TV News: Burn Notice vs White Collar vs Psych

Human Target in trouble? [UPDATED]



According to Michael Ausiello, FOX can only afford one underperforming show for next season and it's going to be either Human Target or Lie to Me. Human Target's my favorite new show from this season, so no secret which I'm rooting for. Ausiello explores each shows chances a little and seems to favor Lie to Me, but we won't know for sure until Monday (May 17) when FOX announces its Fall schedule. Get those fingers crossed. Updated: Never mind. Apparently, they're both safe! Woo Hoo!

The Event



Since The Class, Jason Ritter's become one of my favorite actors. He was really good in Peter and Vandy and - though I haven't seen it yet - I'm hearing great things about Parenthood (co-starring Lorelai Gilmore). Now he's got a new show at NBC with another Gilmore Girls star, Scott Patterson. Ritter plays a guy who investigates the disappearance of his fiancée and learns about a huge government cover-up. Patterson plays his would-be father-in-law who apparently has secrets of his own. Sarah Roemer (Disturbia, Fired Up!) plays the fiancée. [The Ausiello Files]

New Katee Sackhoff show: Boston's Finest



Katee Sackhoff is filming/has filmed a pilot for a cop show called Boston's Finest. According to Loaded Gun Boston, Sackhoff plays "a detective who teams with a disgraced ex-cop to solve crimes and untangle the conspiracy that sent him underground." Could be cool, I guess, depending on the characters. We'll find out next week if ABC picks it up.

More intriguing than that to me though is this article (again by Michael Ausiello) that talks about Sackhoff's career choices. She passed up a recurring, but ultimately temporary role on True Blood for the shot at an ongoing series gig in Boston's Finest. Which, fine, I haven't started watching True Blood yet, so I'm not disappointed. What I am kind of sad about though is that she gave up a freaking series on USA to be in this season of 24. I have no idea what her USA show would've been about, but as cool as Burn Notice, Psych, and White Collar are, I'm sure I would've loved it.

Speaking of USA shows

These are awesome.

TV Tuesday: House, Chuck, Grey's Anatomy, and Burn Notice

If you're further behind on TV-watching than I am then a) God bless you, and b) SPOILER WARNINGS
 
House – “5 to 9”

I never doubted for a second that Cuddy would pull that off, but otherwise, a fun episode. I liked the one that focused on Wilson too, so this was a great follow-up to that.

Chuck – “Chuck vs. the Mask”

Now that I’ve seen the episode, it makes this whole brouhaha look even more ridiculous. Forgetting the fan-entitlement angle, it’s just stupid TV-watching. Do these people really think that Chuck and Sarah aren’t eventually going to end up together? That’s not the only part of the show, but it is a big part. I’m as impatient as the next person to see it happen, but geez… let the people tell their story.

And if we’ve got to see Chuck and Sarah with other people for a while, they could be with much more annoying choices than Brandon Routh and Kristen Kreuk. I’ve always been fond of Kreuk and it’s great to finally watch her without the obnoxious plot-lines Smallville kept giving her. 

Grey's Anatomy – “State of Love and Trust”

I try not to talk about Grey’s Anatomy here, but I just can’t help it sometimes. When it’s doing its thing, there’s nothing better on television.

So, at the risk of sounding like a ‘shipper, I need to talk about Lexie and Sloan for a minute. I wasn’t that invested in them, but I did like them together and it’s annoying that they’ve broken up. Especially since Sloan’s daughter shows up just long enough to drive a wedge between him and Lexie, spark a Private Practice crossover, and then disappear. In the meanwhile, Lexie and Sloan both make mistakes so that even when the daughter leaves they still can’t get back together. I don’t know where it’s headed and I tend to trust the Grey’s writers, but it’s frustrating.

I do like the hint though that Sloan’s loneliness is going to affect Callie and Arizona. First of all, that makes total sense, but more than that, I love those two – especially Arizona – so I’m all for spending more time on them.

Nice moments in this episode with Christina; especially the debrief on her relationship with Burke and how that’s affecting her current relationship with Hunt. That’s what I mean about trusting these writers. The characters may not talk about Burke much, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t make an impact on their lives or that they’re not thinking about him. He mattered. Still matters. And that’s very cool.

But the coolest thing in this episode was Jason Winston George’s showing up as an anesthesiologist. I love that dude. He was one of the best parts of both Eli Stone and Eastwick, so it’s about time he got some time on a show that’s going to be around for a while. I’m hoping they let him stay and become a possible love interest for Bailey. Not that Bailey needs a love interest, but if she’s going to get one – and if it can’t be Taye Diggs – it might as well be Jason Winston George.

Burn Notice – “Noble Causes”

I actually wasn’t looking forward to this one because the client was that annoying drug dealer from the pilot. But damn if it didn’t turn out to be really touching.

And Now the News: One of these things is not like the others

Chuck and Lost premieres



Chuck gets going again on January 10. The final season of Lost kicks off February 2.

Burn Notice renewed

In related news, the sun will also come up tomorrow.

Gilmore Girls movie still possible



Not likely, necessarily, but it's still on everyone's wish list, including the series' creator and stars. I know this falls far outside the field of what this blog's about, but I can't help it. I loved that show.

Action Girl News: Scarlett Johansson Amazon movie, Middleman RIP?, Burn Notice novel, the insanity of ELA, and more.

Lorna the Jungle Girl vs. a giant cobra



Pappy's Golden Age Comics has the whole racist, only-slightly-less-sexist story.

Amazon

The guys who are writing the new Conan movie are also working on an action-adventure movie called Amazon that will apparently star Scarlett Johansson.

Can I just say that I'm about twelve times more excited about seeing Scarlett Johansson play an Amazon than I am to see someone besides Arnold Schwarzenegger play Conan?

Middleman RIP?

It could be too early to pronounce it dead, but I guess Middleman isn't doing very well and we should be prepared for the possibility that it won't be renewed. Which is really too bad because I started off being fond of the show and ended up falling in love with it. My fingers are crossed that - if it's not picked up again by ABC Family (which was always a weird fit anyway) - it'll find a home somewhere else with the exact same cast. Of course, I hoped that about Firefly too, but I'd rather be optimistic.

Honey West on DVD

Christopher Mills is always adding to my list of stuff to see and read. This time it's something new for the Netflix queue: a '60s private eye series about a martial arts-using action girl. Here's the show's intro:



Chuck's back



Speaking of martial arts-using action girls, Chuck should be back soon and you know what that means...



Hello, Sarah!

Burn Notice novel



Author Tod Goldberg talks about writing the first Burn Notice novel. He focuses mostly on his attitude-change towards tie-in novels in general, but he also talks about his love for the show and how writing the novel increased that.

Bookgasm reviews the book and says, "The highest praise one could give it would be to say it’d make a terrific episode. And it would. The worst thing is that’s not already an episode, but hey, it’s the next best thing."

I respectfully think Rod achieves even higher praise though when he says, "You can hear the actor (Jeffrey Donovan) speaking every word in your head, and Goldberg doesn’t miss a beat. The turns of phrase, the sarcasm, the devil-may-care attitude — he has it all nailed. Someone needs to put him on the writing staff, unless it means he wouldn’t have the time to crank out a couple more of these."

ELA

I have to end with this because I sure can't top it.

Action Girl News: Burn Notice, Underburbs, Keira of Oz, and the usuals

Burn Notice interview



We're a couple of episodes into the Burn Notice season, but this is still a good interview with Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell about the show and where this season is headed.

Not much about Fiona unfortunately, except to expect that her relationship with Mike will "go left, right and all around, and it’ll be exciting." Donovan also says, "Some of the episodes I actually don’t read until I get on the day just so I can see what crazy thing she’s going to do to me that day."

