TVSquad

There's no doubt a run on Dancing with the Stars is a boost to careers. Just consider Marie Osmond; was anybody knocking on her door for work before she fainted in between the waltzes and sambas? Well, according to Cybill Shepherd, the producers of Dancing with the Stars want her to take part in the competition. Whether they want her or she's saying they want her to get some press, Cybill goes on to say that she could consider being a contestant on the uber-popular reality show, but only if she can find the time to devote to rehearsing.

Cybill has been busy acting of late. She's going to appear on PSYCH in July when the show comes back with new episodes, playing Shawn's mother. There's also a feature called Barry Munday. Seemingly, she could make room in her work schedule for Dancing, and she claims she's really good at it and has fielded offers from them, "I love ballroom dancing. I've been offered Dancing with the Stars and I'd love to do it. I'm sure I could do it. It's just a really hard training period and I just haven't had time to devote to that."

The CSI/Two and a Half Men writers switch was a very clever promotion for CBS. Fortunately, the writers saw the opportunity to change places as more than just a publicity stunt. They really took the scripting seriously and came up with inventive episodes for each program. If this were a competition to see which team would deliver the better show, who would take on the task of writing winning TV in a genre not their own and succeed beyond expectations, the comedy scribes take the gold. Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn's CSI was pure genius, and if it were up to me, CSI should submit it for an Emmy.

But first there was Two and a Half Men. In an episode called "Fish in a Drawer" (and if somebody could explain what that title means, I'd be most appreciative), the story picked up after Evelyn married Teddy. In the teleplay by CSI regular writers Evan Dunsky and Sarah Goldfinger, Charlie and Courtney check out of the reception for a little romp in his room upstairs only to find Teddy's dead bod on the bed. Talk about spoiling the mood. Teddy wasn't only a corpse, he was a corpse with his pants pulled down around his ankles and lipstick stains on his hoo-ha. The cops were called in, a detective who was a dead ringer for Marg Helgenberger -- played by redhead Jamie Rose -- had the vaguely Bondian name of Jagov, Sloane Jagov. Naturally, Charlie had to make a move on her. He couldn't keep his eyes off her cleavage.

This sounds like good casting to me. Cybill Shepherd is joining Psych for a mini-arc as Shawn's mom. The actress, best known on TV from her hit series Moonlighting (remember, her and Bruce Willis?), has recently been on Showtime's The L Word. Cybill's not a great dramatic actress, but she is pretty funny and should fit in perfectly with the goofy, good-natured fun on Psych.

When Psych comes back to USA Network on July 18 with new shows, her episodes (at least two) will be broadcast. She's playing Madeleine, Henry's ex-wife and Shawn's mama. So far in the series, Maddie (like Maddie Hayes in Moonlighting perhaps?), has not been shown in the scenes depicting Shawn -- and Gus's -- childhood. Corbin Bernsen, who plays Henry, has worn a hairpiece for the retro scenes and goes bald for the present day scenes. We'll see whether Cybill's in both scenes or not...

According to the show, when Madeleine appears in Santa Barbara, she's coming from Europe and wants to visit her sonny boy. The visit, so we're told, dredges up some old memories. And since this is a crime/caper/mystery show, perhaps Maddie's bound to get involved in one of Shawn's cases.

Moonlighting actress Cybill Shepherd will be joining the cast of The L Word for an eleven episode story arc starting in early 2007. The actress will play the Executive Vice Chancellor of California University and the boss of Bette Porter (Jennifer Beals). Her character is a married woman with two grown kids, but she begins to question her sexuality. Yeah, I know, I probably could have guessed the "questioning her sexuality" part, too. She joins Marlee Matlin, who was added to the cast recently. Actress Javina Gavankar is also joining the Showtime series.