Apparently, there are a lot of medical emergencies in the Hamptons - deflated boobs, dying socialites, hemophiliac kids. And apparently, there is also a shortage of doctors in the area that is so bad everyone is clamoring to be attended to by a visiting doctor from out of town who has just been conveniently ostracized for having let a hospital trustee die in his care.
That's the basics of Royal Pains, USA's latest edition to its "characters welcome" line-up. Unfortunately for Doctor Hank Lawson, the physician in the center of this maelstrom of health issues, none of his patients are particularly interesting, which means I didn't care if they lived or died or if any of their wounds were healed properly. Nor did I care if the overly ambitious would-be doctor's assistant Divya got her wish that Lawson hang his shingle in the Hamptons. Or if his brother found a way to get laid.
It seems like everyone is out to get Burn Notice's Michael Westen in one way or another. An old buddy from the spy days will come back to see him and he'll end up being a bad guy, or he'll have other evildoers trying to kill, control and/or blackmail him. Now we have another one coming to the show for four episodes, and it's someone who was in not one but two different recent FOX shows.
Not sure why USA Network ran two new episodes of Law and Order: CI back to back last night. Since the show was delayed so much this season you would think they'd want to spread out the fresh episodes over the summer longer. But we got to see a Jeff Goldblum episode and a Vincent D'Onofrio episode on the same night so we can compare the two leading men.
In all of the massive Michael Jackson coverage, it was easy to forget that there was actually some new TV episodes on too. We had a new Burn Notice, and also a new episode of Royal Pains, the show that's actually a pleasant summer surprise. Here's the episode if you missed it. (Video also here.)
"Folie a Deux" was also the name of one of my favorite X-Files episodes, the one where the telemarketing boss was also an evil creature (as someone who worked a few telemarketing jobs, that episode seemed more like a documentary to me).
This was a Goren/Eames episode. Is it just me or does D'Onofrio look more and more unhealthy/disheveled? I know, I know, it's part of his character arc, but still...
In case you've forgotten, the new season of Burn Notice starts tonight at 9 (new time, and USA is having an all-day marathon of the past season today). But there's also a new show on USA Network debuting at 10 tonight called Royal Pains, about a doctor (Mark Fuerstein) getting involved in various cases in the Hamptons. Wouldn't it be great to see Michael Westen welcome the doctor to the USA family? Here you go.
So...are you a D'Onofrio (Goren) fan or a Goldblum (Nicols) fan? I'm wondering if this "Goldblum this week, D'Onofrio next week" format is irritating longtime fans, or if longtime fans like having Goldblum in the mix too. Will they ever have Goldblum investigate a case with Kathryn Erbe?
Last night was a Nichols/Wheeler episode, with the duo investigating the death of a con man's partner.
OK, so the video below isn't really a preview of the new season of Burn Notice (which premieres next Thursday, and note that it's at a new time, 9 PM), but it is a fun extended promo for the show. USA Today has a good piece on the show, including a set visit and info on what we can expect this season.
Whoa, there's a confusing headline. Is it Law and Order: CI or is it In Treatment?! It's Law and Order: CI with an episode titled "In Treatment." Damn you, confusing episode title-makers! I can't wait for a show to have an episode titled "Open Thread." This was the second Jeff Goldblum episode (he's trading off each week with Vincent D'Onofrio - I still want to see both of them investigate a case together). What did everyone think?
In Plain Sight is one of those shows that completely escapes my radar. That's not a comment on its quality or lack thereof, it's just that I didn't catch it when it first came on. It's a cable show, so the schedule is more unpredictable than the major networks, and I guess the plot doesn't grab me enough to remember to watch it so late at night on a Sunday (unlike Mad Men, which has the same time slot). But if you're a fan, feel free to go crazy and discuss last night's episode.
So, what did you think of Jeff Goldblum's first episode? Was it worth waiting through the endless delays? I thought it was ... pretty good. I wasn't thrilled with the introduction of Goldblum's OH SO QUIRKY character (the bagels at the crime scene, the disclosure that he vanished from the force for a long time, etc), but it got better as the episode went along (still haven't warmed to Julianne Nicholson, though). However, I think the Nichols character would come off better if we hadn't already had several years worth of the odd line readings and head tilts of Vincent D'Onofrio. I think if the two investigated a case together it would be way too much.
I really didn't mean for that to rhyme. After what seems like years on hiatus, Law and Order: CI finally returned to USA last night. It wasn't one of the new Jeff Goldblum episodes (they start next week), but it was a new episode, as Goren and Eames investigated a murder (surprise!). What did you think? Or are you not watching it until Goldblum's character shows up? Discuss!
The final season of the show that made USA famous for something other than playing non-stop reruns of Wings is turning into a reunion special. Or should I say a special reunion?
Bitty Schram, the actress who played Sharona, Adrian Monk's original partner in fighting crime on Monk, will return for an episode sometime during the show's eighth and final season.
This will mark her first appearance on the comedy-mystery since she mysteriously disappeared from the show halfway through the third season. It should also make for an interesting close to a series that has redefined the way the higher channels on the dial create and produce their own series.
We told you way back in October that Law and Order: CI, which was supposed to start up again in November, had been pushed back until early 2009. Now it has been pushed back even further, to the summer.
No word on what the hold up is this time (nor was there any explanation last time). If you've forgotten the news from several months ago, Chris Noth has been replaced by Jeff Goldblum. He'll be the lead in eight of this season's episodes while veteran star Vincent D'Onofrio will star in the other eight. It's always nice to share.
I wonder how long fans will wait before they say to themselves, "oh, is that show still on?" This is frustrating, because the show had become less ripped-from-the-headlines-ish than its parent show and more interesting.
Stay tuned with TV Squad for more Law and Order: CI info. Maybe in June we'll announce that it has been delayed until the next Presidential Inauguration.
Apparently, there are a lot of medical emergencies in the Hamptons - deflated boobs, dying socialites, hemophiliac kids. And apparently, there is also a shortage of doctors in the area that is so bad everyone is clamoring to be attended to by a visiting doctor from out of town who has just been conveniently ostracized for having let a hospital trustee die in his care. 
It seems like everyone is out to get 
So...are you a D'Onofrio (Goren) fan or a Goldblum (Nicols) fan? I'm wondering if this "Goldblum this week, D'Onofrio next week" format is irritating longtime fans, or if longtime fans like having Goldblum in the mix too. Will they ever have Goldblum investigate a case with Kathryn Erbe?
The final season of the show that made USA famous for something other than playing non-stop reruns of Wings is turning into a reunion special. Or should I say a special reunion? 
We told you way back in October that 
Seven greatest hand cannons in TV history
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
