Oh, oh — I totally know this one. So a cop, an angel and a death-row inmate walk into a bar. And the cop says to the angel, "Watch me balance this spoon on my nose." Wait, maybe I don't know this one after all.

Grace has been having weird dreams—well, one weird dream in particular all week. She has had the same dream with angel Earl and inmate Leon in her local cop bar. Leon falls off his barstool and asks for Grace's help. Symbolism, meet Grace; Grace, meet symbolism.

But enough existential worries, there's a party going on. Grace and co. are whooping it up at their bar. Ham's brother, a marine on leave from Iraq, drops in by surprise and everyone is having a good time. (Well, except for this tightly-wound evidence clerk named Ed, but more on him later.) Now it's time for what I like to call my weekly Happy Naked Time with Holly Hunter. This week's HNT is in the men's restroom with her partner Ham. While I have never thought of the words “happy” and “naked” in reference to a men's room, Grace's instructions of “Lower. Lower. Lower.” almost make me change my mind.

Ah, but then comes one humdinger of an interruption: After they hear someone enter and exit the bathroom, the pair recommence their HNT only to be stopped again when a pool of blood forms on the floor. Poor, unlikeable Ed has had his throat slashed in the middle of a cop bar with two detectives in the stall five feet away. Yeah, that's not going to look good in the report. … continue reading

Let us, for one moment, discuss Det. Grace Hanadarko's hair. It is wild and unruly, beautiful and brazen. In short, it's a metaphor for her life. I have never seen a major crimes detective with hair like Grace's in real life. I'm sure there are some out there, but as yet I have not had either the fortune or misfortune to run into them in my daily life. It is one of the many reasons Saving Grace continues to intrigue me and has me back for a second season.

The season's first two episodes are pack in so much capital-D drama you realize TNT wasn't kidding with its recent “We know drama” campaign. For those keeping score at home, the two hours of TV includes, in rough chronological order: a pedophile priest, a kidnapping, shooting, childhood sexual abuse, redemption, murder, the cycle of child abuse, suicide, the Oklahoma City Bombings, adultery, guilt, the inappropriate use of condiments, familial distrust, chickens, a lost dog and a very unlucky deer. In short, they are just like Grace: rich, complicated, meaty and messy.

Last season ended on a cliffhanger with Grace confronting the priest who sexually abused her as a child. As the season premiere begins, an off-duty Grace meets her best friend Rhetta at a cafe. But before they get to the topic of what happened Grace spots a guy across the street who look hinky and wouldn't you know it, her book-by-its-cover instincts were right on. He is indeed bad and carjacks a man in front of them.

Grace chases after him, guns blazing, and is soon joined in pursuit by backup as well as police dog. As the K-9 officer runs after the suspect, they both jump over an overpass. The leap kills the suspect and injures the dog. As Grace and the officers arrive, she runs straight for the dog as the others check on the man. … continue reading

Are you ready to embrace your Grace? The hit cable drama Saving Grace returns tonight to TNT and with it comes the hardest working, hardest drinking, hardest partying, hardest hitting female detective on television. A bold statement, sure, but this is Holly Hunter we're talking about. Don't make her to pull out the Oscar, because she can. Plus, what other Academy Award-winner poses with a barbed wire fence?

The series enters its sophomore season just as feisty as its first. Last season ended on a cliffhanger with Grace confronting Father Patrick, the priest who sexually abused her as a little girl. And, before we move on — yes, Grace has had a superhuman amount of tragedy in her life. She was sexually abused as a child, raped and assaulted by a killer as an adult and had her sister die in the Oklahoma City bombing. No wonder she drinks.

Holly aside, I was a tad leery of the series in the beginning. First there was the whole tough girl with a troubled life thing. Why whenever a woman is good at her job must she have a screwy private life? Then there was the whole Touched by a My Name is Earl aspect. A bubba angel is her last chance for salvation? M'kay. And, finally, there was just crime drama fatigue. I know it's sacrilege given the untold number of hours of my live I've given to nearly all the Law & Order and CSI franchises.

But then a funny thing happened. I watched and I couldn't stop watching. A lot of it was Holly, but everything, from the setting to spirituality, worked for me. The supporting cast, from Laura San Giacomo as Grace's best friend to Lorraine Toussaint as her captain and — of course — Leon Rippy as her angel Earl, was rock solid. … continue reading

Whenever I see someone with one of those “Kill Your Television” bumper stickers, I feel two distinct emotions. One, shut up, Smuggy McSmugerson. I bet you don’t read the copies of The New Yorker in your bathroom either. And two, yeah, sometimes I do feel like taking a 12-gauge to the old idiot box. This year I got my usual mix of joy and pain from my television. The highs were so very fantastic. The lows so very sucktastic. Here's a rundown of my top and bottom five TV shows for 2007.

