TVSquad

Wow! Talk about a spooky Halloween memory. This sketch is from Saturday Night Live, just about a year ago. The date, in fact, was Saturday, November 3, 2007. How things have changed. It really proves the adage that a week in politics can seem like a year. Here's a case where a year seems like a decade.

Of course, the significance of the clip is that it's Senator Barack Obama's first appearance on Saturday Night Live. And it's not looking as though he's dropping by again before the election, although it's still possible.

If he does actually become president on November 4, 2008, this sketch will likely go into the National Archives or the Smithsonian or -- at the very least -- the Museum of Radio and Television.

As a teenager, your opinion is irrelevant to most of society, but the Teen Choice Awards is your chance to let your voice be heard, and to nominate Paris Hilton for some reason.

Hilton is just one of the folks who have been nominated for Teen Choice 2007, which airs live starting at 8:00 p.m. on August 26 on FOX. She's been nominated in the "Choice TV: Female Reality/Variety Star" category for her "role" on The Simple Life. She's also nominated for the "OMG! Moment" for her jail sentence. Yes, you can win an award for that now, so star commiting some felonies right now, kids.

First of all, big props to Toon Zone for being on top of this stuff.

Cartoon Network has five new shows kicking off this year. They are:

• Re-Animated: a new series based on the original Cartoon Network movie about a young boy who has his brain replaced with that of a famous animator and begins to see the animator's creations appear in real life.
• Chowder: the story of an apprentice to a famous chef named Mung Dahl. Chowder wants to be a master chef, but he eats everything he sees. Chowder was created by C. H. Greenblatt, who previously worked on SpongeBob SquarePants and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.
• Currently untitled Santo series: Originally developed by Cartoon Network for Mexican audiences and based on the legendary Santo the Silver Masked Man, this new series will see the famed wrestler win bouts inside the ring while fighting vampires, monsters and robots outside the ring.
• The Secret Saturdays: Doc, Drew and Zak Saturday are scientists who work together to save the world from strange and inexplicable events. As part of a network of scientists, the trio battle the evil V.V. Argost and a mutant half-giant / half-spider.
• The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack: Out of all these new series, this one looks the most interesting to me. Creator Thurop Van Orman's (Powerpuff Girls, Camp Lazlo) series focuses on a young sailor named Flapjack who lives inside a whale named Bubbles and listens to tales of the sea from a pirate named Captain K'nuckles. There's a great interview with Van Orman on the Frederator blog, along with some images from the upcoming series. I'm absolutely enamored by the design of this cartoon.

Man, this year's going fast, isn't it? It seems like just yesterday we were all speculating on how well Dick Clark did on New Year's Rockin' Eve 2006, his first public appearance since his stroke. Now, ABC is announcing the lineup for New Year's Rockin' Eve 2007, which Clark will co-host with New Dick Clark, otherwise known as Ryan Seacrest.

The biggest name joining the lineup is Fergie, singer for the Black Eyed Peas, who currently has a hit solo album. Her song "Supersonic" (er, I mean "Fergalicious"... those songs sound so much alike, I get confused) is also burning up the Billboard charts. She'll perform as well as introduce performances by Meat Loaf, Natasha Bedingfield, and Latin sensation RBD.

The fact that I'm even aware that the song "Fergalicious" exists is proof of how it has permeated everyone's existence (I'm not a big hip-hop fan). Looks like Clark is playing the hot hand, as usual. Not bad for a seventy-seven year old guy who can barely speak anymore.

You know that a series has become a hit in America when British TV starts clamoring for it. But its especially interesting when the stuffy, government-run BBC picks up a show. So, to US fans, the news that Heroes will start airing on BBC Two in 2007 is a bit of a surprise; this seemed like a show that was more suitable for one of the independent channels over there, like ITV.

But the Beeb likes what it sees in what has become the highest-rated new show on American TV. "Heroes is a fresh and imaginative take on the superhero theme and features amazing special effects – BBC Two is the perfect home for such an intriguing, intelligent and irresistible drama," Sue Deeks, the network's head of series acquisition said in a press release. It only holds the over-the-air rights to the show; SciFi UK owns the cable, pay TV, and satellite rights.

By the way, for those who think the BBC is all high-culture, other shows on Two include Family Guy and a British version of The Apprentice. So Heroes should fit right in.

Apparently Showtime has figured out from its boxing coverage that people not only want to see men punching each other, they'd also like to see some kicking, too. Starting in 2007, the cable network will join Pro Elite to showcase mixed martial arts events (judo, jiu-jitsu, karate, wrestling and kickboxing). The new venture, an attempt to cash in on the popularity of other "men beating the living crap out of each other" events like the Ultimate Fighting Championship, will be produced by Douglas DeLuca (The Man Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Mole). I've never been one who enjoys these kind of sports, though I did have a friend who participated in UFC and once won a match by sitting on a man's chest and punching him repeatedly in the face. I guess if you have a talent you might as well use it. The first mixed martial arts competition will air on Showtime February 10th, 2007, with new events airing through 2009.

Dick Clark will return once again for ABC's coverage of New Year's Eve on December 31.

