Two Tivos To Paradise 10.02.09

Posted by Al Norton on 10.02.2009

The Cleveland Show is a hit, big cast shake-up at L&O: CI, James Franco joins the cast of General Hospital, David Tutera stops by to talk about My Fair Wedding, Austin City Limits celebrates 35 years, the first cancellation of the season, raves for How I Met Your Mother, a full break down of the ratings, TONS of news and notes, the TV Pick of the Week and more, all in the latest edition of Al Norton's Two Tivos To Paradise!

Hello Friends. I turned 38 yesterday; so far it feels much like 37, only slightly heavier (a trend that has been going on for over a decade now). Noteworthy presents include an authentic Jacoby Ellsbury jersey and some very cool new Pez for my ever-growing collection. Mrs. Tivo and I will be enjoying a fancy dinner at the Capital Grille on Saturday night as a celebration, which means I will be missing my 20 year high school year reunion; with young ones crawling around you can only get so many nights out and I will always choose time alone with my wife if it's one of the options.

Go the 411 main movies/TV page (or use the links at the bottom) to pull up my exclusive interview with Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss. Yes, I am very excited about this get!

Big week for Will Dailey, the official singer/songwriter of TTTP; not only was his Down The Drain (GREAT song) featured on CBS The Good Wife and his Never Be Your Baby is on tonight's <>Ghost Whisperer, but he has a song that is a part of the official 90210 soundtrack that hits stores later this month. Topping it all is his appearance this weekend at Farm Aid in St Louis. To kick off a ton of links in our cold open, here is a funny little commercial for his album…



The folks at TBS sent over this promo for George Lopez' new nightly talk show, debuting November 9th.



And finally, here is a trailer for Syfy's upcoming Riverworld that looks pretty cool…



Wake up, Maggie; I think I've got something to say to news.

He Joins The Lovers In His Heavy Machine, It's A Scene Down On Sunset Boulevard
The CW made The Beautiful Life the first cancellation of the new season, pulling the show after just two episodes and replacing it on the schedule with "encores" of Melrose Place. Two other, longer running series were axed this week, with TBS new renewing The Bill Engvall Show after three seasons and thirty episodes as well as A&E not picking up a third season of The Cleaner.

A show getting cancelled after just two episodes means that they never should have put that show on in the first place. Regardless of ratings, if there is so little confidence in the product that two hours makes them give up, there must have been better options available. Suffice it to say no one other than cast and crew members is lamenting the end of The Beautiful Life.

I was a big fan of The Cleaner, and especially Benjamin Bratt's performance in the lead role. The show never hit the same emotional heights as its riveting pilot episode but it really was trying to do something with its screen time, examining addiction as well as the responsibilities we have to each other as fellow human beings, and for that its loss should be mourned.

He Came Into Her Apartment, He Left The Bloodstains On The Carpet
USA confirmed what had been rumored for several weeks, that Vincent D'Onofrio and three other regulars will be leaving Law and Order: Criminal Intent during the show's upcoming 9th season premiere two part episode. Kathryn Erbe, who has played D'Onofrio's partner since the beginning of the show, is also leaving, along with Eric Bogosian and Julianne Nicholson. It's unclear if they are all leaving as part of the same storyline or if they will each get their own exit. Jeff Goldblum, who joined the show last year, will remain, with Saffron Burrows coming on to play his partner. No word yet on if the show will continue with the every-other-week format and will be bringing in a new pair of detectives or if the show will focus only on Goldblum and Burrows from here on out.

The only good news for fans of D'Onofrio's Robert Goren is that his statement about leaving the show did make specific mention that fans shouldn't just assume he would never be seen on the show again, leaving the door open for guest spots in the future.

There are several trains of thought about these changes; some think it's about money, and with D'Onofrio and Erbe about to enter their 9th season, their paychecks are probably pretty hefty. Others seem to think that D'Onofrio's Goren didn't fit as well with the lighter (but still quirky) tone the other network's series leads had, that he was too dark and heavy a character and that Goldblum's Zach Nichols was a much better match. D'Onofrio's statement certainly made it seem like the decision was his, and maybe the network just decided to seize the opportunity to change things up, although on Thursday EW.com's Michael Ausiello implied that D'Onofrio was fired by USA.

