TVSquad

Last night there was a fresh, new episode of Brothers & Sisters on ABC. I was so elated that I nearly jumped from my chair to see a non-rerun. Well, this week were sorta/kinda back from vacation as a bunch of shows will be airing new shows. For that, I say, "Hooray!"

One I'm really looking forward to seeing is Wednesday's Modern Family with Benjamin Bratt guesting as Manny's father. The reason for my anticipation is this: I haven't liked any of the guest turns on Modern Family thus far this year. I thought Shelley Long was over-the-top as Jay's ex-wife, the mother of Claire and Mitchell; Fred Willard was basically a cameo as Phil's dad; and in one episode, Elizabeth Banks and Ed Norton embarassed themselves as bizarre characters.

OK, so it's not Arrested Development, but the new Channel 4 show The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret does have both David Cross and Will Arnett, and from this clip of the pilot it seems like something AD fans could get into. Arnett's character doesn't seem to far removed from his 30 Rock character. Amber Tamblyn plays Cross' girlfriend.

[via TV Tattle]

Each year, as the new fall season approaches, I go through all the magazine and online sources talking about the various shows to try and figure out which ones I'm going to be excited about, and which I'm going to avoid like the plague.

Inevitably, I wind up sampling plenty of shows from which I should have steered clear. At the same time, a few shows will slip between the cracks, and then I'm bashing my head against the wall because I missed out on the beginning of something special. I hate coming into things late.

This year, I decided to share my top and bottom five selections. I'm sure the rest of the Squadders and you will have differing opinions than mine, but that's what makes America great, right? Chime in with your own lists in the comments.

Fuse has green-lit production for three new shows. Redemption Song, Tour Me a New One, and Rock Bottom -- all working titles -- will air this fall.

Matt Faber, executive VP of Programming and Development explains the decision to move forward with these shows: "The addition of these shows furthers our commitment to new programming that has music at its pulse. With each new series, we're building on the depth and variety of music programming that viewers can find on Fuse." So Fuse is trying to pick up where MTV left off by centering their programming around music, its production, and its artists. But do these three shows do that?

I remember a classic (okay, even for television, I admit I am stretching beyond all reason in my use of the term "classic") episode of Just Shoot Me in which characters played by Laura San Giacomo and David Spade came up with and pitched the following idea to a movie producer: Vampire Cop! The producer quickly dispensed with them, "I've seen it, what else ya' got?" to the consternation of Spade and San Giacomo's , who basically had nothing at all, let alone something else.

Fox is not making that mistake, because they have made scripting deals for two, count 'em, two vampire or vampire-ish tv shows, only one of which is a cop show.

I didn't set out to watch In Justice, and the last thing I need is another courtroom drama to love. But it was Sunday, all of my favorite shows were in re-runs or supplanted by tedious TV movies or double-length episodes of Extreme Makeover, my boys were all feverish, and I wanted to do nothing for a while. And so, I didn't change the channel from the very dull Desperate Housewives recap.

And look! There's Kyle MacLachlan, who last played Charlotte's impotent Scottish husband on Sex and the City. And hey! That's Constance Zimmer, who I finally identified as the only reason worth watching the insultingly awful Good Morning Miami. And the criminal who is so grateful to be taken in by the Justice Project - that's one of my faves, she played Sela Ward's sister on the fabulous and much-missed Once and Again. (And if you're still wondering where it is you've seen Marisol Nichols - she played Audrey Griswold on Vegas Vacation. *groan* She's still a hottie, though.)

TV Squad will be having extensive coverage of this week's network "upfronts," and I thought I'd take this spot to explain exactly what an upfront is. Basically it's the week when each network reveals its fall lineup. What new shows are coming on, and what old shows are being canceled. Each day this week we'll have the rundown as each network unveils their lineup. Here's the upfront schedule:

• Today: NBC
• Tuesday: ABC and WB
• Wednesday: CBS
• Thursday: Fox and UPN

Keep checking back throughout the week for breaking news...