Monday, November 13 is Military Appreciation Monday. Gary will be featured in a public service announcement recognizing the contributions of both active duty and retired military forces.

Along with Kim Basinger, Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland and other celebrities, Gary is part of an ad campaign by Baum & Mercier that highlights programs that assist education, medical research, and the environment. A print version of the ad featuring Gary is in November issue of Conde Nast Traveller.

Visit Baum & Mercier to see a flash version of the ad. Thanks to S. Williams for the tip!

Gary provides an introduction for Into the Fire, a new documentary abouut firefighters premiering this week on The History Channel. The film premieres on Friday, October 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. For more information, visit The History Channel’s web site.

Spike TV has begun airing CSI:NY’s first season late on Sunday nights (11 pm ET/PT). Check your local cable listings for details, or visit Spike TV’s website.

• Reviews of the season premiere of CSI:NY — at Blogcritics (hee: “I’m impressed with one thing. Gary Sinise can kiss!” and TV Squad.
• There really aren’t any yet, but reviews for Open Season will start appearing here (Rotten Tomatoes) and here (Metacritic) over the next few days.
• Gary will be in Washington, DC this week for the USO’s annual fundraising gala.
• Next new episode of CSI:NY — tomorrow night, entitled “Not What it Looks Like.” There’s a preview at the CBS web site.

• Hey! It’s finally here! The season premiere of CSI:New York can be seen tonight on CBS, 10 pm EDT/PDT. We’ve heard whispers that it’s not to be missed!
• Mission to Mars is discussed in a New York Times article on Brian De Palma (free reg. required).
• There’s a new Lt. Dan Band performance scheduled — on November 4 at the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California. Tickets go on sale Saturday.
• Reminder: the animated feature Open Season premieres next Friday, September 29, in both conventional theaters and IMAX 3-D. Gary is among the cast of voice talent which includes Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Debra Messing, and Billy Connolly.

It’s been a quiet time as we wait for the new fall TV season to steamroll over our heads.

A couple of quick items:

– Mac Taylor is mentioned among other TV portrayals of 9/11 in this article

– Truman is mentioned among other historically based DVDs here.

Let us know if you have any hot news items! (Please!)

Gary’s renown as a voiceover artist — from ads for Cadillac to animated features such as the upcoming Open Season — is well-known, but now he’s lending this talent to yet another worthy cause. Gary is narrating public service announcements for My Good Deed, a nonprofit encouraging Americans to honor the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by performing one good deed.

You can see some of the national ads on the My Good Deed website.

Potential spoilers follow! Look away now or forever hold your peace!

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Several sources are reporting that 34-year-old actress Claire Forlani is joining the cast of CSI: New York for at least four episodes as a love interest for none other than Mac Taylor. She is listed in the IMDB as “Dr. Peyton Driscoll.”

Let’s hope this bodes well for a greater emphasis on character-driven stories this season.

The TNT network is launching a new broadband service called “DramaVision” starting August 15. This initiative will make a wide array of its archive original programming available. “George Wallace” is expected to be among the offerings, although no dates have been set. (Note to The Powers that Be: This doesn’t get you off hook for the DVD.)

A special DVD edition of The Green Mile will be released on November 14. There’s no indication of Gary’s participation, but for fans of this film, this set looks like it will be something special.

The release date has been bumped to October 17, but you can now pre-order CSI: New York season 2 at Amazon.com. The preorder price is $45.99, discounted from the retail price of $64.99.

(Using our link helps keep this web site ad and popup free. Thanks!)

Our friends at TV Shows on DVD have a list of extras that will be featured on the DVD release of CSI:NY season 2. Check it out here.

We’ll post a pre-order link just as soon as it’s available.

Two quick items:

Chicagoland fans, Gary is scheduled to lead the seventh-inning stretch sing along (along with some football player) during tomorrow’s Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

As most of you know, Gary has been the voice of Cadillac’s “Break Through” ad campaign for some time now. Cadillac recently announced a new ad campaign that will use “different voices and music for every execution to directly connect with each target consumer group.” (Wow, love the PR speak.) Whether this means an end to the Gary-voiced commercials entirely isn’t clear, but it seems that campaign might be coming to an end.

Stay cool, wherever you are, and have a great weekend.

Gary attended a CBS party at the Rose Bowl as part of the Television Critics Association gathering. He’s mentioned in articles here and here, and one critic thinks he has a pretty good throwing arm. (Nice picture with that article, too.)

The Biography Channel special on the Barrymores, which Gary hosts, is scheduled to air next Thursday, July 6 at 10:00 am EDT. Check your cable listings for the time and cable channel in your area.

Thanks to Sandra S. for the tip!