Two Tivos To Paradise 3.13.09: To Celebrate The Holiday We've Got TV O'News For You!

Posted by Al Norton on 03.13.2009

The beginning of the end for Battlestar Galactica, Kings is the best new show of the season, an update on the future of Friday Night Lights, the winner of VH-1's Tool Academy stops by to chat, American Idol thoughts, raves for FNL, 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. Finally starting to feel healthy again, a mix of the medication kicking in plus my getting my Red Sox season tickets in the mail, always a real sign of spring. Hope you've all managed to avoid the terrible group of viruses (virusi?) that have gone around all winter – no fun at all, with Mrs. Tivo's cough going on five weeks.

Lots of other reading material for you these next few days, including an interview with Last House on the Left's Riki Lindhome on the main 411 Movie/TV page today. Coming up on Monday is my chat with One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn, and then Tuesday finds me talking with The Middleman's Natalie Morales.

Walk away walk away, walk away walk away, news will follow.

And In The End, The Love You Take Is Equal To The Love You Make
What started in 2003 with a mini-series few took seriously and turned into one of the best television dramas of our lifetime begins it's end tonight when part one of Battlestar Galactica's three hour finale airs at 10 pm on Sci-Fi. After four seasons, a Peabody Award, and critical fawning unlike anything seen in recent memory, the show brings it's story to a close with a finale that is sure to inspire awe from some and disappointment from others; BSG creator Ron Moore told TV Guide this week that he has been all over chat rooms and found no one who has successfully predicted the ending. The week long event kicks off with hour one of the finale tonight, followed by BSG: The Last Frakkin' Special, with airs Monday at 10 pm, and then the whole thing concludes with a two hour outing next Friday.

I have mixed emotions because as sad as I am about not having new episodes to look forward to, I am equally as excited to see how things end, especially since Moore and executive producer David Eick went out on their own storytelling terms. Will the TV world be a lesser place with BSG? Of course, but we've got Caprica to look forward to next year, plus there are multiple TV movie prequels in the works to keep the show alive.

I don't think I have over-praised the show at all on these pages – it really is as good as I say, and I don't know anyone who has sat down and watched the first season and not fully embraced the show's greatness. I have frequently said I think we are in the middle of a golden age of TV drama and years from now when time proves me correct, Battlestar Galactica will be one of the prime examples. So say we all.

Getting To Like You, Getting To Hope You Like Me
NBC's ambitious new drama series Kings get it's two hour premiere this Sunday night at 8 pm. Created by Heroes executive producer Michael Green and directed by I Am Legend's Francis Lawrence, Kings is set in a modern world that is very similar to ours; Gilboa, whose capital city Shiloh looks much like New York, is ruled by Golden Globe winner Ian McShane's Silas. Gilboa has a long standing war with neighboring Gath and Silas son is a prisoner of war who is rescued by Chris Egan's David Shepard, which sets the show's major plot points in motion. The network is billing it as a modern day re-telling of David and Goliath, which it is, with an atmosphere that can best be described as Shakespearian.

Let me be extremely clear – Kings is hands down the best new drama of the 2008-2009 TV season. It's hard for a show to go for an epic feel without coming across as snooty but Kings manages to pull it off brilliantly; you totally buy into the world the have created from the outset, with equal credit given to the stunning visuals and the uniformly excellent cast. McShane is truly phenomenal as King Silas and Egan more than holds his own as the innocent David, thrust into a world he knows very little about. The supporting cast is a treasure trove of character actors including Brian Cox, Wes Studi, and Dylan Baker.

I have watched the first four hours of the series and by the time each set of closing credits rolled I loved it a little more. I am not sure if Sundays at 8 pm is the best slot for a well written, epic type drama series but the truth is I don't think there is any way the show finds a large enough audience to survive. I don't want to turn my nose up and say it's too good for the masses but it's certainly the type of show you'd expect from a cable network that could afford to do some niche marketing. Please prove me wrong by watching Kings in droves and turn it into the hit that its quality level deserves.

