TVSquad

Hey, a lot happens in five shows. Let's get right into it!

COMEDY CORRESPONDENTS
Arsenio Hall was featured twice this week. His first appearance was in a segment that had potential called "This Is What They Said/This Is What They Meant." I was expecting to see video clips of celebrities, politicians and the like spouting their same bullcrap, and then having Hall tell us what he thinks they really meant. Instead, it was Leno reading quotes, including historically famous ones like Julius Ceasar's "Et tu, Brute!" The gag didn't make sense anymore, and even worse the bits weren't funny.

Luckily, he came back later in the week with an on-site spot at Yankee Stadium, where he interviewed players from both teams and even set up a bet against a Yankees player and Phillies fan Kevin Eubanks involving Snuggies.

As the race between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barak Obama heats up for the Democratic party presidential candidacy, here comes news that should throw the spotlight onto Hillary...if she's savvy enough to say yes. During a recent visit to The Tyra Banks Show, Hillary revealed that "if (paired) with one of those really good partners" she would someday like to compete on Dancing with the Stars. When the powers that be at Dancing heard that, they wasted no time in sending the former first lady a formal invitation. While they acknowledge that the show is not currently in production, dancers from the show are performing around the country in Dancing with the Stars - The Tour. They invited Hillary to choose any one of the dancers and take a try at a cha cha, pasa doble or tango. Or, if she prefer, she could always call on hubby Bill for a pas de deux.

Okay, here's the deal. NBC Universal, known in the industry as NBC U (sounds like a university) is interested in producing a five-day-a-week, 30-minute version of their hit nighttime game show Deal or no Deal for syndication. They had originally wanted Arsenio Hall as host, but that deal fell through. So, NBC U executives decided to ask Deal host Howie Mandel to helm the syndication version.

Howie said no, and this has left network executives in a quandary. You see, stations have refused to commit to buying the 30-minute version of the show until a host is found. In addition, with Deal on the back-burner the fate of two additional game shows, Joker's Wild and Combination Lock, are uncertain.

NBC U can get Howie to be host of the syndicated version of Deal if they agree to his hefty asking price. Meanwhile, there are rumors that comedian Mark Curry is also being considered for host if they can't get Howie back to the table. I hope this all gets cleared up because I'd like to see a revival of Joker's Wild, especially with Arsenio Hall as host. I mean, think about it . . . 'Joker, Joker, Joker! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! (said with twirling fist in the air)'.