[Hero]

In case ya missed the memo, after the 5th of March airing of "Like Any Parasite", there'll be a 5-week break for HEROES. The latest nbcumv schedule shows a 2-hour DOND on Monday, followed by "The Black Donnellys". I also happened to see some other mid-season premieres on Thursday, with "Andy Barker, P.I.", and "Raines".

ANDY BARKER, P.I. --(9:31PM-1 minute after 10 PM) --(TV-PG)

"Pilot"

Andy Richter ("Late Night with Conan O'Brien") re-teams with Conan O'Brien (series co-creator and executive producer) in this comedy as he portrays Andy Barker, an earnest, hard-working CPA who has succeeded at everything -- until his new accounting business fails to take off. But when he's mistaken for Lew Staziak (Harve Presnell, "Fargo"), the retired private detective who used to occupy his storefront office, Andy embraces the twist of fate and dives into his double life. Andy's relentlessly supportive wife Jen (Clea Lewis, "Ellen") isn't sold on this risky new venture, that is, until she notices a sudden boost in Andy's self-confidence. Andy's fellow strip-mall neighbors -- Simon (Tony Hale, "Arrested Development") and Wally (Marshall Manesh, "Will & Grace") join him in the dicey investigation. In the pilot episode, Andy Barker, begins his double life as a private investigator when he's hired to solve a case involving a missing husband and the Russian mafia. This comedy series was created by O'Brien and former "Late Night" head writer Jonathan Groff ("Ed"), who executive-produce the series with Jeff Ross and David Kissinger. "Andy Barker, P.I." is from NBC Universal Television Studio and Conaco. The pilot was directed by Jason Ensler ("The West Wing").


MEDIA CONTACT: Diane Licht


RAINES --(1 minute after 10 PM-an hour later) --(TV-PG)

"Pilot"

IT'S ALL IN THE MIND -- When Los Angeles police homicide detective Michael Raines (Jeff Goldblum) arrives at the crime scene, Sandy Boudreau (Alexa Davalos), a beautiful young woman, is lying face down, murdered with a bullet in her back. As Raines begins the investigation, the murdered victim haunts his imagination and this hallucination keeps hounding him with one crucial question -- who did this? When Raines discovers the victim's unwholesome past and mysterious calls from a wealthy man's cell phone, he starts to piece together a puzzle that he hopes will lead him to the killer -- and peace of mind. Matt Craven, Dov Davidoff, Linda Park, Nicole Sullivan, Malik Yoba also star.

The Andy Barker one seems kinda fun, and Raines looks cool (I guessed correctly about his partner... )! I'm curious to see how they develop Goldblum's character.

What do you think about these new shows?

[The_Heroic_Loser]

I'm really looking forward to Raines. But the Andy Barker show....not so much.

[Super Ordinary Guy]

^ I agree with THL. I heard about Raines right around the same time as I heard about HEROES. I've been waiting on Raines for quite a while, and now that Alexa Davalos (She can start my heart anytime! - small Angel reference) is in it, I will be sure to watch the pilot.

[The_Heroic_Loser]

Yeah, I really liked Alexa on Angel. I didn't like her last show, Reunion, though.

[Hero]

We only watched Smallville, and I forgot that Raines premiered. It looks like they re-cast his partner since the pilot, and I wanted to see if they changed anything else.