But If This Ever Changing World In Which We Live In Makes You Give Up And Cry…
Entertainment Weekly was all about the future of current shows this week, with multiple reports on the future of multiple series. The biggest (and bestest) news was that NBC and DirecTV were close to a deal that would bring back Friday Night Lights for TWO more years. On the other end of the spectrum was the report that producers of long running procedurals Cold Case and Without A Trace were told there shows were on the bubble for renewal, with the reasons being more financial than Nielsen related. None of the news was confirmed by the networks or the series themselves but EW has a very good track record on such matters.

First off, YEEESSSSSSSS! Two more seasons with the Dillon Panthers is the best news I have had all year. One assumes the deal would be the same as with the current season, with Direct TV showing a 12-14 episode season first and then NBC getting it later on in the year, and members of Dillon High's graduating class may end up not coming back as regulars but rather doing multi-episode stints the way Scott Porter and Gaius Charles did this year to give their characters and stories closure. Clear Eyes, full heart, can't lose.

CBS has an awful lot of pilots in the fire right now so it stands to reason that some of their existing shows are going to end up gone. The Unit seems like a safe bet to get the axe since the network keeps moving it around as much as they do, and while Cold Case is probably cheaper to make than WAT, I think it's more likely to get its bubble burst because I can't imagine anyone lamenting its loss.

I Met A Girl Crazy For Me, Met A Boy Cute As Can Be
NBC unveiled the highlights of its June (and early July) programming on Thursday, a mixture of scripted and reality premieres and finales.

Monday, 6/1 – I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here premieres and Medium wraps up it's current season

Tuesday, 6/2 – Law and Order: SVU season finale

Wednesday, 6/3 – Law and Order season finale

Thursday, 6/4 – The Listener series premiere

Sunday, 6/7 – Law and Order: Criminal Intent season premiere (episodes having aired previously on USA)

Sunday, 6/21 – Merlin series premiere

Tuesday, 6/23 – America's Got Talent season premiere

Wednesday, 6/24 – The Philanthropist series premiere

Wednesday, 7/1 – Great American Road Trip premiere

The major impetus in pushing some of the finales back later than usual and stacking that first week of June with strong options is that the network wants to provide as many strong lead-in's as possible for Conan O'Brien's first week as host of The Tonight Show.

No word yet on what b-level celebrities are appearing in the latest incarnation of I'm A Celebrity but lets hope it's a stronger crop than currently appearing on Celebrity Apprentice. The Listener is a drama about a telepath who helps people dealing with big problems – think Knight Rider but instead of a car he's got a suped-up brain. The Philanthropist stars James Purefoy, Neve Campbell, and Jesse L Davis and is a big budget drama filmed all over the world where a billionaire uses his resources to…help people dealing with big problems. Can we get a law outlawing any new show with the title The Anything?

There's nothing particularly exciting on that list but I could see Road Trip (more on that below) catching on, and AGT has been the top rated show of the summer three years running, so maybe they can use that to showcase some of their new programming. Along with all of the above will be two mini-series (Meteor in June and The Storm in July).

Things I Couldn't Do Before Now I Think I Can And I'm Leavin' Here A Better Man
The VH-1 reality series Tool Academy wrapped up its first season last Sunday with Josh not only winning the $100,000 prize but also marrying his girlfriend Ashley during the finale as well. The show took a group of less-than quality boyfriends and tried to get them into shape by having them live together along with a therapist, with the dude who showed the least growth booted each week. All the men were told they were appearing on a show called Mr. Awesome before it was revealed they were really in for relationship boot camp. We caught up with Josh for a few minutes in anticipation of this weekend's reunion special…

TTTP: Do you remember what you thought the moment they told you what kind of show you were really on? Did it ever cross you mind that you might actually win?

Josh: Well I was a little angry; I thought I was the man not a tool that treated Ashley like a door mat. I felt that we had a chance to win because our relationship wasn't nearly as bad as the other couples.

TTTP: What are the biggest things you think you have learned throughout this process?

Josh: I learned how to be a man and show respect to my new wife. I can be open with my feelings instead of hiding them. My biggest problem was being a leader I could never do that with my feelings, I was just trying to fit in.

TTTP: Are you happier about winning the cash or knowing that your relationship is much more likely to last now?

Josh: I'm glad knowing my relationship is back together. I never cared about the money - that wasn't my main concern - but it is nice to have to help get us up on our feet.

