TVSquad

(S01E16) "Trust, honesty, integrity...I don't like those words, not one little bit. - Jerry

I found it funny that Sam and Andi were comparing scary demons when they got attacked, because for my money, very few things are scarier than an chainsaw wielding dude in a mask. It's like Leatherface, Michael Myers and Casey Jones all rolled up together.

I really wish we could see more of Gladys. I find her to be really funny. I think it would be great if she had one small scene in every episode ala Carlton Your Doorman. Just the idea that the DMV is where demons do the work of the devil still makes me laugh.

• Beyond Belief - Season 1
• Dane Cook - The Lost Pilots
• Danger Mouse - Complete Series
• Dark Shadows - The Beginning
• Flight 29 Down - Vol. 2
• Friday Night Lights - Season 1
• Heroes - Season 1
• I Shouldn't Be Alive - Season 1
• Masters of Horror - Season 1 Limited Edition Set
• Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide - Field Trip Edition
• The Odd Couple - Season 2
• The Outer Limits - Season 1, Vol. 2 (original series)
• Samuari Jack - Season 4

• Charlie Rose: Al Gore
• The Late Show With David Letterman: Kevin Spacey and Alexis Bledel
• Jay Leno: Dennis Miller and Dwight Yoakam
• Jimmy Kimmel Live: David Spade, John Ratzenberger, and Kaiser Chiefs (repeat)
• Tavis Smiley: Jonathan Demme, Chick Corea, and Bela Fleck
• Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Dane Cook and Apolo Ohno
• The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Bob Saget, Jade, and Guy Torry
• Last Call With Carson Daly: Silversun Pickups and Hi-Fidelity

Veteran comic/director/writer David Steinberg has a lot of stuff going on.

The second season of his TV Land talk show, Sit Down Comedy, began a couple of weeks ago with an interview with Jerry Seinfeld. This Wednesday, Steinberg sits down with Daily Show host Jon Stewart. The show airs at 10pm. The following weeks, Steinberg will interview Garry Shandling and then Ray Romano.

But that's not all: Steinberg also has a book coming out in June, The Book of David. And he's a busy guy in his life as a director too. He's directing his seventh season at Curb Your Enthusiasm, episodes of Campus Ladies, and a pilot for Dane Cook.

There might be a lot of people who aren't familiar with Steinberg since a lot of his work has been behind the camera for a while, but he has quite a resume.

I don't like Dane Cook's brand of comedy, but hey, I don't have to like everything. There are plenty of other comedians more suited to my palate on the comedy salad bar, so while I personally feel his "material" is all delivery and no punchline, it doesn't mean other people can't enjoy him with croutons.

CC Insider points to a funny satirical piece from The Onion about Cook's new HBO special, Burgasm, in which the young comedian riffs on Burger King's Texas Double Whopper for a full hour. In the article, Cook explains his plans for the special:

I'm not sure if I'm a fan of these "What's In and What's Out" lists that seem to pop up every December or January. They seem to embrace trends instead of just quality. But I like Hank Steuver's writing and lists like this are a good conversation starter as the new year begins.

That doesn't mean I agree with him on everything. I mean, David Sedaris is "out" while John Hodgman is "in?" That's ridiculous (though I like Hodgman too). And Dancing with the Stars will never be "in" with me. But I love that he picks America's Next Model as being "out" and Ugly Betty being "in." Ditto his picks for Laguna Beach being "out" (Meerkat Manor is "in") and Dane Cook being "out" (thumbs up to Jim Gaffigan!).

What do you think is in and out, TV-wise? I'm sure they'll be a lot of opinions on Steuver picking Battlestar Galactica as being "out" and Heroes as being "in."

Well, OK, I'm a day behind with this. I blame Christmas and lots of food and booze. Looks like it's not a big week for DVD releases anyway:

• Airwolf - Season 2
• Davey and Goliath: The Lost Episodes
• Girls Behaving Badly - Vol. 1
• New Adventures of He-Man - Vol. 1
• Simple Life 4
• Tourgasm

If you've been sitting around all day waiting to see footage of someone from an unfunny sketch show make fun of an unfunny comedian, your wait is over. In the clip after the jump you can watch Ike Berenholtz of Mad TV throw down on the comedy stage as he does his impression of comedian Dane Cook.

I've never been a fan of Dane Cook, and I think the best description I've ever heard of him came from comedian Michael Schmidt on Jimmy Pardo's "Never Not Funny" podcast: "Dane Cook is KISS. He's the KISS of comedy. Just like, crazy, wild, bombastic phenomenon with the most pedantic, pedestrian content ever."

Berenholtz's Cook impression isn't too bad, and heck, I give him credit for trying to make people laugh by being unfunny on purpose, but I only laughed maybe once during the whole thing, which is still more than I've ever laughed at Dane Cook.

(S32E01) "And we're baaaaaaack!" Anyone? Anyone? No? OK, well it's SNL season premiere time (that came fast) and Dane Cook is already hosting again. I can't remember the last time someone hosted two episodes so close together. He was just there last December. Well, it's understandable I suppose. I can't think of anyone else that's bigger on the comedy circuit right now and his name automatically attracts attention. He's all over the place, from touring to HBO specials. Anyway, the show was pretty decent I thought, but not because Cook was the host. He was barely in it.

In case you're looking for something to do tonight before you go back to work tomorrow, you should check out Dane Cook: Vicious Circle on HBO at 9PM. It's Cook's first HBO special (he had at least one Comedy Central gig that I can recall) and it's well deserved. His two comedy albums (Harmful if Swallowed, Retaliation) both sold like crazy and he recently finished up a nation-wide college tour that was documented in the HBO series Tourgasm. I was at the Syracuse University show and saying it was one of the funniest two hours of my life still doesn't do it justice. So I'll leave you all with this: I think somebody sh*t on the coats. If you know what I'm talking about, then I know what you're doing tonight. If that means nothing to you, then you better be watching HBO this evening.