Goodfellas

Lorraine Bracco gets to play against type on 'Rizzoli & Isles' as Angela Rizzoli, as the mother of Angie Harmon's Detective Jane Rizzoli. But according to Julie Chen on 'The Talk' (weekdays, syndicated on CBS), Bracco still sometimes has trouble shaking her roots in mobster movies like 'Goodfellas' and TV shows like 'The Sopranos.'

"It's fun," Bracco said of playing Rizzoli. "It's so different for me because she's kind of funny." Funny wasn't exactly the mood of the day when she was playing Karen Hill in 'Goodfellas,' but she has her fans. Chen recounted people coming up to Bracco in a restaurant and "kissing her ring, like she's the Godfather."

On 'The Simpsons' (Sun., 8PM ET on FOX), Homer betrays Springfield's mob boss Fat Tony, exposing him to the authorities. He is crushed, telling Homer, "In the strip club of my heart, you held da key to da champagne room. I loved you, man."

However, just as the cops pull up, Fat Tony dies. Then in voice-over, Homer narrates the illustrious career of Fat Tony. (He was originally nicknamed Fit Tony -- but mafia stresses led him to overeat.)

With a nod to Henry Hill/Ray Liotta in 'Goodfellas,' Homer has abandoned the gangster lifestyle, saying, "And me? I'm just an average schnook like everyone else, stuck in this backwater burg."

When we heard the news that Martin Scorsese's iconic gangster flick 'Goodfellas' might become a TV series, our first thought -- besides, "No effin' way!" -- was "Who can possibly fill the shoes of Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci?"

We thought about some really big names (Gary Oldman! James Gandolfini!) but then we scaled down our thoughts to actors who might be able to reinvent these characters well enough to avoid getting whacked. And without bankrupting any networks.

Read on for some actors who might give 'Goodfellas' a good run, and vice versa.

'Lone Star' creator Kyle Killen hasn't given up on his new show quite yet. The writer penned an open letter on his blog yesterday imploring viewers to watch his failing series, which bombed in its Monday night debut.

Only 4.1 million viewers tuned into the show's premiere, leaving its future in serious jeopardy. On Tuesday, The Hollywood Reporter speculated that Fox could even yank the show before its second episode aired. However, the network is giving 'Lone Star,' one of the best-reviewed new shows of the season, a second shot.

Killen is hoping viewers will give it a second (or first) shot too. "Maybe, just maybe, it's one of those moments where the thing everyone said COULD NOT HAPPEN actually just...does," he pleaded in his post, titled "You're Invited To Our Stunning Upset."

In other TV news ...

• 'Modern Family' topped the ratings last night with its season 2 premiere. The Emmy-winning show nabbed 12.6 million viewers, a 19 percent increase from the series' debut last fall. 'Cougar Town,' 'The Middle,' 'Better With You,' 'The Defenders' and 'Law & Order: SVU' all saw solid premieres, while 'The Whole Truth' and 'Undercovers' performed disappointingly. [The Hollywood Reporter]

• Lifetime has renewed 'Drop Dead Diva' and 'Army Wives' for 13 more episodes each. 'Diva' season 2 and 'Wives' season 4 will premiere in 2011. [Deadline Hollywood]

I think I'm going to coin a new term. I'm a movie grazer. I like watching TV and grazing in and out of movies that I've seen before, know well, and enjoy watching again in bits and pieces. I know this sounds crazy to some who have to watch a movie from the opening studio logo to the end credits (even as they're being smushed on commercial TV broadcasts).

I'm not like that, though. On Friday, amid the post-Thanksgiving haze and without much interest in the college football games or reruns of CBS soaps or syndicated fare, I was channel surfing. Every time I saw something I liked, I stopped for a while. It was mostly movies. I watch Cary Grant and Sophia Loren in Houseboat, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle, there was a whole bunch of Goodfellas, because Bravo showed it back to back. So I watched the ending first, then stuck around to watch the beginning. What an incredible movie -- still!