'Horrible' Is Terrific

When "Buffy" creator Joss Whedon writes out his grocery list, it's news, at least for me.

So when I hear that Whedon created a one-hour musical online called "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog," you know I'm going to be logging in.

The problem is, so is the rest of the planet. So many people logged in to the DrHorrible.com Web site Tuesday night when it debuted that the server crashed, making it difficult to see what the fuss was about.

Eventually, though, I did, and it's brilliant. Whedon (along with his brothers) creates a love story revolved around the not-very-evil Dr. Horrible (Neal Patrick Harris), who longs to join the Evil Society of Evil and win the heart of the pretty redhead (Felicia Day, one of the slayers on "Buffy") who does laundry at the same laundrymat he does. Unfortunately, he's thwarted time and again by the city's big jerk of a superhero, Capt. Hammer (Nathan Fillion).

Whedon, who created one of the most memorable hours of TV ever with the "Buffy" musical episode, "Once More, With Feeling" shines again mixing comedy and music, and has a cast worthy of his efforts. Harris is pitch perfect as lovelorn title villain, and Fillion relishes his role as the pompous superhero. Day has a breakout role as the love interest.

"Dr. Horrible" is being shown in three, 15-minute parts. Part 2 airs Thursday and Part 3 debuts Saturday. The special, which was created during the strike and financed entirely out of Whedon's and his partners' pockets, will be free to watch this week. Afterwards, it will cost money to download it from platforms like iTunes, but it's definitely worth $1.99 if you miss it this week.

AROUND THE DIAL: William L. Petersen announced he will be leaving "CSI" — sort of. According to several sources, Petersen will depart midway through the season as a regular, but return to the show for guest spots. He will also remain on as a producer for the series. ...

In other casting news, Amy Poehler of "Saturday Night Live" will be the new lead in "The Office" spinoff for NBC this fall. ... FX announced a couple of big guest star roles for its series. Michael J. Fox will guest star on "Rescue Me" in 2009 as Janet's (Andrea Roth) new boyfriend. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's Disease, will use a wheelchair on the show, which should be a great touch for the politically incorrect Tommy (Denis Leary). Meanwhile, Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden has signed on for "Damages" as an attorney who takes on Patti (Glenn Close). ...

The Home Run Derby on Monday set a record for such events with a 6.4 rating, meaning 6.2 million viewers tuned in to watch Josh Hamilton's sizzling performance and Justin Morneau's victory. Last year's Derby clocked in with a 5.1 rating. This Derby was the highest-rated non-NFL related programming on ESPN since the Miami-Florida State football game in 2006. ...

Stratford alum Jon Allen, a pianist who has performed with the likes of Dolly Parton, Rod Stewart and Stevie Wonder, will appear on "The Today Show" Thursday morning.

WEDNESDAY'S BEST BETS: With so-called reality shows dominating the airwaves tonight ("Big Brother," "So You Think You Can Dance," "The Baby Borrowers" and "Celebrity Circus"), my advice is to check out "Dr. Horrible."

The one reality show worth noting is the season premiere of "Project Runway" (Bravo, 9 p.m.), making its last appearance on the network before moving to Lifetime next year.

Finally, as a wrap-up for All-Star weekend, ESPN is running a special on the history of Yankee Stadium at 6 p.m. as well as the Triple-A All-Star Game at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

'Rescue Me' Returns -- Sort Of

I'm the first to admit that FX's "Rescue Me" isn't coming off its strongest season. Last year was kind of all over the place in terms of consistency.

On the other hand, "Rescue Me" at 60-70 percent quality is usually better than the bulk of the shows out there at 100 percent, so everything is relative.

The writers' strike pushed the upcoming season of "Rescue Me" back to 2009, but the good news for fans of the series is that we won't have to wait that long to see Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) and the crew back in action.

