TVSquad

The CW may have kicked off its fall season on Labor Day, but for most of the other networks, things are just getting started. So what does that mean for you? Heavy promotion for not only the new shows premiering this fall, but for returning favorites as well. To that end, My Name Is Earl creator Greg Garcia and star Jason Lee spoke with reporters recently about Earl's upcoming 4th season.

My Name Is Earl returns for its 4th season on NBC with two back-to-back episodes, September 25 at 8pm. Not only did Garcia and Lee give us a taste of what to expect when we catch up with our favorite Camdenites, but they also dished the dirt on dream guest stars, what previous guest star peed over by craft services, if an Earl movie is in the works, and perhaps a word or two about a famously abrasive 30 Rock star. All of the details are after the jump.

When CBS presented their upfront last May, one of the more intriguing dramas was a murder mystery/slasher film/whodunit about a wedding party on a Seattle island. It was called Harper's Island and projected for mid-season. The preview played like a cross between Ten Little Indians and Twin Peaks to me, and I liked what I saw. I certainly plan on giving it a try when it shows up on CBS.

It's still slated for early 2009, only now the actor playing the groom's loud, fun-loving and duplicitous uncle is going to be Harry Hamlin. He has been added to the Harper's Island cast as Marty.

I'm hesitant to get my hopes up, because there's always talk of TV shows making a leap to the big screen. Whether it's a great idea, as with Arrested Development, or a horrific one like Friends: The Movie, it seems that as soon as a show ends, the silver-screen talks begin. Regardless, I just about peed my pants when I read that a Veronica Mars movie may actually become a reality.

Even though Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas has two pilots in the works (Cupid and Outrageous Fortune), he still hasn't forgotten the little detective show that is singlehandedly responsible for people no longer asking him if he's the dude from Matchbox Twenty. Apparently, Thomas's production office is located on the same lot where VM star Kristen Bell is currently shooting Heroes and the two sat down for a little chat.

Can't. Stop. Talking. About. Gossip. Girl. It's true, it's an impossibility. Gossip Girl, the random, trashy, highly buzzed about but low-rated CW drama, is returning for its second season on September 1st. Recently, The CW has released some teasers to catch us up on what everybody's favorite perfectly-coiffed Upper East Siders are up to. Basically, they're still having sex and backstabbing one another, but this time it's in The Hamptons!

I've got to admit that I'm ashamed of myself for being this excited about Gossip Girl's return. It's cheesy and silly, and is definitely not a replacement for The CW's oft-mourned Veronica Mars. Regardless, seeing the gang (minus the Humphreys) in these promos was nice--in a very similar way to when someone you went to high school with but weren't friends with finds you on Facebook. It's interesting to see what they've been up to, but you're still pretty sure you're not going to be besties.

The (spoilery) videos are after the jump.

It looks like guest-starring on Chuck isn't the biggest thing going on in Nicole Richie's TV career. The former Simple Life star has just announced that a TV show based on her 2005 novel is in the works. Richie's roman à clef, titled The Truth About Diamonds, follows Chloe Parker, the adopted daughter of a rock star who runs around with a bad crowd in Hollywood. Throughout the novel, Parker faces struggles with the law, drugs and her friends. Sound familiar?

Not only is Richie planning on producing the show, but she'll be appearing in it as well. Even though she based Chloe Parker on herself, Richie says that she won't necessarily be playing the lead, "I would definitely produce and definitely be in the show, [but] I don't know if I need to be the star of this show." Since production is still in the early stages, the details surrounding the series remain unclear, such as what network it will be on, and whether or not it will be a drama or a comedy.

The big screen adaptation of I Dream of Jeannie has been years in the making. Now a script writer is attached, so who knows, maybe we'll see it in theaters in the next few years (IMDB.com lists a release date of 2010). And something tells me we'll probably see a belly button or two.

Producer Sid Ganis is bringing Rita Hsiao, who scribed Mulan, on board to rewrite the script for a movie based on the 1960s series. Ganis is psyched for Hsiao's vision of the character -- a Jeannie who's smack in the middle of modern times.

In a Hollywood Reporter story, Ganis said of Hsiao's meeting with the producers, "She has a terrific, bright, fresh approach to Jeannie's story, with a twist and turn along the way. She captured all of our imaginations in the telling of it."

Of all the networks, CBS has the most new shows on deck, including two new comedies, Worst Week and Project Gary, and two new dramas, The Ex-List and The Mentalist. Another drama is set for mid-season, Harper's Island.

