Squee! It’s..

There’s a whole lot o’ squeeing going on tonight if you’re a TV fan (smells like sweeps spirit). Christine Baranski, Emmy winner for Cybill, star of several other sitcoms, and Law and Order briefcase carrier, shows up on Ugly Betty along with Ralph Macchio. The Karate Kid, people! Kaley Cuoco of The Big Bang Theory pops up on Supernatural. Rob Benedict, former hand model entrepreneur on Felicity (as well as nervous Nelly engineer Lucas Pegg on Threshold–oh, how we wanted that show to be good) has a role on CSI: Original Flavor. Oh, and that Clooney guy is supposed to show up on ER.

Now, I love me some George Clooney–no, I love me some George Clooney–and since he’s off being a movie star-fancy director-Oscar nominated writer, he doesn’t have much time for TV these days, so I suppose this is a treat. If I’d watched ER at any time in the last decade, the thought of him and Julianna Marguiles showing up in County General again might hold more appeal. Still, I’m reserving our ultimate squee tonight for a member of the Buffy family. Maybe the reason we’ve been rolling our eyes so strenuously at Dollhouse is because we’ve loved Joss Whedon’s other work so thoroughly, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the beginning of all of that. Amber Benson, who played shy witch (and eventual love interest for Willow) Tara, appears tonight on Private Practice. Benson has also appeared in Supernatural and Cold Case and is the author of several books, plays, and screenplays. So flip back and forth between medical shows and catch two hyphenates for the price of one. Private Practice (ABC) and ER (NBC) both air tonight at 10pm Eastern and Pacific.

Bacon Bits: LIFE, 30 ROCK, and More

• NBC is lightening up Life, while ABC is toughening up Private Practice.

• Jennifer Aniston is returning to NBC for a guest spot on 30 Rock.

• And speaking of 30 Rock, Will Arnett will be reprising his Emmy-nominated turn as scheming network exec Devin Banks when he returns to 30 Rock for the season premiere.

• If you love lists like we love lists, you won’t want to miss this list of the 20 Best Seasons of the Last 20 Years.

• The Daily Show correspondents are the real rock stars at the DNC.

ABC Announces Fall Premiere Dates

This morning at the Television Critics Assn.’s press tour ABC unveiled the premiere dates for its fall schedule:

Friday, Sept. 19
10-11 p.m. “20/20″

Monday, Sept. 22
8-10 p.m. “Dancing With the Stars” (special two-hour performance show premiere)
10-11 p.m. “Boston Legal”

Tuesday, Sept. 23
8-9 p.m. “Opportunity Knocks” (new series debut)
9-11 p.m. “Dancing With the Stars” (special performance show)

Wednesday, Sept. 24
8-9 p.m. “Dancing With the Stars Results Show Special” (special day and time)
9-11 p.m. “David Blaine Special”

Thursday, Sept. 25
8-9 p.m. “Ugly Betty”
9-11 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy” (special two-hour season premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 28
7-9 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (two-hour season premiere)
9-10 p.m. “Desperate Housewives”
10-11 p.m. “Brothers & Sisters”

Tuesday, Sept. 30
9:10 p.m. “Dancing With the Stars Result Show” (regular day and time period premiere)

Wednesday, Oct. 1
8-9 p.m. “Pushing Daisies”
9-10 p.m. “Private Practice”
10-11 p.m. “Dirty Sexy Money”

Friday, Oct. 3
8-9 p.m. “Wife Swap”
9-10 p.m. “Supernanny”

Sunday, Oct. 5
7-8 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”
8-9 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (regular time period premiere)

Monday, Oct. 6
9:30-10 p.m. “Samantha Who?”

Thursday, Oct. 9
9:10 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy” (regular time period premiere)
10-11 p.m. “Life on Mars” (new series debut)

Tuesday, Oct. 14
10-11 p.m. “Eli Stone”