TVSquad

It's coming. The table is set, the players are on the field, the sails are raised, and the pretty maids are all in a row. Of course, I speak of the 2008-09 television schedule. In just a few short weeks viewers will be able to dine on a number of favorite and new dishes that are being served by the networks as well as the increasing number of cable channels who are delving into original programming.

While other fall seasons have come and gone with nary a whimper, this season may be different. Due to the prolonged Writers Strike many shows ended their seasons quite early. Programs like Life, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, and Heroes haven't aired original episodes since the end of 2007. Heck, there hasn't been a new episode of The Shield since June of last year! So, the beginning of the 2008-09 season will be a second chance for some of these shows, particularly the ones that premiered last season, to show their worth to fans and the networks.

I wanted to wait a bit before I posted about the ABC showrunner panel, because a) I already posted about the "news" from Shonda Rhimes about Katherine Heigl's statements, and b) I wanted to think about why these panels seem to be so much more informative than the individual show panels?

We'll get to that more later. On the panel were Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice), Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives), Silvio Horta (Ugly Betty), Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (Lost), and Greg Berlanti (seemingly the rest of ABC's schedule). As you'd expect, Rhimes got the Heigl questions, Lindelof and Cuse got the most esoteric questions, and Chery made the most jokes. The funniest line, though, came from Horta.

Thanks to Marc Cherry and Shonda Rhimes, the ABC show-runner panel was a good way to start the afternoon. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there, as the panels for Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice, and Desperate Housewives were surprisingly dull, especially considering the fact that Cherry and Rhimes returned for the DH and Practice panels, respectively.

Even something Cherry said that seemed like it would be news -- that he's going to end DH after the seventh season -- turned out to be old hat, as he announced the very same thing at the Winter 2007 tour. "Yeah, I've made the decision that after seven years, I will probably keel over in a hump and die," he said. "I love my baby, you know. I love working with these gals, but the idea of letting anyone else take the show from me kind of makes me sad and sick to my stomach."

Last season's Desperate Housewives' finale was pretty much a game changer. The denizens of Wisteria Lane jumped five years into the future and into completely different lives. Just to recap: Gaby (Eva Longoria Parker) is a mom, Bree (Marcia Cross) is the new Martha Stewart and is back with Orson (Kyle MacLachlan), Lynette's (Felicity Huffman) sons are juvenile delinquents, Susan (Teri Hatcher) has a new man and Edie (Nicolette Sheridan) is nowhere to be found. So basically things are a little ... different. Executive producers Bob Daily and Sabrina Wind discuss just how different life on Wisteria Lane is going to be this season.

Daily says that the five year jump has allowed them to wipe the slate clean, "We keep talking about this first episode likes it's another pilot. We're starting over and each woman has a new drive now." For more information on what to expect on Desperate Housewives this season, follow me after the jump.

WARNING: SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP

Haircuts on TV shows are often a very big deal. Remember when Keri Russell had the audacity to cut her long, curl mane on Felicity? Some fans never forgave her or the character!

Well, be prepared for another cut to your psyche, Desperate Housewives' devotees. Eva Longoria Parker has cut her hair for the upcoming sixth season of the show. Unlike Keri, however, Eva's cut was done with the blessing of the producers.

As you can see, it's a very cute 'doo; not too blunt or pixie-ish. It's quite stylish and flattering. The idea is that with the five-year time jump that we saw in the finale last season, Gaby doesn't have the time or inclination to care for her long, flowing locks. (If you've ever had long, full hair like hers, you know what I'm talking about!)

Including gay characters on your TV show is good, unless it's two lesbians who fall in love with a straight man, as they do in a storyline on New Amsterdam. FOX learned that the hard way when they received a failing grade from GLAAD (The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) on their second annual GLAAD Network Responsibility Index. The index measures the "quantity, quality and diversity of images of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people on television."

Even though GLAAD gave FOX a failing grade, the network's cable counterpart, FX, received top honors for cable channels. The advocacy group praised them for including the most original programming that featured members LGBT community. Special notice was given to Nip/Tuck, which had a gay, lesbian, or bisexual character in every episode. Rescue Me's commitment ceremony storyline was also viewed favorably by the group.

Desperate Housewives fans had a lot of questions after last season's shocking fast-forward finale (what the *$#@ happened to Mike, for one). Now, AOL TV is gathering those questions and will pose them to stars Felicity Huffman and Doug Savant as part of its upcoming "Outside the Box" video interview series.

In the season finale, Lynette and Tom sent his trouble daughter, Kayla, packing after she'd pushed their hell-raising sons into starting fires, jumping off roofs, etc. Can we expect to see a teenaged Kayla return to Wisteria Lane with a vengeance? This is your chance to ask Huffman and Savant.

Submit your questions in the comments below by Tuesday, July 15 and be sure to include your first name and city/state.

