TVSquad

I completely forgot to watch/record Face the Ace this weekend. I mean, it's a new show that gets it launch at 9PM on a Saturday night, so I'm sure a lot of people didn't realize it was on or realized it but forgot to watch it. Thanks to the Internet, here's the first episode. (For the record, the ratings weren't that great.)

(S01E06) The title of this episode is hilarious. We've got the "red" that has been in every episode title of The Mentalist so far, but the "red-handed" refers to the murderer stealing from the casino. Add in the layer that the show opens with the victim's dismembered hand in the middle of the road in Vegas, and tongue-in-cheek doesn't quite do it justice. Very clever, writer guys.

But again, not so clever with concealing the guilty party from the viewers. Um, so why wouldn't we suspect the (really, like I'd spoil this tid-bit before the jump?) ...

(S02E12) There were too many story lines in this episode, too many threads pulled from the fabric. It felt like they were setting up the show for the end of the season and building suspense. For that reason, it felt very disjointed to me.

Claudia Joy's parents, Randall and Charlotte -- nicely played by Len Cariou and Marsha Mason -- have settled in the Holden's house as they deal with their marital/financial issues. The kind of money problems most families are facing in this country right now are not like this, so it's hard to relate. It's also hard to buy that his gambling has never impacted on Claudia's life before. Her hero worship has blinded her to his flaws, but how can you keep money troubles that secret?

(S02E11) Beneath the surface, there were emotional land mines all around the friends at Fort Marshall in this episode. There were also some interesting revelations. It started with the arrival, out of the blue, of Charlotte, Claudia Joy's mom. Played by Marsha Mason, famous for The Goodbye Girl, Charlotte has always been hard on her daughter.

Fortunately, the way it was written and the way she played it, she wasn't there just to scrutinize her daughter's housekeeping. It was surprising to hear that she hadn't even called Claudia Joy since Amanda's death. Could there be a more clear indication that there's a gap between mother and daughter?

There was a lot of subtext, things unsaid between them, and that made their scenes all the better. Her visit was more about what's wrong in her life and therefore how it'll impact on Claudia Joy and Michael's. Watch for Mother to move in for a while.

(S02E10) I'm going to go out on a limb here and argue that Bill has essentially not changed since the beginning of the show. Oh, sure, he is still acting and behaving-- but I don't think there is anything inherently different about the way he is behaving. He is still ambitious, still thinks he is right, and he is a salesman: He thinks he can talk his way into or out of any situation. However, I bet that was cold comfort at the end of tonight's episode, considering who he ended up in bed with...

A while back we told you about news that Las Vegas producers had approached former Magnum, P.I. star Tom Selleck about joining the series, and now NBC has announced that it's a done deal. Selleck will join the show this fall and be the new billionaire owner of the Montecito with a mysterious past (of course).

But James Caan fans take note: he will appear in the first episode of the new season to wrap up his storyline, and resolve those cliffhangers from the final episode this season. Along with Caan, Nikki Cox is also leaving the show.

Hmmm...mysterious billionaire? They should give Selleck's character the name Robin Masters. That would be funny.

[via TV Tattle]

(S02E19) You can watch the episode here if you missed it.

I've never really gambled, as that whole concept is a little too complex for me. My brain just isn't wired to keep track of money, statistics, and all those other things needed to gamble successfully.

In Chris' neighborhood, everyone gambles, whether it be on sports or on which kid happens to be your real son. Chris also gets sucked into helping his boss, Doc, bet on sports when it's discovered that Chris knows a lot about the sports teams, even if he himself is a terrible athlete.

I was always a bit uncertain as to just how it was World Poker Tour fit in with the Travel Channel. I understand that the games took place in different places across the globe, but that always seemed like the equivalent of making a show about janitors who work in a hospital and calling it a medical drama.

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best analogy, but the point is that World Poker Tour, after almost five years on the Travel Channel, is heading over to GSN, which seems like a much better fit. World Poker Tour, one of the first popular "poker" shows and the one that made people like me who said "who the hell wants to watch people play poker?" choke on our words, will become part of the network's Friday night "Casino Night" lineup.

The fifth season of World Poker Tour is currently airing on the Travel Channel. It will hit GSN early next year.

Martin Scorsese is developing a new series for HBO along with Mark Wahlberg about the development of Atlantic City. The new series will based on the book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson, which was optioned by HBO.

Scorsese has been getting into television more and more, and it will be interesting to see what he and Wahlberg (who will both serve as executive producers) will come up with for this new series, but if it has to do with gambling, power struggles, and back stabbing, I can't think of anyone better suited to helming the project than Scorsese.

Wahlberg is also developing an English language version of the Israeli drama In Treatment for HBO.

