On a Thursday visit to the Chicago set of 'Ride-Along,' which premieres at mid-season on Fox, I was able to pick up a few bits of news.

Not only is a 'Sons of Anarchy' actor guesting on the new Shawn Ryan show, there's also a 'Mad Men' connection.

Adam Arkin (who played Ethan Zobelle on 'Sons of Anarchy') was on the 'Ride-Along' set directing the fifth episode of the Fox drama, and the actor/director said he will also play a law-enforcement role in the series.

The Nielsen ratings for last Friday night showed that NBC did really well with the Olympic opening ceremonies. Good for NBC, bad for fans of CBS's Swingtown. It didn't take a psychic to predict that all that NBC Universal hype would draw those who love pomp and spectacle. It also didn't take a seer to see that CBS wasn't giving Swingtown a fair shot by asking it to go up against the Olympics.

Still, in CBS's defense, Swingtown just hasn't grabbed the kind of ratings all summer long -- mostly on Thursday nights -- to warrant the network believing that it has a potential hit on its hand. The New York Times pondered Swingtown's fate, too.

I think it does, but only if CBS gives Swingtown some time. I'm not alone in thinking this either. Josef Adalian agrees, as do and many TV Squad readers have expressed their passion for this show. Will CBS hear them as they chant, "All we are saying, is give Swingtown a chance."

Way back in July 2007, TV Squad wrote about a bunch of shows CBS previewed and were slating for the upcoming season, including Swingtown. It was supposed to premiere in mid-season, but then mid-season came and it was nowhere to be found. The network will announce today their plans for the serial drama; it's going to run this summer. Instead of taking that move as a lack of faith in the show, executive producer Carol Barbee told The Hollywood Reporter that a summer run creatively suits the project. "A summer launch is perfect for Swingtown since the pilot takes place on the Bicentennial Fourth of July," Barbee said. Barbee has most recently been working on Jericho.

Former Saturday Night Live cast member Chris Parnell is moving up in the television world from guest-star/recurring character to prime-time regular. He has just been picked to star in ABC's mid-season comedy Miss/Guided.

Guided stars Judy Greer as a former high school wallflower who returns to her alma mater as a guidance counselor. Parnell will play a fellow counselor. Whether he'll be a friend, enemy, lover, sprout horns, or channel Tom Brokaw (one of the characters he played on SNL) is unknown. What is known is that he'll be joining other cast members Brooke Burns and Kristoffer Polaha.

Parnell was part of SNL for nine years and was let go in 2006 during the semi-purge of the cast. This past season he had a recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on the NBC comedy 30 Rock, where he shared the screen with former SNL buddies Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan.