You gotta love the feisty attitude of former 'M*A*S*H' stars Alan Alda and Wayne Rogers about Sunday's Super Bowl broadcast being a record-breaker. Alda was gracious about the 'M*A*S*H' finale being topped by the Super Bowl broadcast. The New Orleans Saints victory over the Indianapolis Colts had more total viewers than the 1983 'M*A*S*H' finale. But Alda and Rogers both added a shot of vinegar to their honey coated responses.
Alda said in a statement to the L.A. Times, "If they broke our record, I'm happy for New Orleans and I hope it gives even more to cheer about to a city I love." However, he did wonder about how Nielsen measured the audience. It's a good question and one many people ask.
Now here's a Facebook group I can get behind. Close to 10,000 people have joined the Betty White To Host 'SNL' (please?) group at the networking site. There's been no talks with NBC about White hosting the show, this is just something that fans cooked up and want to happen.
This is one of those things where you say to yourself, "hey, why not?" White is a TV icon, and even though she's 88 years old she's still spry, and I bet she could handle an hour or so of sketches. Besides, if the show can have people like Charles Barkley, Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, and Ellen Page host, why not White? She's been around for several decades, is one of those TV stars who is known to both people in their 50s (if they even watch 'SNL') and also people in their 20s ('The Golden Girls' is actually quite popular on college campuses). She was even on '30 Rock' this season.
If you're one of the millions, nay billions, who's laughed at the antics of Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer or if you can't pick up an order of kung pao shrimp without wondering if they shorted you on the number of shrimp, then you -- my friend -- are a Larry David fan. The brain behind Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, David has a unique comic view of the world and on February 20, the Writers Guild of America is giving Larry David a Lifetime Achievement Award.
The actual award is called the Paddy Chayevsky Laurel award for television, and Larry has most definitely earned the recognition. Seinfeld remains a masterpiece of character and comedy with or without a plot. The very nothingness of Seinfeld made it historic television. It was a show that NBC nearly canceled because the suits didn't get it (what a shock!), then went on to become America's favorite half-hour. Twenty years later, Seinfeld is embedded in the psyche of pop culture. Not bad for a nothing kind of show.
Back in 2008, I was lucky enough to get to visit the set of Burn Notice and interview Sharon Gless. At that time, Sharon said that she was trying to get her co-star from Cagney & Lacey -- and good friend -- Tyne Daly to guest on Burn Notice, but Tyne was only interested if she could play her part sans words. "Tyne said, 'I'll do it, but I want to play her as a mute.' Only Tyne Daly! And believe me, she'll steal the show. Matt said he wants to use her -- but not as a mute!"
Tomorrow night, Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless will be reunited on TV in an episode of Burn Notice called "The Dark Road." Tyne Daly will not be playing a mute. In fact, according to Sharon, "It's very, very unusual the situations that they put me in with Tyne. They had me go undercover." It sounds like a fun way to kick off the second half of season three. And hopefully, Tyne Daly will get to watch it. You see, in a recent conference call with the two stars, Ms. Daly and Ms. Gless talked about working together again and more.
Andy Rooney is one of my favorite writers and one of my favorite people in general. He turns 91 today, and he's still going to work and writing and doing his weekly essays for 60 Minutes. His work there is still my favorite part of the show, but to get an even better sense of the man you should read his books.
Here are a few samples of his work on 60 Minutes over the years. Happy Birthday, Mr. Rooney.
We're participating in our annual New Year's tradition in this house and watching episodes of The Twilight Zone, one after the other on the Syfy marathon. It's amazing that the series is 50 years old and still offering stories that are relevant in today's world. The genius of Rod Serling.
So I'm contemplating my favorite Twilight Zone episodes, and it's really hard to choose. But if I had to narrow it down to three, I'd probably go with these:
"Time Alone At Last": This is the one where a book lover finds himself joyously alone with books after a nuclear blast. Until ... I keep thinking he'd be able to remedy that situation by trolling through optometry shops -- if he could see well enough to find one, that is.
I was going to post this interview with Carl Reiner that Conan O'Brien did on The Tonight Show last night anyway, but it's an added bonus that the clip also includes Snoop Dogg, who listens to Reiner auditioning to sing on one of his CDs. I never really thought I'd ever include the words "Carl Reiner" and "Snoop Dogg" in the same sentence.
I've really been enjoying Shatner's Raw Nerve on the Biography channel. He has great guests, and he's just so Shatnerific with them. On the one hand, you sort of feel like you're listening in on a conversation between old friends. On the other hand, he's so intense that you're afraid he might jump up and start leaping around the room gesturing wildly. Which brings me to ...