One of the hallmarks of the original Law and Order has been significant cast changes over the years, and CI has had more than its share of turnover during the first 8 season, although this latest batch of moves means none of the original cast will be with the show. D'Onofrio has many fans but CBS has made quite a bit of money on the concept that people simply like crime dramas and my guess is that the show will survive with its core audience intact.

And If You're Somewhere Out There Passed Out On The Floor, Oh Joey, I'm Not Angry Anymore
Showtime has ordered a six episode first season of Episodes, a comedy about a British husband-and-wife team who are overwhelmed by Hollywood when their hit BBC TV series gets adapted in the states. The project re-teams Friend's co-creator David Craine with Matt LeBlanc, who will play a fictionalized version of himself, cast to star in the new show, replacing the male half of couple. Production on the show begins in January.

One of the things that gives me a lot of hope about Episodes is that it's being developed by Showtime and the BBC (it will air on both networks), meaning that we should get to see a skewering of the entertainment industry from multiple points of view. Since many BBC shows have had less-than-successful adaptations here in the US, my guess is they have some pretty strong opinions on where we screwed up, which could make for quality comedy.

The part was written specifically for LeBlanc after producers approached him very early in development and he showed major interest. Hey, I am on record as being perhaps the only person willing to admit that the first season of Joey was funny so why wouldn't I want to see him in another comedy, especially one that allows him to poke fun at himself. As long as they work at least one Ed joke into the premiere, I will be happy.

Now Do You Want Me, Do You Need Me, Do You Love Me Like I Love You?
David Tutera is an event planner with a client list to die for, including Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, The Rolling Stones, Matthew McConaughey, Barbara Walters, Tommy Hilfiger, and Al Gore. The second season of his We tv's series My Fair Wedding with David Tutera, where he takes 100% control over a wedding that is in disarray just weeks before the big day, began last Sunday. We caught up with him via email this week to discuss the show, his career, and common mistakes brides make.

TTTP: Is there a moment you can point to in your life where you realized that you wanted to plan weddings/parties as a career? Who was it you looked up as you got started in the business?

David Tutera: Growing up I worked with my grandfather in his floral shop which is where my love of arranging flowers began. Eventually I purchased a small gift shop and it was my window displays that got people talking about my ability to transform a space. I was hired at first to do the décor for smaller parties, which led to larger ones and naturally evolved into the planning and production end as well.

TTTP: It's one thing to plan weddings, it's a totally different universe to plan celebrity weddings; how did you cross over into that world?

David Tutera: While I have always felt that each of my brides are a celebrity on their day, working with actual high-profile client's weddings does require certain tweaks in the planning process. For one thing, security and discretion are crucial. For another, everything can get bigger; from the guests lists to the décor, to the hotel arrangements, to the favors! Besides those differences, I hold all events to the same standards, so it was a very natural crossover for me.

TTTP: What are some of the most common mistakes people make with their weddings?

David Tutera: The mistakes I am seeing a lot now with the brides on my show is that even thought their budgets don't allow it, they try to do everything. This results in a wedding full of low-quality knick-knacks and that is a huge mistake. I suggest really prioritizing the elements that are most important to you; the dress, the venue the food, the florals - whatever it is- and spending the most money there to do that element right. The next part of correcting this mistake is to resist the urge to fill the rest of the wedding up with elements that are not of the same standard...a far as favors and other small details go, if you can't do it right, I suggest not doing it at all.

TTTP: Don't you feel a lot of pressure with My Fair Wedding, knowing you have control over what may be the biggest day in these couple's lives?

David Tutera: Because I believe in truly listening to my brides, and reading into the elements they originally had planned, the expressions on their face when they try on the gowns or taste the cakes, I know that I always deliver a better version of exactly what I want. While I often joke with them on the show about having the control, I take that control and deliver a wedding with only with the best intentions, and the most experience in mind and at heart.

TTTP: Here's your chance to win some new viewers - why might someone who wouldn't normally think of tuning into a wedding show give My Fair Wedding a shot?

