Television critics of the world unite: Let's start reviewing shows whenever the heck we get around to it.

That's the model Netflix appears to be recommending with its decision to release 15 episodes of "Arrested Development" Sunday without making any available to critics early for review.

Strange, considering that critics helped keep the original series on the air for three seasons during its first go-round and amplified the drumbeat to bring it back.

Now, what with Twitter, Facebook and Netflix's newly mojo'ed stock price, the creators of the show figure they don't need timely reviews to get the word out -- they already have a built-in fan base.

Also they know we'll write about it anyway, as quickly as we can when the series goes up Sunday night, and how fun will that be, to make other writers scramble.

Not that this is why Netflix decided to bypass the critics. No, the official reason runs like this: Since not all of the highly "interwoven" episodes would be ready early for review,...

Alyssa Milano has been in fairly racy series in her television career, such as the bed-hopping-crazy "Melrose Place," but she needed persuading to star in a drama called "Mistresses." By its very title, not to mention its ongoing focus on infidelity, the ABC primetime soap seemed to the veteran actress to be a potential lightning rod.

Milano, who eventually signed on as one of the four leading ladies, said she could just imagine the angry tweets when word leaked about a U.S. version of the hit BBC series.

"I thought people would say, 'How can you be involved in a show that glamorizes cheating?'" Milano said recently from her L.A.-area home. "So one of the first things I needed to know was that the show had more depth than that."

FULL COVERAGE: Summer TV Sneaks

Instead of being a series about stereotypical home wreckers and stalkers, "Mistresses" deals with the fallout of adulterous spouses, said Milano, whose married character isn't technically a mistress but does stray with a handsome...

After years in the making, the moment of destiny is at hand: Two of entertainment's most prominent super power brokers are joining forces, prompting a parade of hoopla, self-congratulation — and skepticism.

If it were a summer movie, it might be titled "Tyler Perry's Oprah: OWNing It."

Or doubters might suggest an alternative: "Crass of the Titans."

Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, longtime friends and probably the most influential African American figures in show business, are leading the Oprah Winfrey Network into the scripted series arena this summer. Perry, whose empire is grounded by his hugely successful plays, films and TV series, will produce, direct and develop series exclusively for OWN.

Full coverage: Summer TV preview

The agreement is positioned by their respective camps as a win-win — the network, which Winfrey co-owns with Discovery Communications Inc., gets a marquee attraction: his considerable fan base composed largely of African American females and a crop...

FX's new summer drama "The Bridge" has many common elements of contemporary thrillers: a sadistic serial killer, mismatched detectives and a desperate race against time.

But "The Bridge" is distinguished by a hot-button issue that brings an edgy topicality to the usual formula — the politics and controversy behind the border between the United States and Mexico.

In this drama, the detectives aren't the only ones at odds. It's a tale of two cities that couldn't be more different: the serene metropolis of El Paso and the more dangerous region of Ciudad Juárez in Chihuahua, Mexico, where large drug cartels wreak havoc and murderous mayhem.

"It's such a high-stakes situation that just seems ripe for human stories," said executive producer Meredith Stiehm. "I feel like it's been in the news for a long time, but we haven't seen it dramatized successfully."

Full coverage: Summer TV preview

Fellow executive producer Elwood Reid added, "Mexico is the biggest character and yet the unseen...

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This week's TV Movies  

SERIES

Invasion In this new series, wildlife ecologist Karl Malcolm leads a team on missions to stop dangerous animals that are encroaching on human territory. In the opener they're in Florida on the hunt for a giant Burmese python, the Nile monitor lizard and a small but deadly snail. In a second new episode wild pigs roam Texas. 8 p.m. Animal Planet

Live From Lincoln Center Audra McDonald performs songs from her new album and other favorites in the season finale. 9 p.m. KOCE

VOCES on PBS This new episode explores the mysterious story of Loreta Velasquez, a Cuban immigrant who secretly served as a soldier during the Civil War, but her story been erased from the history books. 10 p.m. KOCE

Merlin Morgana and Mordred (Katie McGrath, Alexander Vlahos) prepare to attack Camelot after sending a giant slug to rob...

On Wednesday night's Season 8 finale of "Criminal Minds," the identity of the sinister serial killer known as the Replicator was finally revealed. And though the BAU team finally took him out, it wasn't before he managed to kill one of their own.

Spoilers follow for those who haven't caught up on the show.

It turns out the Replicator, whom the team had been tracking for most of the eighth season, was none other than guest star Mark Hamill. Hamill may be riding a new crest of notoriety following the disclosure that he'll be appearing in the next "Star Wars" movie, but to viewers of "Criminal Minds" he was just John Curtis, a demoted FBI agent out to get revenge on his former partner, Erin Strauss (played by Jayne Atkinson), who managed to become the BAU section chief and has been on the show since its second season.

