peterkrause

Any of you who were slavishly devoted to 'Sports Night' -- the late, great dramedy that exposed the comic timing and acting chops of stars like Felicity Huffman and Peter Krause early in their careers -- good news! Series creator Aaron Sorkin (who also produced a little somethin-somethin called 'The West Wing') tells TV Guide he's coming back to TV with a series that promises to tread the same juicy, fast-paced behind-the-scenes turf as 'Sports Night.'

The catch? That's also the same turf he covered on another series, 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,' which, while also late, is not particularly lamented by anybody.

'It's going to be what turns out to be the third in the trilogy of TV shows that take place behind the scenes of a TV show, but this will be a different kind of TV show,' Sorkin told the site. "That's all I can let out of the bag right now."

Several DVD sets came my way this week, so I did some marathon viewing sessions for Jane After Dark. I'm brand new to some of these, so you'll get the stark, raw newbie version. But I'll start with one I've watched since the beginning ...

Dirty Sexy Money: The Complete Second and Final Season. I really liked this show at the beginning. It had all the elements of a great series, including excellent actors (starting with Donald Sutherland, Jill Clayburgh, and Peter Krause) and intriguing storylines with rich people, sex, murder, and mystery. But by the time they got to season two, the storylines just seemed to fizzle out. I would love to hear your thoughts on why Dirty Sexy Money didn't work. Crummy writing? Poor use of great actors? Too many characters to keep track of? Poor timing with the writer's strike occurring in the middle of its run, resulting in ten months between seasons?

Bonus features: Directing the Darlings (behind the scenes with director Jamie Babbit); A Total Knockout (a day in the life of Natalie Zea, who played Karen); Dirty Sexy Crafty (a featurette about the food on the set); Faux Pas (bloopers); deleted scenes.

NBC seems to be sending out their screeners in dribs and drabs, so I'm making my way through their fall offerings very slowly. I've already given you previews of both Community and Trauma, and now we've got Parenthood, a new series based on a movie that was already turned into a series nearly twenty years ago. Who says Hollywood is out of ideas?

Parenthood is basically a less-melodramatic Brothers & Sisters. It follows the Braverman clan, a family in Fresno made up of four siblings: Adam (Peter Krause), Crosby (Dax Shepard), Sarah (Maura Tierney), and Julia (Erika Christensen), along with their children and parents, played by Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia. They all have their share of drama, but at the end of the day, they're all brought together in the most suburban of pursuits: Little League. Say it with me now: "awwww."

What should you expect from the new TV shows coming this fall? Read our first impressions of NBC's 'Parenthood,' starring Peter Krause, Maura Tierney and Craig T. Nelson.

Premise: Struggling single mom Sarah moves her two teenage children back home to Berkeley, Ca., where she's welcomed back into the fold by her big, imperfect but loving family. Meanwhile, her three adult siblings all parenting issues of their own in this drama that is loosely based on the 1989 Ron Howard-directed film of the same name.

This leak appears to be unauthorized, but still pretty solid. It looks like the television remake of Ron Howard's 1989 film Parenthood has been picked up by NBC for next season. Peter Krause (Six Feet Under, Dirty Sexy Money), Maura Tierney (NewsRadio, ER) and Craig T. Nelson (Coach) are on board to star, and that's a pretty solid foundation right there.

The original Parenthood movie starred everybody who was anybody in the late '80s, including Keanu Reeves, Jason Robards, Jr. and Mary Steenbergen and Steve Martin. It was like Crash with an extended family, following multiple story lines that all ultimately connected.

(S02E05) That was more like it! Just as I was about to write off this week's episode as another bland installment of Dirty Sexy Money, down came an embarrassment of primetime soap riches. Letitia's trial was resolved with the kind of speed only possible in TV-land, and we got a cliffhanger and three major shocks to boot! Read on for the details.

(S02E04) Election night on Dirty Sexy Money was about more than simple politics. There were lost children, marriage proposals, and bribes to worry about. With so many major things happening, though, I wish some of the minor storylines had been cut from this episode. Nick's gradual transformation into the next Tripp Darling is fascinating, and we finally got a better idea about Simon's master plan. Next week's installment appears to be a lot meatier (and soapier), so I'm not worried.

(S02E03) We already know what it's like to be a Darling: lavish parties, vast conspiracies, and emotional outbursts. This week's episode gave us some insight into what it's like to be a George: same psychological problems, less money. Letitia's upcoming trial brought Nick face-to-face with someone from his past, and this person had quite a story to tell.

