TVSquad

Just when I'd added Southland to my list of shows to spotlight in upcoming editions of "Gone Too Soon," now there are glimmers of hope for its future. After NBC unceremoniously dumped it before it premiered this season, in favor of more Dateline, fans and television pundits were stunned.

Executive producer John Wells has reportedly been in contact with the cast to tell them he has at least two cable networks interested in picking up Southland. The good news comes in two ways. One, the series gets to come back. And two, a cable network is a lot less likely to tamper with the storytelling style Southland was developing in its first season. NBC already had them de-emphasizing the larger cast and the serialized nature of their storytelling in the episodes they were filming for the new season.

Lie to Me is not a show that grew on me last season. When it first premiered earlier this year, I didn't even bother watching it. I tend to shy away from mid-season replacements to begin with and something about seeing Tim Roth speaking in his normal British accent in promos for the show seemed weird to me.

Then summer arrived, TV viewing options started to dwindle, and suddenly Lie to Me became a viable option. I watched the pilot, was mildly amused, and then dropped it for over a month before I looked at another episode. At first, it wasn't that great, and now that I've had the opportunity to speak to Roth about it, it's good to know that I wasn't alone in thinking that.

Lucasfilms told us at Comic-Con that the new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars promised more sophisticated storylines and higher stakes. It is war, after all. And they promised us bounty hunters. One of the most popular classes of characters in the franchise was conspicuously absent during the first season.

To drive this point home, they've even added a snazzy subtitle to the title of the show for this season, as well as giving it a premiere date. The action starts Friday, October 2 with the one-hour premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Rise of the Bounty Hunters.

That follows the pattern of the films, if you think about it. While the first film was technically Episode IV: A New Hope, it was only branded as Star Wars. The stakes were raised and things got much better with the next installment, complete with official subtitle. Rise of the Bounty Hunters even sounds like an episode in the film franchise.

... well I don't know. And neither will you after watching the clip below. It's a teaser for the new season that doesn't really do too much teasing as it's just a bunch of quick one-liners from the cast talking how great the show is.

That being said, the nondescript vagueness of the clip has me even more excited than a regular promo. After the way last season of Fringe ended with Olivia being transported to an alternate universe to meet William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) in the World Trade Center... well, my jaw has been on the floor for a few months now and this teaser picked it up. A little.

However, you can look at it this way too - why aren't we being shown anything? Is the premiere going to be disappointing? Was there nothing worth showing? Or... is the premiere just so damn top secret that seeing any part of it now, even with no context, would still ruin it for us? You be the judge. (Fringe returns to FOX on Thursday, September 17th, at 9PM ET.)

We haven't done a giveaway in a while, but we couldn't resist when we were offered this opportunity: We've got three copies of Mad Men: Season Two on DVD for three lucky, random commenters. The DVD is out in stores starting tomorrow.

To enter, leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, July 17 simply telling us why you'd like to own this DVD set. As always, we'll randomly choose three winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
Click here for complete Official Rules.

(S02E13) Cause and effect, random selection, grief, life and death... "My father is my hero, he's just decent." Breaking Bad covered all that and more in the season finale, setting up Walter White's life after successful surgery that bought him more time. The question was this when the end credits rolled, what will that life be for the New Mexico science teacher after all that's come before?

Anyone out there who thinks they know is lying because only creator Vince Gilligan has a handle on what's been going on and what's to come. What we do know after watching the season finale is this: Breaking Bad is as good as any other drama currently on television, and that includes Lost, Mad Men, House, 24 and the other potential Emmy nominees for Outstanding Drama Series.

With Rescue Me plowing through it's massive 22 episode fifth season, it's a little weird to think that we'll be tuning into Denis Leary's FDNY hijnks until September 8th - especially since we're used to having the show be over after about three months.

I'm not really sure what my point is mentioning that, because all I'm doing is piling good news on top of more good news - once Rescue Me ends, Sons of Anarchy is back.

The FX motorcycle drama began filming it's second season recently, with two notable cast additions - Henry Rollins and Adam Arkin. At the time of Rollins casting, nothing was known about his character other than his role as a "new antagonist." Now, according to Fancast, it turns out that both Rollins and Arkin will be playing neo-nazis. If you recall Jax (Charlie Hunnam) and Clay's tumultuous relationship with Darby (Mitch Pileggi) and the Nords, then you know they ain't gonna get along with these two.

If you feel like being spoiled beyond that, pictures and more character info after the jump...

Rejoice, Whedonites! His latest television venture, Dollhouse, has been renewed by Fox for a second season of 13 episodes, thus proving the existence of God.

Seriously, I'm very happy about this news, particularly since it shows that Fox learns from its mistakes and doesn't simply rely on pure ratings (which is an unreliable and outdated system to begin with) to make business decisions. Did I think Season 1 was the best series ever produced? No. However, I trust in Joss and really liked the ending of Season 1. Sometimes it takes the man until the second season to really produce great television, Buffy being the prime example.

