TVSquad

While it was a little odd that the "screener" of Glee we got was the exact same episode that FOX aired after American Idol in the spring, the rest of these shows were truly new. Dramatic offerings included FOX's loose adaptation of the DC Comics property Human Target and Past Life. On the comedy side they offered us screeners for The Cleveland Show, Brothers, Sons of Tucson and the aforementioned Glee.

After enduring the screener for Do Not Disturb last season on FOX, I could only hope that these offerings were at least better than that offense to the senses. And they were. Well, most of them. Unfortunately, it seems that FOX has at least one Do Not Disturb in them every season. Other than that, one of these shows was far better than I expected, another a bit worse, and a third one stands as one of the better pilots I've ever seen.

The original version of The Human Target in the 90s wasn't that great, but it was enjoyable. It starred Rick Springfield and looked a little more sci-fi-ish than this new version with Mark Valley. It's going to be on Wednesday nights at 9 starting next year. Here's a sneak peek. I'm assuming that this train is only in one episode. Otherwise it looks like they dusted off Supertrain and shipped it to FOX.

I didn't even realize that Fringe was filmed in New York City. Maybe because the show is set around but not filmed in the Boston area and is a little X-Files-ish, I always assumed that it was either filmed in California or in Vancouver, the way The X-Files did for most of their run. Now it looks like the show really is going there.

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that for the show's second season (if it has one, which is a good bet), the show will move to Vancouver and film there, because of the production costs. Seems the program for getting shows to film in New York proved to be more popular than they thought it would be and they've run out of money.

Jason told you yesterday that Fringe cast member Mark Valley is going to star in a new version of The Human Target, about a masterspy-ish person who flies around the world on his superplane, donning disguises to become the people he tries to help out of trouble. I say "new" version because this actually was already a TV show, in 1992, with Rick Springfield in the lead. It was on ABC and lasted only a handful of episodes. Then it was gone, but for good reason.

It wasn't very good.

To be fair, the premise was pretty cool (if impossible), and the show had a great theme song. It just didn't come together that well (though I wish it had lasted longer than it did - I'm a sucker for shows like this). It was created by the same people who did The Flash, but that show was better.

Well this is promising news indeed. Human Target is one of the most interesting concepts in the DC Universe and the Peter Milligan Vertigo series of the same name was one of the highlights of the early 2000s. The story centers on Christopher Chance, who takes on the identity of his clients to protect them from pending threats and help them eliminate them. He's a master of disguise in a way that Face/Off would envy. And now he has a name.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Mark Valley has been cast as Christopher Chance in the Fox pilot for Human Target. Valley has been a staple on the screen for years, most prominently for three years on Boston Legal and currently recurring on Fringe, where he has mastered the creepy stare. The guy can go from comedic to heartfelt to bad-ass to, as I said, creepy, and diversity is what you need for this role. This is a great casting choice. He's not too young, he's big and he's got an intensity about him. Man, I hope Fox picks this up even more now! Maybe Valley can go in to FOX in disguise and vote to go to series.

Anyone who watched last night's episode of Fringe can see that all the pieces of the puzzle that is The Pattern are coming together. Dunham is starting to merge John Scott's memories with her own, right as the evil Nina Sharp at Massive Dynamic decided she needs them to help her nefarious plans. Dunham's actually starting to show some personality; the chemistry between her and Peter and between Peter and Walter is getting fun. And the ending to last night's episode set up a nice cliffhanger that will take us through the holidays.

It's starting to reach a lot of the potential that fans had for it, given its J.J. Abrams pedigree. So why am I not more engrossed with the show?

Maybe it's because of Lost, but TV viewers seem to be interested in the secrets behind a show at an accelerated rate these days. For example, there has only been one episode of Fringe so far but viewers are already wondering about the what the big secret is, what's going on with Blair Brown's robotic arm, who is going to play William Bell, why there's a cow in the lab, whether or not people can be reanimated on the show, and (most importantly) when Heroes star and J.J. Abrams buddy Greg Grunberg is going to show up as a janitor or a corpse. Well, TV Guide has some of the answers for you.

Yes, some SPOILERS are ahead, so click with caution.

(S01E03) Consider this episode of Swingtown a case of being betwixt and between. The Millers have been in their new home all of two weeks and so much has happened to shake their foundation; Susan especially seems like the song "caught in the middle with you." Does she want to be the good wife going to church and being satisfied with the way they were, her and Bruce, back in the old neighborhood? Or is she ready to embrace swinging?

