TVSquad

Now that the fall shows are drying up, those midseason replacements are becoming more and more essential. Zap2It tells us CBS has shifted the premieres of The Captain and The New Adventures of Old Christine from January 28 to February 4 (so as to not compete with the State of the Union Address). And furthermore, The Captain has been redubbed Welcome to the Captain.

In this new series, Fran Kranz plays a young man who moves into a legendary Hollywood apartment complex. His new neighbors are played by the likes of Raquel Welch, Jeffrey Tambor, Chris Klein and more. Which I guess means it's a show about a bunch of wacky neighbors, as opposed to the requisite one.

(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.

I'm starting to run out of headlines, but here's a little more pilot casting news, via the Hollywood Reporter:

Dean Cain and Tamala Jones will both star in the CBS drama pilot Protect and Serve. Dean plays a veteran cop in this drama about street officers in Los Angeles.

Polly Walker (Rome) has joined the untitled CBS drama pilot from Cynthia Cidre. The series will focus on two powerful and feuding Latin American families: the Duques and the Samuels. Walker plays the head of the Samuel family