Lionel Richie sang 'America the Beautiful' to close out the 'National Memorial Day Concert' (Sun., 8PM ET on PBS). The concert has been on the air for more than 20 years, and exists to recognize the sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform. This year, the concert honors the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.

Richie was joined on stage for the finale by a large number of celebrities -- including co-hosts Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise. Joe and Gary are both devoted to veterans' causes and support our troops in their service around the world. Using the American Forces Network, the show was broadcast to more than one million American troops and their families, stationed in 175 countries around the globe.

Sometimes, you just don't have a good time when you go away on vacation. You have to deal with the crowds, the bad hotels, all the tourists at the beach ... the escaped murderers who are out for revenge.

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What do you do when an old lover comes back? That's the question on 'CSI: NY' (Wed., 10PM ET on CBS).

[Spoiler alert.]

Mac's (Gary Sinise) right-hand woman, Det. Stella Bonasera, has been known to go all fearless Rambo in past seasons of 'CSI:NY' (Wed., 10PM ET on CBS). Last night she took things to another level. While scoping out a bad guy's lair, the baddie attacked, throwing her into a swimming pool. A major underwater scuffle ensued, with Stella (played by Melina Kanakaredes, who does all her own stunts) just out of reach for the gun that would have put an end to it. When choking her didn't work, he proceeded to bash her head against the pool ledge.

Det. Don Flack (Eddie Cahill) stormed in and was able to shoot the bad guy in the leg. But Don had bigger problems -- spying her floating body, blood dripping from her mouth. Was he too late?

Watch the video after the jump.

Question: Is Craig T. Nelson being cast on CSI: NY just another big star guest turn or could it be something more important? We don't know the answer yet, but I suspect that booking the Emmy-award winning TV star for three episodes could be a lot more significant than just pumping up the ratings during February sweeps with a meaty story arc.

What we do know is that the popular actor will be on CSI: NY as an antagonist to Gary Sinise's character. Nelson will play Robert Parker, a high profile, powerful publisher who has an ax to grind with Mac Taylor.

To say they're going to butt heads is an educated guess, but I think that's the direction they're going. You can see Parker using his media outlets to attack Mac and his department, you know, those great New York tabloid headlines.

We've already heard that Matt Damon might be asked to play Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek movie that J.J. Abrams is going to direct (if you haven't heard, Matt Damon might be asked to play Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek movie that J.J. Abrams is going to direct). Now comes word that not only is Damon in talks to star in the flick, but that Adrien Brody and Gary Sinise are in talks with Paramount too to play Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy.

Of course, the latest "breaking news" a couple of weeks ago said that Abrams wasn't going to direct the movie but it was officially announced this week that he is going to direct it, so who knows if this is true or not. But it's interesting to talk about. I think those are all good choices, especially Damon as Kirk.

Trekkies? Trekkers? Who do you want to see as Kirk, Spock, and Bones?

After spending the holidays with my family, I was driving back home early this morning when an odd billboard along the interstate caught my eye. It was Gary Sinise doing his best to strike a manly pose and convince me that the best way to spend my holiday money was by purchasing a ridiculously expensive Baume & Mercier watch. I then began to laugh as I glanced down at my beat up Timex and pushed the Indiglo button. Still gets me every time. It's like a firefly on my wrist.

Anywho, I just thought it was amusing. I always get a kick out of what items celebrities choose to lend their name and image to. Remember how much fun I had when I found out that Evangeline Lilly was endorsing a new line of carpet?

So I decided to look into this odd pairing (Gary Sinise isn't exactly synonymous with watch connoisseur) and if you're still interested, read on for my life-altering realization.

(S03E01) I'm not planning on covering CSI: NY all season (once it starts up, I'll be writing reviews for 30 Rock on Wednesday nights), but I figured I should at least put something up on the season premiere. It was actually pretty decent, especially since I think this is the weakest show in the CSI franchise. Describing any of the intricacies of the cases seems pointless at this point though. In the off season, this show has gone through a lot of changes and that's what I'd like to discuss.

