undercovers

Conan - Monday November 8, 12AM ET/PT, Comedy

Finally, the red-headed phoenix rises from the ashes of that NBC debacle, taking his rightful place on your late-night screen. Conan O'Brien's first week of guests includes Seth Rogen, Jack White, Tom Hanks, Jon Hamm, and Canadian Jon Dore. There was initially some talk of having Coco on earlier up here in Canada, with initial releases claiming he'd be on at 11PM, but alas with 'The Daily Show's historic takeover of the top late night spot, why mess with success? (Jon Stewart airs at 11PM on CTV affiliates in Canada.)

NBC has canceled 'Undercovers.'

According to the Live Feed, the J.J. Abrams spy series will air its final three episodes in the coming weeks.

A few weeks ago, NBC handed out back nine orders to new shows such as 'The Event,' 'Outsourced' and 'Law & Order: Los Angeles,' but left 'Undercovers' off the list.

The series, starring Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, dazzled advertisers and critics with its trailer, but failed to impress when full episodes began hitting the screen. Hailed as one of the most diverse new shows of the fall (both the show's leads are black), the series never gained traction in Nielsen ratings.

Playing a gorgeous, globe-trotting secret agent with an array of CIA gadgetry at your disposal, a sexy co-star at your side and J.J. Abrams writing your quips might sound like a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.

Alright, it pretty much sounds like the most awesome job in the world, and we can't think of any man better suited for the task than Boris Kodjoe, who plays one half of the husband-and-wife crimefighting duo on NBC's action-packed spy drama, 'Undercovers'.

In this exclusive chat with TV Squad, Kodjoe talked about the sexism of sexpionage and the importance of education, and gave us the first scoop on his character's estranged brother ...

'Britain's Got Talent' phenomenon Susan Boyle will guest star on the holiday episode of 'Glee.'

Earlier this year Entertainment Weekly reported that 'Glee' creator Ryan Murphy wanted Boyle to appear as a lunch lady in the show's season 2 holiday episode. Looks like he's getting his wish: According to Vulture, SuBo is on board for the episode.

The Scottish singer's second album, "The Gift" hits stores Nov. 8. Nothing says "new album" like a 'Glee' cameo.

In other casting news ...

• NBC's 'Undercovers' has added Alan Dale to its cast. The 'Lost' veteran has been tapped to play James Kelvin, the man who is responsible for bringing Steven and Samantha Bloom back to the CIA. Listen for Dale's voice in episode 8 and watch for the actor to appear in full during episode 11. [TV Guide]

['Undercovers' - 'Not Without My Daughter']

So NBC ordered an additional four episodes of 'Undercovers.' When I first heard that news, I have to admit that my first thought was "why?" I don't know if J.J. Abrams and company have laid out where the show is going for NBC or if other shows on the schedule are worse or if the midseason shows that the network has just aren't promising. Whatever the answer, more 'Undercovers' is coming.

And I have to admit the show is beginning to grow on me. That doesn't mean that it's must-see or even very good, but it's an OK way to kill an hour. It just needs a lot of work.

['Undercovers' - 'Jailbreak']

Last week I mentioned I'd watch a show that centered around Leo and Hoyt, and tonight we got a little of that. They were a big part of the whole Ireland adventure and got to investigate things separate from Steven and Samantha. They were funny and got things done. If this show ever gets a spin-off, it would star Leo and Hoyt (Note: this show will never have a spin-off).

The episode itself? Just when I was going to write this show off completely, they give us a really good one.

['Undercovers' - 'Devices']

'Undercovers' is one of those shows that sounds better when you talk about it than when you actually watch it. There's actually less here than meets the eye. So what I thought I'd do this week is talk about the plot of tonight's episode and what was good and bad about it -- it was the typical spy plot in which our heroes are looking for a code-breaking device that turned out to be a person, not a machine, a plot used a thousand times before -- I thought I'd list three ways that the show could still improve.

Of course, with ratings like this the show might not even finish its first season, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about improvements, right?

['Undercovers' - 'Instructions']

'Undercovers' has all of the things I like in a TV show: action, charming leads, international locations, lots of humor, it's done by J.J. Abrams and company, and it's set in the exciting world of spies and intrigue. It has all of the ingredients of a hit show I'd love.

So why do I find it so boring?

J.J. Abrams returns to television with a new series, and what it lacks in smoke monsters and donkey wheels, it makes up for in explosions and kicking butt. 'Undercovers' (Wed., 8PM on NBC) stars Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Steven and Samantha Bloom, two former CIA agents pulled back into the job when Sam's former partner goes missing. And they aren't pulling any punches.

