TVSquad

Two weeks ago, I posted about Aliens in America's Adhir Kalyan landing an important recurring role on FX's Nip/Tuck. At the time I reported that news, it was unknown if The CW comedy would be renewed or not but it sure didn't smell good for the series since Kalyan, one of the show's star, got that other gig and rumors claimed that Scott Patterson was shopping around for a new job.

The grim reaper made a new victim: Aliens in America was canceled this week.

(S01E01) I'm not quite sure what to make of this show. It's hard to decide what I like and don't like considering that the show is really not that unique. For example, I've always been a fan of Chris Parnell but his work on Miss Guided pales in comparison to the stuff he does on 30 Rock. The same goes for Brooke Burns but if I had to choose, I'd rather see her in those jeans she wore on Dog Eat Dog.

Judy Greer is super funny. Her guest spot on Two and a half Men was brilliant in my opinion. So when she got her own show, I was interested to say the least.

The CW's got some funny sitcoms both old (Everybody Hates Chris) and new (Aliens in America -- more on that later), but the network's funniest asset is Paul McGuire, executive vice president, network communications.

Before introducing Dawn Ostroff, president entertainment, The CW, McGuire fires off some zingers to get the reporters up and running.

Of the recycled tote bags that The CW gave to the press (perfect for hauling all our cable swag home), McGuire quips, "They're made entirely from recycled billboards, including some from Hidden Palms -- or as some dirt bag reporter called it -- 'Hidden Ratings.'"

Scott Patterson, who played Luke Danes on Gilmore Girls, will star in the CW's Aliens in America, a new comedy that airs Mondays this fall.

Aliens in America focuses on the friendship between two sixteen year olds: an American high school, Justin Tolchuk (Dan Byrd) and his friend, a Muslim exchange student named Raja Musharaff (Adhir Kalyan). Patterson will play Gary, Justin's father. He's taking over the role from Patrick Breen, who portrayed the father in the pilot episode.

(S07E22) This may not have been the way Gilmore Girls was originally supposed to end, but, as it turned out, it was a pretty good way for it to go out.

When I think about it, ending the show in such a "rip off the Band-Aid" fashion was best for everyone, including the fans. We had only two weeks to cope with the show's departure, knowing that the finale was already shot and ready to go. Nothing we could do or say was going to change how we were going to leave Lorelai, Rory, Luke, and the rest of the folks in the Gilmore world. Because of that, there was no speculation, no guessing. And there were also no grand moments, supreme life changes, and the obligatory scenes of someone looking back on an empty room before turning out the lights. It was very understated. And very satisfying.

It may be unusual to devote an "In the Limelight" feature to a series regular on a popular TV show, but if you are like me, you have no idea in which TV series Scott Patterson appeared besides Gilmore Girls. You don't know if he ever was in movies or did theater work, etc.

Since Gilmore Girls is ending forever (sniff), I guess it's time we get to know Patterson a bit more as it may help us prepare for what he'll do next.

(S07E21) So here we are... the next-to-last (or penultimate, if you want to use SAT words) episode of Gilmore Girls. Like I said when the show's demise was first announced, it seems like the show wouldn't be able to wrap up any of their loose ends, especially because the season was already in the can when the announcement was made. But as we found out from one Ms. Lauren Graham, chances were that the show wasn't going to come back, anyway, and the last few episodes were written to function as a season and series finale.

(S07E19) Rumors have been flying around for years that Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson don't get along really well off the Gilmore Girls set. I've always wondered how things between them might go when the cameras weren't rolling. Would they be cordial to each other? Painfully polite?

Well, I'm wondering no longer. All I had to do was watch those first awkward scenes between Luke and Lorelai in this episode, and I now I have a pretty good idea how things are between this show's stars (if those rumors are true of course).

(S07E18) Wow... I guess the whole "six-week spring break" tradition for Gilmore Girls has been carried over from the WB to the CW. But we're back with what might be the final five episodes of GG, and it looks like we're moving somewhat rapidly towards the series' inevitable conclusion.

But first, let me tell you why Taylor Doose is one of the most irritating characters in the history of television.

(S07E17) When Dawn Ostroff, the CW's president of entertainment, was doing her "state of the network" press tour session in January, she said this about Gilmore Girls: "(David Rosenthal) was painted into a corner into with a storyline that he got out of. The second half of the season is much stronger, and I think viewers will be surprised."

I scoffed a little when she said that; nothing about the season to that point had suggested that the show was going to improve. But I've got to hand it to Rosenthal and company; the show has been on an upward trend, giving us about a month's worth of entertaining episodes that, while not quite up to the level of the show's creative peak, certainly give me hope that the show won't go out with a whimper, whether it's this season or next.

The key? Keep the Gilmore girls together. All three of them.

(S07E16) This was a fun one. After all that had gone on over the course of this season -- the gnashing of teeth over the Lorelai/Chris pairing, the stresses of the Rory/Logan relationship, Luke's custody battle, Lor's and Chris' break-up, and Richard Gilmore's bypass -- Gilmore Girls fans needed an episode like this. It was light and fluffy and completely angst-free.

Well, except for Logan. But there needed to be some angst in his life, as the Logan we've been seeing for the last few weeks has been very... well, he's been very un-Logan-like lately. In other words, he's been the perfect boyfriend to Rory. You know that had to end eventually.

(S07E15) Perhaps Emily Gilmore should drink more often.

That's the take-away I get from this episode. When Emily drinks, she's warm and open, and almost forgiving of her "wayward" daughter Lorelai. When she doesn't drink, she's prickly, mean, and prone to judge everything and anything, including how her daughter is managing her life.

If I were Lorelai and I had the choice, I think I'd take drunk Emily any day of the week. And I think Lor realized that as she walked out of the Gilmore family dining room at the end of this episode.

(S07E14) This was the one. This was the episode that pulled together all the pieces that resulted when Team Palladino smashed everything to bits at the end of season six, when Lorelai dumped an aloof Luke and fell into bed with Christopher. It's taken way, way too long to get to this point, but what I found very interesting about this episode is, despite the fact that I wasn't emotionally involved in the Lor-Chris-Luke triangle at all this year, this resolution to one of the sides of the triangle sucked me in and got me involved again.

I think the dog funeral helped that out a little.

(S07E13) So this is what it takes to get a good episode this season? Richard Gilmore has to have open-heart surgery? Well, I guess if this is what they have to do, I can accept that. Maybe next week, they'll give Paul Anka worms.

Seriously, though, the reason why this episode worked is because all we saw was the Family Gilmore, together for most of the episode. Not sixty seconds of a Friday night dinner. Not Lorelai and Rory chatting on the phone. Nope, they were all together for an extended period, interacting in the ways that once made the show so great.

Did this episode have flaws? Tons. But it was the best of the season so far.

(S07E12) For some reason, despite everything that has happened to make this show start circling the drain, four Gilmore characters can be relied upon to entertain, no matter who is writing the episode: Emily, Richard, Sookie and Paris. All four of them are in tonight's episode (Emily is just in the cold open, but it counts), and, I've got to tell you, their presence made it pretty decent as a result.

Otherwise? Um... well... Let's just say this crawl towards the inevitable Lorelai - Luke reunion is driving me nuts.