In “Here Comes the Flood,” not the show’s most enthralling episode, a pipe burst at the hospital. The water wasn’t that much of a huge deal except to reveal, while Mr. O’Brien was on the operating table, that patient he had an unexpected tumor in his abdomen.

As for the usually ditsy Lexie, she, through intense research, discovered what was truly wrong with the patient Mr. Patmore, who’d been in pain for so long: A nerve in his nose was inflamed. But then Mr. Patmore got moved to Mercy West for the operation and we didn’t even find out if the procedure cured him.

On the romance front, Derek wanted Izzie and Alex to move out of Meredith’s house, but all was well in the end when Derek decided that Iz and Al could stay. Meredith quit her shrink, but the shrink and Cristina had didn’t think it was a good choice. Neither did I.

Nothing turned out well for Shelly, the cheerful and hopeful 32-year-old with colon cancer. During her stay at Seattle Grace it was discovered that her cancer was worse than suspected. That storyline was downright depressing. Why couldn’t the show have made her prognosis a bit more optimistic instead of miserable? George retook his intern exam, and we found out that—call the wire services!—Derek’s hair makes Meredith happy.

Sound like this week’s ep will be a bit more interesting. In “Brave New World,”  Mer freaks out (but let’s face it—it doesn’t take that much to rattle her to her skinny little bones) when Derek discovers her mother’s old diary in the house. Callie frets as she prepares for her first official date with Erica, and Cristina stumbles into a part of the hospital that neither she nor her fellow residents have seen before. Maybe the morgue?

Last week I saw, courtesy of NetFlix, Patrick Dempsey’s most recent feature film, “Made of Honor.” Though the movie was lame and formulaic, it also starred Kevin McKidd, the season premiere’s military doctor Owen Hunt, who’s supposedly returning to “Grey’s.” So the two actors already knew each other before McKidd made is way to Seattle Grace. Dempsey has also been busy doing voiceovers for TV commercials: Mazda, All State insurance and Mississippi.org. As if he needs the money?

(Photos courtesy of ABC.)

“Henry, is that you?” his wife asks in the premiere of  NBC’s “My Own Worst Enemy” at 10 p.m. tonight.

“Who else would it be?” he replies, looking in a mirror.

Boy, does that turn out to be a loaded question in this muddled but intriguing series whose pilot  is anchored only by Christian Slater’s doubles game. Read more of this entry »

Holly and Michael fighting. No Pam to be found. A soda bottle of Dwight’s urine.

There was lots not to like about “Business Ethics,” last night’s episode of The Office, but after a day of contemplation I’ve decided I liked it anyway. That doesn’t change the fact that when it was over I felt like a 9-year-old kid who just witnessed his parents have a really big fight.

But I laughed. And it was real. I don’t ask for much more from my Office.

Give it another watch, then see me struggle to figure out just how I felt about this mixed bag of an episode.

There’s a reason SNL rarely airs a live show more than three straight weeks. It’s similar to the reason the show has succeeded for so long on a weekly basis rather than airing more frequently like the late-night talkers.

It takes time to write funny material. And the more airtime you set out to fill, the less likely the material you come up with will work.

And that explains why the first edition of SNL Weekend Update Thursday was so painfully unfunny.

It was last-half-hour-of-SNL unfunny, and that’s saying something.

The debate sketch taking off on the Obama-McCain town hall face-off in Nashville last week was less interesting and not nearly as humorous as the real thing.

Finally — a broadcast-TV show whose premise contains more than a shred of originality.

OK, so “Life on Mars,” which debuted last night on ABC, is derived from a British show of the same name, but that’s far enough from Hollywood for me. Jason O’Mara headlines as Sam Tyler, a present-day NYPD detective who, after getting hit by a speeding car, is thrust back in time to 1973, when he would have been 3 years old. Same job title, same Sam. The differences? He’s a transfer from a police department upstate New York, everyone’s clothes, the forensic technology, and the social and sexual attitudes.

The show’s two main supporting cast members—if you want to describe these notables as
“supporting” — are Michael Imperioli (”The Soprano”), as Sam’s cynical and scruffy partner, and film vet Harvey Keitel, as the violence-prone and ill-tempered head of homicide. And we can’t count out filmdom’s Gretchen Mol (”3:10 to Yuma”) as an Annie Norris, an ambitious policewoman yearning to be considered more than a token and/or the scullery maid at the 125th squad.

