TVSquad

When Eric Braeden walked out of The Young and the Restless, it was my belief that the powers that be would find some way to reach a compromise with him and Victor Newman would remain an integral part of Genoa City. However, the negotiations between Braeden and the folks at Sony turned cold.

Cold as in heartless. Considering the character Braeden has played for nearly 30 years, Victor Newman, he should have understood the daytime TV business had changed. Instead, he was insulted and -- apparently -- grew stubborn. So instead of a compromise, it looks like Braeden is really leaving.

However, today's news suggests that while he walked from a job that was asking him to take a pay cut from $1.5 million a year to $1 million a year, other actors are interested in filling Braeden's shoes. The question is this, though: can another actor play Victor Newman?

(S02E10) This was the type of episode that originally drew me to What About Brian. It was fast-paced, all the stories intertwined, and it was laugh out loud funny on more than one occasion. It's a good thing too because had this episode not been so good, and I was planning on not reviewing it anymore. This one has me hooked again and believe it or not, it had nothing to do with the cliffhanger.

(S02E08) Well this was certainly an improvement. If anything, I say that only because the show did some things that I actually didn't expect to happen.

It's interesting with shows like this, especially ensemble shows. If often becomes easier to predict what certain characters are going to do next because they get put on a path of sorts. So it's always nice when they deviate from that path and you don't see it coming. I like surprises.

(S02E06) What about Brian? What about him indeed... I'm officially enjoying every other storyline way more than Brian's. There's just so much going on and Brian almost seems like an afterthought at this point.

The entire Adam/Heather relationship is great. Here's my fear though. What if she's playing him? It wouldn't be too hard to imagine, especially now that they've eloped (did not see that coming). She said her mother was a stripper too and that she basically grew up in the back of a club. It's not crazy to think that she heard of or knew some other women who used a man for money. She is going to med school too and could probably use the extra bucks. Regardless, if they stay together for a while, it'll set up some fireworks for Marjorie's return. Unless (I just thought of this), what if Marjorie comes home and she's married too? Ooohh...

(S05E19) They're creepy and they're kooky, they're altogether evil, they're President Logan and friends. Logan spells out the fact that he's a baddie to his wife this week, and we get a taste of the creative genius that seems to *actually* be behind the terrorists' plans to blow up a good portion of the U.S. and kill some citizens, all for the "good of the country." If you were calling a body count for tonight, it's probably good if it was a low guess. If you're calling for a body count with at least one "high value target" as they say in the trade, then you're probably spot on.

Not surprisingly, Jack leaves Audrey behind with Henderson after he's been caught and handcuffed to a post, and after a certain someone takes a certain plunge off a cliff in a certain vehicle, there's a good chance she'll waste him, right? Apparently not. Jack's so trusting with weaponry, it's a shocker that he didn't just give a gun to Henderson and leave him in the building himself. And what's with bad guys always showing up while Jack & Co. are holed up in someplace that looks like a hideout in a shoot 'em up videogame, anyway?

Crumbs' two week hiatus just got extended indefinitely by ABC. The new Fred Savage comedy was off the schedule during the Olympics but now it doesn't appear to be returning anytime soon. Instead, ABC will stretch next week's episode of Dancing with the Stars to two hours. The network has scheduled movies, Sweet Home Alabama and Bringing Down the House, on the following Thursdays, March 2 and 9. Then, ABC launches the Simon Cowell competition American Inventor and, starting March 23, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition comes to Thursdays.

It's actually a bit of a surprise that Crumbs is shelved. It's the highest-rated comedy on ABC these days, even ahead of The George Lopez Show. There are eight episodes of Crumbs that are left to air so maybe we'll see it back on the schedule this summer. Or on iTunes.

[The Futon Critic]

Crumbs is a show that is trying really hard to be something different than your standard sitcom. The problem is, it's probably trying a little too hard.

Here's the gist: Suzanne Crumb (Jane Curtin) is just getting out of a mental health care facility after having a nervous breakdown. She's not quite all the way back but has decided to leave. Her son Mitch (Fred Savage), a famous "movie writer" who is in the closet -- he's even sleeping with his therapist -- comes home to Connecticut to help her ease back into everyday life. He's also returned to mend fences with his brother Jody (Eddie McClintock), who hasn't forgiven him for running away after their brother Patrick died in a boating accident, the basis for Mitch's hit movie. Why did Suzanne lose her marbles? Because her husband Billy (William Devane) left her for a younger woman -- a restaurant reviewer who is now having their baby --  and abandoned the restaurant he ran with Jody, who is the chef.