(S02E08) "God, you're a cold bastard." - Lisbon, to Jane
Wow. Just... wow. I have to hand it to The Mentalist. The previews showed several agents dying and lots of tension and upheaval at CBI. But really, I thought there would be some trick to it. Agents we've never met would be killed or something similar. But they actually killed off regulars! Another agent quits! Two people professed love for one another!
This was like a season finale, really, which makes me really excited to see how this season is going to end.
(S05E08) Ah, Dave Foley. His sad sack Tom has been good for a laugh more than a few times, and he was used to good comic effect again this week. In the double blind-date scenario with Christine and Richard, his counterpart was the lovely Jennifer Grey, real-life wife to Clark Gregg.
The New Adventures of Old Christine is a rare comedy in that it can work in guest stars like this without it detracting from either the ongoing character moments, or taking the spotlight away from the main cast. Too often when a show gets deeper into its run, like Will & Grace in its final years, it becomes a cavalcade of celebrity guest-stars, as if the writers have run out of ways to keep things fresh with their own core group.
Christine has mixed things up just this season by breaking up Richard and New Christine and having Matthew move in with Richard in a swinging bachelor pad. And they shook it up again this week.
(S07E08)NCIS did something so great on tonight's episode that I'm surprised I haven't seen it done on another procedural until now. If you haven't seen the show yet, I won't spoil it, but I will say that it was a complication that really made the show.
There were moments for DiNozzo to reference all kinds of TV shows from the past, a chance for Gibbs to prove that there's nothing he can't handle with aplomb, and even the opportunity for Abby to show that sans Cafe Pow, she's still the sharpest lab tech in NCIS. More on the case after the jump.
A long time ago (well, 31 years ago) in a galaxy far, far away (Television City isn't technically a different galaxy, unless you consider TV producers to be people who don't spend much time on planet Earth), an evil was unleashed upon the human race.
Today marks the 31st anniversary of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, a Christmas not-so-spectacular roasted by critics including some here at TV Squad years after it hit the air and even some of the franchise's most ardent fans.
That also includes George Lucas who once remarked at an Australian convention that he wished he could buy up all of the world's remaining copies of the show and smash them into oblivion with a sledgehammer. I wonder if 31 years from now, he'll be saying the same thing about Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace?
CBS is promoting this Thursday's episode of The Mentalist as "the episode you've been waiting for." Not sure about that, but this preview below does seem rather intense. Three people are murdered in the CBI office and Red John might be involved? Yikes.
[Watch clips and episodes of The Mentalist and other shows at SlashControl.]
Sundays have always been a good night for CBS. It's been a good day for years, thanks to the NFL. Traditionally, the football games bleed right into prime time, which commences at seven o'clock because of 60 Minutes. Even in the days when CBS broadcast Sunday night movies, the network has done well on that night of the week.
However, the advent of the NBC Football Night in America has put a dent in CBS's strength. Also the ABC lineup and Fox's animation domination are no slouches either. So, CBS is going to do something to bolster Sundays. Three Rivers and Cold Case will switch time slots.
Okay, maybe it's not a "clone" per se, but the premise reads like an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Coming to NBC: a group of small-town fanboys try to make continuing episodes of their favorite sci fi series after it is canceled. Larry Charles, who was behind such fare as Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Borat and Bruno, will be behind the production.
The new idea is also "semi-scripted", which means it'll likely be heavily improvised much like most of the series and movies that Charles has been involved with. Warner Bros. TV is the company producing and they also do The Big Bang Theory, so they're in effect competing with themselves. This is a good thing because they win either way.
Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing this premise played out on an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon gets the idea and, using his sly coercive techniques, makes everybody else play along. Since he knows no other females, he coerces Penny (who is an aspiring actress anyway) to play the token female in the series. Quick! Call Chuck Lorre!
(S05E08) "How did you find this one?" - Det. Sam Blair to Melinda and Eli
Eli and Melinda quickly came up with a fake story as to why they often discover bodies or are around crime scenes. Detective Blair bought it this time but it wouldn't surprising if she decides to dig a little deeper to get real answers. After years of being around deceased, one would expect that the Grandview police would start investigating why Melinda, and now Eli, are involved in a lot of their cases, no?
While we wait for Det. Blair to start to investigate Melinda and Eli, we are treated to one of the wackiest and lightest episode of the season thanks to Greg Germann and Perrey Reeves guesting on the episode.
"Did you hear who's going to play during the Super Bowl halftime show?"
"No, who?"
"That's what I just said. Who."
"No, seriously. Which is the band that's going to appear?"
"It's Who."
"I'm not talking proper English. Which band will be on CBS's halftime show on February 7 at Landshark Stadium in Miami?"
"The Who -- you know, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend. 'Tommy, can you hear me?'"
"Oh! Why didn't you just say that!"
Okay, I couldn't resist the nod to Abbott and Costello's Who's On First. But the fact is that Sports Illustrated has spread the word that The Who will star in the Super Bowl big, overblown half-time pageant. This follows the safe pattern the NFL has been employing since the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake costume malfunction; that is, stick with classic rock stars who are guaranteed to do their hits and not disrobe. That's why we've had Prince, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and now The Who. All superstar acts, no controversy.
