FRINGE (9PM FOX, CTV in Canada)
By golly we’ve got it, the world’s worst drinking game. Take a shot every-time Astrid (the adorable Jasika Nicole) gets an actual line! But seriously folks, do not miss what Executive Producer Jeff Pinkner calls “a total game changer” of an episode.

90210 (8PM CW, 9PM Global in Canada)
Annie’s jealousy of Rhonda starts to wear on Ethan. Which is odd, because one would think Ethan would find Annie’s incessant smiling far more annoying.

PRIVILEGED (8PM CW, 8PM CityTV in Canada)
LIPSTICK JUNGLE’s Kirby (Robert Buckley) drops by PRIVILEGED. Which means by our calculations, PRIVILEGED fans best be starting their “Save Our Show” Campaign in 3… 2… 1..

NEW & NOTABLE:
MAN CAVES (9PM ABC, CityTV in Canada)
If we plug it… will the come (and build us our very own Man Cave?) Fingers crossed.

NIP/TUCK (10PM FX)
Talk about fortuitous timing. A down-on-his-luck Bradley Cooper (did you see his God awful hosting job on SNL?) reprises his role as Aidan Stone, a down-on-his-luck actor who wants a biopic about Sean to be his comeback vehicle.

Now that we’ve got your attention with that catchy title… Human teddy bears, sexy serial killers and Kimber sex dolls aside, did NIP/TUCK go too far in having Liz and Christian sleep together last night? Or was this an inevitable result of their year’s long love/hate relationship? On a show which seems to court controversy, this may turn out to be one of the hottest topics they’ve ever addressed! Which means, of course, we want to hear your take on the show’s longtime devout lesbian becoming yet another Christian conquest!

Photo Credit: Michael Becker/FX

While the focus of this site is predominantly on American television, every so often this proud-to-be-Canadian TV Addict likes to take a moment to highlight some of the must see TV that makes its way North of the 49th parallel.

When it comes to tonight’s series premiere of DAMAGES, one thing is for certain. You may inititally tune into the show for Glenn Close’s Golden Globe winning performance as morally ambiguous legal beagle Patty Hewes. But you’ll stick around thanks to a stellar supporting cast (or more specifically to watch Ted Danson prove there’s life after CHEERS) and enough twists and turns that you’ll soon be scratching your head and wondering whether you’re watching LOST in a courtroom. (DAMAGES airs on Mondays at 10PM on Showcase)\

In the wake of the writer’s strike, Global TV shrewdly made the move to prop up their shrinking schedule with the mother of all family dramas. HBO’s BIG LOVE revolves around husband Bill Henrickson and his not one, or even two, but three wives. Needless to say, it’s dysfunctional family drama at its best. (BIG LOVE airs on Thursdays at 10PM on Global TV)

Rather than take CTV to task for once again delaying the fifth season of NIP/TUCK until practically the entire season has been unintentionally spoiled online for us by our American friends. I’ll simply remind Canadians TV Addicts that McNamara/Troy’s move to Hollywood has led to one of the most twisted and funny seasons yet. (NIP/TUCK airs on Fridays at 10PM on CTV)

Finally, a well-written, interesting, debate-filled episode of LAW & ORDER: SVU! I know, I know, after last week’s mess of an offering I vowed to stop watching, but… well, I lied. Sue me. This week, the plot involved polygamy, involuntary female circumcision (ouch), a movement encouraging the snuffing-out of snitches and more… including a fantastic final-act twist. In a throwback to classic L&O, the personal details were scant and yet intriguing; the look on Benson’s face as she realized that Stabler had dated an attractive bit player helping them gather info was subtle and perfect. This is the show I fell in love with. Let’s have more episodes like this and fewer of the sucktacular crap like last week.

Speaking of craptacular, anybody else notice the size of those promos for The Bourne Ultimatum which popped up every 15 minutes or so during SVU? It’s bad enough that the networks allow more and more time to be taken up by ads, or that the insist on pimping whatever show is coming up next, tomorrow or somewhere down the line. But these were ads for a DVD being released on December 11. You want to hawk DVD’s? Do it on your own time. These types of promos are taking over the screen and serve to immediatley take us out of the show we’re trying to watch. Producers need to stand up and demand that the networks put an immediate stop to this kind of nonsense.