With a gritty look and tone similar to “NYPD Blue,” “Mars” is set in a reeling and roiling Manhattan. The debut episode was called “Out Here In the Fields” (yes, The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” did pop up at one point in the show. P.S.: For the longest time, I thought that song was called “Teenage Wasteland.”) and didn’t shove the 1970s in our faces like last summer’s dopey “Swingtown.” It was more subtle, such as seeing a guy cross the street with a transistor radio glued to his ear, Sam’s using a rotary phone.

One exchange between characters reminded me of a scene from “Back to the Future,” where Marty asks the 1950s soda shop clerk for a Tab, and the guy replies something like, “What tab? You haven’t bought anything.” It was when Sam ordered a diet Coke and the bartender answered back that Coke doesn’t come in “diet{ form.  Then there was when Sam yelled, “I need my cell” and the man he’s talking to says, “You need to sell what?” Then there was, “Where’s my computer?” and a squad mate chortles, “Like Hal from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’?” But the real blow-us-away moment was when Sam looked up in awe at the Twin Towers. That one gave me the chills. But it was pretty funny when Sam and Annie walked into a record store and Sam sweeps out his arms and tells her, “One day it will all be digital!”

Poor Sam doesn’t know where he is, as far as if he’s dead, in a coma, time-traveling, dreaming…? (In the British version, it turned out that he’d been in a coma.) Creepiness ensues when a doctor on TV seems to be talking directly to him and about his grave condition. Sam also hears his 2008 girlfriend Maya (”Cosby” kid Lisa Bonet) talking to him on the police radio.

As for the storyline itself, Sam’s 2008 case—catching a serial killer—cleverly seeped into 1973 as Sam tracked down the murderer, then about only 8 years old, and, he hopes, stopped him from becoming a serial killer by deglamourizing the boys image a deranged psycho neighbor whom the boy idolized.

The “Mars” press material says that each episode will have its own crime to deal with, but it’s certain that each one will also have Sam hearing and seeing stuff from his 2008 life and wonder what the hell is happening to himself. Also let it be known that David Kelley—a guy with a track record of successes—was the series’ original producer. The new producers helmed the dull “October Road.” Perhaps they’ll make up for that bore with this brand-new “Life.”

(Photos: courtesy of ABC.)

At the start of “DSM” last night, I remember thinking that the show was definitely breezier and brassier this season.

The show started out with a news segment about the Darlings’ latest troubles on a fictional entertainment program called “VIP Insider”—a pretty inspired way of recapping Letitia’s arrest and Ellen’s death for the viewer.

But that’s about all that was inspired. Because by the end of the hour, I was wondering if the show’s need to get dirtier and sexier has gone to its head.

“DSM” is a melodrama, of course, so I’m willing to give it a lot of leeway. But after seeing this episode’s tendency towards the ridiculous, it definitely needs to pull it back a few notches.

What am I talking about?

Let’s break it down starting with Jill Clayburgh’s near hysteria…

I still can’t believe Ryan is not only not in jail but back working for Dunder-Mifflin.

Yes, I know he’s a temp hired by Michael through an agency, so it’s possible Corporate doesn’t know. And yes, he did seem to be following some type of 12-step program by making amends to Jim and others he’d hurt during his drug-induced wunderkind phase.

But Corporate would eventually find out, and four months is awfully quick to kick a drug habit and so easily return to your old life.

Sorry. I’m overthinking this. I’m glad Ryan’s back, and I’m even more glad the old Ryan is back. It sets up great comic opportunities like this one…

Business Ethics (9 p.m.,ET) —Following Ryan’s recent scandal at corporate, Holly must hold a business ethics seminar. The meeting gets out of control when Michael lets everyone speak freely about their unethical behavior at work. Meanwhile, Jim makes Dwight comply with the company’s “time theft” policy.

Having seen an advanced screener, IGN TV offers this preview-review Read more of this entry »

When we last left our Losties, Ben had informed Jack that ALL of the Oceanic Six have to get together in order for any of them to get back to the island.

But why?

Well, E! supposedly has the scoopety-scoop on that one—and do I really need to say, “Stop reading now if you don’t want to know more?”

But if you do, click through for the details:

It’s been one year, 22 weeks and 4 days since the Piemaker brought a girl named Chuck back to life.

OK, so the fabulous folks who put out “Pushing Daisies” aren’t math whizzes. (The show actually debuted one year and five days ago.)

But why get technical? Everything else the show’s creative forces touch is pure perfection.

Take last night’s episode, which sent Ned, Emerson and Chuck to a circus. Yes, a real, live circus. As if life in Coeur d’Coeurs wasn’t freaky enough.

