TVSquad

It's looking like David E. Kelley's plan is to have at least one of his legal shows on the air at all times.

The producer/writer is now pitching a new legal drama series to the networks. CBS and NBC are particularly interested. No word on whether or not ABC is interested in the new show, which would be odd since they've had some success with one of Kelley's other legal shows, Boston Legal, which is ending after this season.

To refresh your memory, here are the other legal shows that Kelley has created, written, and/or produced over the years: Ally McBeal, The Practice, The Law Firm, Girls Club, and L.A. Law. Actually, even some of his non-law shows have had strong law elements, including Picket Fences.

Kelley was working on the American version of Life On Mars, which premieres on ABC later this month, but left after the pilot. The show is getting good buzz so far.

"This is the first script I've read that made me excited to come back to TV," said the actor about his latest project. The actor is Wilmer Valderrama; the project is a Fox comedy pilot called The Emancipation of Ernesto.

Wilmer, who is best-known from his eight seasons on That '70s Show -- a supporting player on the Fox mainstay -- will be front and center on this new one-hour, single camera comedy. He's Ernesto, and Ernesto is a quirky character.

The show is citing two 1979 films -- for starters -- as reminiscent of The Emancipation of Ernesto: Steve Martin's The Jerk, as well as Chauncey Gardiner, the Peter Seller's character in Being There. Why? Well, it's the Ernesto character.

After more than twenty years at 20th Century Fox TV, Emmy-winning writer-producer David E. Kelley is packing his bags.

One of the longest and most succesful collaborations in television history is coming to an end as Kelley announced that he is entering into a three-year partnership with Warner Bros. TV.

(S04E20) "Shirley, it was good that we oppose." - Carl Sack leaving himself wide open.

Shatner and Spader's celebratory dance upon learning they were accepted into the Coast Guard may have been the best acting I have seen out of the two of them all season.

When I read the synopsis of the season finale I really didn't know what to think. At first glance, of course, the idea of one city seceding from the United States seems ridiculous. However, this being Boston Legal I knew there had to be more to it.

(S04E17) I don't want to seem like I'm not happy for Jerry but did we really need to know so much about him losing his virginity and by "so much" I mean anything at all? More importantly, I have to call BS on Jerry's glowing review of his opening night performance. In my many years of "intimacy," some experiences have certainly been better than others but none of them have ever made me nostalgic for my first time. Not that I don't remember it fondly, it's just not something I would brag about and I really doubt that anyone involved would describe me as caring, respectful or wonderful.

I must admit, Mr. Kelley had me at "THE United States Supreme Court." This was a real test for Alan. On one hand, how does he justify defending a man convicted of raping a child? On the other hand, how will his huge ego be able to pass up the opportunity to argue in front of the highest court in the country?

(S04E05) "It's not everyday you encounter compelling characters, is it?" - Patrice Kelly

There's been a lot of talk about the rhetoric that Boston Legal has concerned itself with lately. It seems a lot of you have an opinion on the political views taken by the show. In an effort to "reach across the aisle" let me point out something that I'm sure we can all agree on...Boston Legal has some of the most original storylines on TV.

Personally, I am hard pressed to think of any show wherein a character asks one of the stars to advise her on how to be found "not guilty by reason of temporary insanity" before committing the murder. This episode had me on the edge of my seat from the very first scene.

TV Guide is reporting that Lucy Liu has decided to return to television. She'll star in the pilot for Cashmere Mafia, a new ABC comedy from Sex and the City creator Darren Star.

Liu became famous in the 1990s for playing 'Ling Woo' in Ally McBeal, and recently appeared as a guest star on Ugly Betty, but has primarily stuck to movies. In particular, she seems to snag lots of roles where she kicks some ass (Kill Bill, Charlie's Angels). Maybe she's tired of all the stunts and Kung Fu?

Her role in Cashmere Mafia is definitely a departure from those action flicks. The series follows four career women in the world of dating and family in New York City.

I must admit, I was worried when I read that Peter MacNicol would be joining the cast of 24 this season. And I was mighty skeptical.

I knew MacNicol only as John "The Biscuit" Cage from Ally McBeal, a role which scored him an Emmy. (Yeah, yeah, I know he's been on the show Numb3rs since 2005. But I don't watch Numb3rs.) For years, I watched as the "funny little man" dazzled fictional Boston courtrooms with his odd antics and did strange things in his law offices, like "dismounting" from the co-ed bathroom stalls, utilizing a remote toilet bowl flusher and saying that he was "drawn to" various females.

The preview for this weeks Blade teased a kiss between Krista (Jill Wagner) and Chase (Jessica Gower). In celebration of that possibility, I thought now would be a good time to touch on other girl-girl kisses in our television history. Sometimes they are to make a statement. Sometimes they are a ploy to grab ratings. And every once in a while, it's just a natural part of the story. Here are the five that come to mind first for me.

Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) and Sharon (Mariel Hemingway) - Roseanne
This was an important moment in television. At the time, there was no L-Word, and two girls kissing was still a very controversial thing. Roseanne has her faults, to be sure, but standing up to the network to get this episode on the air is something to be proud of.

