Finally Friday TnT

With the exception of Tuesdays, and a little bit on Wednesdays, my current tv viewing schedule is pretty much empty. I'm eager for the returns of Fairly Legal, In Plain Sight, and can the summer return of Rizzoli & Isles get here any sooner?

2 Broke Girls is still keeping me amused on Mondays. I still believe that Max & Caroline are Facts of Life's Jo & Blair reincarnated. It's what the duo would have been without Natalie, Tootie or Mrs G.

I'm still trying to figure out why all of the good shows are scrunched in on Tuesday nights.

Did you catch this week's 200th episode of NCIS, "Life Before His Eyes"? I think it's one of the best that they've ever done. I wasn't much of a fan of the CGI images of Kate that they incorporated, but it was nice to have a brief return of the Kate snark. The most pleasant surprise was seeing Clare Carey as Gibbs' mother. I always love when my various fandoms collide. Clare played CIA agent Kerry Johnson on Stargate SG1, and a quick fling of Jack O'Neill. I might have even liked a Kerry/Jack romance if I wasn't such a big Sam/Jack shipper. Anyway, back to NCIS... it was great to see all of the familiar faces, Papa Gibbs, Jenny Shepherd, Mike Franks, Fornell, Riley, Ari, and even Mark Harmon's son returns as a young Gibbs, and of course Shannon & Kelly. Then there was Mackenzie Astin as part of the new case. And how about McGee & Abby being married? Those two are so cute together.

Yes, I'll reiterate that NCIS always gets the great guest stars. That's including Jamie Lee Curtis & Sean Astin - whom you can see in a recent tweet by Michael Weatherly. (photo) (MW's Twitter) Too bad they didn't have Mack & Sean in the same episode.

This past Tuesday also brought the premiere of The River.

I wasn't really blown away by the premiere, but may give it another viewing.

Wednesday brought the first episode of CSI without Marg. It was heartwarming to see the various mentions that they had about Catherine throughout the episode - first with Greg staring, as if heartbroken, into Catherine's empty office. Then Nick comes up to him.
G: have you talked to Catherine?
N: yeah. yeah, have you?
G: yeah.She, uh, sounded good.
N: yeah. She'll show those FBI boys how to fly straight, huh?
G: she did it for me.
N: she did it for all of us.
G: well, Quantico isn't that far, right?
N: no, not really.

Awwwww. I think they all need a big, big hug.

Later in the episode, Sara tries to give DB a pep talk in the morgue as he's having problems distancing himself from the case.
DB: Can I tell you something crazy? You know how kids are always bumping into something or falling out of something, and they get those cuts & scrapes? I've been saving my kids' bandaids for years. Keep them in the refrigerator.
S: DNA reference
DB: yeah.
S: it's not so crazy. I know somebody who used to work here. She used to do the same thing.

I love the recall back to "I like to watch", where Catherine talks to the camera guy in the locker room:
Camera: Is that your daughter?
Cath: Oh, yeah, these are old pictures. She's a teenager now.
Camera: With all the things you see on this job, do you ever worry about her?
Cath: Are you kidding? I keep a vial of her blood in my freezer.
Camera: Like as a DNA sample in case you need to identify her?
Cath: Well ... one thing you learn doing this job is that bad things happen to people who never expect it ... every day

It's great to hear that recalled back from Sara.

The ending scene of the ep has DB standing in Catherine's empty office. He seems to be still affected by the case he just solved, so he calls Catherine.
DB: hey Catherine. I didn't wake you up, did I? ... no, I know, I know, I'm gonna go home in a minute. I'm just not quite ready yet. ... One of those days. ... No, we're fine. We're fine. Uh, my wife & I have a little contract between us, there's certain things I don't bring home from work. And, um, well today, um, ... I lost one today, Catherine. And, uh, I can't stop seeing her face & can't stop feeling like, you know, there's something I should've done. You know, something more. ... No, I know. I know. I will. I will. It's, uh, I just wanted to talk to you. Knew you'd understand.

Awwwwwwww. I think we need another group hug. As far as the episode goes, it was a pretty good episode for Sara, but the story itself was extremely boring. The downside in this one is that even with the extra female presence of Sara, Morgan, and all of the female victims, Catherine's strong feminine presence was still sorely missed. I can only hope that Elisabeth Shue's new character can fill much of that void. Now is when I wish we'd get the return of early-season snarky, sarcastic, and tough Sara Sidle instead of the den-mother Sara that we've seen since her return to the show.

With Marg gone from CSI, that seems to give me more ambition to watch SVU with Mariska & Kelli. I loved the episode this week, where Liv puts herself in the line of fire and becomes the negotiator for a young guy who's got a couple hostages. Not only was Liv great in diffusing his anger, but she looks darn hot in a Kevlar vest.

A heads-up for any fans of the old series, Women's Murder Club: Aubrey Dollar (Cindy) is to be on tonight's episode of Blue Bloods. And for the China Beach fans, did you catch Jeff Kober on this week's episode of New Girl? I have yet to watch it, but it's on my "to-do list" for this weekend.

Also on my "to-do list" is geting caught up on Downton Abbey. Here's a small article that US Weekly had recently about the show.

And yes, Shirley MacLaine has signed on to be Cora's mother.

On a final note, since Valentine's Day is next week, it makes me think of romance. Therefore, it makes me think of Random Acts of Romance, a movie which is currently being filmed. It includes sci-fi queen, Amanda Tapping. They bring us some nice daily extras at their website: randomactsofromance.com