She's at first drawn back to Janet and Roger and the old ways. Because she's still perturbed by the business card she found in Bruce's pants from the Playboy Club, the one from Sylvia suggesting a get together, Susan drags her family to Sunday services for a little God-time. Impulsively, when chatting with Janet, Susan announces that she's having a housewarming and wants Janet's help. It's like she's clinging to a simpler past.

Imagine this. If The X-Files and CSI had a baby and that baby's godfather was Heroes, then that would be Fringe. Sounds pretty good, right? Well, after attending a screening of J.J. Abrams' new show at Fox studios in Century City, I can vouch that it is indeed pretty good. One might even say it's more than pretty good; it's great in fact.

I watched the two-hour season premiere on Thursday evening. The pilot I saw was unfinished, but according to the publicist for Fox, the network is so psyched about Fringe, they couldn't wait to show the press. He referred to it as Fox's "tent pole series for the fall."

After the jump, I tell you about the pilot and the characters. Consider yourself warned though, there will be a few spoilers.

Over the last three seasons Boston Legal has been known as a program with a pretty busy revolving door when it comes to cast members coming and going. Usually, though, it was some of the smaller fish in the pond that came and went like the wind. This time around some of the bigger fish have been given their walking papers instead.

According to TV Guide's Michael Ausiello Constance Zimmer, Julie Bowen, Mark Valley and Rene Auberjonois have been let go from the program. To fill the void, former Night Court actor John Larroquette will be joining the series as a regular, but not as the character he portrayed on The Practice. Instead, he'll be (another) attorney from the New York offices of Crane, Poole and Schmidt. Also joining the cast will be Dirt's Tara Summers, who will play a young associate to the firm. Finally, much to some people's chagrin, Christian Clemenson, who portrays the quirky Jerry Espenson, will be promoted to series regular.

(S03E19) I was a little disappointed that this week's episode didn't start with a woman in her underwear, but the later appearance of Julie Bowen's pregnant stomach more than made up for it.

I was also a little put off by the appearance of Frank Whaley because I remembered what a tool I thought he was the day I worked with him on Buddy Faro. What I had forgotten is what a fine actor he is. His performance in this episode was perfect. In a very short amount of time he was able to create a character that I knew enough about to actually care what happened to him. His flashback scenes, in particular, were very good.

Now that 30 Rock has become a mild success for Saturday Night Live veterans Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan it seems that other former SNL alums are making an attempt at primetime popularity. Case in point . . . It's being reported that 8-year SNL veteran Horatio Sanz has joined the cast of the comedy Business Class.

In this pilot for NBC Sanz will star with Boston Legal's Mark Valley (who does nothing on that show but complain). The single-camera comedy will feature Sanz and Valley as two rival soda salesmen who live their lives on the road. Hey, I'm laughing already!

This would be Sanz's first foray into primetime television since leaving SNL last year. Maybe it's me, but it seems that Horatio was underutilized during his years at SNL, which is surprising because he had a pretty decent track record before coming on-board the sketch comedy show. I mean, he was one of the early founders of the Upright Citizens Brigade. I would think that would amount to a little more screen time. If I'm way off base here let me know.

Sunday night, ABC closed their day of events with an all-star party, which was held at the same ballroom where lunch was served (kudos to the party planners to making the place more party-like instead of like a rubber-chicken dinner). Here's what I learned there.

When you're at a party or an event, the presence of a few celebrities will get noticed. But at something like this, where 100 people from various ABC, ABC Family and Disney Channel shows were present, everyone just blends and hangs out like normal people. Well, that's not entirely true. The celebs -- many of whom were dressed in their party finest -- talked to each other, and the critics -- many wearing the same business-casual garb they wore during the day -- talked to each other. When the worlds collided, it was usually when a critic tried to formally interview one of the celebrities, which was impossible given the crowd noise and the loud music.

More of what I learned after the jump.

(S03E07) You're not getting in this dress. -- Alan Shore, dressed like one of the Lennon sisters, to Denny Crane, also dressed like a Lennon sister. Don't ask.

After last week's intense, and somewhat oogy, episode of Boston Legal, we get a palette cleanser of sorts this week as some storylines are closed and others are opened. It was also an extremely subdued episode. Even bombastic characters like Alan Shore and Denny Crane were unusually quiet this time around. It was so calm that I almost fell asleep halfway through the episode. Oh, that wasn't because the show was boring. It was more a result of traipsing out with the kiddies for a marathon trick-or-treating session.

Let's move along now, shall we?