That's got to be one of the worst things that can happen to a television actor. You get cast in a pilot. Things go well. Even better, the pilot gets picked up. You're going to series! Then you get the phone call. "We're recasting. It's not the series, it's you." And just like that, the show goes on without you.
Dean Winters is the latest victim, losing a lead role at that. ABC has cast Steven Weber in Happy Town, replacing Winters as John Haplin, one of the most powerful men in a town named after his family. It's an interesting replacement because Winters and Weber tend to put different spins on the same kind of guy. Weber can nail rich, powerful and important better than Winters, while the latter does intense and brooding, but much more street level.
(S05E13) "...cause the only thing he can feel is heat." - Tommy's dad
I never want to look at a blow torch again.
I gotta say - I never saw that coming. We've known for some time now that Tommy doesn't feel too much. It takes a lot for him to get passionate about anything and when a glimmer of emotion does emerge, it's usually in the form of yelling and obscenities. I just hope he doesn't develop an affinity for his latest attempt at "feeling."
I roll my eyes a bit when a network has to go back about 20 years for a reference that ties into a new show. From the network that gave you Twin Peaks, comes a new town: Haplin, Minnesota. Hey, this show's about a town too! This one is also a mystery, about someone called "The Magic Man," who kidnapped several children years earlier and now might be back and behind a murder and another kidnapping. This has Amy Acker and Dean Winters in it, so I'm definitely going to check it out.
(S05E08) "Here I am. After. Surrounded by booze and dead assholes." – Tommy
This is the episode we're all been waiting for. After Tommy had a drink with Genevieve two weeks ago, it was only a matter of time before this happened – fortunately, we didn't have to wait for it.
Tommy's struggle with 9/11 and his place in history on that day has long been one of the the driving forces behind Rescue Me, but the focus on that has drifted in and out over time. Most everyone has applauded that plot's return this season, but one key element has still been lacking – Tommy's ghosts.
With seven separate nominations in the Guest Actor and Actress categories, it's hard to believe that any 30 Rock guest stars were left off this year's list. The men nearly swept the nominees list for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, earning four of the five available spots. The ladies made up half of the Guest Actress category; not bad!
Still, a few brilliant and hilarious performances were left out. You can't argue with nominations for Will Arnett and Elaine Stritch, but I'd swap one or two of the nominees with a few of my own favorites. Check out my list of overlooked 30 Rock guest stars after the jump. And yes, I left out Jerry Seinfeld. Emmy got that one right.
It's a rare thing when one of the major networks takes up an hour of its schedule almost every single night of the week to air the same show, but that's exactly what FOX is going to do this August.
The network is going to run a marathon of the first season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles starting on Sunday, August 10 at 9pm. Then the other episodes from the first season, in order, will air at 9pm on August 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 24. The two-hour second season premiere then airs on September 8 at 8pm.
(S02E12) "Save it for your iVillage blog, Lemon." - Jack, to Liz
Tonight's episode of 30 Rock had more jokes and one-liners - the kind where you actually smile and laugh out loud - in just the two minute opening teaser than According To Jim and Unhitched have in an entire season (combined). It got me thinking that the show is sort of like the live version of Family Guy: lots of crazy one-liners and non-sequiturs, often punctuated by a bizarre, seconds-long flashback. And I mean that comparison in a good way. There's no other comedy that's running on all cylinders like 30 Rock is right now.
While Liz deals with having Dennis back in her life, Jack looks for a new celebrity spokesman for the Republican party and Kenneth gets involved with an old TV star.
Tommy Gavin is back and while it's probably a waste of breath, I'm gonna state the obvious anyway. Entering its fourth season, Rescue Me continues to be one of the best dramas on TV. Since we last left Tommy and the rest of the 62 Truck crew, about nine months have passed. You'd think with almost a year gone by that some new story-lines would have had time to develop, but for the most part things are the same. That's bad news for Tommy, but very good for us because the show is just as entertaining as ever. You can read on for a bit of an overview, but be warned -- it gets a little spoilery despite my attempts to be as vague as possible. But hey, who doesn't like to play with fire?
