TVSquad

We'll have a lot of season premieres coming up in the next few weeks, but I would say that tonight is a big night, too. Not only do we have the season opener of Gossip Girl on The CW, we also have the long-awaited debut of The Jay Leno Show on N "we don't have scripted shows at 10 anymore" BC.

What are you going to watch? Lincoln Heights and Greek? Monday Night Football? One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl? Or are you going to watch something on cable or the news? Or maybe DVDs/DVR stuff you haven't watched yet? Will you give Leno a try?

The Emmys are coming up in a few weeks, and if it's an event you've always wanted to go to but never thought you would, maybe this is your chance.

The Emmys Foundation is holding a big auction on eBay that features not only several tickets to the awards show (some of them VIP and red carpet!), but also several items from TV shows and memorabilia signed by various stars. You can get a House cane signed by Hugh Laurie, VIP tickets to The Daily Show, set visits to shows like Monk and Medium, signed posters, and DVDs. You can also win a visit to a Family Guy table reading!

You can also win dresses worn on the ABC Family show Greek. In fact, there are no bids on those particular items yet so click that link and maybe you can wear one on your next trip to the supermarket. The auction ends on September 3.

If you ask the average zoologist what makes mysterious creatures like Bigfoot or El Chupacabra so impossible today when once scientifically-dismissed species like the Mountain Gorilla or Giant Squid are now common enough concepts, they'll probably say, "The difference is the gorilla and the squid are real, and Bigfoot isn't."

The scientific dismissal isn't keeping Animal Planet from releasing a new DVD featuring stories of cryptozoological oddities.

Announced this week and set for release this fall (October 6), Lost Tapes operates under the thesis that, while thousands of new species are discovered and classified each year, there are some creatures that science still refuses to recognize.

We've talked a lot about this before, the shows we love that haven't been released on DVD for one reason or another. Now PremiumHollywood.com has chosen the 26 shows, A to Z, that they bought on the shiny little discs.

It's a great idea, though I don't understand why they call the list "cult TV" when it has shows on it like L.A. Law and Eight is Enough. Some good choices here though. I would have chosen Ed, Private Eye, Something So Right, Shannon's Deal. A lot of shows that I never thought would be released on DVD are now getting released, so every year my dream list gets smaller and smaller.

You?

Do you remember a long time ago when you had no options to watch a TV show if you didn't see it when it aired (you had to wait for a repeat)? Of course you don't, you people with your Twitters and your iPhones and your space-age Saran Wrap. But there was a time when if you wanted to watch, say, The Magician, you had to stay home and watch it. No iTunes, no Hulu, no YouTube, no DVDs.

Then came the VCR, and everything changed. Only $1000! (Full-sized ad here.) Notice the fine print at the bottom: "Caution: The unauthorized recording of television programs and other materials may infringe the rights of others."

With DVRs and iTunes and Hulu and other ways to time shift your TV viewing, it's not necessary to watch TV when the shows air live. But a lot of people still plan their TV viewing for the night and actually sit down in front of the TV when their shows are on. Two of my favorite shows, Chuck and Heroes, ended their seasons last week. Now I have to find something else to watch between 8 and 10.

If you're a Chuck/Heroes fan, too, what are you watching tonight?

Last night on this show, Stephen Colbert had a special message for you TV fans who might decide to record his show and then burn it onto your own personal DVD. Consider this a "DVD commentary."

We got this question today from a reader:

I'm just wondering how you go about obtaining press kits from networks. Can anyone get a press kit? A lot of web sites and blogs get them which surprises me because I thought that only huge corporations (national trades, etc) could get access to them. If I were to write a network requesting a press kit, do you think they'd send me one?

There's some confusion about the TV industry and press kits. A lot of people think that your publication or web site has to be really large and influential to get them. But that's not really the case. It actually comes down to secret passwords and insider information. Odd, but true.

So let me help you out here. If you call ABC and introduce yourself and your publication/site to them and ask to be on the list to get press kits and advance screening copies of new shows, they'll probably turn you down. When this happens, you simply utter the words "Rod Serling loved chicken salad." The network person will immediately put you on the list to get every press kit they send out.

