HIMYM: Season 3 DVD news, Season 4 preview

Over the next few weeks I am going to be preparing you for the fall primetime line up by previewing and reviewing some of my favorite shows.

It should be well known by anyone who reads this blog that I am a huge fan of How I Met Your Mother. Season 3 may have been a down year for HIMYM, but it would have been pretty tough to out-do the first two seasons, and they still put out some really good episodes. The overarching theme to season 3 was single Ted. In the pilot episode Ted says, "I'm done being single. I'm not good at it." and he kind of proved it throughout the season. Ted had a sort of glass-shattering moment after the St. Patrick's Day episode, No Tomorrow, when he realizes what kind of roads the single life is leading him down. After falling in love with his dermatologist, Stella, played by Sarah Chalke (Elliot from Scrubs), he finally convinced her to go out with him by pulling off a two-minute lunch date. This was such a great moment because that was the Ted we had grown to love; the guy who over does everything and has a soft spot for romance. In the season finale, Ted closes the episode by proposing to Stella. Want to catch up? The Season 3 DVD is set to be released on October 7th. Here is a look at what to expect.

All 20 Episodes from Season 3 on 3 discs.

• Wait for It
• We're Not From Here
• Third Wheel
• Little Boys
• How I Met Everyone Else
• I'm Not That Guy
• Dowisetrepla
• Spoiler Alert
• Slapsgiving
• The Yips
• The Platinum Rule
• No Tomorrow
• Ten Sessions
• The Bracket
• The Chain of Screaming
• Sandcastles in the Sand
• The Goat
• Rebound Bro
• Everything Must Go
• Miracles

Special Features

	2 Music Videos
	Audio Commentary On Selected Episodes
	Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
	Cast Favorites
	Deleted Scenes
	Featurettes: Behind The Scenes Of We're Not From Here & No Tomorrow
	Interactive Menus
	Lily & Marshall's Honeymoon Videos: Awesome Honeymoon, Love On The Loch, Nessie Vs. Lily, & Honeymoon Suite It Is
	Scene Selection
	Series Retrospective
	Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
	Unrated Gag Reel

Season 4 premieres Monday September 22nd at 8:30/7:30c on CBS. The first episode takes off right where season 3 ended, with the cliffhanger ending of Ted proposing to Stella. As Stella makes her decision, Barney is recovering in the hospital. As he lies there, he realizes he is in love with Robin. Season 4 is set to begin with a story arch concerning Ted and Stella, but reports say that future of HIMYM most likely contains a lot more stand-alone episodes that don't drive the overall story like "The Pineapple Incident" or "Okay Awesome."

Along with this news, I would like to report that Regis Philbin is set to make a guest appearance on the second episode of the new season. Sarah Chalke will be back as Stella, and reports say that Wayne Brady will be coming back for another episode this year as Barney's brother James.

I get most of my HIMYM news from J D, the author of the blog "Have You Met Ted." I strongly suggest all HIMYM fans to check it out. http://have-you-met-ted.com

Monk, Law & Order bring A-game

Hopefully you have been able to find some good television these past couple weeks during the Olympics. Many of the shows I have been talking about this summer were still airing new episodes this past week, and two of them really brought their best stuff to the table.

This past Friday's episode of Monk, "Mr. Monk Goes Underwater," may have been one of the best of series. Adrian is asked to investigate the death of a Navy midshipman. On the surface, all signs point suicide, but a fellow sailor refuses to believe it, and inquires for Monk's help. When Monk comes on the submarine to see the scene, the ship is called into a mock battle. Monk finds himself trapped on the sub, and his OCD leads to some very funny situations. Monk imagines that his therapist is on board to ease himself. When he starts "talking" to Dr. Bell, everyone thinks he's nuts! Eventually Monk finds out that the boat's Captain is responsible. The sailor was going to rat out the Captain for a mishap in which driving the ship into a mountain caused one of the crew to be hospitalized and eventually die. When the Captain figures out Monk is onto him, he tries to kill him before they get back to shore. However, Monk is saved by the sailor who originally inquired his help. This episode contained good writing, high drama, and was very funny. Monk continues to be one of the best shows on tv, let alone basic cable.

Chris Noth has been portraying Detective Mike Logan on and off for the last two decades on different versions of the show Law & Order. Last night, on Law & Order: Criminal Intent Noth turned in a dazzling performance in what is reported to be his final episode in the series. After hearing a startling confession, a priest looks up Detective Logan and tells him that the wrong man has been serving prison time for a triple murder, but because of his oaths, he cannot give him any details. For the rest of the episode, Logan and Wheeler try to put together the pieces of the puzzle to solve a case from 16 years ago. As it turned out, the ADA put together a sham of a prosecution to convict a black man with no alibi. Even when Logan can put together the story and prove that it was in fact the brother-in-law of one of the victims who committed the murder, the former ADA, now running for Attorney General, tries to squash it because of the damage it would cause to her reputation. Logan fights on, even though he knows he is risking his job. Noth may be best known for his role as "Big" on Sex and the City, but his performance as Mike Logan really puts him in the top tier of television acting. Logan is a very emotional cop, and you can really feel the anger, hurt, and satisfaction that Det. Logan feels every step of the way. Sure, Vince D'Onofrio is the star of Criminal Intent, but I think time will show that Noth's character will be sorely missed.

