Right now is a magical time for TV: Midseason. Where some of your favorite shows are replaced by, um, other shows. "The Office," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and even "Happy Days" — all midseason replacements.
Familiar faces frequently use this time to try a comeback or reinvent their careers. It's a better time to experiment since there's slightly less ratings pressure than in the fall.
Sometimes it works out great.
Just last year, Julia Louis-Dreyfus broke the "Seinfeld curse" with "The New Adventures of Old Christine."
Sometimes it doesn't work out so great.
Just last year, Heather Graham starred in the execrable "Emily's Reasons Why Not," which was mercifully canned after just one episode.
Jeff Goldblum
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Goldblum has been good in almost every project in his 30-plus-year career, from "The Fly" to "Independence Day," but such roles haven't been in abundance lately.
The show: "Raines" (9 p.m. Thursdays, NBC, starts tonight, moves to 8 p.m. Fridays on March 30).
Last seen: Supporting roles in films both good ("The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou") and bad ("Man of the Year").
Prognosis: In "Raines," Goldblum plays a detective who talks to dead people. But not in that "Medium" way — it's more ambiguous in that he could actually be on the level or maybe is just hallucinating the whole thing. Either way, it's not that interesting.
Minnie Driver
Driver was a hot Hollywood property about 10 years ago, in hits such as "Good Will Hunting" and "Grosse Pointe Blank." Like Goldblum, she was on "Will & Grace" a lot in the show's later years.
The show: "The Riches" (10 p.m. Mondays, FX, started Monday).
Last seen: Quick, name the last movie you saw her in. Well, it could have been the 2004 Joel Schumacher-directed "The Phantom of the Opera." But if you did see that, you've probably forgotten it and, more specifically, her small role in it.
Prognosis: After "Dirt," widely considered the first bad original series on FX, this is a nice rebound for the mini-HBO. The English Driver is oddly convincing as Southern trailer trash, and co-star Eddie Izzard is great as well in the twisted yet strangely sweet series.
Andy Richter
The undeniably appealing former "Late Show with Conan O'Brien" sidekick had two prior stabs at the sitcom genre: the brilliant yet misunderstood "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" and the completely understood yet atrocious "Quintuplets."
The show: "Andy Barker, P.I." (8:30 p.m. Thursdays, NBC, starts tonight).
Last seen: A small role as the boyfriend of Sacha Baron Cohen's character in "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."
Prognosis: With its quirky premise (an accountant pretends to be a private investigator), this is an unlikely pick for a mainstream hit, despite being funny. NBC has shown patience with such comedies lately — nurturing "The Office" and "30 Rock" despite poor initial ratings — so let's hope Richter's luck is finally changing.
