TVSquad

This is Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at TV Squad where we'll 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: Bones, Chuck, Friday Night Lights, Greek, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, House, Lost, Private Practice, Scrubs, Smallville and Supernatural. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)

Remember that slogan NBC had in the 80s, "NBC let's all be there!" They'd run commercials with it and you'd have stars like Philip Michael Thomas pop up in a box and point his two index fingers at you. I think that "be there" philosophy is gone for good at NBC, at least when it comes to stars being on certain shows.

Last week, the now-on-ABC show Scrubs filmed the probable series finale, which will air next spring. The epic episode will feature many of the guest stars that have appeared on the show over the years, but two of them are now on NBC shows and the network won't let them appear on it, even though both wanted to appear. The two stars in question are Masi Oka from Heroes and Sarah Lancaster from Chuck.

I'd love to hear NBC's side of this story, but if true, it seems like another of the dumb moves that NBC seems to be making nowadays. You would think that the network would just say "fine, you can be on the show," since it seems like a really trivial thing. Maybe even to just look good. I guess there's real animosity between NBC and creator Bill Lawrence.

Looking in from the outside, you might think that Alec Baldwin has the tiger by the tail. He's the star of a critically acclaimed television show. He's winning awards for his work. And, while he's no longer landing those leading man roles in films, over the last few years he's added several good supporting roles to his long list of credits. Apparently, those are not the makings of a happy-go-lucky life.

There is an interesting profile of Baldwin on The New Yorker's website. In a long and thorough piece, Ian Parker talks with Baldwin about his career, his family, mistakes that were made, and things that might have been. Throughout the piece, it becomes clear that he is anything but satisfied. They talk a lot about the film business, and the decisions that shaped the direction of that part of his career. For our purposes here though, the more interesting bits are the discussions of 30 Rock. They include a quote that actually shocked me. Not so much for the sentiment, but for the fact that anyone, even Alec Baldwin, would say it in print. I'll tuck it away after the jump for those of you that have an aversion to f-bombs.

Labor Day marks the end of summer (yeah, don't tell me summer ends later in September, if it's Labor Day and the kids are back in school, summer is over), and you could spend the weekend at the beach, having a barbecue, or doing something athletic outside. Or, you could stay in all weekend on your couch and watch a TV marathon! Here's a list of some marathons you can see this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Saturday, August 30

• At 6am, TCM starts a marathon of Katharine Hepburn movies.
• At 7, History Channel has a marathon of Ax Men.
• At 9, USA has a Starter Wife marathon.
• Also at 9, Sci-Fi has a marathon of monster movies, including Carnosaur, Reptilian, Beneath Loch Ness, Eye of the Beast, King of the Lost World, and Black Swarm.
• At 10, Bravo has a Shear Genius marathon.
• At 11, History Channel has a bunch of Ice Road Truckers episodes.
• At 11:30, Discovery Kids has a marathon of Flight 29 Down episodes.
• At 2pm, Spike has a CSI marathon.

The Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards -- affectionately known as the Shmemmys to Kathy Griffin fans -- has at least one more viewer this year. I will be watching the other Emmy presentation, the awards that come before the Primetime Emmys. The big one with all the major categories, musical numbers, clip montages and near-mandatory attendance by the nominees is the Emmys. The other one is the technical awards. But I will be watching for a very good reason: Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Chalke will be co-hosting the Creative Arts Emmys this year on the E! channel, September 20.

Neil, an Emmy nominee for How I Met Your Mother, and Sarah, who is also a guest/semi-regular on Mother as well as a permanent regular on Scrubs, are a great choice for this gig. They're smart, funny, quick, attractive and maybe even unpredictable.

I mean, wouldn't it be a hoot if Neil came on stage in his Dr. Horrible gear and asked Sarah if her Hanes undies were riding up or doing their job? She should then counter and ask him about that smell, you know ... the Old Spice? Hey, maybe they should get Bruce Campbell to confront Neil about the Old Spice deal -- that was Bruce's commercial before Neil took over!

I used to be a huge ER fan. Back in the good ol' Dr. Doug Ross days, I wouldn't miss an episode. It was the first medical drama that I had ever really watched, and I paid attention to it like I was watching an educational video in med school.

This came in handy several years back when I was on a flight to Scotland. It was a long flight and I was trying to sleep when I heard a commotion. A middle-aged man a few rows ahead of me appeared to be choking. However, it quickly became apparent that he was having an allergic reaction that was causing his throat to close up. It was bad news all around, but luckily, there had been an episode of ER that dealt with a very similar situation. So what did I do? I grabbed a pen, took it apart, and jammed the tube into his throat, opening his airway and saving his life. True story.

Okay, none of that actually happened -- because HOSPITAL SHOWS ARE NOT REAL. Apparently, however, Italy doesn't think its residents understand this.

One day in 2001, I was having lunch with a friend and we were talking about the new fall shows. We discussed shows that we thought weren't going to make it as well as shows we really enjoyed. Towards the end of the meal we started to discuss The Tick and how we were both excited to see the live version that was premiering later in the season. I remember turning to my friend and saying, "Isn't there another show premiering on FOX later in the season?" We couldn't think of which show it was and so went back to discussing The Tick.

