TVSquad

(S04E20) "Shirley, it was good that we oppose." - Carl Sack leaving himself wide open.

Shatner and Spader's celebratory dance upon learning they were accepted into the Coast Guard may have been the best acting I have seen out of the two of them all season.

When I read the synopsis of the season finale I really didn't know what to think. At first glance, of course, the idea of one city seceding from the United States seems ridiculous. However, this being Boston Legal I knew there had to be more to it.

Susan recently emailed us at TV Squad to ask: What happened to Tamyra Gray? Did she have any hits? I thought that she would do well. I remembered her being in a few shows on TV. Thanks, just curious. That would be one Idol, that I'd like to see come back to guest star and sing.

Well, Susan, funny you ask. It was just announced last week that Tamyra Gray will be hitting the Broadway stage once again. She is set to join the cast of Rent in the role of Mimi Marquez. Tamyra will be with the show from May 29 to November 25. Tamyra made her Broadway debut in November 2004 in the Bollywood-inspired musical, Bombay Dreams.

It's always terrible when someone dies, of course, but we're used to writing "at 75" or "at 83." Now twice in the past two weeks we've had to write up the obit of a celeb 20 or under (Daniel Smith was the first).

Pablo Santos, the star of the short-lived WB series Greetings From Tucson (which was actually pretty good) died in Mexico yesterday when the small plane he was flying in crashed on approach to the runway. The crash is being investigated.

Besides the WB sitcom, Santos had roles in Alias, The Shield, Law and Order: SVU, The Proud Family, Boston Public, and others. He had two movies this year, Gettin' Some Jail Time and the TV movie Walkout. (Santos is on the far right in the picture.)

The Daily Show's Ed Helms has signed on to join the cast of The Office! For ten episodes, Helms will play one of the Dunder-Mifflin employees. Before Steve Carell left TDS a few years ago, the two of them worked together as correspondents, I'm really looking forward to seeing them onscreen together once more. However, I hope this new role doesn't mean that Ed's going to leave TDS... I don't think I'm ready to let another oldie go.

Rashida Jones (Boston Public) has also signed on to play an employee and Chip Esten (Whose Line Is It Anyway?) will be returning as his Josh Porter character from the Valentine's Day episode.

Well, not the real Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager, because that would be just silly. I mean, do you know the financial costs of traveling back in time from the 24th century? They're astronomical! Plus, if she manipulates the time stream we could all be living under the iron thumb of . . . gulp . . . Canada!

No, I'm talking about Jeri Ryan, who appeared as Seven of Nine, and recently worked with David E. Kelley, creator of ABC's Boston Legal, on the FOX series Boston Public. Ryan will be appearing in the two-hour season finale of Boston Legal that will air on May 16th. She will appear as host of a fictional reality series who is charged with attempted murder after shooting at a member of the paparazzi that was stalking her.