Rob Estes by Steve Granitz/WireImage.com
They wanted him, and they got him. As scooped by Ausiello earlier in the week, The CW's 90210 serial was hot to cast Rob Estes as the central family's patriarch/West Beverly High's new principal, and sure 'nuff, it happened.The onetime Melrose Place resident will play Harry Mills, a WBH alumnus who moves his family from Kansas to Beverly Hills to take care of his alcoholic mother (Arrested Development's Jessica Walter). Lori Loughlin plays his wife, Shenae Grimes and Tristan Wilds their children.What's your take? Too hunky to be a high school principal? Belding and Skinner never looked like this. — MWMRelated:• Exclusive: New 90210 Has Serious Daddy Issues
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Angie Harmon in Women's Murder Club by Danny Feld/ABC
My loyalties are so divided on Friday nights. I want ABC’s so-so new crime drama Women’s Murder Club to do well enough to bring some much-needed eyeballs to the charming romantic comedy Men in Trees, which finally returns from a cruel nearly eight-month hiatus. With James Patterson’s name as a selling point for Murder Club (though he’s not writing this series any more than he appears to be penning half of the books that go out with co-writers’ names on his ubiquitous book jackets), the show certainly has a shot at commercial success, even on a night that’s widely considered a graveyard. Remember: This same night, and this same time period (9 pm/ET), is where the original CSI launched to even less fanfare, and the rest is TV history.But I also don’t want anything to take audience away from Murder Club’s competition, most notably NBC’s ever-fragile Friday Night Lights, which offers another superb episode this week. Even if like many observe...
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Johnny Depp by Steve Granitz/WireImage.com
And here I thought I was the only one left who was obsessed with Dark Shadows. But no, apparently Johnny Depp is, too. According to Variety, the erstwhile Cap'n Jack grew up wishing he was the '60s soap's anti-hero, vampire Barnabas Collins — and still does. So now that he's a big movie star and not a starry-eyed kid, he's making it happen, developing a big-screen version of the daytime drama. Oh, please, please, please, can we get Angelina Jolie to play Angelique the Witch?! Those lips, those eyes! She's perfect! Elsewhere... Susan Sarandon has been cast as the slain heroine's grandmother in The Lovely Bones, based on Alice Sebold's best-seller. Stanley Tucci is considering playing her killer. Dude, Susan Sarandon's in the movie.... What's to think about? Meanwhile, Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon are teaming up to coproduce and star in New Line's Four Christmases, about a couple who visit their four divorced parents all on the same holiday. In small-screen casting news, G...
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And so we say goodbye to deliciously creepy Nick Townsend. He is survived by his ex-wife, Natalia Boa Vista, who had him put in jail. His apartment had been described as “Grand Central Station, with women coming in and out,” but he had many other redeeming characteristics as well, such as stealing and stalking. Upon further consideration, he had no redeeming characteristics whatsoever, except that he was just basically awesome. I, for one, will miss him and his alter ego, Rob Estes. Thus ends the obituary of Mr. Townsend. You knew that in the end he was either going to go to jail or be killed, but I was always of the opinion that the CSIs on this show needed a more serious nemesis, and he seemed like a good one. I suppose that over the rest of the season it’ll be the terrorists, but still, I’ll always have a soft spot for this guy.Also, we got an introduction to the bizarro-CSI: Miamians, aka the night shift. Of course, if we aren’t counting Jake, there seem...
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Yes! We got the triumphant return of Rob Estes as Natalia’s ex-husband, and it happened not a moment too soon. That all-too-brief scene was definitely the highlight of last night’s episode. The exchange between Maxine and Natalia after he asked out Maxine was too priceless. “Are you mad?” “Not at you.” Is no friendship sacred? (I guess that if Denise Richards can steal Ritchie Sambora away from Heather Locklear, then there’s no hope for us mere mortals.)What can I say about the plot? The opening was certainly intriguing. A marine recruiter gets shot at a civilian gun range, but he was dead before he got there. In the end we find out that in fact, Matthew (the guy who shot him) was actually the one that killed him. For a child of two pathologists, I’m a little concerned about his intelligence. His argument for dragging Hicks to the gun range in the first place was so that it would look like an accident. Either way, he still killed him. I’m...
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CSI: Miami is back. It was very nice to focus on one murder without branching off into too many different directions. Even the secondary investigation (that of Marta) seemed to grow much more organically out of the main case than any of the subplots did last week. I was also a little surprised (in a good way) to see the show tackle a sensitive political issue — eminent domain — instead of the young rich kid story lines we saw so much of last season. I have to say that I’m not sure that the Wells’ were the most sympathetic of victims of government takeover, but I do hope all the eagle-eyed Seinfeld fans out there noticed that Suzanne Cryer has not continued her on-screen life of crime. She played George’s girlfriend Marcy and yada yada yada, I was glad to see that she hadn't slept with our bloated victim. Speaking of which, the look on Ryan’s face when Alexx popped Councilman Bridges’ body pretty much said it all. I would say that there are worse ...
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I have to admit that this week’s episode left me cold — dead cold, as Horatio might say. What’s fun about CSI: Miami is that it’s so over-the-top about the Miami money and celebrity culture; unfortunately, male models are not a culture I care about all that much. The whole story line almost seemed more like an excuse to introduce the subplot about Natalia’s abusive ex-husband than a fully formed idea in and of itself. In fact, it felt a little like "America’s Next Top Nip/Tuck: Miami." In terms of the four episodes that have aired this season, I think this ranks just above the season opener. It’s nice to finally be rid of the Ray Caine action, but it seems that this void will instead be filled by Natalia’s troubles. (On another note, how is it that Natalia has worked in the lab, and yet seems to be completely in the dark regarding how to process crime scenes?) I won’t dismiss the ex-husband plotline just yet, because I’m interested ...
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Question: What's the word on ABC's The Evidence? I've seen the seven episodes so far, and it seems quite well written. You can't really go wrong with Orlando Jones, and Rob Estes plays the detective role with authenticity. I can't say I'm normally one to go for murder mysteries, and I don't watch other cop shows. It seems that ABC could use a well-filmed cop show like this in its lineup, and that it deserves more of a chance. I know ABC promoted it as kind of a "play detective" game, but I don't see it that seriously. By and large, I'd say it pushes the right buttons so far.
Answer: Sorry to tell you, but it has pushed its last button. The July 1 episode was the last one scheduled. It's true that ABC is noticeably lacking a procedural crime drama, but of the two the network trotted out at mid-season, Evidence and Injustice, neither made the cut for renewal. ...
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The EvidenceItem: clever show idea. Item: prime-time slot. Item: Martin Landau.
Figure it out yet? Me neither. The evidence above seems to be a solid formula for quality television, but if you actually watched this show, you probably don't even care. Now if you do care, it's likely because you figured out who the murderer was, or you enjoyed Mr. Landau saying "item." Or you own DVDs of both Rush Hour films. And thus we've entered the vortex that is mid-season prime-time dramas. Fun to watch how Hollywood tries to reel us in, sad to watch when it doesn't work. There, I said it. The interactive-viewer thing they're trying may have worked fo
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