Harper's Island on CBS

Can ABC's Better Off Ted produce laughs as well as far-out inventions? Is Parks and Recreation worthy of Amy Poehler's talents? Does Harper's Island slay us? Now that TV's new spring shows have had a few weeks to strut their stuff, TVGuide.com's senior editors gauge their areas of excellence — and how they can improve.

Starring on CBS' Harper's Island — which now airs Saturdays at 9 pm/ET — is a death sentence waiting to happen. The closed-end, 13-week mystery series takes place on an island where guests of an impending wedding are being killed off one by one. Adam Campbell, who plays Cal Vandeusen, spoke to TVGuide.com about what it's like to work on a show where your fate isn't sealed, what we can expect from upcoming episodes, and why none of the wedding guests have yet to notice their friends are disappearing.

TVGuide.com: You have a pretty comedic past. How did you end up on a mystery series?
Adam Campbell: When I first read it, the role was written quite...

Because Harper's Island is making a killing in the land of DVR playback and online screaming streaming, CBS is shuttling the slasher series to Saturdays at 9 pm/ET, effectively immediately.

Though many deem that destination a "death slot," CBS senior executive VP Kelly Kahl posits that the preliminary returns on the freshman series' DVR+7 playback and online streaming data "suggest a passionate audience for Harper's outside its current Thursday time period borders.

Life is twice as nice for fans of Jim Beaver starting this Thursday, when at 9 pm/ET they can find him playing Bobby in fresh episodes of the CW's Supernatural, then at 10 watch him play sheriff on CBS' Harper's Island.

That, however, is far from all Beaver has going on. He has also just released Life's That Way, a novel chronicling his wife's battle with cancer — an ordeal which happened to coincide with their daughter's autism diagnosis. Beaver found time to talk to TVGuide.com about his labors of the small-screen and of the heart. Read the full Q&A after the jump. read more 19 Comments