What is the deal with cop shows? People seem to eat them up. Just look at how many shows with police themes there are in prime time, and they profile cops of every kind; good cops, bad cops, young cops, old cops, fat cops, skinny cops, (...and even cops with chicken pox...). Those are just the normal ones. Now we have cops with abilities far beyond those of mortal men.

In the show, Medium, for instance, Patricia Arquette plays Allison Dubois, a woman who sees and dreams about dead people. She's not a cop, but nearly so; she helps the Phoenix police solve murders using her special talents.

Then there's Monk, an obsessive-compulsive detective brilliantly played by Tony Shalhoub, whose neuroses sometimes helps him solve crimes. Kyra Sedgewick's character in The Closer can wring the truth out of the bad guys no matter how hard they try not to blab. (Kinda like the Lasso of Truth Wonder Woman carries, or the Bronze Boots of Truth Manny's super hero-father wears in El Tigre.)

Of course there's Henry, the 450 year old blood sucker who helps out top cop Vicki Nelson in the new series, Blood Ties.

It seems you can't spit without hitting a TV cop, and if you did you'd likely get a ticket. So what do the folks at NBC do? They create yet another cop show called Raines. Admittedly, this one is a bit different; Michael Raines, played by Jeff Goldblum, solves crimes by talking to the victims; they are dead, of course, and, as any Goodfella will tell you, dead men (and women) don't talk. Yet the chatty victims Detective Raines deals with are alive and apparently well and living solely in his grey matter. It's a clever way to show us how this detective thinks through the seemingly unsolvable problems he faces in each case.

The pilot episode, one of this week's free downloads at the iTunes Store, is definitely worth your time, it's odd enough that you may like it even if you are not a fan of cop shows.

Speaking of odd; one of the other free downloads available this week at the iTunes Store is an episode of The Andy Milonakis Show.

I don't hang out on MTV like I use to when I was a lot younger, so I had no idea who Andy Milonakis is and why he has a show. Apparently it's a popular show because it's in its third season, but after watching the free episode the only question I had on my mind was; Just what the *%*$$! were the other two seasons about?

OK, maybe I'm getting old and set in my ways, and my creaky brain can't stretch enough to fathom what is funny about The Andy Milonakis Show. Yeah, the "Wait" bit with the old lady was mildly humorous, as are some of the 'man on the street' schticks Andy pulls, but there just isn't enough there to make me want to watch more. Then again, Steve Martin standing on stage with an arrow through his head and dribbling water while reciting poetry was likely not thought highly of by the 50+ crowd either. Andy Milonakis is no Steve Martin, not even in Steve's slap-stick (Wild and Crazy Guy) days, but Andy may be funny to you. So here's a chance to see.

Seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. (I never thought I'd be old enough to say that with any real conviction. Sigh!)

Other freebies at The iTunes Store: