TVSquad

• At 8, ABC has two new episodes of According To Jim, then new episodes of Dancing with the Stars and The Unusuals.
• NBC has a new, two-hour Biggest Loser at 8.
• FOX has new episodes of American Idol and Fringe.
• The CW has a new Reaper at 8, followed by a new 90210.
• TNT has the Pistons/Cavaliers game at 8.
• At 9, PBS has a new Frontline.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 9.
• Food Network has a new Food Detectives at 9.
• BBC America has a new Last Restaurant Standing at 9.
• At 10, FX has a new Rescue Me.
• There's a new Real Housewives of New York City at 10.
• History Channel has the series premiere of Life After People at 10.
• Travel Planet has a new Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern at 10.
• Also at 10: MTV has the series premiere of The Phone.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Including gay characters on your TV show is good, unless it's two lesbians who fall in love with a straight man, as they do in a storyline on New Amsterdam. FOX learned that the hard way when they received a failing grade from GLAAD (The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) on their second annual GLAAD Network Responsibility Index. The index measures the "quantity, quality and diversity of images of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people on television."

Even though GLAAD gave FOX a failing grade, the network's cable counterpart, FX, received top honors for cable channels. The advocacy group praised them for including the most original programming that featured members LGBT community. Special notice was given to Nip/Tuck, which had a gay, lesbian, or bisexual character in every episode. Rescue Me's commitment ceremony storyline was also viewed favorably by the group.

With Rescue Me's fifth season finally (kinda, sorta) getting closer, we're getting more and more news about what's in store for Tommy and the gang. In addition to the minisodes, we've also got some exciting potential casting news: Michael J. Fox may be joining Rescue Me for a multi-episode arc. Fox is set to play a love interest for Tommy's (Dennis Leary) on-again/off-again ex, Janet (Andrea Roth).

Rescue Me may seem like an odd show for the former Spin City and Family Ties star to pop up on, but Fox and Leary are longtime friends. This friendship means that even though the deal isn't completely finalized, there's very good chance that Fox will be seen on the FX drama next summer.

So, John Edwards finally made his endorsement announcement and it looks like he is a Barack Obama type of guy. In other news, I have, once again, managed to out-geek myself. As soon as Jon made that joke about Wolverine, I groaned and thought to myself, "Oh, come on. Daily Show, you've totally lost cool points. Wolverine's skeleton is definitely adamantium." And then that geeky guy came out and corrected Jon. And then I lost cool points. And then I lost extra cool points for using "cool points."

There was more pilot news percolating out of ABC yesterday, including three dramas and a sitcom. On the funny side, writer/producers Jennifer Konner and Alexandra Rushfield are working on Bad Mother's Handbook. It follows the life of a busy, thirtysomething mom dealing with the needs/wants/desires of her teenaged daughter and 48-year old mother. Hmm, sounds like a close knit family! You think they're all under one roof? The sitcom will be a single-camera affair, half-hour laugh fest (or so we hope). I vote for Jamie Lee Curtis as the 48-year old mom. She can still play 48; yes, she can. She looks great on those yogurt commercials!

• At 7, USA has coverage of The U.S. Open.
• At 8, CBS has a new Power of 10.
• NBC has a new Most Outrageous Moments at 8, then new episodes of Last Comic Standing and Dateline.
• At 9, Fox News has a Republican debate from New Hampshire.
• TBS has two new episodes of House of Payne at 9.
• There's a new Mythbusters on Discovery at 9.
• The History Channel has a new Lost Worlds at 9.
• HBO has a new Costas NOW at 9.
• At 9:30, HGTV has a new Design on a Dime.
• At 10, FX has a new Rescue Me.
• Food Network has a new Dinner: Impossible at 10.
• Fox Movie Channel has Revenge of the Nerds at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Top Chef.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S04E11) "I've got eight Frescas in me Lou. I'm on a massive NutraSweet high. Don't get me started." - Tommy

Did I miss where the title of this episode was referenced? I've racked my brain, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how the word "cycle" played into this episode. Doesn't matter. I've finally figured out what this whole season has been about. Maybe I'm slow (because it's been hinted at right along) but this time around it was thrown right in our face. Tommy's search for faith. The mysterious black figures. The prayer books. The only thing missing is Tommy's personal Jesus from season two. I know I've said before that maybe Tommy has a death wish. Maybe he doesn't, but he's definitely trying to defy something. The funny thing is that I don't think he knows what it is.

(S04E09) "I mean... shit. We got enough drunks in this room to start our own meetings." - Maggie

Well I hope everyone else enjoyed that as much as I did because this was by far the best episode of the season. At this point, it doesn't seem like we're going to get a huge story, other than Elvis... Wyatt... whatever his name is. Character development seems to be the name of the game and even though plenty of us have complained about the quality of this season, it's about par for the course if you think about it. Three seasons down. It'd almost be weird if we weren't getting some new perspectives.

