Paul Reiser chooses to look at the failure of his recent NBC sitcom, 'The Paul Reiser Show,' in a positive light.

The actor has joked that his recent debacle with NBC was just an expensive media blitz for his third book, 'Familyhood,' and in a way he's right. Being axed by the last-place network after only two episodes gave the 'Mad About You' actor a pedestal to A) Rip on his former bosses and, B) Bring up his latest tome, which is you guessed it ... about being a dad to Ezra and Leon (ages 15 and 11).

Reiser's previous books were about marriage and becoming a dad. He spoke to AOL TV sister site PopEater about his new book, being an embarrassing father to his boys and his disappointment in being given the gong so quickly at the network he made millions for. His theory for why the Peacock-ers gave up on 'The Paul Reiser Show'?

"Literally, it could not have been a less opportune moment," to air a new show, he says. "It was bought by some people and then the entire network was sold so there was no real investment on anybody's part ... all shows are moving parts on their chessboard, they don't get particularly attached."

Booking in advance is kind of the standard for late night talk shows as it can get competitive trying to get the stars when they're promoting their newest projects. On 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' (Weeknights, 11:35PM ET on NBC), they learned that it can be difficult to book faster than the itchy trigger finger of a network executive.

Thus, Paul Reiser was booked for Monday night to promote his new NBC sitcom, 'The Paul Reiser Show.' The problem? NBC canceled the show this past Friday. To Reiser's credit, he showed up anyway.

"It turns out they said we enjoy missing you more than actually having you," he said. "When you're the last place network, you don't want to jeopardize that. You've found your niche. Stay there. So I get it."

Paul Reiser's TV comeback was short-lived.

NBC canceled 'The Paul Reiser Show' after only two episodes.

The show -- which didn't fare well with the critics -- didn't tickle the fancy of TV viewers, and it premiered to 3.3 million viewers and a 1.1 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic, ranking as the network's lowest-rated in-season comedy bow ever, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The second episode scored 2.5 million viewers and a 0.9 share.

The show was a semi-autobiographical sitcom about a former television star who hadn't work in the business for several years. The series' flop makes that premise too close for comfort.

Repeats of 'The Office' will take over at 8:30PM beginning next week.

Since Henry Rollins kicked off his acting career, he's mostly played tough, intimidating guys. Because, well let's face it, Henry Rollins looks pretty tough and intimidating. That's why it was fun seeing him on 'The Paul Reiser Show' (Thu., 8:30PM ET on NBC) exploring a different direction.

Playing a version of himself, Rollins was talking to Reiser about a comedy part he's going for. The simple glee and excitement in Rollins as he talks about the role and even reads some of the simply awful lines is infectious and funny itself.

After reading a line about a particularly lame joke about mistaking a fat woman for a beached whale, Rollins started talking about a part with more physical humor. "It's not so cerebral as that last one," he explained. "Let's see, it's right after the dance montage."

30 Rock - Thursday April 21, 10PM ET/PT, Citytv/NBC

It's been a bit of a rocky season for '30 Rock.' The one-liners have been fantastic -- I loved the copy of 'Black Yachts' magazine last week -- but the plots have become increasingly nonsensical. Perhaps Tina Fey has been too busy making best-selling books and babies to concentrate. Here's hoping this 1-hour episode -- the show's 100th -- is a highlight of the season. There may not be many more Jack Attacks, since Alec Baldwin is making noises about leaving the show after the 6th season, though Fey claims that's BS.

With AMC's 4 for 5 track record in launching original series in recent years, it makes sense that the network is now trying its hand at reality TV.

AMC announced today that it is developing two new reality shows, 'Inside the DHS' and 'The Pitch,' to launch in late 2011 and early 2012. Ahem -- since this is AMC, they're "docu-stories." Okay then.

The first, 'Inside the DHS,' is a behind-the-scenes look at the Department of Homeland Security that's scheduled to premiere later this year. The second, 'The Pitch,' follows real-life Mad Men working at an ad agency. That will debut early next year.

In other TV news ...

