TVSquad

I had been expecting the JFK assassination to become part of the Mad Men storyline from the moment they showed us the invitation for Margaret Sterling's wedding on November 23, 1963. Expectations are one thing. Watching the way the national tragedy was depicted was quite another. As I watched the scenes unfold, I was riveted to the screen – and that was a surprise to me because on Fox the Yankees and the Phillies were locked in a very tight World Series game, and I cared about the outcome.

But I found myself unable to turn away from Mad Men. It wasn't pleasant to watch those black and white images of anchormen Walter Cronkite and Chet Huntley. The moment I saw the flickering images behind Harry and Pete in the Sterling-Cooper office, I knew what was happening. It was terrific storytelling, by the way, for the viewer to know, but for Pete and Harry to be oblivious.

Only 42 days to go. That's how long until the season premiere of NCIS. According to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, quoting exec producer Shane Brennan, the first minute of NCIS is a mindblower. What could this possibly mean? Will someone die, or will we discover what happened to Ziva? Was that her being beaten and tortured in the closing scene of last season's finale?

The ABC.com promo for the season finale of The Bachelorette proclaimed "Trust us, you won't believe what happens." So what happened? Did Jillian turn out to be a robot? Did she kill the last couple of bachelor contestants? Did Bobby Ewing show up in the shower alive? What a stupid show this is, on so many levels. But I'm just glad that Jillian has found TRUE LOVE.

What did you think?

You think Bobby Cannavale has felt the sting when all those episodes of the failed second go-round of Cupid have been burned off by ABC this past few weeks? It's got to be a shot to the ego, even for an established, successful Emmy-winning actor. Well, here's some news that should puff him back up again. Cold Case is bringing Bobby Cannavale back for the new season.

Cannavale appeared last season on Cold Case as Detective Eddie Saccardo, an undercover narcotics cop -- think Serpico with a sense of humor -- who had a brief romantic fling with Lily. It was one of the only happy things in Detective Rush's life last season, so the return of Eddie could be just what the doctor ordered for Kathryn Morris's character.

Oh, Cupid remake, we hardly knew ye.

So the show is dead and gone. It won't be renewed by ABC and it's not going to be saved by another network. At this rate, with Cupid and Studio 60, some people are going to start calling Sarah Paulson a "show killer." That's silly, of course.

So why didn't this Cupid make it further? Just not good enough? Did it pale in comparison to the Jeremy Piven original? Too many quirky, light shows already on TV? Nothing to grab viewers? The cast?

One of the great things about the web is now we don't have to just tell you about a great episode from a TV series and hope you own it on DVD or that it shows up on TV at some point, we can actually show you the episode as well. Video after the jump!

This is an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents from November, 1958 titled "Man with a Problem." It stars someone who would later go on to one of the great sitcoms, Elizabeth Montgomery, as well as Peter Mark Richman (who has been in everything) and Gary Merrill, who is the man with the problem in question.

(S03E01) Big Love returned to HBO last night, the first new episode since 2007. To say that the show returned with a vengeance is an understatement. Big Love is one of the best dramas on TV. Imagine I, Claudius in the mountains of Utah, with a complicated series of plot that are mostly about marriage. Polygamy, that is. One husband; many wives.

Picking up some time after the last episode, the Hendricksons are intact and solid as a rock, despite past problems. Margene's had a baby girl and is happy as can be, Nicki is working at a job in the courthouse to repay her credit card debt, Barb is keeping it all together as the first wife.

(S07E06) This was a rarity in the Monk canon. It was not only a serious episode, but one in which Monk seemed capable of touching another person and falling in love again. The title of the episode, in fact, suggests that he does fall in love.

There were other differences in tonight's show. The murder of the taxi driver brought Stottlemeyer and Disher to the case, and Natalie and Adrian, but also a San Francisco Homicide task force -- i.e. two other detectives.

Have we ever seen these guys before? I don't remember them. They were there for one reason basically, to contradict Monk's assertion that the prime suspect -- Layla with a Z, a beautiful social worker -- is not the "guy." In the face of mounting evidence, Monk refused to believe she did it.

I was a fan of the short-lived Jeremy Piven show Cupid, which aired on ABC in the late 90s. But I never would have thought that of all of the shows that have been canceled that it would be the one that would make a comeback, ten years later.

