TVSquad

Hey, Fox! Would you rather lose Hugh Laurie as the curmudgeon Dr. House, or would you rather risk what could happen to the show if he lost that trademark limp? He's been limping around the set for five years now. He's no spring chicken, and the limp is starting to take such a toll on his body, that Laurie might consider leaving House over it.

"The show might last through to (season) seven, eight or nine, but I don't know if I will because I'm starting to lose my knees," he said. "It's a lot of hip work. There are things going badly wrong." I've been reading for a few years now about how the limp has been affecting Laurie's actual health and physical well-being. I don't see why Fox doesn't just resolve this problem by eliminating the limp.

I know the chronic pain is supposed to be a facet of his character, but it's season six now. The viewers like him and can accept him as he grows and changes. We'd certainly rather deal with a pain-free House than a House-free TV schedule.

With the untimely death of actor Stanley Kamel, USA Network and the producers of Monk were compelled to find another actor to play a psychiatrist for the OCD detective. TV Guide has gotten the exclusive word that Hector Elizondo has been cast as Monk's new shrink. The veteran actor -- you'll recognize him from every Garry Marshall movie from Pretty Woman to The Princess Diaries -- was most recently on Cane. As Michael Ausiello points out, if Hector's doing Monk, chances are that CBS has officially canned Cane, even if they haven't announced it yet.

The failure of Secret Talents of the Stars has had ripple effects on the CBS prime time schedule. With Big Brother coming to an end and Secret Talents unable to make it past one episode, the return of Shark, which was going to come back on Tuesdays at 10 p.m., will now return on Tuesday at 9 p.m. for three broadcasts beginning April 29. Had Secret Talents worked, CBS wouldn't be scrambling on Tuesdays.

The CBS Tuesday lineup for next Tuesday, therefore, will be NCIS, Shark and a rerun of CSI. Then on May 6, it'll be NCIS, Shark and a CSI: Miami rerun. On May 13, NCIS, Shark and a Criminal Minds rerun.

What'll be interesting for Shark fans -- and TV geeks in general like us -- will be to see exactly how well the James Woods legal drama performs with a strong lead in like NCIS. Even the reruns scheduled to follow the three episodes are all strong support. Will this Tuesday hammock experiment be advantageous to Shark, securing the kind of Nielsen numbers that will be a deciding factor in the show's renewal for next season?

Last month, Anna told you which shows were on the bubble, the shows that were might not be coming back. Now TV Guide's Michael Ausiello has an updated list of which shows are in trouble. He gives a 1-10 rating for each show, 10 meaning the show is definitely coming back and 0 meaning the stars should start looking for work right now.

Shark will swim again -- at least for the rest of this season. The future, however, remains unclear. CBS today announced that Shark will return on April 29 in a new timeslot. The network is switching the L.A. legal drama from Sundays at nine to Tuesdays at nine, where it may benefit from the strong lead-in of NCIS. Chances are that if Shark holds NCIS's ratings -- or improves on them -- that could mean more Shark for fall. If the show stumbles, CBS will likely pull the plug.

Fans of Shark may need to get more militant if they want to keep the show on the air. In a recent story we did about CBS renewals, there was fervent outcries for bringing back Moonlight and The Unit, even Cane. Out of 40 comments, only two came to Shark's defense. It may be a small sample, but still...

Fans of the Tiffany network can do the happy dance. CBS has renewed 11 scripted shows for the 2008-2009 TV season. The lucky 11 are: CSI; CSI: Miami; CSI: New York; NCIS; Criminal Minds; Cold Case; Without a Trace; Ghost Whisperer; Numb3rs; Two and a Half Men; and The Big Bang Theory.

There are not a lot of surprises in this bunch, although it's great news that The Big Bang Theory, CBS's rookie Monday-night sitcom from Chuck Lorre's stable, made the cut. Still in limbo, however, are three other Monday-night comedies from the network: How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, and The New Adventures of Old Christine. The story speculates that Mother will get the greenlight for a fourth season soon, but Rules and Christine seem to be in competition for the 9:30-10:00 half-hour slot.

(S01E12) This was a great episode of Cane. For once, they didn't try to wrap up all the loose ends of a story in one episode. I hate when everything is resolved too quickly. Some of the situations are dramatic and serious and should be drawn out. The shot of Alex in the rain at the end was great and left me wondering how would he get himself out of this debacle. (Unfortunately, I didn't catch any scenes for next week so I'm not sure about the fate of Cane as it has been suffering in the ratings.)

Speaking of Alex, all the best episodes of the season have been when the odds were against him. Last night proved no different. He is such a clever strong-willed character so I really like seeing him get into sticky situations and then having to dig himself out.

