Pop culture fans might know him as the intriguingly bristly spy daddy Jack Bristow from 'Alias.' Or perhaps as the benevolent shipbuilder who warned Kate Winslet about the lifeboats in 'Titanic.' Or as the guy who took over Albert Finney's spot as Daddy Warbucks in that television version of the musical 'Annie.' Whatever your introduction to Victor Garber, you know that there is just something about the TV, movie and stage actor that is indelibly irresistible. Victor Garber is like the acting version of bacon: he has a tendency to make everything he's in that much better. He acts. He sings. He kicks some major ass. And what's more, he looks great doing it.

He of the dulcet singing voice, boyish good looks and dashing demeanor is turning an august 61 years old today, and we can think of no better way to celebrate Victor Garber than by having our own Victor Garber appreciation day.

Victor Garber, how do we adore thee? Let us count the ways.

2009 was a good year for television. It offered the resurgence of the comedy on network television, and the continuing growth of original programming on cable. In all honesty, I don't think I could just do a list of what was great and what was horrible on television because I would need pages and pages.

Instead, I'm going to focus on the things that really stood out this year. Sorry, Mad Men fans, but even though this was a great third season and an amazing finale, I expect it at this point. It's the only way I could come up with to keep my list manageable.

Also, as a point of protest I did not include Jon, Kate or the balloon boy hoax. These events got more attention than they deserved already this year, and I feel bad I even mentioned them.

ABC's canceled-too-soon Eli Stone is still making gossip headlines weeks after the series finale aired on ... a Saturday night.

Via the Watch with Kristin column over at E! Online, we learn what the writers had planned beyond that last Eli Stone episode ABC aired.

Executive producer and creator Marc Guggenheim dishes about Eli and Maggie, Eli and Grace, the flash-forward in Times Square, Dr. Chen and Nate, Matt and Taylor, Jordan and Taylor's mother, Nate and Maggie (yes, you read right), and much more!

Spoilers(?) coming up!

At first I was excited when ABC announced that it would burn off the remaining episodes of Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money this summer. Now, I'm not so sure. I enjoyed the run of Daisies, and was even fairly satisfied with the ending. It had just lost a bit of its charm for me, so I was okay with seeing it end. Eli Stone, however, has been turning in some of the best episodes of the entire series this summer. The more I get, the more I want.

I don't know if absence made the heart grow fonder in this case, but the show is firing on all cylinders. And the character progressions? Maggie seems to be finding happiness and love at Pohsner Klein, and a much darker side? The Dowd coming back to Wethersby Stone? Even WS almost going under; sure you knew they were going to win a case to save the firm, but I liked how they had them first lose one to PK to make the situation even more dire. And then find the winning case when Jordan was bitching about his eggs.

ABC announced their summer schedule, complete with returning reality "favorites" and some new shows, but honestly, who cares about all that?! What matters is that three of my favorite sophomore shows that were killed too soon are all scheduled to make their triumphant (?) returns to ABC this summer, as promised.

Yes, I'm talking about Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money. Apparently, ABC has decided that the Saturday 10pm/9pm Central timeslot is the perfect place to air the remaining episodes of each series, one after the other. After all, it is the dead zone of television, so what do they have to lose?

If you had to guess, what's the most coveted, prime TV real estate currently available? In February, it was the post-Super Bowl slot, but now -- what could it be. How about the hour after the American Idol finale on May 19 on FOX. With that in mind, FOX has decided to give one of its most promising, albeit unusual, new products the hour.

Ryan Murphy's musical comedy series Glee is getting the post American Idol finale hour. And yes, it is a musical comedy TV series. After American Idol crowns its new winner on May 19, all those millions of viewers, the ones who stay on the network, will see a special preview of the show about a struggling high school glee club.

'31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors'
(9PM, CBS)
Controversial New York Senate contender Caroline Kennedy hosts. Barbra Streisand, Morgan Freeman, George Jones, Twyla Tharp, Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey are being feted.

And performances include Beyonce crooning 'The Way We Were' to Streisand, Denzel Washington and Clint Eastwood paying tribute to their pal Freeman, Garth Brooks rocking out to Jones tunes and Matchbox 20 singer Rob Thomas singing the Who's 'Baba O'Riley.'

But we're betting that you, like us, are going to tune in just to get a glimpse of Babs planting a smooch on her political enemy, President Dubya Bush.

... five canceled shows.

Some shows, like critical darlings The Shield and Battlestar Galactica, are allowed to end gracefully; major story arcs are wrapped up and fans are left satisfied. Others are yanked from network schedules like unsightly weeds from a rose garden.