The mystery of the week for our investigative trio? Find a missing teen-age girl, who, quite literally, has run away to join the circus. Of course, murder victims, who Ned must resurrect briefly to help solve the case, pile up along the way.

What follows is hilariously clever jokes about circus staples like mimes (Emerson: “The mimes just pulled up, and they ain’t talkin’.”), clowns (dead ones keep coming out of a car that plunged into a river) and the human cannonball (who is used as an almost-deadly weapon).

In other hands, this material could have been painful to watch. But the quality of the show’s writing—along with the nimble acting by Lee Pace, Anna Friel and Chi McBride—made it seem fresh.

Not to mention that the “Daisies” crew just seems to be having so much gosh-darn fun! Who didn’t giggle along with the main characters when they made fun of a witness’ name, Bryce von Deenis? (Insert your own lewd limerick here.)

So who ended up being the clown killer? Why, the French acrobat, who was upset that the clowns wanted to unionize. Their Norma Rae move would have put the circus out of business!

Oh, and our fun threesome found the missing girl, too. Plus, they got to show off some secret skills: Chuck speaks fluent French! Ned can throw a mean baseball!

A roundabout plot? Sure. A flimsy motive for murder? Absolutely.

And as for the whole story about Lily really being Chuck’s mother? Forget that one, I’m still a little fuzzy on how Lily and Vivian are Chuck’s “aunts” if neither are related to her. (Vivian was Chuck’s father’s fiancee; her sister, Lily, had an affair with Charles Charles behind her back.) Perhaps it’s just one of those terms of endearment, but what does it matter?

Because once again, “Pushing Daisies” possesses the uncanny ability to make the viewer forget about all those silly little details.

You’re just happy to be along for the ride.

(Photos courtesy of ABC)

OK, so I kind of lured you in with a misleading headline.

Jason Priestley will indeed be joining the CW’s “90210″ spinoff for one episode later this season, but you won’t see Brandon Walsh back in Beverly Hills.

Instead of reprising his most famous role to date, Mr. Priestly will be behind the camera: He’s on board to direct an episode to air in the spring, according to E! Online.

Yay! And…boo? Come on, Jason, can’t you do both? Multi-task, mister!

Having Brandon back in the old ZIP code would be especially exciting, given the fact that we may be seeing more of Brenda, too. E! also reports that Shannen Doherty is negotiating as we speak to appear in two more installments.

(1994 Associated Press file photo)

SNL has never shied away from the political fray, and Tina Fey’s moonlighting gig as Sarah Palin has thrust the late-night sketch show back into the election spotlight. I’d say it’s been since Clinton-Bush in ‘92 that the show has played such a high-profile part in dissecting the presidential campaign.

But SNL really stepped in it this week, not simply with a provocative skit but one NBC yanked from its Web site and later re-posted in edited fashion.

Deadline Hollywood Daily’s Nikki Finke, no politico for her part, reported yesterday about a funny jab at the $700 billion bailout that aired this past Saturday. Seems the bit, featuring the hilarious Kristen Wiig as Nancy Pelosi and Fred Armisen as an even Barney Frankier Barney Frank, depicted a joint press conference with Jason Sudeikis’s George W. Bush.

And it pulled no punches in skewering both sides. But as Finke writes… Read more of this entry »

I wrote a lengthy and scintillating analysis of Monday’s episode yesterday afternoon but had to put it aside to do some “real work”. When I got back to it last night, our blogging software was acting rather wonky. And in the process of trying to save my work, the software ate two-thirds of it. Shame, too. It was brilliant. Herewith, the reconstruction…

It was a little hard to get into Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles this week just because of the dark cloud of impending cancellation is still hanging out there.

And I can’t blame Fox for pulling the plug if no one is watching. Still, this show keeps getting better. Its flaws—and there are a few—aren’t fatal, and it seems like the creators are intent on correcting them one by one.

This week, they tackled John Connor. I’ve really had a problem with the casting of Thomas Dekker, who never seemed to me to be up to the task of portraying mankind’s savior. I can’t say that about “Goodbye to All That,” this week’s installment. John came face to face with not only a figure from  his future but one who will lay down his life not just for the cause but for John himself.

The new kids got to run West Beverly by themselves last night: It was the first 9-0 episode without any of the  high school alumni.

And what did those little rascals do without the previous generation there to supervise?

Well, Annie and Ethan were assigned a fake baby for health class! (Yawn. Could this storyline be more hackneyed? I think it might be a prerequisite in Teen-Soap-Opera-Writing 101.)