• Syfy announced its summer premiere dates. New series 'Alphas' will debut Mon., July 11 at 10PM, directly after the season 4.5 premiere of 'Eureka.' 'Legend Quest' premieres Wed., July 13 at 10PM ET after the season 3 premiere of 'Ghost Hunters,' while 'Haunted Collector' will be paired with 'Hollywood Treasure' starting Wed., June 1. [THR]

• Julia Ormond has joined the star-studded lineup of 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent''s final season. She'll appear in all eight episodes as a police psychologist counseling Vincent D'Onofrio's Detective Goren. [Deadline]

• NKOTBSB member Joey McIntyre will take a break from his busy summer tour to guest star on an episode of 'Psych.' The singer will play a buff cop. [Entertainment Weekly]

Paul Reiser is famous for his seven-year run on 'Mad About You.' And that's the problem. Now back on network television with 'The Paul Reiser Show' (Thu., 8:30PM ET on NBC), the actor is taking a note from 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' by playing a fictionalized version of himself. He even got Larry David in a cameo to suggest the very thing in a very meta-fictional moment.

In the show, Paul's insecurities about his place in life come out when he realizes he really doesn't have a job anymore. And putting "former sitcom star" on school forms for his kids just looks weird.

Two inexplicable comedies premiere in the next couple of days. 'The Paul Reiser Show' (8:30PM ET Thursday, NBC) is the odder of the two, and 'Happy Endings' (10PM ET Wednesday, ABC) is more conventional yet no more capable of inducing laughter.

'Happy Endings' is yet another variation on a comedy format we've seen a lot lately. It focuses on an ensemble of six characters at different stages of their relationships, and it's quite similar to 'Better With You,' 'Traffic Light' and 'Perfect Couples,' all of which premiered during the current TV season.

'Happy Endings' is really no better than any of those other comedies, which is to say, it's pretty weak.

Paul Reiser was a TV mainstay all through the '90s, earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his work on 'Mad About You.' And then we kind of lost track of him.

Now he's back with a new sitcom, 'The Paul Reiser Show' (premieres Thurs., April 14, 8:30PM ET on NBC), where he plays -- you guessed it -- Paul Reiser. Well, sort of.

Like most comedians, Reiser is working off what he knows, and these days he knows three things: life as a husband, a father and a friend to the other kids' fathers from school. It's definitely not reinventing the sitcom wheel -- in fact, this same show could easily have been on circa 'Mad About You' -- but then again, the network's standards aren't quite so high these days either. (His observation, not mine.)

I caught up with Reiser to hear about his return to primetime and to welcome him to Twitter. (How does he feel about Twitter? His first tweet said it all: "This is my very first tweet and I'll be honest with you - it already makes no sense. I'm typing to myself in a room. I don't see the appeal.")

He also dished about his new castmates, not wanting to make 'Mad About You 2,' reuniting with former TV wife Helen Hunt and having some famous friends come guest star.

According to Paul Reiser, his decision to come out of semi-retirement and star in 'The Paul Reiser Show' was inspired by an innocent question from one of his two sons, he said on 'Live With Regis and Kelly' (weekdays, syndicated).

After 'Mad About You' ended its run, Reiser decided to stay home and help raise his children. But, everything changed when one of his boys asked what he does as a profession, he said.

'Perfect Couples' (Thu., 9:30PM ET on NBC) serves up the second of two final episodes before it's replaced by 'The Paul Reiser Show' on NBC's Thursday line-up. That will leave 'Couples' with two unaired episodes.

While the network has yet to officially say it's cancelling 'Couples,' this show of no-faith would seem to indicate the writing is on the wall. The ratings for this episode may tell the tale, though, as last week saw the series post its highest ratings since its second episode.

This week, Amy and Leigh concocted a ploy to help Vance get over his jealousy of Amy's ex-boyfriends by tricking all of them into going on a golf outing together. Via video, Leigh insists that they bond to defuse any tension among them.

NBC doesn't seem to be mad about 'Perfect Couples'; the Peacock is replacing it with 'The Paul Reiser Show.' Yes, Paul Reiser is returning to NBC starting Thurs., April 14 at 8:30PM.

The new series, which has been waiting on a premiere date for months now, will knock the underperforming freshman series 'Perfect Couples' off of Thursday night's comedy block.

'The Paul Reiser Show' follows Reiser as a fictionalized version of himself. The setup: Reiser's successful show has been off the air for a few years, he's been living out of the spotlight and working on TV, but behind the scenes. Reiser now finds himself with a new group of friends -- husbands of his wife's friends, parents of kids his children are friends with -- to get into adventures with.