While she offered a shaky reassurance, the bottom part of the screen first launched into a reminder that viewers were watching "Saving Grace," then delivered the news that "Hawthorne" was next, before concluding - with a series of distracting golden swirls - with the message from TNT that "we know drama challenges."
Hey, sometimes, just viewing the drama's a challenge.
* Speaking of challenges, it's been 29 years since my one and only visit to Detroit, and I'm geography-deficient on the best of days.
So when a sharp-eyed reader noticed my reference last week to the lead character in HBO's "Hung" living on Lake Michigan and suggested that since that particular Great Lake is a bit of a drive from Detroit, it was likely instead "one of the many smaller inland lakes that surround the city," I wasn't inclined to tell him to jump in one.
Sorry for any confusion.
* As for "Hung," its premiere Sunday delivered a hefty-for-HBO 2.8 million viewers, making it the premium cable network's most-watched debut in two years, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
And, yes, in television - even on HBO - size does matter.
* If, as I have, you've been trying to catch the final episodes of ABC's "Eli Stone," you may have noticed it's being pre-empted locally on Saturday for coverage of Philadelphia's Fourth of July celebration.
WPVI (Channel 6) plans to air this week's "Eli" on Sunday (technically early Monday) after the station's "Million Dollar Movie," starting at about 1:35 a.m., so set your recorders accordingly, and cross your fingers.
The series finale is scheduled for 10 p.m. July 11.
* Thanks to the networks' decision to burn off some of their canceled series this summer on what's generally their least-watched evening, Saturday's been one of the few nights I've been able to watch network TV without encountering talented Americans, trapped celebrities or wiped-out contestants of any kind.