Ally (Calista Flockhart) and Ling (Lucy Liu) - Ally McBeal
This one strikes me as somewhat the opposite of the Roseanne kiss. There was much less statement, and much more ratings grabbing sensationalism in this lip-lock. In that regard, it worked very well. Of course, the gang over at Ally McBeal had plenty of practice. Along with Ling, Ally also kissed Georgia (Courtney Thorne-Smith) and Elaine (Jane Krokowski). But if I have to pick one, it's Ling every time. And yes, I was an Ally McBeal fan.

(S01E12) Very few writers can somehow lampoon both Independence Day and Ally McBeal in the same episode and somehow make it look like it makes sense. I mean, take a look at Family Guy; it rockets from one pop-culture reference to the next without much of a thought to context or its relatability to the actual plot of the episode. The writers of Futurama, however, seem to take such a juxtaposition and smoothly incorporate it into the plot of the show. It could be the fact that the show takes place in the future, where you can create something like Monument Beach and make it sound plausible. But it might just be damn good writing (or at least, writing that's not done by manatees).

Here's something you don't usually see: an actor joining a show as a series regular, but staying on his current show, on another network, also as a series regular.

Peter MacNicol will join the cast of 24 in the fall. He'll play a top government official on the spy drama when it comes back in January. But MacNicol is going to stay as a regular on Numb3rs, where he plays mentor and friend to Charlie.

Maybe Charlie can make a guest appearance on 24. He can help Jack Bauer solve an international conspiracy with, um, math or something. I mean, the show does have a number as its title.

Now that pilot season is wrapping up, it's casting season in L.A., where mega-stars or yet-to-be-discovered actors sign on to all sorts of new shows in hopes that the networks will pick them up for the fall line-up. There are a lot of big names this time around. Check it out:

• Calista Flockhart (Ally McBeal) and Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under) will star in the ABC drama pilot Brothers & Sisters, a soap-style drama about adult siblings.
• Heather Locklear is in negotiations for a leading role in the ABC comedy pilot, Women of a Certain Age. Locklear would play a recently widowed woman who starts a new life with her two best friends.
• Ron Livingston (Sex and the City, Office Space) is one of two leads in a FOX drama called Primary, which is about a male and a female hostage negotiator who balance their love lives with their jobs.
• Joe Pantoliano (The Sopranos) has agreed to star in CBS' Waterfront, as the charismatic and "ethically-challenged" mayor of Providence, R.I.
• Steven Culp, previously known as Rex Van De Kamp on Desperate Housewives, will appear in the ABC drama, Traveler, about three Yale graduate students who become a national security risk when one of them frames the other two for an art museum bombing.
• Swoosie Kurtz will take on a supporting role in the CBS comedy, Play Nice, which stars Timm Sharp and Sara Rue (Less Than Perfect) as a brother and sister who run a toy company.
• Jonah Lotan, who has been playing Spenser Wolff this season on 24, will take on a role on the FOX thriller, Beyond, which is about the space race.

[Via The Hollywood Reporter]

It looks like 2006 will be the year of the Dawson's Creek kids after all. We've already been hearing plenty about Katie Holmes and MIchelle Williams, and, as I was happy to report earlier this month, Joshua Jackson is starring in a legal drama on CBS (hopefully) next fall. Now comes word that James Van Der Beek (aka Dawson) will also be returning to series television, also on CBS. Van Der Beek has been cast in a comedy pilot, Sex, Power, Love & Politics, a comedy that, like Van Der Beek, has too many names in the title. It's about Capitol Hill staffers in their 30s, and that's about all we know. I'm not sure what role he has, but he'll be acting alongside Ally McBeal alum, Jane Krakowski, a role Adam reported on earlier this month.

The lovely Jane Krakowski of Ally McBeal has signed on to a new comedy pilot for CBS titled Sex, Power, Love & Politics, which is possibly the worst and most cumbersome name for a sitcom I've ever heard. The show will focus on Capitol Hill staffers in their 30s. It's being produced by Sony Television. I'm not a fan of CBS programming in general, but maybe, just maybe, having the Tony Award-winning Krakowski involved will make it worth tuning in. They just need to change that title, seriously.

Michael Scott (Steve Carell) puts it all in perspective at the end of this episode when he describes why an office needs both men and women to be present:

"You need to have that crazy sexual tension to keep things interesting."

How did we get to this prophetic (for Michael, anyway) statement? It begins with his boss (and unrequited love interest) Jan showing up at the Scranton office of Dunder Mifflin to conduct a "Women in the Workplace" roundtable and gathers all the ladies in the conference room to discuss their lives and how it relates to their careers, and vice versa.

Michael is threatened by the fact all the "Ally McBeal" women are gathered together and thinks they're talking about him. Jan throws him out of the room, so Michael decides to gather all the male office staff down in the "bowels of the office" aka the warehouse, which is run by foreman Darrell, who is not thrilled with what is going on. In addition, let's not forget that Pam's fiance Roy works there too, and Kevin mentions to Jim that he wonders if Roy has caught wind of Jim's previous/ongoing crush on her.

Michael attempts to forge some male bonding and togetherness that although there are white collar and blue collar workers in the same place, he says he is "collar blind." However, the warehouse guys can't hide their obvious contempt for Michael, especially as he drives forklifts into inventory and ends up making a huge mess. Meanwhile, Roy and Jim make small talk and Roy brings up the aforementioned crush. He says he's cool with Jim because all of that took place years ago, so they move on.