When shows like NIP/TUCK and RESCUE ME can come right out and use blue language, it’s amazingly annoying to have the characters on GOSSIP GIRL spout things like “don’t f with an f-er.” Yeah, that’s how rich kids talk. I’m not saying the watered-down version of the teens from the bestselling book should toss around f-bombs on the teen-friendly CW. But let’s no go out of our way to draw attention to the linguistic backbends, okay? Don’t get me wrong… I love GG. How much? Enough that I went on e-Bay and bought a half-dozen of the books. (Seriously, do parents have any idea what their kids are reading? And stop judging me! I needed something with big print to read on the eliptical!) I have to assume that readers-turned-viewers have to be thrilled with little details like swoon-worthy Nate wearing Blair’s heart on his sleeve, directly lifted from the first book. My favorite thing about last night’s episode? Serena’s grandmother, CeCe, whose blood is bluer than those of STAR TREK’s Andorians. Played by Caroline Lagerfelt, CeCe made GILMORE GIRLS’ Emily look positively kittinish! Or maybe seeing player Chuck fall — and hard — for Blair and then self-destructively sabotage himself. Oh, no, it’s watching Jenny slowly morph from goody-two-shoes to witchy wanna-be as her mom asked if she likes “the person you’re becoming.” Or maybe that great song, Secret (by The Pierces) featured during the bit debutante ball. This is the most gluttonous guilty pleasure on TV, and I’m eating it up with a spoon.

I like the idea behind ER’s 300th episode, airing tonight, but every time a primetime show makes a big deal about reaching such a milestone — achieved over the span of a decade — I have to laugh. Start squawking when you’ve done 15,000 episodes, a landmark GUIDING LIGHT (which films 300 episodes in less than two years) hit a while back. Heck, I’ll applaud any primetime show that airs 15 consecutive new episodes without showing a repeat. I’m just sayin’.

First on the list — HEROES. It’s not so much that I hated Monday’s episode. I simply watched the entire hour thinking, “If only they started the season off this way!” Just imagine. How much more exciting would “Generations” have been if we knew that Adam and Peter were on the run from The Company. That the ‘Wonder Twin’s’ crime was essentially a wedding massacre and that Niki suddenly found herself with a lot more than just Jessica to contend with.

While it comes as no surprise —considering the brilliance of season one — this TV Addict is officially proclaiming DEXTER as this fall’s Must Watch Show. And not just Must Watch. It’s Must Watch with no interruptions. No phone, internet or food. Simply me, mesmerized and on the edge of my seat as Lundy and Co. creep closer and closer to realizing that the Bay Harbour Butcher is one of their own. Gulp!

Is anyone else struggling to figure out where Robin fits in when it comes to this season of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER? While the show’s done a marvelous job of highlighting the ups and downs of Marshall and Lilly’s post-nuptial life, Ted’s quest for coupledom and Barney being well, Barney. Robin seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. Here’s hoping that post-strike, MOTHER masterminds Carter Bays and Craig Thomas give the deserving Cobie Smulders a far more substantial role to play in the show. A fellow Canadian and former Pop Star deserves a far better fate then TV sidekick.

And finally. I have a feeling NIP/TUCK’s Julian McMahon left his acting skills in Miami when McNamara/Troy moved to LA. Don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely loving NIP/TUCK: 90210 edition, but simply can’t believe how poor a job McMahon is doing of hiding his Australian accent. Hey McMahon — Get’cha Head in the Game!

When Nip/Tuck premiered on FX 5 seasons ago, I was immediately hooked. In love with the totally over the top way it approached every subject. It’s crazy, sure, but I always found some way to relate. These characters, as much as they sometimes hate each other, love each other to the core, and prove that they would do anything for each other. And the story lines in the beginning? Sure, they were nuts, but at the end of the day they were truly fabulous and ground breaking.However, I almost feel like the show lost its way a bit over the past few seasons. There was The Carver storyline, the Scientology storyline, the Julia falls for the nanny storyline (okay, that one was pretty awesome because I love Peter Dinklage). It hasn’t been as grounded in truth as it was in the beginning.I’m thrilled beyond belief to let you all know that Season 5 is back on track.

