TVSquad

That's got to be one of the worst things that can happen to a television actor. You get cast in a pilot. Things go well. Even better, the pilot gets picked up. You're going to series! Then you get the phone call. "We're recasting. It's not the series, it's you." And just like that, the show goes on without you.

Dean Winters is the latest victim, losing a lead role at that. ABC has cast Steven Weber in Happy Town, replacing Winters as John Haplin, one of the most powerful men in a town named after his family. It's an interesting replacement because Winters and Weber tend to put different spins on the same kind of guy. Weber can nail rich, powerful and important better than Winters, while the latter does intense and brooding, but much more street level.

(S05E08) "Hang in there. I'm not done with you yet." - Dave

There you have it, people. The most advertised episode of ABC's Desperate Housewives so far this season (we first heard about it in August) has finally aired. Even if I was entertained by Julie's return, Anne's storyline, Lee's joy after hearing dirt about Bree, and Virgina's antics, it was once again Dave's storyline that got my full attention. How should we interpret the new clues we were given thanks to Dr. Heller visiting Wisteria Lane?

You know that scene in the movie When Harry Met Sally, when Meg Ryan is in a New York deli and simulates having an orgasm? Then Estelle Reiner looks over and says to the waiter, "I'll have what she's having."?

Well, that's how a lot of actors in Hollywood must be feeling about actor Steven Weber -- "I'll have what he's having!" -- because he's been on a hot streak going from role to role to role, TV series to TV series. The latest is his landing a juicy part on Desperate Housewives.

The former Wings star will be playing Julie's lover, her college professor who's a serial monogamist, having been married three times. Susan, reportedly, is going to freak out about her daughter getting serious with a guy who's old enough to be her father.

This role is being slated for just one episode, so far, but you never know. He could turn out to be Susan's son-in-law down the road.

(S03E04) "You keep a stun gun in the birdhouse? What do you keep in the garden gnome? An M-80?" -- Shawn to his dad, Henry, on his choice of weapon storage.

Ah, now the pieces of the puzzle that are Shawn Spencer are coming together! We've known for years that the younger Spencer has gotten his analytical skills from his father Henry. And, in the first episode of this season, we found out that he gained his recall abilities from his mother. Now we know where he got his sense of adventure and his ability to snow others with his "psychic" abilities.

Meet Jack Spencer -- role model, adventurer, historian...and con artist.

Shawn Spencer's family is growing. First, there's his mother, Madeline, coming to Santa Barbara for a visit, in the personage of Cybill Shepherd. And now comes news that another major television star is coming on board for a guest role. Steven Weber will be appearing in an episode of Psych as Shawn's Uncle Jack.

Jack is Henry's brother, although I don't see a big resemblance between Corbin Bernsen and Steven Weber. However, if the character is more like Shawn, that will give Weber a chance to play it wild and wacky. Maybe he'll be like his Brian Hackett incarnation on Wings.

According the TV Guide, this Psych episode sounds sort of like a Raiders of the Lost Ark/National Treasure adventure. Uncle Jack comes to town in search of a treasure. He has a map to a hidden Spanish cache of goodies and enlists Shawn and Gus in his search. Now you just know that James Roday will be pulling out a bullwhip and Fedora.

Weber, by the way, is expected back on Brothers and Sisters next season as Sarah's part-time lover. When the show wrapped, their romance was still humming.

(S02E10) "You slept with someone else too?" Nora Walker to Julia Walker

Oh, Brothers and Sisters, how I've missed your hijinx! I was under the impression from some of the news I'd read about the WGA strike that filming had ceased on the show, so I was very happy to have a new episode (albeit, feeling a little guilty, because I support the writers...). Mostly, I was happy to see everyone again.

Gallery: Brothers and Sisters: Feast of the Epiphany

(S01E11) I've never understood how people can celebrate Christmas in California (or Florida or Texas, for that matter). I grew up and live in New England, and I don't understand how you can have Christmas without the cold air and the possibility of snow. I mean, it just doesn't seem right, roaring down the 405 with the top down as the temp hovers around 78 degrees, with no Jack Frost nipping at your nose (job). But that's just me.

But it's also Matt Albie, who wants to bring a little Christmas spirit to Los Angeles and the set of Studio 60...

When Amanda Peet got pregnant in real-life, a lot of people wondered whether or not her Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip character would become pregnant too. Now Kristin over at E! Online breaks news that the Jordan McDeere character on the show will in fact become pregnant as well.

Who's the father? No word on that yet, though co-star Bradley Whitford has a few funny remarks about the whole plotline.

They'll be more about this story on E! News Daily, tonight at 7.

Thank God summer is almost over! Not because it was so hot, or that vacation driving pushed the price of a gallon of gas above three dollars, or that I used my air conditioner so much that the graph of electric usage took up two pages of my monthly bill. No, I'm glad summer is almost over because I'm tired of watching America's Got Talented Dancing With the Stars Who Want to be Supernovas while the Last Comic Stands With The One. In other words, bring on the new television season, dammit! So, without further ado, here are my five fall picks for the 2005-2006 season.

1. More season finales, less series finales: Over the last three seasons a number of good television shows left the airwaves for a life in syndication and DVD box sets. I'm talking about shows like Friends, Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, West Wing, Alias, Malcolm in the Middle, Arrested Development, Will & Grace and of course Joey. This left plenty of open slots in network schedules that had to be filled. Sometimes a network like ABC got lucky and hit with the right shows at the right time. Other times you had networks like NBC struggling to find its place after losing many of its most popular shows (and revenue generators). Hopefully with this season things will calm down a bit. We know that The Sopranos is definitely leaving this season, and shows like 7th Heaven, The Shield and Gilmore Girls may hang it up come April or May, but I hope that's all the attrition we'll see.