TV on Tap: TNT Fits Jamie Bamber for Hospital Scrubs, Patton Oswalt Joins "Two and a Half Men" and Sherilynn Fenn Goes Syfy

Michael Feinstein continues exploring the United States' muscial history
with a new season of American Songbook.

News

Patton Oswalt will appear on an episode of Two and a Half Men as the former business partner of Ashton Kutcher's tech mogul. He was so close to making me think of him as a comedian too edgy to have been a part of The King of Queens.

Oh, Raising Hope. Why must you continue to make me question my love of your hilarity with such terrible guest-casting?

Bryan Fuller's Munsters reboot has a new title, the series will be called Mockingbird Lane, after the street where the Munster family lives.

Why are ads during the Super Bowl so expensive? That's because the big game delivers an audience that scripted programming hasn't been able to deliver since the days of Cheers and Dallas.

Dana Gould is working with Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl to develop a comedy for FX. The series follows a rock band who goes into counseling to try to prevent a breakup just as they're getting their first taste of success. Unfortunately, they pick a misanthrope dealing with a divorce battle.

Jamie Bamber has signed up for the lead role on the upcoming TNT medical drama Chelsea General. The series is David E. Kelley's adaptation of Sanjay Gupta's upcoming novel, Monday Mornings. I'm still feeling burned out on Kelley's style of telling stories but the chance of seeing the hunky Bamber in scrubs makes things easier.

Oh yes. My reason for loving Twin Peaks (okay, not my only reason but definitely in the top three) Sherilynn Fenn has signed up for a Syfy movie. In addition to the former Audrey Horne, Bigfoot will feature Alice Cooper, Danny Bonaduce, Barry Williams, Howard Hesseman and Andre Royo.

Many news junkies became aware of Elizabeth Warren in 2008 when she started appearing on cable news shows as part of the bank-bailout oversight commission. However, before that she was a familiar face to Dr. Phil viewers who saw her give financial advice to guests struggling with tough financial circumstances. I'm not a fan of Dr. Phil, but I'm glad he's using his candidate-grooming powers for good, not evil.

Supernatural creator Eric Kripke and J. J. Abrams are teaming up for an NBC pilot, Revolution. The series is a post-apocalyptic drama about people trying to survive in a world that suddenly lost all sources of energy.

This week's TV Guide features Downton Abbey on the cover. The last time a prime time PBS show was on the cover, Carl Sagan was making sure to emphasize the 'B' in billion on 1980's Cosmos.

And speaking of Downton Abbey, here is a collection of pictures of the cast out of their period costumes. Check out a scruffy-hot Thomas and feel surprise at the sight of Anna looking glamorous.

I've been enjoying most of ABC Family's current shows. Pretty Little Liars can still deliver the camp, Switched at Birth has stayed character focused and The Lying Game keeps surprising me. I guess that means I'm due for a reminder that it's not all good programming as they've renewed The Secret Life of Monotone People.

The Talk may have a new talk show, The Revolution (which replaced One Life to Live), as competition, but it just matched its second-best performance. Meanwhile, The Revolution lost about 9% of the viewers who checked it out in its debut week.

Friday's Listings

The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated) Check local listings
Ellen's got the only appearance the four Voice mentors

Days of Our Lives (NBC) Check local listings
It's time for the mayoral debate and Will is about to shock Salem by letting the world in on one of his secrets.

Michael Feinstein's American Songbook (PBS) Check local listings
Michael takes a look at "time machines" that let us look back at the history of music like "soundies," early musical films, a visit to the Kansas City building where the jam session was created and a discussion with entertainer Rose Marie.

Nikita (CW) 8:00 PM ET
From the moment we saw Percy imprisoned, we knew he was creating a plan to get back in control of The Division. He's finally putting that plan in motion, one that uses the lives of Division agents as a bargaining chip.

Who Do You Think You Are? (NBC) 8:00 PM ET
The third season kicks off with a look at the ancestry of activist Martin Sheen, who learns he had ancestors who shared his passion for social justice, including one who fought in the Irish Civil War and a Spanish ancestor who was imprisoned by Franco's regime.

Grimm (NBC) 9:00 PM ET
We just saw Once Upon a Time's take on on Hansel & Gretel. Now, Grimm's version involves the discovery of a human organ harvesting operation. I guess it makes sense that this would be the show with the... er, grimmer take.

Supernatural (CW) 9:00 PM ET
If you've been missing Aunt Jenna on The Vampire Diaries, she's facing off against the Winchester brothers tonight as they deal with a murder where a body has been found with the hands and feet have been severed.

Merlin (Syfy) 10:00 PM ET
Arthur finds himself in a new predicament when he kills the king of a neighborhood kingdom. Maybe he could try pulling up his pants, putting on some Urkel glasses and saying "Did I do that?"

Spartacus: Vengeance (Starz) 10:00 PM ET
Last week we saw that the former gladiators were starting to resent the freed slaves who don't specialize in summoning the blood-splatter CGI. That tension should get worse this week as Spartacus frees more slaves from a villa.

Portlandia (IFC) 10:00 PM ET
Kyle MacLachlan is back as the Mayor of Portland and he wants Fred and Carrie to redesign the city's police uniforms. I hope he pulls a Heidi and announces a twist, like asking them to work with materials found from the city's recycling bins. Even more brilliantly, Fred praises Portland for bringing back the 1890s.

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (IFC) 10:30 PM ET
As if Todd weren't in enough legal trouble after getting kicked out of a wild bachelorette party and then arrested outside of Princess Di's grave, now Alice is going to find out in the worst possible way that the liquor license Todd obtained for her wasn't legitimate. Plus, I get the feeling that Young & Knott isn't a legal services company.