John Slattery Alert for "30 Rock" Tonight!

After his terrific work this season as Roger Sterling on AMC's Mad Men -- and actually any of his work, come to think of it -- we're excited for tonight's episode of 30 Rock and guest star John Slattery as a congressional candidate. We already know how well 30 Rock treats Mad Men alumni -- Jon Hamm's wonderful appearances as Liz' pediatrician and sometime boyfriend Drew are plenty proof of that -- and we can't wait to see what the talented Slattery will do.

This season on Mad Men his Roger Sterling was alternately extremely amusing -- his snarky quips were often the highlights of an episode -- and nearly heartbreaking, as he confronted his dwindling power at the agency and various personal situations that showed him to be a basically very unhappy man. His performance was outstanding, and we look forward to this chance to see him get his total comic vibe going on 30 Rock, whose star and creator Tina Fey was recently awarded the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, in a ceremony that will be broadcast later this month. (More on that in a future post!).

NBC's 30 Rock needs a little love right now; the move by CBS to take The Big Bang Theory from Mondays and seed a new Thursday 8pm comedy hour has worked, even taking the admittedly sub-par sitcom $#*! My Dad Says to a happy ratings place. Consequently, NBC's Community and 30 Rock are taking a nosedive, and we're not pleased about that at all. It's hard to deny that 30 Rock is no longer at the top of the comedy pack, not in buzz at least, but it's still impossible to beat for smart and sassy laughs for adults with a deep sense of the absurd. We love it!

Thursdays are jam-packed with Flaming Nose Favorites-- Community, 30 Rock, The Office, Fox's Fringe, FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia -- and you better get your DVRs cranking -- it's almost 8pm on the East Coast!

Leonard Nimoy on "Fringe" Finale -- Fascinating!

Hope you caught last week's Season Finale of J.J. Abrams' series Fringe on Fox. After falling asleep during it the first time -- blame my aging brain, not Abrams -- I caught up with it this weekend on Canada's Space Channel (several times, actually) and it was awesome!

Great dimensional breaches, gruesome injuries, fascinating discoveries, a creepy bandaged face, and most importantly, Leonard Nimoy revealed as series mystery man William Bell. I know Nose correspondent Jane was most impressed by the amazing appearance of -- SPOILER! -- the Twin Towers where Bell has his office. Gotta love alternate realities!

This will make for a fantastic 2nd season for the show. I think we should all do a refresher course on Fringe over the summer, and give it our complete support and attention when it returns with new episodes. We've liked the show a lot here, but it never quite blossomed into true love. With Nimoy around, that's going to change!

(Late Breaking Update: Fox has just released its Fall 2009 line-up, and Fringe is moving to Thursday nights at 10pm, opposite CSI, Grey's Anatomy, and two of our favorite sitcoms. Break out the DVRs!)

Leonard Nimoy to Appear on Next Week's "Fringe" Season Finale!

According to a recent blurb in Entertainment Weekly online, Leonard Nimoy has been tapped to appear in the season finale of J.J. Abram's Sci Fi series, Fringe next Tuesday May 12th (9-10pm) on FOX. He'll be featured as William Bell, a mysterious scientist and former partner of John Nobel's quirky and wonderful Dr. Bishop.

Rumor has it that this is more than a walk-on, and Nimoy will return next season to carry on the role as a semi-regular. Fingers crossed for that!

PS-I lied when I said I wasn't going to do any more Trek related posts. Never trust a Trekkie when they say they are done. They can try to make me go to Star Trek Rehab, but I won't go, go, go!

Great Monster on "Fringe" Last Night!

Be sure to watch last night's episode of Fox's Fringe if you're a fan of good spiky monsters! The episode, entitled "Transformation", starts out with a shocking metamorphosis -- ala The Fly with a tooth coming out, with goo -- and then it goes crazy from there!

The episode can be found a few places, including (for now) YouTube. Seek and ye shall find it!

Yikes!

Great TV Tonight on Fox -- "House" and "Fringe"

Let's go out on a limb and declare Tuesday nights on Fox the most exciting night of broadcast television around. Tonight we've got the season preem of House starring Hugh Laurie, who just got a big raise for his role and at the same time signed on for several more years of the show. He's also up for an Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and we'll find out if he wins this coming Sunday. (As great as he is, I'm afraid I'm rooting for somebody else, but what the heck.)

Then at 9pm, episode two of the intriguing new J.J. Abrams series Fringe which premiered last week. Jane gave it an enthusiastic review here, and I second it. I'm looking forward to more adventures and can't wait for tonight's episode. Here's a preview:

That's our recommendation for tonight! You just couldn't do better anywhere else!

We're On The "Fringe": New Sci-Fi Series this Fall

We love to give a heads up to pilots that look really interesting for the new Fall Season 2008. Here's one on Fox that's premiering September 9th at 8pm called FRINGE. It's brought to us by the hotter than the sun J.J. Abrams (Lost, Cloverfield). True to form, the first episode will be mysterious, frightening and chock full of maddening plot complexities. A plane lands at Logan's airport in Boston, but there is no one on the flight left alive. What happened to Flight #627? Calling all extremely attractive FBI agents, Homeland Security officials and Mad Scientists....FOX would like your help to get some (but never, ever all) answers here so this new series can soar to the top of the ratings chart.

No big name stars in FRINGE as far as I can see, but "Lost" didn't have any either and look how far that one has traveled. The trailer (below) looks really good. Let's hope this one delivers more on the promise than the very disappointing Andromeda Strain remake that we reviewed a few months ago.

Note to J.J...do you have a bit of an anxiety problem with commercial air travel? Here comes another series I'll never be able to watch while I'm on a turbulent cross-country business trip. But I can't wait to see the first episode in the safety of my own living room. It has all the elements that (I think) might make a successful series: sex, science, long-loud explosions and people with high cheekbones. Mark your calendars Sci-Fi Nose fans!