As if it wasn't obvious from the last moments of the Desperate Housewives season finale... You may remember Susan kissing another man during the show's highly anticipated flash forward. And James Denton told People that Mike and Susan are definitely split up. However, we're not losing James Denton from ABC's hit show altogether. "I'm not sure exactly in what capacity. Marc Cherry is being a little cagey. It's going to be interesting to see what happens. But I will certainly be on the show. It's a relief to me, trust me," the 45-year-old actor told People. What's with that last bit about the new storyline being a "relief"?

As the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences tries to whittle the submissions down to actual nominees, it's interesting to take a look at who has made it to the semifinals. It's not a nomination, but it's one step away. Today comes word of the finalists for best comedy actress and best supporting drama actor. There are some surprises.

Chief among those for me is Sarah Silverman. I honestly hadn't even considered her in the running. I'm not much of a fan, but I do like that she is being considered for the simple fact that the base the nominees are drawn from can always use some expansion. And if she is the most surprising inclusion, the most surprising snub just might be Teri Hatcher. Eva Longoria, Marcia Cross, and Felicity Huffman all made the cut, but not Hatcher. Ouch. The rest of the finalists, and the supporting actors from a drama, after the jump.

One thing you have to say about the powers that be at Desperate Housewives, they're really great with casting. Great looking guys, beautiful women, quirky character actors; we've seen them all on Wisteria Lane and usually they leave a lasting impression.

The latest name to check in to Desperate Housewives is Neal McDonough. He'll be appearing in the new season and Hollywood Reporter is wondering how he'd do with Nicolette Sheridan's character, Edie Britt. Is that wondering or playing matchmaker? How do we know that Marc Cherry isn't setting him up as a mystery man from Bree's past? Cherry is nothing if not inventive, so good luck trying to anticipate his plotlines!

The Emmy nominations won't be announced until July 17, but we can tell you right now without a doubt that Ugly Betty's Rebecca Romijn will not be among the outstanding supporting actress in a comedy category at the Emmys. No, we're not psychic. It's just that her spokesman has confirmed that her name was never actually submitted. DOH! And why was that, you wonder. No good reason, said her rep, "It was an oversight."

According to L.A. Times' Tom O'Neil, this isn't really that far-fetched an occurrence. Tim Allen, at the height of his Home Improvement success, missed a chance for an Emmy nomination when somebody fumbled the ball. The next year, his paperwork was hand-delivered, accompanied by the University of Southern California marching band.

Romijn's omission -- on the surface -- looks like a mistake. Yes, it's true that her status on the show is going from series regular to recurring, but I don't believe she purposely kept her name out of the running to in some way act out in protest against the show. It makes no sense? How is she hurting Ugly Betty by not getting an Emmy nomination? No, this was a screw up, nothing more.

(S04E16/S04E17) "I'm Wayne Davis. We're about to have some fun." - Wayne

Answers. As ABC promised us, we've got them. The two-hour season finale of Desperate Housewives wrapped up the season-long Katherine/Dylan/Wayne storyline, sent Kayla packing, and paved the way for a revamped Wisteria Lane.

For ease of writing and reading, I'll be commenting the events of "The Gun Song" and "Free" in one slightly longer than usual post. I sadly can't comment everything that happened in this special two-hour event, so feel free to dish and comment about what I didn't pick on.

I went to Universal Studios in Hollywood on Saturday for the revealing of The Simpsons Ride. Celebs walked the "yellow" carpet. The mayor welcomed the crowds and led the countdown. A human cannonball was shot into the air. And a yellow sheet dropped to reveal a 32-foot Krusty the Clown face at the entrance to the attraction.

Despite the launch being for The Simpsons, there were hardly any members of the cast there on the yellow carpet. Kelsey Grammer (Sideshow Bob) was there along with creator Matt Groening and producer James L. Brooks but no other voice talents were anywhere to be found. See who I talked to and read more about the ride unveiling after the jump.

Michael Weinfeld of the Associated Press was able to sit down with television's most neurotic homemaker. Marcia Cross, who plays Bree Hodge on Desperate Housewives, dished about this Sunday's big finale event. The muffin-baking, rose bush-pruning domestic diva told all about what happens to herself and the other inhabitants of Wisteria Lane.

SPOILER ALERT: Marcia Cross talks about the Desperate Housewives finale after the jump.

We learned yesterday that ABC's Desperate Housewives will be back for season five next fall, in its same time-slot of Sunday at 9 p.m. I'm sure creator Marc Cherry has stocked up on Tums in the past few years, as the series waffled between must-see and mediocrity. Right now, it's somewhere in the middle, although I've made a point to watch every week, so that says something right there.

ET Online is breaking news tonight that Dana Delany will be returning to the series in the fall. Although no storyline has been as compelling as the murder intrigue that super-charged season one, the mystery surrounding Delany's Katherine Mayfair this season has been mildly interesting.

We know it has something to do with her daughter, Dylan (Lyndsy Fonseca) and ex-husband, Wayne (Gary Cole), who struck up a relationship with Dylan in recent weeks. I must admit, I'm curious enough to make sure the DVR records when the season finale rolls around.