Sounds about right. I love Fiona and she's continuing to show this season that she's a strong character, not just in kickbuttability, but also in the way she's growing emotionally. She's still psychotic though, which is so cool.

Alan Moore on Sexism in Comics

This is an ancient series of articles and doesn't shed any new light on the subject, but it's written by Alan Moore which means that it's thoughtful as well as entertaining as all get out.

New Black Canary writer

So, it's true. Green Arrow/Black Canary does have a new writer as of issue #15. Andrew Kreisberg is one of the writers on Eli Stone, which bodes well since I really, really like that show. He also wrote that Helen Killer comic that Chris Sims likes so much, so there's that too.

Still, I can't help but be skeptical. I've really loved the globe-trotting adventures that Judd Winick's been writing and I'll be sorry to see Dinah and Ollie go home to Star City to focus on their marriage and the new bad guys Kreisberg's creating. Still, there's no reason that the series can't continue to be awesome under those circumstances. Hopefully, it will be.

Now here's a Black Canary doll the Christian Voice can get behind.

From Tonner. Very snazzy.

Black Canary on Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Two things I noticed from this San Diego report on the upcoming Batman cartoon, which already looks awesome.

1. Black Canary will be appearing in an episode.
2. Oswald's playing Batman.

Oh. Wonder Woman's dressing up too.

Also from Tonner.

Animated Wonder Woman movie

Here's some more info on the animated Wonder Woman movie. It'll be released in February (on the 9th, according to BuzzFocus, who also reports it will have a "very dark storyline") and in addition to the already announced cast, will also star Oliver Platt as Hades.

Here's some footage of the trailer that someone nicked at San Diego.



She-Hulk toy

I really hate the look of Hasbro's Marvel Super Hero Squad. Especially the happy-as-pie Hulk and the disturbing and creepy Thing. It works pretty well on She-Hulk though, so I may have to pick up this two-pack. Anyone want a disturbing and creepy Thing toy?

(Incidentally, there's also a Marvel Super Hero Squad version of Shang Chi, and I'll definitely want that one. Shang Chi toys are too hard to come by to be picky.)

Underburbs



Over at Newsarama, I reviewed TJ Dort and Joe Haley's excellent Underburbs comics. It's about a swell, little girl named Angela who has to save the world from a not-so-swell vampire girl named Winifred. Really fun, cool stuff.

Keira of Oz



Annie Leibovitz is at it again, this time shooting Keira Knightley in Wizard of Oz scenes. Thank you, Annie Leibovitz.

Adventureblog Theater: Burn Notice, a giant robot, a sea monster, and Indiana Jones

Burn Notice is back!

Guess what today is!



Giant Car-Eating Robot

Yes, yes, you can see this at any given truck rally, but when was the last time you went to a truck rally?



Sea Monsters are getting smarter



And now, ladies and gentlemen, the theme from Indiana Jones...

...in Mario Paint.



Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Special Edition

Indy shot first!

Awesome List: Mermaid Island, Zatanna ongoing, John Carter of Pixar, Burn Notice novels, new Holmes movie, and more

Mermaid Island



There aren't enough mermaid movies featuring giant sea monsters, if you ask me. Too bad the Catwoman director has to be the one making it.

Zatanna ongoing?

Great news!

Captain Carrot and the Final Ark was definitely an entertaining little series. Any plans to pick up on it's mysterious ending? Didio hopes so, "Did we ever announce the Zatanna book?" The panel became confused. Did they just slip up? It was said something with Paul Dini and Zatanna was a possibility during the NY Comic Con panel but no, nothing had actually been announced. Didio needed to go hypothetical again, "If Zatanna had her own book, you might see something along those lines somewhere down the road. Just saying if."

"You could be happy here. I could take care of you. I wouldn't let anybody hurt... AAAH! NO, ET! NO!" *SPLURCH!*



Eliot's new friend.