TTTP: If you could give one piece of advice to guys out there when it comes to how to treat the people they are in relationships with, what would it be?

Josh: To all the guys out there: If you are a dick like I was you should care about your girlfriend like I care about my wife, especially if they are still with you after you've been treating them like door mats. You won't find and other girl that will put up with that because that is what Ashley told me.

You know how I know this guy has changed his ways? The last line – "…because that is what Ashley told me." Hey, maybe a reality series really can do some good! Check out the Tool Academy Reunion Special this Sunday at 8 pm on VH-1.

Like A Coin In Your Mint, I'm Dented And I'm Spent With High Treason
It's pilot season in TV Land and as such we've broken the updates about new shows out of the "All The Young Dudes" section below and given it it's own feature. All of the shows mentioned below are having pilots filmed, putting them one step closer to getting a spot in their network's line ups this fall…

ABC: Morena Baccarin, best known for her work on Firefly and Stargate: SG-1, is the latest to be added to the cast list for V…The network just signed a deal to do an adaptation of the British comedy Pulling, about three women in their 30's who all live together after one calls off her wedding the day before the ceremony…Madchen Amick has joined Cedric The Entertainer in The Law, a comedy about reserve police officers…So much for the Gretchen Mol rumors – Rebecca Romjin has been cast as the final lead in Witches of Eastwick, joining Lindsay Price and Jaime Ray Newman. Sara Rue is also in the pilot in a supporting role…Dirty Sexy Money alum Zoe McLellan will play a freshman Congresswoman on House Rules, which also has Anna My Girl Chulmsky in the cast…

CBS: Two Tivos favorite Missy Pyle and SNL alum Chris Parnell have signed on for the sitcom Big D…Jeremy Northam is one of the leads on Miami Trauma…Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell (Drake & Josh) will star in Fish Tank, about a teen who gets the run of the house when his parents take Mon-Fri jobs out of town…Skeet Ulrich first post-Jericho TV role is fronting the drama Back, about a man who returns home after being missing for 8 years having disappeared on 9/11…A Marriage, a new drama from Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick, got its lead couple when Two Tivos fave Bruce Greenwood and Miranda Otto came to terms on a deal…Ashley Jensen's leaving Ugly Betty has led to her being cast in the Jenna Elfman comedy Accidentally On Purpose…

The CW: Ashlee Simpson-Wentz has landed one of the leads on the Melrose Place reboot that looks to have a guaranteed spot in the network's fall line up…Andrew McCarthy will play Lily's Dad on the upcoming Gossip Girl spin-off…Speaking of the GG> spin-off, Matt Barr, who played Peyton's crazy non-brother on One Tree Hill, has been cast as Lily's love interest and Serena's future Father…Body Politic is shaping up as one of the most interesting pilots of the season for The CW or any network. Friday Night Light's Minka Kelly stars as new Senatorial aide who is not afraid to use what God gave her to get ahead. The Senator she works for will be played by the always great Tim Matheson, and Two Tivos favorite Jason Dohring (Veronica Mars, Moonlight) is on board as a Washington Post reporter…

NBC: Erica Christensen is the first cast member signed for the upcoming adaptation of Parenthood…

FOX: If I wasn't psyched enough for Human Target, which stars Mark Valley, they went and added Chi McBride and Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley to the cast as well…Tony Hale (Arrested Development, Chuck) has been cast in the comedy Cop House, about a halfway house for troubled police officers…Tyler Labine (Reaper) has the lead in Sons of Tucson, playing a con man who is hired by three teenagers to pretend to be their Dad while their real Dad is in prison…Two Tivos favorite Richard Shiff is on of the leads on The Reincarnationist…

And With Your Hair Swung Right And Your Pants Too Tight, It's Gonna Be All Right
Welcome back to the American Idol Revue, where we run down the latest week of American Idol, season 8. We're down to the final 13, so each week the remaining contestants will sing on Tuesday, with one (two this week) going home on Wednesday. Let's get right to it…

Tuesday, March 10th
-It must be starting to get important because Ryan's got a suit on!

-The judges get their own entrance now? Are they defending the four person mixed tag titles tonight?

-I think Paula's dress ate a bird.

