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.'

All of you people searching for "Martha Stewart" and "pole dancing" on Google finally have the video you've been looking for. She took to the pole (a sentence I hope I never have to type again) on her syndicated show. And yes, that's L.A. Law's Sheila Kelley with Martha. She instructs people on how to do this exercise (and she's married to The West Wing's Richard Schiff).

We've talked a lot about this before, the shows we love that haven't been released on DVD for one reason or another. Now PremiumHollywood.com has chosen the 26 shows, A to Z, that they bought on the shiny little discs.

It's a great idea, though I don't understand why they call the list "cult TV" when it has shows on it like L.A. Law and Eight is Enough. Some good choices here though. I would have chosen Ed, Private Eye, Something So Right, Shannon's Deal. A lot of shows that I never thought would be released on DVD are now getting released, so every year my dream list gets smaller and smaller.

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Sometimes a celebrity dies who wasn't just a TV star, they actually had a hand in almost every aspect of television over a very long period of time. We lost two such stars over the weekend.

For example, fans of NCIS will know Nina Foch (right) from her role as Ducky's mother on the show. But did you know she also starred in several vintage horror movies back as early as the early 40s, such as Return of the Vampire and Cry of the Werewolf? She also had the honor of being the very first murder victim on Columbo, in 1968's Prescription: Murder (done in by hubby Gene Barry). She also appeared in several other TV shows, such as Bull, Just Shoot Me, Dharma & Greg, Murder She Wrote, L.A. Law, Hunter, Lou Grant, Barnaby Jones, Hawaii Five-0, That Girl, and a ton of others. She appeared in Spartacus, The Ten Commandments, An American in Paris and others. She was even the associate director on The Diary of Anne Frank.

Foch passed away in Los Angeles on Friday at age 84.

There are two things that I find disturbing about the news that there's a reality show in the works for married actors Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna for TV Land. Number one, do we really need another show biz couple exposing their personal lives for the cameras? Number two, why is TV Land getting away from celebrating TV history by broadcasting great old shows to do banal entertainment like this kind of unscripted drivel?

Are audiences really clamoring for more of this stuff? I know I'm not, and I don't know anyone else who is! Seriously, this is not reality TV. There's nothing real about it except that they're using their real names. (Yes, those are their real names!)

Blair Underwood is extremely sexy. Admit it: male or female, gay or straight, no matter what your "type" is, there's just something about him.

Playing the mysterious Simon Elder on ABC's Dirty Sexy Money -- not to mention past screen-steamers like Jonathan Rollins on L.A. Law, Miranda's boyfriend Dr. Robert on Sex and the City and New Adventures of Old Christine's hunky teacher Mr. Harris -- it's no wonder Underwood ranks so high on the TV's 50 Hottest TV Hunks -- Ever countdown over at AOL Television.

Underwood dished to us about his love for Donald Trump's reality TV show, his Barack Obama connection and what kind of trouble is coming up on Dirty Sexy Money.

It's looking like David E. Kelley's plan is to have at least one of his legal shows on the air at all times.

The producer/writer is now pitching a new legal drama series to the networks. CBS and NBC are particularly interested. No word on whether or not ABC is interested in the new show, which would be odd since they've had some success with one of Kelley's other legal shows, Boston Legal, which is ending after this season.

To refresh your memory, here are the other legal shows that Kelley has created, written, and/or produced over the years: Ally McBeal, The Practice, The Law Firm, Girls Club, and L.A. Law. Actually, even some of his non-law shows have had strong law elements, including Picket Fences.

Kelley was working on the American version of Life On Mars, which premieres on ABC later this month, but left after the pilot. The show is getting good buzz so far.

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• George Furth: He was a veteran character actor who appeared in tons of TV shows over the years, including L.A. Law, All in the Family, Murder, She Wrote, Happy Days, The Odd Couple, Bonanza, Green Acres, Adam-12, Night Gallery, I Dream of Jeannie, The Monkees, The Good Guys, That Girl, Batman, F Troop, McHale's Navy, The Defenders, The Nanny, and Wings, as well as movies such as Blazing Saddles, Shampoo, Airport '77, The Boston Strangler, Bulworth, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He was also an acclaimed playwright, writing the play Twigs and collaborating with Stephen Sondheim on Company, Merrily We Roll Along, and Getting Away with Murder. He died at age 75.

(S01E10) The title of this episode was called "Heartbeat" because Eli's case involved a heart transplant -- two actually -- but "Reflections" might have been more appropo. Eli awakened in Nate's body and continued to find himself reliving his brother's life ten years before. And not on just any day, but the day that their dad died.

Overall, this was a particularly interesting episode because it seemed to lay the groundwork for where Eli Stone is going. Since it's likely that the show is going to be renewed -- deservedly so -- the prospect of Eli getting that surgery which may correct the aneurysm that's causing his visions, may not be happening after all.

(S01E06) The secret is out. After hiding his condition from his boss, colleagues and clients for two months Eli Stone has finally come clean. Now, the world (or at least San Francisco) knows. Reaction is mixed. Some, like Eli's ex-fiancee and his brother, are glad that it's all out in the open now.

His colleagues' reaction? We know at least one person's opinion --more on that later. As for his boss and mentor, Jordan Whethersby...well, needless to say there's an extreme cold front coming between him and Eli. But, we'll discuss that in detail after the jump. For now, let's talk about Eli's decision to fess up.

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I think most readers are going to be stunned that this guy was still alive in 2007.

Lane was one of the most famous character actors in TV history, appearing on such programs as Petticoat Junction (where he was a regular), I Love Lucy, Dark Shadows, L.A. Law, St. Elsewhere, Little House on the Prairie, The Odd Couple, and...oh, way too many to list here. He was also in the films It's A Wonderful Life, The Road To Singapore, 42nd Street, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and many others. His career spanned over 60 years, his last role as the narrator in the short film The Night Before Christmas in 2006.

Lane passed away quietly on Tuesday in Santa Monica, CA.

Does the name ring a bell? Zabel is a writer and producer (and former correspondent for CNN and chairman/CEO of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences -- that's the Emmys) who has created, produced, and/or written for several TV shows over the years, including L.A. Law, M.A.N.T.I.S., The Crow, Dallas, The Fifth Corner, Dark Skies, Equal Justice, and Life Goes On, plus many movies. Well, he has a blog!

It's actually a well-designed site, with tons of posts, categories, and photos. Check out his Movie Smackdown contest.