Clark was on the show last year after missing the 2004 show because of a stroke, and he'll be back to co-host New Year's Rockin' Eve as ABC rings in 2007 and the ball drops in Times Square. (The pic on the right is from this year's Emmy Awards, when he got a special award from Barry Manilow.)

That's the good news. The bad news? He'll have to ring in the New Year with Ryan Seacrest, Christina Aguilera, and a hundred young people who actually filmed their dance segments days if not weeks ago.

Turner Classic Movies recently purchased the copyrights of six films made by the legendary RKO Pictures studio and featuring such legendary actors as Ginger Rogers and Lionel Barrymore. Some of these films haven't been seen since their original theatrical release, and all of them have been kept in different film archives, largely unpreserved. Two of the films, Rafter Romance and Stingaree, were properly preserved. The rest, which include Double Harness, One Man's Journey, Living on Love and A Man to Remember are being re-mastered by Turner Classic Movies along with the Library of Congress and the BYU film archive. They will air on the channel sometime in 2007. The only copy of A Man to Remember is an English-language print with Dutch subtitles. None of the original negatives of these movies have been found.

Is there anything Donald Trump can't do? The answer to that question is, yes, there's a lot of things Trump can't do, and I'm guessing one of them is create an entertaining animated program. Nonetheless, that's exactly what's happening. There's no word on what exactly the series will be, but it will feature The Donald and some of his executives. Maybe they'll take over a leprechaun town and buy up all the real estate, or maybe they'll play androids who place their names on various products and sometimes transform into gigantic penguins for some reason. Michael Jacobson of Trump Magazine says several animation houses are interested in the project, and the plan is to create a couple shorts and a pilot for Trump's approval. The series is suspected to begin production in 2007. I have this strange feeling I might have to miss this one, or try to sell my old teleplay for a kid's cartoon called Nelson Rockefeller Babies.

The first season of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends will be released on DVD on February 6, 2007, which isn't terribly far away, and just in time for me to purchase it for myself for Valentine's Day. The set will include all thirteen episodes of the first season, as well as the original TV movie that started it all. Foster's was created by Craig McCracken, who also created the popular Powerpuff Girls series and worked on other Cartoon Network series such as Dexter's Lab and Two Stupid Dogs. The sets will include character commentaries and extra footage. Best of all, the set is only about twenty bucks, which isn't too shabby. I place Foster's in the same category as SpongeBob SquarePants, a cartoon made for kids that is smart and clever enough not to annoy the heck out of parents.

Okay, MTV2, you've decided to bring back The Andy Milonakis Show for a third season. That just leaves me with one question: are you also going to bring back Wonder Showzen? Because if you don't bring back Wonder Showzen, I will have no choice but to -- well, I guess I can't really do anything, but I'll be really, really sad and I may misdirect my anger and frustration and beat a squirrel with a tennis racket. Do you really want that on your conscience? Sorry, I'm getting off the subject, aren't I? Anyway, The Andy Milonakis Show is in fact returning with six new episodes in 2007. Fans should rejoice, and non-fans should, I don't know, go make themselves a sandwich or something. I'm kind of a non-committal, intermittent fan of the show. Out of all the shows on television, this is probably the one I'm the most wishy-washy about.

Anna reported last January that Reno 911! would be coming to theaters as Reno 911!: Miami. In a recent interview, Thomas Lennon, who plays Dangle on the series, said the movie would be out on Januray 19 of 2007, which isn't terribly far off, so that's good news for all of us Reno fanatics. Lennon says we'll see a lot more skin in the movie than we do on the TV show, and that there's even a lenghty love scene between Dangle and Wiegel. Basically, the movie is going to be much raunchier than the TV show, which just makes me want to see it even more. Also good news: there will be a fifth season of the series.

A new cartoon version of George of the Jungle based on the movie version starring Brendan Fraser and not on the original Jay Ward cartoon is currently in production with a launch date set for Fall of 2007. I hate to admit it, but George of the Jungle was before my time and I never saw a single episode of it, though I am a big fan of Ward so I'm sure I would have loved it. While the cartoon won't be based on the original, the look of the characters themselves will be based on Ward's designs. The Cartoon Network series, like a lot of cartoons these days, will be done in Flash.

[via Cartoon Brew]

In 2007, Robert Redford's Sundance Channel will launch a three-hour primetime block of shows called Sundance Channel Green. Original series and documentaries will focus on environmental issues, and the channel also plans to take the new initiative to other platforms as well, including an online portal called ECOMMUNITY and downloads for wireless devices. Redford has been an environmental activist for some time now, and it seems he's taking advantage of renewed public interest in this topic spurred by Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. I think there's an audience for this kind of programming, but I have doubts as to whether or not it will do much to persuade anyone who doesn't already have strong opinions one way or the other about these issues.

The second season of Boondocks was supposed to kick off later this year, but that's no longer the case. Don't worry fans, the show is still coming back for a second season, but creator Aaron McGruder says production is taking longer, and that they're simply trying to make this season look better than last season. In other words, there's no bitter contract disputes or any kind of in-fighting going on, McGruder just wants the show to look good. Waiting can be a bummer, but it sounds like once the new season begins in March of 2007, it'll be well worth the wait for fans of the series. Oh yeah, and instead of fifteen new episodes, the network has ordered twenty. Until then, I guess we'll just have to enjoy the DVD.