Dixon missed his curfew because he fell asleep watching horror movies with Silver! (Snore.)

New girl Kim got super-feisty and flirty with Ryan! But don’t worry, it’s not an inappropriate student-teacher relationship, she’s really a narc hired by Harry to investigate the school’s drug problem. (Slight eyebrow raise, since that was a bit of a surprise.)

Naomi takes the rap for Adrianna! After they rekindle their friendship in some weirdo necklace swapping ritual, of course. N. tries to flush Ade’s drugs—in the most obvious manner possible—and gets arrested. (Serious head shake, especially since Naomi’s outfit makes it more plausible for her to be busted for solicitation.)

Ade finally O.Ds! (Did anyone not see that coming? And does anyone actually think she’ll actually die? Please.)

For me, the most entertaining thing about last night’s episode was a too brief appearance by Jessica Walter, who got called on the carpet by Mr. and Mrs. Saintly Wilson for swimming naked in front of the gardener.

I laughed out loud at her explanation of liking the way it feels when “water glides off my ass.” And I’m glad Tabitha is going to let her “freak flag fly,” but when Grandma is one of the most interesting characters on a teen-based show, you’ve got some serious problems.

It seemed so obvious in the two-hour premiere this season, that some of our heroes had become evil, while others remained good.

What was not so apparent, in retrospect, was exactly which ones are the evil ones and which are good.

Even after watching last night’s mind-twisting hour (complete with nuclear explosion, what, just halfway through???), that remains up for grabs, but I’m starting to think the obvious wasn’t so…

What? I didn’t do a spoiler alert? C’mon. It’s the day after the show, I really didn’t think I needed to … Fine. If you didn’t watch, don’t read. There. Happy now?

Thanks. I can get on with things now.

First, I want to apologize. Last week, I said Hiro & Ando were trapped on Level 5. I was incorrect, I noted last night: They are on Level 2. The primary differences appear to be that Level 5 has no air ducts, individual cells and big glass windows so Mama Petrelli and HRG can watch the mutants. On Level 2? Air ducts in the cells with covers that can be pulled out if you catch a belt buckle in them just right, very small windows on the doors and room for two per cell. (Maybe more.)

You have to hand it to Tina Fey.

Her spot-on Sarah Palin impression, while wearing a little thin already, has thrust her into the spotlight in a way that her years as SNL’s head writer and her creation of the funniest sit-com on television never did.

If you love Obama and/or hate Palin (And really, what’s the difference, right?), you love Fey’s recreation of the GOP veep’s malaprops, question avoidance and small-town schtick. And even if you bleed red-state red, you have to admit Fey has captured the Alaska guv’s delivery. Her side-by-side with Amy Poehler’s Hillary in the late-night show’s season premiere was among the funniest bits Lorne Michaels and Co. have produced in years.

What’s a former beauty queen-turned-darling-of-the-GOP to do? Turn the tables, it turns out.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that it’s looking more and more likely Palin will appear on SNL to spoof her spoofer.

I’m hearing some sort of Palin tweak of Fey’s American Express commercials is in the works.

While next weekend’s ”Saturday Night Live” will be a rerun, it is possible Palin could appear Thursday on the first of NBC’s ”Weekend Update” specials in prime time.

Otherwise, the next orginal “SNL” show will be broadcast Oct. 18, a little more than two weeks before the election.

One of the first sitcoms I latched onto as a kid was “Night Court.” Yes, there was a lot of broad, bawdy humor that was probably not age-appropriate when I first discovered the NBC show in syndication on Fox, but I wasn’t the only one laughing hardest at the debaucherous Dan Fielding, played by brilliant five-time Emmy winner John Larroquette.

Larroquette would go on to star in his darker, self-titled NBC sitcom for 84 episodes, and continue to make a name for himself on other series—including recurring role on ABC’s “Boston Public” that scored him one of his Emmys—but there’s an entire generation of viewers who may not have had the chance to appreciate his dry delivery before last night’s episode of “Chuck.”

Let’s face it: “Chuck,” while struggling to collect, maintain and build an audience, was already a helluva show before Larroquette agreed to do a one-episode cameo. But last night’s main storyline might have been among the three best the series has showcased to this point. As superspy Roan Montgomery, Larroquette was one of the reasons why this edition was particularly hilarious, engaging and fun all the way around. They’d be smart to bring him back.

Even fans of “The OC,” which was the brainchild of “Chuck” creator Josh Schwartz, had to have been elated to see Melinda Clarke play a rogue KGB agent.

