TVSquad

Former New Kid on the Block singer/actor Donnie Wahlberg is heading back to series television. Wahlberg will team with and director/producer Jon Avnet for a new TNT series called Morse Code. The title may change, but the set up is Donnie as a war hero who becomes an officer for the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). His beat is Boston, Donnie's hometown. The show is being scripted by Walon Green (Law & Order) and Avent will direct the pilot.

Wahlberg starred in the 2002 NBC drama, Boomtown, a highly touted series that never lived up to the network's expectations. That was the first time Donnie worked with Jon Avnet. More recently, in 2006, he was the star of Runaway for The CW. He received good notices for Spike's FX's The Kill Point in 2007, co-starring John Leguizamo.

I know, I know: 69% of you are saying, "what the heck is The Kill Point?" (50% of you might even be saying, "what the heck is Spike?" I call those people "women.")

Spike has canceled the Donnie Wahlberg drama after only one season. The show actually got decent ratings, especially among guys of a certain age, but the network has decided to go crazy on reality shows instead of investing in original, scripted programming. A spokesman for the network gave this quote: "We are out of the serialized one-hour business. We need programming that we can repeat." Oh, I'm sure TV fans are gritting their teeth over that one.

Friday's TCA, which continued cable TV presentations, felt like three days rolled into one.

Just how jam-packed and eclectic are the programs and announcements that were made?

Here's a sample: Dynasty diva Joan Collins is checking into BBC America's Hotel Babylon, Richard Dreyfus (Jaws) is not afraid to get back into the water as host of The Discovery Channel's Ocean of Fear: The Worst Shark Attack Ever and Jonny Fairplay (Survivor) of CMT's Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull-Riding Challenge sadly announced that his beloved grandmother passed away two weeks ago.