It's only been a month since Christopher Meloni stepped down from 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,' but producers are reportedly screen-testing his possible replacements in New York today.

Production on the upcoming Season 13 is due to get underway soon and, according to Deadline.com, 'SVU' creator/executive producer Dick Wolf and NBC have narrowed the field to a short list of five.

The actors, who have all doubtless just spent a sleepless night in the Big Apple rehearsing their lines, have been named as: Danny Pino ('Cold Case'), Kevin Alejandro ('True Blood,' 'Southland'), David Conrad ('Ghost Whisperer'), Michael Raymond-James ('Terriers') and Rhys Coiro ('Entourage').

Each one will test today with Meloni's co-star, Mariska Hargitay, who plays Det. Olivia Benson on the drama. Both Alejandro and Raymond-James recently guest-starred on 'SVU,' so could be feeling like they've got the edge.

(S05E19) Personally, I'd have thought it was pretty awesome to have the pink Power Ranger as a babysitter. Unfortunately, Erin Cahill's character came with a lot of baggage. Since this is 'Ghost Whisperer,' I'm sure you can imagine what that baggage consisted of.

This episode took a break from the ongoing plotlines involving Shadows and Shinies, and all that other creepy stuff we're learning goes bump in the night other than ghosts. Instead, it got back to the heart of what 'Ghost Whisperer' was all about: helping a lost soul go into the light. I'm ashamed to admit it wasn't until very late in the episode that I realized the spirit was portrayed by Catherine Dent ('The Shield'). The make-up wasn't that intense!

The episode also pushed the limits of forgiveness and understanding about as far as they can be pushed. We've had some angry ghosts before, and they can definitely be a danger, but Laura (Dent) really surprised me.

(S05E17) "What is happening to me?" - Damon

What's happening to you, Damon? You are the haunted character of the week that Melinda and company try to help. Same old, same old. This week's installment of 'Ghost Whisperer' was pretty much a filler episode that didn't offer character or show mythology development. I know, I know, not every single episode can move the year's main storylines along.

Luckily, the culprit of the week was not that easy to pinpoint and the comic book theme was pretty cool, especially when the last shot before each commercial was comic-book panel style. Sadly, these cool tidbits were overshadowed by a really badly done fantasy sequence.

(S05E16) "Don't come back. You'll be dead too." - Cassidy from the mirror

Last week's 100th episode was a tough act to follow. We couldn't expect an episode as action packed as 'Implosion' was this week but we were given spooky episode that, even if somewhat a "filler episode" because we didn't learn a lot of new tidbits about the Shadows, helped push the issue about the Shadows and them wanting children a bit further.

'Old Sins Cast Long Shadows' was yet another rather dark episode of the series this season. Madame Greta looked so spooky and scary that I'm glad I forgot to record the episode on Friday so I couldn't watch it on my return around 11 p.m. and had to watch the episode online during the day (which is why my review is late as I had to wait for it to be online). Yes, I scare that easy.

(S05E15) "Wow! It must be really really interesting to be you." - Delia to Melinda

It may be interesting to be Melinda, but it's also scary, stressful and demanding. Melinda's gift does allow her to help people, but it also comes with a price. This week's milestone episode put Melinda and co. in grave danger, and one important character died in the end.

Jennifer Love Hewitt directed this week's installment, which is the show's 100th episode. She did a very good job, especially for such an action-pack and Shadow-heavy episode. Bravo!

So who died? The answer coming up!

(S05E14) "Who died and made you the expert?" - Avery to Melinda

This last new episode of 'Ghost Whisperer' before the Olympics hiatus (even though CBS is not airing the Olympics) not only offered us funny girl Margaret Cho as Ned's Occult Anthropology professor, who didn't believe in what she was teaching, but also pushed the dark side of the show's mythology thanks to an object Melinda and company don't like at all: a Ouija board.

Even with the introduction of the mysterious Ouija board, the episode didn't offer much new info about how the good and dark sides work, but it was interesting to see Cho's character, Professor Avery Grant, cope with the fact that was she was teaching actually had some truth to it. However, the most intriguing scene was the final one when the Ouija board confirmed something Melinda didn't want to be true...

(S05E13) "Am I awake? Is this place real? Are you real?" - Robert to Jim

Talk about being disoriented right from the start! Minutes in the episode, viewers and characters are thrown in a chaotic storyline thanks to a injured patient who isn't making any sense. Of course, things got more chaotic seconds before the opening credits, when Bruno Campos suddenly appeared as the main ghost of the week and threw more nonsense at Melinda and co.