Pixar's John Carter of Mars movie confirmed

According to The Pixar Blog:

The disclosure came at the end of the short, but extremely enjoyable, discussion (excerpts of which will be published here soon), when a writer from Suite101.com asked about [writer/director Andrew Stanton's (Finding Nemo, WALL-E)'s] next project, to which Stanton mentioned (not too loudly) 'John Carter of Mars'.

Doubting what I'm hearing, I interject, "What is that?" "John Carter of Mars", Stanton replies. "You're confirming John Carter? Are you serious?" At this point, I turn my tape recorder back on, "...say that on tape!", I tell him. Stanton: "I am writing John Carter of Mars right now." "Oh man, you just doubled my page views!", I say. Everybody laughs.

Cannot wait.

Skulduggery Pleasant



There's always room on my bookshelf for a skull-faced detective.

The future's getting closer all the time

I've been wanting an excuse to finally visit Disneyland and Vegas. A 300 mph levitating train ought to do the trick nicely.

Burn Notice novels


I'm a big freaking Burn Notice geek, so I'm way tempted by the idea of continuing Michael Westen's adventures via novels. These things are rarely as satisfying as watching the show, but I suspect that my curiosity may make me find out for myself this time. (Thanks to Double O Section for the heads up.)

Wizard World Chicago

I'll be heading to WWChicago in another week. If my vacationing luck holds up like it has so far this year, I expect aliens to take over the convention center and hold us all hostage. But at least I'll have Warren Ellis to keep me company. He's making a rare convention appearance there this year.

Via his email newsletter:

I'm at the Chicago con next week, and I'll be doing one of my marathon Q&A talks on the Friday night. Details:

The talk is actually at the convention center. We don't have a room number -- they're actually going to be removing walls from adjoining rooms to make a monster hall that'll seat 1500.

The room will open at 9PM. There will be a bar in this room, so people can get good and drunk before I go on.

I go on at 9.30PM. And we will just bullshit until they throw us out.

This is NOT a ticketed event. No-one is on the door, I'm told. First come, first seated.

Lord help me; I sorta want to see Lost Boys 2 now



I don't really know why and I can't defend it, but seeing pictures of the older Frog Bros. and their new vampire enemies has me kind of curious.

Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes

Guy Ritchie will be directing a Holmes movie for Warner Bros. who're comparing it to Batman Begins in tone. They say it'll focus more on Holmes' adventurous, swashbuckling side. I think that's a valid approach, so now the question is, who to play Holmes?

As soon as I heard Ritchie's name, my mind went to Jason Statham, whom I love, but think would be pretty awful for the role. Hugh Laurie would be a great - if obvious - choice though. What do you think?

Awesome List: Psych and Burn Notice, Marvel movies and cartoons, giant monsters, and still more Indy

Josie gets Psyched



Rachel Leigh Cook is going to be on an episode of Psych; playing Shawn's high school crush. Also, Cybill Shepherd will be playing Shawn's mom in a couple of episodes.

Even more important to know: the next season kicks off July 18.

Six gets Burned



Man, I'm just full of the puns today, aren't I? Genuinely sorry.

Anyway, in other awesome USA Network news, Tricia Helfer's going to be in a few episodes of Burn Notice. Season Two begins on July 10.

Jin gets Strained



Okay, I guess I wasn't that sorry.

Finding out that Daniel Dae Kim from Lost is in A&E's Andromeda Strain mini-series on May 26 and 27 makes me sort of want to see it.

Marvel movies and TV

I haven't talked much about Iron Man, because I really don't have anything to add to the discussion. I feel just like everyone else who's seen it: it's the best superhero movie ever made and it makes me want to read about that Tony Stark in the comics. I'm thinking I'll probably start with Enter the Mandarin. I hear good things.

Also, that scene after the credits was awesome and it makes me even more excited to see The Incredible Hulk because I have a feeling we're going to see it repeated there. The weekend Iron Man was released, Marvel announced it's movie plans for the next couple of years: Iron Man 2 and Thor in 2010, then Captain America and The Avengers in 2011. An Ant-Man movie is also supposed to fit in there somewhere.