The first two episodes had me laughing, rolling my eyes, loving every minute of what I was watching. I’m usually not a big fan of guest stars, but wow. Two episodes in and we’ve got the best of the best.

Lauren Hutton – she plays Fiona, Sean and Christian’s new super expensive Publicist.

Daphne Zuniga – she plays Carly Summers, an aging movie star, that Christian screws and screws over (go figure).

Bradley Cooper – if anyone plays over the top, it’s him. He plays Aidan Stone, star of the show-within-a-show Hearts and Scalpels. He does overacting like nobody’s business, and I mean that in the best way!

Paula Marshall – one of my favorites in the entire universe (you all remember Cupid, right?), she’s playing the antagonist, on screen and off, of Bradley’s character. She’s starting a little something with our boy Sean, and I love it! She’s a little crazy, too, and I love that as well!

Oliver Platt – he’s playing an extreme version of what I can only imagine is Ryan Murphy and Marc Cherry all rolled into one. It’s a really great role for him.Jennifer Collidge – She is one of my favorite Christopher Guest cast mates. She’s funny in anything, and this is no different. She takes a one-off role and turns it into something amazing.

Portia DiRossi – Does she need any introduction? The lady that was Lindsay Bluth Funke and is currently Ellen’s better half.

If guest stars aren’t your thing, there’s plenty of action with the main cast. Christian and Sean are at odds because for once in their life, McNamara is getting the action and Troy is pushed to the side. Sean has a great new job as the consultant to Hearts and Scalpels, while Christian is learning the hard way that he’s never going to be the new face in town.

Julia is back in town to surprise Sean and Christian with her new love. Not only is the fact that she’s got someone new a surprise. Who it is is much more surprising to our favorite surgeons. Portia’s not on the show for surgical reasons. She’s Julia’s new love interest and it blows everyone’s mind.Liz is still around and kicking, being the strong sassy woman she used to be, before the stolen kidney, the controlling Alanis Morrisette situation, and just about everything she’s dealt with over the past few seasons.

Still not doing it for you? Episode 1, we get Julian McMahon’s naked behind (as has become the norm). In episode two, we get almost the full monty as Christian decides it’s a good time to get down to his leopard print skivvies. And then? He takes them off and poses for a nude photo shoot. It’s FX, not Showtime or HBO, so we don’t see it all, but there’s not much left to the imagination.

Even if you haven’t ever watched the show before, the fact that these guys are starting over in a new city means that you’ve are starting the LA journey with them and shouldn’t have any trouble understanding them!

Do yourself a favor and tune in Tuesday night at 10 on FX for the premiere. I guarantee you’ll be entertained! In the coming weeks, look for John Hensley and Kelly Carlson (Matt and Kimber) to appear back on the scene. Oh, and John Schneider (Oh Papa Kent) appears as a porn kingpin, so that’s something crazy and fabulous to look forward to. Let us know what you think about the premiere! Feedback is welcome at mytakeontv@thetvaddict.com. Look for me on Twitter – twitter.com/mytakeontv. Find me on AIM as mytakeontv!

Is NIP/TUCK the new LOVE BOAT?

That’s the question you may be asking yourself when you take a first look at NIP/TUCK’s upcoming parade of season five guest stars. Click the link below for a first look at Rosie, Daphne Zuniga, Portia de Ross, Paula Marshall, Lauren Hutton and Jennifer Coolidge.

With season five of NIP/TUCK just around the corner [October 30], we at theTVaddict.com thought we’d share some fantastic new fifth season promo pics. Not surprisingly, FX takes NIP/TUCK’s mantra “Make me beautiful” to heart. For more great pics, click the link below.

On a related note, this TV Addict will now wait with bated breath to discover which way NBC’s inevitable ‘Americanization’ of EXTRAS goes. Will fans get another success like THE OFFICE, or be subjected to the horror that was COUPLING? Stay Tuned.

