TVSquad

If you enjoyed the Yo Teach ... ! clips Jason Schwartzman did to promote Judd Apatow's Funny People, then you'll dig the following teaser for HBO's Bored to Death. The upcoming comedy stars Schwartzman as a struggling writer who moonlights as a detective.



Writer Jonathan Ames is the man behind the series, which features an amazing cast including Zach Galifianakis (still riding a buzz from The Hangover), Ted Danson, Parker Posey and Saturday Night Live's Kristen Wiig.

(S02E13) "I've been having one helluva shitty month and someone is gonna pay." - Patty

Another great ending to another great season of television. The general consensus seems to be that season two of Damages far outpaced season one. They were pretty tied up for me - that was, until last night's finale. Just like the first season, by the time we got to the end, we'd already seen most of the episode because of all the flashbacks. Same goes this time around - season two's flash-forwards provided us with a pretty solid sense of what to expect. The beauty of Damages is that there was still about 20 minutes worth of plot holes that needed filling. Seeing it all play out, in order, was phenomenal.

Damages has lived up to the hype. After a jaw-dropping debut season that garnered Glenn Close an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her turn as Patty Hewes, the FX legal drama roared back in January amid speculation regarding whether or not the unique storytelling techniques used in season one could be re-created again. The result? Eight episodes into the new season and Damages is as thrilling as ever.

However, after learning that Patty is indeed the person being held at gunpoint in last week's final moments, it proved one thing - Patty isn't the only one in the hot seat. The creative team behind Damages should be sweating too.

(S02E01) "Actually, I take that back. You should be scared. You should be terrified." - Ellen

Payback's a bitch, ain't it? Not if you're Ellen Parsons - then it's a slow, methodical, patience-testing process where it apparently takes six months before you get to shoot a gun. And thus begins the second chapter in the twisted law legacy of Ellen Parsons. After one episode, David Connor's killer is no longer the issue at the top of everyone's mind.

I just finished watching season one of FX's Damages and, wow! What a gripping, twisty-turny show that had me hooked the whole way. Glenn Close acts the socks off anyone in close range, but the rest of the cast are no slouches either.

I've gained new respect for Ted Danson in his role as Arthur Frobisher, a high-stakes entrepreneur who's gotten himself into some pretty deep doo-doo. And Rose Byrne as the young-pup attorney Ellen is like watching a steely-eyed carp in the making.

I can't wait for season two to start on Jan. 7 at 10 PM, but until then I'll have to appease myself with Jonathan's early look and this poster.

The law/crime genre is a tired and used television landscape. In an era where almost every channel has been saturated with no less than four Law & Order's, three CSI's, and countless other attempts - some good, some bad - it reached a point where it seemed as though we'd seen it all. Then FX premiered Damages back in July 2007 and everything changed. Fast-forward over a year later, add in three history-making Emmy wins, a Golden Globe, and one lingering question remains - how can they possibly re-create the tense past-meets-present plot device that made season one so unique and memorable?

All this month, AOL TV is publishing their list of TV's hottest hunks of all time. That's a lot of hunks, but probably they won't all be memorable to you -- or to me.

Because when were you swooning over TV hunks? When you were a teenager, of course. Unless you are really, really immature. But seriously, I am guessing that beyond the age of 16 or so, you probably didn't plaster any Teen Magazine pin-ups on your bedroom walls.

As a teenager of the '80s, I surely had my favorite TV hunks. Yep, they were plastered on my bedroom walls, too: imagine hunk wallpaper and you've got the idea. So who on TV mingled amongst the movie actors of the Brat Pack?

Ted Danson is one of those actors who just keeps chugging along through the years. He could have easily disappeared after Cheers, but he's been working steadily in both movies and TV.

Becker sort of flew under the radar, but aired from 1998 to 2004. There was the short-lived Help Me Help You in 2006. Danson even voiced a part on King of the Hill (Tom Hammond in "The Accidental Tourist" episode).

But it's his stint as the sinister Arthur Frobisher in Damages that's brought him into the forefront again. It also helped to catapult him into his next gig -- a lead role in HBO's comedy pilot Bored to Death.

