TVSquad

I was trying to figure out what show to spotlight for the second "Gone Too Soon" column. As a general rule, I want to give a show a few years off the air before I delve into it. That gives the creators and producers a chance to try and continue the story, if they're interested in doing so, and it gives the actors a chance to move on. Then I read the news that they're going to adapt The Time Traveler's Wife to television, and it hit me.

A man disappearing from his wife to travel through time, and struggling to fix his home life as he went along? That sounded awfully familiar, and to a lot of you, as well, if your comments are any indication. So even though Journeyman's finale aired less than two years ago, it's time we honored it for the great show it was ... a show, unfortunately, about two years ahead of its time.

(S05E24) "If you're not scared, you're not paying attention." - Bailey

I took a few hours off in between last night's two hour Grey's Anatomy finale. I knew it was going to be two posts since it was two episodes and so I sat and watched the first one, wrote it up, grabbed a few hours of sleep, and woke up trying to figure just what was going to happen in this episode before I watched it. Everything was so nicely set up (the first hour really could have served as a finale too) and once again, Grey's Anatomy caught us all off guard with what's arguably its biggest cliffhanger yet.

(S05E23) "I'm your tumor. You're talking to yourself." - Denny

Just when I was finally starting to get sucked back into Grey's Anatomy, when I had finally come to terms with the ridiculous Denny/Izzie sex, when I had finally said, "hey, I actually like where they went with this," he had to come back one more time to ruin it all. After last week, I thought we had seen the last of Denny Duquette. Izzie told him to go and he went. But it's like Denny said - he's Izzie's tumor and as long as she still has the brain lump, Denny's gonna keep getting a tan down at Izzie's imaginary beach. I think I speak collectively for the entire population of Earth when I say thank god Izzie chose to get the surgery.

Lead characters are extremely important for TV series, as they are the basis of the shows' storylines. However, to make said lead characters shine and make the storylines interesting, supporting characters must be introduced. Sometimes, those characters have a major impact on a series and even end up becoming leads. Just see how Ben Linus on Lost was set to appear in a few episodes, but ended up being so helpful to the storyline and loved (or hated) by the fans that he became an integral part of the series and is now a major player on the show.

That compelled me to make a list of new supporting characters who helped make their series better this season. Since my list only has 10 items and because I don't watch all current TV series, I will have missed tons of supporting characters, so feel free to add to the list by commenting below. However, note that I restricted my list to supporting characters that were introduced THIS season. So the Ben Linuses of the TV world are not on the list.

(S05E12) "You're wearing an alarmingly high pony tail." - Derek

At the most simplified level, Dunn is right, you know - a doctor isn't really that different than a serial killer. They both get to choose who dies. A doctor is likely driven by science while a serial killer gets his marching orders from a little voice in his head, but they're both making choices; doing what they think is the right move. Eric Stoltz has thus far been a shining point this season. William Dunn is one of the better characters we've seen on Grey's Anatomy in a while and I'm glad he'll be around for at least one more week.

(S05E11) "Sexed-up stalkers." - Sloan

I thought Grey's Anatomy had gone far enough with the Izzie/Denny mess - until this episode. Why you ask? Because they introduced a doctor who gets around on Heelys!! Do you have any idea how much I hate Heelys? Nine-year-olds come whipping by on those damn things when you're walking around the mall, and as much as you hate to wish bad things upon a 9-year-old, I'm just waiting for the headline "Local Sixth Grader Wearing Heelys Cracks Skull Open in Front of Orange Julius." Oh and that doctor (Dr. Arizona Robbins) that got introduced tonight? She's a pediatric surgeon. Great message to send to the youth of America.

...Nine foreign Americans

With all of the starry-eyed, out-of-work Midwesterners who litter Sunset Blvd., one would assume that our television landscape would be similarly populated with corn-fed blonds. You would, however, be wrong. In fact, there are a ton of non-Americans who have come to Hollywood to take all of our primetime show-starring jobs.