David Tutera: I think my show offers a lot in one program, that aren't found on any others. There is an educational aspect...from escort cards to napkin folds, in every episode I try to give my brides a little lesson on wedding etiquette. There is also the "Before" and the "After" element, the unveiling of the bride and the event space after I step in that I think is so much fun for viewers. This show is also very positive, with a lot of heart, real stories and some very real brides.

Don't miss My Fair Wedding with David Tutera, Sundays at 10 pm on We tv.

What The People Need Is A Way To Make Them Smile, It Ain't So Hard To Do If You Know How
Austin City Limits' upcoming 35th season offers what may be the most diverse line-up in series history, including the first hip-hop act they have ever booked. Here is the schedule:

10/3 – Dave Matthews Band
10/10 – Ben Harper & Relentless 7
10/17 – Kenny Chesney
10/24 – Andrew Bird, St Vincent
10/31 – M. Ward
11/7 – Elvis Costello, Band of Heathens
11/14 – Willie Nelson & Asleep At The Wheel
11/21 – Pearl Jam
1/9 – Allan Toussaint
1/16 – Mos Def, K'Naan
1/23 – Heartless Bastards
1/30 – Steve Earle, Kris Kristofferson
2/6 – Them Crooked Vultures,
2/13 – Madeleine Peyroux, Esperanza Spaldin

If you can't find at least one episode in that group that interests you than you really need to broaden your musical horizons. The January 30th Earle – Kristofferson edition is a lock for that week's TV Pick of the Week.

In other big Austin City Limits news, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that they were giving the ACL studio official Landmark status, joining places like Sun Studios and Madison Square Garden.

But You Were Up To Your Old Tricks In Chapters Four Five And Six
All you need to know about the Nielsen's for the past week or so…We will be continuing what we tried last week, breaking the ratings down by night…

Thursday
Flash Forward had a strong debut, winning the hour in both total audience (12.47 million) and demos. It holds the distinction of being the first show since Friends in April of 2004 to top a new episode of Survivor…Speaking of which, Survivor's 11.66 million was easily good enough for second place…SNL Weekend Update Thursday and Parks & Recreation dropped from their not exactly fantastic first weeks…Three weeks in and The Vampire Diaries is holding solid, especially with their targeted women 12-34 audience…Grey's Anatomy had a monster night, with a little over 17 million tuning in to the two hour premiere, which topped the night in both totals and demos…CSI's 16 million was solid but down from last season…Week two of Community saw it hold on to a much smaller % of the lead-in from The Office, 93% to 69%...The Mentalist premiere was watched by 15 million, a number expected to go up this week when it's facing Private Practice instead of Grey's…

Friday
Medium was Friday's big winner, pulling in 8.8 million in its CBS premiere…Lead-in Ghost Whisperer was a shade behind with 8.6 million, although it did put up better demos…Dollhouse put up pretty abysmal numbers in its season two premiere; 2.6 million were all that tuned in…Law and Order was watched by a decent 6.3 million…ABC reran FlashForward, Modern Family, and Cougar Town, each drawing enough so that it was clear the shows had generated some quality buzz….

Sunday
The Cleveland Show was an instant hit, drawing 9.4 million as well as the top demos for any new scripted series this fall…Family Guy was up 16% from its previous season premiere, and American Dad showed gains as well…NBC's Sunday Night Football won the evening with 17+ million viewers…Extreme Makeover: Home Edition dropped 15% from last year and finished fourth in the demos over its two hours…Both Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters were down a whopping 35% from last September's premieres…The Amazing Race and Cold Case were up a bit from last year, benefitting from an overrun of an NFL game…Dexter set a series high for viewers with it's season premiere and was Showtime's most watched program since 2004. Lead-out Californication was up 57% from last year…