DEADWOOD
Speaking of waiting, we’ve got some bad news for DEADWOOD fans. The pair of two-hour DEADWOOD TV movies that you were promised last year, well, don’t hold your breath. Word from the TCA’s is that creator David Milch is exhausted, having just finished up season one of JOHN FROM CINCINNATI. Apparently, Milch has had just as hard a time running the show as we’ve had figuring out what the frak is going on.

NIP/TUCK
Korbi and Jen [who are filling in for Kristin while she's on her honeymoon] did such a fantastic job covering yesterday’s NIP/TUCK panel that we thought it best to simply link to their report. It goes without saying, that after devouring Bradley Cooper’s brilliant-but-cancelled series KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, we’re counting down the days until NIP/TUCK’s October premiere.

The TV Addict himself got to pose with the original Kimber (Kelly Carlson). And no, I know what you’re thinking — she didn’t convert me to scientology.

In hindsight, the NIP/TUCK panel was perhaps the week’s most disappointing panel at this years Paley Festival. In fact, the word panel is a giant misnomer — as the night was pretty much dominated by two voices — creator Ryan Murphy and star Julian McMahon (Dr. Christian Troy). While Murphy offered up some interesting anecdotes and insight with regards to the show, star Julian McMahon dominated the conversation a little too much for this TV addict’s liking. Who knew Julian McMahon had so much in common with the centre-of-attention doctor he plays on NIP/TUCK?

That said, here’s what creator Ryan Murphy had to say with regards to the origins of NIP/TUCK, on casting the show, the infamous story-lines, stunt casting and of course, the carver controversy.

THE ORIGINS OF NIP/TUCK:
Ryan Murphy: I was a journalist in the mid nineties. My job was to cover hard news in the LA area. The problem was, that there was none — I was covering the Zsa Zsa Gabor trial. I read this article about Men getting calf implants — like it was all the rage. I thought it was fascinating and ridiculous at the same time. I talked to my editor and he agreed that I’d go undercover to a plastic surgeon and write the article. I found a gullible and sweet plastic surgeon. In the consult he told me ten other things that I needed to have done. He’d say things like ‘Beauty is symmetry’ and that I was a ‘moderately attractive person but my ears were half a centimeter off.’ I was so stunned, but at the same time I was thinking he was right. I didn’t write the story but I never forget the experience. ‘Tell Me What You Don’t Like About Yourself’ came from that meeting.

Following POPULAR I was stuck doing an awful sitcom. My agent said, why don’t you try to write something that you love. Karnal Knowledge + Plastic Surgery = NIP/TUCK. FX bought the pitch in the room and two months later we were shooting the pilot. It happened very quickly.

NIP/TUCK is essentially a love story between two heterosexual men. We could never do it on network TV. I loved THE SHIELD and the only place I thought NIP/TUCK could go was FX or HBO and I choose FX and it had a happy ending.

ON CASTING THE SHOW:
Dylan Walsh: I turned on an HBO movie and saw Dylan Walsh — he was so miserble in it, I wrote the character of Sean for him.

Roma Mafia: I was obsessed with Roma Mafia’s dialogue in DISCLOSURE. I would act it out for friends. When she came into read, I acted the scene out for her.

Julian McMahon: Julian’s part was originally for a Latin male. But Julian came into the room and I thought, well that is very interesting. Julian was so fantastic, he had to come back six times for the network, but I loved him.

John Hensley: John came in and was the immediate choice after he left. He blew everyone away.

Kelly Carlson: Kelly was very interesting. She was a model who just started to act. Her role in the pilot wasn’t very big, but I was so moved by her when I directed the pilot, I just kept writing and writing for her and she became a series regular.

Joely Richardson: Joely was a very difficult part. A lot of big names in Hollywood wanted to do it, but they wouldn’t do nudity. We got a call from Joely Richardson’s manager saying Joely couldn’t stop thinking about the script. We met with her and the rest is history.

NIP/TUCK — THE SHOW BECOMES A HIT!
NIP/TUCK was an instantly marketable idea. I think FX did a great thing, coming up with posters that were banned in several cities. The first poster was a woman with an eye job. It was shocking and meant to provoke. FX has always known how to sell the show and I think that’s a very important thing.