The Chair. You know, it's different. But I don't think I really like it. My husband thinks it's called a "lover's chair" or something along those lines, and I can see that. The two people sitting in it are sort of in the perfect position to embrace and kiss. But from what I've seen, most of the guests seem a little uncomfortable with it. I mean, just look at Henry Winkler. He looks really uncomfortable, probably because he's not sure if Shatner might try to embrace him.
What do you think of the chair? Any experts out there who can tell us the origin of this particular type of chair?
One of my favorite episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show is "Put On a Happy Face" from season three. It's the one where Mary is nominated for a Teddy Award, but everything in her life suddenly starts going wrong. It starts with a "hair bump," then moves on to a sprained foot, a nasty cold, a dress that comes back from the cleaners with a horrible purple spot on it, a broken hairdryer, and Ted as a date for the awards ceremony.
So Mary ends up going to the event with a dress borrowed from Rhoda that looks like something a grandmother (back then) might wear. It starts raining so the slipper she's wearing on her sore foot gets soggy, and then her false eyelash comes off just as they announce her name as the winner. Seriously, Mary still looks pretty fantastic even when her life goes to heck.
There aren't many shows that can make you laugh out loud even when you're watching them by yourself. The Mary Tyler Moore Show is definitely one of a kind. Here's the episode, straight from our sister site, SlashControl.
So Oprah is ending her talk show in September 2011. The news first came out yesterday, but when she announced it on today's live show, there were still a few surprised moans in the audience. What, they didn't know about it already? Weird. Anyway, here's the clip with her announcement.
I hope she can still collect unemployment when the show ends, but I don't think you can if you quit your job.
Not coincidentally, that date is the day after the 25th anniversary of her first nationally-syndicated episode, and she'll mark the anniversary on her last show. Bennett told WCCO that this decision was under discussion for months, but the decision ultimately came down to the big O herself.
Well, the big interview happens this Monday: Oprah interviews former Alaska Governor and VP candidate Sarah Palin. The interview actually took place several days ago so some clips are starting to be released. Here's a first look, where Oprah asks Palin about Levi Johnston.
Update: we love to see comments on our site, but if they go off topic or get into political arguments, they will be deleted. If you want to comment specifically about Palin's appearance on Oprah, that's fine. Other comments will be deleted. Thanks.
I saw that cover of the December issue of O magazine that was revealed today. Congrats to Ellen DeGeneres. She's been campaigning to get on the cover since last March, and it's good to see her goal become a reality. It proves that even regular folks with a daily daytime talk show and a million Twitter followers can realize their dreams too!
I'm not sure if this is the right venue for this, but I'll just come out and ask: can I be on your cover too? I don't have to be paid for it and you can dress me up any way that you like. I just want the honor of being on the cover with you.
Ah, how good it is to get back to The Wire. I've been steered off track by other DVDs landing on my doorstep for Jane After Dark, so season five of The Wire has been a while coming. One again, the show blows me away with the writing, characters, cinematography and realism. I'm just part-way into season one, but I love all of the references to everything that's happened thus far in the series, and the crew's continued attempts to bring down Marlo's organization. And, apparently, Omar is still in the game ...
It's one of those things that you think would be cool if it happened, and then it actually happens. Joss Whedon is reporting that he'll be directing an upcoming episode of Glee.
We know he has on occasion stepped outside his usual genre of sci-fi and fantasy based on his directorial work on The Office. We know he's into musical theater based on his creation of the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. Now, he's merging all that he's done before. Or at least he would be if the episode of Glee ends up involving evil scientists and vampires.
Despite my own history in musical theater, I haven't been watching Glee. Whedon's involvement in an episode would certainly pique my interest enough to catch it. Perhaps he could get together with his brother Jed and write the music for the episode, as well, turning it into a 42-minute operetta. They've done it before.
You gotta love the feisty attitude of former 'M*A*S*H' stars Alan Alda and Wayne Rogers about Sunday's Super Bowl broadcast being a record-breaker. Alda was gracious about the 'M*A*S*H' finale being topped by the Super Bowl broadcast. The New Orleans Saints victory over the Indianapolis Colts had more total viewers than the 1983 'M*A*S*H' finale. But Alda and Rogers both added a shot of vinegar to their honey coated responses. 
Now here's a Facebook group I can get behind. Close to 10,000 people have joined the 
If you're one of the millions, nay billions, who's laughed at the antics of Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer or if you can't pick up an order of kung pao shrimp without wondering if they shorted you on the number of shrimp, then you -- my friend -- are a Larry David fan. The brain behind Seinfeld and 
We're participating in our annual New Year's tradition in this house and watching episodes of 
There had been lots of 
Dear Oprah:
It's one of those things that you think would be cool if it happened, and then it actually happens. Joss Whedon is reporting that he'll be 
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