The networks yanked a number of shows off the air this season. Most of them, like The Ex List, probably deserved the axe, but there were four that deserved more time to develop an audience and one that I'm really gonna miss. In no particular order, they are:

Oh, Festivus, Oh, Festivus, the holiday for TV fans. How exciting that once a year we can close our eyes, click our heels and make our wishes for the magical ways television can be made better in the year to come. Still, there are more than a few changes that I think need to be made to make TV better ... not to say that it's bad. It just that everything can be better.

This is a great opportunity to get a little Scrooge-y and vent about what I want to see corrected/improved/altered in TV in 2009. Is it wrong that I hope the bigwigs at the networks and cable companies are surfing the net and take my grievances to heart? Is it wrong that I still believe they care about what viewers think? Yeah, probably, but here's my wish list anyway:

As we reported previously, ABC decided to spin the wheel and cancel three of its shows -- Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money and, the big surprise, Eli Stone. Surprise to me, at least, because I felt that Stone was moving in the right direction since its very strong season premiere. With its slightly new direction, continuing character growth, and imaginative visions that placed the show nearly in the realm of 'musical drama,' the show seemed to be heading in the right direction.

But, as usual, my opinion didn't count in the network's decision to axe the show after 13 episodes. It should have, to be honest. Not only because I wield the power of the keyboard and can bring those programming nerds down with a stroke of my CTRL key, but because I speak for the numbers of fans who cherish the show and think it was done an injustice. Not just by being canceled, but being lumped together with Daisies and DSM.

'Eli Stone'
(10PM, ABC)
Oooo, wait 'til Tom Cruise finds out that Katie Holmes is having an affair with Eli Stone; he'll be couch-hoppin' mad!

Actually, the female half of TomKat is guest-starring as a dancing, singing woman Eli sees in one of his visions. The next day, at a baseball game, he meets the woman of his dream in real life, and she turns out to be Grace, a fellow attorney who embarks on a romance with Mr. Stone.

Grace also has a mysterious case that may tie in with the client Eli's representing, a man who wants to stop his son, who was killed in Iraq, from having a military burial. Does this mean Grace may turn out to be a metaphorical figment of Eli's imagination after all?

This is Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at TV Squad where we'll supply you with the dirt on some of the more popular shows on the air. We'll never put spoilers up here on the main page in order to help the reformed stay unspoiled. If you have anything to add to the group, feel free to step up and let yourself be heard, either with our tips form or by emailing us at tvsquad at gmail dot com or call and leave a message at (775) 640-8479 - your anonymity is guaranteed, if you wish to remain as such.

This week we have: Bones, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Eli Stone, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, Monk, Prison Break, Privileged, Supernatural and Ugly Betty. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)

'Eli Stone'
(10PM, ABC) 2nd season premiere
Eli has lived to see another season, and he'll begin it brain aneuryism-free. It's been six months since the legal eagle has experienced one of his prophetic visions and all seems well ... until Eli's doctor brother Nate starts having visions of his own.

In fact, when Jordan is trapped inside a building, Nate gets a picture of exactly where he is, leading to a showdown between Eli, who believes his brother, and Jordan's daughter/Eli's ex, Taylor, who thinks Nate has just caught a case of the crazies.

Has he, or is Nate's diagnosis far more dire? Perhaps a new therapist -- played by guest star Sigourney Weaver -- can shed some light on the brain matter.

This is Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at TV Squad where we'll supply you with the dirt on some of the more popular shows on the air. We'll never put spoilers up here on the main page in order to help the reformed stay unspoiled. If you have anything to add to the group, feel free to step up and let yourself be heard, either with our tips form or by emailing us at tvsquad at gmail dot com or call and leave a message at (775) 640-8479 - your anonymity is guaranteed, if you wish to remain as such.

This week we have: Big Love, Bones, Desperate Housewives, Eli Stone, Fringe, Ghost Whisperer, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, House, Prison Break, Supernatural, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Office. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)

There will be some major star power in the new season of Eli Stone. No, I'm not referring to Katie Holmes' stunt casting. I'm talking big-time star wattage. Sigourney Weaver will guest on Eli Stone as a psychologist. Eli, who is in desperate need of figuring out what he's been experiencing is the result of the brain ailment he's suffering from or something else.

Since he had brain surgery -- or so we think -- at season's end, will Eli still have the visions? Will he fulfill the imperative to Live Brave and become a leader -- prophet -- or was that not a look at the future but something else?

It's all very mysterious, and just the fact that he's going to see a shrink is positive development. Casting Sigourney Weaver is a positive as well. She's a three-time Oscar nominee and carries with her innate integrity and class.