-It's Michael Jackson night, which is a very bad choice, at least for the contestants. Sure, MJ is famous and the whole world knows his songs, but much of his music feels a bit dated now, and those songs that don't are classics that are tough to cover.

-Lil Rounds leads off and gets the first of many, many mini-bio films we'll see this season…She's doing The Way You Make Me Feel and her barrelhouse voice powers through it with little finesse…She's good but the judges are way more into her than I am.

-Scott is in the two hole and he goes the obscure route sitting at the piano. Much better than last week's Mandolin Rain vocal…Simon just chuckled like a 7th grader when Paula said Scottt was magical when his instrument was at his fingertips.

-They are frontloading the talent tonight with Danny in the three spot. He's openly talked about being worried about a backlash so I am betting his bio won't mention him being a widower…And I was right! PYT? Really? And a slow jams version? Ok, the tempo just picked up, as did the entertainment factor on this performance…He just has fun on stage without it seeming like it's in any way an act.

-Michael is hitting clean up with You Are Not Alone…He sounds great for a non-pro but that's about where my praise dries up.

-Jasmine and her amazing Technicolor Dream Dress gets to tackle I'll Be There. A bit plain but still a very pretty version. I like her.

-Kris is the competitor I feel like I have seen the least. A funky and fun version of Remember the Time…Great quote from Randy – "very well job done, baby"…

-Alison is doing one of the few MJ tunes that smolders and her Give In To Me is not bad at all but suffers from the same problem Lil Rounds did; all power, no touch.

-Lea Cohen's favorite singer Anoop is here, once again really giving off an 80's vibe. I mean, he's got a shirt, tie, and basically a Members Only over it. His choice of Beat It is a bad one and the judges agree with me. He's going to be lucky to survive.

-Jorge takes on Never Can Say Goodbye…Am I the only one distracted by his eyebrows, which would make Bert jealous? Ok at best.

-No I Want You Back?!?! Especially since Graham Parker already showed the world had to turn it into a rock song.

-Megan seems to be enjoying herself with an incredibly cheesy version of Rockin' Robin. She's got a sexuality about her that many of the other contestants are lacking but I am still wondering what the judges see in her that makes her such a favorite of theirs.

-Dramatic Adam is doing Black or White and the whole time I am waiting for his head to morph…I like him but thought he was rather screechy tonight, although to listen to the audience and the judges I am in the minority.

-Matt, who looks like he wandered in from the set of One Tree Hill, is sitting at the piano doing Human Nature…No yellow sweater?

-Alexis closes out the night with an ok version of Dirty Diana.

My best guess is that Anoop and Jorge head home but we'll see what America thinks tomorrow night.

Wednesday, March 11th

-33 million votes last night, a new record for this point in the competition. Way to go USA!

-HELLO. Paula brought the girls out tonight.

-The big rule change this year? They are calling it "the judge's save", so once during the entire year (other than the finals, of course), all four judges can unanimously choose one person who was set to go home and have them stay for (at least) another week. That means the following week two people will go home to keep the contest as a whole on pace but it also means the judges get the chance to potentially right a wrong, which is kind of cool.

-The Idol Mansion is pretty cool. I wonder if they will be pushing fans to the Fox website to watch AI After Dark footage.

-Is the group sing medley the reason no one sang I Want You Back last night?...To bust out a joke from last year, the Silver Platters had better choreography.

-Hey, it's the first Ford video of the year. The auto industry needs all the help it can get so no jokes from me (this week). If Fox was really trying to help they'd make it the GM video of the week.

-And after roughly 50 minutes of wasting time we've got Jasmine (what the what?!?) and Jorge going home, with the judges not using their one-time save on either of them. Apparently I am the Idol grim reaper this year – kind words from me and you are headed home!

We're down to 11 and we'll be back next week with the latest on America's most popular television program.

