TVSquad

From March 14th to March 27th, The Paley Center for Media is presenting the twentieth-fifth annual William S. Paley Television Festival. The Paley Center, formerly the Museum of Television and Radio, says that the festival celebrates "television's rich and diverse programming and the creative process behind the medium." This year the festival included Chuck, Friday Night Lights, Pushing Daisies, Gossip Girl, and The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reunion.

Last night, I attended the Dirty Sexy Money panel. For what happened during the panel discussion, read on past the jump...

... Six welcome returns.

Every fall season I get stoked about all the new shows, with cool new premises ("A guy travels through time trying to make right what once went wrong!"-- Journeyman not Quantum Leap), and all the big changes in store for existing shows. But it's equally exciting to see which beloved actors will be returning to television. Brad Garrett coming back to television in 'Til Death last year? Cool! Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer both coming back to television ... together? That's gotta be awesome, right? Jerry O'Connell on Carpoolers ... well ... ? I like the guy, but I'm not scheduling a 'Welcome Back' shindig for him.

Half the fun of a new television season is the return of great actors and actresses to the small screen. And while I could have easily done 10 or even 20 of these, I've narrowed it down to the six talents who were most welcome back in my house on a weekly basis this past year. I've even been so bold as to rank them. Feel free to agree, disagree and present your own lists in the comments.

(S01E10) The Darlings certainly know how to prepare for the holidays, don't they? Not only did they have a performance of "The Nutcracker" in their living room, but they found time to battle Simon Elder. Every week it seems like another Darling is involved in the plot against Simon--I can't wait for Juliet and Jeremy to join the fray. The twins can be excused, however, since they were busy with their gorgeous significant others.

(S01E09) This week's Dirty Sexy Money featured a blast from the past: Dutch George. No, he didn't come back from the dead, but we did get to see what he was up to six months ago. In the present day, Brian had to face the music after his bribery attempt, Juliet returned, and Karen went on a big date. Oh, and a huge Darling secret was revealed! This show keeps getting better and better!

(S01E08) Last night's Dirty Sexy Money sent us off to our Thanksgiving celebrations with a lot to think about. We learned a little bit about Simon's beef with the Darlings, although it was hard to completely believe either side of the story. Letitia and Karen's plan to sabotage Nick's marriage entered phase one, and Patrick's marriage took an unusual turn. Meanwhile, Jeremy pretended to be poor and Brian pretended to be a caring father. The results of their efforts were varied.

There's so much on television for which to be thankful: the returning favorites, the new obsessions, the comedic, and the dramatic. Fresh faces work with old pros to bring us shows ranging from artistic masterpieces to guilty pleasures. On a basic level, I'm thankful that I had some difficulty choosing only five things on TV to praise. Specifically, the five things that I chose have given me hours of thought-provoking, laughter-inducing entertainment.

Another brilliant season of Ugly Betty: There's nothing worse than watching your favorite new show lose its touch in the second season. Like all Ugly Betty fans, I'm thankful that the sweetest comedy on television has avoided the sophomore slump. The best elements from the first season--clever one-liners, heartwarming moments, and top-notch performances from the ensemble cast--have remained intact.

(S01E07) This week, Dirty Sexy Money really proved its worth in the primetime soap category. No one has made a melodramatic declaration since the pilot, so I was happy to hear Tripp's vow to destroy Simon. Only a scheming billionaire can talk about destroying someone with any credibility, and Tripp pulled the scene off nicely. He also made for an amusing drunk.

(S01E06) No, red vests aren't the newest fashion trend; Jeremy actually became a valet on this week's Dirty Sexy Money. While Jeremy was learning the complexities of parking cars, the rest of the Darlings were dealing with some serious drama. Dutch's death is officially a murder, and two of the most likely suspects, Tripp Darling and Simon Elder, faced off in an epic poker game.

(S01E05) Is there such a thing as too much money? That was the question under debate on this week's Dirty Sexy Money. Believe it or not, Nick and the twins had similar thoughts in this episode. Each of them had to decide how to handle the Darling fortune, and each took a different approach after three eye-opening evenings.

(S01E04) At last, a Blair Underwood sighting! That mysterious "techno-philanthropist," Simon Elder, finally made a flesh and blood appearance on Dirty Sexy Money. Simon didn't do or say very much, but his limo's license plate put him right at the center of the Darling drama. This week's episode also had plenty of fun, soapy moments. I'm glad that the show hasn't shifted to either a straight-up drama or soapy comedy since the pilot--at the moment, both elements are being balanced well.

(S01E03) It turns out that the episode title didn't just refer to Paolo Vova, one of the Darlings' many bankers. It is also a sexual position, demonstrated by one of the Darling children in a raunchy sex tape. At first I thought that there would be a lot of suspense surrounding the identity of the Darling on the tape, but it ended up taking on comedic elements. I loved the interviews between Nick and the Darling children after Patrick was ruled out. You can learn a lot about the Darlings in a brief encounter, and Nick certainly did. Jeremy "had" a sex tape featuring Buddy Ebsen, Juliet is a "real, total virgin" (the first major difference between her and Paris Hilton), and Karen still remembers that mixed tape that Nick made for her. There wasn't a huge payoff at the end of the tape plot, but it did bring Nick closer to the mysterious Simon Elder.

This week on Dirty Sexy Money, Nick George continued his search to find out who murdered his father, Dutch. The prime suspect as of the season premiere was Tripp Darling, the cuckolded rich husband of Letitia Darling and Dutch's employer. Letitia hinted that Nick might find some clues if he looked in Tripp's diary.

After a lot of pausing and playing on my DVR player (and a little questioning the purpose of my life or lack thereof), I have a transcription of the diary entry we saw Tripp writing during this past week's episode. Click below to see it.

(S01E01) After months of creative promotion, Dirty Sexy Money has finally arrived! While it has been listed as a drama, the show's premiere featured many hilarious moments. The Darlings actually remind me of the Bluth family from Arrested Development. Both families are wealthy and full of self-involved people who say the most outrageous things. "Well, you're poor!" has officially become my new comeback. Let's not waste any more time, though. Meet the Darlings:

We TV Critics are dead on our feet now that we're in the last two days of a near-three week press tour at the Beverly Hilton, but that hasn't stopped us from getting dish from actors and producers here to hawk their fall ABC series.

On stage to promote Cashmere Mafia (a series about four women living life in New York City) creator Darren Star was asked about his other program about four women that call the Big Apple home. Star says: "There's a [film] script. It's in the form of pre-production."

As Joel reported yesterday, ABC has canceled the Presidential drama Commander-In-Chief, saying it might come back as a two hour movie. But now Zap2it.com is reporting that not only will the two hour movie wrap up the storyline, but it could actually revive the series if it gets good enough ratings and the network thinks the show could succeed in a different form.

Chances of a TV movie? Excellent. Chances of the show coming back as a regular series? I'd say slightly less than zero.