The show we were trying to think of was The Bernie Mac Show and five years after The Tick had come and gone Bernie's show had become one of the funniest family sitcoms on television.

As TV fans, we all dream of being able to communicate with our favorite stars (Taylor Kitsch, why aren't you answering my letters?), but now AOL TV is going to make it happen.

In a new video interview series called Outside the Box, stars from the hottest shows will sit down together to answer questions submitted by you, the fans. Will a on-again, off-again couple finally get together? Boxers or briefs? What is the smoke monster? You ask, and they'll answer.

First up in our series will be the stars of Scrubs, which, in case you haven't heard, is moving from NBC to ABC. Shows almost never jump networks (Buffy switching from The WB to UPN is a rare example), so it's great to see a veteran show with a healthy fanbase getting a second chance. And I'm especially happy that Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence will get the chance to end the series his way -- or even extend it to a ninth season.

Stars Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke and Donald Faison will be going "Outside the Box," so we need your questions! Submit them by Tuesday, July 15 and be sure to include your first name and your city and state. Now, wanna play Jiggly Ball?

I'm a sucker for stunt casting. Sure, it can get annoying after a while, (hello Will & Grace) but I still love seeing a Michelle Trachtenberg on Gossip Girl or a Britney Spears on How I Met Your Mother. So I was really excited to read that Courteney Cox has signed up to guest star on Scrubs this season.

Cox, who was most recently seen on her FX drama, Dirt, is returning to the small screen for a three-episode arc as Sacred Heart's newest Chief of Medicine. The position was left open after Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins) retired at the end of last season. Since Cox is only going to be on the show for a handful of episodes, something tells me that she's not going to do well in her new position. Her character is said to "ruffle some feathers," and it sounds like she's ruffling the wrong ones right out the door.

With Rescue Me's fifth season finally (kinda, sorta) getting closer, we're getting more and more news about what's in store for Tommy and the gang. In addition to the minisodes, we've also got some exciting potential casting news: Michael J. Fox may be joining Rescue Me for a multi-episode arc. Fox is set to play a love interest for Tommy's (Dennis Leary) on-again/off-again ex, Janet (Andrea Roth).

Rescue Me may seem like an odd show for the former Spin City and Family Ties star to pop up on, but Fox and Leary are longtime friends. This friendship means that even though the deal isn't completely finalized, there's very good chance that Fox will be seen on the FX drama next summer.

All of these lists are starting to get more and more specific. This one is a list of the ten best sitcoms since 1980. Soon we'll have the 8 1/2 best hour long dramas that appeared between 1988 and 1994 on Sunday nights (that start with "J").

But lists always get us talking and this one has some great picks. Arrested Development fanatics will be glad to see their show on the list (I won't tell you where you'll have to click the link above), along with shows like Scrubs, Cheers, and Sports Night. But there is one show that is obviously missing. There might be more than one show that isn't on the list that should be, of course, but this show stood out to me immediately. Can you guess what it is? I'll name it after the jump but don't click ahead until you read the list and guess yourself.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my Put Me Out of This Misery Award post. If there's one thing that people are passionate about, besides what their favorite shows are, are the shows that they don't want around anymore. Below are the five nominees for this award, the show that has overstayed its welcome and should be put down already, damn it! Also, after the jump, a poll for what you would choose for this award, what we're calling the Reader's Choice Award. Both awards will be announced next week.

The nominees, in alphabetical order...

It looks like someone took the effort to create a Flash player with embedded videos of many of the upcoming new fall shows. Included are clips from Dollhouse, Fringe, Life on Mars, The Eleventh Hour, Scrubs, The Cleveland Show, The Goode Family (pictured right) as well as several others. I only had a chance to look at some of them. The previews aren't of all the new shows available in the fall (NBC only has one preview), but it's still quite a few. Which ones are missing?

Embedded videos after the jump

Sacred Heart will have three more interns when Scrubs moves to ABC. TV Guide's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Aziz Ansari, Betsy Beutler, and Eliza Coupe will have recurring roles on the comedy's eighth season. Bill Lawrence wants to take the show in a more dramatic direction, and these cast additions are part of that agenda.

Betsy Beutler is best known for her role as Joanie on the Black Donnellys. Eliza Coupe guest-starred on an episode of Flight of the Conchords and had a role on the prematurely canceled HBO series 12 Miles of Bad Road. Fans of MTV's Human Giant are already familiar with the comedic work of Aziz Ansari.

Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence recently did an interview with TV Guide's Michael Ausiello and took NBC to task for its shoddy treatment of the show. The network cut the comedy's final season short, but the show is getting a second chance on ABC. Lawrence slammed his former network bosses for denying him the opportunity to conclude the show properly, and discussed Scrubs' future on ABC. Here's a brief recap of the interview:

• Once the strike was over, Lawrence told NBC that he could finish up the season in three episodes instead of the planned seven. NBC had no interest in wrapping up the season in a way that would satisfy fans.