Monday
For the third week in a row ESPN's Monday Night Football match up became the most watched cable program of the year, with the Cowboys-Panthers game being watched by 15.71 million…House dropped from its premiere but still won the 8:00 hour with 14.71 million. Lead-out Lie To Me held barely half of that audience and had a MAJOR drop from last spring's debut…How I Met Your Mother led off CBS' comedy block with 8.71 million, with Accidently On Purpose getting a shade over 8 million, a decent but not great retention…Both Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory were up from last week, with Bang showing continued gains, up 20% in the demos…CSI: Miami won 10:00 while dropping a tad from it's not great premiere audience last week…One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl were both up this week, which makes it two weeks in a row of gains for OTH…Dancing with the Stars was down double digits vs. week two last year but was still Monday's most watched show, averaging 17.03 million over two hours…

Tuesday
NCIS' 21.37 million total was an all-time series high plus it matched the demo series high set last week…NCIS: LA was down 7% from its premiere but still won the time slot with 17+ million…The Good Wife held strong in week two, actually picking up in the demos, meaning the show had good buzz…Dancing with the Stars results show was the lowest in series history, which didn't help lead-out the forgotten very much, with the new drama finishing last in the time slot in demos and dropping 23% from week one…The Biggest Loser showed a nice uptick from last week…Shark Tank finished fourth in the 8:00 hour but still showed an increase from its last Sunday night airing…Sons of Anarchy put up strong numbers, including being the most watched 10:00 show among men 18-49…

Wednesday
The premieres of Hank and The Middle did ok for ABC, nothing special but enough to top CBS' pair of New Adventures of Old Christine & Gary Unmarried…Criminal Minds was the night's most watched show but its13.6 million was a 18% drop from last week…Modern Family was the night's top demo show…So You Think You Can Dance? and Glee were both up from last week and continue to be strong Wednesday night performers for Fox…A rerun of Melrose Place put up just about the exact same numbers as The Beautiful Life did last week in the same slot, making clear that it was a good decision to make the move…Mercy dropped a bit from last week's unimpressive premiere, finishing third in the hour in demos…The Jay Leno Show finished third in the hour, AGAIN…

