As a special Sketch Comedy Saturday treat, I will forgo the lengthy, typed-out, text version of me humming the Kids In The Hall theme song and get right down to business. This is one of those shows that are now considered classic sketch comedy (and Canadian comedy), so I feel silly for even having to profile them, but I am constantly surprised by the number of people whose eyes glaze over when I ask them if they've ever heard of the Kids. So ... Have you heard of the Kids?
Ya gotta give Drew Carey a lot of credit. Going into his third season on The Price is Right, he's been able to step in the shoes of an icon, Bob Barker, and do a good job. He's also his part to drag the 38-year-old show into the 21st century, whether it wants to be here or not.
I was aware that, like fellow Star Trek icon William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy released an album or two in his day. I wasn't aware, however, that Nimoy made a music video that accompanied one of the songs on those albums.
The song is "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" and was released in 1968 (which was during his run on Star Trek) on an album called The Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy. I'm surprised this video did not get more air time on MTV back in the day. Perhaps it should be considered for VH1. More info, and the video, is after the jump.
It has been announced that Michael Jackson's public funeral with be held next Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. CBS has revealed that they are going to cover it extensively, with The Early Show broadcasting live from the Staples Center on Monday and Tuesday and Katie Couric doing The CBS Evening News from there as well. No word yet on what ABC and NBC will be doing, though I assume they'll do similar coverage (not to mention the massive coverage we'll see on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News).
But how extensive should the coverage be? Should the news channels cover it all day long? Should the networks report live from the funeral? Should the funeral be televised live on all channels? Should there just be stories of it and no live coverage at all?
If anyone in the press should ever ask you, "What were you doing when you heard the great Michael Jackson was dead?", be sure to answer with: "Reading one of your stories on what a lowlife you thought he was just prior to his death."
There are times when I'm ashamed to be a part of the media. The 48 hours after Michael Jackson's death was just such an epoch. I chose that last word carefully because the endless, maudlin, self-congratulatory coverage the major news networks wallowed in following Jackson's death was as long-winded as it was embarrassingly dramatic.
While that coverage is sure to continue throughout the memorial services, unavoidable custody and estate battles and forthcoming autopsy reports, none of that will compare in sickly sweet sensation to what CNN, Fox News and the others lowered themselves to just following the singer's death.
"Stark Raving Dad," the season three opener of The Simpsons, is a hilarious and heartwarming half-hour. It reminds me of the show's best days when it delivered that perfect blend of bizarre humor, social commentary and unexpected sweetness. I'll be one of the millions tuning in this Sunday when Fox re-airs the ep as a tribute to uncredited guest star Michael Jackson.
Like Joel reminded us last week, the King of Pop provided the voice for Leon Kompowsky, a large and loveable brick layer who says he is Michael Jackson. In the episode, Homer is charmed by Leon and brings him home from a mental institution, where the rest of the family eventually falls in love with him. The sweetest moment comes at the end when Leon and Bart perform a birthday song for Lisa.
First off, everyone keeps using the word "infomercial" when describing the ads that Billy Mays did, including this piece at TampaBay.com. Actually, infomercials are longer form ads, usually 30 minutes. What Mays did were commercials (though yes, he did infomercials too). After a meeting between his widow, his son, friend Anthony Sullivan, and marketers, they have decided to resume running all of Mays' ads next week. I'm sure that's going to seem weird to some viewers.
I guess it's not completely odd, because we still watch a TV show that a celebrity has starred in after they die. But commercials are more recent, more "alive," more "of the moment" than some TV show that we all know is a repeat from one, ten, thirty years ago. And that's what's going to be odd about seeing these ads.
Well, they finally settled that Norm Coleman vs. Al Franken race in Minnesota. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to show Franken in another time, impersonating Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger on Solid Gold in the 80s. Partner Tom Davis is doing Keith Richards. I wonder if Franken would have won if Coleman had just run this video on a continuous loop on his web site for a year.
Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton has had numerous chances to star in TV series during his successful career. It took the edgy blend of drama and humor in TNT's Leverage to lead him to sign on for the show's lead role.
