(S07E16) When it was announced that Gena Rowlands would be on 'NCIS' as a guest, playing Jethro's former mother-in-law, you just suspected that this was going to be something special. Sometimes it's difficult to live up to the expectations, for the creators as well as the fans watching. Fortunately, this show did live up to the expectations, especially for those who have always wanted to know more about Gibbs and his tragic past.

(S05E14) "Hello, Beau Bridges? Yes, this is The Closer calling. Would you like an Emmy nomination? You would... Okay, we're sending you the script now."

Perhaps it didn't happen exactly that way, but here was a show in which a gifted actor was presented a wonderful opportunity and he rose to the occasion. The Closer is one of those procedurals that has a deft touch with the comic episodes. Oh yeah, there are occasions when it gets a little bizarre -- and this episode might have gone there but it didn't. Instead, we had a terrific twist in more ways than one.

We also got to see how adorable Kyra Sedgwick looks in a hot pink ski parka. For more on the wardrobe and the old folks getting killed by the faux nurse, read on.

Within a few weeks, All My Children will be turning over a new leaf, officially making the move west to new studios in Los Angeles. Most actors are making the move. Some are not. And today ABC informed the head writer, Charles Pratt Jr., that he's been let go. If he had his suitcases packed, well, sorry about that.

Chuck Pratt was hired with some fanfare in June 2008. He was a big hire because his resume is filled with flashy successes, including Desperate Housewives, Melrose Place, Beverly Hills 90210, Ugly Betty, Santa Barbara and General Hospital, among others. Pratt was supposed to revive All My Children to its former luster, but -- alas -- it hasn't happened.

(S06E10) This week we had a bit of a head-scratcher. I want to like this episode because of how it pushed the corporate end of the story along, and I want to like it because it showed Michael in a bit of a different light than we expected, especially at the end. There were also a couple of laugh-out-loud moments (especially one involving Creed... but, then again, Creed is guaranteed laughs).

But overall, the episode felt tentative. The writers set up the murder mystery part of the episode to offset some of the bad news at DM, but didn't seem to go far enough.

After weeks of hype, scoops and spoilers, message board fodder and threats against columnists to not reveal a thing lest they be flogged and embargoed out of the business, All My Children's big murder mystery kicked into high gear when it turned out that the victim was not really one of the characters on the cover of Soap Opera Digest.

For the network, all this was great. ABC Daytime got a bump in the Nielsens and it seems the post-murder intrigue, i.e. whodunit, is keeping viewers DVR'ing, Soapnet watching, or just planning on watching during their lunch hours (like the old days). But getting back to the victim, AMC had a chance to do something really bold and dramatic. Instead head writer Chuck Pratt Jr. played it safe. More on the victim, including the name in case you don't know by now (yes, that's a warning), after the jump.

(S03E11) Detective Carlton Lassiter accused of murder? Say it ain't so!

Okay, it ain't so. How could it be? This is Lassie we're talking about here; not some detective like Vic Mackey! If there ever was a straight (some say too straight) shooting detective it's Carlton Lassiter. He'll do everything legally in his power to catch his man or woman or greasy-fingered monkey and put them away for a long time. And, if he exhausts all of the legal options, that's when he goes to Shawn Spencer and Gus for help.

And, that's what he ended up doing in this episode of Psych. So, let's all turn the page after the tone to see what happened to our favorite detective (well, favorite next to Jules, of course).

Just when you think you've seen it all, a newspaper article like this comes across your computer screen, thanks to TV Squad commenter Robert Getch. It seems as though an Edmonton filmmaker has been arrested for murder, in what looks to be a Dexter copycat killing. Creepy.

Apparently, the murder that Mark Twitchell committed mimicked the same one in the movie script he had created, which was found in his home by the police, about a cheating husband who gets murdered because he falls for an internet dating scam. Twitchell is supposedly an avid Dexter fan, which clearly explains why he decided to kill the cheating bastard, Dexter style. Can Twitchell really be blamed for the murder, since Dexter basically planned it?

It gets creepier, folks...

(S02E05) Hmm...something was off about this episode of Pushing Daisies for me. Maybe it was the emphasis on Emerson, a character I like, but not my favorite, but this show really only hooked me with Ned's story.

Between the Chinese dumplings and the fruit pies, I was having major munchies. I'm kicking myself for not having ordered steamed dumplings with my Happy Family combination dish earlier this evening. I also loved Ned's line in the opening narration about investing in a pie shop when "...Carbohydrates had fallen completely out of fashion." How true!

Stephen Root's appearance as Dwight Dixon, a friend of Ned's parents, opened a world of possibilities. At one point, I thought he might be the pie-maker's father, but the last scene seems to dispel that notion. What's with the pistol on the front seat?

(S09E01) It's rare when a procedural drama, especially one like CSI which is the blueprint for forensics-driven cop shows, has the chance for a truly emotional, cathartic episode. That's what happened with this episode and CSI's stellar cast rose to the occasion, especially William Petersen.