I've been wondering why Marvel would bother with an Ant-Man movie until I saw this schedule and realized that Iron Man, the Hulk, and Thor are the original Avengers, with Captain America joining soon afterwards. Except that Iron Man, the Hulk, and Thor weren't the entire original team. There was also Ant-Man. (And the Wasp, but she's Ant-Man's wife and could possibly appear in the Ant-Man movie, if they plan to use her at all.)

So, I'm speculating that we'll see a similar post-credits scene in all the upcoming Marvel movies, culminating in an amazing cross-over movie event, The Avengers.

In other Marvel screen news, Marvel recently announced a new cartoon for next year. Marvel Super Hero Squad is a "'super stylized' animated series geared toward 6- to 8-year-olds." It'll be joining Marvel's current cartoon properties: Spectacular Spider-Man (possibly the greatest super-hero cartoon of all time), Wolverine and the X-Men, and Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

Giant, floating, space squid



Undead Backbrain profiles my new favorite giant monster: Dogora.

The Outlander monster



Looks Awesome, doesn't it? It's from that Vikings vs. alien vs. giant monster movie Undead Backbrain has been telling us about.

Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods



The ads for Dark Horse's Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods comic have been frustrating in their lack of information about the story. Here's the solicitation for the first issue:

Dr. Henry Jones Jr. may be the world's preeminent archeologist, but that doesn't mean he's spent his life in the library! Ready and able to do whatever it takes to preserve the final remnants of history's most significant happenings, he'll go head-to-head against Hitler's elite who want nothing more than to exploit objects of ancient power in pursuit of world dominance!

Be there for the beginning of this roller coaster thrill ride of non-stop excitement as Indiana Jones dons his hat, packs his whip, and undertakes an endeavor more awesome than anything ever!

Indiana Jones sets out on an all-new adventure that will take him around the globe!

I'm not looking for spoilers here, but that's not at all helpful, right? It's just a summary of the basic Indiana Jones concept. Like we really need to know what that is. It doesn't tell you anything about when the adventure takes place or even what "the Tomb of the Gods" is supposed to be. The ads for issues 2 and 3 aren't any better.

Fortunately, Comic Book Resources has an interview with some extra information. It's set in between Temple of Doom and Raiders at a time when Indy is transitioning from being all about "fortune and glory" to becoming the "it belongs in a museum" guy. Personally, I'm not sure those two statements show the character growth that Tomb of the Gods writer Rob Williams sees in them, but that's a subject for a longer post. Williams says that the "fortune and glory" Indy would've shot the ark with a bazooka at the end of Raiders and Tomb of the Gods is meant to depict that change. (I agree that Indy has changed by the end of Raiders, but it's a change we see within Raiders itself, not off-camera sometime after Temple of Doom.)

They're still not telling what The Tomb of the Gods is, but I can let that go. Even if I don't agree with him, I appreciate the thought that Williams has put into his story, so I'll be checking it out when it's available in collected form.

Indiana Jones makes everything better, part whatever

This is another travel package, but unlike Expedia's that just lets you visit the locations from the various Indy films, Viajes Con Imaginación have a deal that's part Egyptian travel; part mystery party.

...they not only organize your entire itinerary, but they also plan strange things and make them happen to you. For example: robberies, kidnappings, ghosts coming to haunt you at night...

They also do a Jack the Ripper themed London tour. So very, very cool.

Michael Bay: Crystal Skull is "gonna suck."

You might be surprised to hear it after reading that headline, but I have new respect for Michael Bay.

South Florida: Days Two and Three

That title's a misnomer, because I'm really not going to tell you much about the last couple of days. Key West was Awesome yesterday with all it's pirates and seafood and tropical islandiness. I finished up Jane and the Man of the Cloth in Haiti and needed a new book to read, so I picked up Stephen King's Duma Key on the way down US-1. It's about a guy who moves from the Twin Cities down to the Florida Keys, so it seemed like an appropriate book to start on since my next Jane book is at home.

Today we went down to the Art Deco district of Miami Beach and that was Awesome too. We didn't see Mike Westen, but oh well. Must be because he got in the back of that truck at the end of last season. See? I shoulda been looking for him in the Keys.

I think everything else I want to say about the rest of this trip will best be told in pictures and I still need to organize those. If I don't post in the next few days, that's why. I'm letting you wait for the movie.

The Awesome List: Burn Notice DVD, cute Indiana Jones, Adam Baldwin in Seattle, Sinbad (the cool one), US comics scenes, and robots vs. animals

It's getting late, so I'm gonna skip the Day Watch review until tomorrow. Here's your Awesome List.

It's true!



As if there was any doubt. June 17. Write it down.

Cute Indy

This may be cuter than I want Indiana Jones to be. Except for that Marion with the monkey. That I want. (Via.)

The hero of Seattle, the man they call Jayne

Adam Baldwin (Firefly, Chuck) will be at Emerald City Comicon. I've never wanted to go to Seattle as badly as I do right now. (Via.)

Dan Wickline's Sinbad



Dan's a pal of mine and Sinbad's a hero I have a lot of affection for, so this is an easy sell. Especially when Dan describes his series this way:

"Sinbad was by far, the world’s worst sailor. He went on seven voyages and never once came home on the same ship ... To me, I don’t think he was Sinbad the Sailor until after the voyages. He learned who he was and what he can do through those journeys. The Sinbad we have here is at his confident, charismatic and creative peak. Why just save the girl when you can do it with style? Why retreat when you can charge? And he will always have a plan, even if it’s made up as he goes along."

Comics scenes

Tom Spurgeon is collating a list of US cities and their comics scenes. "Kind of a first stop on who to contact if you were planning to relocate," Tom says, "or where to go if you were planning a visit, or who to invite if you were having a show, or who you might profile if you were writing a feature article." I've always known the Twin Cities has a great comics scene and now it's documented.

He's also soliciting updates to the list.

Robots vs. crocodiles and gorillas

Lady, That's My Skull has scans from "My Brother Was a Robot," a story in My Greatest Adventure #42. As Sleestak says, "I'm presenting 'My Brother Was A Robot' here not because it is particularly good, the plot is pretty dull actually and is an otherwise forgettable entry into the annals of comic history. What makes this story worth noting at all is that it features a robot beating the crap out of some crocodiles and a gorilla. Sometimes comics just don't get any better than that." Amen, my reptilian brother.

The Awesome List: animated Batman movie, Shannara comic, Burn Notice DVD, Jungle Girl movies, the JLA movie, and more.

Batman: Dark Knight



Warner Brothers is releasing a DVD cartoon on July 8 that bridges the gap between Batman Begins and Batman: Dark Knight, which comes out in theaters ten days later.

Turok review

If you're curious about the Indians vs. Dinosaurs cartoon I mentioned earlier, Mike Sterling can tell you all about it.

Shannara graphic novel

Publishers Weekly has an interview with Terry Brooks about the comicbookization of his fantasy series. He talks about a lot of stuff including why he decided to come back to the character of Jair Ohmsford from Wishsong:

"I’d done a short story called 'Indomitable' a few years back for a Legends collection, and it was an attempt to pick up on what happened with Jair Ohmsford, who was one of the two main characters in Wishsong of Shannara. He was just a boy in there, and I thought I’d grow him up a bit. After I finished it, it just seemed like there was more to do with Jair if I chose to do it. At that time, though, I was moving ahead with the stories and didn’t really want to spend any more time on that generation.... But when it came time to do the graphic novel, I thought, this really is a good place to pursue it."

The graphic novel Dark Wraith of Shannara comes out March 25.

Burn Notice Season One DVD



Looks like Burn Notice, the best new show last year, is coming to DVD. It's only a rumor for now, but c'mon. Of course it is. And shortly before Season Two begins this summer, no doubt.

