TVSquad

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Lots of good stuff for TV Squad readers this week, from season one sets for Chuck, Pushing Daisies, and Private Practice to a new Seinfeld season one set and Cybill.

I have the Ozzie & Harriet disc but since it's Christmas-oriented, I'll probably wait a couple of months to review it.

• The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - Christmas with the Nelsons
• Alvin & The Chipmunks - Alvin!!! Edition
• Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 3 Collection
• Chuck - Season 1
• Criminal Minds - Season 3
• Cybill - Vol. 1
• Dirty Sexy Money - Season 1
• Duckman - Season 1 and 2
• Father Knows Best - Vol. 1
• Gimme A Break! - Seasons 1 and 2 (Canada)
• Goosebumps - A Night in Terror Tower, Monster Blood, and One Day in Horrorland
• Inside The Actor's Studio - Robin Williams
• Meerkat Manor - Best of Season 3
• Private Practice - Season 1
• Pushing Daisies - Season 1
• The Red Green Show - 2000
• Seinfeld - Season 1: The Very Beginning
• Torchwood - Season Two
• Will & Grace - Complete Series and Season 8

If I didn't love this news so much, I'd be worried that 30 Rock was turning into The Love Boat or Will and Grace. After all, it seems as though there's news of a new guest star every few days. First Will Arnett signed on to reprise his role as the delightfully evil Devon Banks, then ex-Friend, Jennifer Aniston, decided to return to television in order to stalk Jack Donaghy. After that came news that Oprah was scheduled to play herself on an upcoming episode.

That's a lot of guest stars to pack into one season, but now we have news of two more. Everybody's favorite Gossip Girls, Blair and Serena, AKA Leighton Meester and Blake Lively, are coming to 30 Rock. What on earth could bring these Upper East Siders to Midtown? Are they trying to overthrow Liz Lemon as queen bee of TGS with Tracy Jordan? Are they starring in a movie with Tracy Jordan? There's more info on their storyline after the jump.

A few years ago I introduced on this blog the concept of Fanesia (sorry for the weird formatting on that page, not sure what happened), where a fan chooses to get amnesia over a plot point that happened on a TV show. Examples I used before include The Lone Gunmen dying on The X-Files, Toby being the leak on The West Wing, the entire last episode of Seinfeld, and Mark Greene dying on ER. Nope, in my mind, those things never happened.

Here are five more Fanesia moments, involving such shows as Will & Grace, Guiding Light, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Debra Messing's Emmy-award winning miniseries The Starter Wife is getting some new cast members. Joining the former Will and Grace star are David Alan Bashe of Lipstick Jungle, Danielle Nicolet of Heartland, Brielle Barbusca of Hope & Faith, and Hart Bochner of Die Hard.

The USA original series follows the post-divorce hi-jinx of Molly Kagan (Messing) as she embarks on a new chapter in her life. USA is bringing back the hit miniseries for ten episodes this fall. Messing is now executive producer as well.

Bashe will play Molly's ex-husband, Kenny Kagen. Nicolet will play Liz Marsh, Molly's new friend and wife a a pro-baseball player. Barbusca will play Jaden, Molly and Kenny's daughter. And Bochner will play Molly's new love interest and writing class teacher. Returning for guest appearances is Joe Mantegna of Criminal Minds who plays Molly's former boyfriend Lou Manahan.

The series will premiere on USA in October. What do you think? Will The Starter Wife work as a full-fledged series?

When I interviewed Susanne Daniels, the President for Entertainment at the Lifetime Network, she was high on the success of Army Wives, and anxious to bring more comedy to the network.

"Viewers tell us that they love our comedies, our movies, Army Wives. I would argue that more people identify Reba and Will and Grace with our network now than the networks that launched them. And I was at the WB when Reba launched!" she said in TV Week. Well, now she's launching a new comedy, this time for Lifetime.

Lifetime has ordered 13 episodes of a new sitcom called Rita Rocks for this fall and cast Nicole Sullivan as Rita. The show will be part of a one-hour comedy block with Reba. "We've assembled a fantastic team in front of and behind the camera," said Ms. Daniels in a statement today.

Although TV fans would know him from his role as Will's dad on Will and Grace, he was also, of course, an acclaimed film director, helming such movies as Three Days of the Condor (one of my favorite films), Tootsie, Out of Africa, The Way We Were, The Firm, Havana, Absence of Malice, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Jeremiah Johnson, and The Interpreter. He also directed several TV shows back in the 60s, including The Fugitive, Ben Casey, Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Defenders, Slattery's People, and many others.

Pollack's other acting roles included spots on The Sopranos, King of the Hill, Frasier, Mad About You, Playhouse 90, and The Twilight Zone, along with the movies Michael Clayton, Eyes Wide Shut, Husbands and Wives, A Civil Action, Death Becomes Her, and The Player. His last acting role was in this year's Made of Honor and his last directing job was 2005's Sketches of Frank Gehry.

Pollack died of cancer this afternoon in Pacific Palisades, CA. He was 73.

Funny lady Megan Mullally may be coming back to the small screen! The actress, better known for her role of neurotic Karen Walker on NBC's Will & Grace, will star as the mother in ABC's new series Bad Mother's Handbook.