Picking up right where it left off in the season finale, unlike most CSI plots, this one wasn't a whodunit or a whydunit or even a howdunit. The audience knew what had happened in the early morning hours after the night shift finished work and shared breakfast together.

Outside the diner, down a dark alley, Warrick was sitting alone in his car and something ominous was bound to happen -- and did.

For more on the aftermath, stick with me following the jump.

"Oh, goodness. Is this where they do Dancing with the Stars?"
-- Willie Ray Johnson, Brenda's momma

(S04E08) Here was an episode that epitomized what I like about The Closer. This was an excellent mystery. It was complicated and drew you into the chase. Like Brenda, you're wondering how it was done, why and by whom.

Of course, it didn't seem like it was going to be a heavy duty episode, not when the opening was all about Willie Ray and Clay's unexpected visit. That damn RV has brought Brenda's parents cross-country, even with gas at $4 a gallon!

Don't get me wrong, I like Barry Corbin and Frances Sternhagen. They're great actors, but the roles are so broadly drawn. The show uses them for comic relief, even though they can do drama brilliantly. The scenes at the film studio were too jokey to me, especially in light of the heinous crime scene that Brenda was investigating.

The murder reminded me of the O.J. Simpson case. It looked like Ryan -- an actor with anger management issues -- was the murderer. He lied and had a history of beating his wife. The sight of him with the gym bag and then those black gloves were all vaguely reminiscent of O.J. Of course, since he was the prime suspect, I never thought that he was the killer. Too obvious.

One of the biggest stars of daytime is coming back to the tube. Genie Francis, the Emmy-award winning actress who created the role of Laura -- as in Luke and Laura -- will return to General Hospital on August 26 for a brief guest stint. This will be a very interesting return, too, because her last tenure on the show in 2007 was not only award-worthy, it also ended with her character resuming the catatonia in which she's been trapped for the past few years.

So how can she return to General Hospital? There's a hint in Genie's quotes to the Associated Press. "This is a short visit. It's a mother-daughter story. Years ago when I started playing the character as a 14-year-old girl, it was a mother-daughter story, only I was the daughter. So it's kinda cool this is full circle."

(S01E03) I love it when form follows content, so I really enjoyed this episode. In fact, I think it was the strongest episode yet: It was tight, it had pathos and humanity, and it had humor. "The Red Cross doesn't mention that in their literature." It was a funny line, but Sophia Myles' delivery made it great.

In this episode, the characters are starting to find themselves. Beth is more driven by curiosity than anything else. It makes her good at her career, but it also helps her overcome any fear she has toward Mick. Unfortunately, it also puts her into dangerous situations. And as she tells Mick, "That's why it's a good thing I've got you around." Rather than thinking maybe Mick isn't such a good person to hang out with now, she considers him her own personal body guard, and is more driven than ever to solve cases. I think her drive to solve cases and her curiosity are more compelling to her than her news stories; in any case, a journalist like Beth will protect her source, so I think she will protect Mick's secret.

(S06E09) At first, I thought this season was going to be heading somewhere, but it seems that it's getting stuck in the muck. The episodes continue to cover territory that they have already covered. Tonight, it was about Johnny's struggles with the fact that he doesn't have much religious faith, despite his relationship with the now-absent Reverend Purdy, and his mother's own generous donations to the Heritage Foundation. We have been over this before in previous seasons-- like last season, as a matter of fact.

TMZ is reporting that WWE wrestler Chris Benoit is suspected of killing his wife and 7-year old son before committing suicide. Benoit and his family were found dead in their Atlanta home on Monday afternoon, the same day he was supposed to appear in a "memorial" episode for Vince McMahon's WWE character. TMZ reports that Atlanta police suspect Benoit strangled his wife on Saturday and then smothered his son in bed the next day. Benoit was apparently text messaging friends as he watched Vengeance, a WWE Pay-Per-View program, on Sunday.

I do not watch wrestling, but everything I read says he was very popular among fans. His signature move was the "Crippler Crossface". WWE quickly changed up its programming last night so it did not focus on the "death" of McMahon's character. McMahon made a brief statement to fans about the tragedy, saying Benoit was "one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time."

*UPDATE: Atlanta PD says Benoit killed his wife on Friday, his son on Saturday, and hanged himself (possibly) on Sunday. Sick.

Law and Order creator Dick Wolf and NBC Universal have snatched up the rights to the book The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia. The book tells the true story of two New York City copes, Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito, who secretly worked as murderers for the mafia. The book was written by William Oldham and Guy Lawson. Oldham worked for the NYPD alongside Caracappa, but didn't find out about his partners secret life until later. He launched an investigation, despite very little help from the NYPD, and both Caracappa and Eppolito were eventually arrested.

The book will be developed into a television project produced by Wolf and Tom Thayer, though whether it will be another Law and Order series or something else entirely isn't known just yet, according to Variety. Meanwhile, several movie deals are also being worked out to bring the story to the bigscreen.