When shooting at a suspect in a high-speed car chase, if they refuse to stop, never be afraid to resort to a rocket launcher. This is why they were invented; for use on the freeway, as Samantha proved to great effect tonight.

[NOTE: Spoiler Alert]

'Undercovers' (8PM ET Wednesday, NBC) looks great.

But if you're looking for anything more than superficial eye-candy, you may be disappointed by this J.J. Abrams-Josh Reims espionage drama, which ditches much of what was good about Abrams' previous spy show, 'Alias,' and replaces it with, well, a whole lot of pretty-looking nothing.

Your TV will be flooded with new shows in coming weeks, so consider this an attempt to help you sort through your couch-potato options.

Of course, when it comes to new shows, no one can accurately predict which ones will fulfill their early promise and which ones will flame out creatively or get canceled within weeks of their premieres. And this year there are few slam-dunks along the lines of 'The Good Wife' or 'Modern Family' (to get our comedy kicks we'll probably have to go with returning shows, given that none of the new comedies look too promising).

Without further ado, these are the fall programs that, on first glance, appear to have quite a bit of potential:

If TV critics were children, Fall TV would be the equivalent of back to school time -- a lot of work to do, but so much excitement. And there's always a little disappointment as you say goodbye to summer freedom, or in our case, to our happy vacation moods.

Of course the school of TV-watching is year-round, but fall is truly the time when the networks pull out all the stops (hopefully) and show us what they've got.



So sharpen your pencils, TV fans, because class is now in session: AOL TV Editor Kelly Woo and our newest addition, Lead Critic Mo Ryan, joined me to break down all the new fall network shows. Good ("it's sexy, it's fun") or bad ("I've fallen asleep three times trying to watch this pilot"), we were brutally honest because we want this to be your go-to guide for what to watch, what to skip and those shows that fall somewhere in between.

What new fall shows are you most excited for? Sound off in the comments.

Shattered - Wednesday September 1, 10 pm ET/PT, Global

The latest Canadian police procedural debuts tonight, with Callum Keith Rennie as a cop with Multiple Personality Disorder who drags his new partner into a murky homicide investigation. Originally slated to air on Showtime, this has more in common with 'Durham County' than 'Rookie Blue.'

At first glance, J.J. Abrams' new NBC show 'Undercovers' sounds somewhat like 'Alias' -- if Sydney Bristow and Michael Vaughn had gotten married.

But executive producer Josh Reims told TV critics Friday that 'Undercovers' won't be 'Alias: Five Years Later.'

"Don't tell J.J., but I never really watched 'Alias,'" Reims said. "Neither one of us wanted to do 'Alias' -- he'd already done it ... and I thought it was one of the most confusing shows ever."

So, don't expect any Rambaldi-esque mythology in 'Undercovers,' but there will be more glamor and globe-trotting -- and sexy, witty banter between leads Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who play married spies Steven and Samantha Bloom.

Reims, Kodjoe and Mbatha-Raw were joined by producer Carther MacIntyre and cast members Gerald McRaney, Ben Schwartz and Mekia Cox. See what they had to say about the show, after the jump ...

J.J and Joss ... sounds like one hell of a team, doesn't it?

The two "Visionaries," as labeled by Entertainment Weekly, came together for one geektastic Comic-Con panel Thursday. And the creators of 'Lost,' 'Buffy,' 'Alias,' 'Firefly' and the 'Star Trek' movie only disappointed the hall full of fans in one way -- they sadly aren't collaborating on a project. (Yet.)

Whedon confirmed what has been long suspected -- that he's directing 'The Avengers' movie with Marvel. It's too soon for much info, he said. He's still writing an outline and thoroughly researching the comics, but was enthusiastic about the movie's development. "These people shouldn't even be in the same room together, let alone on a team; isn't that the definition of family?" he reasoned wryly.

Meanwhile, Abrams talked about his new show 'Undercovers,' which will be both "case of the week" and serialized. He also revealed a few (very sparse) tidbits about his upcoming movie 'Super 8,' which is being produced by Steven Spielberg. The movie hasn't begun shooting and may feature an interactive element. Abrams cryptically said, "My favorite thing about the movie is that someone will go to the theater and see the trailer and hopefully go, oh my God, that looks bitchin', and have no idea they will be starring in it." What could he mean?

Whedon also discussed the prospects for future editions of 'Dr. Horrible,' saying he needed to find time to get the whole gang back together as well as find a studio to finance it. But some songs have been written, and Whedon referred to the project as "the movie," which may give a hint to the project's ultimate scope.