of America's Got Talent because of a power outage (and because I'm from Canada, I can't watch the episode on the network's website). Therefore, this week's review will not be as detailed as usual. Thanks to the recaps at NBC.com, I got an idea of what happened. So here we go with my two cents about this week's episode.

I haven't even gone to get my badge yet, where I hear from Cinematical that there's lots of goodies to have, and lookee here -- Sci Fi stuff! The fine folks over at Sci Fi Channel were nice enough to drop off a ginormous purple bag full of loot, like the Raider model above; t-shirts, breath mints, temporary tattoos ...

Check the gallery for more, and check out what they're giving to registrants over at Cinematical.

Someone will be leaving the Big Brother 10 house tonight. I think we may all have a good idea who it will be. But what's been going on in the house? Have the tides changed?

One way to find out these things is to buy a subscription to the 24/7 live feeds. Or, much easier for you ... read the daily live feeds reports right here on TV Squad!

Read on past the jump for possible show spoilers.

Here's who's on the late night shows tonight.

• Charlie Rose: Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg; a discussion of the iPhone (must have been postponed the other night); and author Ken Pollack
• The Daily Show: T.J. English
• The Colbert Report: Nas
• The Late Show with David Letterman: John C. Reilly, Jane Mayer, and Grizzly Bear
• Jay Leno: Kevin Costner, D.L. Hughley, and The Time
• Jimmy Kimmel Live: Paul Giamatti, Mitch Rouse, and Los Lonely Boys
• Tavis Smiley: Henry Winkler and Henry Zoglin (repeat)
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Liam Neeson, BJ Novak, and The Duke Spirit (repeat)
• The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Val Kilmer
• Last Call with Carson Daly: Eddie Izzard and Rick Ross (repeat)

How awesome is this? Barney's official list of how men should interact with each other in pursuit of conquest of the opposite sex,The Bro Code, is going to be published for real. Barney Stinson, the most awesome womanizer on How I Met Your Mother, has referred to this compendium on the show and now The Bro Code will be for sale in bookstores in late November, just in time for Christmas sales.

Neil Patrick Harris, the embodiment of Barney, is not writing the book. That'll be done by co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas with Matthew Kuhn, the staff writer who is responsible for Barney's blog. Barney, as fans of the show know, is nothing if not prolific and legen -- wait for it -- dary when it comes to knowing the rules, the rights and wrongs, in bagging the babes.

• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• FOX has a new, two hour So You Think You Can Dance at 8.
• PBS has a new Click & Clack's As The Wrench Turns at 8, then a new Nova scienceNOW.
• Versus has more coverage of the Tour de France at 8.
• At 9, NBC has a new Baby Borrowers.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters International at 9, followed by two new episodes of Scare Tactics.
• A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter at 9, then a new Criss Angel Mindfreak.
• History Channel has a new MonsterQuest at 9.
• Also at 9: Bravo has a new Project Runway, followed by a new Shear Genius.
• At 9:30, HGTV has a new Design on a Dime.
• At 10, ABC has a new Primetime: Crime.
• TruTV has a new Black Gold at 10.
• TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Mind of Mencia.

Check your local TV listings for more.

This originally was going to be yet another post on how George Clooney might come back to ER one last time in the final season of the show (executive producer John Wells says he hasn't asked him yet). But we've been back and forth on that so many times that we really don't know what's going to happen. However, TV critic Terry Morrow did ask Wells if any characters on the show would be killed off in the show's last season, and Wells says that yes, at least one person on ER will die before the show ends. He didn't, however, say whether it's a current cast member or if it's someone new that will be introduced this season.

So assuming that it's a character we already know, who do you think it should be? After the jump, a poll. Should a helicopter fall on Morris? How about Neela getting shot by a patient? Maybe an explosion in the emergency room can kill everyone except Frank? Are they bringing Noah Wyle back just to kill him with a Sno-Cone machine?

Now that we've all had a chance to take in and digest the saga of Dr. Horrible, one of the big questions is "Did it work?" It certainly seemed to work for the viewers. In our poll, an astounding 74.2% of you gave it 5 out of 5. Another 22.5% went with 4 out of 5. The bigger question though, is did it work out for everybody on the money end? And I ask that rather selfishly. Sure, I'd like to see Whedon, Fillion, Harris, Day, and the whole crew make a few bucks. But really, I'm more concerned with getting to see more of the story. If the numbers worked out for all involved, the chances of that happening increase greatly.