Count 'em off. There's Deal or No Deal and Show Me the Money. Identity starts on NBC next week. CBS is developing a kiddie genius quiz show and a revamp of Name That Tune. Howie's outing was no fluke. Game shows are back on network TV in a big way. The latest game show-related announcement comes from ABC. The network has teamed up with the Weakest Leak production team to translate Germany's Wetten das...? (Wanna Bet?) to US television.

Wetten das...? has dominated German airwaves for two decades. The broadcast is part musical variety show and part game show. In the game show portion, a person says that they can do some wacky stunt. Celebrity guests than take bets on whether or not the person can actually accomplish the stunt. If the celebrity loses the bet, than he or she has do something equally wacky.

(S02E09) I was very surprised by the storyline of Randy going to profess his love for Catalina. I have been under the impression that Earl and Catalina would eventually hook up, so I'm not quite sure how this is going to turn out. It was good to see the more "human" side of Randy come out. He is definitely in love with Catalina, but I still think that he and his brother will be competing to win her heart. I'm also quite sure that people all over America will be laying down bubble wrap in honor of their objects of affection.

Of course, it woujld help if Catalina would remain in the country and not be deported for entering the country illegally. Her situation is now another major plot, besides Joy's pending trial, that will keep the show moving in other directions besides Earl crossing things off his list. I don't think devoting an entire episode to Earl making 274 bologna sandwiches for Kenny to make up for stealing his lunch in school years ago would have been very interesting.

The investigation of the missing $3,000 is going nowhere. Oscar, Angela, and Kevin are very frustrated with their lack of progress. Suddenly, Oscar discovers a missing $2,800 charge, but Kevin sheepishly admits that he took money out and gambled on pro basketball (Go Pistons!). He says he won, and put the money he borrowed back. However, that amount was different from the $3,000 in question.

Kevin then points to Angela's new necklace, and she says that a "friend" gave it to her. Oscar and Kevin are skeptical about this "friend," but they drop the issue. Angela then says that they have to investigate Michael, who's been the target of suspicion all along. Will we see Michael brought in for questioning? Time will tell...

Watch the webisode here.

Reality show whores Amber and Rob Mariano are getting another reality show because it's better than having a day job. This time the newlyweds are going to the FOX Reality Channel for a docu-series, The Rob and Amber Project. Over ten, half-hour episodes, cameras will follow Rob as he moves to Las Vegas and attempts to launch a career as a professional gambler. Amber is just there to look hot, I guess.

If you wonder who on earth I'm talking about, Rob and Amber were both on Survivor and became a couple on Survivor: All-Stars, which Amber won. They placed second in The Amazing Race (the devilish side of me rooted for them) and they got married in a reality special last year. The Project premieres in January.

(S02E18) In my humble opinion, The Office is hands down the best comedy on television today. Great writing, great acting, great stories--I could go on and on. This episode, the season finale, was, in a word, brilliant. You could not ask for a better way to tie up story lines that occurred over the course of a season while opening up new ones at the same time.

Let's briefly sum up what happened. Dunder Mifflin, led by Michael, holds a Casino Night charity function in the warehouse of the Scranton branch. Michael (played by the excellent Steve Carell) is doing his best to choose a suitable charity after the staff nixes the Boy Scouts. After some interplay, they decide to do something for AIDS patients, so that Michael can prove to everyone that he is a great "philanderer". (Michael's butchering of words reminds me of the old-time comic Norm Crosby.)

At the same time, the flirtation between Jim and Pam reaches a fever pitch when he offers to help her choose a band for her wedding. Just looking at them making eye contact with each other is enough to make you just want to shout at the screen, "Come on! Get together already!" In addition, how funny was seeing Kevin in "Scranton-icity"? The Wedding Singer flashed in front of my eyes at that moment.

Michael also is in a bit of a "love triangle drama" when he ends up inviting his real estate agent (Carol) and his boss (Jan) to the event. Of course, his bravado gets in the way and he looks foolish trying to "balance" both women, but still you root for Michael to find romance despite his boorishness. As we've seen over the course of the season, despite his over-the-top behavior, he exhibits a sensitive, human side that makes you think that deep down, he's a good guy who just needs some understanding.

Double or Nothing, a new FOX reality series, is looking for a person to sell everything they own for the chance to put it all on red or black on a roulette wheel. I'm not sure how you make an entire series out of one person making one bet, but I guess we'll have to tune in and find out. If you think this seems like a stupid risk to take, you're not alone. Author Steve Bourie, a gambling expert, says showing amateur gamblers making uninformed bets is very irresponsible. The show is inspired by Ashley Revell, an Englishman who literally bet everything on red and won. Bourie, however, still maintains that gambling should be a form of entertainment, and not a quick method of monetary gain. I would tend to agree, unless the person standing next to you is wearing a green sweater and you softly hum the theme to The Facts of Life while the wheel is spinning. Those are both signs of good luck and in that case you should by all means bet everything.