TVSquad

(M3) "I like a bar with a nice clean head." - Lou

I'm gonna have to agree with Lou on this one. Nothing is more disgusting than walking in to a bathroom at a bar and seeing water(?) all over the floors, toilet seats with yellow stains, no toilet paper, and sinks that don't work. Some people though, that won't bother them. After all, you are just going in to pee and leave. Unless you're Lou. And you've had 12 beers. And the "pains" kick in. And there's no toilet paper. And you use your sock. The most troubling thing to me about that? There's lot of people who would probably do what Lou did in the same situation. Ugh.

It's coming. The return of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. With the season three DVD set to be released on September 9th, FX has lined up season four to premiere on Thursday, September 18th. I've gotta say - between this, The Shield, and Sons of Anarchy, FX has one helluva fall schedule. No word on whether or not the first few weeks will be double episodes as they did the past few seasons, but I would imagine they will be.

To prep for the season, FX has been airing promos like crazy (I embedded a great one featuring "Day Man" at the end of this post), but if you haven't been poking around the It's Always Sunny... website, you probably missed this: they made a music video.

(M2) "Do you have a boner?" - Franco

Wow... if Tommy isn't drinking anymore, maybe he should start. Fantasizing about his estranged wife is one thing. Thinking about your deceased cousin's widow isn't much better. Getting it on in your dreams with both of them? Well... OK. But having a sex dream with The Probie (even if Mike isn't "The Probie" anymore... he still is) is just plain freaky.

It was announced today that former Deadwood star Timothy Olyphant has joined the season two cast of FX's Damages in a season-long arc. This marks Olyphant's first credited TV cast role since the HBO drama went off the air over two years ago.

Olyphant, who will star with returning cast Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, and Tate Donovan, marks the second addition to the FX drama in just over a week. William Hurt joined the show last Monday.

Olyphant's character will become involved in the life of Ellen Parsons (Byrne) as she deals with her fiancé David's murder and the FBI case being mounted against her boss, Patty Hewes (Close). Hurt will play a new client of Hewes.

Season two of Damages went in to production in New York City yesterday and the show returns to FX in early 2009, likely after The Shield's seventh and final season has concluded.

(M1) "Holy sh*t, you haven't had a coffee, a smoke, or a Twinkie in three days dude?!?" - Mike

Rescue Me is back... sort of. Since the full order fifth season (we're getting 22 episodes!) has been bumped until spring 2009 because of the writer's strike, Denis Leary and Peter Tolan decided to give us fans something to watch in the meantime: ten, five minute minisodes. Last time they did this, between seasons 2 and 3, we got one fifteen minute minisode and it was hilarious. All I'll say is this: it must be the wolf! Anyway, these short vignettes are what makes Rescue Me so great. More often than not, it's those goofy scenes in the firehouse (and not the ongoing plot) that make an episode memorable. Despite the fact that I'm bummed it'll be so long before we get new episodes, I don't see how a batch of these minisodes can be a bad thing.

Denis Leary and Peter Tolan are busy men. As the two executive producers behind FX's phenomenal drama Rescue Me, the two have had their plate full ever since the WGA strike ended. For those that haven't heard, Rescue Me was renewed for a network-length 22 episode season scheduled to air in spring 2009. I had the opportunity to sit in on a conference call with Leary and Tolan earlier today and both pointed out that this is an entirely different animal since they're used to producing 13 episode seasons. Leary was quick to make a sports analogy: they pretty much have been working on season five since last year's football season and they probably won't wrap until next year's basketball playoffs. He also made an alcohol analogy: it's like they're in TV rehab. Coming from the guy who plays Tommy Gavin, I'd say that's fairly appropriate.

File this one under "non-story of the day." TV Guide is reporting exclusively that yes - wait for it - Tatum O'Neal is still part of FX's acclaimed drama Rescue Me.

Was there ever any doubt that she wouldn't be?

Sure, her recent drug bust was a major headline a few weeks ago, but there was never a moment when I thought, "Man... I guess she won't be on Rescue Me anymore." Last I heard, her charge was only a misdemeanor. According to TVG, she's already filmed 2 episodes for the drama's fifth season, which doesn't return until 2009.

FX announced today that William Hurt has joined the season two cast of Damages. He'll play a new client of Glenn Close's Patty Hewes. No further description of his character was given, but the possibility of a professional and personal relationship with Hewes was hinted at.

