TVSquad

Last night I went to a taping of the second installment of Idol Gives Back at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. This year the charities that benefited were Malaria No More, Children's Defense Fund, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, Children's Health Fund, and Save the Children.

Keep in mind, there will be spoilers. It's not like I found out the secret to Lost, but I figured I would still give fair warning. The show will air on Wednesday April 9th at 7:30 pm ET / PT. For what happened at the taping and in the press room, read on after the jump. And check back for Jason's review Wednesday night.

(S32E13) I'm not very familiar with Forest Whitaker's work, but I'm well aware of his new-found status as one of the biggest actors in Hollywood. He recently won multiple awards for his performance in The Last King of Scotland, so I knew that he could act. Whitaker didn't do such a spectacular job on SNL. He was good, yeah, but not spectacular.

However, the writing this week was really something else. It was a lot weirder than usual, I thought. For the most part, I liked it. I see that they've cut down on a lot of the more formulaic recurring character sketches, which is a massive improvement. Plus, none of the those recurring sketches are accompanied shitty little theme songs! Remember the days of "Debbie Downer" and "Carol"? Thank goodness those are over.

(S13E14) Lots of cliffhangers to resolve this week. Let's get right to it!

Luka, Abby and Curtis Ames -- Remember Forrest Whitaker in Good Morning, Vietnam? Gosh, he was so sweet and innocent as Private Garlick. Just think back to that, because Curtis Ames is in no way sweet in his final appearance on ER (and I'm not going to tell you why it's his last episode). In fact, I would have to say he is down right crazed, even more so than Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh, the role Whittaker plays on The Shield.

(S13E07) Hey there! Before I begin I want to thank Jen Creer for filling in for me last week while I was out. You da, er, woman, Jen! And now, let's begin.

I'm not a big fan of the 'one patient' episodes that ER gives us a few times each season. Personally, I love the breakneck pace of seeing a number of patients that the show has been famous for. But, this time it was different. Most likely because it was the doctor who was treating the patient . . . Archie Morris. After wishing for a focus piece on our selfish, red-headed doctor after seeing him at work in the season premiere we finally got one this week.

(S13E05) ER tends to get some pretty big names as guest stars. Sally Field has a recurring role as Abby Lockhart's mother, and Danny Glover has appeared has Greg Pratt's Dad. Alan Alda appeared in several episodes, and so did Bob Newhart. Last season, James Woods appeared as a mentor of Abby who was stricken with Lou Gherig's disease.

This season is no different. In this week's episode (and for five more afterwards) we are treated to a guest appearance from Forrest Whitaker, fresh off of his role in The Shield (and as Edie Amin in The Last King of Scotland, at a theater near you). However, he's not one of those warm and cuddly guest stars you normally see. No, he's pissed at County General in general, and with Doctor Luka Kovac in particular, and he wants his day in court to prove how poorly he was treated.

His attorney for this case? Chandler Bing's on-again, off-again girlfriend Janice. No, seriously! Read on, if you dare.

According to this morning's Ausiello Report, "reliable sources" have confirmed that a sixth season of The Shield has been green-lit. It seems that show creator Shawn Ryan is confident that there's still plenty more story to tell. Of course, at this rate, a sixth season probably won't be seen until sometime in late 2007 or 2008.

The last ten episodes of season five are currently being filmed and won't air until early 2007, which gives FX time to finish out the third season of Rescue Me and the fourth season of Nip/Tuck. No matter how you look at this though, it's good news. The Shield is easily one of the top five shows on TV (in my book anyway) and it's good to know that it'll be around for a little while longer.

Forest Whitaker can sure play one nasty bastard. What an F-ing bastard Kavannaugh is, telling Corinne about the affair Vic had. He's definitely turning up the heat this time, pulling no punches on anyone he can get his hands on. Can you just imagine the beating Vic would give Kavannaugh has he heard what he put Corinne through? I also wonder if/when Dutch will jump in to help IAD out.