Entertainment Weekly reports that 22-year-old Aliens in America star Dan Byrd (Justin Tolchuck) is joining the cast of Heroes for a minimum of three episodes during the upcoming “Volume 4: Fugitives” segment of the superhero saga.
Says the website: “Byrd has been cast on Heroes in the recurring role of David, a dark and twisted kid who tells lies easily and has a cruel streak. Word is he’ll be a possible apprentice to Sylar (Zachary Quinto).”
Wow! I didn’t see that casting coming, but I can totally see Byrd doing a fantastic job in the role. He looks like he …read more

Well, I can’t exactly say I didn’t see it coming.
TV Guide reported the bad news on Friday (yesterday) evening that insiders have unofficially confirmed the cancellation of the delightful rookie sitcom Aliens in America. Talk about bummer and a few other choice expletives I choose not to include.
The writing was very clearly on the wall, however, not only because of the show’s consistently poor ratings throughout its first season — although the numbers weren’t that bad for a generally low-rated, aspiring network like The CW — but because of the outside ventures recently announced for some of the series’ …read more

Original Air Date: April 27, 2008
JUSTIN becomes Mr. Know It All after dinner one night when his fortune cookie tells him he’s “the excellent judge of character.” RAJA, however, definitely doesn’t know much about character, at least when it comes to girls. As a result, his niceness and compassion for those who are ostracized allows one painfully irritating student named MINDY WEINBLAU to ensnare him, seemingly forever at first. Everybody else just wisely runs in the opposite direction whenever Mindy approaches.
When Mindy — nicknamed Mental Mindy and whom Justin describes as overbearing, needy, and compulsive, her good …read more

Here come the Tolchuks, Canada! …or maybe not.
Wonder Years star Fred Savage takes the directing reins for this installment of Aliens in America, “One Hundred Thousand Miles.”
All of the Tolchuks prepare to go on a family vacation to Vancouver, with student guest Raja in tow. But, when they get to the airport, something happens that totally and thoroughly derails their plans. This event then leads to a number of consequences, some good and some (temporarily) bad.
Aliens in America airs Sundays on The CW at 8:30pm EST.

Original Air Date: March 2, 2008
After FRANNY horrifies JUSTIN with the news that she’s scored two tickets for them to the forthcoming Sound of Music sing-along, Justin and CLAIRE are horrified again to learn that RAJA has asked their mom to drive them to school.
Raja can’t understand why the siblings are so against an easy trip, until they arrive at school and Franny embarrasses Justin by yelling after him to pick up their Sound of Music tickets while also calling him Pumpkin. This grabs the attention of super bully TREY TOZER (Enormous Guest Star Dylan Taylor), who’s obsessed with …read more

On the “Community Theater” episode of Aliens in America, the Tolchuks get the acting bug.
… or at least matriarch Franny does. When Justin doesn’t want to try out for a role in a local production of Rent, she needles him into helping out on the stage crew. Of course, Justin then meets a girl — what else? — and his attitude undergoes a complete transformation. Unfortunately, he also decides to spread lies about the nature of their relationship, and you betcha the girl finds out.
Raja gets a subplot, too, increasing the self-esteem of Claire when she has …read more

Now that the writers strike is over and shows are returning to production, networks are rolling out the episode descriptions like crazy. Thank you!
“Hunting,” the March 9th installment of Aliens in America, is all about parent-child rivalry. Career aptitude testing at school reveals Raja has what it takes to become a prestigious doctor, but apparently Justin doesn’t have much of anything that will help in any career.
A trip to his friend Dooley’s house changes the grim outlook, however, when Justin meets Dooley’s stay-at-home dad and realizes that home is where it’s at. Who needs a career …read more

Get excited, Aliens in America fans. Although I don’t know what’s going to happen afterwards, The CW is most definitely serving up fresh Tolchuks and Raja on Sunday, March 2nd. The episode will be the first new one since December 10, 2007. Whoa! Has it really been that long?!
On “Mom’s Coma,” when Justin gets bullied (okay, maybe that’s not so new), he pretends that his mother is seriously ill to win sympathy and lose a few butt-kickings.
Elsewhere, poor hapless Franny and Gary become serial car crashers, which I’m sure will make money-crazy Gary develop a serious …read more

If nothing else, the writers strike is definitely giving comedy fans time to catch up on back episodes of certain series, especially those that air on CBS and The CW each Monday. We may have seen most of the installments before, but at least a lot of them still remain funny on second (or third or fourth) viewing. But, am I the only one who thought everything would be replaced by reality shows at this point? I guess we should consider ourselves lucky, then.
Here’s what’s getting replayed tonight.
CBS

8pm—How I Met Your Mother: Wait for It…
Ted and Barney …read more

Enjoy the Monday-night CW sitcom lineup while you can, even if it is all repeats, all the time right now. As I noted in an earlier post, the two-hour block will be relocating to Sunday nights, effective February 10. The last Monday appearance is currently scheduled for January 21.
Now on with tonight’s comedy repeats.
CBS

8pm—How I Met Your Mother: We’re Not From Here
Jealous of Robin’s new Argentinean man (guest star Enrique Iglesias), Barney and Ted pretend to be from out-of-town, too. [Original Air Date: 1 Oct 2007]
8:30pm—The Big Bang Theory: The Big Bran Hypothesis
Leonard attempts to impress Penny …read more