This comedy is about a 32-year-old woman (portrayed by Alicia Silverstone) who takes care of her 16-year-old daughter (played by Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat) and her 48-year-old overbearing mother (Mullally).

This was actually planned long ago, before her death from respiratory failure over the weekend.

Pleshette was set to get her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 31, which is also her birthday. No word yet on whether or not the ceremony will still go ahead on that day, but I'm sure that Pleshette will get her star on the sidewalk at some point.

I was just at the supermarket and saw the headline in one of the gossip mags that Suzanne Pleshette was on her death bed, and now I hear that Pleshette has died of cancer at the age of 70.

TV fans will remember Pleshette from her role as Emily Hartley, wife of psychologist Bob Hartley on CBS' The Bob Newhart in the 70s. She reprised the role in the classic final episode of Newhart. Pleshette appeared in several other TV shows as well, including a role as Mark Feuerstein's mom on Good Morning Miami and James Garner's love interest on 8 Simple Rules, as well as guest spots on Columbo, Will & Grace, The Name of the Game, Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Invaders, It Takes A Thief, The Fugitive, Wild, Wild West, and several others.

On the big screen, she appeared in The Birds, The Shaggy D.A., The Lion King II, The Power, Support Your Local Gunfighter, and many films.

• Court TV has changed to TruTV, and they celebrate with a marathon of something called Ocean Force.
• At 8, NBC has a new, two-hour Biggest Loser, followed by a new Law and Order: SVU.
• FOX has the Allstate Sugar Bowl at 8.
• PBS has a new Great Performances at 8.
• Christmas isn't over yet! Lifetime Movie Network has Comfort and Joy at 8, then All She Wants For Christmas.
• At 8:30, ABC has a new Just For Laughs, followed by two new episodes of According To Jim.
• At 9, HGTV unveils their Dream Home 2008. It's followed by the new series Sleep On It.
• At 10, Food Network has a new Iron Chef America.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Orange County.
• At 11, Lifetime has a holiday ep of Will & Grace.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• TV Land is showing Christmas episodes of various shows all night.
• At 8, ABC has Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
• NBC has It's A Wonderful Life at 8.
• CNN has What Would Jesus Do? Holiday Edition at 8.
• AMC has 1984's A Christmas Carol at 8.
• Also at 8: Great American Country has a Holiday Wrapping Party.
• At 8:30, Nickelodeon has a Christmas episode of Full House, then two Christmas episodes of Home Improvement.
• At 9, Lifetime has the movie Deck the Halls.
• Food Network has the All-Star Holiday Party special at 9, followed by All-Star Holiday Dishes.
• Comedy Central has Bad Santa at 9.
• At 11, Lifetime has two holiday episodes of Will & Grace, then two holiday episodes of Frasier.
• At 11:35, CBS and NBC have Christmas Eve Mass.
• At midnight, TCM has The Bells of St. Mary.
• At 12:15, AMC has the 1947 movie Christmas Eve.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• 24 - Season 6 (Slim box)
• 30 Days - Season 2
• Battlestar Galactica - Razor and Season 1 (HD)
• Crank Yankers - Best Of
• Diagnosis Murder - Season 3
• Grafters - Season 2
• Highlander: The Animated Series - Complete Series
• House of Payne - Vol. 1
• Law and Order: SVU - Season 4
• Saturday Night Live - Season 2
• Tom & Jerry Tales - Vol. 3
• Touched By An Angel - Season 4, Vol. 2
• Will & Grace - Season 7
• The Wire - Season 4

• At 8, ABC has a new Pushing Daisies, then new episodes of Private Practice and Dirty Sexy Money.
• CBS has a new Kid Nation at 8, followed by new episodes of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY.
• NBC has a new, two-hour Phenomenon at 8, then a new Life.
• There's a new America's Next Top Model on The CW at 8.
• PBS has a new Wired Science at 8.
• AMC has Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers at 8, followed by Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers.
• Bravo has a 100 Scariest Movie Moments marathon all night.
• At 9, Discovery has a new Mythbusters, then a new Storm Chasers.
• The History Channel has a new Lost Worlds at 9, about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, followed by MonsterQuest, about the search for Champ, America's Loch Ness Monster.
• HGTV has new "haunted house" edition of Deserving Design, then a new Design on a Dime.
• FX has Halloween H20 at 9.
• At 10, HBO has a new Inside The NFL.
• At 11, Lifetime has two Halloween eps of Will and Grace.

Check your local TV listings for more, and check out special guide to all the Halloween shows on tonight.

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• Jack B. Sowards: He was a television and film writer who wrote for Bonanza, Peyton Place, Daniel Boone, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, Hagen, The Bold Ones, B.L. Stryker, and Star Trek: TNG. He also wrote the big screen movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. He died in Valley Village, CA at age 78.

Everyone knows that Debra Messing has small breasts, including Messing herself. But NBC execs wanted her to have bigger ones.

At a panel discussion during the Tribeca Film Festival, the Will & Grace star disclosed that she wore "chicken cutlets," a form of silicone breast enhancer, when she shot the pilot of the show. But when the show was picked up by NBC, she didn't want to wear them anymore. After seeing the next couple of episodes, the president of NBC called the producers, wanting to know where her breasts went. They wanted her breasts back, but she refused to wear them.