If I were an executive at CBS, I would never want to do business with actor Mandy Patinkin again. Even though Mandy is a terrific actor and one of my personal favorites -- I loved him on Broadway in Evita and Sunday in the Park with George, not to mention on screen in The Princess Bride and Yentl -- his history with CBS is abominable.

He was an Emmy-winning star on Chicago Hope, then left after a couple of seasons to be closer to his family in New York. Okay, that was understandable. Then after getting Criminal Minds off to a great start, he walked out of that show, citing creative differences.

Apparently, someone has said let bygones be bygones because Mandy Patinkin will be a guest star on Three Rivers. Maybe because this is a very personal issue with Mandy, he's convinced the powers that be to let him return to the network, albeit for just a guest appearance.

Ted Kennedy died early this morning at age 77. Healthcare for everyone was one of Kennedy's major causes and it has been going on for quite some time. This clip is from a 1997 episode of Chicago Hope. It features Ted Kennedy and Ron Silver (he died this year too). What a great actor Silver was.

[via TheWrap.com]

After the executive session, CBS continued immediately with its jam-packed day of press tour, introducing four new shows and taking a look at returning hits Shark and How I Met Your Mother.

First up, the all-star cast of Cane, a prime time soap that's been compared to The Sopranos and Dallas, starring Jimmy Smits, Hector Elizondo and Rita Moreno, takes the platform.

Smits, who also serves as co-executive producer, stars as Alex, a man who's married to his "sister" (Alex is adopted), prompting executive producer and perpetual funnyman Jonathan Prince to call creator/e.p. Cynthia Cidre -- "Woody."

Last Friday intrepid TV Squad reporter Isabelle Carreau posted an item about Criminal Minds lead Mandy Patinkin not returning to the CBS drama. Now it has been confirmed by both ABC Studios and CBS Paramount Network Television that Patinkin is definitely not returning to the program for the new season.

In press releases sent to the hugely palatial TV Squad offices both ABC and CBS stated that Mandy left the show due to "creative differences" and not because of contract renegotiations or salary disputes. As Isabelle reported in an update to her post Patinkin will return for one episode early next season that will explain his departure from the series. In the meantime, a new character will be added to Criminal Minds to fill his spot.

(S04E20) Twenty episodes in, and I'm chomping at the bit to get to the Tony/Jeanne story. Credit to team NCIS that they have created an arc that has people waiting anxiously for a resolution. With that in mind, if you would have told me that we were going to get a stand alone episode that didn't get into any of the big seasonal stories, I doubt I would have been excited about it.

But then they went and did this. Bringing McGee's next book, "Rock Hollow," into the picture made for some great scenes. And those scenes were really what sold this one. The actual mystery was interesting, but more for what we learned about McGee and the new book than the actual whodunnit aspect. I thought they gave Landon away right off the bat when he recognized "Thom."