TVSquad

Piper Perabo's most recognizable roles have been in the Cheaper by the Dozen films, as well as a turn in Coyote Ugly. And yet, hers is one of those names unique enough to remember. Someone at USA recalled Perabo well enough to cast her in Covert Affairs, a pilot about a young CIA trainee abruptly called up as a field operative. While she thinks it's because she's so awesome and all, it turns out that it has more to do with some secret in her past.

In other words, she may be woefully unprepared for the cases she finds herself involved in. At least she'll have Christopher Gorham (Harper's Island) on hand to help her navigate, though I wouldn't trust him. Plus, he's blind which limits his abilities in the field.

For those of you tracking which of the Harper's Island alumni would be the first to land regular work elsewhere, it looks like it was the most unstable of the bunch. I guess that means Gorham won't be available for that Weekend at Bernie's style reunion special.

I don't even care what the show's about, I'm just stoked that John Goodman is coming back to television. In the late '80s and '90s Goodman was all over my TV screen. He was every bit as essential to the success of Roseanne as the titular star. His constant impromptu appearances on Saturday Night Live ranked among some of its most memorable moments through the '90s. Plus, if he's back on television in a major way, maybe he can come back and host the show a lucky thirteenth time.

His new project is The Station, a CIA-based FOX comedy produced by Ben Stiller. It's about a group of covert operatives in South America who are there to install a new dictator. Sounds weird. I don't care. John Goodman's in it.

Goodman is one of those actors who has natural comic timing, but also possesses a dramatic capability absent from many of his comedic brethren, thus allowing him to put depth into his roles. Plus, he's one of those actors who makes everything better and more anticipated just by being tied to it. Who doesn't love John Goodman?

(S03E06) It seems like this season of Burn Notice has been all about friends and family. You know, like the cell phone deal. Michael has been relying more and more on family -- and yes, that means Fiona and Sam to me -- and picking up new friends week in and week out. As Michael has pointed out a few times, he's more valuable as a friend than an enemy. By the time we reach the end of the summer, Michael may have to throw a party to celebrate the new friendships he's made.

We also now know what can stop Michael Westen in his tracks; a Taser to the neck. Yes, for one of the few times, bad guys got the jump on Michael and he was snatched.

(S03E05) Michael Weston met Michael Westen. How cool was it that Burn Notice cast actor Michael Weston -- remember him as the private eye who helped House last year? As a psycho/math genius/code breaker/pattern spotter named Spencer Witawski, he was sort of a detective here, too, good enough to have tracked down Michael and become the latest client.

As integral episodes go, this was a major one. Major for Michael and his desire to return to government work and major for the status of Fiona and Michael's relationship. And did I mention that it was a major league great show, too? More after the jump.

(S03E03) It seems as though everyone wants to be Michael's boss. Everyone but the CIA or the NSA or some other international spy agency, including whatever organization burned him in the first place. But characters like Carla last season or the rogue Management group at the start of this season, as well as Brennen, tonight's guest handler, they're all for Michael.

Seth Peterson was back as Nate, Michael's brother with a propensity for great-rich-quick schemes and getting into trouble. This time, though, he was a pawn in Brennen's game to get Michael to do his bidding.

(S03E01) You knew from last season's finale that Michael taking the plunge into the Atlantic from a helicopter, thus turning down an offer to work with Management in some organized ops position, he was taking a big chance. The leap was a metaphor and the danger for Michael Westen was about to increase exponentially.

Well, in this opening episode, it's clear that creator Matt Nix has upped the volume for Burn Notice. In Spinal Tap terms, we're at eleven, and that's more than ten. For Michael, a five-mile ocean swim in suit pants was just the kind of discomfort trained operatives have to learn to endure. When he landed on Miami Beach, one of the busy, bikini-clad girls and kids making sand castle types, he was all in. But no rest for the weary. In short order, Michael was on the run and in a world of trouble.

(S02E18) It's time for Chuck to assert some authority. It's time to go over General Beckman's head and turn to the Commander in Chief.

"Dear Mr. President: You probably don't know me, but let me start by saying I love America and I've been happy to be of service to the NSA. However, recently, I've had some questions about my place. My rights, actually. Sir, you're a lawyer. Do I have any rights at all, like privacy? Like the ability to keep my family out of my work? Not that I'm complaining, but..."

Yes, I think Chuck is in a tough spot. Things have become too close for comfort, mixing up Chuck's spy biz with his family life.

