Don’t forget in the midst of the Halloween hoopla, that tonight is the night that Lisa Minnelli guest stars on Law & Order: Criminal Intent as the mother to a slain child actress on tonights episode titled Masquerade. Here is some promo goodness.

Minnelli is getting some great reviews of this performance, despite all the weird news items that pop up about her lifestyle. She really is a talented actress.

TV.com also has some video from when the episode was shot.

Smallville 90210, coming to a small screen near you. It was announced last month that Tori Spelling would appear on Smallville. Well, it looks like her first episode will be airing in January 2007. It is the tenth episode of the season, currently titled Hydro.

Tori will appear as Linda Lake, the gossip columnist at the Daily Planet. And don’t worry, she will be evil! Her special ability will be to turn into water. Her role will be to out some big secrets that will propel the series through the second half of the season.

I admit, I liked Tori on 90210 when she wasn’t being too whiny, although that whole Donna the Virgin story got old really fast. She pulled off her reality show So noTORIous fairly well, so I am curious to see how she pulls off Smallville.

So remember when all the buzz hit the news about bodies being found on location at CSI: NY and CSI: Miami locations? Well, turns out that happened during the same week that the cast and crew of CSI: Miami were filming the super creepy episode Curse of the Coffin, which aired last week.

Some people around here think that maybe the curse was real: during the filming of this episode, two bodies were found on the sets of CSI shows. CSI: NY found a mummified body while shooting in downtown L.A., and then another corpse washed ashore in Miami when our crew was on location. Coincidence or curse? I’ll let you decide.

Creepy.

And those Santeria items? They were all real, including that tiny coffin. And the goat’s head? You guessed it, it was real, maggots and all.

The props used in “Curse of the Coffin” are actual Santeria ritual objects (including the tiny coffin!). That added authenticity to the episode, but also upped the creep factor on set. Some of the crew refused to go anywhere near the coffin.

Our props team also procured a real goat head with real maggots and real beetles. Hello? Real creepy! At least at first. By the end of the day, I found myself saying things like, “Can we add a few maggots to the goat’s left eye?”

Yuck.

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Despite very persistent rumors that the star studded Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip would be cancelled, NBC has nonetheless ordered up three more scripts of the lukewarm series. So far, NBC has only ordered a full season for the breakout hit Heroes, but Studio 60 hasn’t been faring very well in the ratings, although it has received critical acclaim.

Because of the Bachelor’s Rome connections, and the fact the series is being shot in Rome, executive producer Mike Fleiss actually put in a special request with the Vatican, according to the NYPost.

Say what?

This isn’t some serious show but basically a parade of pop tarts who want to be princesses. And they think this is quality enough to warrant a papal blessing? Hold your tiaras.

“We’re really trying to get the Pope to be on the show,” said Fleiss. Fleiss envisioned his newest bachelor, Prince Lorenzo Borghese, 34, being granted an audience with the Pope before handed out his final rose.

“Wouldn’t it be cool,” said Fleiss in a moment of wishful thinking, “to see the Pope praying with the bachelor and giving him guidance to make the right decision?”

I read this earlier today, and thought it had to be a joke but April Fool’s Day is still a long ways off.

The first two graphic novels in the Degrassi Extra Credit series have been released. The first is Turning Japanese and the second is Suddenly Last Summer. The books are now available in Canada (Fenn Publishing), but Americans will have to wait a few more weeks for the US edition from Simon & Schuster to be available.

The books expand on storylines from the show, and there are two more planned for release in May 2007. Many of the characters from the hit television show are either in starring or supporting roles in these illustrated books. They are written by J. Torres while Ed Northcott is the illustrator. The books are Japanese-inspired.

They are available for preorder now in the US. In Canada, you will find them in your local Chapters in the Manga or graphic novels section. To pre-order the new Degrassi Extra Credit books or get even more info on the books, click the book covers.

Samaire Armstrong, best known for her role as Anna on The O.C., has a guest starring role on the November 6th episode of CSI: Miami titled High Octane. It hasn’t been announced which role is hers.

A 19-year-old man is decapitated while performing a dangerous stunt with his tricked-out car during a sideshow where drivers and spectators gather to see unique autos and stunts. The man is beheaded while driving with his head sticking out of his car’s sunroof under a row of tension cables strung between lamp posts. Although the incident appears to be an accident, Horatio believes the man was murdered. Also, Ryan agrees to allow a documentary filmmaker to follow him at
work.

CSI: Miami has been sizzling up the ratings so far this season, and this episode looks to be no exception, just so long as they don’t get toooo gory with the headless driver!

Liev Schreiber, a Tony Award-winning actor, is joining the cast of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in a recurring role on the popular series. He will play a seasoned CSI with a strong reputation at many police departments across the country before joining up with the Las Vegas Crime Lab.

Now, it can’t just be me who thinks there must be a story behind having a “strong” repuation with so many police departments. Because strong doesn’t neccessarily mean good

Liev Schreiber will show up for the twelve episode of the season, which is set to be aired in January 2007 on CBS.

We told you about William Shatner’s new game show, Show Me The Money. Well, ABC has given the new show a timeslot.

The show will premiere Wednesday, November 22 at 8pm.

So we know contestants need to answer trivia questions correctly. But get this, when they do, they get to pick scrolls with hidden dollar amounts… which are being held by dancers AKA Million Dollar Dancers! I can only imagine how much (or how little) these dancers will be wearing! And with Shatner, I am envisioning Vegas style headresses.

Heaven help us!

Well, Lost junkies, we only have two more episodes to go before Lost goes on hiatus for {gulp} 3 months! ABC has set the official return date as Wednesday, February 7th. But fortunately for fans, the series will then run for 16 weeks straight, right through to the season finale.

