TV ... yoo my only fren.

It's been a while since I've posted about television, but rest assured, I'm still on the couch tv-whoring it up from channel to channel. I've even made two new television friends -- actually they're like two old friends with spiffy haircuts and new outfits.

Jeff Goldblum

The first one's Raines on NBC Thursday nights. I'm such a sucker for shows that give the would-be silent a voice (Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me, Six Feet Under, and heck, even Joan of Arcadia), and my obsession with differing points of view makes Boomtown still reign as my favorite show to date. But Raines has definitely made its own little impression -- this show lets me enjoy current television and take a break from clutching DVD box sets, pining after beloved shows lost.

Even before I saw last week's pilot, I could tell by the cast that I was going to love it. First, there's Jeff Goldblum (as Detective Raines), who I've loved since Jurassic Park, and whose hilarious portrayal of Jim Watson in The Race for the Double Helix made my having to watch it over and over -- in every single biology class I've ever taken -- just a little more bearable.

Then, there's Raine's retired partner played by Malik Yoba, who I once had a girlish crush on as Detective JC Williams on New York Undercover. The crush has long passed, but it's still nice to see him back playing a (sorta) detective. I don't think he's going to have a huge role in the series, though, since he wasn't even included in the cast photo -- pity.

Nicole Sullivan

Nicole Sullivan (from MadTV) plays some kind of brainiac assistant to Det. Raines. Most of her lines in the pilot were pretty boring, but, seriously, she could read the phone book and crack me up. I think she'll get to say a lot more in future episodes (well, at least a lot more than our friend Yoba, it seems, who isn't featured in a single picture on the entire NBC website).

Matt Craven plays the police captain, and he holds a special place in my heart as a recurring guest star on Boomtown, playing the MD/JD who did double duty as a psychiatrist and public defender. There's also Luis Guzmán, who was so much better than that failed sitcom he had some years back -- I think my mother is the only person who ever watched that.

Matt Craven

Luis Guzmán

Yeah, the premise is what drew me in, but the actors will make me keep watching. Speaking of good actors, I caught an episode of 'Til Death on FOX last night, and it's actually a really funny show.

Brad Garrett

I'm not surprised -- Brad Garrett was always hilarious as the sullen, single brother on Everybody Loves Raymond, and even though it's a little weird seeing Garrett play a happily married guy, if someone had to star in a Raymond: The Sequel, I'm glad it's him.

His character's black best friend is played by Anthony Anderson -- I seriously don't like Anderson. From what I've seen in interviews, he has an ego that's the size of Uranus and about as fragile as a balloon -- which in my book makes him an incredible ass. But he's also an incredible actor.

Anthony Anderson

I wouldn't have said that a couple years ago, especially considering how he used to grate on my nerves as the loud, annoying sidekick in a ton of movies (Two Can Play That Game, Barbershop, and loads more).

But after watching Hustle and Flow, and seeing him play someone sweet and likable, I had to give him credit -- not because I think he's a good guy in real life, but because I knew that if he could make me (me!) actually like him, he had to be one hell of an actor. Wowza. Like, whoa.

I loved that movie -- more notably, I loved him in that movie, and that's a big deal coming from me, saying an awful lot about his acting skills.

 I haven't seen Hustle and Flow in a long time -- I would pop it in now, but my friend Raines is coming over tonight, and I need to go do something productive for a few hours, or my legs may stop working for lack of use.

Raines on NBC, Thursdays 10/9c