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)...The View is having its best ratings season in series history, with an average of 4.2 million, an increase of over 20% from last year's record numbers…Jimmy Fallon won his first week as host of Late Night with…pretty handily, up 12% from Conan's average…The Burn Notice season finale set series highs for total audience and demos despite going up against new episodes of ER (with big names from the show's past returning) and Eleventh Hour…Thanks to the combination of Grey's Anatomy being a rerun and having country superstar Taylor Swift as a guest star, CSI pulled in a shade under 21 million on Thursday night…The Office won the 9:00 hour for demos…Ghost Whisperer was Friday's most watched show with 11.113 million…Sadly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles dipped below the 3 million viewers mar, dropping 14%...Friday Night Lights dropped 10% but still topped Dollhouse, which was down 14%....Great new for Breaking Bad – not only was the season two premiere up 21% overall (and 18% in adult demos) from the season one premiere but it was an astounding 40% from the season one average…Desperate Housewives was Sunday's most watched show with 13.5 million…Cold Case was up 16% from it's last new episode…Celebrity Apprentice was down 14% from last week's premiere…The Unit returned VERY strong considering how long they had gone without a new episode; 9.43 million tuned in, up 13% from its last new outing…Dancing with the Stars 22.5 million viewers was a season premiere high for the series…24 was up a bit this week, surprising considering the cha-cha-cha'ing celebrities…Two and a Half Men and Rules of Engagement each dropped 14%...Chuck's 5.7 million was a series low…Castle's debut was watched by 11.6 million…CSI: Miami was tops at 10 pm on Monday with a little over 14 million…American Idol was watched by 25.24 million, a seven figure gain from last week…A NCIS/ rerun still pulled in slightly over 13 million, followed by an episode of The Mentalist that set a rerun high for the series with 14.25 million…The return of ADA Alex Cabot helped Law and Order: SVU hit a season high of 11.04 million…Bad news for Reaper fans - Tuesday's episode was down from last week's unimpressive opener…Lie to Me did very well in it's new 8:00 pm time slot, winning the hour with 11.12 million. Almost everything at 8:00 did well, with the CBS comedy duo of Old Christine & Gary Unmarried as well as ANTM up from previous episodes…Not doing well was Chopping Block, the worst series premiere of the season for NBC…24.9 million was the audience for American Idol, up from last Wednesday but down from a year ago…Life was up a bit at 9:00 pm…Life on Mars dropped 19% without the benefit of a new Lost as a lead-in…

All The Young Dudes Carry The News
Industry News, Notes, and Hot Rumors…Devil's Due Publishing has signed a deal with CBS to make a Jericho comic book. All the show's original producers are involved and promise all loose ends will be tied up in the series…Darren Starr (Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, Sex and the City) has signed a two year development deal with HBO…Nate Corddry (Studio 60) and Molly Parker (Swingtown, Deadwood) have been cast as Sarah Michelle Gellar's siblings on the HBO comedy pilot The Wonderful Maladays, about a dysfunctional trio of brothers and sisters whose parents died when they were very young…A&E ordered 13 episodes of Tattoo Highway, a spin-off of Inked, where Thomas Pendleton and his wife Monica travel the country in a mobile tattoo parlor fashioned out of a 70's tour bus…Al Michaels has joined the NBC Olympic coverage team for the upcoming 2010 winter games. Michael will anchor the daytime programming, his first Olympic gig in 22 years…TLC has ordered a 13 episode first season of a show based on their recent Little People: Just Married special. The show will debut in late May following an episode of Jon and Kate + 8…ABC picked up Impact, a four hour sci-fi min-series starring David James Elliot, Natasha Henstridge, Steven Culp, and Oscar nominee James Cromwell…ABC will air Michael J Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist this May, a one hour special where the actor/activist travels the world exploring what makes people happy…Fox has picked up a 13 episode first season of Mental, a drama about psychiatrists that will air this summer…NBC has an 8 episode first season of The Great American Road Trip planned for the summer, a reality competition series where families visit major landmarks (Grand Canyon, Washington Monument) while taking part in challenges along the way…Life on Mars producers told TVGuideMagazine.com that the series finale on April 1st would answer all fans questions about what's been going on to Sam Tyler…The final season on Monk has just started filming and it looks like Sharona will be back for at least one episode…Victor Garber and Swoozie Kurtz will be among those playing patients on Edie Falco's new Showtime comedy Nurse Jackie, which debuts this June…

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…The only upside I can think of to Scott Porter getting bumped from the opening credits on Friday Night Lights this season due to budget restraints is that his "guest star" status might make the Academy of Television Arts and Science more likely to recognize his incredible work as Jason Street. This past Friday was Jason's farewell to Dillon as well as to the series and Porter showed why he is a force to be reckoned with in the acting world; from episode one he has never been anything less than genuine, which is high praise considering he is playing a character whose life dreams were crushed when a football accident led to him being confined to a wheel chair.

