TVSquad

Ron Livingston, who is probably best-known for his role as the lovable slacker, Peter Gibbons, in the cult classic, Office Space, is no stranger to television. He played the rakish captain Lewis Nixon on HBO's seminal miniseries, Band of Brothers, and will go down in Pop Culture history as Berger, the douche who broke up with Carrie via Post-It note on Sex and the City.

This summer, Livingston is starring in the new ABC drama, Defying Gravity, with a special two-hour premiere on Sunday, August 2, at 9:00. Described, to the dismay of many, as "Grey's Anatomy in Space," Gravity follows a group of astronauts on a planetary mission 40 years from now. While everybody's sleeping with their coworkers, they aren't quite as angst-ridden about it as their Grey's counterparts. These astronauts cut through all the BS and get down to the business of doing it in zero gravity, as any rational person would.

Recently, I was able to chat with Ron Livingston about Defying Gravity. We talk about some of the more mysterious elements of the show, how he prepared for the role, and why they're wearing t-shirts in the future, instead of Mylar jumpsuits.

(There aren't any major spoilers, but we do discuss the pilot, so keep that in mind).

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Wow, this is quite a week for TV fans of all types. You can get the complete series sets for The Sopranos and I Dream of Jeannie, and anniversary sets for such TV classics as The Cosby Show and The Long Ranger. I even see a season 2 set for Mister Peepers! I didn't even know there was a season 1 set already released, so I'll have to look into that.

The Studio One anthology is a real gem, and I'll have a review of it later this week.

• 7th Heaven - Season 7
• Band of Brothers - Miniseries (Blu-Ray)
• Chuck - Season 1 (Blu-Ray)
• The Cosby Show - 25th Anniversary
• Father Knows Best - Season 2
• Firefly - Complete Series (Blu-Ray)
• I Dream of Jeannie - Complete Series
• Little House on the Prairie - Complete Series
• The Lone Ranger - 75th Anniversary
• M Squad - Complete Series

One thing you have to say about the powers that be at Desperate Housewives, they're really great with casting. Great looking guys, beautiful women, quirky character actors; we've seen them all on Wisteria Lane and usually they leave a lasting impression.

The latest name to check in to Desperate Housewives is Neal McDonough. He'll be appearing in the new season and Hollywood Reporter is wondering how he'd do with Nicolette Sheridan's character, Edie Britt. Is that wondering or playing matchmaker? How do we know that Marc Cherry isn't setting him up as a mystery man from Bree's past? Cherry is nothing if not inventive, so good luck trying to anticipate his plotlines!

Described as a kind of companion piece to their 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's new HBO series, The Pacific, will begin filming this summer.

The Pacific focuses on three marines stationed in the Pacific: Robert Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge. The miniseries is based on the books With the Old Breed and Helmet for My Pillow, written by Sledge and Leckie, respectively. Hugh Ambrose, the brother of the late Band of Brothers author Stephen E. Ambrose, is also serving as a consultant on the new miniseries, and, along with Hanks and Spielberg, interviewed the men on which this new miniseries, a fictionalized account of their time as soldiers, is based.

He got down on one knee and recited Shakespeare to her.

She said yes.

Former Party of Five actress Neve Campbell is engaged to British actor John Light, according to People magazine. Light starred in the Showtime film The Lion in Winter and in the HBO series Band of Brothers. Campbell was previously married to Canadian actor Jeff Colt, they divorced in 1997 after 2 1/2 years of marriage.

Scott Grimes is actually one of the few famous people I can say I knew somewhat well at one time. Back sometime around 5th grade or so, Scott was in my class in a small grammar school in Dracut, Massachusetts. I remember his first forays into the acting world, as he sang and performed well beyond a young kid's talents in school plays, then public television talent shows and eventually commercials. I remember at one point, he'd gotten a gig with a popular (at the time) toy car company, and how jealous we were that they gave him a bunch of the cars for doing the commercial. Times sure have changed for Mr. Grimes since those days.