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(S01E21) Jules Cobb is TV's creepiest mom, but in a good way.

We've known from the beginning of this series how close she is to her son Travis; it's a twisted 'Gilmore Girls' situation, where a young mom is relating to her kid more as a buddy than as a mom. But thrown into the buddy mix is Jules' paralyzing fear that Travis is going to grow up and leave her all alone. So when you see Jules make a sport out of watching her son sleep -- she calls it the "sleepy show" to Laurie and Ellie when they join in -- you're not nearly as creeped out as you should be.

And that, my friends, is why this show has managed to transcend its original premise and succeed.

(S01E15) If you want to see evidence of how much a show can change in its first season, look no further than this week's guest star, Barry Bostwick.

He's been among the Bill Lawrence Players for almost fifteen years now, since he was cast as Mayor Randall Winston on 'Spin City.' As Lawrence has said, that show so completely changed focus during its first season, from a romantic comedy to a workplace/government comedy, that the part of one of its stars, Carla Gugino, was cut halfway through that year.

Last night's episode really brought home the fact that in quick order 'Cougar Town' has become much more than what the show was supposed to be about when it debuted. The world surrounding Jules Cobb has now expanded to the point where we see where Andy works, we know Laurie's last name (Keller? Hope she's not related... ) and see enough mixing of characters to make us want to see more.

Tricia Helfer has booked a guest spot on an upcoming episode of 'Two and a Half Men.' The 'Battlestar Galactica' alum will play a close friend of Charlie's fiancee, Chelsea, who crashes at the Harper house after a bad breakup. Helfer's guest spot will air Nov. 16 on CBS. [Ausiello Files]

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Over the span of its first five seasons, Nip/Tuck has had some spectacular highs and some even greater lows. Regardless of how you feel about them (personally, I liked season three and The Carver), as viewers we've all watched Dr. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) slowly lose the battle to the one thing they're paid to combat - aging.

Entering its penultimate season, Nip/Tuck could use a little nipping and tucking of its own after the mediocre fifth season that saw a lengthy hiatus at the hands of the writers strike. Fortunately, it seems that things might be getting back to "normal" for McNamara/Troy. And by normal, I mean no more serial killers, organ thieves, or weirdo lip-synching musical montages. Beyond that, it's freak show as usual.

Generally speaking, I'm not an anti-remake person. There are times when a remake is perfectly acceptable and oftentimes can improve upon the best of the original, like Battlestar Galactica, for instance. However -- you knew that was coming, didn't you? -- this remake just sounds like a disaster in the making. MTV is going to turn The Rocky Horror Picture Show into a TV movie. They will take the 1975 cult classic sci-fi, horror musical spoof and give it a 2008 spin.

Oh, please! You cannot strike lightning twice. Rocky Horror was a phenomenon. It was a cult classic because the people who found and supported the movie in all those midnight movie showings felt like they were part of a "with it" crowd. It was like we had all found a diamond in the rough, a film that Hollywood just didn't get. How can MTV possibly think they'll recapture that zeitgeist in a TV movie?

(S02E12) Courtroom drama! Perfume that makes you crazy! Baby-making schemes! This week's Ugly Betty had all the telenovela angles covered. In the grand tradition of fictional court proceedings, Claire's murder trial was over and done with in a couple of days. Don't you love that about TV? There was even time to spare for Gio, Wili, and Christina. Good thing, too, because there's only one episode left. Better get your fill of Suzuki St. Pierre now, folks.

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