(S02E24) Well, this was a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it was a finale that suited the mood and pace of this entire season - which was up, down, left, right, and all over the place. CSI: NY (and Vegas to some extent) is still very much individual, packaged episodes. There weren't many ongoing storylines this season (mainly Aiden and DJ Pratt). Miami (which has it's finale this coming Monday) is the only one of the three that's really broken the mold and become heavily serialized. Soap opera-ish many argue and I agree. I hope next season that NY heads in the same direction because I think it makes for better viewer involvement/investment... whatever you want to call it. 

The episode started with Mac and Don responding to a stabbed security guard in an office building. While investigating the floor, Mac found a duffel bag filled with C-4 explosive. Lindsay was outside and she helped clear the street block as Stella arrived. But then the bomb went off. Mac and Don didn't make it outside in time.

(S02E23) I was looking forward to and dreading this episode all at the same time. After last week's previews, we already knew what was in store for former Detective Aiden Burn, but I didn't want to accept it. She was a great character in the first season and it was too bad that she was written out of the show. Although, I remember reading somewhere that she requested it. So in that sense, I suppose this was a logical storyline and it was nice that it tied up the questions that have been hanging around since the second episode of this season.

After Aiden was fired by Mac at the beginning of the season, supposedly she was going to pursue her private investigator's license. Instead, she set up shop in her apartment (she had a mini crime scene lab it seems) and continued to track down DJ Pratt to bust him for all the rapes he had committed. We knew Pratt was smart though. After all, he's been covering his tracks and alluding arrest for years now. So it only makes sense that he'd catch on if someone was watching him regularly. Aiden had a goal though and she knew what had to be done.

(S02E22) Mermaids and multiple wives. I like it. Plus, for once we had an episode that really focused on Lindsay - something this season has lacked thus far. We got to see what drives her, hear some of her background, and see what it's like when a case really gets under her skin.

Even better, we got to hear someone say what we've been thinking all along. While Sid was examining the dead woman's body (the one in the mermaid costume), Lindsay mentioned that she was from Montana just like her. She goes on to say that she doesn't like it when Danny calls her "Montana." Then Sid drops the gem: "Danny calls you that because he's got a crush on you." It's about time that storyline picked up some steam.

(S02E21) Very powerful episode... well, half of it anyway. The Kid Rock side of the story was just incredibly corny and I really don't see it as anything other than a ratings booster. Which leaves me wondering, why Kid Rock? They couldn't have written in another rock star? There are plenty more out there that I would have chosen to create some buzz. Does Kid Rock even still tour? He had four shows in NYC in this episode... unless you're someone like Madonna or Billy Joel, who ever has four shows all in NYC anymore? I just don't get it because there's no way Kid Rock approached them and said, "Man, I love CSI: NY. Can you write me into an episode?" Anywho, his limo driver was shot and Kid (Is that really his first name?) didn't do it. The other a half of the episode is all that really mattered, because it picked up where last week left off: Stella's boyfriend is crazy.

(S02E20) For the longest time all I did was complain about this show, but it was all out of love. I was just so frustrated about how flat the characters were. Well I suppose you get what you wish for, because Wednesday's episode gave us plenty to digest about Danny and Stella.

The first few minutes gave us something this show rarely depicts: one of the characters actually doing something other than their job. We got a nice look at Stella's new boyfriend's apartment, and yes, they were getting their freak on. In the meantime, Mac and Hawkes were digging up the end-zone at The Meadowlands. I'm sure you can figure out what was buried there.

(S02E19) I thought this episode was kind of corny. But I suppose all the CSI shows are to some extent. The titles are always a cute little play on one of the cases, usually done so to get a laugh. Such was the case here as the bodies of a Superman wannabe and recently drafted NFL player were found.

Did anyone else notice that this episode had a ton of canned lines though? Every episode does, especially Caruso over on CSI: Miami, but for whatever reason this episode had a boatload and they all fell flat. "Let's tackle this!" "Time for us to use our super powers!" Ugh, it was hard to watch at certain points.

Readers! Forgive me. Usually I'm very good about getting a review of the shows I cover out in a timely matter. I'm late with this one, but believe me when I say that there's a very legit reason for the tardiness. Since Wednesday night, I've watched this episode three times. Yes, three. That's how impressed I was with this installment. All season long I've been a CSI: NY naysayer, preaching it's flaws. Well this sets up the rest of the season. CSI: NY is back and it looks like it's finally returned to season one form.