TVSquad

(S14E19) Now, let the speculation begin!

Did you really think that ER would end its fourteenth season with everything all honky-dory at County General? You haven't watched it recently, have you? Fact is, the season-ender for the last few years has been some sort of cliffhanger. Last season the fate of Neela was unknown. The year before it was Abby and Luka. A few years before that the fates of Pratt and Jing-Mei were undecided.

Now we have two (or three, or four) characters to consider as potential victims. But, who will be the lucky -- or in this case, unlucky -- one who will end up as a patient in their very own Emergency Room when season 15 of ER begins? Let's take a look at the candidates. Oh, by the way, spoilers ahead if you didn't watch the last three minutes of the episode.

This past Saturday, the 59th Annual Creative Emmy Awards were given out and aside from a few exceptions, the winners were no surprise.

The biggest event of the night came when American Idol won its first Emmy ever for "Outstanding Technical Direction." The spectacular "Idol Gives Back" episode was responsible for the Emmy, specifically the duet between Celine Dion and the late Elvis Presley. The honor is of particular interest because it gives AI a break in the second biggest losing streak in Emmy history, 22 losses. The record of 25 nominations without a win is still held by Newhart.

(S13E22) And now, please welcome Stanley Tucci to the cast of ER. As we reported to you back in March, Tucci was cast as Dr. Kevin Moretti, an ICU clinical director who becomes the new ER chief of staff after Luka Kovac decides to step down (due to the fact that Goran Visnjic , who portrays Kovac, is leaving the show). Moretti officially takes over the ER next week. In this week's episode we get to meet the man and find out a little about him.

Let's analyze Kevin Moretti for a bit, shall we?

Casting news from ER: Stanley Tucci, star of the very short-lived CBS drama 3 Lbs last year, will join the show later this year for a multi-episode stint.

He's going to play "a brilliant ICU turned ER chief," in just one of many big changes that are coming to the show. TV Guide wonders if this means that Goran Visnjic will be replaced, since it has been reported that Visnjic might not return next season (though producers are trying to get him to agree to star in a few episodes here and there).

This is interesting casting, going for an older guy instead of a resident hunk (sorry, nothing against Tucci's hunkiness). This guy deserves a weekly show. I remember a TV movie from years ago, a pilot for a series produced by Tom Selleck, that had Tucci as a detective. The show never made it, so I hope this works out.

[via TV Tattle]

Joe Pantoliano is not letting the canceled CBS drama Waterfront die an anonymous death.

Pantoliano and other members of the Waterfront crew, including the girl who plays his daughter on the show, showed up at the Tazza Cafe in Providence, RI the other night to show two episodes of the series for the crowd. The show was about the mayor of Providence and a lot of it was filmed on location. CBS pulled the series without even showing a single episode, saying it was too expensive and that there were creative differences.

But Pantoliano says its more than that, and uses as an example CBS' decision to put 3 Lbs in the slot vacated by the now-canceled Smith. 3 Lbs is a Paramount show. Paramount is owned by the same company that owns CBS, Viacom. Waterfront is a Warner Brothers show, and Pantoliano thinks that CBS wants to air one of their own shows instead of another show.

He wants to finish the episodes they were working on and show them to the public and see if they like it or not.

[via TV Tattle]

(S05E01) This episode of Monk reflects back to this episode from last season where Monk figured out how an astronaut managed to kill a woman, despite being in deep space at the time of the alleged suicide. The case was such a home run that Hollywood has decided to make a movie about it, and famous actor David Rushkin (Stanley Tucci) has been chosen to play Monk.

Rushkin decides to follow Monk around as he helps investigators figure out how the same man could be involved in two crimes that seem to have no connection to one another: the murder of a woman in her apartment, and the murder of another man at a jewelry store. Monk becomes extremely awkward around the actor, and tries not to let his obsessive compulsive nature show through too much. So much of this show is dependent on Monk's subtle mannerisms, but he exaggerates them to an absurd degree as he tries to impress the actor who's playing him. He all but dances around the crime scene, and even shakes Rushkin's hand without cleaning his own hands clean with a sanitary wipe. He does almost lose it when he gets glitter on his suit, though.

A brand new season of Monk kicks off on July 7 at 9 p.m., but before that you can catch a Fourth of July marathon which kicks off in the wee hours of the morning on July 4 and runs until 11 p.m. Now while all those losers are out burning their hands on charcoal grills and eating questionable potato salad you can rest comfortably in your home with the air conditioner on. Or, alternatively, you can tape all the episodes and actually get the heck out of the house and socialize with other human beings. You know, if you're into that kind of thing. The first episodes of the new season guest stars Stanley Tucci. I'll be covering the episodes for you once again, too.