(S02E09) "What do you see up there? A mastermind petting a Persian cat?" - Sam Axe

So , as you might expect from the finale, Michael is very close to solving one of this season's mysteries. It seems the only missing pieces of the puzzle are who is the sniper's target and does Michael want to save them?

I can only imagine that the target would have to be a really bad person in order for Michael to overcome his inflated savior complex. If Osama Bin Laden ends up as a passenger on the ferry, he'll probably let the hit go down. Anyone else, however, is going to have to be a game day call.

I was really bitter towards CW for canceling Veronica Mars, so I was planning on not watching Gossip Girl out of spite. However, as a fan of (at least the first few seasons) of The O.C., the idea of another Josh Schwartz show intrigued me. Okay, that, and the fact that I loved Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (shut up), and the realization that my one-woman boycott wasn't going to bring VM back, all led me to the show.

When I tuned in, I really thought it would be The O.C. East, but Schwartz and the rest of the writers did a good job of making it its own show, I'm sure in no small part due to the fact that they had a series of books to work with. In fact, last night's 90210 premiere reminded me more of The O.C. than Gossip Girl ever has. So when I read that an O.C. alum was making her way to the Upper East Side, I wasn't exactly thrilled.

Casting spoilers ahead.

One thing you have to say about the powers that be at Desperate Housewives, they're really great with casting. Great looking guys, beautiful women, quirky character actors; we've seen them all on Wisteria Lane and usually they leave a lasting impression.

The latest name to check in to Desperate Housewives is Neal McDonough. He'll be appearing in the new season and Hollywood Reporter is wondering how he'd do with Nicolette Sheridan's character, Edie Britt. Is that wondering or playing matchmaker? How do we know that Marc Cherry isn't setting him up as a mystery man from Bree's past? Cherry is nothing if not inventive, so good luck trying to anticipate his plotlines!

Early last month I posted a casting call sheet for the upcoming Battlestar Galactica prequel show, Caprica. In that list was a call for Amanda Graystone, a "surgeon with a volatile streak to her" who is "something of a double agent." Well, you can scratch that one off the list of openings, as Paula Malcomson (Trixie of Deadwood and Jerri of John From Cincinnati) has been cast in the role.

My interest in Caprica hinges on how Battlestar Galactica concludes; will I really want to know more about how it all began? I could see them putting us in a place that has us craving for more, though it's likely Caprica is meant to stand on its own and without having to follow too many rules set by the BSG events. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Gale Harold, who recently guest starred on two episodes of Grey's Anatomy and led the cast of the short-lived Vanished, has landed a recurring role on ABC's Desperate Housewives, reports TV Guide. The 39-year-old actor from Atlanta, Georgia, is set to first appear on the show in the second part of May 18 two-hour season finale. TV Guide says that Harold "will play a quick-witted, charming and buttoned-down suburbanite."

Slight spoilers ahead!

Chances are the NBC censor will not have to worry about Ian McShane's mouth this time around; he won't be playing Frank in Deadwood. No, the new role he's tackling is a much more majestic kind of guy. What am I talking about? Ian McShane has been cast as one of the title characters in NBC's new drama Kings.

McShane, who was a memorable, dirty-mouthed proprietor of a seedy saloon on HBO's Deadwood, will be King Silas on Kings. The Universal project is said to be set in modern times, although its based on a story from the Old Testament, King David (remember Richard Gere in the movie of the same name?)

A few months ago I wrote an article about how sad it is that FOX no longer gives its new shows a decent chance to find an audience. Shows like Vanished and Drive barely get started before the network decides to pull the plug. I still feel that FOX is too quick on the trigger, however in the case of their latest fatality, Anchorwoman, they did the right thing.

Here's an interesting bit of news from Kristin over at E Online: producers of Bones will solve the mystery from the short-lived show Vanished on the show this fall.

Now, that's undoubtedly fantastic news for fans of Vanished (both of you), and it's intriguing that the network and the people behind Bones would actually want to take the time and effort to solve a mystery from a show most people have forgotten. But it's very cool, something you don't see on TV that often. I'm sure the episode will be more Bones-centric than Vanished-centric, but it's a great idea.

Murder, She Wrote did this once. They solved a mystery from an old film noir movie from the 40s (Strange Bargain), and even got several members of the cast back together for it.

There has been an awful lot of talk about CBS canceling Jericho. Over at Observer-reporter.com, they've taken a hard line and decided the fault lays squarely at the feet of the network itself.

Jericho was one of the few new dramas that finished out the season. Heavy duty serials like The Nine, Vanished and Kidnapped were all cut short before reaching their finale. I, myself, was a fan of Jericho, but even I knew it's chances of renewal were slim. Personally, I feel that if the show had revealed some of it's secrets a little earlier, more viewers may have stuck around.

