Ricky Schroder was once the TV kid everyone wanted to be, riding his indoor train surrounded by cool video games on 'Silver Spoons.' He's also been the kid no one wanted to be, crying at the end of 'The Champ.' Schroder, who goes by Rick now, took a look back at his career on 'Good Day LA' (weekdays, 9AM PT on Fox) and also talked about replacing Jimmy Smits on 'NYPD Blue' and his new CMT movie 'To the Mat.'

"At 9, 'The Champ' came out," he said. "And that's when everything changed in my life." They showed a series of stills from his various projects, including 'Lonesome Dove,' which Schroder credited as a turning point in his career, along with 'NYPD Blue.' "In 'Lonesome Dove' I went from a boy to a man, literally, in the movie" he said.

While 'NYPD Blue' helped Schroder to be taken more seriously as an adult actor, he had the added burden of having to replace the popular Jimmy Smits on the show. "Jimmy Smits was so loved," he said, "and when I got cast as taking over after he left, um, I think a lot of the fans were kind of skeptical, and luckily, I won them over."

Jimmy Smits played a congressman who became president on 'The West Wing' in 2006, and now, he's slated to return to TV drama as a Supreme Court Justice who becomes a lawyer.

Smits, who came to prominence in the '80s as one of an office full of hunky lawyers on 'LA Law,' is back with a new legal drama -- this time, NBC's untitled drama pilot from Conan O'Brien's production firm, Conaco, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Smits will star as a "by-the-book" Supreme Court justice who excuses himself from the bench to go into private practice and fight constitutional injustices. The NBC pilot is co-produced by John Eisendrath, who produced such hits as 'Beverly Hills, 90210' and 'Felicity.'

Is it a step down for Jimmy Smits that he'll only be a Supreme Court Justice in a new NBC pilot? Some might think so since his last stint on NBC was as Congressman Matt Santos who became the President of the United States on the last season of 'The West Wing.' However, in the pilot that John Eisendrath is putting together, Jimmy Smits has agreed to play a judge for NBC.

Not any judge. The character is a strict interpreter of the constitution, a 'by the book' Supreme Court Justice (there are only nine at any one time), who steps down from the bench so he can return to the law as an attorney who specializes in fighting constitutional injustices.

As I mentioned before, I recently completed my summer project of watching the entire series of The West Wing from start to finish. After using a month or so to cogitate, I decided that while the show feign realism, it didn't quite achieve the mark.

Many of the events I refer to occurred after creator Aaron Sorkin was ousted from the series. I take that as more than coincidence.

Major spoilers for the show follow after the jump, so if you haven't seen it yet, turn back now.

(S03E12) This was a really interesting finale for Dexter, unlike any they've ever done before. I'm not sure how well-received it's going to be amongst the Dexter fans; I'll be anxious to read the comments.

Me? I really liked it, and I think the growth that Dexter experienced as a person was really important for him. All along, I've posited that Dexter, though he thinks he's a deviant, is more like everyone else than he realizes: same insecurities, same fears. To see him overcome some of these and accept happiness was profound.

Everyone has secrets and they need to be respected. That's the theme of this episode. After the jump, we'll see how the different secrets played out in tonight's finale.

(S03E11) All I have to say about that is ... whoo boy. It is rare to find a show that delivers quality episodes as consistently as Dexter does. I never come away disappointed, and I sure didn't tonight.

But how are they going to wrap this season up in one episode? My guess is that some loose ends will be left to continue next season, but the major ones will have some conclusion.

I can't even say anything until after the break, this episode was so darned spoilery, but I will say that Dexter did have a dream, as in the title of the episode, and now that dream is dead.

(S03E10) So much is going to happen in the last two episodes of Dexter, and this episode set it all up. It was a tense one, and I enjoyed watching Dexter's and Miguel's little game of cat and mouse.

However, I really missed some of the lighter moments we often see in Dexter, like the quotes with double meanings, the underlying serial killer humor, if you will. There was one at the very beginning, though, that was classic Dexter. On toying with the idea of killing Miguel, Dexter says in his voice over: "He's also my best man. I'd be expected to grieve."

Join me after the jump as I delve into some of the foundations that have been laid for the last two episodes.

(S03E09) Things are coming together and they will have a lot to cram into the last three episodes of Dexter, that's for sure. Some huge things happened in this episode, but mostly, it leaves me with a lot of questions. Really, really good questions.

I'll leave the spoilery ones until after the break and start with Barbara...