(S03E13) Another season comes and goes. I hate to say it, because I love this show, but I was a little disappointed with this finale. Same as I was with Deadwood a few nights ago. I just found it to be a bit of a slow episode that kind of meandered along. It (sort of) tied up a few loose ends and the cliffhanger? Not too sure how I feel about that either.
(S03E12) I get too emotional when I watch this show. It's just like the end of last season. The final few episodes are tear-jerkers and I'm a sucker for that stuff. That being said, I suppose that's giving the show some well deserved credit. If it can make you cry and and actually feel something, then the writers and actors must be doing something right.
(S03E11) Only two episodes left this season and there's going to be a lot of fall-out. A heads up right now though, if you haven't seen the episode yet, you probably want to stop reading this because the episode it self was a lot of build-up but the end was well... whoa. All I can is say that something is wrong if Leary doesn't walk off stage with that Emmy in a couple weeks.
(S03E10) This show is just ridiculous, and that's the good "ridiculous." Not the bad one. Honestly, it's starting to make everything else on TV look terrible by comparison. Really. Can you name one bad thing about this show right now? Or even this episode? I sure can't, but I've got plenty of good things to say in case you hadn't picked up on that yet.
(S03E09) Better and better every week. We still have four episodes left this season, and I already can't wait for season four. It's scary how good this show is and the beginning of this episode was no exception. If you've ever watched any of the commentaries on the DVD's for the first two seasons, Leary always talks about how the writers and producers have meetings with actual firefighters to help come up with fresh (and realistic) storylines. This had to have been one of them.
I miss watching television. I miss electricity and I'm sick of taking cold showers. Most of you may have noticed by now that I never got around to posting a review for this week's episode of Rescue Me, "Satisfaction." Well I have a good reason. I left work this past Tuesday at around 6:30. It was just like any other night... until my subway train stalled and I was stuck on it for two hours. After two empty trains finally pulled up behind us, my fellow passengers and myself used the empty cars and trekked through them back to the previous station we had passed. I was then forced to find another station, in a neighborhood I was unfamiliar with. I took a train that I never take and it was only able to get me to within 12 blocks of my apartment. So I walked... and finally I made it home. Success!
(S03E06) I'm honestly not even sure how to react. After this episode, Rescue Me has officially knocked off Nip/Tuck as my favorite show on F/X. Sorry Shield fans (and I'm one of them), but Chiklis and Co. can't hold a candle to Leary and his boys. This was arguably a perfect episode. It was just flawless. But no sense in going through all the wonderful minor things that happened, and there were plenty. Let's get right to the point: Marisa Tomei is smoking hot.
That's got to be one of the worst things that can happen to a television actor. You get cast in a pilot. Things go well. Even better, the pilot gets picked up. You're going to series! Then you get the phone call. "We're recasting. It's not the series, it's you." And just like that, the show goes on without you.
With seven separate nominations in the Guest Actor and Actress categories, it's hard to believe that any 
It's a rare thing when one of the major networks takes up an hour of its schedule almost every single night of the week to air the same show, but that's exactly what FOX is going to do this August.
(S02E12) "Save it for your iVillage blog, Lemon." - Jack, to Liz
I miss watching television. I miss electricity and I'm sick of taking cold showers. Most of you may have noticed by now that I never got around to posting a review for this week's episode of Rescue Me, "Satisfaction." Well I have a good reason. I left work this past Tuesday at around 6:30. It was just like any other night... until my subway train stalled and I was stuck on it for two hours. After two empty trains finally pulled up behind us, my fellow passengers and myself used the empty cars and trekked through them back to the previous station we had passed. I was then forced to find another station, in a neighborhood I was unfamiliar with. I took a train that I never take and it was only able to get me to within 12 blocks of my apartment. So I walked... and finally I made it home. Success!
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