Paging longtime friends of County General, please report to 'ER'

So I wasn't going to tell you guys this.

But then I remembered that we have no TV secrets from each other and you already know that I watch One Tree Hill, still kind of miss The Class and cried real tears when The Facts of Life graduated from high school, so really why try to hide anything from you at this point.

Yesterday when I was watching Anthony Edwards' return to ER (Thursday at 10 p.m. on NBC), I actually said out loud "Hot diggity! This is so excellent." My husband immediately hit the pause button and said, "I'm sorry. Did you just say 'hot diggity?'" and then proceeded to laugh for about five minutes. I think it's important to note that "hot diggity" is a phrase I've never used before and probably will never use again. Heck, I didn't even know it was in my vocabulary.

But I was simply thrilled to see who they wove in and out of the episode and the phrase fell out of my mouth. As a long time fan of the show, it was just so much fun to see these characters again. I'm not going to spoil the surprise here (except to say it's not Carol or Doug so don't get too excited) but I think you'll be quite pleased by the cameos.

In the episode, Dr. Cate Banfield (Angela Bassett) remembers a time she had to visit County General and Dr. Greene helps her. What's great about the episode is that it really does feel like we stumbled upon an old episode of ER that we never saw. What's even better is it gives more context to Bassett's character and give her dramatic material that allows her to shine. Up until now she's been cranky without explanation now we get a peak into her pain. She has a great scene with Dr. Archie Morris (Scott Grimes who is flourishing this season) toward the end of the episode that is incredibly touching.

If they could simply skedaddle Dr. Brenner and resist any inkling to thrust Sam and Tony into a love triangle, I could so go all in on the final season of ER.

After you watch the episode, you have to let me know what you think.

Important TV News

In case you missed this little tidbit of information, the new season of Lost will premiere on Wednesday January 21, 2009. Until then I will cling to the notion that Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) is alive.

Ask TV Gal

I was a big fan of "Buffy"/"Angel," and that was a big factor in tuning into "Bones" its debut season. Boreanaz was a draw for me, and one of the reasons I like the show is Booth *isn't* Angel. Boreanaz isn't simply recycling his old character. But it makes me ask the question: Which actors or actresses do the best job of transitioning from one starring gig to another? Or put another way, what actor or actress can make us forget about their previous starring roles? I'd immediately nominate Thomas Gibson (from "Dharma and Greg" to "Criminal Minds") and Alyson Hannigan ("BTVS" to "HIMYM"). What do you think? Anyone truly stand out for you in this regard? Jeff

This is a great question Jeff. One that's so good that I decided to turn it over to the entire group. I totally agree with your nominees -- I see no traces of Angel in Agent Booth. That's a pretty amazing feat considering that, as the title character, Boreanaz was on the screen more often than not and played Angel for a total of seven seasons. Anthony LaPaglia is an incredibly versatile actor. I remember when Without a Trace first premiered, I had to keep reminding myself that he played Daphne's hilarious lascivious of a brother on Frasier the previous season. And even though he wasn't a lead character, I remember being blown away by the fact that Scott Cohen was playing both the charming Max Medina on Gilmore Girls and the simply awful Detective Denby on NYPD Blue simultaneously. What do you guys think? Which actor or actress has made you forget about their previous role? Talk about it below.

Highlights of the Week Ahead

All times listed are Eastern Standard Time for November 10-16

There are some shows that inadvertently became victims of my honeymoon. I just never caught up with them after I returned. Somehow this happened Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Monday at 8 p.m. on FOX). I think it's because I just wasn't that into the show at the beginning of the season. First of all, tell me, should I try to catch up? Secondly if you're a fan of the show, you have probably heard that someone dies tonight. After you've watched the episode, click here and join a live chat with the cast member who doesn't live to see next week's episode.

Hopefully this turns out to be the episode of House (Tuesday, FOX, 8 p.m.) that we've all been waiting for -- Cameron and Chase (Jesse Spencer) finally get some air time. I know many of you are so upset by the FOX scheduling shenanigans beginning in January. House moves to Mondays at 8 p.m. on January 19. The network seriously seems to be testing the notion that viewers will follow House anywhere. We could make a children's book out of it "Where's House Now?" and in every page of the book, a child could try to find the show's time slot. It certainly seems like every six months the show airs at a different time. The only reason I'm not too upset right now is that I expect to change at least a couple more times before January.

I'm surprised by how many of you aren't excited about the possibility of a Sam and Jack romance on Without a Trace (Tuesday, CBS, 10 p.m.). But the thing is we never really got to see their romance the first time around. By the time we found out about it, it was already over and you know Jack was married so we couldn't actually be supportive of the whole thing. But now Jack is divorced and as much as I think maybe Sam should date outside the workplace and not start up a romantic relationship with her boss, I'm still kind of excited to see those two together. It looks like we'll see more of that possibility towards the end of the month. This week, the team, with Jack now back in charge, investigates a missing bank officer.

Jason Priestley guest stars as Earl's cousin on My Name is Earl (Thursday, NBC, 8 p.m.).

Don't forget that Ralph Macchio returns to Ugly Betty this week (Thursday, ABC, 8 p.m.). I really liked last week's episode that showed Amanda's vulnerability in a very believable way and put Betty in a situation every woman can probably relate to. I'm not sure where exactly they are heading with Mark's storyline but I'm really happy when Mark and Amanda get actual storylines and not just fun, quip one liners.

While we wait and see if Pam decides to stay in New York or return to Scranton on The Office (Thursday, NBC, 9 p.m.), check out this preview of The Office webisodes and a deleted scene from last week.

The parade of guest stars on 30 Rock continues. Jennifer Aniston guest stars as an old friend of Liz's Thursday at 9:30 p.m. on NBC.

I'm gathering that you are none too pleased that Jim (David Conrad) died on Ghost Whisperer (Friday, CBS, 8 p.m.) so I'm so curious to find out what you think of the direction the show goes in this week. In general, I kind of think this was an unnecessary plot development.

That's all for today. I'm back on Wednesday with this week's familiar faces and more. Have a question? Seen a familiar face? Want to nominate a quote of the week? Write me at amytvgal@zap2it.com.

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