Endgame

Just when you thought every single angle of the crime-solving genre had been explored, along comes 'Endgame.' The new show stars Shawn Doyle ('Big Love', 'Lost') as an eccentric Russian world chess champion named Arkady Balagan who hasn't been able to leave a swanky five-star hotel since his fiancee was gunned down outside of it. Since he can't leave the hotel, he has to get creative about earning money, and falls into becoming an unusual brand of private detective.

He uses his mighty brainpower to explore every possible outcome for each mystery that needs solving, and often uses his imagination to transport himself to the scene of the crime. Arkady enlists help from a few friends, like adoring fan Sam (Torrance Coombs, 'The Tudors') and pretty hotel bartender Danni (Katherine Isabelle, 'Supernatural') to help him do any legwork that may be required in the real world.

Patrick Gallagher ('Glee', 'True Blood') co-stars as the pesky hotel security manager named Hugo who acts as a major thorn in Arkady's side. We caught up with Doyle and Gallagher to chat about everything from chess to man love to Doyle's new feathered blond hairdo.

(S07E07) People who don't watch NCIS usually think the show is all about the military, all about forensics, all about criminal procedures, etc. Well, an episode like this is a perfect example of how character-driven the show actually is. Leon Vance has not been as interesting as the director of NCIS as Jenny Shepherd was, but the look into his back-story we saw with this episode may be a game changer. For one thing, he has some wife.

But as much as the Vance story and his weird connection to Kai drove the show, it may be the sad sack McGee subplot that resonates. Poor probie. Tough luck, McGeek ... or McDigit, as Tony dubbed him. The redhead was a looker. Tony and Ziva were impressed. Oh well ... more after the jump.