Jason Street has always been a character whose naiveté convinces him he can do the (almost) impossible and whose passion and confidence always finds a way to make it happen, and in another actor's hands that might have come across as hokey, but the episode was full of examples of how Porter makes it work; from his announcing at the bar his plans to go to New York to convincing his former teammate to give the other agent a shot to his finale scene, holding his son in his arms and declaring his plans to make a new life for himself, the audience always believed in what he was saying, and also that he could really do it.

My affection for Porter grew even stronger this week when I read that he had turned down a part in the upcoming Melrose Place re-boot, saying all the characters were people trying to be actors and that's not the kind of role he was looking to play. Don't get me wrong, work is work, but it showed me Porter is the same kind of dreamer that Street is, and I am just as convinced in his ability to succeed as he convinced me of Jason's.

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…The Burn Notice season finale was good but not great – I was looking for a bit more from the show, especially considering how good it has been lately. Essentially we start next season no further along than we were at the start of last season. Sure, according to the big guy we just met (and I was SURE that John Mahoney was going to play Michael's not so dead Father, so there's some egg on my face) Michael will have even more people gunning for him without their protection, but I am not sure that makes the show any better, or really any different. If the idea is that this group burned him so he would go work for them than I find that a little disappointing…I acknowledge that My Name Is Earl isn't always laugh-out-loud funny but it may be the among the more charming comedies on TV right now, and that counts for something…The Office showed lots of heart this past week in a way that didn't make you feel like they were trying too hard at all…30 Rock deserves big props for paying such respect to Harry and the Hendersons. How funny was it to see Frank all cleaned up?...Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles from two weeks ago was a total head trip; I was totally shocked when what we thought was the dream turned out to be the reality. I wish the show had a little more focus but it's still one that challenges its viewers, and not enough series do that….Dollhouse has yet to really engage me in any way at all. I keep watching because Joss has earned that kind of loyalty from me, and series star Eliza Dushku says it's only after the first 5 episodes that the show takes off, but right now I am not a fan…Does admitting I find Celebrity Apprentice to be entertaining make me a bad person? The personalities clash in a way I find to be quite real (as in, not staged for the cameras) and I like that there was a challenge right at the beginning that wasn't about using famous friends to raise money…Dwayne Johnson did a phenomenal job hosting Saturday Night Live, with his episode ranking just above Neil Patrick Harris and just below Jon Hamm for the season. I laughed at just about every sketch and always love when Andy Samberg does Cathy…All three pop culture review shows (The Soup, The Dish, Best Week Ever) did a fantastic job recapping The Bachelor, each getting their own laughs despite covering the same material. BWE deserves special kudos for their segment about Scott from American Idol, which was as sharp a bit of writing as I have seen on one of those shows this year…Is Desperate Housewives' Susan the single most unappealing character in primetime? I mean, for someone who I think the show expects fans to like? She is ridiculously self centered, and without a trace of self awareness to balance it off. She is easily the housewife the series could afford to lose without skipping a beat…Major props to Brothers & Sisters this week for yet another dinner party gone wrong. I have gone on record as saying Sally Field was majorly over-praised for her performance in the first two seasons but this year she deserves every accolade possible; her shouting match with Tommy and later her conversation with Sol were riveting…Marshall dressed as the Ultimate Warrior and Lilly as Hacksaw Jim Duggan alone made How I Met Your Mother worth watching. The introduction of Laura Prepon's character was funny but they are going to have to give her a lot more depth for us to buy Ted being with her for any extended period of time…Nikki's life collapsing around her was worthy of a season-finale and yet we've still got two more episode of Big Love left this season. Can everyone in the cast get an Emmy nomination?...Breaking Bad suffered a bit from Lost-itis this week, having a difficult time recapturing the tension they spent an entire season building last year. That being said, by the end of the episode things were as crazy as usual. Mad props to Anna Gunn as Walt's much put upon wife…

TV Pick Of The Week
The magic in the air? It's not spring, it's March Madness, baby! After a weekend filled with wall-to-wall conference championships you need to tune in to the NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show Sunday at 6 pm on CBS to find out who is going to the big dance and whose bubble just got burst. Tuesday night finds ESPN airing the play-in game at 7:30 pm, and then the tournament kicks off in earnest Thursday at 11 am on CBS with the first of four days of all hoops, all the time coverage. When the smoke clears next Sunday night there will be only 16 teams left and a whole lot of busted brackets, and that's just the beginning.

