Emmy Awards Movies

1877. A new day is dawning in the Black Hills outlaw camp of Deadwood. For better or worse, times are changing, and the transformation from camp to town is imminent. Unsavory new arrivals - looking to cash in on the lucrative anarchy -- and a government of outsiders usher in an era of hard decisions and brutal power struggles among the camp's founders, all learning the hard way...fortune comes with a price.

Twenty-one new, non sequitur-laden episodes are dished up by series creator Seth MacFarlane for the third and final Fox network season of the cartoon weekly Family Guy. Things start off with the series' first two-parter, in which the Griffins' pet dog, Brian, runs away from home and ends up in Hollywood directing porn movies. Later, a hurricane in Quahog brings a new British Invasion in its wake; Mr. Death, who'd been a special guest star the previous season, makes a return appearance with his mother in tow (not to mention Peter Frampton); and Meg gets a TV job forcing her to work with über-nerd Neil, but at least gets to rub caricatured shoulders with Hugh Downs and Abe Vigoda. In another story development, Peter loses his job when his boss dies in a freak accident (choking to death on a dinner roll), allowing our hero to pursue his life's ambition as a knight in a Renaissance fair -- and when that fails to pan out, he comes up with a new life's ambition and goes fishing. Elsewhere, malevolent infant Stewie tries to cook up yet another foolproof murder scheme when Peter and Lois decide to have another baby; a case of mistaken identity thrusts the Griffins into both the Witness Protection Program and a Civil War reenactment; a session with a local baseball team transforms Peter into a rara avis -- a black white man; paraplegic policeman Joe gets some unexpected assistance when he enters the Special Olympics; Stewie throws a tantrum and ends up winning a theater audition, just as sister Meg begins dating a nudist; and as another of the family's impulsive trips to Europe is sidetracked to Saudi Arabia, mom Lois reveals a long-ago liaison with KISS lead singer Gene Simmons. In the series finale, the Griffins respond to viewer mail by staging their own iconoclastic versions of The Little Rascals and a certain mutant-superhero movie blockbuster (An additional episode, "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," was never telecast on Fox due to its "controversial" nature, and remained unseen until it was shown on cable's Cartoon Network two years after it was filmed). Despite the anguished moans of the series' millions of fans, Fox decided to pull the plug on Family Guy at the end of season three. However, the series was due for a spectacular rebirth that would put a phoenix to shame. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The second season of Scrubs opens as the various staffers try to come to grips with surprising season-one revelations. Meanwhile, in his characteristically demonic fashion, chief of medicine Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins) deliberately steps up the competition amongst the younger staffers of Sacred Heart Hospital, putting a strain on the friendship between doctors J.D. (Zach Braff) and Turk (Donald Faison). As for sexy Dr. Elliott Reid (Sarah Chalke), she hasn't much time to pursue her romance with J.D., owing to a problem involving her living arrangements...or lack of same. In a later development, Jordan Sullivan (Christa Miller), the ex-wife of bombastic veteran doctor Perry Cox (John C. McGinley), reveals that she's pregnant, which serves only to make Dr. Cox even more ballistic than usual. And near the end of the season, Turk plans to propose to nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes), only to lose the engagement ring in a patient's digestive system! Appearing as guest stars this season are three veterans of Scrubs producer Bill Lawrence's first hit sitcom, Spin City: Heather Locklear (as toothsome pharmaceutical sales rep Julie Keaton, who has a fling with Dr. Cox), Richard Kind, and Alan Ruck. Also on hand are John Ritter, who plays J.D.'s dad; Ed star Thomas Cavanaugh, cast as J.D.'s near-lookalike brother Dan; D.L. Hughley as Turk's brother Kevin; Dick Van Dyke as a brilliant but enfeebled surgeon whom Kelso hasn't the heart to fire; Rick Schroder as a "murse" -- male nurse -- whom Elliott briefly falls for; and Jay Mohr as a former student of Dr. Cox, who knows a little too much about his mentor for his own good. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