FX is launching five-minute "mini-sodes" tonight beginning at 10 p.m., which will run over the next several weeks. Each one features a short scene with regular cast members that will refresh viewers' memories from last year and bridge the gap to the new season. There will be 10 in total, and FX is likely to edit them into one episode at the end of the run.

If you miss them when they air on FX, you can still catch them on crackle.com.

AROUND THE DIAL: Disney's "Camp Rock" didn't quite the hit the ratings stratosphere of "High School Musical," but the 16.2 million combined viewers for all the airings this weekend has ensured a "Camp Rock 2," according to The Hollywood Reporter. ... Good for NBC naming Tom Brokaw as interim host for Tim Russert on "Meet The Press." Brokaw is the logical choice and will host the show at least through the election. It will also make the transition much easier for whomever the network taps as the show's new permanent host.

TUESDAY'S BEST BETS: With the "Rescue Me" mini-sodes airing, "30 Days" (FX, 10:06 p.m.) will be trimmed slightly and air after "Rescue Me" does.

More game-show funness, courtesy of the networks. NBC airs "Celebrity Family Feud," (NBC, 8 p.m.), which sounds slightly excruciating, before airing a new "America's Got Talent," which IS excruciating.

On the flip side, watching the average American getting the snot knocked out of him or her has some humor value to it, which is why you may want to check out the tandem of "Wipeout" (ABC, 8 p.m.) and "I Survived A Japanese Game Show" (ABC, 9 p.m.)

Two episodes of "Hell's Kitchen" air consecutively on Fox from 8-10 p.m.

Finally, not to overstate this or anything, but the most important game in the history of college baseball takes place tonight as Georgia looks to clinch the College World Series title against Fresno State (ESPN, 7 p.m.)

Bionic, Revised

I caught up with the revised pilot for "The Bionic Woman," and I can't say it's too different than the original.

About 80-85 percent remained pretty much unchanged. The big difference was the recasting of Lucy Hale as the younger sister of Jamie Sommers (Michelle Ryan), replacing Mae Whitman, and that the character is no longer deaf.

It's actually a positive change for a couple of reasons. Hale looks a whole lot more like Ryan than Whitman does, and by giving the character spoken dialogue instead of sign language, there's much more interaction and chemistry between the two.

Other than that, the show is largely the same. The show has undergone significant changes behind the camera, with showrunner Glen Morgan ("The X-Files") departing and "Friday Night Lights" showrunner Jason Katims joining as a consultant. David Eick ("Battlestar Galactica") and Jason Smilovic ("Kidnapped") are still running things, but writer Laeta Kalogridis ("Birds of Prey"), who wrote the pilot, is no longer with the show.

It's been an interesting process to watch, because this is one of the biggest shows on NBC's schedule, but has undergone a lot of behind-the-scenes turmoil. I realize there is only so much of the pilot that can be re-done at this stage, so it will be interesting to see what new direction the show might take.

The pilot itself remains solid, as bartender Jamie Sommers is involved in a terrible car crash. To save her life, her scientist boyfriend subjects her to highly experimental bionics surgery that leaves Jamie with enhanced strength, speed, and other abilities.

But Jamie isn't the first bionic woman. A previous experiment, Sarah (Katee Sackhoff) has similar gifts and is decidedly unhappy with the group that experimented on her.

"Bionic" is a big piece of NBC's fantasy-oriented lineup with shows like "Heroes" and "Journeyman," and it has some potential, so the pilot is worth checking out.

EMMY POLL: Don't forget to vote, lest the "Grey's Anatomy" fans have their way. Click on the box in the top left corner of the screen and vote for who you want to win the Emmys this Sunday. Final poll results will run with the winners on Monday.

BIGGEST LOSER: The show kicked off last night with a two-hour launch, and you can post your thoughts about the show on the official blog at http://blog.nbc.com/thebiggestloser.

SEX DOESN'T SELL: Less than a million people tuned in for the debut of "Tell Me You Love Me," the HBO series noted for its very frank portrayal of sex and relationships. Those numbers are even worse than the premiere of the since-cancelled "John From Cincinnati."

