TVSquad

This week, we're going to take a bit of a departure from the shows we normally cover. It's very rare that a show that puts out 76 episodes could be considered by anyone to be gone too soon, and yet I make the argument that 8 Simple Rules (for Dating My Teenage Daughter) is that show.

I'm also not going to try and convince you that 8 Simple Rules was one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, because it simply wasn't. It was a fairly standard, solid series headlined by a brilliant comic actor... and then it became something else.

(S01E01) Just as the new Parenthood series coming to NBC is a re-imagining of the classic movie, 10 Things I Hate About You is a very loose take on the film of the same name. And the film itself is a loose take on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The only real connection to that source is an early name-drop for the playwright.

If you let yourself get frustrated at how this doesn't even come close to mirroring some of the themes of Shakespeare's comedy, you'll miss out on what the show does offer, besides Larry Miller reprising his role from the movie as the sisters' father. Just think of it as a high school comedy featuring two very different sisters. In this one episode, we got pretty effective glimpses of virtually every social strata that exists in a high school. It's no My So-Called Life, but 10 Things does a pretty good job of being a family high school comedy. And isn't that what it's trying to be?

(S02E04) I'm sure you die-hard Burn Notice fans saw it in the first scene. The show has now expanded its yogurt promotion to include the frozen variety. The producer's also have started sharing other uses for yogurt. Next time I have a hangover, I'll try a nice cool tub of Dannon to stop the throbbing.

I was wondering when Nate was going to show up again. More importantly, I was curious whether or not he would still be running scams. At first glance, it would seem that he meant everything he said about making "a few changes." However, as we all know, nothing on this show is ever what it seems, except for Michael's inability to refuse to help those in need.

In case you didn't know it, Bruce Campbell is my new BFF. Ever since my visit to the set, I have a new appreciation for the man. So, it pains me to report that Bruce recently was filming in Miami when he came up lame.

While chatting with Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune, creator Matt Nix was talking about the new season of Burn Notice -- more on that below -- when he casually mentioned Bruce Campbell was hurt on the set. "He actually just pulled his hamstring doing a stunt, I just got a call, he's on the way to the hospital."

(S03E17) Ok, this was a really good episode, and Adam Goldberg was a nice bit of casting. I'll get to all that in a minute, but first up. Where the heck was Scanlon? I realize that the Medium world revolves around the DuBois clan, and the rest of the cast are merely players in the telling of their story. But this was a hostage situation. And there is nothing for "Detective" Scanlon to do there? The D.A. shows up, but we can't get our favorite detective on site? It didn't ruin the episode, but it did stand out as something that was missing.

Lack of casting aside, I thought that team Medium delivered another winner tonight. They continued the trend of getting great guest stars as well. Adam Goldberg was terrific as Bruce. I'd put him just behind Mark Sheppard as my second favorite of the season. But then, "Blood Relations" remains my favorite episode of this go round. They kicked things off on just the right note with the strange DREAD opening. That, combined with Allison's cryptic dream really set the mood for what was to come.