(S02E07) "This man ... I don't even know what he is. He is an accident waiting to happen." - Bosco about Jane
Don't adjust your computer screen. The picture above was not tempered with: Jane and Bocso are in the same area and are not at each others' throat! As Bob hinted at the end of his review of last week's The Mentalist episode, the "Jane and Bosco having to work closely together on a case" episode we've been expecting since Bosco joined the show has finally arrived!
Let me start by stating that I think you are a very funny man. I have been following your career for years and you're great. You were wonderful in Jerry Maguire. Of course, you were speaking lines written by Cameron Crowe, so that was a plus, but you delivered the performance. Bravo, Jay Mohr.
That said, I have to talk to you now about Gary Unmarried. Jay, you can make this so much better. Really, you are capable of so much more. Yes, you don't have Cameron Crowe writing for you now. I'm fully aware of that. But you're there.
Gary Unmarried may have started as a formula, and it still has too much of that formula intact. The bitchy, controlling wife/ex-wife? Haven't we seen the Allison character on Two and a Half Men (Judith), Everybody Loves Raymond (Deborah), TheKing of Queens (Carrie)? Do you see the pattern here? I do.
(S05E07) I guess the fate of Marion Ross was handled off-screen, because Matthew and Richard are settling into her old digs, and she was nowhere to be seen this episode. Now that I think about it, though, she could be shacking up in Matthew's old digs out in the backyard. It would make for a pretty funny callback to have her character pop back up. Maybe even act as if Christine didn't even know she'd moved in back there.
I wasn't as impressed with the forced obligatory "we're different but now we're roommates" storyline for Matthew and Richard. Hopefully, now that it's out of the way, the writers have some ideas of some fun things they can do with the mismatched pair. In five seasons, we've not seen a great deal of interaction between them, but their differences could make for some good comedy.
(S07E07) People who don't watch NCIS usually think the show is all about the military, all about forensics, all about criminal procedures, etc. Well, an episode like this is a perfect example of how character-driven the show actually is. Leon Vance has not been as interesting as the director of NCIS as Jenny Shepherd was, but the look into his back-story we saw with this episode may be a game changer. For one thing, he has some wife.
But as much as the Vance story and his weird connection to Kai drove the show, it may be the sad sack McGee subplot that resonates. Poor probie. Tough luck, McGeek ... or McDigit, as Tony dubbed him. The redhead was a looker. Tony and Ziva were impressed. Oh well ... more after the jump.
A lot of shows on the list won't surprise us: Hank, The Forgotten, Numb3rs, Gary Unmarried, and 'Til Death (each either gets low ratings or has been on for a while), but there are several that I think will actually make it to a another season, including The Good Wife and Parks and Recreation.
So last night I sat down for some laughs with the CBS Monday night sitcom lineup. It's a weekly thing I do with my spouse, a chance to get away from the computer screen and just relax for a while. Normally, I relish this time because -- for the most part -- I love 75% of the shows from eight o'clock till CSI: Miami. (I usually empty the dishwasher during Accidentally on Purpose, sort of half-watching it because, as I've said before, it's just not working for me.)
Well, it seemed like last night's CBS comedies went off the rails. They strained to be funny, in all the wrong ways. Here are my thoughts, show by show -- including Accidentally (which I did watch):
(S05E08) Ah, Dave Foley. His sad sack Tom has been good for a laugh more than a few times, and he was used to good comic effect again this week. In the double blind-date scenario with Christine and Richard, his counterpart was the lovely Jennifer Grey, real-life wife to Clark Gregg.
Sundays have always been a good night for CBS. It's been a good day for years, thanks to the NFL. Traditionally, the football games bleed right into prime time, which commences at seven o'clock because of 60 Minutes. Even in the days when CBS broadcast Sunday night movies, the network has done well on that night of the week. 
Okay, maybe it's not a "clone" per se, but the premise reads like an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Coming to NBC: a group of small-town fanboys try to make continuing episodes of their favorite sci fi series after it is canceled. Larry Charles, who was behind such fare as Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Borat and Bruno, 
"Did you hear who's going to play during the 
(S05E07) I guess the fate of Marion Ross was handled off-screen, because Matthew and Richard are settling into her old digs, and she was nowhere to be seen this episode. Now that I think about it, though, she could be shacking up in Matthew's old digs out in the backyard. It would make for a pretty funny callback to have her character pop back up. Maybe even act as if Christine didn't even know she'd moved in back there.
A couple of weeks ago, I did a post about the shows that were "on the bubble," the ones in danger of being canceled. Now AOL TV has 
So last night I sat down for some laughs with the CBS Monday night sitcom lineup. It's a weekly thing I do with my spouse, a chance to get away from the computer screen and just relax for a while. Normally, I relish this time because -- for the most part -- I love 75% of the shows from eight o'clock till CSI: Miami. (I usually empty the dishwasher during Accidentally on Purpose, sort of half-watching it because, as I've said before, it's just not working for me.)
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
The Prisoner -- An early look