What's fun for me is watching the shows to see who does a good version of an American accent, and who needs to spend a little more time with their dialect coaches. Below are nine stars who've jumped the pond to come to the good ol' U. S. of A.

It's that time of year again -- time to shop 'til you drop, bake until you sweat, eat until you bloat, and take stock in what you are thankful for, in your life and of course, on television.

You might think that in this season of less-than-stellar television, it would be hard to find TV-related things to be thankful for; after all, with lackluster new shows and all of your favorites getting canceled left and right, things do seem bleak.

But my glass is half full, and I still garner joy from my nightly boob tube sessions, my TV on DVD collection, and the time I haven't spent watching TV. I am thankful ...

(S05E09) "Who's making a porno movie in Izzie's room?" - Derek

I am an unashamed Grey's Anatomy fan. I've watched it since the very beginning. At this point, it'd be hard for me stop because I feel like I've invested too much time to just say the hell with it smack in the middle of the show's fifth season. A season which I went from loving, to hating, to loving, and now to absolutely despising. So for those of you who seem to think that I shouldn't be writing weekly reviews of this show because "I don't seem to like it very much, well, I assure you that's just not the case. I complain because I love. Based on that, I really loved this episode.

(S05E08) "It's too bad - she was really talented." - Shepherd

Snap! Well that didn't take long. Thirty seconds into the episode and Shonda Rhimes made it very clear how she feels about Brooke Smith's departure from the show. Even though I didn't like the whole Callie/Hahn romance and even though I thought Hahn's exit actually made a bit of sense (it was written well), I still don't see why it was necessary to fire Smith. There had to have been a better way to fix the story without removing her. Regardless, no sense in whining. She's gone and Seattle Grace Hospital now has two new faces for everyone to gossip about.

Hahn is out and Hunt is in! An ABC representative confirmed to People that Scottish actor Kevin McKidd, who recently starred in the canceled-too-soon Journeyman, has been upped to series regular on Grey's Anatomy.

When it was announced that McKidd was in talks to appear on Grey's Anatomy this fall as Major Owen Hunt, a military doctor, it was also mentioned that the stint was to be a recurring one that could be upped to a regular one if the audience responded well to the character.

Looks like the audience will get more screen time for McMajor!

(S05E07) "It's like a bouquet... of corpses!" - Izzie

You know, for a guy that died, Denny Duquette somehow manages to get more screen-time on Grey's Anatomy than most of the characters who are still living. Seriously, it must be incredibly frustrating to be a minor character on this show and know that two or three times a season, some dead guy who most fans are sick of will get more time in front of the camera than you will.

(S05E06) "I am so gay." - Hahn

As much as I've been annoyed with how the Hahn/Callie courtship has gone thus far, I have to say - I think they won me over here. To see Hahn cry and blubber about how she's finally discovered herself, I couldn't help but feel bad for her. Granted she flipped the bitch-switch back on at the hospital, but you can't really blame her for that. She's gay. Callie's bi. And Major Owen Hunt likes to stab live pigs.

(S05E05) "Interns - the other white meat." - Alex

I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a kidney today! The rare opportunity of being able to perform a domino procedure has finally come to Seattle Grace (thanks to Bailey's efforts), and with the bad shape that SGH has been in lately, it couldn't have come at a better time. They need some good headlines.

But as with all in-depth Grey's Anatomy plots, there is no way you're going to get 12 kidney donors/recipients together without there being some drama. Hey, people with severe renal failure still have daddy issues and engage in extramarital sex too you know.

(S05E04) "Karev! Give me a twenty!" - Derek

OK, before I dive into this episode, let's get the one thing that everyone will be talking about out of the way first: Callie and Hahn. Yes, yes - I know - Grey's Anatomy has a budding lesbian relationship. Based on everything I've read over the past few weeks, people are for or against it for a myriad of reasons and after tonight's "date," I'm ready to pick a side.