Jungle Girls Gone Wild

I'm so getting this.

Justice League movie

I haven't said much about the Justice League movie during the writers strike because it all seemed like non-news. Of course the strike put the movie on hold; of course the movie's back on now that the writers are working again. Not exactly a scoop.

But in case it needs explicit confirmation: yes, the Justice League movie is still on and yes, it's still starring Megan Gale as Wonder Woman.

Addison back on Grey's Anatomy

Private Practice's post-strike hiatus has freed up Kate Walsh to return to Grey's Anatomy for an episode or two.

Nobody cares but me? Okay, then.

The Awesome List: Indiana Jones, Giant Monsters, Albert Einstein’s secret doomsday device, and the Return of TV

Indy's hat and jacket

IndianaJones.com has a new featurette about Indy's iconic look and trying to recreate it for the new movie.

Indy's trailer

Apparently, the teaser trailer for Indy and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be attached to The Spiderwick Chronicles when it hits theaters on Thursday. I also saw something on IndianaJones.com earlier today about the trailer's TV and 'net debuts, but I can't find it now. Either I've gone stupid (entirely possible) or the info was released prematurely or is being changed. I'll let you know which once I know.

Giant Robots are stupid.

According to TechRepublic.

Oh, wait. No, they're not.

Says Jeremiah Tolbert.

Three Days to Never

According to Bookgasm, Tim Powers' Three Days to Never contains all of my favorite things: "hidden histories ... spirits, spies, talking disembodied heads, dybbuks, time travel, Charlie Chaplin’s quest for magical power, Albert Einstein’s secret doomsday device, and about a million other awesome things." So totally sold.

Welcome back, TV.

With the WGA strike all but officially over, TV Guide has a new strike chart up predicting when we'll start seeing new episodes of our favorite shows. Here are the ones that interest me:

Battlestar Galactica: Returns April 4 with first half of 20-episode final season. Production on second half could start as early as March. Airdate for those TBD.

The Big Bang Theory: Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Burn Notice: Production on Season 2 expected to get underway in late April. New episodes could start airing as early as July.

Chuck: No new episodes until fall.

Grey's Anatomy: Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May

House: Expected to shoot 4 to 6 new episodes to air in April/May.

Jericho: Seven episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Lost: Six pre-strike episodes remain. Six additional episodes could air this season.

Men in Trees: Eleven pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

The Office: Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

Private Practice: Slim chance it could return with 4 or 5 new episodes this season. Either way, it'll be back in the fall.

Pushing Daisies: No new episodes until fall.

Scrubs: Four pre-strike episodes remain. Four additional episodes will likely be shot; unclear whether they'll air on NBC or go straight to DVD.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Five pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Fiona

I had a huge crush on Gabrielle Anwar after seeing her in The Three Musketeers and For Love or Money in the early '90s, but I lost track of her after that. When she popped up on Burn Notice, I recognized her name, but barely the actress. In the '90s she was all fresh-faced and girl-next-door. Obviously she's matured in the last fifteen years, but on Burn Notice -- although she's still hot -- she looks worn and haggard. Like she's had a rough life.

Which, of course, she has. Or her character has, I mean.

I didn't like Fiona for a while. Like most of the other characters on the show, she seemed placed there merely to give Michael a hard time. She felt like a generic ex-girlfriend who could still fit in with the show because she also had a similarly shady past. But as the show's gone on, I'm loving her more and more.

Lately she's been pressuring Michael to talk about their relationship. That could get annoying fast, but it hasn't been thanks to the writing and Gabrielle's acting. Oh, she's nagging him, but underneath that is the knowledge that she's a fiesty, former IRA-member who could not only kill Michael thirty-five different ways, she'd do it while eating an ice-cream cone and listening to her iPod. Fi's got a streak in her that may not be sadistic, but it's close to sociopathic. Gabrielle plays her very calmly and dispassionately, but with a sad loneliness that's beautifully painful to watch.

