While this off-network summer season has reached a fevered pitch after last with the return of Mad Men, not to be overlooked is that other cable shows have also been delivering the goods. Shows like Burn Notice and Leverage, for instance. Regarding Leverage, there's good news to report. TNT will air two extra Leverage episodes in the weeks ahead.

On September 2 and September 9, TNT will run the episodes entitled "The Iceman Cometh" and "The Lost Heir Job", with Jeri Ryan popping up in that final show as a con artist who temporarily joins Nate's crew.

Leverage has had an especially good sophomore season. I was concerned about how they would re-form the team after Nate bailed out last season and the blew up the office. In some ways, destroying the fancy office set was liberating. Nate, Hardison, Sophie, Parker and Eliot seem more interesting and formidable on the loose.

Case in point, "The Order 23 Job" was a real throwback to Mission: Impossible (the TV series with Martin Landau and Peter Graves, not the crappy movies with Tom Cruise). It wasn't just the faking of a hospital crisis, I liked the subplot with Eliot and the kid who was being abused by his step-father. The character tends to wear his heart on his sleeve at times, but a little emotion is important in a show that's as playful and fun as this.

Leverage is good stuff, so two more episodes this summer makes me smile.