ON THE INFAMOUS STORY-LINES:
A lot of people don’t realize that NIP/TUCK is a satire of our culture. In every writers meeting, we sit and gossip for an hour about what we read with regards to pop culture. The whole Famke Janssen ‘Life Coach’ story came from the fact that people were actually paying people to be life coaches. We thought, let’s write about that and then make her a transexual. The show really examines what ridiculous extremes people will go to to fill the perceived holes in their lives.

On Monday I’ll come into the writer’s room and announce that I’m bored — shock me. We then troll the internet and learn a lot. We’ll find an interesting case, take it to our medical experts and they tell us how we can shoot it and make it interesting. Every case we’ve done is real except the face transplant. We got ripped in the media for that one. But literally, a week later, there was the world’s first face transplant. I take great pride in that!

The motivation for going into the future [in a season four episode] was to show that Sean and Julia’s break-up was for real. We really wanted to tell the audience that the marriage wasn’t going to work out. It was an interesting choice and now that we’re into another season I have second thoughts about it because we’ve sort of committed to a certain outcome. But for me, I wanted to do something that in a weird way boxed us into a corner. It was a fresh and odd television. We took away their choice.

When I pitched the pilot it was initially going to take place in Hollywood. But the network thought, and I agreed that we should start the show somewhere else, as to not fall into the starlett of the week trap. We choose Miami because we had to clearly set the show in a city with skin. We did it for four years, but after four seasons, how many more times can we go into Sean’s kitchen? The surgeon’s room? Christian’s apartment etc. I thought it would be very interesting to move the characters that we already know to Hollywood. It wouldn’t have worked four years ago, but now that they’re in LA, at the age of 42, they will have to literally start over. And since we know our characters so well, we can do the architypes the audience expects — the movie star, the studio executive with a dominatrix etc.

ON THE CARVER CONTROVERSY
After season two we were on such a high. We’d just won the Golden Globe and we had a lot of magazine covers. Everyone was doing really well. But with that level of success, there’s no way you can win, that’s just the nature of the beast. Of course I realized that halfway through season 3 (the Carver season). Originally I thought, let’s shake it up and make the carver gothic. To me, there was no real difference between a plastic surgeon and the carver. But for the audience, the show became too dark and scary. I know people who loved season one and two but couldn’t watch season three. Personally I was in a much darker place in my life and you write what you feel.

I know the cast hated it because the show had always been about the family. In season three, we took an outside character and really had him call the shots. Dylan [Walsh] called it ‘Police Woman.’ They were essentially solving the mystery. But it really did well in the ratings. Season three’s finale was the highest rated episode ever.

It’s just something you see in our culture. When you have big success, you will be brought down. It happens to every huge show on television. Look at LOST. Season two they reached this huge zenith and now they’re being ripped by the media and fans. You then become a huge underdog and either sink or swim.

It’s really hard, the culture says we love you then they finally hate you. You go from an ‘A’ rating in a magazine to a ‘D’ in the middle of the third season.

I felt a huge responsibility to re-invent the show and bring it back to what it was. With the fourth season we told stories about the people we love. We also did what I resisted for a long time, stunt casting.

ON STUNT CASTING
A lot of famous people love the show, it’s a big industry show. We get calls all the time from stars, and this season I thought why not? We don’t want to be the LOVE BOAT, but if Catherine Deneuve calls and says I love the show and will you write me a part? what can I do?

Typical fo the show, I have a meeting with Brooke Shields and create a character for her that you’d never think of — a sexual compulsive therapist. The same thing happened to Rosie. I said I’m going to write something that nobody would expect you to be — a heterosexual who dresses like Joan Collins. I met Peter Dinklage and said I would love to write a part for him. That’s what we did last year and it worked. We’re going to do more of it this year. Once you start smoking with Catherine Denuev on the set, you don’t want to stop.

[Aside from the return of Larry Hagman, Brooke Shields, Rosie O'Donnell, and Jacqueline Bissett, rumours are swirling that both Nicole Kidman and Madonna will be making guest appearances on the show.]

Click below for our other Paley Festival ReCaps (Still to come — UGLY BETTY)

DEXTER
PRISON BREAK
HEROES