TVSquad

After placing an order for Army Wives, a new drama about wives living on an Army base, Lifetime has picked up its second drama series, also slated for a 2007 premiere. State of Mind will star Lili Taylor as a therapist whose problems are often much worse than those of her patients. The pilot was written by Amy Bloom, an author and psycho-therapist. Bloom is also a teacher at Yale University and has written for The New York Times, Vogue, Salon, Slate and The Atlantic Monthly. Taylor was last seen in the HBO series Six Feet Under as Lisa, Nate's (dead) first wife. The new series will also feature Lolita Davidovich, Derek Riddell, Levin Chamberlin, Devon Gummersall and Mido Hamada.

These two new pilots are part of an effort on the part of Lifetime's president of entertainment services Susanne Daniels to bring more scripted series back to the network. The network does not currently air any new scripted series in its primetime schedule.

(S02E13) This is an early review.

Tom Peters has a less than stellar marriage, and it's been implied, though never blatantly shown, that his wife Joy might be unfaithful. The real question doesn't seem to be why Joy cheats on Tom, but how an ugly screaming whale of a woman like her would be able to find someone willing to make love to her. Of course, plenty of men dig the rotund dames, but Joy manages to make herself unpleasant in so many other ways that seems like a moot point.

Part of enjoying Tom Goes to the Mayor --and I think by this point those who don't enjoy the show have moved on to other things-- is that it exists in a world pretty much void of any adherence to physical or moral laws. Tom has been killed, gone to hell, inexplicably transported both his father and the Mayor to an airplane in mid-flight, and been trapped underwater with a tiny man trapped inside him. He's also married to a woman who hates his guts, and it's never made clear why they're married. If you start asking these kind of questions, though, you really shouldn't be watching the show in the first place.

William Shatner is making great use of his summer break from Boston Legal by promoting peace and therapy. He spent Memorial Day promoting horseback riding in Jerusalem. He's part of an American organization called Ahead for Horses, which believes that horseback riding is therapeutic to physically and mentally disabled kids. Shatner launched a new fundraising effort in Jerusalem to bring 30 riding programs to the country. He needs $10 million to do it. During a press conference, Shatner said he thinks the project can become a small part of the peace process because, even though it's in partnership with the Jewish National Fund, it is open to all citizens of Israel.

Why does Paula Abdul continue to set herself up for mean jokes from Simon Cowell? This time she's going to be featured on a Valentine's Day special edition of Dr. Phil where the two try to figure out why she's been married two times and is once again single. One of the problems, according to the press release for the show, is that Paula has a hard time being with men who haven't reached her level of success. [Insert Simon Cowell jab here]

After she and Dr. Phil have dissected her relationship issues, Paula will choose one man out of ten to go on a blind date. That date will be filmed, of course, and Dr. Phil will also dissect that. Why can't The Smoking Gun do an expose on this man?