We're about a week away from the upfronts, the annual back-patting festivals the broadcast networks hold to introduce their new fall schedules. TV Squad will be ready, providing you, the loyal reader, with coverage of who's in, who's out, and what's new on the five broadcast networks (yes, I'm counting the CW as a full broadcast network, even though it's looking like it'll air mostly reality shows next year).

So, it seems to be a good time to look back at our coverage of last year's upfronts, to see what was considered news, which shows became hits, which shows never aired, and which pilots looked promising but mostly ended up causing each network piles of money, bad press, and misery.

Click on the network name to see to our coverage of that network's 2006 upfront:

I will never forget being in high school and hearing the news that a new network would soon be premiering. It was only going to be on a couple nights a week, but instead of airing reruns and crappy local shows, it would air all new programs; it was unprecedented.

That network was called FOX, and while many of the programs were of no interest to me, I was really impressed at how they followed through with their promises. Specifically, cutting edge programming and big budgets. I watched Al & Peg Bundy say things that my parents didn't want me to hear. I watched George C. Scott in the only sitcom he ever starred in. Most importantly, I was witness to the phenomenon that became The Simpsons.

(Part 2 of 5) Leave it to the networks to take a good idea and copy it so many times, it runs the format into the ground. Remember what happened after the success of Seinfeld and Friends? We got show after show of groups of friends hanging out together, most of which were mediocre at best. The same thing happened this past fall; due to the success of 24, Lost, and Prison Break, viewers were greeted with a slew of serialized shows, supposedly playing out a single plot over a season or seasons. The shows were of every type, from comedies (Big Day) to tense kidnapping dramas (Kidnapped, Vanished).

Out of all the serialized shows that premired in 2006, only two -- Jericho and Heroes -- can be thought of as successful shows. What did the networks and the producers of these shows do wrong? I can think of a few reasons, which I'll list after the jump.

I'm not sure if a lot of younger people would know who Arthur Hill is, because his most famous show isn't run anymore (that I know of anyway). Hill played attorney Owen Marshall in the ABC series Owen Marshall, Counselor At Law, in the early 70s. The show costarred Lee Majors.

Hill died last Sunday in California from complications of Alzheimer's Diseases.

Besides Owen Marshall, Hill had several roles in well-known movies, including The Andromeda Strain, A Bridge Too Far, The Ugly American, The Amateur, The Champ, Futureworld, Vanished, and Rabbit, Run. He was also the narrator of 1983's Something Wicked This Way Comes. His last role was an episode of Murder, She Wrote in 1990.

I've been noticing more and more ads for the new ABC suspense-drama Day Break, which stars Taye Diggs as a cop who begins to experience the same day over and over and over again (a la Groundhog Day) when his girlfriend is murdered. Can he change events enough to save her life? Of course, there's a major, super secret conspiracy involved, as in all of these shows it seems.

Now, there's nothing wrong with a continuing drama per se. If they're good, I'll certainly watch it, and the previews for Daybreak look promising. But you have to question how parrot-like the networks are, wanting to just do anything to duplicate a megahit. Without even thinking that, while Lost is certainly a good show, maybe it was more a matter of timing, time slot, and subject matter than just the quality, that unpredictable mix that catches on. The demise of Vanished and Kidnapped and the so-so ratings of The Nine are not good signs. (And this isn't the only show still to come; the thriller Traveler is coming to ABC in early '07).

Daybreak starts November 15, in the Lost time slot.

This week, the low-rated Fox drama Vanished made a surprise move by killing off its lead character, Det. Kelton (played by Gale Harold). It was only seven episodes into its first season. Why would they do that? Was it because ratings were so low? Or, because of reports that Harold was reportedly a bit of a prima donna on set? The producer, Josh Berman, says no and no.

In an interview with TV Guide's Ausiello, Berman says it was their way of "thinking outside the box", a directive from Fox when they started the show. He said he and the writers realized that Kelton was getting closer than they planned to solving the mystery of the missing Sara Collins, so it was time for him to die. Berman also says that Harold was pumped about his character's death and even suggested the scene where his estranged wife gives back his wedding ring as a way to wrap up that subplot. The new lead detective on the show is Det. Danny Lucas, played by Eddie Cibrian. Berman also said a lot of the mystery about Collins' disappearance will be wrapped up by the 13th episode, as the show has not yet received an order for a full season. If it does, Berman has plans for new plot lines.

Now it's time for the Vanished fans to chime in: Was killing off Det. Kelton a good or a bad move?