Wednesday's News & Notes

~Primetime Pass~
(a look at what PTR is watching tonight)

Bones (8 p.m. Fox) - "Judas on a Pole." When a mans body is found gutted, burned and hung up like a scarecrow on the roof of the Federal Building, Booth and Brennan are called in to identify the charred remains and determine who was behind the murder. Ryan ONeal and Kathy Reichs, inspiration for Brennan character, guest star in an episode directed by David Duchovny.

Medium (10 p.m. NBC) - "Profiles in Terror." When a famous FBI Criminal Profiler is brought in to help out on a potential serial killer case, Allison (Emmy winner Patricia Arquette) begins to have visions that contradict his findings, causing them to butt heads and him to question the source of her information. Meanwhile, Joe (Jake Weber) grows concerned about Marie (Miranda Carabello), who begins to display odd behavior at home.

About Last Night...
BIGGEST RATINGS WINNERS: NCIS, House, The Unit, Criminal Minds (r), How the Grinch Stole Christmas

For more on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

QUICK CUTS
* The recent "Forever Blue" episode of Cold Case struck a cord with a lot of you and sent people buzzing all over the Internet -- something that this crime drama is used to watching its bigger siblings CSI and Without a Trace enjoy. The episode, about a secret relationship between two male cops in 1968, generated heartfelt emails, blog entries and a beautifully written entry in Wikipedia. "Forever Blue" is just the most recent applauded Cold Case episode dealing with gay/lesbian/bisexual issues and relationships. Like "A Time to Hate," "Daniela," and "Best Friends" (which won a GLAAD Media Award) before it, this latest episode removed the stigma of the gay relationship and presented the characters as real people. The site AfterElton.com has an exclusive one-on-one interview with actor Shane Johnson who played the gay cop "Coop" in the highly-lauded episode. In it, the married actor tells the site that he had no quams about playing a gay character. "If the part is true to something and has a strong purpose, I couldn't care less about sexual orientation. If there are people out there that have a problem with it (which there are) that's their own battle and prejudice they'll have to come to terms with - hopefully sooner than later," he says. Johnson calls the role his "favorite to date," and says that he knew along with the show's cast that the episode was a stand-out. "When I read the script, I knew that it was something special. Even the regular cast on the show commented on how great they felt the episode was. I was emotional and connected just reading the thing. I could sense that this was a really important story and very well crafted by [writer] Tom Pettit." Johnson says that the atmosphere on the Cold Case set is "The best I've worked on" and he's "very proud of this episode." For more of AfterElton.com's interview with Shane Johnson, click HERE.

*And finally, it's Nielsen Wednesday! In a week sprinkled with reruns, CBS once again dominated with its glutiny of crime dramas. Here's a look at the Top 10 shows from last week courtesy of USA Today:
1. CSI (23.3 million viewers)
2. Sunday Night Football (19.9)
3. Deal or No Deal (17.4)
4. 60 Minutes (15.8)
5. Survivor (15.7)
6. Heroes (14.9)
7. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (14.2)
8. Cold Case (14.1)
9. Shark (14.0)
10. Without a Trace (13.9)

PTR Faves in the Top 20: The Amazing Race (#13)

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