All The Young Dudes, Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…The strangest story of the week has to be James Franco signing on for an extended stay on General Hospital. The Golden Globe winning actor will not be doing a cameo but rather is joining the cast in a recurring role for at least two months…CBS is developing a spinoff of Criminal Minds, created by the same team the came up with the original. It won't be a spinoff that features any existing characters but rather one that uses an episode or two of Minds to introduce the audience to this new team, similar to what NCIS did last spring…TLC will re-launch Jon & Kate Plus Eight in November with the new title Kate Plus Eight and more of a focus on Kate's life as a single Mom. Jon Gosselin had an interesting reaction to being removed from the title; his lawyers told TLC they were not allowed to film his children anymore. This should make for an interesting couple of weeks as the network has halted production on the show and this looks to be headed for a legal showdown...Chef Gordon Ramsey is developing a stop-motion animated series with himself as the lead character. No network is attached yet…Donald Sutherland and Gillian Anderson have been added to the cast for the upcoming Moby Dick mini-series. Previously William Hurt and Ethan Hawke had been announced…The CW has picked up an 8 episode first season for a reality show about the life of New York socialite Tinsley Mortimer. The show will be paired with the recently announced Fly Girls, about the lives of Virgin Airlines flight attendants…Jerry Bruckheimer is producing Hopscotch, a drama about homicide detectives, for ABC…Fox has picked up Sky Jockeys, an animated comedy about airline employees…Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, the pair who wrote 500 Days of Summer, are working on Friends with Benefits for ABC, with a pilot to be directed by David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers)…Showtime will premiere When We Were Beautiful, a documentary about rock band Bon Jovi, on October 24th…Barry Sonnenfeld (Pushing Daisies) signed a two year development deal with ABC…Craig Wright, creator of Dirty Sexy Money, is teaming with Mark Burnett for a CBS drama about a lawyer who is given a second chance at life by the ghost of his dead wife. Burnett's wife Roma Downey (Touched By An Angel) is also producing. Wright won an Emmy for being part of the Six Feet Under writing team and also spent time on Lost…The writing/producing team behind The Dead Zone are working with Stephen King to turn his The Colorado Kid novella into a series. Set in Maine, Haven is about a small town where people will curses live away from the world and away from their curses. The story focuses on an FBI agent who gets called in when the curses start returning to the town's residents. While no network is attached yet, E1 is the production company and they have committed to 13 episodes…AMC will premiere its six hour mini-series remake of The Prisoner on November 11th, with two hours airing on three consecutive nights. All 17 episodes of the original series can be viewed at AMCTV.com…Emmy winner Camryn Manheim has joined the cast of the Lifetime movie Pregnancy Pact, co-starring with Nancy Travis and Thora Birch…FX gave 13 episode first season orders to Terriers (from The Shield executive producer Shawn Ryan and Ocean's 11 writer Ted Griffin) and Lights Out (executive produced by In Treatment and Law and Order: CI showrunner Warren Leight and directed by Clark Johnson, who was behind the camera for many episodes of The Wire, including the finale)…Look for Shakira (as herself) and Christie Brinkley to guest on the same upcoming episode of Ugly Betty…Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, the producing team behind Lifetime's just-renewed Drop Dead Diva, have two new projects in the works; at Fox they are working with Studio 60 writer Dana Calvo on the legal drama Laney Sparrow and over at NBC they are partnering with Maria Maggenti (Without A Trace) for Inside Mary Baxter, a dramedy about the inner workings of a women's prison…Seth Green and his Robot Chicken cohorts are developing an animated comedy for Fox…There is a bidding war on Josh Reims pilot script about a married couple who work together as superspies. JJ Abrams being attached to produce plays a role in the projects hotness. As of press time it looked like NBC was the front runner to land the show…Logo is working on Kept, a new reality show best described as a gay male version of The Real Housewives…USA has ordered a pilot for Facing Kate, a drama about a lawyer who changes jobs to become a mediator…Flavor Flav is shopping a reality series where he returns to high school to get his diploma (he dropped out in 10th grade)…ABC Family ordered a pilot for a new comedy starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence about a woman who takes in her sister's kids and the manny she hires to help…Sarah Drew (Everwood, Mad Men) will be joining the cast of Grey's Anatomy…Bravo is giving three alumni of their reality programming their own shows; Fabio Vivani's (Top Chef) series will focus on his restaurant & catering business in LA, Project Runway winner Christian Siriano's show will follow him as he launches his clothing line, and Real Housewives of New York City's Bethenny Frankel will have a series about her work as a natural foods chef…NBC has changed direction with Day One; instead of the 13 episode first season they had planned it will now run as a four hour, two part mini-series, with the possibility of it turning into a series next fall if ratings are strong,,,

Turns Out Not Where But Who You're With That Really Matters
The top thing I watched since the last column went to press AKA The Best Of What's Around…There have been funnier episodes of How I Met Your Mother over the course of the show's history but last Monday's outing was one of the best they have done in terms of a realistic look at the world of dating. The premise of the show was that Ted went on a blind date and about halfway through both he and the date realized they had been set up seven years ago and had gone on the exact same date. There was some quality humor mined as both of them discussed what about the other person had turned them off (Ted with a goatee was quite the amusing visual) but it was Ted's final speech at the end, talking about how in order to find the person you are meant to be with you need to be yourself, even if that means risking driving some away, that carried the most weight.

I have several friends who are pretty frustrated with their dating life these days and for them I think this episode is a must as it reminds that being comfortable in your own skin is perhaps the single biggest key to finding happiness in a relationship.