The only weak parts of this episode were the subplots: Ellie’s demands for more romance from Awesome, just felt contrived. And Lester’s losing control of the Buy More staff felt more reaching than funny. Does the Buy More really need a true bad guy? I thought that was why the show got rid of Harry Tang, played by C.S. Lee. (I’m still sad about Lee’s departure, but not sad to see his unlikable character go.) Lester’s more fun—obviously—when he, Jeff and Morgan are just being slackers. But before I complain too much, I should remember that there’s an arc building here to allow for the arrival of Tony Hale’s shape-up-or-ship-out character, coming soon!

I’ve been swamped of late, so I’ll recap some of my favorite parts of “Chuck vs. The Seduction” later today or tomorrow. Thanks in advance for your patience.

In the meantime, what did you think of “Chuck vs. The Seduction”? And what did you think of the subplots? Post your thoughts below.

(Photo by Adam Taylor, courtesy of NBC/Universal.)

It’s time (10 p.m., Oct. 9) again to say hello to another rip-off from the British. (What–we Yanks have lost our creative mojo?) But if this Americanization is anything like our good ones (”All in the Family,” “Friends” and “The Office”) rather than our crummy ones (”Coupling,” “Viva Laughlin”), then we’re all in for a treat. Irishman Jason O’Mara (formerly of “Men in Trees”) is current-day NYPD detective Sam Tyler, who’s trying to hunt down a serial killer. He also has a girlfriend who’s also a NYPD detective, Maya (”Cosby” kid Lisa Bonet). After getting bashed by a car, he wakes up in the same city and same job, but in a different era: the 1970s. ‘73, to be exact. That wouldn’t be MY idea of a bad year, but for a cop without stuff like cell phones, computers and all of today’s forensic abilities at his fingertips, it’s a nightmare.

As for why he’s gone back in time, Sam doesn’t know if he’s in a coma, dreaming or what. While he tries to solve his own time-traveling predicament, he’s partnered up with scruffy and snarky Det. Ray Carling, played by “The Sopranos’” Michael Imperioli, a loose cannon who feels threatened by Sam. Their boss is the no-nonsense Lt. Gene Hunt, Harvey Keitel in this first television series. Sam will find a friend in policewoman Annie Norris (Gretchen Mol), whose being a woman relegates her to doing the precinct’s scut work and being subjected to blatant comments from the guys.

Each episode will have its own crime to solve, and Sam will search for his 2008 partner/girlfriend Bonet. Now, looking for Maya makes no sense to me. While Sam was somehow hurtled back 35 years, chances are that she wasn’t hurtled—or wasn’t even born yet! Logistics aside, “Life on Mars” will be a fun ride if it’s as enjoyable as the pilot episode (which I’ve seen). And going back to the ’70s—my favorite decade–on “Mars” has GOT to be better than going back on “Swingtown,” the tepid 13-ep summer series made on the cheap and featuring sexaholics—male and female—occasionally doing things that should be left to cable, not broadcast TV. I should know. I had to watch every installment. (Photos: Courtesy of ABC )

The Office is back this week after a democracy-induced one-week hiatus (you know, the veep debate), and I’ve gathered a few items to help you get primed for a new episode three days from now.

First off, Kristin is starting trouble by asking “Is Roy Coming Back to Steal Pam?” The answer, of course, is no (but I included the adjacent photo in case you needed help getting back off the ledge).

It would be an awful turn of events, one from which the show could not recover as far as most fans go. But David Denman, who portrayed Roy for three seasons, is returning for an upcoming episode. The reason seems to be that the writers are addicted to angst.

Word is, somewhere around the fifth episode of the season, Jim and Darryl will meet up with Roy at a bar (as usual, to avoid some hijinks cooked up by Michael), and the meeting is fairly benign (no punching this time). However, it could still spell trouble for Jim and Pam. I’m told Roy throws out a zinger that makes Jim worry about Pam being away at art school and whether any of her new guy friends could steal her away (just as he did to Roy).

I take two days off and come back to find out one of the best sci-fi shows on television is on the brink of disappearing quicker than you can say Journeyman.

SyFy Portal reports that dismal ratings could spell an early Judgment Day for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The network has been disappointed by “Sarah Connor’s” numbers so far this season, and some executives feel that the show is dragging down numbers for “Prison Break,” which airs as a lead-out.

“Audiences just aren’t responding to the show,” a Fox source tells SyFy Portal. “Our biggest surprise are the 18-to-49s [a key advertising demographic], those numbers are in the toilet.”