(S02E13) Memo to NBC: Idea for product placement on Chuck. All the computers and cell phones are great, but what about Excedrin, Tylenol or Advil? In this episode alone, Chuck's brain activated the Intersect so many times that he should have needed something extra strength to deal with the killer headache he had to have had when he finally got out of the top secret Fulcrum initiation lab. I was ready to reach for two tablets myself, what with all the flashing and colors and weird old stock footage.

Anyway, this was the Happy Valentine's Day show, which is why last week's pre-empted episode was re-slotted so this one could land in closer proximity to the holiday. It made sense, then, for there to be some good Chuck and Sarah flirting. Not flirting with each other, just flirting with the idea of them flirting with a real relationship. It looked good there for a while. More after the jump.

"Clusterf@#k to the White House": Maria Shriver and some of the potential first ladies got together and basked in each other's powerful-by-association womanliness. Fact: Within five minutes of meeting each other, their views on universal healthcare synchronized... That was bad, I'm sorry. I tried. Another fact: Jon Stewart's Shriver impression sounds more like Arnold Schwarzenegger than his Arnold impression. It was while watching this segment when I realized who Henry Waxman looks like. That tiny little man at the end of The Triplets of Belleville. You know, the mousy mechanic/operator fellow? Yeah? No? Okay. Look it up.

In addition to the recent renewals and new episode orders for TNT's Saving Grace and The Closer, the USA Network has ordered up thirteen new episodes of Burn Notice.

Burn Notice is great summer fare: a series that doesn't exactly break new ground but is still fun to watch. USA's motivation in picking new shows has been to focus on strong characters, and that's exactly what keeps Burn Notice from being just another crime/detective/mystery series (even though it is just another crime/detective/mystery series). It's also what keeps me tuning into Monk after all these years, even though every episode is pretty much the same. The lead players, Jeffrey Donovan, Sharon Gless, Bruce Campbell and Gabrielle Anwar, work well within the sometimes cookie-cutter self-contained plots, elevating the series to something worth checking out each week. It's not the plots so much, it's the people.

The Company is a six-hour movie that will air over three nights, beginning this Sunday at 8 pm on TNT. It stars Chris O'Donnell, Alfred Molina, and Michael Keaton as players in the early days of the CIA. It is based on the highly-acclaimed novel by Robert LIttell.

The story focuses on three Yale friends who join the spy business, two of them go to the CIA and one (the Russian) goes to the KGB. It is set during the beginning of the Cold War, starting with the 1950s and then to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

When the new USA series Burn Notice debuts this Thursday at 10:00 p.m., it will air without commercials. The first episode will be presented in its entirety by DIRECTV, so while you won't be seeing any ads, expected to hear a few allusions to the digital satellite TV service during the first couple episodes.

Burn Notice stars Jeffrey Donovan as a CIA spook who is given his "burn notice," (meaning: he no longer works for the CIA) and uses his skills to help out people in need. The series also stars Bruce Campbell, Gabrielle Anwar and Sharon Gless.

After the premiere of Burn Notice, Donovan's character Michael Westen will appear to thank everyone for watching. In this segment, Westen will be seen de-activating a tracking bug he found in his apartment, and then tossing it into a frying pan.

"Elizabeth II: Visit From A Nice Old Lady": That "Hellooo!" never gets old. Never. I think Jon's Elizabeth II impression is my favorite out of all of the things that he does. I'd take a "Hellooo!" over a "Heh-heh" any day. Royal Watcher John Oliver felt the sting of Richard Quest. That was absolutely hysterical. I haven't seen much of Quest in the past because I normally tune off when he pops up on screen, but I had forgotten just how mind-numbingly annoying he can be. Or perhaps I had just blocked it from memory.

(S03E10) This week brought us a special 60-minute holiday episode of The Office, and as you just saw, a lot of things happened, and we're sure to see a number of new storylines take shape over the next few episodes.

Last year's holiday party episode was a classic, so it was with eager anticipation that I plopped myself down in front of the TV to see what would take place this year. Although it probably could have been cut down from 60 minutes to one of those NBC "super-sized" 40-minute episodes, this one was satisfying enough for me and for most viewers, I'm sure.

(S02E03) Who would have thought that we would have gotten a lesson in acceptance and tolerance of others from, of all people, Earl Hickey?

After watching the classic movie "Freaks" this past weekend, I had wondered if we'd see anything in the mass media that depicted people who were considered "freaks" anymore without encountering a great deal of controversy. Leave it to My Name Is Earl to bring it forward, but doing it in such a way that it warms your heart in the end.