TVSquad

This is Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at TV Squad where we supply you with the dirt on some of the more popular shows on the air. We'll never put spoilers up here on the main page in order to help the reformed stay unspoiled. If you have anything to add to the group, feel free to step up and let yourself be heard, either with our tips form or by emailing us at tvsquad at gmail dot com, or call and leave a message at (775) 640-8479. Your anonymity is guaranteed, if you wish to remain as such.

This week we have spoilers for: 24, 90210, Cougar Town, Desperate Housewives, Eastwick, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, and NCIS. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)

(S06E08) This episode of Grey's Anatomy shows that Grey's can be strong without having a Grey sister (or Izzie) involved. All the other characters are strong on their own, and it's nice seeing Arizona evolve as a character. Sadly, these episodes will come to an end next week.

I still laugh that pagers are still the standard for communicating with doctors outside of work. It's interesting to see the doctors dreading the fact that they didn't get enough sleep.

Who thinks of throwing a surprise birthday party anymore? I guess I'd rather take the $25 million donation to the hospital.

• Syfy has a Legend of the Seeker marathon all night.
• At 8, ABC has a new FlashForward, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then new episodes of CSI and The Mentalist.
• NBC has new episodes of Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, and The Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has a new Bones at 8, then a new Fringe.
• The CW has a new Vampire Diaries at 8, followed by new episodes of Supernatural.
• TCM has Fourteen Hours at 9, then High Noon.
• At 9, Comedy Central has a new Jeff Dunham Show.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta at 9, then a new Real Housewives of Orange County.
• Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Action at 9.
• Also at 9: Food Network has a new Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin.
• At 10, Lifetime has a new Project Runway.
• FX has a new It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10.
• There's a new Tosh.0 on Comedy Central at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

(S06E07) This week's episode of Grey's Anatomy focused on Derek and evolved the character as someone that's not just McDreamy. The show should start with Patrick Dempsey talking more often. I didn't realize how mellow his voice was, though saying the words "calm," "quiet," and "peace" automatically sound calming. I hope he narrates a Disney movie soon.

If the show continues to be strong with character driven development per episode, I suggest keeping Meredith bed ridden. She's already forgiven her father and has strengthened her relationship with her sister. Let's evolve the rest of the one-dimensional characters while she stays in bed.

• At 7:30, FOX has Game 2 of The World Series.
• ABC has a new FlashForward at 8, then new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, followed by new episodes of CSI and The Mentalist.
• NBC has new episodes of Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, and The Jay Leno Show.
• The CW has a new Vampire Diaries at 8, then new episodes of Supernatural.
• Cartoon Network has a new Chowder at 8.
• At 9, Comedy Central has a new Jeff Dunham Show.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• Spike has TNA Wrestling at 9.
• Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Action at 9.
• At 10, Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta.
• FX has a new It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10, then the series premiere of The League.
• Food Network has the season finale of Ace of Cakes at 10.
• Current has a new Rotten Tomatoes at 10.
• Also at 10: Lifetime has a new Project Runway.
  

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

So, let's say TV Squad wanted to have a 30-second ad on CBS' highest-rated show, NCIS. It would cost us $133,304. It would actually cost more, because we'd hire scantily-clad dancers, include a 35 pound bag of Doritios, fireworks in the shape of each writer, guest appearances from people like Tina Fey and JJ Abrams, and would have special effects because some of the commercial would be set in outer space for some reason, but I mean CBS would charge us $133,304.

To give you an idea of how that stacks up against other shows on CBS and shows on other networks, here's a quick list.

Let me take that one step further -- Grey's Anatomy is great without Izzie or Meredith.

For the first time since the announcement of her temporary departure from the show, Katherine Heigl wasn't in this past week's episode of Grey's Anatomy and Ellen Pompeo, who's on maternity leave, was only featured in two very brief scenes that book-ended the hour.

The episode expertly blended the Seattle Grace docs with the Mercy Westers and featured a very cool Rashomon-esque story (CSI did the same thing a few years ago).

(S06E06) There were so many people on screen last week on Grey's Anatomy that I didn't even realize that Mark Sloan wasn't in the whole episode. Luckily for any Mark fan, he becomes an essential character when burn victims show up.

This week, one of many hotel fire victims dies because of negligence; everyone tells their side. The multiple perspectives became more and more difficult to keep up with, because the original Seattle Grace doctors defended each other, while the Mercy West doctors tried to throw any of the Seattle Grace doctors under the bus.

(S06E05) We've finally reached the big merger episode of Grey's Anatomy. The orange doctors of Mercy West have invaded Seattle Grace Hospital. I can't get warmed up to all of the new characters that this show is shoving down my throat in one episode. All of them seem too pushy in a place where they're foreigners. If the show wants me to warm up to these Mercy West characters, they shouldn't act like dumb jocks or pushy girls with low self esteem.

In the end, the only losers are the patients that were being fought over. All of them went through hell because of the competition.

• At 8, ABC has a new FlashForward, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then new episodes of CSI and The Mentalist.
• NBC has a new Community at 8, followed by new episodes of Parks and Recreation and The Office, the season premiere of 30 Rock, and a new Jay Leno Show.
• FOX has new episodes of Bones and Fringe.
• The CW has a new Vampire Diaries at 8, then a new Supernatural.
• TBS has Baseball Playoffs at 8, the Dodgers vs. the Phillies.
• At 9, Spike has a new TNA Wrestling.
• MTV has a new Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory at 9, followed by new episodes of Bully Beatdown, Nitro Circus, and Pranked.
• Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Action at 9, then a new Stoked.
• At 10, Lifetime has a new Project Runway.
• FX has a new It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10.
• Comedy Central has a new Tosh.0 at 10.
• At 10:30, Current has a new Rotten Tomatoes Show.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

A lot happened in this week's Grey's Anatomy, including Meredith making the difficult decision to give her dad part of her liver. That's convenient for the real-life Ellen Pompeo, who just had her baby on Sept. 15.

And there's still the issue of the Mercy West merger, which docs will get the axe, and the usual patient drama and staff angst. But what stood out for me happened in the first few seconds of this episode, when Alex stepped outside of Derek's trailer and came face to face with a bear. Alex screamed! The bear screamed! Everyone screamed! But mostly Alex!

I wonder how many takes it took for Justin Chambers to get that awesome girly scream. Or perhaps it was dubbed in? Whatever the case, it surely is one of the best TV screams I've heard in quite some time, and Michael agreed that Alex should get more storylines with funny situations.

What did you think of Alex's scream? Are there any others in recent TV history that even come close?