TVSquad

It's rare when you hear about a casting and just say to yourself, "Oh, perfect." Well, that happened today. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Beau Bridges is going to be Dermot Mulroney's father on NBC's new 'The Rockford Files.' It's not just that Bridges, older brother of Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, is a terrific actor; he's really right for the role.

In the original 'Rockford Files,' Noah Berry, Jr. played Rocky, Jim's father, who served as both Jim's buddy and foil. They hung out together and understood each other. Rocky had been a truck driver and had a no-nonsense, clear vision of things.

He'd give Jim advice or just voice his opinion, often in a wry way. Presumably in NBC's version, which 'House' creator David Shore is overseeing and also involves 'The Office's' Steve Carell as executive producer, Beau Bridges as Rocky will be the same kind of guy.

(S05E14) "Hello, Beau Bridges? Yes, this is The Closer calling. Would you like an Emmy nomination? You would... Okay, we're sending you the script now."

Perhaps it didn't happen exactly that way, but here was a show in which a gifted actor was presented a wonderful opportunity and he rose to the occasion. The Closer is one of those procedurals that has a deft touch with the comic episodes. Oh yeah, there are occasions when it gets a little bizarre -- and this episode might have gone there but it didn't. Instead, we had a terrific twist in more ways than one.

We also got to see how adorable Kyra Sedgwick looks in a hot pink ski parka. For more on the wardrobe and the old folks getting killed by the faux nurse, read on.

(S05E13) TV shows always try to offer us big episodes when they hit milestones such as their 100th episode. Some totally miss the mark while others offer us an amazing episode that ends up being one of the best in the series. Desperate Housewives' cast and crew can give themselves a pat on the back because they are of the latter group.

"The Best Thing That Ever Could Have Happened" may not have pushed forward the current storylines, but it brought us down memory lane while offering tidbits we didn't know about the main housewives. It also allowed us to see a few old faces such as Rex, Mrs Gruber, Yao Lin and Mary Alice.

Last spring, ABC had high hopes for a new sitcom starring TV fave Alyssa Milano. Today, not so much.

ABC decided to dump Alyssa Milano's show, Single With Parents, claiming that there were creative differences between the show's creator, Kristin Newman (How I Met Your Mother), and the rest of the producers. Ouch. Can't we all just get along?

Actually, if there are problems at this stage of the game -- after just producing a pilot -- it might be better for the network to pass on this and consider working with Alyssa on something else down the road. We've seen far too many shows make it to air that should have never gotten the greenlight, so maybe in these tough economic times, caution is wise these days.

The CW may have kicked off its fall season on Labor Day, but for most of the other networks, things are just getting started. So what does that mean for you? Heavy promotion for not only the new shows premiering this fall, but for returning favorites as well. To that end, My Name Is Earl creator Greg Garcia and star Jason Lee spoke with reporters recently about Earl's upcoming 4th season.

My Name Is Earl returns for its 4th season on NBC with two back-to-back episodes, September 25 at 8pm. Not only did Garcia and Lee give us a taste of what to expect when we catch up with our favorite Camdenites, but they also dished the dirt on dream guest stars, what previous guest star peed over by craft services, if an Earl movie is in the works, and perhaps a word or two about a famously abrasive 30 Rock star. All of the details are after the jump.

I am about to write something that I normally don't do when it comes to the way networks program their primetime schedules. It's something that will shake your foundations, rock the world, turn Republicans into Democrats (and vice-versa) and make Amy Winehouse finally get sober. Ready? ABC is being smart with its programming schedule.

There, it's done. Now to sit back and wait for the accolades.

Seriously, after years of relying on only a handful of shows to carry the schedule throughout the year, ABC has been filling out their schedules with a number of backup shows to fill those gaps that always appear when a fall premiere tanks. Granted, some of these mid-season replacements also tank, but at least the network is letting them try. Because of that we have been lucky to enjoy shows like Samantha Who? and Eli Stone. This time around, ABC has five new series - all scripted - that will be premiering during the 2008-09 season. You'll find a brief explanation of each after the jump.

One of several Stargate-related panels today was that of the new direct-to-DVD movie, Stargate Contimuum (comes out next Tuesday). Apparently if I was able to keep my eyes open enough last night, the movie was shown in its entirety upon the deck of an aircraft carrier last night. Hell, if I'd realized that, I would've gone all zombie-like to the thing and said to hell with everything else today. Well, except the Joss stuff.

Here are some highlights from that panel.

(S03E17) "Oh God, I don't want to die in shorts." - Carl Hickey

One of the greatest things about Earl is how the show embraces it's own absurdity. The fact that Earl's parents knew nothing about his coma or prison stay was completely ridiculous and yet it made perfect sense in the landscape of the show.

As I've said before, there clearly must be something in the water supplied to Camden County because as normal and pleasant as Carl and Kay seem to be they must be pretty bad parents to be so out of touch with their eldest son.

Taking a page out of the Law & Order and CSI handbooks, MGM Television is considering a third Stargate series to run concurrently with veterans Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. This is according to MGM TV executive vice-president Charles Cohen.

On the heels of the upcoming 200th episode of SG-1, whose 10th season begins July 14th on the Sci-Fi Channel, Cohen is discussing a feature film derived from the series. That film would then dovetail into a third Stargate show. However, that doesn't mean that SG-1 would end for the movie to appear. In fact, Cohen believes that the movie could run while the series was still producing first-run episodes.

According to Cohen, Stargate SG-1 represents the same sort of franchise on television as the James Bond series does; while it is good financially it also keeps their name in the marketplace. He proves this by putting more money into new episodes, hiring new people such as Beau Bridges, Ben Browder and Claudia Black (both formerly of another Sci-Fi channel show, Farscape), and bringing back old favorites like Richard Dean Anderson's Jack O'Neill.