One of the most fun things of any press tour is getting to sit down with Chi McBride and just talk, about anything. Politics, baseball, cigars... when you're talking to Chi, the conversation can go just about anywhere.

The drawback to seeing McBride on so many tours is that he's always there with a new show to promote. Because he's able to handle drama and comedy with equal ease, he's cast in a lot of pilots. The problem is, most of the resulting shows rarely last more than a couple of years. In the last six years, since his four-season run on 'Boston Public' ended, we've seen McBride in 'Killer Instinct,' 'The Nine' and 'Pushing Daisies.' Now he's co-starring with Mark Valley and Jackie Earle Haley in the FOX popcorn-action series 'Human Target.'

I sat with McBride as he held court at FOX's all-star party in Pasadena last month. As he puffed away on an Opus X -- he offered me one and I very reluctantly declined -- we talked about which of his roles he misses the most, and how he does his running scenes on 'Target.' Let's just say he doesn't waste too much film on those.

John Larroquette played one of my favorite television characters of all time, Dan Fielding, on the hilariously irreverent series Night Court. Unfortunately, after Night Court it seems like Larroquette lost his audience. He went on to star in his own series after Night Court ended its run, and while The John Larroquette Show lasted three years (which isn't bad for a sitcom) it never really found its voice. Nevertheless, Larroquette still pops up from time to time (and the fact that he won an Emmy for a guest spot on The Practice means he's still got the chops). He'll be returning to NBC to appear in two episodes of Joey opposite Matt LeBlanc. His first appearance will be on September 29. One more bit of Larroquette trivia: he was the narrator who read the opening text in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.