TVSquad

The CSI/Two and a Half Men writers switch was a very clever promotion for CBS. Fortunately, the writers saw the opportunity to change places as more than just a publicity stunt. They really took the scripting seriously and came up with inventive episodes for each program. If this were a competition to see which team would deliver the better show, who would take on the task of writing winning TV in a genre not their own and succeed beyond expectations, the comedy scribes take the gold. Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn's CSI was pure genius, and if it were up to me, CSI should submit it for an Emmy.

But first there was Two and a Half Men. In an episode called "Fish in a Drawer" (and if somebody could explain what that title means, I'd be most appreciative), the story picked up after Evelyn married Teddy. In the teleplay by CSI regular writers Evan Dunsky and Sarah Goldfinger, Charlie and Courtney check out of the reception for a little romp in his room upstairs only to find Teddy's dead bod on the bed. Talk about spoiling the mood. Teddy wasn't only a corpse, he was a corpse with his pants pulled down around his ankles and lipstick stains on his hoo-ha. The cops were called in, a detective who was a dead ringer for Marg Helgenberger -- played by redhead Jamie Rose -- had the vaguely Bondian name of Jagov, Sloane Jagov. Naturally, Charlie had to make a move on her. He couldn't keep his eyes off her cleavage.

We told you recently about the writing teams of CSI and Two and Half Men switching places for one episode of each show. The first episode airs tonight at 9 on CBS.

The Two and a Half Men episode was written by the CSI staff and is titled "Fish in a Drawer," and I have no idea what that title means. Thursdays CSI episode was written by the Two and a Half Men staff and has a title that's a lot easier to understand: "Two and a Half Deaths." It's about the murder of a despised sitcom star (Chuck Lorre used to work for both Cybill Shepherd and Roseanne Barr - I'm just sayin').

We told you a long time ago about the writers of CSI switching places with the writers of Two and a Half Men for one episode, way back when people thought it was a joke and that it would never actually happen. Well, it's happening, and after the jump is the video to prove it.

The idea came from Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre, who approached CSI executive producer Carol Mendelsohn about switching teams for one episode of each series. The plot involves the murder of a famous Hollywood comedienne/sitcom diva who is difficult on the set of her show, and Lorre is quick to point out that it's NOT based on Cybill Shepherd, who he worked with on her show (*cough cough wink wink*). The video shows the behind the scenes goings on as the shows meet in the writers room and plan her Las Vegas demise.

In an age where Josh Schwartz, Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, and Judd Apatow are writing true-to-life examples of what being a nerd or a geek is like, you'd think that the whiny, sniveling, tape-on-the-glasses, Urkel version of geekdom would be out of favor in TV land.

Big Bang Theory, which premieres Monday at 8:30 PM ET on CBS, proves otherwise. And, while it's not a complete disaster, it's too weighed down by its geek stereotypes to work on a weekly basis.

We told you a while back about the plan to have the writing staffs of CSI and Two and a Half Men swap places for one episode. Looks like that plan is going forward. Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre even has the plot for the CSI episode: he's going to kill Roseanne Barr or Cybill Shepherd.

OK, they won't be on the show, but Lorre's plot revolves around the killing of a "sitcom diva." Lorre worked for several years on both Roseanne and Cybill (he created the latter), and both shows were notorious for behind the scenes friction and firings and chaos. And who does Lorre want to have play the sitcom diva? Shepherd's costar Christine Baranski, who didn't exactly get along with the star of the show (or vice versa).

Now the only question is: who will the killer be? (Second question: what plot will the CSI writers come up with for Two and a Half Men?)

After 15 consecutive days of Mohammed (TV shows) coming to the mountain (the Beverly Hilton hotel), today the mountain (actually, the TCA membership) went to Mohammed. Two bus loads of TV critics boarded vehicles to hit five sound stages and the offices of TMZ.com.

First up was The Closer at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. Kyra Sedgwick and other cast members of the TNT drama mixed and mingled on the show's squad room set. Most reporters hovered around Sedgwick to inquire about her Emmy nomination for Lead Actress in a Drama Series, the show's new season and husband Kevin Bacon.