Some other recommended shows that are still putting out new episodes are Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, 30 Days, Psych, and Mad Men.

What's On?
Tonight at 10/9c on the Travel Channel, Tony is going to Spain on a new episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

Psych, Monk continue to please. My Boys disappoints.

TBS original sitcom My Boys wrapped up its second season on Thursday night. In the middle of season one, My Boys really hit its stride as the writers put together some really creative situational comedy. Episodes from the first season included a really funny parody of Sex and the City, a very good jab at suburban life, and many other great stories. The good starring cast was complimented by a list of great guest stars including Six Feet Under's Jeremy Sisto, Scrubs' Travis Shuldt (Keith Dudemeister), and Big Bang Theory's Johnny Galecki. In the second season, the show for the most part got away from stand-alone situational comedy and focused in on P.J.'s love life. While this was always part of the show, it has now taken center stage, and has basically transformed My Boys from a great sitcom to an only OK soap opera. All signs point to My Boys returning for a third season, and I can only hope that we see a return to the brilliance that made My Boys one of the best new shows of 2007.

Monk turned out another good episode on Friday night on the USA network. In "Mr. Monk takes a punch," Adrian is asked to investigate the attempted murder of a boxing star played my Las Vegas's James Lesure. This was a very funny and well-written story, and I encourage anyone to try to catch it on a rerun.

Last week I gave the episode of Psych a bad review while mentioning that I like the series on the whole. I am happy to report that Psych came back Friday with a funny and very entertaining episode. Shawn used his hyper-observance skills to search for a treasure with help from his uncle, played by Stephen Weber. This is another one to definitely try to catch on a rerun.

What's on Sunday?
With the Olympics in full swing, we will be looking to basic cable for some new programming. The critically acclaimed Mad Men continues its sophomore run on AMC at 10/9c. Going to miss it at 10/9c? It will air immediately following at 11/10c, and have several encore presentations throughout the week. Check your local listings.

My Boys season finale at special time

If you've been reading my blog, you have probably already heard a little bit about TBS's original sitcom My Boys. I must add the disclaimer that I do have a soft spot for My Boys because my uncle works for the show. That said, the main character is a beautiful woman who happens to be a sportswriter for my favorite team, the Chicago Cubs. With that in mind, I'd probably watch the show whether my uncle was involved in it or not. The show revolves around the personal life of P.J. Franklin, played by Jordana Spiro, and her circle of mostly male friends (hence the name My Boys). In the recent story arch, P.J. had a crush on Bobby, but he got engaged, complicating the matter. On last week's show, the gang flew out to California for Bobby's wedding. P.J. had recently fallen for Bobby's brother Jack, who is sort of a bad boy version of Bobby. When Jack and Bobby got into a huge fight, Jack, who was supposed to be Bobby's best man, flew back to New York. Now, in tonight's season finale, the wedding must go on and P.J. and the guys rally around Bobby to make sure he is OK. As you can see, the last few episodes have been a little soap opera-y. I feel I enjoyed the show much better when it was more like a stand-alone episode sitcom. With that thrown out there, I still feel the cast does a very good job and that this is worth watching. I guess what I'm trying to say is that My Boys is a good, but not great show.

What's On?
The second season finale of My Boys is tonight on TBS at a special time, 10/9c.

The Olympics are coming...sigh

Brace yourselves, everyone, for this is the final day before the beginning of the 2008 Summer Olympics. This year's Olympics will be coming, for the most part, tape-delayed from Beijing China and air on the NBC family of networks. I feel that the Summer Olympics offer up a mostly boring menu of sports. Sure, there will be some bright spots, like Michael Phelps' shot at 8 golds and team USA's attempts recapture the Basketball gold medal after a disappointing bronze medal finish in 2004. However, I feel you can pretty much just cut the middle man and watch Sportscenter to see all of the most exciting moments from this year's games. Olympic television is chock full of fillers and downtime, and the actual sporting events are a small percentage of the coverage. I'll do my best to find you some new programming, but my guess is that most networks will just put up reruns during the games.

What's On?
Have some fun with Adam and Jamie tonight on a new episode of Mythbusters at 9/8c on the Discovery Channel.

A look back at Friday, look ahead to Sunday

All-new episodes of Monk and Psych aired on the USA network Friday night. I really enjoyed "Mr. Monk Gets Lotto Fever." When the SF Lotto girl is murdered, Monk is asked to investigate. Monk's assistant Natalee becomes the new Lotto girl after the producer spots her while they are going over the crime scene. Natalee's new job distracts her from her job assisting Monk, and tension ensues. The plot twists from here on out were very good, and I will not go into it too much in case you are hoping to catch it on a rerun. Conversely, Friday's Psych episode had a very predictable storyline that I felt was uncreative and boring. It seemed very obvious to me that Dutch's son was El Diablo, and the fact that Dutch was trying to kill himself seemed pretty clear to me when Gus and Shawn learned that he had pancreatic cancer. It hurts me to give a bad review, because I do like the series on the whole. I guess every show is bound to have a few bad episodes.

What's On Sunday?
This Sunday night brings a fantastic selection of new programming. My top pick is the second episode of the new season of Mad Men on AMC at 10/9c, but there are also new episodes of Law and Order: Criminal Intent and Design Star.