(S01E09) Damn it. With Zippy out of the picture, I've got no one to talk to about this week's episode. Teddy? Bad Ass Teddy? Do either of you have any insight you want to share, or are you too busy getting ready for the annual Teddy Bear Picnic? If you're looking for a caterer, look no further than your own backyard. Ramon can grill up a slaughterhouse's worth of fatback in under an hour.

(S01E08) Zippy, Zippy, Zippy, can we talk? I'm hoping you can telepathically help me out here. You're the great "cruise director" after all. We've got two episodes left, and we're heading towards something big. Shaun is going to be "gone," Barry (and his buddy Teddy) are building a theater while David Milch yells mean things at them over "The Tennessee Waltz," Bill and Freddie have teamed up and John has gone all cosmic internet stalker with the help of a trance-like Cass. Help a sister out, Zip. What the hell is going on here?

(S01E07) Well-played, Linc Stark. Well-played. Linc may save his soul after all by getting out of the business before corrupting another member of the Yost family. And, finally, Luke Perry's Moon Over My Hammy. It's what the 90210 fans have been waiting for all this time and didn't even know it. (Or, maybe, they were waiting for a teen idol face-off between Luke and Saved by the Bell's Mark-Paul Gosselaar.)

(S01E06) Wow. Wow. Wow. That's it. That's the review. Wow. I think my brain blew a fuse. Last week's interminable bridge episode was totally worth it for this. The pay-off. Love it, or hate it. This is the show to be watching right now.

Remember all of that talk about a series of Deadwood two-hour movies that was mentioned after the HBO series ended in 2006? Well, it was all a figment of your imagination. In fact, television and HBO are part of your imagination as well. It's just my plan to lull you into a false sense of security while I try to take over the world! Mwha-hahahahahahahahahaha!

Ahem . . . sorry.

In all seriousness it looks like any chance of Deadwood returning to the pay-cable network in any form are pretty much, er, dead. That's according to network executive Michael Lombardo, who spoke to reporters during TCA this past week. Lombardo said that bringing Deadwood back is a doable but daunting task. First, he would need to have show creator David Milch recharge his batteries after completing the first season of John From Cincinnati. Then, Milch would need to pull the cast together again.

This article by TV critic Alan Sepinwall, where he talks about really disliking USA's Psych but loving the theme song, got me thinking: what bad TV shows have really great theme songs?

This is really hard, actually. I'm sure there are more examples of the opposite, great shows that have bad theme songs (or no theme song at all), but trying to come up with a list of bad TV shows that have great theme songs...that's pretty hard. The first one that comes to mind is John From Cincinnati, a show that has really disappointed me but has a great theme song ("Johnny Appleseed," performed by Joe Strummer) and great opening credits (old surfing footage). But other shows that I come up with - Gilligan's Island, for example - don't exactly have "great" theme songs, they're more fun in a nostalgic sort of way (and I'm not even sure I would call Gilligan's Island a "bad" show, because it goes beyond that to simple entertainment in that nostalgic way).

So what about you, readers? What TV shows can you think of that are bad but just happen to have a really cool theme song? (Edit: The Psych theme embeded after the jump)

(S01E05) What was going on in this episode? I don't know Butchie instead. Is Zippy your personal Lord and Savior? I don't know Butchie instead. Would you keep watching this show if you weren't reviewing it? I don't know Butchie instead.

(S01E04) "Want to leave a message... on my face?" Classic. I'm officially forming the Steady Freddy fan club. I could use a lot less mega-whiny Mitch Yost and a lot more Freddy.

(S01E03) Let that be a lesson to you, young padawans. If you're going to get pierced downtown or any other place the sun don't shine outside of Saint-Tropez, it could come back to haunt you given any major religious experiences... or bonings.

(S01E02) It's going to get harder and harder for Mitch and Bill to explain away the miraculous occurrences going on around them by way of their own neuroses now. Last week, Bill could chalk up Zippy the Wonder Bird's resurrection to his senility, and Mitch could decide that his levitating abilities came courtesy of a plumcot-sized brain tumor.

(S01E01) Unlike my esteemed colleagues at various print publications, I did not have access to John from Cincinnati's press screener weeks before the show's broadcast. I would have to write my review within an hour or two after watching the premiere with the rest of America. This is all well and good, but I was a little nervous about what I would make of David Milch's latest outing without some time to reflect. I didn't want my commentary to be mired in superfluous comments about how Ed O'Neill and Rebecca De Mornay are looking these days. This series is drawing on an "everything and the kitchen sink" range of literary and philosophical references. It deserves more from me so I prepared by reading everything that was available – namely the script, interviews with Milch and the early reviews.

Julia will have her review of the new HBO series John From Cincinnati when it premieres after the Sopranos finale on June 10, but San Francisco Chronicle critic Tim Goodman has seen the first three episodes, and he's not impressed. In fact, he's depressed.

Goodman says that the heads of fans of David Milch's other show, Deadwood, will "explode" when they see this, that they would get rid of Deadwood just to air this show. He won't have his full review 'til Sunday, but on his blog, Goodman says that HBO made "a total blunder" and that the show is just "a total mess." Wow, I guess we'll have to wait for his full review to find out what he really thinks.

As I said yesterday, I'm going to give it a shot. I mean, the previews are just so bizarre that you have to check it out.

George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" routine famously landed him in jail. He was charged for obscenity in 1972 after performing the bit at Milwaukee's Summerfest. When it was broadcast the following year on a New York City radio station, the FCC got in on the act. The radio station challenged the fine, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court.

Now, I intend on using every one of Carlin's "dirty words" after the jump so consider yourself warned. Be prepared to wash your computer's mouth out with soap. It may look like a saint, but it swears like sailor.

I'm going to do my best to try and avoid using the words "gnarly" and "cowabunga," but I can't promise anything. You should be excited though because John From Cincinnati is going to be good. The new "surf noir" drama from David Milch has finally been scheduled and it's set to premiere at 10PM following The Sopranos series finale on Sunday, June 10. So far we here at TV Squad have been pretty high on this show. Can you blame us? Besides the fact that it's coming from the mastermind behind Deadwood, we're talking about a show about surfing and people who levitate. Yes, levitate. Last time I checked, that means "float." Crazy, huh? Add to that a cast that includes Bruce Greenwood, Rebecca De Mornay, Luis Guzman, and Ed O'Neill and it looks like HBO may have its next hit. Sounds like they know it too. It's been given a full 10 episode first season and I doubt very much that airing after The Sopranos series finale is a time-slot that's just given to any ol' show. Make a note though because the show moves to its regular time-slot at 9PM the following week. Gnarly, huh?

You know, it's been so long since I've seen the last episode of Deadwood that I'll have to go back and watch it again to prepare for the two movies that will end the western saga. I think the last scene showed Gerald McRaney on his way out of town, probably heading to Jericho, Kansas.

But there's no rush. According to this story at the Chicago Tribune, not only are the two movies not going to air until 2008 at the earliest, but (according to cast member W. Earl Brown), the stars of the show haven't even signed contracts to appear in the TV flicks. But creator David Milch said a couple of months that he is "committed" to finishing the movies.