The FX panels on Tuesday were pretty uneventful, aside from the news from network president John Landgraf. There was supposed to be a panel for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but that was mysteriously dropped from the schedule. I'm guessing that the boys figured they'd get too hammered at the FOX party the night before to handle questions from the reporters. Indeed, I witnessed Rob McElhenny and Glenn Howerton try to ride the Tilt-a-Whirl at the Santa Monica pier right after they pounded a couple of beers. Maybe canceling the panel was a smart idea.

Anyway, the three shows that paneled were Damages, Sons of Anarchy, and The Shield. More on what transpired after the jump.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

Even when it isn't at its greatest (which, for many fans, hasn't been since season 10) The Simpsons has still provided some great parodies of classic movies and television programs. For instance, in the season four episode "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie" they did a great parody of the Star Trek movie franchise with Star Trek XII: So Very Tired. I still crack up everytime I see the scene where the severely obese Scotty is telling an aged Captain Kirk that he can't push the warp engines any further.

The Emmy Award nominations will be announced a week from this Thursday, and The Hollywood Reporter got a bunch of TV stars (both Emmy winners and nominees) together at a roundtable* to discuss the awards, and it's pretty lively.

While Ted Danson talks about it taking nine times before he won the Emmy for Cheers in 1990, David Spade explains that he was more bummed about not winning a Golden Globe for his role on Just Shoot Me more than not winning the Emmy, because he was beaten by Gregory Peck, who won for a really short cameo. Bryan Cranston reveals how his guest stint on The X-Files many years ago led to his role on Breaking Bad, and Alec Baldwin explains that it's actually OK that he doesn't get to swear on 30 Rock like his friends who have pay cable shows can.

Neil Patrick Harris makes some comments that reality show-haters will love.

* For the sake of journalistic accuracy, I actually have no idea if the table was round or not. It could have been a long rectangle.

As the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences tries to whittle the submissions down to actual nominees, it's interesting to take a look at who has made it to the semifinals. It's not a nomination, but it's one step away. Today comes word of the finalists for best comedy actress and best supporting drama actor. There are some surprises.

Chief among those for me is Sarah Silverman. I honestly hadn't even considered her in the running. I'm not much of a fan, but I do like that she is being considered for the simple fact that the base the nominees are drawn from can always use some expansion. And if she is the most surprising inclusion, the most surprising snub just might be Teri Hatcher. Eva Longoria, Marcia Cross, and Felicity Huffman all made the cut, but not Hatcher. Ouch. The rest of the finalists, and the supporting actors from a drama, after the jump.

I was looking over a "Where are they now?" feature our friends at AOL put together on the cast of Cheers, and a few of the mysteries of the long-running sitcom classic came to mind. These were head-scratchers big and small that made me wonder if the writers are the most clever geniuses ever to man a word processor (it was the '80s, after all) or, like in most sitcoms, consistency of story was the first thing to go if a good joke came up in the writers' room.

I guess I should just go over to Ken Levine's blog and ask him, since he wrote for the show for many years. But if I did that, I wouldn't get paid for it. So, after the jump are the biggest Cheers mysteries, starting with the biggest and most obvious one:

... Six welcome returns.

Every fall season I get stoked about all the new shows, with cool new premises ("A guy travels through time trying to make right what once went wrong!"-- Journeyman not Quantum Leap), and all the big changes in store for existing shows. But it's equally exciting to see which beloved actors will be returning to television. Brad Garrett coming back to television in 'Til Death last year? Cool! Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer both coming back to television ... together? That's gotta be awesome, right? Jerry O'Connell on Carpoolers ... well ... ? I like the guy, but I'm not scheduling a 'Welcome Back' shindig for him.

Half the fun of a new television season is the return of great actors and actresses to the small screen. And while I could have easily done 10 or even 20 of these, I've narrowed it down to the six talents who were most welcome back in my house on a weekly basis this past year. I've even been so bold as to rank them. Feel free to agree, disagree and present your own lists in the comments.

(S01E13) "I'm accused of murder and my mom bakes cookies. Sounds about right." - Ellen

Four or five episodes ago, you might have caught me saying that I was getting sick of Damages. It was getting slow and I was tired of all the questions. But with each week after that, things turned around and last night's finale definitely made up for any shortcomings this phenomenal season had. If FX doesn't renew this show, I'll be more disappointed than when Showtime canned Huff. All the big questions got answered. The ones we were left with won't drive you crazy. Plus, just as Tate Donovan promised us, we got one hell of a set-up for season two.