(S02E02) The Darlings had to bury one of their own this week, and they sent the deceased off in style. Sure, the eulogy was written about someone else and some of the mourners were arrested, but that's part of the fun of these events. The rest of the episode was business as usual--power struggles, inappropriate sexual partners, and suitcases filled with cash. No complaints here.

(S02E01) The Darlings are back! Despite all the behind-the-scenes personnel and casting changes, Dirty Sexy Money appears to be better than ever. Loyal fans were rewarded with a major development in last season's murder mystery, and the premiere gave new viewers plenty of reasons to come back for more. Season One feels like it ended ages ago, but "The Birthday Present" was the perfect refresher course in the elements of this gorgeous, twisted world.

Josh Lucas has been working in the film and TV industry since 1990, but he first came into my line of vision with 2002's Sweet Home Alabama, where he traded barbs with Reese Witherspoon. He shot to the top of my list with 2006's Glory Road, a great film in which he played Don Haskins, the Texas coach who shepherded an all-black team to the NCAA championship.

Now I'll get to see more of Lucas, because he's been tapped to star in Possible Side Effects, a Showtime drama pilot written and directed by Tim Robbins.

The show centers on the Hunts, a dysfunctional family running a pharmaceutical company enmeshed in controversy. Lucas will play Max Hunt, who tries to keep the family and business together as the drug industry falls under more and more scrutiny.

AOL TV's new video interview series, Outside the Box, takes questions from you (the fans) and poses them to the stars of the hottest shows.

We already asked you to submit questions for the stars of Scrubs. Next up will be Peter Krause and Lucy Liu of Dirty Sexy Money.

While DSM's first season was tragically cut short by the writers' strike, the 10 episodes that did air were full of frothy fun. And that cast! Krause, Liu (who's new for the second season), Donald Sutherland, Jill Clayburgh, Billy Baldwin, Glenn Fitzgerald ... and I could go on. And if you don't quite remember where the show left off, read Erin's review of the season finale.

So, if you're wondering what's in store for Dirty Sexy Money, what Liu's character will be like and if we'll ever find out who killed Nick George's dad ... submit your questions in the comments below by Tuesday, July 15. Be sure to include your first name and your city and state. Good luck.

This post might get a little esoteric, but I'll just lay it out there and, as always, you can either take it or leave it. If you don't like talk about death and dying, stop reading here.

If I was asked to say just one thing about Six Feet Under, it's that they don't shirk from anything. The Fisher family is complex and messy, but the writers and actors put it all out there, whether it's gay sex, drugs, mental illness, or, of course, death.

That last one is a good thing for me, because I go to a lot of funerals. In the past few years, I've lost two aunts, a dad, a father-in-law, a grandma, a sister-in-law, two cousins, and at least two dozen friends. I've written scores of obituaries and played my violin for dozens of funerals. I'm on a first-name basis with most of the funeral directors in town. And you know what? It's OK! Six Feet Under has helped me to see that. Read on for five ways the show helps me cope with death.

The characters on Six Feet Under were fascinating to watch, but they often made horrible romantic choices. Even the couples that stood the test of time had their issues. Most of the truly memorable train wrecks didn't last, though. Here's a look back at some of the show's weirdest relationships.

Ruth Fisher and Arthur Martin - Ruth and Arthur's relationship was arguably the most awkward pairing in Six Feet Under history. Apart from the significant age difference, the relationship suffered from a lack of physical intimacy. You can't build a romance on nuzzling and spooning alone; it didn't take long for Ruth to figure that out. Ruth dumped Arthur, and things took a turn for the worse when she suddenly married George Sibley. Arthur showed his jealousy by arguing with George over the origins of the word "formica" and labeling his food. They finally parted ways after the "poo by mail" misunderstanding.

The big screen adaptation of I Dream of Jeannie has been years in the making. Now a script writer is attached, so who knows, maybe we'll see it in theaters in the next few years (IMDB.com lists a release date of 2010). And something tells me we'll probably see a belly button or two.

Producer Sid Ganis is bringing Rita Hsiao, who scribed Mulan, on board to rewrite the script for a movie based on the 1960s series. Ganis is psyched for Hsiao's vision of the character -- a Jeannie who's smack in the middle of modern times.

In a Hollywood Reporter story, Ganis said of Hsiao's meeting with the producers, "She has a terrific, bright, fresh approach to Jeannie's story, with a twist and turn along the way. She captured all of our imaginations in the telling of it."