15-year-old Raven Baxter (Raven-Symone) manages to get herself, her family, and her friends into all sorts of hilarious scrapes thanks to her remarkable -- and remarkably faulty -- gift for prophecy in season one of the Disney Channel sitcom That's So Raven. In fact, the series has barely gotten started before Raven is on the outs with her friend Eddie (Orlando Brown) because she refuses to peer into the future to help him pass his high school Spanish exam. Later on, Raven experiences a vision that her ten-year-old brother Cory (Kyle Orlando Massey) despises her, senses disaster when her dad Victor (Rondell Sheridan) gets the opportunity to appear on a TV cooking show (and also predicts that Victor will lose his chef's job), nearly wrecks her various friendships in her efforts to touch base with other psychics, and jumps to the conclusion that her dad and mom (T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh) are headed for divorce. The problem, you see, is that Raven's glimpses into the future are only fragmentary -- leading her to misinterpret what's in store for her and react upon it in a fashion that would do I Love Lucy proud! The season ends with Raven discovering that the source of her -- er -- gift might well be her Grandma Viv (Jenifer Lewis), who may or may not be a witch. (Though clearly intended as the season finale -- and identified as such in the series' rerun package -- this episode did not originally air on Disney Channel until halfway through season two!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The owners of Miami's trendy McNamara-Troy cosmetic surgery clinic face multiple midlife (and other) crises as the FX comedy drama series Nip/Tuck enters its second season. Now that they have both reached the age of 40, longtime business partners Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) must make some crucial decisions that will affect their future lives, to say nothing of their professional futures as expert surgical face-lifters. For Sean, the big four-oh means that he will no longer allow himself to be bullied and cowed by his demanding wife Julia (Joely Richardson) and his insolent teenage son Matt (John Hensley) -- at least not as much as he used to be. One aspect of Sean's newer, bolder outlook on life is his brief romantic fling with a self-reliant blind woman, played by guest star Rebecca Gayheart.
As for Christian, he remains as avaricious as ever when it comes to money and creature comforts, but he is also beginning to exhibit a hitherto well-hidden streak of responsibility, as manifested in his desire to adopt the son of his girlfriend Gina (Jessalyn Gilsig). Major developments this season include the revelation of a devastating secret about Sean's son Matt, one that not only threatens to destroy his marriage, but also to permanently split up the firm of McNamara-Troy. Also, Sean invites New Age life coach Ava Moore (Famke Janssen) into his home to help deal with the personal travails of his wife Julia, only to stand by in shock and awe as Ava inaugurates a romance with Matt. Figuring into this delicate situation is Ava's own son Adrian (Seth Gabel), who has some serious issues of his own. And weaving throughout the proceedings is an elusive serial rapist known only as The Carver, who disfigures the faces of his victims -- and who is willing to slash up both women and men, as both Sean and Christian discover to their horror. Among the more fascinating clients passing through the doors of McNamara-Troy during season two are Julia's mother, played by Joely Richardson's real-life mom Vanessa Redgrave; Jill Clayburgh as a dissatisfied customer who is willing to make a public spectacle of herself to ruin Sean and Chris; Lori and Reba Schappell as a pair of conjoined twins who wish to be separated; and in the season finale, Joan Rivers as herself, insisting upon having her multitudinous face lifts "revoked" for the sake of her grandson! ~ Rovi

Set in Palau, a cluster of independently governed islands near Micronesia, the tenth season of Survivor is described at the outset by series host Jeff Probst as "a season of firsts." And indeed it is. For the first time, 20 contestants -- two more players than ever before -- are whisked off to the exotic locale that will serve as the series' backdrop for 39 days. For the first time, three people are voted off the island in the initial episode -- and one of these is the first African-American contestant to be eliminated after only three days. For the first time, no new tribe is formed when the remaining members of the original tribes are merged. And those are but a few of this year's "firsts." One of the season's "stars" turns out to be Coby Archa, an extremely vocal gentleman whose constant complaints and bursts of anger (described by TV Guide as "high school frustration") place him on the same lofty level as the "whiner supreme" from season one, the unforgettable Susan Hawk. That Coby doesn't make it to the final four is no surprise, though those who do make it are surprising in their own right. After the final episode of Survivor: Palau, the memorabilia from the season is auctioned off, with proceeds benefiting the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS foundation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season three of the Superman-derived adventure series Smallville had ended with young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) disappearing into a mysterious portal opened by his Kryptonian birth father, Jor-El (Terence Stamp), while Clark's Earthling adoptive father, Jonathan (John Schneider), lay comatose. Meanwhile, Clark's