It seems like life keeps throwing reasons at me to start watching Grey’s Anatomy again. Last year, it was word from a variety of sources that the show was “getting better” after losing its way the past season.

We tried to watch it, but then lost interest one more time. It used to be one of our favorite shows.

But now life is at it again. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the star of my beloved Journeyman, Kevin McKidd, is in serious talks to join the cast of Grey’s Anatomy.

He’ll be playing a doctor who just returned from a stint in Iraq. EW says it’s expected to be a long story arc for McKidd.

Sometimes all it takes is an actor you really like joining a show to get you to watch it. I obviously became a huge fan of McKidd because of Journeyman, and since that ended so abruptly, I feel cheated. So perhaps some relief will come in seeing at least McKidd find something new that can showcase his talents.

No word yet on WHEN we’ll first see the new Seattle Grace doctor make his appearance.

Most notably and highly frakking sad in my opinion, is the continued disregard for Battlestar Galactica. I guess not enough people watch the show. I can only assume if it was on FOX, enough people would have seen it and voted it into this group.

Honestly…Grey’s Anatomy over BSG? Really?

On a happier note, I’m LOVING that Flight of the Conchords made the Top 10…that’s just outstanding. Good for them.

Can’t say much bad about the dramas (aside from Grey’s). Dexter from the four episodes I’ve seen so far is awesome, I heard amazing things about The Wire, and it’s cool to see Friday Night Lights get some more love. Not sure I still get the love for Boston Legal, but I don’t watch it, so who am I to judge?

I’m going to slap little asterisks next to my predictions for the five series who make it to the finals. There just MIGHT be a bit of wishful thinking in there, but I don’t care!

Comedy Series:

• Curb Your Enthusiasm*
• Entourage
• Family Guy
• Flight of the Conchords* (sleeper pick!)
  
• The Office*
• Pushing Daisies* (super sleeper!)
  
• 30 Rock*
• Two and a Half Men
• Ugly Betty
• Weeds

Drama Series:

• Boston Legal
• Damages*
• Dexter*
• Friday Night Lights
• Grey’s Anatomy
• House
• Lost*
• Mad Men* (sleeper?)
  
• The Tudors
• The Wire*

There’s actually only one movie I’d fee comfortable recommending this week, so all-in-all, it’s a yawner of a Tuesday.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

This movie has an 8.2 rating on IMDB, and a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, won two Golden Globes and had a total of 35 wins in various festivals and award shows.

Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body, except his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir, Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he’d only visited in his mind.

I really want to see this one, I heard it’s unbelievably magical and inspiring. Can you imagine “blinking” out your memoirs? (buy)

Various TV shows

Amazon has some pretty amazing deals going if you want to order your favorite series on TV.

• Lost – Seasons 1-3: Only $99 when it would normally run $179 . Yikes. But not in Blu-Ray.
• Scrubs – Seasons 1-6: $149 instead of $249. Smoking.
• Grey’s Anatomy – Seasons 1-3: $79 versus $149.

Cheers: The Complete Ninth Season comes out as well.

You can see more releases over on Amazon.com.

Blu-Ray Releases

• 27 Dresses (Fox)
• First Knight (Sony)
• The Golden Compass (New Line)
• Motley Crue: Carnival of Sins (Warner Music Group)
• Mozart: Die Zauberflote (Opus Arte)
• Ocean’s Eleven (Warner)
• Ocean’s Twelve (Warner)

Now we get awesome news that there will be a 14th hour added this season, but we’re going to have to endure a week off before we get to watch it.

Here’s the full scoop, thanks to the Ausiello Report:

The season finales of Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty were all scheduled to take place on May 22nd. We’d get the original part 1 of the Lost finale on May 15th, then the second part on May 22nd.

As we told you a few day ago, the Lost producers have been begging ABC for an additional hour to finish the season, because otherwise it was going to feel too rushed. ABC had no problems with it, but the scheduling conflict on May 22nd posed a problem.

So this is how it got fixed:

Lost will get a 14th hour, but it will now air as part of a two-hour finale on May 29th, with no episode being shown on the 22nd. The reason they did this was because of the other two shows already having their finales on the 22nd, thus not allowing a fourth hour of TV to be shown that night.

The bonus, or good side in all of this, if you are a Grey’s Anatomy fan, is that because of the great ratings they are having as well, an additional hour will be shown for their finale on the 22nd.

So to break it down:

May 15th:

• Ugly Betty
• Grey’s Anatomy
• Lost: Season finale part 1

May 22nd:

• Ugly Betty
• Grey’s Anatomy: Two hour season finale

May 29th:

• Lost encore: Season finale part 1
• Lost: Two hour conclusion

So while we get awesome news, we’re going to have to go a week without Lost once again. Always a downside.

On a side note, I wonder how this last minute scramble to film additional hours will be for the two series. I guess there is about a month and a half left until they air, but that seems to be cutting it pretty close.

