TVSquad

Christian Slater is coming back to weekly television.

The actor has signed to star in a new NBC drama called Dirty Little Secrets. He'll play an investigative reporter who tackles the stories that "get swept under the carpet." The show will be produced by Arymyan Bernstein, one of the producers of the acclaimed Clive Owen film Children of Men.

It's good to hear that NBC isn't abandoning scripted shows after canceling so many this season (Kidnapped, Andy Barker, P.I., The Black Donnellys, probably Studio 60, Raines, etc). This new show has an interesting premise. Anything but another reality show or game show, eh?

I have to admit that I judged Jeff Goldblum's new show, Raines, before I even saw it. When I heard the plot description that was scattered about on the web several months ago, I think I actually sighed. Another show about an investigator who speaks to ghosts? Why had this become such a hot genre, like westerns or sitcoms many years ago? Did we really need another one, no matter what big name they had for the lead?

Well, I have to eat my words.

One of my favorite features every month in Esquire is the "Things You Don't Know About Women" list. I've learned more about women from reading that list than I would going on a thousand dates. Then again, they're all celebrities who do the list, so maybe they have no practical use in the real world, but they're fun to read. And they seem pretty logical. I wonder if these women know that most men actually agree with everything they say?

This month's list comes from Kidnapped star Dana Delany. Among the bits of wisdom: "Text messenging is for children and people who are having affairs. Don't do either" and "We need you. Because a vibrating piece of plastic can't kiss." I'm not sure I agree with #5 though, "Never wear cologne." I mean, come on. I wear cologne every time I go out. Ladies, what do you say?

The part about this list that makes you cringe isn't even in the list, it's the blurb at the very end. "Dana Delany stars as Ellie Cain on the drama Kidnapped, which airs Saturdays on NBC." Ouch.