SPRING 2014: SCOTT BAKULA CAST IN 'NCIS' SPINOFF

NCIS' planned spinoff has found its main star.

If you haven't heard yet, NCIS is planning another spinoff in its franchise, and this time it will be based in New Orleans. News broke today that Scott Bakula, who is currently on HBO's Looking and was featured in the cable network's Liberace bio, Behind The Candelabra, has been cast in the lead role. Bakula will play Special Agent Pride and will demonstrate the very essence of New Orleans.

NCIS: New Orleans, or NCIS: NOLA, we're not exactly sure how they are going to title it, will be the hub of cases that affect the areas of Pensacola, Mississippi, Louisiana, and up to the Texas panhandle. The setting makes a lot of sense considering the military population bordering the Gulf. The spinoff pilot will air this spring as a two-parter on NCIS.

IN MEMORIAM: 'GILLIGAN'S ISLAND'S RUSSELL JOHNSON AND 'THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY'S DAVE MADDEN

Yesterday we lost two classic television actors that marked the 1960s and 1970s.

Russell Johnson, mostly recognizable from his role as The Professor on Gilligan's Island, passed away at age 89. Johnson's early acting career began in the movies before transitioning over to guest and starring television roles. In 1964, Johnson was cast as Roy Hinkley, a.k.a. The Professor, on CBS' Gilligan's Island. Former castmate Dawn Wells broke the news yesterday via her Twitter account. Johnson was in a Hospice facility and surrounded by his wife and children when he died.

Dave Madden, who was best known as the The Partridge Family's band manager Reuben Kincaid, also passed away yesterday of congestive heart and kidney failure. Madden was 82. Madden was prominent in the '70s and '80s television landscape, appearing in guest roles on Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, and Barney Miller. He also had a recurring role on CBS' Alice as frequent diner Earl Hicks.

WINTER 2014: ALIAS' SPY DADDY HEADING TO 'SLEEPY HOLLOW'

Fans of Alias' spydaddy Victor Garber will get to see him in several shows towards the latter half of the television season.

Garber, who was last seen on the short-lived NBC drama Deception, will arrive in the supernatural burg of Sleepy Hollow playing none other than Ichabod's papa. Details are still hush-hush but Garber is signed on for at least one episode. Ichabod recently shared some fond memories of papa Crane thus setting up for the upcoming appearance.

The actor is also scheduled to appear on CBS' hit drama The Good Wife as a judge. No dates have been given for either appearance.

FALL 2013: CBS PREPPING 'HOW I MET YOUR FATHER'?

CBS wants to keep a sure-thing going with its popular hit How I Met Your Mother.

The network is already preparing a shoot-off of the sitcom, but from the female perspective. Tentatively titled, How I Met Your Father, the show would incorporate the same concept but with a new cast led by the female protagonist who tells the story of how she met her future husband and father of children. While none of the current cast would be included in the spin-off, there has been buzz that the character may appear in the series finale of How I Met Your Mother next spring. One element that may crossover to the new sitcom is McLaren's Pub. The frequent watering hole by Ted Mosby and company could also be the setting for the new gang of characters.

We only have one wish for the CBS executives and co-creators to consider: Bring in Barney! Barney Stinson has slept with so many women over the years that it would only be natural that he would have had a one-night stand with the future female Ted Mosby-character. Don't you think so?

FALL 2013: 'I LOVE LUCY' LOST EPISODE RETURNING TO CBS IN DECEMBER FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY

I Love Lucy is returning to network television after fifty-six years.

Sort of.

CBS is planning to air a one-hour block of the classic sitcom on December 20, 2013 at 8 pm. The network will air the rarely seen Christmas Show episode that aired December 24, 1956. It was last aired on primetime back in 1989, and a colorized version premiered the following year. The Christmas Show is considered a TV special rather than a regular episode and was never included in the re-broadcasting of the show in syndication.

While the proposed hour special will be continuous with only one main title and end credits, the second episode is slated to be "Lucy's Italian Movie," which aired on April 16, 1956 and was part of the Ricardos' and Mertzes' European adventure. Lucy finally lands a role in an Italian movie as a grape stomper but things get heated when she crosses path with a local stomper. Cue the famous grape fight!

Both episodes will be presented in a colorized yet vintage format. We didn't know what that meant at first but if you check out the video below, you can see what is considered colorized vintage.

Spoiler alert! It's the whole Christmas Show episode.

FALL 2013: NBC CANCELS 'IRONSIDE' AND 'WELCOME TO THE FAMILY'

It's been a rather busy Friday afternoon in TV land as several networks have made some serious decisions regarding their new shows this season.

On the cancellation front, NBC has axed struggling police procedural remake Ironside and comedy Welcome to the Family. Both shows failed to gather an audience despite posting fairly decent premiere ratings. 