Jeffrey McManus has made some educated guesses at just how the numbers shake out for those involved. The short version of McManus' analysis: At a million iTunes downloads he has the principle actors bringing in something in the neighborhood of $100,000 with Whedon coming in at around $4 million $2.6 million. I'm not sure how feasible one million iTunes downloads on iTunes is, but I do know that at the moment Dr. Horrible counts for 3 of the top 4 episodes and the top season on the U.S. lists. Add in the international markets and it's certainly not an outlandish goal.

Of course, every week is a great week to watch Turner Classic Movies. If you're not a regular viewer of TCM, you're really missing out.

But looking over their schedule for tomorrow, I noticed several movies are playing that you really must see, especially if you haven't seen them before. In fact, two of the movies are ones I haven't seen before myself, though I've always wanted to. Many of these movies aren't shown on TV that often, and when they are it's only on TCM, another reason to watch the channel regularly.

"Total (Lack of) Recall": Either the House Judiciary Committee loves talking about torture or they haven't been getting any answers during their hearings. Last week, they managed to pull John Ashcroft in for questioning, but they might as well have stayed at home. I can't look at John Ashcroft without thinking of "Let the eagle sooooar", so I'm glad that Jon Stewart brought it up. No mention of Robert Wexler's fantastic "I enjoy cocaine because it's a fun thing to do" from The Colbert Report, but we know everyone was thinking it.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

(S01E03 & S01E21) We almost take it for granted these days that a DVD set of our favorite shows will be forthcoming. We might not always agree with the scheduling, but it's a pretty safe bet that most everything we watch in the coming season will be arriving on DVD eventually. It wasn't like that back in the wilds of 1993. But things were about to change.

I'm not sure if The X-Files was the first show to embrace the home video market, but it was the first one that I took notice of. And it was the first one that I actually bought ... on VHS. That gorgeous three tape box set in the picture is one of three that I have, and each of them carry a whopping six episodes on their oh so delicate tapes. For X-Files week, I dusted this one off and fed my VCR the tape containing "Squeeze" and "Tooms," two of my favorite early episodes.

Jesse Spano is coming back to TV. After guest appearances on CSI: Miami and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Elizabeth Berkley is ditching the procedurals and heading over to Showtime. The former Saved by the Bell star will be joining Jennifer Beals, her costar in the 2002 film Roger Dodger, on Showtime's The L-Word for a multi-episode arc.

Word is, Berkley's L-Word character has a history with Jennifer Beals' Bette. The two went to college together and Berkley was the straight girl who got away. Perhaps Bette will have better luck the second time around.

My only hope for this pairing is that they can somehow manage to fit a Flashdance: What a Feeling / I'm So Excited dance-off into the plot of the show, thus bringing together the high points of both of these women's careers and officially making this the best casting decision ever.

Welcome to Super Skank Wednesday. This is where I celebrate the awesomely skanky people on the following shows: I Love Money, Charm School, New York Goes to Hollywood, and The Surreal Life. Basically, I'll discuss the skankalicious shows that make VH1 the network it is today.

Today, we'll pay homage the star of I Love Money: Mr. Boston. Who knew this awkward guy from Bean Town would have hotties like Megan Hausermann saying "He's growing on me" and tough guys like White Boy wrapped around his finger.

Lifetime is going to honor Estelle Getty, who died yesterday at the age of 84, with a marathon of Golden Girls episodes.

The 10 episode marathon will start at noon this Friday with the pilot episode (the Sophia character looked a lot different in the first few episodes, if I remember correctly). The episodes have been picked because they focus on Sophia.

Fans will get a chance to vote on which episode ends the marathon, the episode they think shows Getty and Sophia the best. MyLifetime.com has narrowed down it down to five episodes: "It's A Miserable Life," "Sisters," "Old Friends," "My Brother, My Father," and "Old Boyfriends." And if you don't know the plots by the episode titles (you'd have to be a Golden Girls fanatic for that), the site gives you a quick synopsis of each one.

I don't know about you, but I'm suffering from serious 24 withdrawal. Like, to the point where I'm ready to start watching the entire series from the beginning again.

But maybe there's a little glimmer of light there. I'm not talking about the 24 movie this fall to tie us into next year -- although that certainly qualifies. I'm talking about the new series, Night and Day, from 24 co-creator Joel Surnow and Todd Robinson.

TNT has just given the green light to the series, a fast-paced, gritty drama about the life of an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Hmmm, sounds strangely familiar...