TVSquad

(S08E14) File this one under be careful what you wish for ... I feel like Rod Serling writing that, but there was a bit of a Twilight Zone feel to this episode of Monk. It was Monk in an alternate universe, only it looked like the same place we'd been to before. Same with Natalie. More on how things were the same, but different, after the jump.

One of the most anticipated iPhone apps since the "iFart" has finally found its way to the App Store.

The official Dexter video game from Marc Ecko Entertainment and Icarus Studios finally made it to Apple's App Store yesterday after more than a year in anxious development. The game is also set to be released on the PC, as well, but a release date hasn't been officially set yet.

Durham County is being touted as the Ion (formerly PAX) network's first foray into original scripted programming in years. And that's kind of true. Except that Durham County first premiered more than two years ago in Canada. There, it's had two six-episode seasons. But while there was a long two-year gap between those seasons up north, Ion will be airing both as a twelve-episode first season stateside.

Based on just that first episode, Durham County is one hell of a ride. I don't think I've felt that much discomfort about what I was watching on a television show in a long, long time. It wasn't so much the gratuitous violence, and it was certainly there, but it was in the characterizations. There were parts of that premiere that were equal parts riveting and just so disturbing you didn't even want to be in the same room with it.

You know, if your casting director says he's looking for a middle-aged guy to play "an unassuming, mild-mannered suburbanite" who also happens to have also been a prolific serial killer for almost three decades, damn if there isn't a better choice than John Lithgow. And it looks like our own Mr. Morgan will be going head-to-head with him as John Lithgow has been cast in Dexter for its fourth season. Lithgow is a master, able to play every type of role you can imagine.

He could dabble a bit of Pastor Footloose for his crazier side, adding in a smidge of Dick Solomon (3rd Rock From the Sun) for his everyday persona. But only a little, otherwise you've got crazy on both sides. Or maybe you want that. Dexter's fascination with Lithgow's character "Trinity" (dubbed thus for killing in threes) is how he's managed to be such a prolific killer and yet avoid capture for so long. I'm more interested in Lithgow's daily life. Is he married? Kids? And if so, how does he juggle so much "normalcy" with his extracurricular activities. Regardless of how it's presented, I think it should make for an awesome face-off.

I'm always fascinated by the ad campaigns that the networks come up with to sell or promote TV shows. I remember in 2004 when Fox debuted House, they created a magazine insert DVD of the pilot. It was a great way to get TV fans to try the show, and I -- for one -- bought Entertainment Weekly and watched the show.

Giveaways are one way to drive awareness -- and sample the product -- but another is with a print ad campaign. Recently, Gossip Girl came up with a savvy set of posters and advertisements to call attention to the naughtiness of the show.

Now comes a new, original campaign for Showtime's Dexter in which the Michael C. Hall's character is imagined on the cover of magazines. Dexter on Esquire, The New Yorker, GQ, Wired; high-profile magazines that have a distinctive look, reconfigured for serial killer hiding in plain sight, Dexter Morgan. The ads look amazing and will be seen in all variety of magazines and plastered up as posters all over the place.

(S03E01) Now that I gave you an early look about this episode, and you had a chance to watch it yourself, let's talk about what happened during the season premiere of Bones.

The main thing is that we are introduced to a serial killer storyline that will probably last throughout the entire season. This isn't your run-of-mill serial killer, though. If it was, then we wouldn't be seeing him or her on this very television show. This killer actually seems to, um, gnaw on some of the bones of his victims a bit after he kills them. That's right, not only is he a serial killer, but a cannibal as well. A perfect fit for Booth, Bones and the other Squints at the Jeffersonian!

(S03E14) I was really looking forward to this week's episode for the simple fact that Eric Stoltz would be the guest star. In the world of TV, I think he counts as a pretty good get. And he didn't disappoint, although, I think the writers did a little bit.

Obviously, this is the Allison show. I get that and we know going in that this world revolves around her. My one complaint with the episode was that while they went out of their way to get someone like Eric Stoltz, they didn't really use him a whole lot.

I was pretty happy with the episode overall, but I think it could have been that much better if something had been lost to make room for a little more of the creepy Sonny Troye. The roommate murder would have been a good place for it. We spent an awful lot of time with the wrong roommate. I would have even gone for getting to see Sonny's end of those phone conversations with Allison.

(S03E06) I think that most people probably thought of Red Foreman when they saw Kurtwood Smith in the previews for this episode. Any actor that does a role for that long is going to be tied to it to some degree. Especially if it is something like That 70's Show which is in syndication so you are constantly stumbling over it. But it is a credit to Kurtwood that while I was secretly hoping for him to call someone a dumb-ass the whole time, he made Edward Cooper something completely different.

Cooper is an interesting character. At once the hero, and the villain. I suspected going in that there would be some butting of the heads as his clinical studying of the evidence clashed with Allison's visions. And we did get some of that. It was made even better with the first round going to Cooper. He was so smarmy and confident as he shot Allison down again and again. It seemed to set up perfectly for Allison to eventually be proven right and get the "I told you so" moment that she wanted so badly.

I'm trying to imagine being in Allison Dubois' shoes, trying to feel what she would feel. If my husband thought me a danger to my own children. If I came home disconnected from reality, having let my groceries melt in the back seat as I smoked, watching a girl, seeing her through the eyes of the killer. If my children were whisked away one night to friends' and relatives' houses, out of fear I might injure them. If I, so entranced, spent hours writing over and over again on a pad of paper, It was ME. It was ME.

The fact that I can see this so clearly is testament to the continuing spell that Medium has me under. That I never saw the ending to the story, until the very ending, is testament to the writers' skill and creativity. That I couldn't watch some of the scenes, though, is worrisome. Medium has such a strong audience, it's clear, in my demographic - the 25- to 55-year-old women, or some such. Must the show also appeal to the men in that age group, and then reach out to the younger demo, with all that blood, gore and horror?