Ironside had considerable amounts of promos and hype to boast its premiere but putting popular star Blair Underwood in a wheelchair just didn't help the cause. The drama faced tough competition in its Wednesday night timeslot with the perennial favorite CSI and ABC's country sudser  Nashville. The real nail in the coffin came last week when FX's American Horror Story: Coven premiered to smashing numbers in the 10 pm timeslot and took a nice chunk of audience away from network television. Ironside also faced some creative backlash for not casting a disabled actor in the role of paraplegic Robert Ironside. The negative press helped detract some audiences from even giving the show a chance. Honestly though, the drama's case-of-the-week format was pretty dull and slow that Ironside's wheelchair moved faster than the plot. The final episode airs October 23.

Welcome to the Family was another unfortunate sacrifice that the network had to make due to low numbers. Stuck in the 8:30 pm timeslot, the family comedy based on unplanned teenage pregnancy couldn't hack it against CBS' new comedy The Millers. While the premise isn't necessarily the best, it was something different but a soft cast didn't help the situation. Don't get us wrong, we love Mike O'Malley but he needed a better co-star foil in this production. Additionally, most of NBC's new comedies are struggling, especially much touted, heavily advertised Sean Saves the World and The Michael J. Fox Show. If a decision had to be make to stop the network from losing more blood, it was apparent that the show on the bottom of the totem pole was getting cut.

CBS, on the other hand, is doing a little better with its new comedies. The network has just given full-season orders to freshman comedies Mom, The Crazy Ones, and The Millers. Apparently dysfunctional comedies about recovering alcoholics and divorced parents are drawing the audiences. Each show has received the order for the "back 9" episodes, which would make the full season count to 22 episodes.

FOX has also picked up a full-season order for freshman police comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which has posted solid numbers since its debut. Additionally it will join New Girl for a special comedy hour after Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014.

Death List

Lucky 7 (ABC)

We are Men (CBS)

Murder Police (FOX)

Us & Them (FOX)

Ironside (NBC)

Welcome to the Family (NBC)

Life Support

Betrayal (ABC)

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC)

Super Fun Night (ABC)

FALL 2013: CBS' 'WE ARE MEN' CANCELLED

It looks like another cancellation may be in the works. CBS' new comedy We are Men is on its way out after only two episodes. The bachelor-led comedy starring Jerry O'Connell, Tony Shalhoub, and Kal Penn has had horrible ratings in the last two outings and the network has decided to shelve the show. CBS plans to speed up the return of Mike and Molly to fill in the void.

Another sign that We are Men is done came from Jerry O'Connell's tweet on his Twitter account:

We are Men would be the third cancelled series this television season, after ABC's Lucky 7 and FOX's dead-before-premiere animated Murder Police.

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY: SUPERHEROES, MONSTERS, AND DUELING DIVAS

With the start of the fall television season this week, we almost forgot that today is New Release Tuesday. We'll highlight some of the TV-on-DVD releases hitting shelves today.

Superhero Pick-of-the-Week

Arrow - The Complete First Season (BD/DVD)

Filling the gap left by the departure of Smallville, Arrow tells the story of Oliver Queen, his life on a stranded island for five years, and ultimately his evolution to the superhero based on The Green Arrow. Ollie Queen is definitely unique since there is nothing super about his hero persona. Having no special powers or abilities, Arrow is a vigilante by night trying to salvage Starling City from the wrongs of his father. The freshman season establishes the story and cautiously dips into the DC Comics universe, setting it up for the new sophmore season.

Horror Pick-of-the-Week

Grimm - Season 2 (BD/DVD)

NBC's fantasy horror fest Grimm really broke away from the original premise and formed its own shell in the second season. Moving away from direct references to the Grimm Fairy Tales that we have known since childhood, and some that were completely obscure, Grimm delves further into the realms of evil supernatural forces when an ultimate plan to rule the world is revealed. Nick continues hunting down the wicked in Portland while struggling in his home life. Truths, revelations, and bigger baddies were just a few highlights of the sophmore drama.

Drama Pick-of-the-Week

Nashville - The Complete First Season

ABC brought back the primetime soap with Nashville last season. Well, sort of. The drama centers around the veteran and newbie country music divas as they try to keep their careers afloat while watching their personal lives crumble before their very eyes. Lots of singing, sex, drinking, and fighting marked the rookie season, and leading to the explosive season finale that left the fate of several characters up in the air.

Crime Pick-of-the-Week

The Mentalist - The Complete Fifth Season

The Mentalist is one of those shows picked up during the height of the medium-crime fighter dramas that has remained one of CBS' stable staples. Fans of the show will want to catch up with the fifth season since the "Red John" killer is slated to reach its apex during the upcoming fall season. It's also the last season that will feature Agents Rigsby and Van Pelt in a full-time capacity before they are written off later this year.

Canceled-Too-Soon Pick-of-the-Week

Vegas - The DVD Edition

The short-lived period drama Vegas premiered on CBS with decent ratings and positive reviews. The 1960s drama that focused on the battle between a Las Vegas sheriff and a Chicago mobster slowly fizzled as it progressed through the year, and after being moved around in several time slots, the show was completely scrapped. Fans of the show can own the collection which pits good versus evil at the heart of America's Sin City. (Sidenote: Stay Tuned is curious about the use of the phrase "The DVD Edition" instead of "The Complete Series." That only tells us that CBS and Paramount have edited the series from the original broadcasting. The culprit most likely would be music rights).

