TVSquad

(S01E01) You might think that you're watching a variation on Law & Order when the first few minutes of The Good Wife commences. It's not just that Chris Noth is in the scene, looking every bit like Mike Logan. It's more that the scene is ripped from the headlines. Disgraced politician -- Elliot Spitzer, David Vitter, Jim McGreevey -- caught in a sex scandal. His innocent, good wife, standing beside him.

As Alicia Florrick, the wife of a Chicago prosecutor who was caught sucking the toes of prostitutes and forced to resign, Julianna Margulies masters the shell-shocked, distant gaze. Her eyes, in fact, fixate on a stray thread on his suit. But the fog lifts quickly and away from the podium, reality comes in the form of a smack in the face. She delivers the smack, and from that moment, you're on her side. Maybe it was a cheap trick, but it worked.

Generally speaking, CBS had a strong 2008, developing one bona fide hit drama -- The Mentalist -- even though shows like The Ex-List never found an audience or a critical plaudit. Ironically, I liked The Ex-List based on the screener I reviewed last summer, so go figure. Sometimes a preview can inform you about a show's potential and sometimes it's just the best it'll ever be.

CBS has shared previews for the new season and we've had a chance to take a look. There are star vehicles for Jenna Elfman, Alex O'Loughlin and Julianna Margulies, which would seem logical based on the success of Simon Baker as The Mentalist. CBS is counting on familiar, popular TV stars to win over audiences. Will the strategy work? It's probably too soon to tell.

I've been pretty hard on NBC of late, like calling for Jeff Zucker's head when NBC announced it will present Jay Leno every weeknight in prime time next fall, but I think I'm going to have to tip my cap to the network for how ER is coming to an end.

Not only have the producers lured George Clooney and Juliana Margulies back for a last go-round, they've also cast Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon for a guest turn. George, Julianna and Susan will all appear on ER on March 12.

I'm curious to see their appearances, but here's the casting that will have me definitely tuning in: Alexis Bledel is booked for ER two-hour finale on April 2.

With this being the final season of ER, the show naturally wants to bring back some of its old stars for cameos. George Clooney is the big fish to land, of course, and producers say they've got a juicy storyline to lure him in.

Showrunner David Zabel told TV Guide, "We have a really good story line for every [major] character from the past to show [the actors] what we want to do."

Anthony Edwards is already on board to appear in flashbacks on the Nov. 13 episode (since his character, Dr. Greene, is dead), along with Paul McCrane (Dr. Romano) and Laura Innes (Dr. Weaver). Noah Wyle will guest star in four episodes, and Alex Kingston may show up as Dr. Corday.

Actress Julianna Margulies is reportedly pregnant and due sometime in the winter. She's extremely private about her life so it's not clear whether she'll actually confirm the information. She's also reportedly engaged to her boyfriend, Keith Lieberthal.

Margulies is best known for her character, Carol, on ER. She's returning to television as a "rebellious" attorney who takes a liberal view of the law in order to protect the innocent in Canterbury's Law. Fox has not released a premiere date yet for her new show but it is expected to appear sometime in the mid-season. TV Guide is reporting that Margulies does not want the pregnancy written into the script, so expect to see a lot of creative camera work to hide the belly.

Canterbury's Law, the new FOX pilot from Denis Leary and director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas, Timecode) has just welcomed actress Julianna Margulies to the project. Margulies will play the lead in this new series about a defense attorney who's like, all edgy and stuff. This is the first time Margulies has been on network TV since she left ER back in 2000. Margulies will also serve as a producer for the new series. The series will also star Ben Shenkman (Love Monkey).

I have to agree with Julia's assessment: the only thing that makes me think this won't just be another "lawyer" show is the involvement of Leary as producer and Figgis as director for the pilot episode. I don't think the problem is necessarily too many lawyer shows, but too many lawyer shows that follow the same basic formula.

Julianna Margulies' post-ER career has been eclectic, to say the least. Instead of leveraging her star-making role as nurse Carol Hathaway into years of leading-lady movie roles, she has decided to go the more funky route, playing supporting roles in smaller movies (and in the summer's most anticipated cheesy movie, Snakes on a Plane), doing Broadway plays, and taking guest shots in series like Scrubs and The Sopranos.

Now comes word that she will star in a "limited series" for the Sci Fi Channel called The Lost Room. She'll play a mysterious woman who's brother was killed for a hotel room key. What the detective she reaches out to (Peter Krause of Six Feet Under) finds out is that the hotel room is...

(S06E08) "Tall or short stack?" While it's not exactly the most touching thing ever said on an episode of The Sopranos, it's gotta be up there, in some quirky kinda way, right? Vito, er ... Vince has apparently found at least one person with an interest in other men in his new "home," but he doesn't seem to want to accept that so well. You had to get a kick out of Vince (I'm having a hard time typing that, just so ya know) apparently stealing the cellphone from one of the other guests at the B&B in order to call home. Do we think his wife is going to rat him out to Phil, by any chance? I'm *sure* that someone could figure out a way to trace teh phone number that called the house, if they really wanted to.

Seeing AJ out with his friends, apparently paying the tab now that he's "minted" made me wonder what was going on there. Is he really just trying to fit in, or is there a plan behind paying $1890 bar bills somewhere? And let's just say that he most certainly is attempting to follow the family traits, one way or another. What I want to know is, will this be the slow rise of the young man into the family, or will Tony figure out another way to keep the boy busy?