So mark your calendars for the return date, but no doubt there will be plenty of hype and commercials leading up to the February 7th airdate. Hopefully there will be something good to tide all the fans over, and keep them interested.

What exactly can an actor say when his outburst prompts a fellow cast member to have to “come out of the closet” and announce to the world he is gay? However you slice and dice it, an apology just isn’t good enough.

Isaiah Washington released an apology to People Magazine:

“I sincerely regret my actions and the unfortunate use of words during the recent incident on-set,” Washington tells People. “Both are beneath my own personal standards. I have nothing but respect for my coworkers … and have apologized personally to everyone involved.”

And it is a pretty dangerous game for an actor to play, especially when his character could easily be written out. Hit ABC shows have a habit of firing actors for bad behavior (remember both Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros got canned from Lost after D.U.I. arrests; Page Kennedy was fired from Desperate Housewives after “improper behavior”, widely believed to be flashing the wives on set) so I wouldn’t be surprised if Dr. Burke ends up heading up research at some far away hospital once his hand tremor is revealed to all.

Unfortunately, Shonda Rhimes has knocked down any rumors that he would be leaving the series or that he would be replaced by ER’s Eric La Salle.

Too bad. I have lost all respect for Isaiah Washington since this incident, especially because it has dramatically affected the life of T.R. Knight, whom he outted. He should have quit the show out of decency to all the other cast members involved. You have to wonder, how can the rest of the cast ever respect Washington again?

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Claire’s oh-so-creepy father, Mr. Bennet, will become a series regular as of the eleventh episode of the series. Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), the unstereotypical cheerleader of the show, is somehow tied to her father’s creepy kidnapping of and experimenting on Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg). The character was also known by the name Horn Rimmed Glasses… doesn’t that just sound so X-Files?

Mr. Bennet is played by Jack Coleman, who is best known for his Dynasty days as Steven Carrington. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to remember much of Dynasty other than who shot J.R. and how it was the time when shoulder pads were all the rage (and have you SEEN what has hit the runways this season???)

Ask Ausiello has the scoop that not one, but TWO Walker siblings will be splitting with their current partners, and it is all due to happen by mid-season!

Any guesses on who the (un)lucky couples might be? They could go predictable, but then again, the writers just might want to shock the pants off us to keep us watching (and the ratings up).

Hmmm…

Brothers & Sisters airs Sundays at 10pm in the former Grey’s Anatomy time slot.

So why would NBC order a single additional episode to this season’s order, making this season with a total of 25 episodes? Is the 13th season of the series going to prove to be the unlucky series number, and ER will wrap its 13th season with the series finale as the 25th episode? I don’t even have to mention that 25 episodes in a season is also an unusual number of episodes as well.

Of course, it could be as a result of the fact that ER is unexpectedly doing better this season, and NBC has decided not to pull the show for a 13 week hiatus to allow another show its 13 episode run (unlucky for The Black Donnellys). Instead, ER will air at its 10pm Thursday timeslot right through to May sweeps.

So, what do you think? Is the added 25th episode to make room for a series finale or reunion special show where all the past and present cast gets together? As fans know, there is no longer a regular cast member still on the show from the first season (ah, remember the young George Clooney).

Stay tuned!

Patricia Arquette’s husband, Thomas Jane, is set to guest star on the popular series Medium, where he is set to star as Arquette’s character’s ex-boyfriend.

Thomas Jane will play Clay Bicks, a photographer who will end up at Allison’s door the moment after he dies… but in true Medium fashion, Clay won’t realize he is actually dead. Once he discovers the truth, and learns he will never have a life with Allison, he decides to stay put in the Dubois household so he can be forever close to his so-called beloved. As you can imagine, Joe (Jake Weber), Allison’s husband, isn’t quite so happy with this new arrangement.

Thomas and Patricia were married this past June in Venice, Italy. They also have a daughter together, Harlow Olivia Calliope born in 2003.

Powers Boothe (don’t you just love that name?) of Deadwood fame has signed on to be the new VP on 24’s new season.

In the recurring role, he will play Noah Daniels, the No. 2 to new U.S. President Wayne Palmer (D.B. Woodside). Powers, who co-starred on HBO’s “Deadwood,” recently wrapped the indie “The Final Season” opposite Sean Astin.

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Yes, the speculation is true. Lorelai is getting married… to Chris! The episode features the Gilmore Girls in Paris for November sweeps, and the two tie the knot on November 14th.

And what about Luke? Well, David Rosenthal reveals that he and Lorelai will still be in each other’s lives. And looks like things might be rough for Lorelai when she returns from Paris with a different hubby than everyone was expecting.

Ausiello has the full scoop

But honestly, I can’t believe she is (finally) getting married after so many false starts. Wow!

American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken will show up in Salem on Days of Our Lives for a special holiday performance. He will be singing at Dune to Steve (Stephen Nichols) and Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) in an episode airing on December 22nd. He will perform “Everything I Have” on the hit NBC soap.

The episode will tape on November 14th for the December 22nd airdate.

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November 1st marks the return of Mariska Hargitay on Law & Order: SVU. Hargitay has been away on maternity leave since giving birth to her daughter August in June.

While Hargitay’s character Detective Olivia Benson appeared in the first episode of the season, it set up the storyline of her undercover story which has kept her character from the show since then.

Connie Nielsen (Gladiator, One Hour Photo) as brought in during Hargitay’s absence for the four episodes she did not appear on. Nielsen played Detective Dani Beck. However, she will remain with the series through the November sweeps.