The Marlon Copeland Pick-of-the-Week

Adventure Time - Volume 5: Jake the Dad

Fraternity brother Marlon Copeland swears up and down that Adventure Time is one of the best animated shows currently airing on Cartoon Network. He would be excited about this Jake and Dad set. Fans of the show, like Marlon, don't need much information about the DVD set. They'll just purchase it.

Are there any releases you are looking forward to in particular?

THROWBACK THURSDAY: 'CHEERS' STARS TO REUNITE ON 'CSI' THIS FALL

Sam Malone and Cliff Clavin will be crossing paths again this Fall. Well...sort of.

John Ratzenberger, who played mailman Cliff on the long-running NBC comedy Cheers, will pop up on Ted Danson's current show, CSI. The episode is scheduled to air this fall and Ratzenberger will portray a club owner whose business goes up in flames (along with several lives) thus requiring an investigation by Russell's (Danson) CSI team.

CSI returns with new episodes on September 25.

Since it is Throwback Thursday, we've decided to go back to that Boston bar where everybody knows your name. Cheers ran for eleven seasons and was a staple on NBC's Thursday night "Must See TV" lineup. Cliff Clavin was the local mailman who found himself in odd situations, usually as a result of his unfortunate luck. He was the middle-aged underdog that audiences tuned in to see every week. We've included a Cliff-centric episode for Throwback Thursday...Cliff gets bitten by a dog during his deliveries and falls head over heels for its owner. The poor guy just couldn't catch a break.

Enjoy, and remember to keep it locked to Stay Tuned for future updates on anything and everything television.

FALL 2013: AMBER TAMBLYN SIGNS ON AS LONG-LOST LESBIAN DAUGHTER ON 'TWO AND A HALF MEN'

Two and a Half Men's search for the late Charlie Harper's long-lost lesbian daughter has (finally) ended.

Former Joan of Arcadia star Amber Tamblyn has been cast in the role of Jenny, the long-lost daughter of the deceased Charlie Harper, who moves from New York to Los Angeles to pursue a career in show business and ultimately ends up crashing with her Uncle Alan and Walden. Jenny is said to be exactly like her late father, always looking for a good time with little or no control.

As of now, Tamblyn is recurring and signed up for only five episodes. The role, however, does have the option of becoming a permanent series regular with co-star Angus T. Jones' upcoming full-time exit from the CBS comedy. Jones was dropped as a series regular while he attends college but any recurring guest appearances on the show are still up in the air after the actor's controversial comments regarding the show became public.

Two and a Half Men returns for a new season on September 26.

Keep it locked to Stay Tuned for future updates on anything and everything television.

FALL 2013: TWO SERIES REGULARS TO EXIT 'THE MENTALIST'

As the Fall 2013 television season approaches, we've begun getting more insight into casting changes within long-running shows. Today's blurb looks at the impending exits of two series regulars on CBS' The Mentalist.

Original castmembers Amanda Righetti and Owain Yeoman, who play special agents (and on-again, off-again lovers) Van Pelt and Rigsby, will depart the series towards the end of its season. No word yet on how the duo will written off the show but this upcoming sixth season promises to finally reveal Red John, which has been the primary mystery for the show's entire run. Whether Van Pelt and Rigsby are casualties in the unveiling of the mystery remains to be seen but the creator has indicated that this sixth season would be a game changer in moving the show into a new direction. Additionally, two new series regulars will be introduced at the beginning of 2014 to fill the upcoming vacancies.

Keep it locked on Stay Tuned for future updates on anything and everything television!

RENEWED: 'UNDER THE DOME' WILL RETURN...NEXT YEAR

Fans of CBS' summer series Under the Dome can breath a sigh of relief now that the network has renewed the show for a second season. The kicker, however, is that only a 13-episode season was ordered and it won't premiere until Summer 2014.

Based on a Stephen King novel, Under the Dome centers on the small town of Chester's Mill that one day finds itself surrounded by an impenetrable barrier. The isolation begins to take its toll on the townspeople and madness ensues.

Under the Dome has maintained decent ratings so far this summer and viewership has even increased. So far it has become the most successful summer show presented by the main three networks.

WACKY WEDNESDAY: CBS REVEALS POSTERS FOR NEW COMEDIES

CBS has released the marketing posters for four of its new fall sitcoms.

The Crazy Ones - Starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Being hyped as a single-camera comedy set in an advertising agency.

The Millers - Starring Will Arnett as a recently divorced man who is about to re-enter bachelorhood...until his parents complicate things. (Shades of the recently canceled How to Live with Your Parents?)

Mom - Starring Anna Faris and Allison Janney as a recently sober mother of two children, and her criticizing mom. (Shades of the canceled The New Normal?)

We are Men - Starring Tony Shalhoub, Kal Penn, Chris Smith and Jerry O'Connell as four single guys living in a singles housing complex and shot single-camera. Did we mention single?

The jury is still out on CBS' new comedies, and based on the new marketing posters, they'll be out for a little while longer.

Keep tuned to Stay Tuned for anything and everything TV!