In The Unit episode "Bait," which airs Nov. 28, Jonas is bound and thrown into a room with a bag over his head, and his captors are about to draw his last blood. He proves himself to be Houdini, however, by persuading them that he's more valuable to them alive than dead. Houdini, master of illusion and escape — we never know who's the rabbit and who's the fox. Jonas manipulates his captors to have them videotape him with their terms of release. As he reads their demands, he secretly signals to his comrades back home. He pulls more than one rascally rabbit out of his hat in order to escape, only to be captured and returned, bound and tortured. Meanwhile, Washington suits aren't interested in negotiations, so Colonel Ryan has to perform his own sleight of hand — before our Houdini runs out of rabbits.On the home front, Colonel Ryan's wife, Charlotte, who was shot at the end of last season's finale, is now hooked on pain meds. Driving under the influence, she wrecks another w...
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Eric Mabius and America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
TV Guide invites you to get acquainted with the beautiful people of ABC's hot new Ugly Betty, premiering tonight at 8 pm/ET.
America Ferrera Plays: Betty Suarez, the sweet, style-deficient assistant to the editor of a top fashion rag. Previous experience: Starred in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.Betty's bio: Smarter than her wardrobe, our heroine is her boss' best asset. "When you get to know Betty, you don't want her to change," Ferrera says. "If becoming beautiful means changing who she is on the inside, then it's not worth it."
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Question: Anything new on The Unit front?
Answer: Producers are adding some fresh young blood to the show in the form of sci-fi babe Summer Glau (Firefly, The 4400), who's joining the cast as the girlfriend of a new Unit member, played by Daniel Wisler. Also, a little birdie tells me Lee Tergesen will show up in an early episode playing — what else? — a creep.
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Question: I think it's really interesting how Psych became such a hit on USA. The same with Saved's success on TNT (although I find the show a dull Rescue Me knockoff). Some channels (both cable and network) have found certain formulas that really work, and then stick with that brand. Psych, for instance, fits seamlessly into the USA brand by being a cross between The Dead Zone and Monk. In fact, I want to further compliment USA on the best ad campaign I have seen in years. I actually stop fast-forwarding on my DVR to watch those hilarious USA ads featuring their wonderful array of characters. My wife and I love them! But my question goes back to the failure earlier this year of Love Monkey (also a wonderful show) on the stodgy, serious CBS network. CBS puts on this wonderful, sweet and quirky show and it fails; so they go back to their dull formula with the ridiculous The Unit, and it's a ratings smash. Do you feel that networks and cable channels (after a scenario like this for CBS) ...
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Patricia Wettig on Prison Break
Patricia Wettig now has something in common with 24 alum Dennis Haysbert (currently on CBS' The Unit) — neither of them are any longer playing the president of the United States for Fox.
While Wettig's Prison Break character, the crafty Caroline Reynolds, was set to play the leader of the free world in the show's sophomore season, the actress — who wasn't under contract to the Fox drama — opted instead to accept a role on B
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Question: Do you think that CBS' Smith will last the whole season?
Answer: Hard for me to say. But if you're asking me if it should last the season, I'm still at a loss. The pilot (from John Wells) is extremely well made, introducing us to a glamorous team of criminals plotting an elaborate heist that goes slightly awry, hinting at repercussions and complications to come. My problem with the show is that, unlike morally challenging shows like The Shield and The Sopranos, there's not much humanity or complexity to these characters, who come off like ciphers initially. That could change, and the show could become as suspenseful as its pilot felt shallow. But the big question mark is how dark CBS viewers are willing to go, from NCIS to the edgier The Unit to the ethically bankrupt Smith. Will it be too much ...
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Patrick Dempsey of Grey's Anatomy, Matt LeBlanc of Joey
Put a fork in the 2005-06 TV season. For the fourth straight year, CBS was crowned the most watched network, with an average of 12.6 million viewers per week. Fox was able to crow as well — for the second year in a row it was No. 1 among viewers ages 18 to 49, the group most coveted by advertisers. ABC didn't come up with a new hit, but its audience grew as Grey's Anatomy, Lost and Desperate Housewives remained hot, and Dancing with the Stars
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Hugh Laurie, House
Put a fork in the recent TV season — it officially ended on May 24, so now it's time to tally the results. For the fourth straight year, CBS was crowned the most-watched network, with an average of 12.6 million viewers per week. While the network didn't score any smash hits, new shows such as Criminal Minds, The Unit and Ghost Whisperer were solid ratings performers.
Fox was able to crow as well: for the second year in a row it was No. 1 among viewers aged 18 to 49, the group most coveted by advertisers. But this year the network won the demo race wi
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Brad Garrett, 'Til Death
After attending the networks' upfront presentations all week, the Biz has this analysis of the coming season. (Click here for next fall's grid and new-show descriptions.)
CWYou've got to wonder what went wrong in CW's new-series development process if the network had to bring back 7th Heaven — even though the show lost a reported $16 million for WB this past season.
But the decision to have CW's inaugural schedule made up of established shows from WB and UPN may end up being a blessing. Many of the shows have small but rabid followings, and promoting new shows on a new network will be tough. The fans of shows like One Tree Hill and Veronica Mars will track them down on their own. Viewers in the 18-to-34-year-old demographic that CW targets don't watch networks, they watch shows. (According to recent survey, only one in four 1
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Question: Where can I get a list of season-finale dates? Answer: I've compiled CBS' and NBC's below. I'll try to get around to the other networks next week. In case you haven't noticed, I've been a little busy.Ghost Whisperer — Friday, May 5 (8-9 pm) Crossing Jordan — Sunday, May 7 (10-11 pm)Criminal Minds — Wednesday, May 10 (9-10 pm)My Name Is Earl — Thursday, May 11 (8:40-9:20 pm)
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