TVSquad

While channel-surfing on my little office TV last week around 1 a.m., looking for something to keep me company, I stumbled across an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (star Richard Basehart, pictured), followed by Combat!.

"What is this channel that plays all these old shows I remember as a kid?" I asked the TV Gods.

"It's AmericanLife," they replied. "They feature classic family shows aimed at Baby Boomers -- shows like Remington Steele, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Lost in Space, and Welcome Back, Kotter."

Ok, the TV Gods didn't really say that. I looked it up on the AmericanLife Web site, not to be confused with Showtime's This American Life, the fab documentary series hosted by Ira Glass.

There's been a lot of flux on CSI, CBS's top rated, long-running, extremely popular forensics-procedural-crime drama (I think that covers all the categories, right?) At the end of last season, Jorja Fox decided not to come back to the show, and her role as Sara was written out in the first two episodes of the year. The producers left the door open for her to return -- they didn't kill her off -- but she's gone.

Tonight is the last of Gary Dourdan as Warrick. He's having trouble off-camera, a serious felony arrest earlier this month for drugs, so his leaving may have been a necessity even if he hadn't chosen to exit. Therefore, it's a good thing to be able to tell you that USA Today reports that Marg Helgenberger has inked a new contract with CSI for two more years. That, coupled with William Petersen's signing a new deal in April, means that CSI is in good shape for the foreseeable future. CBS should be doing the happy-dance.

We learned yesterday that ABC's Desperate Housewives will be back for season five next fall, in its same time-slot of Sunday at 9 p.m. I'm sure creator Marc Cherry has stocked up on Tums in the past few years, as the series waffled between must-see and mediocrity. Right now, it's somewhere in the middle, although I've made a point to watch every week, so that says something right there.

ET Online is breaking news tonight that Dana Delany will be returning to the series in the fall. Although no storyline has been as compelling as the murder intrigue that super-charged season one, the mystery surrounding Delany's Katherine Mayfair this season has been mildly interesting.

We know it has something to do with her daughter, Dylan (Lyndsy Fonseca) and ex-husband, Wayne (Gary Cole), who struck up a relationship with Dylan in recent weeks. I must admit, I'm curious enough to make sure the DVR records when the season finale rolls around.

Michael Ausiello reports that China Beach's Dana Delany is once again in talks to join Desperate Housewives. I say again because the actress was approached on three occasions to play Bree. Even though she didn't want to play Bree, Delany may be joining the character's family soon as the actress is in talks to play Bree's long-lost sister.

Spoilers after the jump!

As the White House staff shakeup continues a name has been mentioned as a replacement for outgoing Press Secretary Scott McClellan: FOX News Channel weekend anchor and political analyst Tony Snow.

Snow, who was previously a speech writer for the elder president Bush, is currently in negotiations with White House officials to take over the position. The New York Times is reporting that Snow is also waiting for a clean bill of health from his doctors (he had surgery for colon cancer in 2005) before he makes a final decision.

Snow is not the first personality to leave politics then jump back in again. Back in the early 1970's Fred Dalton Thompson was an active lawyer during the Watergate hearings. He then appeared in such television shows as Wiseguy, China Beach, and Roseanne and the movies Die Hard 2 and The Hunt For Red October before returning to politics as Senator of Tennessee from 1994 til 2003. He is currently playing Attorney General Arthur Branch on Law & Order.

[via the New York Times]