From the Ausiello Report, this news will bode well for us Lost fans for another reason:

(There is a spoiler below, so do NOT read on from here if you don’t want to know something about the season finale)

“We are very excited and grateful to [ABC president] Steve McPherson for working out the scheduling difficulties to allow us to make the second part of our finale two hours,” says exec producer Carlton Cuse. “Damon and I were working on the script and we just couldn’t get it all done in one hour without shortchanging the story. Now the finale will have all the sweep and emotional completeness we wanted it to have â€â€? along with, of course, answering who’s in the coffin.”

Can’t wait.

No name has been released, in fact, I don’t think they even know what it will be. But we do know, according to TVGuide.com, that this spinoff will be the result of a specially geared episode to help launch it.

If you remember Grey’s Anatomy and the episode they did in which Kate Walsh goes to California, meets a bunch of new people and then suddenly stars in Private Practice that fall, you get the idea of what is happening here.

The good news from my standpoint is that even though it’s a spinoff, it’s not supposed to include any of the “mother ship’s core cast” or so says TVGuide.

The producers are still looking for a “name” to headline the show, which means that person will likely either pop-in for just this special spin-off episode, or perhaps be around for a few more and then leaving the show ala Kate Walsh on Grey’s.

I’ll be happy as long as Jim, Pam, Dwight, Michael, Toby, Angela, Crede, Kevin, Meredith, Daryl, Stanley and Pam all stay put.

Updated hourly, we’re getting a great list on when our favorite shows will return with new episodes.

I am putting the current list below, but Ausiello warns that most if not all of this information is very tentative and will more than likely change a bit. Since they are updating it all the time, it might be worth bookmarking it, or else check back here every few days when I’ll try to pass on the news to you guys.

The saddest part of this list:

Journeyman
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Well ugh.

Anyways, here you go. Bookmark this link if you want to check it out daily.

2/11/08, 5:30pm:

When your Favorite Shows Will Return

24
Season 7 likely postponed until January ’09.
30 Rock
Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.
Aliens in America
Eight pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.
Back to You
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Future TBD*.
Battlestar Galactica
Returns April 4 with first half of 20-episode final season. Production on second half could start as early as March. Airdate for those TBD.
The Big Bang Theory
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.
Big Love
Expected to go into production on Season 3 in March. Airdate info is TBD.
Big Shots
No new episodes expected. Ever.
Bionic Woman
No new episodes expected. Ever.
Bones
Four pre-strike episodes left. Unclear whether additional episodes will be produced for this season.
Boston Legal
Expected to shoot 4 or 7 new episodes to air in April/May.
Brothers & Sisters
One pre-strike episode remains. Expected to shoot 4 or 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.
Burn Notice
Production on Season 2 expected to get under way in late April. New episodes could start airing as early as July.
Chuck
No new episodes until fall.
The Closer
Expected to kick off its fourth season this summer.
Cold Case
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.
Criminal Minds
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.
CSI
Expected to shoot 4 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.
CSI: Miami
Expected to shoot 4 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.
CSI: NY
Expected to shoot 4 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.
Desperate Housewives
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.
Dirty Sexy Money
No new episodes planned until fall; three remaining pre-strike episodes will undergo some tweaking and kick off fall run.
ER
TBD.
Everybody Hates Chris
Twelve pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.
Friday Night Lights
No new episodes expected for this season. Future TBD.
The Game
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 8 or 9 additional episodes to air in March/April/May.
Ghost Whisperer
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.
Girlfriends
Two pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected, although a special one-hour series finale is being discussed.
Gossip Girl
Expected to shoot 5 or 6 episodes to air in April/May/June.
Greek
Kicks off second half of Season 1 on March 24. Still awaiting Season 2 pickup.
Grey’s Anatomy
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May
Heroes
No new episodes expected until fall.
House
Expected to shoot 4 to 6 new episodes to air in April/May.
How I Met Your Mother
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.
Jericho
Seven episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.
Journeyman
No new episodes expected. Ever.
Las Vegas
Two pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.
Law & Order
Expected to shoot an indeterminate number of episodes to air in spring.
Law & Order: CI
Expected to shoot an indeterminate number of episodes to air in spring.
Law & Order: SVU
Expected to shoot an indeterminate number of episodes to air in spring.
Life
No new episodes expected until fall.
Life Is Wild
No new episodes expected. Ever.
Lost
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Six additional episodes could air this season.
Medium
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot additional episodes for this season.
Men in Trees
Eleven pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.
Moonlight
No new episodes expected until fall.
My Name Is Earl
Expected to shoot 8 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.
NCIS
Expected to shoot 5 to 9 new episodes to air in April/May.
The New Adventures of Old Christine
Seven pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.
Nip/Tuck
Season 5 concludes Feb. 19. Production on the show’s eight-episode sixth season expected to start up this summer. Airdate TBD.
Numbers
Expected to shoot 5 to 9 new episodes to air in April/May.
October Road
Five pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.
The Office
Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.
One Tree Hill
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 5 or 6 additional episodes to air in April/May.
Prison Break
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.
Private Practice
Slim chance it could return with 4 or 5 new episodes this season. Either way, it’ll be back in the fall.
Pushing Daisies
No new episodes until fall.
Reaper
Three pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 5 or 6 additional episodes to air in April/May.
The Riches
Seven-episode second season kicks off March 18.
Samantha Who?
Three pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot an additional 3 episodes to air this spring, likely after Dancing with the Stars.
Saturday Night Live
Could be back on the air as early as Feb. 16.
Scrubs
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Four additional episodes will likely be shot; unclear whether they’ll air on NBC or go straight to DVD.
Smallville
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 5 or 6 additional episodes to air in April/May.
Supernatural
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 4 or 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Five pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.
Two and a Half Men
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.
Ugly Betty
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.
Without a Trace
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.
Women’s Murder Club
Back on the critical list. I’m now hearing ABC is thisclose to shutting down Club for good.