I think this was a demise that you could see coming. Remember, back in April, when Chicago Sun-Times film reviewer Roger Ebert and the star of At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper announced he would never be able to return to the TV show because of his health? You knew it then. Now comes the news that the other half of the show, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper, is leaving the program. He's been co-host for eight years, having assumed the seat across the aisle that was originally held by the late movie critic Gene Siskel.

"Several months ago, Disney offered to extend my contract, which expires at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season," Roeper told the Associated Press.

I've never interviewed Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski and don't know him personally, but he sure seems like one classy guy. He recently posted a note on his web site, giving readers his thoughts on more Babylon 5 DVDs.

In short, he's against it. He feels that offerings like the TV movie, Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers, and the straight-to-DVD story, Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, take away from the strength of the original TV series.

He writes that The Lost Tales was commissioned at a $2 million budget, and they did the best they could with it. Apparently, the studio wasn't sure there was an audience for Babylon 5. Silly studio.

I know I have a problem. I don't need anyone to tell me that I was a child of television and it's been in my life all my life. Yes, I read. Yes, I listen to music. And, obviously I write.

But most of my writing these days is about television!

I recall the last writers strike. It was during that time that I wrote a really horrible horror novel to occupy my time outside of my day job. I'm not doing that again this time. I refuse to spend weeks writing dreck just because the television and film writers are on strike.

If you haven't entered our latest giveaways yet, here's a reminder that some are ending today. You've got until 5PM Eastern today to enter the Twin Peaks Definitive Gold Box edition DVDs and the Criss Angel Mindfreak season one DVDs. You've got until Monday to enter the CMA Awards iPod giveaway and the My So-Called Life complete series DVDs. Just head on over to the post linked above, read through the rules and make the applicable comment there (not here!) We'll notify the winners next week.

Good luck!

Couch potatoes around the world are in mourning: Robert Adler, one of the inventors of the TV remote control, died on Thursday in Boise, Idaho.

Adler is credited with creating (with fellow inventor Eugene Polley) the remote control named The Space Command. The wireless device was created by Adler and Polley while they were both working for Zenith in the mid 1950s. He got a special Emmy in 1997. But that's not the only thing that Adler invented. He had over 180 patents. In fact, the latest one (for a touch screen technology) was filed earlier this month.

Adler also got an award in 1974 for a paper on an Optical Video Disc Player. This helped lead to the invention of DVDs.

Adler was 93.

TV Shows on DVD has long been my favorite site for finding information on both recent and upcoming DVD releases of television series, and I've linked to it on numerous occasions. After five years of providing quality content, the site has been acquired by TV Guide. In a message on the site, co-founder Gord Lacey explained that not much will change with the site itself, other than some integration between the site and TVGuide.com.

I always thought the site did pretty well on its own, but as Lacey points out, being part of TV Guide will hopefully give the site even more visibility and access to studios, resulting in even better coverage.

If the acquisition helps to raise the profile of TV Shows On DVD, I say "cheers" to my fellow TV-centric blog. It will remain my preferred choice for TV on DVD news and new releases.

Excuse me while I drool all over my keyboard.

If you love old cartoons and campy TV shows, you need to check out World's Best Comics and Toys. It's jam-packed with DVDs of all kinds of awesome old-timey animated goodness: there are old black and white Terrytoons, a complete DVD set of Friz Freling's The Ant and the Aardvark, and every episode of the original Batman series. Obviously, some of these are not official releases, but I don't know of any other place where you can find all these shows together.

Some other cool shows I found on the site:

• Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp
• AstroBoy
• Atom Ant
• The Banana Splits
• Beany and Cecil
• Clutch Cargo
• Crusader Rabbit
• Deputy Dawg
• George of the Jungle
• Gigantor
• Heckle and Jeckle
• Hoppity Hopper
• Mighty Mouse (original and The New Adventures)

That just begins to scratch the surface. Poke around the site and you're sure to find something you like. Of course, I have no idea of the quality of some of these DVDs, so caveat emptor and all that.

[via John K]