VIDEO: Fall 2013 TV trailers

Eventually, Curtis was done in by a booby-trapped explosive chair of his own design.

Hamill himself live-tweeted the episode as it aired...

When DirecTV's new original drama "Full Circle" debuts on the Audience Channel in the fall, some people will see it as screenwriter and playwright Neil LaBute's TV debut. But others may see it as a chance for Angel and Draco Malfoy to team. Both "Angel" and "Bones" star David Boreanaz and "Harry Potter" alum Tom Felton have been announced in the cast, but don't expect a typical ensemble effort.

The concept behind the 10-episode drama series is that each episode will feature a conversation between two characters in a restaurant. One of the characters will then provide the bridge to the next episode, which will feature that person paired with a new character, and so-on until the season finale, which will bring all the characters together.

Joining Boreanaz and Felton are Kate Walsh, Minka Kelly, Julian McMahon, Keke Palmer, Devon Gearhart, Bill Campbell, Noah Silver, Ally Sheedy, Cheyenne Jackson and Robin Weigert.

VIDEO: Fall 2013 TV preview

The connections are sometimes surprising:...

Joe Francis says it's his fault -- although he thinks the media is to blame, too.

The founder of the soft-core "Girls Gone Wild" video empire apologized Thursday for an interview in which he claimed that the "retarded" jurors who recently convicted him of imprisoning three women should be shot by firing squad.

"I deeply regret the remarks attributed to me in the interview with the Hollywood Reporter," Francis wrote in a statement. "They were hurtful and do not reflect my true feelings. While I disagree with the jury's verdict as I am completely innocent of the charges and intend to appeal, I was afforded a fair trial, and if I lose at the appellate level, I will reluctantly but fully accept the jury's verdict."

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Francis said that the quotes were picked out of a six-hour interview about the trial and his recent life. He complained that the comments had been "manipulated" by the media.

"The reporter also interviewed my attorney David Houston for over three...

Fess up, "MasterChef" fans. How many times?

As in, how many times did you find yourself choking back tears (or, perhaps, rolling your eyes) during the two-hour debut of Season 4 of the prime-time show that puts the home cook center stage.

Sure, the winner of this reality show competition walks away with $250,000 (cash, we are led to believe) but you can't help but get the idea that the men and women seriously vying for the title would do it all for free.

PHOTOS: Hollywood backlot moments

Like everyone, they're just looking for validation for their all-encompassing passion. If you are a home cook you can't help but imagine yourself cooking for the trio of judges: restaurant owner Joe Bastianich and chefs Gordon Ramsay and Graham Elliot.  

Four seasons in, the show has perfected the recipe for taking viewers on an emotional roller-coaster ride with a touch of the oddball thrown in.

Or a robot. Or a marriage proposal. Or an ostrich. Or water bugs (!) for eating.

In a media conference call...

The Juarez-to-El Paso passage by way of FX is within sight. The cable network announced its crime thriller "The Bridge" will make its debut July 10.

The present-day drama sets its focus on U.S.-Mexico border tensions. After an American judge known for her anti-immigration views is found dead on the bridge connecting El Paso and Juarez, Sonya (Diane Kruger) from El Paso PD joins forces with her Mexican counterpart Marco Ruiz (Demian Bichir) from Chihuahua State Police to catch a serial killer operating on both sides of the border.

As the 13-episode plays out, the two quickly find themselves enmeshed in a string of murders on a  border that has long been embroiled in cultural and political complications.

The drama is an adaptation of Scandinavian-import "Bron," which was set on the border of Denmark and Sweden.

"The Bridge" will air Wednesdays at 10 p.m.

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Actor Steve Forrest, best known as the star of the 1970s action drama "S.W.A.T.," has died.

Forrest passed away at his home in Thousand Oaks on Saturday, his family announced. He was 87.

"S.W.A.T.," which aired on ABC for two seasons in 1975 and 1976, was a spinoff of the Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg-produced series "The Rookies." Forrest played Lt. "Hondo" Harrelson, the tough-yet-tender leader of the S.W.A.T. team in a Southern California city. He was best known for his catchphrase, "Let's roll."

Born as William Andrews in Huntsville, Texas, Forrest served in the Army during World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge before attending college at UCLA. He was the younger brother of actor Dana Andrews, who starred in "Laura" and "The Best Years of Our Lives."

Forrest's acting career began with a series of uncredited roles in the early 1940s, in such films as "Sealed Cargo" and "The Ghost Ship." He was later discovered by Gregory Peck while performing in a play at the La...