TVSquad

This season, Jeopardy is doing a Million Dollar Celebrity Tournament. One episode a month will have three celebrities battling to see who gets to play for one million dollars for their charity later in the season. A lot of fans don't like the celebrity editions. It breaks up the flow of the regular champion coming back, the questions are easier than the regular game, etc. But last night's episode was fun.

The three celebrities who played the first game of this season's tournament were Wolf Blitzer, Dana Delany, and Andy Richer...and Richter won! Actually, it's not even fair to say he "won," he crushed Blizter and Delany. The game was over way before they even got to the Final Jeopardy round. Blitzer didn't even make it to that round (I cringed when he added an "S" to Julia Child's last name because I knew the money would be taken away), but they let him play anyway.

Have you noticed that there are some actors who just work constantly? They go from TV show to TV show, take a film role, do some voice over work, pop up here and there and never struggle to get a gig. (Maybe this should be a new TV Squad award category -- The Don't Worry About His Next Paycheck Award?)

Anyway, you can put Gary Cole in that category. After playing the lethal Wayne Davis, Dana Delaney's ex, on Desperate Housewives last season, Gary Cole has signed to play the father in Good Behavior, an ABC pilot starring Catherine O'Hara. Rob Thomas is creating Good Behavior, which is based on a New Zealand TV show called Outrageous Fortune, about a family of criminals who decide to go straight when the patriarch, that would be Gary, is busted and sent to jail for five years.

It's also been revealed that Jeffrey Tambor will star in the pilot, playing Hy, Jackie West's partner in a down and out pawn shop. Hopefully, this will morph into a long term, recurring role, something good so Tambor can make fans forget Welcome the The Captain and evoke memories of Arrested Development.

(S04E12) "A man is only as sick as his secrets." - Sign at the rehab center

When hearing that Bree and Katherine wanted to team up to plan the Founders Ball, Lynette said that she, someone who faced cancer and survived a tornado, was running from the situation. When I heard the idea of Bree and Katherine working together, I wanted to do only one thing: run towards it.

And yes there are MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! So turn back now if you don't want to be spoiled!

There's a big twist coming to ABC's Desperate Housewives. And it involves Teri Hatcher and Marcia Cross wearing jetpacks and eating pills that will take the place of meals.

Well, OK, maybe they won't have any of that, but Desperate Housewives is taking a cue from Lost and will jump five years into the future in the last moments of the season finale in May. Cross let the news out on Ellen. But it's not going to do a back and forth in time like Lost, it's going to stay in the year 2013 (or will that be 2012, considering this season started in 2007?).

(S04E10) "He can build homes and decorate them. Sometimes God gives with both hands." - Lee McDermott

So Ida didn't survive the twister. Was anyone really surprised? If everyone in the basement had survived it would've strained credibility a little too much. However, seeing the Scavo clan crawl out of the rubble was really cool. It was the kind of moment that hearkened back to the first season and reminded my why I started watching Desperate Housewives in the first place.

Another bright spot in this episode was Kathryn Joosten. Actresses like her are the backbone of a decent drama. I wouldn't be surprised if she eventually wins an Emmy for DH like she did for The West Wing.

As mentioned in today's SA, in an interview with AfterElton.com, Marc Cherry confirmed that a gay couple will be the newest residents on Desperate Housewives next season.

The couple will move into the house vacated by Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard) next door to Teri Hatcher's character, Susan. As you can guess, Susan gets off to a rocky start with the new neighbors by putting her foot in her mouth and inadvertently insulting them right away.

Well, here's a quirky little plot twist no one expected.

Even though NBC pulled the show - twice - the network started showing the eight unaired episodes of Kidnapped last night (or early this morning) at midnight! They'll run the show at this time each week this summer. Not sure if it can be seen at that time in all areas. I know it wasn't on at that time where I live, so it's probably on at different times overnight.

This is an interesting move by NBC, considering the episodes have been available on the web site and the complete series was released on DVD. Maybe the other networks can follow NBC's lead and show short-lived/canceled shows overnight.

Kidnapped fans were upset when the show was canceled, but given 13 episodes to wrap up the plot. Then they were more upset when the show was taken off of Wednesday night and put on Saturday nights. And then they were absolutely ticked off when NBC pulled the show from Saturday nights because of low ratings (gee, low ratings on a Saturday night...what did they expect?). But now, fans can at least rejoice in the news that there might be a box DVD set of the show coming in 2007.

Anna told you earlier today about NBC pulling Kidnapped off of the Saturday schedule (wow, how bad do ratings have to be to have that happen twice in a matter of weeks?), and now comes word over at TV Guide that the remaining eight episodes of the drama will be shown on NBC's web site.

The show is being pulled and will not be seen again on the small screen after sweeps (we're at the start of the all-important sweeps period right now), but will be shown on your even smaller screen, your computer.

The show is filming its 13th episode even as you read this. Oh well. At least fans won't have to wait and see what's going to happen to the show and will be able to see the kidnapping plot reach its conclusion and not left hanging.

Interesting piece in The Boston Globe (via Reuters) about NBC Universal CEO Bob Wright. He says that a recent story in the New York Post (owned by News Corp, which also owns FOX) saying that he was going to be replaced are completely untrue. The sources in the story were unnamed, and Wright says that the reason they are unnamed is because the paper made them up.

Now, that's kind of an interesting, in an insider baseball, industry sort of way. But Wright says something in the piece that got my attention. Wright told reporters that he's pleased with the start of the new season, especially the ratings for Heroes. He then adds:

"Kidnapped is clearly a bit of a disappointment. I think we probably just had a show that was maybe too difficult a concept."

Now, that's an intriguing statement. If the CEO of NBC is saying that a new show is too difficult for viewers (and talking about it as if it was in the past tense), I would say that's not good news for Kidnapped fans.

And I'm one of them. Though I'm not sure that the concept of the show is too difficult. I would say it's just because people are overdosing right now on shows that have one continuing story for the whole season, and also don't want to invest time in them if they fear they might be canceled.