(S07E20) The 'NCIS' gang was finally back. As much as the reruns are enjoyable, there's really nothing like a fresh episode. This was a fun episode because FBI agent Fornell was back, which means getting on Gibbs' nerves and good banter between the two. And then there was the girl from Tim's past. It's not what you think, but if you want to know more, read on.

(S01E03) "Did the hooker just punch you in the face?" – Winston

No runaway trains or upside down planes this week. Instead, Chance crashed the Russian Embassy and teamed up with a sexy FBI agent to catch his friend's killer.

This was a great episode. It had all the elements of a taut big screen thriller, plus some excellent action and a few welcome quirky character moments. I've only seen three episodes, but I'm already hooked on Human Target. I'm ready to follow Chance to the end of the season and beyond. Here's hoping that Fox (killer of all things that make me happy) has similar plans.

It looks like Human Target is set on delivering plenty of stand-alone episodes with only hints at a greater story arc. I'm a big fan of shows that offer complicated arcs that stretch out over several seasons, but that's clearly not what's happening here.

When I read that there was a plot to kill Two and a Half Men's Jon Cryer, I thought it had to be a joke. Jon Cryer? Seriously, what could "Alan Harper" have done to piss somebody off so badly that they want him dead? Then I read the TMZ item again -- bearing in mind that it's TMZ -- and learned the FBI is investigating a threat on Jon Cryer's life. The FBI doesn't mess around. They're like the IRS, you know -- no sense of humor.

Apparently, Jon Cryer is involved in a very nasty custody dispute with his ex-wife. The situation is so intense that Cryer contacted the authorities because he believed someone was trying to kill him. The word "hitman" was used, and as bizarre as that sounds, people have been known to go to such extremes. Law enforcement took Jon's worries seriously and questioned his ex-wife about her involvement. Nobody has been arrested, but the FBI worked on the case for a week.

Has it really been over a month since White Collar left us hanging on the cliff? Yes, I guess it has. Thank goodness USA has given this show an order for a second season. It's delightful. I know, it's a fruity word, but I can't think of a better one that describes the show. Okay, fun.

Tonight, apparently, we're going to resolve the Kate/Neal/Peter question in some way, shape or form because clearly there are other cases to resolve and the partnership between Neil and Peter is moving on. It's the premise of the show, so it was inevitable that they were going to have to keep it together.

How do I know for sure, well... take a look at the preview. After the jump.

(S05E15) I can't believe we're already at the end of the season for The Closer. Alas, it's true. Until next summer, this is it for Brenda and Fritz and the Major Crime Unit. Fortunately, they saved a good one for the finale. Has Brenda been so hip-deep in work that she's neglected the important things in life? That seemed to be one of the concerns, as well as the fun of dealing with someone who -- at best -- is a thorn in Chief Johnson's side. For all that and more, jump to the next page and tell Joel the cat he's not allowed on the table.

You probably heard that ABC's V premiere got off to a big start in the ratings. In fact, it was the biggest drama series premiere of the season, seen by 14.3 million viewers and netting a 5.2 rating among adults 18-49. What does all that mean? To me, it says that even without the skywriting promotion that was canned, ABC marketing had raised awareness and drew the curious, the sci-fi fans, the nostalgic and a few more watchers for the launch.

Despite the big number, there's a good chance that V will sink in future outings because viewers like me were not hooked. I wanted to fall in like/love, but it didn't happen. Here's five reasons why:

It seems like there has been a new Stephen King series appearing on television every other week for as long as I can remember. We had The Stand and Golden Years and The Langoliers and Kingdom Hospital (not to be confused with Garth Marenghi's Darkplace) and a myriad of others. The man has a longer television and movie resumé than Donald Sutherland (well, maybe not).

Now King is returning to the airwaves with Haven, a series based on his novella The Colorado Kid. The premise is about a small town in Maine (as usual) where cursed people live in exile. A female FBI agent named Audrey Parker arrives to solve a mystery and fight supernatural forces.

Is it me or does this sound a lot like the episode of The X-Files that King wrote? In that episode, Scully is in Maine and Mulder only appeared on screen from his office for counsel.

King has been known to recycle ideas. We'll see how this one turns out.

(S05E11) After last week's show, it was great to see The Closer bounce back with a particularly strong episode. The case itself wasn't overly complicated or multi-layered, as some Major Crimes are, but that's probably because Brenda literally wandered into this one. And she wasn't alone. Charlie, her niece from Atlanta, was in the car. More on the Brenda/Charlie relationship as well as the case, after the jump.

(S05E10) One of the reasons The Closer is a good show is that it's smart. It presents challenging situations and complicated crimes, and as Brenda and her crew figure out what happened and how to get the guilty to incriminate themselves, the viewer is along for the ride. The title of tonight's show was Smells Like Murder. I think the subhead should have been, smells like a dud.

There was a good premise, a decent set up, suspects that were interesting ... all the elements were there. What went wrong was character. Things happened that were so out of character that it sunk the entire episode. More on that -- and Jack in the box -- after the jump.

(S05E01) The Closer season opener was a good news, bad news situation. The good news is that the show is back for the fifth year and the ensemble is clicking along like a finely tuned watch. Although Brenda Leigh is now a "Sadie, Sadie married lady," she's still as obsessed, determined and driven to do her job as ever, so there's been no major shift in the main character, thank goodness. The bad news, however, is that the premiere episode started out like a compelling drama but soon devolved into a case laden with coincidences and leaps of faith in plotting that were beyond my jumping abilities.

The emotional impact was intense when the Priority Homicide team arrived at the crime scene to find four dead bodies, two of them pre-teen children. Flynn was hot under the collar immediately, ready to prejudge the man of the house who had opportunity and possible motive in the quadruple killing.

(S07E23/S07E24) "You don't know what I've done." - Jack

When 24 first premiered back in 2001, we were all taken off guard. It was so different, innovative, and action packed - like nothing we'd seen on TV ever before. But do you remember why it worked so well? Sure, there was a vast conspiracy that enshrouded the whole day in darkness, but for the most part, it was all about Jack and his family. The Bauers were what made Day 1 so memorable.

You felt horrible when Jack held Teri's lifeless body in those final seconds, and it was because the season focus was weighted towards them and not Drazen or Nina. Because of that formula, the show took off and with each season from then on, 24 became bigger than itself and so did the conspiracies. Then the bubble burst with Day 6 when it all came crashing down - we'd seen enough nukes, bio-pathogens, and Middle Eastern terrorists. The difference? All of that became more important than Jack. After Day 7's stellar finale, I think we can all agree that 24 has found its roots again.

(S07E22) "Why did you betray me?" - Jack

Since next week's finale is actually the last two hours of the season back-to-back, I think it's safe to refer to tonight's hour as Day 7's penultimate episode. As is so often the case with pivotal installments that precede a finale (especially with 24), going into it, I couldn't help shake the feeling that the bio-terror threat would be erased for good only to reveal one more crisis ready to spill over into next week. I'm not trying to say that it was predictable, but ... well ... nevermind. It was predictable.

(S07E21) "I have to see this through." - Jack

After a run of so many good episodes, it had to happen sooner or later - the calm before the storm. Hour 21 wasn't much more than that. A lot of filler and only a little bit of action.

All the events that are going to play out over the season's final three episodes were set in motion, but it was done with such a deliberately slow pacing that you probably would have been fine just watching next week's "Previously on 24" clip.

(S07E20) "Another attack today is all we need to push this thing right over the edge." - Tony

Only four hours left. All the pieces are in motion and sides have been chosen. Following Tony's betrayal last week, things have progressed quickly - his cohorts aren't exactly the waiting type. As tense as the plot has become, I have to say that I'm a little disappointed. Essentially, the plan is exactly the same and Hodges has just been replaced with the dozen or so people in that bad guy summit ... not sure what else to call it.

(S07E19) "I would think you'd know by now that no one can change my father's mind when it's made up" - Kim

Wow - talk about a complete 180°. A lot of this season has played it safe, but after last week's shocking final minutes, Day 7 has kicked into overdrive. During last night's episode, at times it felt like we were watching something out of season five. It was that tense. New conspiracies, new players, and confirmation of the one thing we've all assumed but couldn't bring ourselves to admit - Tony has been lying to Jack all day.