• At 8, ABC has a new Duel.
• NBC has a new Clash of the Choirs and a new Biggest Loser.
• PBS has a new Nova at 8, then a new Independent Lens.
• AMC has the 1984 version of A Christmas Carol at 8.
• Also at 8: Food Network has Al Roker's Christmas in New York.
• At 9, CBS has a new episode of The Unit, then a new Cane.
• Lifetime has the movie On the 2nd Day of Christmas.
• At 10, TNT has a new Saving Grace.
• FX has a new Nip/Tuck at 10.
• Bravo has a new The Real Housewives of Orange County.
• There's a new ECW on Sci-Fi at 10.
• The Travel Channel has Christmas to the Extreme at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E11) There was a double episode of Cane last night. I suppose that was because Cane was not on last week. But whatever the reason, I just wanted to point out before I start talking about "Hurricane" that I have reviewed both episodes. I linked to the review of "The Perfect Son" at the end of this post.

Firstly, why did the people in the convenience store start panicking and rushing out like that? I rewound that dialogue a few times to see what Alex said right before the people went nuts. He just told his son to be calm. So, was the uproar because that thug had a recognizable gang tattoo? Or did people start panicking because of something with hurricane?

(S01E12) Look at this picture. Why did they leave poor Rebecca out? Is it because the little harlot cheated on precious Jaime? I thought perhaps the picture was just supposed to be the groom's family but that doesn't explain why Ellis Samuels is there.

Okay, I'm sidetracking already. But, I'm finished now. Cane was very dramatic and action-packed tonight. At 9 p.m. we had a hurricane and at 10 p.m. we had a huge fire in the cane fields. The Duques just can't catch a break.

• At 8, NBC has a new Deal Or No Deal, then a new Biggest Loser.
• Cartoon Network has Billy & Mandy Save Christmas at 8.
• BBC America has the two-hour season premiere of Life on Mars at 8.
• At 8:30, ABC has Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too.
• At 9, CBS has two new episodes of Cane.
• Lifetime has the movie All She Wants For Christmas at 9.
• Hallmark has the movie Meet The Santas at 9.
• At 10, ABC has a new Boston Legal.
• There's a new Nip/Tuck on FX at 10.
• Discovery has a new Everest: Beyond the Limit at 10.
• ABC Family has The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has The Real Housewives of Orange County.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E10) Firstly, let me say that I was a little worried when Cane didn't show any previews for next week. I wonder if it's been affected by the writers' strike. Maybe because of poor ratings they are just taking it off the air. I wouldn't be surprised--they are fine with taking good characters off the show without warning (hello? Santo?). I would be upset if Cane got canceled though. The show really has so much potential and it would be such a waste of an excellent ensemble cast to cancel it.

Now let's get to the review. Tonight's episode was good. The parallel stories were clever. Alex / Jaime are both confronted with morally gray situations (i.e. a hooker in the hotel room and strippers at a bachelor party). Both, however, stay true to their wives.

• At 8, ABC has A Charlie Brown Christmas (hopefully they'll show it again closer to Christmas), then the season finale of Dancing with the Stars.
• CBS has a new NCIS at 8, followed by new episodes of The Unit and Cane.
• NBC has a new Biggest Loser at 8, then a new Law and Order: SVU.
• FOX has new episodes of Bones and House.
• There's a new Beauty and the Geek on The CW at 8, followed by a new Reaper.
• At 9, HGTV has a new Decorating Cents, then a new 24 Hour Design.
• Hallmark has John Denver in The Christmas Gift at 9.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9, then a new Everest: Beyond the Limit.
• At 10, FX has a new Nip/Tuck.
• TLC has a new Miami Ink at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Orange County.
• At 10:15, TCM has The Hustler.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E09) So, is it just me or is Cane a little all over the place? I was convinced last week and in the few weeks before that that Ellis Samuels was genuinely interested in Frank Duque and really wanted to be parted from her despicable father. But this week (because now it's convenient for Alex's character) she is back on the other side with Daddy dearest.

I seem to remember Ellis confronting her father about the death of Lucia Duque. The look on her face said everything: she was in shock and deeply disappointed to discover her father ordered the death of a little girl. Then, her father threw her under the bus with the Cuban land deal. He even rudely ignored her while playing cards with his buddies. It was clear they were not in cahoots.

• At 8, ABC has A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, followed by He's A Bully, Charlie Brown and new episodes of Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor.
• CBS has a new NCIS, then new episodes of The Unit and Cane.
• NBC has new episodes of The Biggest Loser and Law and Order: SVU.
• FOX has a new Bones at 8, then a new House.
• The CW has a new Beauty and the Geek at 8.
• PBS has a new Nova at 8, followed by a new Frontline.
• Food Network has Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Thanksgiving at 8.
• Also at 8: TCM has The Bad and the Beautiful, then It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
• At 10, Sci-Fi has a new ECW.
• TLC has a new Miami Ink at 10.
• HBO has a new Real Sports with Bryant Gumbal at 10.
• At 11, TBS has the series premiere of Frank TV.

Check your local TV listings for more.