high-school sweetheart Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) had gone off to study in Paris; his mercurial friend Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), having downed a poisoned cocktail, writhed in agony; Lex's crooked industrialist father, Lionel (John Glover), was sitting in the slammer; and while preparing to make public damning evidence against Lionel's criminal activities, budding journalist Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) was apparently killed in an explosion. As season four begins, Clark is hurtled buck-naked back into "our" dimension -- now armed with the knowledge that he is Kal-El of Krypton, fully aware of his destiny on Earth and that he will continue evincing superpowers, and determined to fulfill the mission set down by his father to retrieve several powerful kryptonite crystals lest they fall into human hands. No sooner has Clark returned than he has his first meeting with big-city reporter Lois Lane (Erica Durance), who has arrived in Smallville to investigate the reported death of her cousin, Chloe -- and to say that Clark and Lois do not exactly hit it off at first sight is an understatement! As it turns out, Chloe is still alive, forcing the jailed Lionel to step up his efforts to silence her for keeps. Likewise, Lex has recovered from his poisoning, but the traumatic experiences of the past few months seems to have aroused his "darker" side -- an aspect of his personality that will reveal itself disturbingly in the form of his evil doppelganger, Alexander, a manifestation brought about by the effects of that renegade kryptonite (which, it is revealed this year, comes in a variety of colors, each with its own special powers).

One of the season's most significant story arcs concerns one Jason Teague (Jensen Ackles), a handsome but strangely off-putting young man whom Lana met in Paris, and who has followed her back to Smallville. Jason's presence precipitates the arrival of his wicked mother, Genevieve Teague (Jane Seymour), who evidently has vital information about the missing kryptonite crystals, and who also has connections with the estimable Luthor family. It also comes to pass that she had carefully stage-managed the meeting between Jason and Lana, the better to solve the mystery of the strange tattoo on Lana's back -- a mystery that stretches all the way back to Lana's previous existence in medieval times. In the season finale, Clark is poised to graduate from high school, but first he must solve a perplexing puzzle left for him by his father -- and this done, Clark is suddenly teleported to the North Pole, just as Lana, with a murder charge hanging over her head, needs him most. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The misanthropic title character of the Fox hospital series House growls, grunts, glowers, winces and limps his way through a variety of curious and bizarre medical cases during the series' first season on the air. For starters, Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) must determine if a schoolteacher is suffering from a fatal tumor that is somehow causing her to speak fluent gibberish. Other patients suffer from hallucinations, the consequences of rough sex, and a apparent case of stigmata. Through it all, House maintains his nasty, abrasive façade, breaking as many rules as humanly possible to get the right results and save the lives of his charges--even those who flat-out don't want to be saved. Among the season's high points is a wager made by Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital's dean Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) that House can keep away from his precious Vicodin for a week, which results in unexpected side effects that may adversely affect House's patient. Then there's the story arc involving billionaire Edward Vogler (Chi McBride), who wants to purchase Princeton-Plainsboro and fire House as an economy measure--and, failing that, force the reluctant House to dismiss at least one member of his loyal medical team. Finally, House endures a visit from his ex-girlfriend Stacy Warner (Sela Ward), whose husband may be dying and whose lingering presence will vex our "hero" throughout most of the next season. House closed out its successful first season by garnering an Emmy award for series writer-producer David Shore, honoring his teleplay for the episode "Three Stories". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Launched as a mid-season replacement on ABC in spring 2005, this sex-soaked medical soap opera quickly became a hit during its nine-episode inaugural run. Creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes, who wrote the first three episodes herself, wasted no time in setting up the central conflicts at Seattle Grace. In taking an internship at the hospital where her mother once enjoyed great renown as a surgeon, beautiful Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) must suffer through not only heightened expectations, but also the terrible secret that her mother now suffers from Alzheimer's. As if that's not enough, Meredith also enters into an unlikely romance with her boss, Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), aka "Dr. McDreamy." Once word gets out, the affair irks most of Meredith's co-workers: no-nonsense senior resident Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), who toes the party line regarding resident/intern romance; nice-guy intern George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), who harbors a not-so-secret crush on Meredith; and ultra-competitive intern Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), who believes Shepherd is playing favorites with Meredith. Much to her own surprise, however, Cristina soon finds herself hooking up with Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington), who's not only her supervisor but also Shepherd's rival for chief resident. As for surgeons-in-training Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), they're too busy loathing each other to get caught up in any inter-office romance. Chief of Surgery Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), too, remains above the fray -- until, during the cliffhanger season finale, he inadvertently affects the course of Meredith and McDreamy's relationship by hiring a new pediatric surgeon (guest star Kate Walsh) with a surprising link to Derek's past. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Since its debut in 2002, American Idol has served well to reveal some of America's best undiscovered vocal talents, but in order to get to the best, you've got to weed through the rest - and that's what this release is all about. Sometimes the vocalists on American Idol are so awful that you just can't help feeling for them. Sometimes, as in the case of "She Bangs" crooner William Hung, the sheer lack of any discernable talent nearly transcends musical ability to become something of a talent itself. Either way you view it, the worst is often just as entertaining as the best, and it just doesn't get any worse than this. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Originally created for (and telecast on) Nickelodeon, the half-hour anime series Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in an alternate world in which the "nations" are divided along the lines of elements: the Water Nation, the Earth Nation, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nation. The titular Avatar was supreme master of the four elements and was predestined to protect the rest of his world against the evil Fire Nation. Abruptly disappearing from view, the Avatar resurfaced in the form of 12-year-old Aang, the last of the Airbender tribe. Discovered frozen in ice near the South Pole by two young members of the Water tribe, Katara and Sokka, the irresponsible Aang had to summon up enough strength -- and self-esteem -- to do battle against the villainous Firebenders. The series' requisite "cute little animal" was Aang's pet lemur, Momo. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The threat to the United States in Season 5's white-knuckle day is Russian separatists armed with weaponized nerve gas and led by Vladimir Bierko (Julian Sands). Inciting their ire is an arms and mutual defense treaty that Russian president Yuri Suvarov (Nick Jameson) plans on signing with the U.S. and duplicitous president Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin). As Day 5 begins, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), who faked his own demise at the close of last season, is working at an oil refinery in California under the name Frank Flynn. He returns from his self-imposed exile to fight the good fight after an assassination rocks the nation and he finds himself framed for it and several other crimes. Jack is also reunited with former love interest Audrey Raines (Kim Raver), but tumult continues to follow them. Meanwhile at CTU, there's a new man brought in to oversee operations, Lynn McGill (Sean Astin), and once again, there's a mole in the ranks. A significant subplot centers on Christopher Henderson (Peter Weller), Jack's mentor-turned-nemesis who has information that can help Jack thwart the Russians. Another thread follows First Lady Martha Logan (Jean Smart), who grows increasingly disdainful of her husband's actions in office. ~ Fred Mitchell, Rovi

Considered the Dr. Phil of the canine set, Mexican-born Cesar Millan grew up on his grandfather's ranch and from an early age showed a remarkable ability at training problem dogs. He came to the U.S. and opened the Dog Psychology Center in Los Angeles, and word spread quickly of his unique training approach for hard-to-handle canines. In Season 2, Millan handles such problem pooches as Teddy, the poodle who is constantly running in circles; Duke, the Doberman who has been banned from dog parks for fighting; Cosmo, the shepherd mix whose biting habit could endanger a family's new baby; and the Rottweiler Bearz, who likes to attack shopping carts. Season 2 aired on the National Geographic Channel in 2006, and the 20 episodes follow Millan's efforts to rehabilitate problem dogs -- and their owners.