Five I Loved:

1) 30 Rock: Everything about this show, well, rocks. It’s smart, funny, geeky and good to the gays — just like its creator, Tina Fey. She is the antidote to the mediocrity that keeps trying to choke our culture into submission. This show alone is reason enough to own a television. … continue reading

Holly Hunter returns to TNT tonight at 10/9c in Saving Grace. I haven't been a fan of the show so far, but I just watched the "rapid recap" of season 1 on TNT.com and was pretty entertained.

Plus, Holly Hunter is gorgeous and incredibly talented. Sounds like a good way to warm up on a December evening. … continue reading

I am not particularly drawn to the paranormal. As I mentioned previously, I had a few issues after my brother tricked me into seeing Poltergeist. And it's not just that I get scared. (Of course, it's partly that I get scared.) It's also that it's just not my thing most of the time. I did watch The Twilight Zone, and I like the occasional campy heaven-and-hell–themed movie (Two of a Kind, Oh God, Switch). And there's The Hunger. But that's not about the vampires.

It seems, however, that my tastes do not reflect the current television lineup. Alessandra Stanley, the New York Times TV reviewer who recently expressed dismay at how insecure the new Jaime Sommers is, notes that this season is paranormal-heavy. I must say I agree with her that it is pretty weird.

She noted that a few of the paranormal shows have been on for a least a couple of years:

The Ghost Whisperer

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This is about the best argument against on-the-job training I’ve ever seen. If you’ve wondered what would happen if you put an Academy Award–winning actress and an inexperienced reporter together and let the cameras roll, this is the clip for you.

Last week, video surfaced of ABCNewsNow reporter Merry Miller (no, I did not make that name up) interviewing Holly Hunter. The live segment was supposed to promote Holly’s new TNT series Saving Grace. Instead, the result was more like a Christopher Guest mockumentary. Please witness four minutes of awkward. Just try to sit through it without wincing: … continue reading

In the second segment of this week's video blog, we review the premiere episodes of Damages (FX) and Saving Grace (TNT); the finale of Standoff (Fox); and the pilot episodes for The Sarah Connor Chronicles (ABC), Cashmere Mafia (ABC), and Women's Murder Club (ABC).

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Don't worry, no spoilers, just our general review of the pilots, and where they land on the BDS (Bunny Designation Scale).

Last night I returned from the Television Critics Assocation summer press tour in Los Angeles, where I spent five days trapped at the Beverly Hilton attending press conferences from what seemed to be almost every single network on cable television. Throughout all those press conferences, one theme seemed to crop up repeatedly: If you're a mature actress (as in, over 30) who wants to play a complex, strong woman, get a job on cable.

On TNT's Saving Grace, Holly Hunter plays an Oklahoma City police detective who hits bottom when she almost kills someone by driving drunk, then begins getting advice from an unconventional angel named Earl (Leon Rippy).

Laura San Giacomo and Holly Hunter of Saving Grace

When asked why we're experiencing such a golden age for female characters on cable, Hunter theorized: "I actually believe that it's probably because of cable. It probably really and truly is that cable has kind of changed the landscape, semi-permanently, at least, because it's a money maker, and it happens to be ... made for less money. And so risks can be greater because less cash is at risk. It's not in competition with network. So every single thing about it adds up to the people who were wanting to take some chances, are given the opportunity." … continue reading

In Sunday's New York Times, an article titled "In the Prime of Their Time" focused on older actresses on TV. Here are the (kind of silly) opening lines:

"Botox and plastic surgery allow actress to look younger. Television is permitting them to act their age. Older stars who once had to resign themselves to playing frustrated spinsters or docile moms are suddenly flaunting their ripened sex appeal on television. It's not 'The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone' anymore. This season marks the summer of hot cougar love."

Let's all take a moment to roll our eyes at the "cougar" thing. OK, done? Anyway, the first name mentioned in the article is, of course, Kyra Sedgwick's — The Closer starts its third season today (TNT, 9/8c). But Sedgwick's character, Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson, is dating someone age-appropriate, so the rest of the article focuses on some saucier pairings.

Too bad this photo of Holly Hunter and Laura San Giacomo doesn't actually depict a couple. They're just co-stars, in Saving Grace, which premieres July 18 on TNT. Hunter plays a cynical cop with a touched-by-an-angel-ish shot at redemption.

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