People Say I'm Crazy Doing What I'm Doing. Well, They Give Me All Kinds Of Warnings To Save Me From Ruin
What's flashed before my eyes the last seven days…Before I get in to what I watched this week I want to encourage you to use the comments section below to talk about which new shows you have been enjoying so far as well as which you want no further part of. I will try to use this as input in lining up future interviews…I must admit I watched the premiere of Eastwick and kind of enjoyed it. No, it's not going to win any awards but the acting was solid (better than the writing in most parts) and in particular it was great to see Paul Gross back on network TV, clearly having a ton of fun in his role…I like Jim becoming co-manager of the Scranton branch of Dunder-Mifflin as it clearly changes the dynamic in The Office, which should lead to great comedy. Remember that Jim's time in charge in the past hasn't exactly gone smoothly (the birthday cake debacle)…Law and Order: SVU's season premiere featured some ludicrously over-the-top writing, especially with anything coming out of Wentworth Miller's character, who almost crossed over into cop character spoof (McBain, perhaps). The episode's saving grace was the very well done scene where Stabler goes to prison to tell the guy he helped get convicted that he now knew he was innocent and would be getting out soon. The twist at the end where we found out he wouldn't be getting out was a tough one and I am hoping that they turn it into an on-going story, with Stabler spending the season doing everything possible to get him out of jail…Loved the Mad Men porn spoof on Sons of Anarchy this week, a show that just keeps getting better. Katey Segall really deserves to be recognized for her strong work…Medium returned with a solid outing that seemed to get all the characters back on track after last season's finale…Gary Unmarried was much less funny than I remembered, and since it really wasn't great to begin with, I may have a very short leash with it this year…LOVED this Sunday's episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm; "I think you blew him" is one of my favorite Curb punch lines of all time…Saturday Night Live was shockingly dull in its season premiere; with a full summers worth of time to work up sketches, that airplane thing was the best they could come up with? Keenan Thompson was pretty much the only highlight…I am not sure how people aren't loving Shark Tank. The biggest objection folks have to reality shows is how manipulative they are but here all there is the five sharks sitting across from someone who is pitching their idea. This is not to say there isn't plenty of drama that occurs but it's caused by the situation, not by editing and/or meddling producers…I know some are hating Accidently On Purpose and while I am not proclaiming it to be anything fresh or groundbreaking, I find it amusing background noise. I know CBS isn't going to use "perfect to iron your clothes to" in their ads but I have chuckled a few times during both episodes so far…Loved the Peggy and Duck pairing on Mad Men this week, almost as much as I do the collapse of Roger and Don's once strong friendship. This is not to say I want the two of them to fight, just that the destruction of their relationship has been amazing to watch. Don's conversation with Sally's teacher during the eclipse was also excellent, as was any scene involving Connie Hilton…I know Army Wives is a soapy drama but when they do scenes like last week where Jeremy visits the family of his friend who was killed in action it rises to a higher level…Really enjoying the way the second season of Man Vs Food hasn't just been a copy of the first, with this week's visit to three different minor league baseball stadiums a great example of keeping this fresh while staying true to the show's concept...I will probably include some praise for Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show monlogues in every piece until I am let down. He is a remarkable performer and there is no one on TV right now who comes close to him...

TV Pick Of The Week
Jim and Pam finally tie the knot this Thursday on a special one hour edition of The Office. I shouldn't say "finally" because it really hasn't been all that drawn out, at least not by TV standards. I have high hopes for the wedding as so far their first kiss and Jim's proposal were among my favorite episodes in series history.

Here is a preview of the episode….



And here is little behind the scenes look…



Don't miss The Office, Thursday at 9 pm on NBC.

Hope You Need My Love, Babe, Just Like I Need You
Here is some other noteworthy programming of the next seven days…

*Coverage of the Seniors Player's Championship can be found today at 1 pm (Golf Channel), Saturday at 1:30 pm (NBC) and Sunday at 4 (NBC).

*To the excitement of no one, Till Death (Fox) returns tonight at 8:30 pm. Seriously, quality issues aside, I can't think of a show this unloved getting this many chances. I suppose you could call this the According To Jim slot on the TV schedule.

*Those of you looking for your dark sci-fi fix should be very happy to know that Stargate: Universe (Syfy) has its two hour series premiere tonight at 9 pm. I have never watched a single episode of any of the previous Stargates but with BSG no longer with us I will be giving this new show a shot.

*If you've got DirectTV than you can watch Farm Aid in HD tomorrow starting at 5:00 pm on their 101 Network. Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, John Melloncamp, Wilco, Jason Mraz, and TTTP's own Will Dailey are on the bill.

*TruTV's new Top 20 Most Shocking premieres Saturday at 8 pm, a new show that looks at...well…the 20 Most Shocking moments in categories like Good Time Gone Bad (Saturday's episode), Brainless Blunders, and Practical Jokes Gone Wild.