Don't miss the start of March Madness this week!!!

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

*Will Ferrell: You're Welcome America is broadcast live from Broadway on Saturday at 9 pm on HBO. The reviews have been excellent and I do love his George W impression so.

*Tracy Morgan returns to host Saturday Night Live (11:30 pm, NBC) for the first time since leaving as a cast member.

*Two women kiss on Desperate Housewives (Sunday, 9 pm, ABC).

*The Comedy Central Roast of Larry The Cable Guy (Sunday, 10 pm) doesn't seem to have the same quality line up as the Bob Saget roast but these are usually good for some quality laughs.

*Kyle XY signs off for good this Monday at 9 pm on ABC Family.

*The City wraps up it's first season Monday at 10 pm on MTV.

*Former NFL player Dhani Jones looks at sports around the world on the new Travel Channel series Dhani Tackles the Globe (Monday, 9 pm).

*Rockville, CA, a romantic comedy set at a music club from producer Josh Schwartz (The OC, Gossip Girl, Chuck) is a new web-only series from TheWB.com that premieres its first 4 episodes on Tuesday. Aside from some above-average writing, each episode features some of the top indy bands in the country, with their songs blended into the plot lines. Even better, The Middleman's Natalie Morales appears in a few episodes!

*It may be funny or it may be ABC's attempt at having their own version of The Office (actually, it could easily be both) but Better Off Ted premieres Wednesday at 8:30 following a new Scrubs in its new timeslot.

*Ashlee Simpson-Wenz and her hubby Pete guest as a modern day Bonnie & Clyde on Wednesday's CSI: NY (10 pm, CBS).

*Betty White visits Camden County on Thursday's My Name Is Earl (8 pm, NBC).

*Jon Hamm wraps up his 30 Rock stint Thursday at 9:30 pm.

*Fame meets the world of reality TV on MTV's new Taking The Stage, a docu-soap (that's the hip term) that premieres Thursday at 10 pm.

Two Tivos To Paradise
30 Days, 30 Rock, The Academy, American Idol, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Antiques Roadshow, The Apprentice, Battlestar Galactica, Best Day Ever, Best Week Ever, Big Love, Bones, Breaking Bad, Brothers And Sisters, Burn Notice, Chocolate News, The Chopping Block, Chopped, Chuck, The Closer, Criss Angel Mindfreak, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Daddy's Girls, Damages, The Deadliest Catch, Desperate Housewives, Destination Truth, Dirty Sexy Money, The Dish, Entourage, Eureka, Everybody Hates Chris, Flipping Out, Gary Unmarried, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, The Hills, House, How I Met Your Mother, Iron Chef America, Jon & Kate + Eight, Last Comic Standing, Last Restaurant Standing, Law And Order, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Law And Order: Special Victims Unit, Life On Mars, Lost, Mad Men, Make Me A Supermodel, Man v. Food, Medium, The Middleman, My Name Is Earl, The New Adventures Of Old Christine, Next Food Network Star, Nip/Tuck, The Office, One Tree Hill, Paranormal State, Private Practice, Project Runway, Pushing Daisies, Psych, Real Time With Bill Maher, Reaper, Rescue Me, Rules Of Engagement, Run's House, Samantha Who?, Sanctuary, The Sarah Jane Chronicles, Saturday Night Live, Scrubs, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Shear Genius, Skins, So You Think You Can Dance?, Sons of Anarchy, The Soup, Sports Soup, Step It Up and Dance, Supernatural, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Top Chef, Top Design, Torchwood, True Blood, Trust Me, Ugly Betty, Will Work for Food

People Love You When They Know You're Leaving Soon
Here ends another edition of Two Tivos To Paradise. Hope everyone has a happy – and safe – Saint Patrick's Day celebration next week. We'll be back next week with all the latest in TV happenings.

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.