I don't know about you, but I felt dizzy watching this week's episode! I even had to pause a few times and try to reassess the situation since clues where coming from left and right, and things weren't making much sense. Plus, the ending was thrown at us so fast that I had to rewind to ensure I understood the reasons behind the weird happenings!

(S05E12) "It's weirder than you think." - Melinda to Ned

Once again this week, Ned gets involved with a girl who is haunted. You can't hold it against him since he can't see/hear ghosts to know if he is getting into a muddy situation or not, and the writers do have to find ways to keep Ned involved in most episodes since he is a regular character.

To my delight, and I'm sure a few other viewers, Steven Culp guest stars in the episode! I have been a fan since he first appeared on JAG as Special Agent Clayton Webb and have been missing him as Rex Van Der Kamp on Desperate Housewives since his character was killed off.

Was Melinda able to get both Ned and Steven Culp's character out of their muddy haunting? My two cents coming up!

(S05E11) "I'm upset because I thought him to be better than this." - Delia about Ned

Poor Delia got an unwanted reality check this week when she discovered the type of radio show Ned was hosting on the campus station and what he did behind his somewhat-official girlfriend's back!

While Delia tried to understand why Ned was drifting from her and doing things that were contrary to what she had thought him, Melinda tried to find who the ghost of the week was and make sense of why he was attacking Ned, the radio station as well as people who took part of an old radio prank.

(S05E10) "He's a killer with a badge." - The ghost of the week to Melinda and Eli

Bad cop or good cop? That was the question Melinda and company asked themselves while working on the case of the week, which involved a cop.

"Excessive Force" is an episode that fell flat for me. It's like the writers spent all their energy writing the November sweeps episodes and, now that sweeps are over, offered us a stand alone episode that didn't give us a tiny bit of character development.

(S05E09) "I have a bad feeling about this one. A very bad feeling." - Melinda about the ghost in the closet

Melinda's bad feeling was, pardon the pun, dead on. Very bad things happened in this November Sweeps episode: Aiden was put in danger, the dead girl from the closet was front and center, the Shadows came back full force and in a way we hadn't see yet, Bedford gave more warnings to Eli, as a hurting Carl the Watcher gave warnings to Melinda.

(S05E08) "How did you find this one?" - Det. Sam Blair to Melinda and Eli

Eli and Melinda quickly came up with a fake story as to why they often discover bodies or are around crime scenes. Detective Blair bought it this time but it wouldn't surprising if she decides to dig a little deeper to get real answers. After years of being around deceased, one would expect that the Grandview police would start investigating why Melinda, and now Eli, are involved in a lot of their cases, no?

While we wait for Det. Blair to start to investigate Melinda and Eli, we are treated to one of the wackiest and lightest episode of the season thanks to Greg Germann and Perrey Reeves guesting on the episode.

(S05E07) "The answers are there, but you have to know when to look." - Carl the Watcher

Starting this week, TV Squad now offers regular reviews of CBS' Ghost Whisperer. What an episode to start reviews with! The first episode of November Sweeps offered us more backstory and mythology about the shadows, some of their powers, the book ... and Jennifer Love Hewitt in lingerie doing some pole dancing!

We were also treated to a case of the week that kept us guessing as to who was to blame for the death of now-ghost Tina and what secret Dr. Morgan and President Bedford were hiding.

Mid-June, fellow Squadder Danny wrote a list of ten TV shows that deserve to have their own video games. CBS's Ghost Whisperer didn't make Danny's cut. However, the show's premise would provide a good setting for a game. Imagine yourself in Melinda Gordon's shoes trying to help ghosts cross over by finding out who they are, why they won't cross over, and how to make them walk through the light.

CBS and Legacy Interactive thought that it was about time to offer GW fans the chance to step into Melinda's shoes.

It's worked for other shows; Desperate Housewives revitalized itself after a timely time jump. Now comes word that producers are considering a five year jump for Ghost Whisperer for this upcoming season. Said word comes from Ausiello over at EW, so it may just be a rumor that doesn't pan out, but I agree with Mandi over at PopWatch that it could be just the boost the show needs. Primarily because the idea of Melinda's extra-curricular activities jibing with juggling a newborn were looking awkward at best.

She'd either look like a negligent parent by leaving the baby constantly to help one spirit or another, or she'd be carting said baby around, or they'd pull an Everybody Loves Raymond and just kind of ignore that the kids are around. Plus, as Mandi indicated, that gives us a chance of Melinda's baby being old enough to start doing some of those amazing things that he's supposed to be able to do. Plus, we can get flashbacks (Hi, Lost) of that gap to fill us in and we can delve knee-deep into the good vs. evil battle. Maybe they could even have the Winchester boys show up in a cameo.