It's like Fi knows that she's in a dark place and she's pretty much okay with that, except that she likes the way Michael makes her feel. I don't get the feeling that she wants Michael to "redeem" her or anything. He seems unequipped to do that even if she did. It's just that she loves the guy, so she flirts and teases and nags and tests, because Michael can't get past how bad their relationship was last time. But because she's so nearly unhinged, her nagging and testing carry a huge sense of danger with them. In last week's episode, she put Michael in harm's way a couple of times just to see if he'd support her.

Since he's Michael though, he can handle himself in those situations, so you never get angry with her. That's why they're such a hot couple. They'd totally kill anyone else they'd ever try a relationship with, which is why they're both so lonely. But they can survive each other. They're the only people in the world who they can survive. If only Michael would realize it.

Their relationship will always be rocky though. Michael's right to be nervous about her. Fi is to Burn Notice what Wolverine is to X-Men. She's unpredictable and deadly. Michael can take care of himself, but Fi is a monster in the way she deals with opponents. Michael's badass, but Fi's fifty times more. As capable as he is, Fi's the one he calls in when he needs super-muscle. It's a really good thing that she's so fiercely loyal to him. I'd be worried about his eventually pissing her off and making an enemy of her, but that's not the way things are going. Michael obviously cares about her and is loyal to her too; he's just not sure he can go where she wants him to romantically.

The result is a fascinating relationship between two characters I absolutely love. I started watching the show for Bruce Campbell (and he's great, don't get me wrong), but Fi's my new favorite. Not just on Burn Notice, but in genre fiction in general.

Burn Notice, She Wrote

We watched USA's new show Burn Notice last night. It actually debuted on Thursday, but "Yay, TiVo!"

Really good show. Jeffrey Donovan has a ton of charisma and makes a fascinating lead as newly ex-CIA agent Mike Westin. He's a good-looking guy, but unconventional enough to be interesting. And he's got this smarmy kind of delivery that makes him funny and quickly likable. In that way, having Bruce Campbell in the supporting cast as another ex-CIA man is a great match. They play well together with neither upstaging the other.

It's also nice to see Gabrielle Anwar again. I had a crush on her back when she played Queen Anne in the Disney version of The Three Musketeers. Here, she's Mike's ex-girlfriend Fiona Glenanne, a former IRA member who's got a nasty violent streak, but also obviously cares about Mike. She'll be as fun to watch as Donovan and Campbell.

The only character I didn't care for was Mike's mom, played by Sharon Gless. We used to watch a lot of Cagney & Lacey when I was growing up, so it's great to see her again, but the character is a stereotypical, nagging mom. Maybe Gless can do something with her as we go along. This was just the pilot episode after all. And I do like what her character brings out in Mike. He tries hard not to have anything to do with her, but he can't help but worry about her. It adds a sweet element to him that makes him even more endearing.

The plot was good too. The meta plot involves Mike's trying to figure out why he's been blacklisted from the CIA and is now being followed around now by the FBI. There's some danger in a plot like that because it could take over the whole show, but the characters are all strong enough and -- if the pilot's a good example -- the weekly plots should be good enough to carry the show just fine whether or not Mike ever solves the larger mystery.

One of my favorite spooks is the Headless Horseman, so TiVo snagged an old episode of Murder, She Wrote that featured a Headless Horseman plot. Watched that last night too.

I was never a big fan of that show, but it was fun to watch and try to guess the murderer. I had it figured out about five minutes in, which reminded me why I was never a fan, but as a nostalgic experience, I had a good time. The nerdy dude from Riptide (now that was a good '80s show) played the Ichabod Crane character and Greg Brady played an unconvincing hoodlum/ladies' man a la Brom Van Brunt. Ubiquitous '80s TV guest-stars Doug McClure and Judy Landers played the sheriff and a tavern waitress. And Dr. Stanley Riverside II from Trapper John was the town dentist. Good times.