*CBS new medical drama Three Rivers premieres Sunday at 9 pm. While focusing on transplant Dr's may open some story doors, the whole advantage of doing a medical show is having all sorts of different possibilities each week, so why limit yourself from the outset? Did I mention that Moonlight's Alex O'Loughlin is the lead? That's the real appeal here.

*Top Chef is for wimps - only the super strong can compete for the chance to become The Next Iron Chef. Catch the season premiere Sunday at 9:00 pm on the Food Network.

*Entourage (HBO) brings its current season to a close Sunday at 10:30 pm.

*Lifetime gives us one new comedy (Sheri) and one returning comedy (Rita Rocks) Monday night starting at 7:00 pm. Sheri Shepherd has been very funny in supporting roles on numerous sitcoms so let's see how she does with a lead.

*Brett Favre faces his old team for the first time when the Packers visit the Vikings on ESPN's Monday Night Football (8:30 pm).

*It's unclear exactly which series will get slotted where but what we do know about the MLB post-season is that the first round is all on TBS and it kicks off Wednesday with three games, followed by three more on Thursday.

*Season three of A&E's Parking Wars premieres Tuesday at 10 pm with back-to-back new episodes.

*Stephen Rea is an actor who we just don't see enough of, which is a good reason to check out his guest spot on Wednesday's Law and Order: SVU (NBC, 9 pm).

*Wednesday gives us some quality late night options, with Vince Vaughn and Rosanne Cash on The Late Show (CBS, 11:35 pm), Joel McHale and Richard Belzer on The Jimmy Kimmel Show (ABC, 12:05 am), and the adorable Rachel Bilson on The Late Late Show (CBS, 12:35 pm)

*Leonard Nimoy returns to Fringe (Fox, 9:00 pm) this Thursday.

*Those of you who plan early should take note that next Friday morning Bravo is rerunning the last two episodes of season six of The West Wing, taking place at the Democratic National Convention where Congressman Santos is battling for the nomination. The second of the two episodes – 2162 Votes – contains a scene that made my list of Favorite All-Time TV Moments earlier this year, where Josh tells Leo who the VP pick is.

Two Tivos To Paradise
30 Days, 30 Rock, The Academy, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antiques Roadshow, Being Human, Best Week Ever, Better Off Ted, Big Love, Bones, Bored To Death, Breaking Bad, Brothers & Sisters, Burn Notice, Celebrity Apprentice, Cake Boss, Chopped, The Chris Isaak Hour, Chuck, The Closer, Community, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Daddy's Girls, Damages, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, The Dish, Entourage, Eureka, Flipping Out, Gary Unmarried, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Glee, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, The Hills, House, How I Met Your Mother, Hung, Iron Chef America, Jon & Kate + 8, Last Restaurant Standing, Law And Order, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Lost, Mad Men, Make Me A Supermodel, Man v. Food, Medium, Modern Family, The New Adventures Of Old Christine, Next Food Network Star, Nip/Tuck, The Office, One Tree Hill, Paranormal State, Party Down, Private Practice, Project Runway, Psych, Real Time With Bill Maher, Rescue Me, Royal Pains, Rules Of Engagement, Run's House, Sanctuary, Saturday Night Live, Scrubs, Shark Tank, Shear Genius, Skins, So You Think You Can Dance?, Sons of Anarchy, The Soup, Southland, Sports Soup, Supernatural, Table For 12, Top Chef, Top Design, Torchwood, True Blood, Ugly Betty, The Vampire Diaries, Warehouse 13, Web Soup, Will Work for Food

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another edition of Two Tivos To Paradise. We'll be back next week with the last seven days in TV news plus a visit from one of the contestants on The Next Iron Chef

Don't forget to come back next Friday for all the news, and while you're at it, why not just bookmark the movies/TV page here at 411mania.com and make it that much easier for you to find your entertainment industry hook up! You can also follow us on Twitter!

Feedback is encouraged at [e-mail] as well via the comments section below.

Sources for this week's column include Daily Variety, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, and Hollywood Reporter (plus the web sites for those publications) as well as Aintit.cool.com.