This will mark the first time that Hurt has signed on to a TV series as a regular as well as the first time he and Close have worked together since The Big Chill. No word on whether or not Hurt's character will extend to the third season though. Damages got the double season renewal back in November.

And now we speculate. How exactly will Hurt's character tie into the overall story? Will he be connected with the FBI and help Ellen bring down Patty? Will he have ties to Frobisher? Could he be the father of Patty's deceased daughter Julia? So many questions, but don't get too excited. Even though the show goes back into production next week, it won't return to FX until early 2009.

I've gotta admit - at this point, FX could greenlight a show called Watch Me Eat Poop and I'd tune in. They've earned that much respect at this point. Fortunately, they're newest show has nothing to do with fecal cuisine (again, though - I'd watch!) and instead focuses on the seedy world of motorcycle clubs.

Sons of Anarchy, which premieres in September, looks like another must-see show if you ask me. However, other than some casting news (Scott Glenn out, Ron Perlman in) there's been very little about it. Seems like FX plans to keep it that way for now.

Rather than create a page dedicated to the show on the FX website, they went ahead and buried a short promo for it in The Shield's video section. Ever since I saw those Shield cast interviews, I've been checking back each week and that's when I saw the Sons of Anarchy promo. Video is after the jump. I believe the phrase "bad ass" is appropriate here.

Fans of drug-related jokes, unapologetic ignorance, and illiteracy rejoice! The season three DVD set of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will hit store shelves on Tuesday, September 9th according to TV Shows on DVD.

Unlike the massive wait we all had to endure before the double release for seasons one and two, this time it isn't so bad. Season three really advanced the show in my opinion, as it featured some of the series' best episodes to date and covered such diverse topics as dumpster babies, retards, and setting people on fire. Not to mention Charlie's superb Pacino as Serpico impersonation. Endless classic moments and infinite replay value.

Though, if you ask me, that's not the best news. There's still no air date yet for the upcoming 13-episode fourth season. Could this be an indication? Typically, DVD releases coincide with the return of new episodes. With The Shield returning on Tuesday, Sept. 2nd, FX would have a nice one-two punch airing It's Always Sunny later in the week. That would make sense too. If I recall, the last season held off its premiere until the fall in the hopes that viewership from the back-on-campus college crowd would help to bolster numbers.

• TCM has classic war/military movies all day and night.
• At 6am, USA has an NCIS marathon.
• At 8, A&E has a marathon of City Confidential episodes.
• History Channel has a MonsterQuest marathon at 8.
• Sci-Fi has a Star Trek: Enterprise marathon at 8.
• Also at 8: TV One has a Day Break marathon.
• At 9, BBC America has a Monty Python's Flying Circus marathon.
• FX has a That 70s Show marathon starting at 9.
• GSN has a Match Game marathon at 9.
• Spike has a CSI marathon starting at 9.
• At 10, TNT has a Law and Order marathon.
• At 11, G4 has a Cops marathon.
• Lifetime has a bunch of "sex" movies starting at 11.
• At noon, GSN will have a special GSN Live from Iraq, featuring ex-game show contestants who are stationed there.
• There's a Top Chef marathon on Bravo starting at 2:30.
• At 4, Discovery has a Deadliest Catch marathon.

(Thanks to Interesting Pile)

When I first heard that Morgan Spurlock was doing a series for FX, I was thrilled. I really enjoyed Super Size Me and I thought FX was the perfect place for a guy like him to do a show.

For those of you who haven't seen it. 30 Days uses the same basic premise of Super Size Me but takes it a giant step forward. Instead of adopting a bad habit for a month, like in the film, Spurlock and others actually live a completely different lifestyle. In past episodes, we saw people take human growth hormones, binge drink, work for minimum wage and much more all for thirty days straight.

Gallery: 30 Days

Remember this scene? It's from the season six finale of The Shield. Mackey is showing Aceveda all the dirt he's got on Cruz Pezuela and the Mexican mob. Seems like forever ago ... and it was. It's been almost a year and we're still waiting for a resolution. FX has been scant with news regarding the seventh season of its trademark show. Supposedly, it's returning in September so that its final thirteen episodes are not competing with the Olympics. It should be coming back sooner if you ask me. I don't really see too much audience intersection between fans of The Shield and fans of floor gymnastics routines.