Take the Gavin family intervention. It still bugs me that the "forgotten siblings" (Timo and Rosemary) are never mentioned at things like this, but we still got some great stuff. Maggie is sick of being addicted, Eddie is in denial about his addiction ("I nip!"), and Teddy loves being addicted. This clan covers all the bases. Mr. Gavin finally made an appearance too... and he was drinking the whole time! Maggie's suggestion to have their own A.A. meetings was perfect though. I can't wait to see one of these things go down. They'll all be drunk.

"Rice & Ripken: Together at... Why!?": With Karl Rove out of the way, it seems like the original Bush dream team is crumbling apart. Condolleeza Rice dragged someone else into the fun, introducing Cal Ripken, Jr. as a US public diplomacy special envoy. Apparently he's going to help build better relations in China by beating their asses in baseball.

"Clusterfuck to the White House: Divas Live": Several Democrats appeared on the super-gay super-channel Logo to talk about real important issues. Melissa Ethridge was there because, uh, I guess the situation isn't both gay and political if there isn't at least one famous, outspoken lesbian in attendance. The golf clips were really well-timed, especially the Bill Richardson one. Ohh, Richardson, he's a goofy one. As for Dennis Kucinich, the gays went ga-ga for him. It looks like Kucinich has finally found his new main demographic.

(S04E08) "Yeah... let me, um, just put the axe away." - Tommy

Well it's about time. This is the Rescue Me I remember. Granted, Tommy never got drunk, but there were moments where it sure felt like he was. From the fight with Janet, to the onslaught of all his ghosts at once, to running into that fire all by himself, Tommy seems to be back to normal. Sort of.

I suppose we should talk about the ghosts first. They've been far and few between all season, but it was all building up to this. The only missing spook? Connor. But that makes sense to me at least because Tommy never sat down with his late son and got advice from him like he did with Jimmy.

But everyone else, including Jimmy, was there. Billy (all the way from season one) along with that other unnamed firefighter who died in 9/11, Johnny, and even Jerry. Although it wasn't Jack McGee in the chair, from the backside it was clearly meant to look like him. What are the ghosts up to these days? Poker and lighting themselves on fire.

• At 7:30, ESPN2 has coverage of the Rogers Cup tennis tournament.
• At 8, CBS has a new Power of 10.
• FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance at 8, then a new Don't Forget The Lyrics.
• BBC America has a new What's Eating Victoria Beckham at 8.
• At 8:30, ABC has anew Knights of Prosperity (there's another new episode at 9:30).
• At 9, NBC has a new Last Comic Standing, then a new Dateline.
• TBS has two new episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne starting at 9.
• Discovery has a new Mythbusters at 9, followed by a new Cash Cab.
• Travel Channel has a new World Poker Tour at 9.
• At 10, ABC has a new episode of The Nine.
• There's a new Rescue Me on FX at 10.
• Bravo has a new Top Chef at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new Mind Control with Derren Brown at 10.
• Also at 10: Food Network has a new Dinner: Impossible.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Welcome to Subtle Subtitles. For those of you who are uninitiated to the purpose of this feature, we're asking you to come up with your funniest quote or description for what's going on in the screen grab we choose for the week. Winners are announced in the following Friday's contest.

1st place to Nik:

2nd place to Fred: "C'mon, say it with me: Toga! Toga! Toga!"
3rd place to Rogphi: "What can I say... she's a hard habit to break."

This week, a scene from the latest episode of Kyle XY ...

Welcome to Subtle Subtitles. For those of you who are uninitiated to the purpose of this feature, we're asking you to come up with your funniest quote or description for what's going on in the screen grab we choose for the week. Winners are announced in the following Friday's contest.

1st place to KMF:

2nd place to brainguy731: "...and it comes with two condoms and a key to my truck, complete with pumps and hoses."
3rd place to stigmata: "Don't worry boysss, i replaced the *BURP* champagne with tap water for the cristening. *BURP*. Now, somebody hold the damn truck still..."

This week, a scene from the latest episode of Big Love:

(S04E03) "You know, with the adrenaline pumping and everything, I could've carried out Jennifer Hudson holding her Oscar... and a sandwich!" - Nona

Wow. Normally I like to get my reviews for a show up on the site as soon as I can after an episode airs. Not this one. After last night's episode of Rescue Me, I had to sit on it for the night. Sleep on it. Digest what I just saw happen. The following line is completely canned, but so what. This is powerful TV. I'll say this. I know a lot of people were disappointed with the past season of The Shield. I wasn't one of them, but if you're looking for a way for F/X to make it up to you then you owe it to yourself to be watching Rescue Me.