You know we at CliqueClack are big fans of TNT’s Leverage. Did you know we really like Wil Wheaton, too? So when Wil landed a guest spot on this week’s Leverage (”The Two Live Crew Job,” airing Wednesday night at 9:00) we knew we’d have to talk to him about it, and I was the lucky interviewer.

I saw the episode already, and it was amazing — so amazing that I’m crossing my fingers for a reprisal of Wil’s role in a future episode (which Wil would completely welcome).

You’ve read my interview with producer Dean Devlin (right?), where I reported an exclusive on the Wil Wheaton hockey scandal of the early ’90s. When I talked to Devlin then, he hadn’t had any contact with Wil since the hockey incident, and now here they are working together after all these years. Coincidence? I think not. I couldn’t help but think I got the ball rolling on this partnership. What did Wil have to say about this?

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I just finished watching Firefly and loved it so much that I immediately wanted to watch it again to catch all the stuff I missed. If you haven’t seen it yet, definitely check it out. The space-western series is Joss Whedon at his best.

I fell in love with Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, and not just because he’s played by Nathan Fillion, whom I also have a crush on. “Mal” is like a lost soul on a mission. He bucks all the rules, but at his core, you can tell there’s still a heart of gold there.

I couldn’t help but think of another captain I admire: Capt. Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Let’s take a closer look and see how these two compare… or not….

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Just because most of your broadcast TV shows are gone for the summer doesn’t mean there’s nothing to watch. And you know we wouldn’t leave you hanging. So here’s a rundown of some of this week’s hotspots.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

• NBC thinks they know what TV’s 50 Funniest Phrases are, and they’re going to take 2 hours to make their argument. (Tue. 8pm)
• Pushing Daisies is back to wrap its second season, burning off its last few episodes before making way for Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money (Sat. 10pm, ABC)
• And you thought there was nothing on! It’s The 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee. What’s really said is how many viewers at home couldn’t hold a candle to the spelling skills of these kids. (Thu. 8pm, ABC)
• HBO offers Into the Storm, a follow-up to The Gathering Storm, chronicling the further “adventures” of Winston Churchill from ‘40-’45. (Sun. 9pm)

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Computers are my life. Well, a big part of it anyway. And since you’re reading this, chances are they’re a big part of your life too. We use them for work, school, play and everything in between. Then again, you could be someone’s technically unaware grandma who found this printed out on some crumpled up paper used as packing material for your newest Hummell.

Not only are computers part of our lives, but they consume the lives of those we watch in movies and TV. Some of them are as large as cities, some of them talk and have personalities, and some of them even have pet names. Here’s a list of some of the more notable computers on TV (and before you whine, this is not counting robots):

ARDVARC (Get Smart)
The Automated Reciprocal Data Verifier And Reaction Computer is the central computer owned by Max’s employer, CONTROL. Its best friend is a cigarette machine — how quaint for a show of the ’60s. And let’s not forget the lack of political correctness of the time: on episode number 50 (”The Girls from KAOS”), ARDVARC scans its databases for a particular Asian KAOS enemy agent, but eventually concludes it can’t find the agent because “they all look alike.”

Sadly, on episode number 109 (”Leadside”), ARDVARC blows up. Rumor has it the cigarette machine, overcome with grief, traveled to Japan and now dispenses iPods and eyebrow trimmers in downtown Tokyo.
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Don’t get me wrong — I’m very excited about the possibilities of change for this country that Obama brings to his presidency. That doesn’t mean I’m excited about watching him get sworn in. Never a fan of any pomp, circumstance, ritual or ceremony, I’m sure I won’t be tuning into the Inauguration.

But that doesn’t mean I’ll be bemoaning the loss of most original programming that night. WGN begins airing Star Trek: The Next Generation on Tuesday, January 20. Now, this may not seem like a huge deal; after all, ST:TNG has been airing its repeats for years and years. The cool part — the very, very cool part — is that you’ll be getting a mini-marathon every Tuesday night, with three episodes in a row starting at 7:00 PM.

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Wil Wheaton

You might remember Wil Wheaton from his role as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, which ran from 1987 to 1994. But the actor’s been plenty busy since then, with movie roles in Neverland and Star Trek: Nemesis; voice parts in Ben 10: Alien Force, Legion of Super Heroes, and Teen Titans; and roles in Numb3rs and CSI, to name a few.

In tonight’s episode of Criminal Minds (9 pm ET on CBS), Wheaton plays a (really) bad guy named Floyd Hansen. “He’s the single most sadistic, brutal, purely evil character I’ve ever played,” he said.

Wheaton notes that most of his scenes were with Robin Lively and William Mapother, best known as Ethan Rom on Lost. The only series regular he interacted with was Thomas Gibson, though he spent time on the set with others in the cast — and had a great time.

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