TVSquad

(S07E01) "The Armenians know about the money train!" - Shane

The beginning of the end. One down and twelve to go in The Shield's final run. As depressing as that is, a.) at least it's not over yet and, b.) it started out with one hell of a set-up, huh? Vic and the rest of the Strike Team (what's left of it anyway) have gotten themselves into some serious messes in the past, but something tells me that stirring up a manufactured feud between the Armenians and the Mexicans isn't going to lead to a happy ending.

• The news channels, some PBS channels, and CSPAN have coverage of the Republican National Convention all night. The networks join in at 10.
• At 7, USA has coverage of The U.S. Open.
• At 8, NBC has a new, two-hour America's Got Talent.
• The CW has the series premiere of 90210 at 8.
• ABC Family has The Secret Life of an American Teenager at 8, then a new Greek.
• ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker starting at 8.
• At 8:40, BBC America has a new Gavin & Stacey.
• At 9, ABC has a new Wanna Bet?
• CBS has a new Big Brother at 9.
• There's a new Food Detectives on Food Network at 9.
• At 10, FX has the season premiere of The Shield.
• A&E has a new episode of The Cleaner at 10.
• E! has a new Pam on the Loose at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has the season premiere of The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• B.L. Stryker - Best Of
  
• Banacek - Best Of
• Beany & Cecil - Classic Collection, Volumes 1 and 2
• Charles in Charge - Best Of
• The Crow: Stairway to Heaven - Best Of
• Curious George - Sails with Pirates and Other Curious Capers
• Death Note - Vol. 6
• Dirty Jobs - Collection 3
• Entourage - Season 4
• Everybody Hates Chris - Season 3
• Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids - Halloween
• The Golden Age of Comedy
• Heroes - Season 2
• The Honeymooners - Color, Collection 4
• NCIS - Season 5 and Seasons 1-5 sets
  
• One Tree Hill - Season 5
• Robson Arms - Season 3
• The Shield - Season 6
• Shockwave - Season 1
• The Untouchables - Season 2, Vol. 2

Why have one outlaw biker show when you can have two? I always find it a little odd when you see two movies or television shows pop up at the same time that share strikingly similar premises. And that's what we have here. Sons Of Anarchy, from The Shield writer/executive producer Kurt Sutter, centers on an outlaw motorcycle club in Charming, CA. Clearly much different than HBO's 1%, which tells the story of an outlaw motorcycle club in Carefree, AZ. They're two completely different states after all.

Of course, I kid... a little bit. The shows do have different takes on the subject, and there is a rundown of the development time lines for both of them in the article at The Hollywood Reporter. Sons will focus on Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) and the conflict that develops as his loyalty to the club clashes with his trepidation where their lawlessness is concerned. Sutter's wife, Katey Sagal, is along for the ride as Teller's mother. The role of Jax's step-father was played by Scott Glenn in the pilot but will be recast in the series. I'm not sure if there is room for two biker shows on the television schedule, but with Sutter in charge of Sons, and Donal Logue signed on for 1%, I'll have to take a look at both of them.

Remember this scene? It's from the season six finale of The Shield. Mackey is showing Aceveda all the dirt he's got on Cruz Pezuela and the Mexican mob. Seems like forever ago ... and it was. It's been almost a year and we're still waiting for a resolution. FX has been scant with news regarding the seventh season of its trademark show. Supposedly, it's returning in September so that its final thirteen episodes are not competing with the Olympics. It should be coming back sooner if you ask me. I don't really see too much audience intersection between fans of The Shield and fans of floor gymnastics routines.

Well it's about time. According to Ausiello over at TV Guide, FX plans to air the final 13 episodes of The Shield starting in September. Originally set to air starting in April, the final season was completed before the writer's strike hit. However, it still affected the show.

The strike cut short the most recent seasons of Nip/Tuck, Dirt, and The Riches. Nip/Tuck's finale aired a few weeks ago, Dirt just premiered this past Sunday, and The Riches returns next Tuesday, March 18th. Because of the truncated seasons for Dirt and The Riches (each finished only seven installments), they moved up in the schedule to March/April, displacing The Shield.

What's going on at the other TV blogs via the internets.

• Could TV ratings actually increase because of the strike?
• Here's The Shield's Shawn Ryan on the strike.
• First Diane Keaton, and now Colin Farrell.
• Lou Dobbs, interviewed by Esteban Colberto.
• Which cast member of The View has had a threesome?
• Oh, never mind, Chris Daughtry actually meant to say he loves American Idol!
• Breaking Bad debuts on AMC tomorrow night.
• Why Margaret Cho won't do Ellen Degeneres' show.
• Brian Williams grabs a red-eye flight.

... 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.

...eight seasons to look forward to.

Ho ho ho... nothing's on... my remote is collecting dust. Pesky writer's strike. Season's greetings? Not so much. More like "seasons canceled" or "seasons delayed." Fortunately (thank the TV gods) some shows didn't get touched when the WGA hit the picket lines. Either they wrapped production before the guild walked out or in some cases, full seasons had already aired. Here's to hoping that the New Year brings a speedy resolution to this whole mess so that business can move on as usual. And by "business as usual," I mean a selection of new episodes instead of me going out of my mind deciding if I should watch a Law & Order re-run from 1998 or 2002. Angie Harmon or Elisabeth Röhm... tough decision. Anyway, in the meantime, we have plenty to look forward to.

1.) The Wire, season 5: All in the game for one more season. As the fifth and final season of The Wire approaches, I can't help but be giddy over the fact that it wrapped production before the strike got underway. With only ten episodes, can you imagine the mess that would have been created if production would have been tweaked by a mere few weeks? Similar to the predicament Scrubs finds itself, HBO's greatest achievement could have been without a series finale. The thought terrifies me. Not the case, so take a deep breath and watch all these great previews. The Wire premieres on Sunday, January 6.