So after writing about how much I agreed with Entertainment Weekly and seeing a lot of people agree, what did you think about this week’s episode? Better? Worse?

I thought it was a little better, but not much. Why did Suresh show up on the doorstep of a girl who had just learned of her power a day before? Who could possibly have known that so fast, and aren’t there others who are more developed they should be after?

The main reason I felt this episode was better was A) less Hiro in Japan B) less of the Cheerleader and C) More Peter.

His ability to suddenly see a canvas and start painting without knowing why is one of my favorite powers I’ve seen on the show. And when he drops into that hypnotic realm, with the white eyes, it’s pretty sweet.

But otherwise, the episode was so-so. The best part was Dual Personality chick bursting into the hallway out of nowhere. We had no idea where she had been, so that was pretty surprising.

Journeyman

Another fine entry into this wonderful little show that seems on the brink of extinction. I write this not knowing how many episodes we have left to watch, so the more people talk about it, the better.
Regardless, this one had two great moments. The first was his kid seeing him vanish. The whole episode I was thinking, if anyone would think what Dan does is cool, it would be his son. So he should just tell him already. But that happened on it’s own, with his son witnessing the whole act. Awesome.

The story becomes more mysterious with the Tacheon Man. Who is he? Obviously he knows something. Does anything have to do with Dan’s father? Is there a link there? Why did Dan get the call from Tacheon Man 15 years ago while traveling?

I am dying to find out and I just hope we do.

Grey’s Anatomy

I have to say, this show lost me last year, but it’s found me again. The stories are fresh and interesting, and it’s gotten back to its roots from season one. The characters are more lively and fun than last year.

It’s gotten to the point that now we tape CSI on the bedroom DVR to watch at a later date, because Grey’s is just more fun to watch on Thursdays.

(Thursday nights take more than one DVR in our house…yikes – but it’s only for CSI)

The Office

Finally, we’re back to 30 minute episodes and last night’s was good. Although I don’t know why Jim was acting funny about his Second Life character. Wasn’t that strange?

The scenes with Kelly, Creed, Andy and Daryl doing their jingles was hilarious. Creed, really???

Ohhhh Deeeeeee!

Best line: “I’m not used to making videos with so many people.” – Meredith

Ewwwwww!

Other thoughts

I don’t think anyone watches it, but I’ve been enjoying Reaper on the CW. I usually grab a show each year that is more of a dumb, fun show, like Supernatural two years ago. This one is kind of fun, goofy and has an interesting plot going on.

Oh, and while I haven’t mentioned 30 Rock much this year, it’s funny as ever, and last night’s scene with Alec Baldwin doing impressions of Tracy Jordan’s family was an absolute riot!

According to Ausiello, Pushing Daisies has been picked up for a full season, making for a total of 22 episodes. They had initially ordered 13, but added nine more just recently. Great news for a little series that is one of my favorites from the batch of new shows this fall.

Now if I can hear this sentence, all will be good in the world: Journeyman ALSO picked up for a full season…

Patrick Dempsey, or McDreamy on Grey’s Anatomy, is about to find a new girlfriend in upcoming episodes…

Poppy Montgomery on Without a Trace is going to be joined by some one-night stand she was with before, this time for a few more episodes. Who still watches this show?…

On Smallville, Chloe is about to get the biggest scoop of her life for the Daily Planet…Lana’s alive!

I’ll throw this in here for Gilmore Girl fans, a made up question/answer (made me laugh):

Question: Do you think Rory is sick of being on the campaign trail with Obama yet? � Channing

Ausiello: A better question is whether Obama is sick of being on the campaign trail with Rory. As you know, that girl never shuts up!

Rachel Bilson is coming to Chuck, and this is what the story is on her character (no clue when she will be on yet):

“She plays Lou, a sandwich maker who complicates the faux relationship with Chuck and Sarah by possibly being available for a real relationship,” says Schwartz. “But like all characters in Chuck’s life these days… she may not be what she appear.”

Finally, a Friday Night Light’s tidbit…should we be worried about the show sticking around all season?

“Depends. If you like the show in its current Friday time slot, then yes, you should probably be worried. If you’d prefer it air, oh, say, Mondays at 10 pm after Heroes, then you should be thrilled. You see, according to card-carrying Aushole Lauren, the Peacock recently sent out a reader survey and one of the questions was, “Would you be more likely to watch Friday Night Lights if it followed Heroes on Monday?”

Now that would be great!