Hutton stars as Nathan Ford, a former insurance investigator leading a team of thieves and con artists who balance the scales when ordinary people fall victim to corrupt politicians, authorities and corporations.
The show co-stars Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf and Aldis Hodge as Ford's less than reputable teammates.
As Leverage approaches its second season premiere July 15, Hutton connected with TV Squad to share his hopes for the show.
This seems to be Neil Patrick Harris' year. A tour-de-force season on How I Met Your Mother was followed by hosting stints on the Tonys and TV Land Awards that showed how natural he was in the role of awards host. Heck, he even managed to get the Tonys some viral street cred by doing a Billy Crystal-esque medley at the end that stated the show "could not be any gayer if Liza was named mayor and Elton John took flight."
Karl Malden has died at the age of 97. He was probably best known for his role as Lt. Mike Stone on the ABC series The Streets of San Francisco. Actually, he was probably equally well-known for his American Express "Don't Leave Home Without It" commercials that ran in the 70s and 80s.
He played the lead role in the short-lived NBC series Skag in 1980, but most of his roles were in movies, including Patton, On The Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire, Kiss of Death, How The West Was Won, Birdman of Alcatraz, Murderer's Row, and Meteor. One of my favorite Malden roles was in the 50s movie Fear Strikes Out, where he played the pushy father of Red Sox outfielder Jimmy Piersall. His last role was a first season episode of The West Wing.
There's been so much coverage of Michael Jackson's death that there's bound to be great stuff and ... well, not so great stuff. In fact, lots of not so great stuff. Last night The Daily Show gave awards to the worst moments. This is really funny. Did Geraldo really use a whiteboard like that, and did CNN actually have an animation of his heart? Amazing.
Ya gotta give Drew Carey a lot of credit. Going into his third season on The Price is Right, he's been able to step in the shoes of an icon, Bob Barker, and do a good job. He's also his part to drag the 38-year-old show into the 21st century, whether it wants to be here or not.
I was aware that, like fellow Star Trek icon William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy released an album or two in his day. I wasn't aware, however, that Nimoy made a music video that accompanied one of the songs on those albums.
It has been announced that Michael Jackson's public funeral with be held next Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. CBS has revealed that they are going to cover it extensively, with The Early Show broadcasting live from the Staples Center on Monday and Tuesday and Katie Couric doing The CBS Evening News from there as well. No word yet on what ABC and NBC will be doing, though I assume they'll do similar coverage (not to mention the massive coverage we'll see on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News). 
If anyone in the press should ever ask you, "What were you doing when you heard the great Michael Jackson was dead?", be sure to answer with: "Reading one of your stories on what a lowlife you thought he was just prior to his death."
"Stark Raving Dad," the season three opener of The Simpsons, is a hilarious and heartwarming half-hour. It reminds me of the show's best days when it delivered that perfect blend of bizarre humor, social commentary and unexpected sweetness. I'll be one of the millions tuning in this Sunday when Fox re-airs the ep as a tribute to uncredited guest star Michael Jackson.
First off, everyone keeps using the word "infomercial" when describing the ads that Billy Mays did, including this piece at TampaBay.com. Actually, infomercials are longer form ads, usually 30 minutes. What Mays did were commercials (though yes, he did infomercials too). After a meeting between his widow, his son, friend Anthony Sullivan, and marketers, they have decided to resume running all of Mays' ads next week. I'm sure that's going to seem weird to some viewers.
USA has a Burn Notice marathon all night (but no new episode).
Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton has had numerous chances to star in TV series during his successful career. It took the edgy blend of drama and humor in TNT's Leverage to lead him to sign on for the show's lead role.
This seems to be Neil Patrick Harris' year. A tour-de-force season on How I Met Your Mother was followed by hosting stints on the Tonys and TV Land Awards that showed how natural he was in the role of awards host. Heck, he even managed to get the Tonys some viral street cred by doing a Billy Crystal-esque medley at the end that stated the show "could not be any gayer if Liza was named mayor and Elton John took flight."
The celebrity death march continues.
At 8, ABC has a new Wipeout, followed by new episodes of I Survived a Japanese Game Show and Primetime: Crime.
Seven greatest hand cannons in TV history
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