What's up with Batista's chick talking dirty to Masuka?
I don't know why Vince would lie about something like that, and it seems to me there's more to it than Barbara trying to fit in. Didn't quite find that perfect girl, did you Batista?

(S03E08) OK, so I am sitting here, trying to figure out how I can actually write a review of this episode of Dexter when the bloody preview left nothing from next week's episode a surprise. WTF, Showtime? So, let's move past that huge spoiler that is next week's coming attractions and talk about the damage done by Dexter, Miguel and Quinn in "The Damage a Man Can Do."

Dexter talks of the Butterfly Effect, in which one event sets off a chain reaction of other events. This is essentially what happens throughout this episode, and in every case, things go downhill fast.

I'm always fascinated by the ad campaigns that the networks come up with to sell or promote TV shows. I remember in 2004 when Fox debuted House, they created a magazine insert DVD of the pilot. It was a great way to get TV fans to try the show, and I -- for one -- bought Entertainment Weekly and watched the show.

Giveaways are one way to drive awareness -- and sample the product -- but another is with a print ad campaign. Recently, Gossip Girl came up with a savvy set of posters and advertisements to call attention to the naughtiness of the show.

Now comes a new, original campaign for Showtime's Dexter in which the Michael C. Hall's character is imagined on the cover of magazines. Dexter on Esquire, The New Yorker, GQ, Wired; high-profile magazines that have a distinctive look, reconfigured for serial killer hiding in plain sight, Dexter Morgan. The ads look amazing and will be seen in all variety of magazines and plastered up as posters all over the place.

Cane may be gone from the landscape of fictional South Florida, but the actor who starred in that CBS drama seems bound to remain in the Miami area. Emmy-winner Jimmy Smits will be joining the cast of Showtime's Dexter in the new season.

Dexter, which stars Michael C. Hall as a serial killer who murders those he feels deserve to die and remains under the radar thanks to his job as a blood-splatter expert in the Miami Police department, was a breakout hit for Showtime. CBS aired slightly-altered episodes of the twisted crime drama earlier this year, in part of fill the schedule holes created by the writers' strike -- and, ironically, the failure of shows like Cane.

(S01E12) This was a great episode of Cane. For once, they didn't try to wrap up all the loose ends of a story in one episode. I hate when everything is resolved too quickly. Some of the situations are dramatic and serious and should be drawn out. The shot of Alex in the rain at the end was great and left me wondering how would he get himself out of this debacle. (Unfortunately, I didn't catch any scenes for next week so I'm not sure about the fate of Cane as it has been suffering in the ratings.)

Speaking of Alex, all the best episodes of the season have been when the odds were against him. Last night proved no different. He is such a clever strong-willed character so I really like seeing him get into sticky situations and then having to dig himself out.

(S01E11) There was a double episode of Cane last night. I suppose that was because Cane was not on last week. But whatever the reason, I just wanted to point out before I start talking about "Hurricane" that I have reviewed both episodes. I linked to the review of "The Perfect Son" at the end of this post.

Firstly, why did the people in the convenience store start panicking and rushing out like that? I rewound that dialogue a few times to see what Alex said right before the people went nuts. He just told his son to be calm. So, was the uproar because that thug had a recognizable gang tattoo? Or did people start panicking because of something with hurricane?

(S01E10) Firstly, let me say that I was a little worried when Cane didn't show any previews for next week. I wonder if it's been affected by the writers' strike. Maybe because of poor ratings they are just taking it off the air. I wouldn't be surprised--they are fine with taking good characters off the show without warning (hello? Santo?). I would be upset if Cane got canceled though. The show really has so much potential and it would be such a waste of an excellent ensemble cast to cancel it.

Now let's get to the review. Tonight's episode was good. The parallel stories were clever. Alex / Jaime are both confronted with morally gray situations (i.e. a hooker in the hotel room and strippers at a bachelor party). Both, however, stay true to their wives.

(S01E09) So, is it just me or is Cane a little all over the place? I was convinced last week and in the few weeks before that that Ellis Samuels was genuinely interested in Frank Duque and really wanted to be parted from her despicable father. But this week (because now it's convenient for Alex's character) she is back on the other side with Daddy dearest.

I seem to remember Ellis confronting her father about the death of Lucia Duque. The look on her face said everything: she was in shock and deeply disappointed to discover her father ordered the death of a little girl. Then, her father threw her under the bus with the Cuban land deal. He even rudely ignored her while playing cards with his buddies. It was clear they were not in cahoots.