TVSquad

(S01E18) This was a fun episode of The Mentalist, reminiscent of parts of the psychic episode, "Seeing Red," in that we got to see Jane in a comfort zone of his, something that he knows well. The difference is that Jane believes in hypnosis.

And we got to see Jane do his thing tonight ... his hypnosis thing anyway. He was clever enough to put the tracer in Rigsby's pocket, but my favorite episodes of The Mentalist are when Jane knows whodunnit ahead of time and sets them up. When Jane is a step -- or two -- ahead of everyone else, he shines.

(S01E16) "My other senses are heightened. They're super-heightened. I'm like Daredevil." -- Jane on his blindness

Now, this was an interesting episode of The Mentalist. We veered from the formula a bit, and I liked it. We got to find out a lot more about Jane's past, albeit Red John-free. Sadly, this episode was fairly Cho-free, as well, but we did get a lot of Rigsby / Van Pelt payoff.

Mostly what this episode was about, though, was Jane's questionable past: the lies he told to people, the money he unabashedly took, and the lives he ruined with his greed and his false representation of his psychic abilities. Jane is clearly carrying around a lot more guilt than just his family being killed, although that was obviously the defining moment for Jane.

On this Tuesday afternoon, we've got two copies of Breaking Bad: The Complete First Season on DVD for two lucky, random commenters. The DVD is out in stores starting today.

To enter, leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, February 27 simply telling us why you'd like to own this DVD set. As always, we'll randomly choose two winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
Click here for complete Official Rules.

When I sit down to watch television, I want to be entertained. I do not want to be bored, annoyed, depressed or angry. Just give me some good, clean fun. That's why it's been an infinite pleasure watching TNT's new drama, Leverage, a show I have crowned the best new show this season.

I recently had the pleasure of talking with Timothy Hutton, star of Leverage, about the first season of the successful new drama. Oh yes, the charming Tim and I dished about his performance, his co-stars and what season two may bring.

One thing I learned is that the powers-that-be over at Leverage don't tell their actors a whole lot. After being enamored with season one, I was dying for a spoiler of what's to come next season, now that we know Leverage has been renewed (they start filming April 13, in fact). OK, I would have settled for a teaser, even a tidbit, but it seems they're still tossing most of that around in the writers' room. Here's what I did get:

(S01E10) Man, I just love The Mentalist. This episode was no exception. Yes, it's a formulaic show, but like House, I've grown to love every piece of the formula and feel robbed if something is missing.

The only negatives tonight? Once again, I knew who did it early on in the episode, but they really did a good job of creating many believable suspects this week. I also missed mention of Red John, although we did get to learn a little bit more about Jane in the aftermath of his tragedy through his relationship with Sophie.

Let's get into the nitty-gritty after the jump.

(S01E08) I have a complaint about The Mentalist: there's just not enough Jane for me. Simon Baker is the heart and soul of this show and I crave more screen time for him, and more of the antics we saw in the first couple of episodes. Regardless, this is one great show and I won't hold it against the writers that they are attempting to go deeper with the rest of the cast; a good idea, really.

OK, maybe I have two complaints, and this one is aimed at the director: Is it possible to tell the actor who plays the killer to not be so shifty the second they get screen time? I knew whodunnit so early on that I actually second-guessed myself.

(S01E05) I started watching this episode, waiting for Jane to do his stuff. Since The Mentalist previewed, I have enjoyed Jane's antics and "Redwood" didn't disappoint.

• Quick -- who could have done it? A name popped into your head, you know it did.
• Raise your hands above your heads, lower your right hand if you did it
• Hypnotizing Nicole to get her to remember
  
• Stealing Kara's MP3 player
• Springing Nicole from the hospital
• Cell phone decoy trick to save Lisbon

At the beginning of the episode, I thought I'd be writing about how this was a perfect example of a typical, predictable procedural. Once again, The Mentalist has pleasantly surprised me by proving just how special it is.