After the executive session, CBS continued immediately with its jam-packed day of press tour, introducing four new shows and taking a look at returning hits Shark and How I Met Your Mother.

First up, the all-star cast of Cane, a prime time soap that's been compared to The Sopranos and Dallas, starring Jimmy Smits, Hector Elizondo and Rita Moreno, takes the platform.

Smits, who also serves as co-executive producer, stars as Alex, a man who's married to his "sister" (Alex is adopted), prompting executive producer and perpetual funnyman Jonathan Prince to call creator/e.p. Cynthia Cidre -- "Woody."

It may sound a little bit like a headline from The Onion, but it's actually in the works, according to CSI producer Carol Mendelsohn.

Speaking at a Banff event in Canada earlier this week, Mendelsohn said she got a call from Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre, who suggested the switch. I'm not sure if it would be permanent, but it's something they could do for an episode or two. CSI will also go on location to San Francisco this season, and next season might go to London.

Maybe the Two and a Half Men writers can have Grissom sleep with a different woman every night, and maybe even hire a wisecracking kid to help with a murder investigation. He can be a prodigy who doesn't do well in school but is a genius at forensics.

One of the perks of having a top twenty show is that it often gets you a deal to make another show. Such is the case for Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, creators of Two and a Half Men. CBS is looking at an untitled comedy from the pair starring Allison Janney (West Wing), who has a talent holding deal with the network. There are no details on the show yet, but given the creators and the involvement of Janney, I'd give it a better than average shot at moving forward.

In other comedy news at the Tiffany Network, they have ordered a pilot for a show called Fugly. Written by My Name Is Earl creator Greg Garcia, the show tells the story of three not so attractive sisters who pool their money to get one of them an extreme makeover. The plan is for the three of them to then take advantage of the sister's good looks. It's an interesting premise, and I think Garcia could do a lot with it, but I suspect a name change is coming if the show actually makes it to air. I can't see the management mucky mucks at CBS actually putting a show called Fugly on their schedule.

[ via cynopsis ]

Way back in March I told y'all that Chuck Lorre, creator of Two and a Half Men, was creating a series for CBS called The Big Bang Theory, about a woman who shows two physicists that just because they know a lot about science, it doesn't mean they understand everything. The "woman" in this case will be played by Kaley Cuoco of Eight Simple Rules, who replaced Andrea Walsh who appeared in the unaired pilot episode. I think a beautiful woman showing two stuffy men a new perspective on life is a rather tired concept, but I'll save judgment until the show comes out, and then I'll say the exact same thing.

Actress Lena Headey will star as Sarah Conner in The Sarah Conner Chronicles, which continues the story of the character from the Terminator movies after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The series will begin filming next year and air on FOX. David Nutter, who has directed episodes of The Sopranos, West Wing and The X-Files, is set to direct this project.

Wow, this isn't a good week for Charlie Sheen.

First he's going through the divorce nastiness with wife Denise Richards, and now a woman is suing him, claiming that the character Sheen plays on Two and a Half Men is based on her.

Not really sure how you sue an actor for a character created by someone else, but whatever.

[via TV Tattle]

Chuck Lorre, the creator of Two and a Half Men, has sold a pilot to CBS called The Big Bang Theory. The show will center on two theoretical physicists and a woman who proves to them they don't know everything.

I don't think it's bad to create a show where the woman is the "smart one," but it is a cliche. The rule most sitcoms adhere to is that the woman must always be grounded and intelligent while the man is pretty much a bumbling moron. When sitcoms first started to do this, it was a righteous response to the shoddy roles women had previously been given in television. Now, however, I think it's time to take the next step, to not try and make each character a representative of an entire gender and instead treat each character as an individual. Arrested Development springs to mind as one show that I think did this fairly well. Characters were driven by their own selfish desires and everyone, male and female, had plenty of shortcomings. When you try to force an absolute onto a character, it stifles that character's ability to come across as real.