But that's what's happening. Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas, who created Cupid, was looking for a show sort of like Cupid to do for ABC, and ABC just asked if he wanted to do Cupid again. And Sony gave the OK. The setting of the show will move from Chicago to Los Angeles, so they can have more guest stars (let's all say it at once: "ugh"). You can watch most of the original pilot here (part one isn't there for some reason).

Of course, Piven won't star in the remake. He's too busy doing HBO's Entourage and big screen movies. So who should we get for the lead role? How about Matthew Perry?

(S02E15)

Orel: Gee, Doughy, your parents really do love you after all. They give you money and they don't ever want anything in return, not even you.

This episode was written by former Mr. Show writer/performer Scott Aukerman, along with Neil Campbell and Paul Rust. It wasn't until about one third through the episode I realized this was the first episode that wasn't tethered to some kind of religious ideal. The only "religious" aspect occurred when Orel decided he had to ask his mother if it was morally acceptable for a woman to accept gifts from a man if she doesn't actually like him.

(S01E20) Ow. Watching this episode of Brothers and Sisters hurt. It hurt in that really good way that results from really good writing. The writing was so good tonight that I really believed every character. And that is the really interesting thing about this show so far: the writing is the changing nominator. The actors stay the same, but sometimes the writing is really uneven, and other times, like tonight, it just crackles.

(S18E15) Seriously, what is it with Grandpa Simpson falling for Marge's family members? In season five he almost marries her mother, and last night he puts the moves on Selma. Talk about a lot of weird Thanksgivings.

This episode had some good laughs, but overall I wasn't too impressed. The secondary story involving Bart and Lisa building a gigantic castle out of cardboard boxes from ASS --which stood for "American Shipping Services," and is not, as one truck indicates, affiliated with the human ass-- and fighting an apocalyptic battle with the men in brown was more entertaining than the main story, in my opinion.

It's that time of year again, where everything around you suddenly takes a heart shape. The stores around you are filled with waves of reds and pinks.

But darn it! Not everything is roses and overpriced candies. (Especially for the fellas who rush to the stores because you're told to.)

We've all been single and we've all been there with breakups... the question is how well do you know your TV Breakups?

Perhaps you're in a tumultuous love triangle and not sure whose valentine is yours? Well some of our favorite characters don't get that right either.

Remember that even if you're with or without a valentine this year, that you can always find your remote control in your arms. (Because you can't snuggle and watch your TV at the same time. Duh.)

(S06E13) Valentine's Day comes to Smallville about two weeks before the rest of the country. Why can't these episodes come on closer to the actual date of the holiday? Okay, I'm griping too much. We've got the return of Red Kryptonite, and it's about darn time. It comes at the right time, too ... given the fact that Lois has gotten a bit itchy in her relationship with Oliver Queen, and Lana is about to go fully over to the dark side and marry Lex Luthor, not to mention have his baby. That's getting a bit too close to the whole Anakin/Padme relationship, ain't it?

The whole little Zoltar machine slash Gypsy slash matchmaker woman who just gives Lois the magical lipstick was wayyyyy to much of a plot device for me. It's like the writers were in a post-Chinese food coma and decided to just have some character waltz in and hand it over. Was it too convenient? Am I griping about the small stuff too much again? Most likely. Granted, the alternative was probably having a department of LuthorCorp working on cosmetics, and some wacky scientist decides to add meteor rocks and yadda yadda yadda. K-powered shampoo and shaving gel for the world.

(S02E14) If you had to have just one takeaway point from this particular episode, it would be that Randy Hickey, of all people, is a studmuffin!

Thankfully, this episode again featured Earl crossing an item off his list. Although we've seen this season expanded storylines and not a total reliance of the "formula" of the first season, I think the show is much better when the story has something to do with Earl's list. Let's remember that the premise of the show is Earl making amends for his past wrongs and his good fortune allows him to do this.

Did anyone else think of Zinedane Zidane when Pierre walked into the Crab Shack and headbutted Earl right to the floor? There was another brilliant French sporting reference later on when Lance Armstrong's name was mentioned and Pierre went into a tirade--but in French.