On this Monday afternoon, we've got three copies of Back to You - Season One on DVD for three lucky, random commenters. The DVD is available in stores starting tomorrow.

To enter, leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, October 17 simply telling us why you'd like to own this DVD set. As always, we'll randomly choose three winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
Click here for complete Official Rules.

(S02E01) Ten months. That's how long its been since we've seen a fresh episode of Life. After the last episode aired in November there was nary a word about the show, save for reports of its renewal and a bit about casting changes. This left fans of the show in a bit of a tizzy. For Life wasn't just a dime-a-dozen criminal procedural, but a show with an underlying story about conspiracy and the search for justice. By the time the show ended its very short first season we were cheering Detective Charlie Crews as he was able to get a semblance of his freedom back.

Now we enter season two. And, as usual, the following question comes to mind: did it carry on the spirit of season one? Well yes, and possibly no. Click ahead to find out.

I finally caved. After all the hype and all the buzz, I gave in. I'm sick of avoiding headlines on blogs and it's frustrating to hear everyone chatting away about "Cylons this..." and "Caprica that..." while I stand by mute and clueless. I've finally started to watch Battlestar Galactica.

I should mention that I'm not completely in the dark. I've tried before. On a couple of occasions actually. I've had a burned copy of the three hour mini-series that started it all for some time now. I could never get through it. This time, I went all out though. I even shelled out the $55 for the season one DVD set. Now, I'm through the mini-series and I'm nine episodes into the season. Four to go before the finale and all of a sudden, I've stopped. I started thinking. What if I had watched the show, right from the get-go when it premiered back in 2005 along with everyone else? Let's pretend. Let's say it is 2005 all over again and episode nine just aired last night -- the one where Tigh's estranged wife shows up. Let's pretend that seasons 2, 3 and 4 don't exist yet. Cool premise? OK...

I don't see what the big deal is.

(S01E07) "What? Slingshots too ineffective?" - Chuck

Oh it is good to be back after a week of absence! I know you guys missed me so much, but I think that Will O'Brien did a great job with his review of last week's episode.

One note from last week's episode that Will didn't cover... Captain Awesome's name is Devon? I had to rewind the video three times just to make sure. What a lame name (no offense to any Devons out there). I was really hoping for a Hoyt or Blakely or Mortimer.

I don't know if you caught the little Brothers and Sisters song-and-dance pre-season-premiere show this fall. I believe you can catch it online if you didn't see it on air. I am being a little smarmy about that pre-show because one of my fears about Brothers and Sisters is this: Their attempts to oversell it will turn people off. If I were an uninitiated viewer, or even a lukewarm one, having the cast and crew get together to talk about how much they love the show and love each other would make me wonder what they were compensating for. Smacks of desperation. And there's honestly no need for that.

One of the things that resonated with me as I watched the DVD extras, watched the early shows again, just for some perspective after a year of watching, is that this is a really good show.

Now that the second season of The Sarah Silverman Program has begun (see Brad T.'s review of last night's season premiere), anyone who wants to go back and review the first season can now do so on DVD.

Comedy Central usually puts together decent DVD packages for its shows, and this one is no exception. Well, it's decent if you're a fan of Silverman's goofy and self-absorbed songs, because this package features them quite a bit.

That's right, Friday Night Lights shaves as close as a blade, or your money back.

Sorry, whenever I hear news of a refund that old electric razor commercial pops into my head. Remember that one? No? Okay, moving on:

The folks behind NBC's Friday Night Lights are so sure you'll love the first season DVD set coming out next Tuesday that they're offering to refund your money if you don't like it. In order to qualify for the refund, you have to purchase the DVD before the end of the year, and I guess you also have to hate the series.

Choke on hot blue nostalgia, Generation X.

The Smurfs, that popular animated program I and many of my friends watched religiously as children of the '80s, is finally coming out on DVD. The Smurfs: Season One, Volume One is a two-disc set including the first nineteen episodes of the first season, along with "The Smurfs Springtime Special" and "Smurfs: The Music Video." The set comes out December 4.