But some cable shows are doing far better. "The Closer" set a record for original cable series with its season finale Monday night, drawing some 9.2 million viewers.

WEDNESDAY'S BEST BETS: Speaking of season finales, "Rescue Me" (FX, 10 p.m.) has been on such a roll for the past month that it's a real shame that tonight is the final first-run show of the season.

For a change of pace, "American Masters" (PBS, 9 p.m.) has a 90-minute special featuring the incomparable Tony Bennett.

Rescuing Us From Summer Doldrums

When you think about it, it's been a depressing month for TV, what with the likes of "Lost," "Heroes," "The Shield" and "The Sopranos" wrapping up, only to be replaced by "America's Got Talent" (trust me, it doesn't) and "So You Think You Can Dance."

So it really is something of a rescue as we welcome back "Rescue Me" (FX, 10 p..m.) back to the airwaves tonight.

Conceived by series star Denis Leary and Peter Tolan, "Rescue Me" focuses on a group of dysfunctional New York City firefighters still trying to cope with their losses after 9/11. The series is both hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time.

Leary's Tommy Gavin is still chased by the ghosts (literally) of his fallen loved ones and fire victims he failed to save. When we last left Tommy, he was trapped in a burning house after being drugged by his crazy ex-girlfriend Sheila (Callie Thorne), who was trying to rape him in order to conceive his love child. Yes, you read that right.

Tommy's home life is a mess. His family is still reeling after the death of his son at the hands of a drunk driver, and his ex-wife (Andrea Roth) is pregnant with either his or his late brother's baby.

Most of Tommy's unit isn't much better off. Jerry (Jack McGee) is trying to recover from a near-fatal heart attack; Kenny (John Scurti) is dating a soon-to-be-ex nun; Sean (Steven Pasquale) is trying to cope with marrying Tommy's off-the-wall nuts sister (Tatum O'Neal); Franco (Daniel Sunjata) is working at a relationship with a woman and her autistic brother, who may be more clever than people give him credit for; and the probie (Michael Lombardi) is struggling both with his sexuality and his terminally ill mother.

Tommy also gets a new love interest in Nona (Jennifer Esposito), the firefighter who saves his life in the house fire. Tommy's luck being terrible and all, he faces insurance fraud charges in the opener as investigators believe he was responsible.

"Rescue Me" is one of TV's best hours, boasting an Emmy-level performance from Leary and one of TV's best supporting casts. If you're only going to catch one show this summer, this is the one to see.

'SOPRANOS' RATINGS: Whether you liked or hated the ending, people definitely tuned in to watch "The Sopranos" Sunday night. Nielsen called it at 11.9 million, the highest rated episode for the series in three years.

But it was a good news/bad news deal for HBO. Whether it was the subject matter or anger over "The Sopranos" finale, new series "John From Cincinnati" brought in just 3.4 million viewers - lower than "Rome" (3.8 million) and "Big Love" (4.6 million), according to The Los Angeles Times.

Even with time-shifting and multiple airings on HBO, those are pretty bad numbers, though maybe they will pick up in Week 2 once "Sopranos" fever has ended.

WEDNESDAY'S BEST BETS: One show I never had a chance to review was "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," which has gotten mixed reviews from critics. But Perry is an extremely popular writer/director/actor, so his show (TBS, 9 p.m.) may be worth a look if you are a fan of his work.

"Hidden Palms" (CW, 8 p.m.) continues with new episodes this summer, while "One Tree Hill" wraps up with its season finale. Somehow, this was the show the CW managed to pick ahead of "Veronica Mars." Go figure.

"Traveler" (ABC, 10 p.m.) is also new tonight, as is a bunch of reality stuff.

VCR alert: "Rescue Me," as with other FX shows, tends to run long, so set the VCR to go that extra five minutes or so.