Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
TV Guide's Senior Critic Matt Roush takes your TV questions. Have a rant, rave or burning question about your favorite show you'd like addressed? E-mail him here!
Question: Sometimes I ask God why it was decided that I should be a sci-fi geek. I don't know about anyone else, but I have been impressed with the character development on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It is clear that Fox asked the producers to cut back on special effects to save money, so the writers had to actually (gasp!) write. I think they've done a wonderful job. I am enjoying the development of John and Cameron the most, but also of Sarah, Derek and Ellison. And then Fox pulls a Firefly on me and moves it to Friday along with Dollhouse. I don't understand how Fox and other networks cannot get this ...
See the rest of this question, Matt's response, and questions on Grey's Anatomy, Life, Brothers & Sisters, Pushing Daisies, Ghost Whispere, Kath & Kim and more after the jump
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Molly Shannon and Selma Blair
Joining NBC's successful Thursday-night comedy block isn't easy for any new show, but Kath & Kim (8:30 pm/ET) has had a particularly tough go at it in a year when all of NBC's comedies (including 30 Rock, The Office and My Name Is Earl) have posted decreased ratings. But with a full-season vote of confidence from the network, Kath & Kim is forging ahead with, among other storylines, wedding plans. Join us for a little girl talk with executive producer Michelle Nader and stars Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, who tell us how they interpreted the Australian original, their own celebrity crushes and what it takes to be considered a "good eater" on camera.
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Maya Rudolph
Kath & Kim & Maya?
On the heels of her well-received turn as a lounge-singing Michelle Obama on Saturday Night Live ("Solid... solid as Barack!"), Maya Rudolph will guest-star on an upcoming episode of the NBC sitcom Kath & Kim, alongside fellow SNL alum Molly Shannon, according to executive producer Michelle Nader. Rudolph plays a spiritual guide who helps Phil (John Michael Higgins) lose weight, and then becomes a bit of a "girl crush" to Shannon's Kath. See which big-name diva may be hanging with the ladies after the jump...
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Pamela Anderson
NBC announced Thursday that Pamela Anderson will make a cameo appearance as herself on an upcoming episode of Kath & Kim. Who better to personify the celebrity culture in which the show's mother-and-daughter protagonists so actively participate? More Pam after the jump...
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Christina Applegate in Samantha Who?, Molly Shannon and Selma Blair in Kath & Kim
Two more shows can breathe a little deeper now that they have received full-season (or almost full-season) orders.
ABC has ordered seven new episodes of sophomore comedy Samantha Who?, bringing the full-season count to 20, two shy of the usual order. (The network isn't "forgetting" about Sam, but rather says the smaller order is only a result of having a wealth of midseason shows, like Scrubs and According to Jim (groan), on deck.)
Receiving the traditional "back-nine" pickup is NBC's Kath & Kim, starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair as a dopey mother-daughter duo. More details on these shows and their pickups after the jump.
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CSI and Life on Mars
Thursday's ratings rundown:
8 pm/ET
Survivor: Gabon this week topped the hour (and demos) with 13.3 million total viewers, up 450K. In second, Ugly Betty held steady at 8.48 mil. NBC's Earl matched last week's 7.1 mil, while brand-new lead-out Kath & Kim added 360 thou to that count. Smallville inched up 130K, to 4.08 mil.
9 pm
CSI returned to an audience of 22.99 mil, down seven percent from its previous opener, and bested Grey's Anatomy in the 18-49 demo for the first time ever. Grey's dropped 20 percent from its premiere, with 14.54 mil. The Office did a typical nine mil, then SNL's new Thursday showcase built the audience to 10.6 mil. (Yeah, that’s the ticket!) Supernatural slid 430 thou, to 3.14 mil.
10 pm
It was neck-and-neck for dueling newbies Life on Mars (11.6 million) and Eleventh Hour (11.59 mil), though ABC came out on top in the demos. As a Grey's lead-out, Mars improved on Big Shots' year-ago performance by three million. Eleventh Hour, meanwhile, showed 50 percent retention of CSI's premiere audience, whereas Without a Trace delivered 67 percent last September. At 9.35 mil, ER surged 18 percent from its season premiere.
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William Petersen in CSI
What a night of extremes is this first official (as in mostly complete) Thursday night of the new season. An absolutely terrific CSI opener, with William Petersen hitting a wrenching career high as he and his team deal with the aftermath of last season's dastardly shooting of Warrick (also memorably played in his swan song by Gary Dourdan, who has a heartbreaking scene midway through the episode that cements his relationship with mentor Grissom for all time).
More of the night's best and a look at some of its terrible comedy after the jump.
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Harvey Keitel and Jason O'Mara, Life on Mars
Life on Mars 10:01 pm/ET ABC New
If you're looking for a police procedural with a twist, it's hard to beat this new series based on the well-regarded British drama of the same name.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 9pm/ET CBS New
ER 10 pm/ET NBC New
Kath & Kim 8:30 pm/ET NBC New
MLB Playoff 8 pm/ET Fox New
Get the full details on tonight's shows after the jump.
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And the wannabe hits just keep on coming. The fall rollout continues in full force this week, especially on Thursday night, where three new network series based on shows from England and Australia finally arrive after months of retooling—in the case of Life on Mars, involving a complete reshoot. But network TV isn’t all that’s keeping us busy. USA Network has molded its beach-book miniseries The Starter Wife into a weekly page-turner, while PBS’ Masterpiece continues on its yearlong roll with a terrific political thriller.
Life on Mars
Airs Thursdays, 10/9c, ABC (also online via video.tvguide.com)
Previously on: BBC America. How’s the remake? Surprisingly good, considering the buzz after the show switched producers. This captures the original series’ vibe nicely, as modern-day detective Sam Tyler (the appealing Jason O’Mara) is hit by a car and wakes up in ultragritty “Serpico
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Zachary Levi by John Shearer/WireImage.com
Coming to your local NBC station and online outlets soon: Adorable Chuck star Zachary Levi hosting a sneak peek at the network's new and returning series for fall.The 30-minute special, The NBC Primetime Preview, will include an exclusive backstage look at a full spectrum of NBC Universal shows (including titles from USA, Sci Fi, Bravo, UniHD, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen and Sleuth). It will also draw viewers in by the boatloads (they hope) with appearances by Christian Slater of My Own Worst Enemy; Molly Shannon and Selma Blair from Kath & Kim; and stars from Heroes and The Office. The special is set to blow your minds beginning Aug. 30 and running through Sept. 28. Are you excited for some sneek peakage, or do you think this is just a transparent ploy for early buzz? — Erin FoxRelated• Christian Slater Talks about His New Jekyl and Hyde Show• What Would Dwight Schrute Watch?• The Office's Phyllis and Stanley Dish about Next Season
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