We've had a chance to look over these new TV shows, and by and large, it's a fascinating bunch. Also adventurous. No procedurals. More character-driven programming it seems. CBS seems determined not to rest on their laurels.

Read what we thought about these advance screeners, bearing in mind that things are liable to change before the shows start to air.

The TV Squad Awards are in full swing, and I have the pleasure of moderating The Arrested Development Award, a.k.a. The Show Least Deserving of Cancellation Award.

Since we're focusing on shows from the 2007-2008 season, that lets out a few contenders, like Veronica Mars , Firefly, and the award's namesake, Arrested Development. But there are plenty of recent shows deserving of the honor. Five that made my list:

1. Journeyman (NBC). This time-shift puzzle starring Kevin McKidd as deer-in-the-headlights Dan Vasser took a while to hook me, but by mid-season, I was there. I love shows that make you think, and although this one developed a formula (Dan saving someone who would later go on to change history), the logistics always had you scratching your head. I was sad to see it absent from NBC's Fall 08 schedule.

(S01E14) "You don't like banana splits? What are you some kind of a commie?" - Jerry

You know if any other show had written themselves into a corner the way Reaper did, they'd have a problem. Last episode they escalated Sam & Andi's relationship but, of course, by doing so, they revealed too much of Sam's secret to Andi. When that kind of thing happens on a show, it's usually the beginning of the end. We all know that if Andi ever joins Sam's band of demon hunters, the show will suffer. So what's the answer? Does he confess everything? Does she sneak around and try to catch Sam in the act? Does Andi come down with that disease we only see on TV, Convenient Amnesia? Luckily, this kind of thing isn't a problem for Reaper. All they have to do is slip a guy some cash, tell her a lie and the problem is solved. I love watching a show whose main characters have lower moral standards than my own.

Every time I see an image of Rob Thomas I can't help but think, "man, that is one huge neck." Sorry, just had to get that out of the way.

It turns out that the aforementioned tight-tie-wearing director/producer/writer has decided to pass on heading the Beverly Hills, 90210 spinoff series to concentrate more on a couple of other projects, one of which we've already mentioned before: Cupid and Good Behavior. Thomas will still be involved with the spinoff show, but only as an executive producer. In fact, the script for the series is being totally rewritten by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah from What About Brian (Update: They also wrote for Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared). In a nutshell, fans of Rob Thomas won't likely be feeling the Rob Thomas-ness in this series.

This isn't the first time in recent history that Thomas has stepped down from a new series. The same thing happened with Miss Guided last year, though it's unclear if that show has suffered at all from his departure.

[via PopCandy]

Will it be the magic again? You've gotta hope so... According to Watch with Kristin on E!online, there's a good chance that the Veronica Mars team of Kristen Bell and Rob Thomas will be working together again.

In a recent chat with Kristin, Kristen (that's Ms. Bell -- check the spelling) has been talking with Rob about the possibility of another series. It would be great if they were talking about bringing Veronica back, but that's apparently not meant to be. Only fans like us, we see that that is what we'd want most of all, but it ain't happening.

Is that a throne Rob Thomas is sitting on? Seems like he's quickly becoming King of TV! The prolific scribe is quite literally sitting in the catbird seat. ABC has just greenlit another Rob Thomas pilot, that's his third -- but who's counting? It follows ABC's resurrection of Cupid and a Beverly Hills, 90210 spinoff for the CW. The latest Rob Thomas opus is an import based on the New Zealand TV series Outrageous Fortune.

Outrageous Fortune is a one-hour dramedy is about a family of criminals. When the father is jailed for four years, the matriarch declares that it's time for the family to go straight. Thomas has written the pilot and will act as executive producer, along with John Barnett, Michael Larkin, Michael Goldstein, Bruce Cervi and John Lansing.

Schools in! For 11 seasons, Beverly Hills 90210, was a ratings hit and trend-setting youth soap opera for Fox. Now, a mere eight years later, the CW will spin-off Beverly Hills 90210, coming up with a contemporary version of the well-loved, if corny, teen drama.

The original, executive produced by the late Aaron Spelling, and created by Darren Star (Cashmere Mafia). The new CW version is not connected to Star. Rob Thomas, who created Veronica Mars, has been approached to take on the project.

... 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.

I could be wrong here, but I think most fans of Veronica Mars felt that season three was clearly its weakest. For me, in fact, the third season was so disappointing that I wasn't going to even bother completing my DVD collection for the series.

Now that I've gotten to take an early look at the Veronica Mars season three DVD set, I'm going to say that if you were also thinking of not grabbing this set, you may want to reconsider.