I do wonder where the show will go for a Season 2, although the possibilities are endless. The return of Alpha would be redundant. It's difficult to have character growth for Echo since her mind is wiped every week. I suppose we will find out next year.

(S01E05) "Lookin' sharp, Buffy, lookin' sharp." - Devil to Sam while he was holding a wooden stake

Season two of Reaper continues to entertain: it's funny, smart and unexpected, while still delivering all the things we loved about Reaper in season one. From using Sam's zombie dad to scare the poop out of Ben in the car, to the tongue-in-cheek shout-out to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this episode delivered.

One thing this episode did suffer from, though, is something I feared. Because they've introduced so many characters, we only saw a brief bit of them this week (and we didn't see Nina at all), and I was left wanting more of some. I guess we got a good fill of the dad, and it was so great to have demon Tony back. But I missed Nina, and I craved more Morgan. I'm wondering, too, if Kristen will end up being more than a bizarre sex symbol for Sock.

(S02E03) "No, I'm not growing a douche tag!" - Sam to Ben when he suggests Sam grow a soul patch

The only way I can begin this review is... yay Reaper! The first two episodes this season were enjoyable and got me back into the Reaper spirit. Tonight's episode raised the game; the writers went beyond hitting their stride and hit it out of the park.

You think that's too strong a stance for this episode? Come, explore with me, if you will, the finer points of tonight's episode....

Things just got a helluva lot more complicated in Charming, CA.

FX announced today that Henry Rollins has joined the cast of Sons of Anarchy for a six episode arc. Season two, which begins filming later this spring on April 27th, will undoubtedly pick up following the shocking events of Opie's (Ryan Hurst) wife Donna's (Sprague Grayden) murder. Unfortunately, there's no indication as to what type of role Rollins will be taking on - just that he's a "new antagonist" who "poses a deadly threat" to Jax (Charlie Hunnam) and the rest of his SAMCRO buddies.

FX has dubbed SOA as a worthy successor to The Shield and based Sons' season one ratings, I couldn't agree more. The freshman season started out flat but picked up steam as it progressed. As for Rollins? Look at the guy! If there's one person out there that looks like he belongs on this show, it's him.

How'd Reaper do this week? As much as I enjoyed it, this episode has left me with a few longings for more. Don't worry, I wasn't wishing I was watching the 13 American Idol wannabes performing over on FOX, but I do think there are places that Reaper could go that would be extremely satisfying.

In fact, they went there at the end of season one. The conspiracy with Sam's dad (um, does Sam even know that his dad is alive?), the demon rebellion, Sam's true parentage ... I want more! When I saw Andrew Airlie's name in the opening credits, I got excited, thinking we were headed back to the darker side of Reaper, to the secrets of Sam's family (remember his mom digging up his dad at the end of season one?) and really getting to some good stuff.

Bah, I guess I'll have to wait for that, but I'm hoping they'll deliver. Reaper did deliver laughs and a bit of a story arc tonight.

(S02E01) "Shut your mouth, that's my sister! I have dibs." -- Sock, to Ben who referred to Sock's stepsister as "smokin' hot"

Reaper's back, and our resident lovable losers are in full form: homeless (evicted from their apartment), jobless (though they get them back with a little blackmail), Sam's in the doghouse with Andi, and it's just another devilish day at The Work Bench.

That all may add up to a typical episode of Reaper for you, but they've taken a couple of steps to bring this show to the next level, as well as bringing us everything we loved so much about the first season.

When I sit down to watch television, I want to be entertained. I do not want to be bored, annoyed, depressed or angry. Just give me some good, clean fun. That's why it's been an infinite pleasure watching TNT's new drama, Leverage, a show I have crowned the best new show this season.

I recently had the pleasure of talking with Timothy Hutton, star of Leverage, about the first season of the successful new drama. Oh yes, the charming Tim and I dished about his performance, his co-stars and what season two may bring.

One thing I learned is that the powers-that-be over at Leverage don't tell their actors a whole lot. After being enamored with season one, I was dying for a spoiler of what's to come next season, now that we know Leverage has been renewed (they start filming April 13, in fact). OK, I would have settled for a teaser, even a tidbit, but it seems they're still tossing most of that around in the writers' room. Here's what I did get:

I have to admit, I've been slightly obsessed with checking the mid-season replacement schedule over at The Futon Critic. You see, I've been waiting to find out when one of my favorite shows from last season, Reaper, would be coming back.

Finally, I need wait no more: The CW has finally announced Reaper's timeslot, and it's not half bad. Or, I guess it is half bad, depending on how you look at it.

First things first: it's not on Friday night, which is something I feared because CW's schedule is so wide open on that night. So that's good, right?