TVSquad

There are very few recurring television moments that instantly grab my undivided attention: seeing an undead Billy Mays still pitching Oxy-Clean, Twilight Zone episodes that pwn Nazis, late night Skinemax.

Now you can add Don Rickles to that list. He's become a staple of late night during the early Tonight Show because he's engaging, colorful and damn funny. Every time he stops in at Letterman's Late Show, I have to stop what I'm doing and watch and that includes running a pregnant friend to the hospital, although it does ruin some of the comedy for me. All that screaming.

He's also great at roasts, not because he's a great insult comic but because he can be just as down to Earth and genuine with the people he's skewering. His best roast is one that never made it to television: a roast of Get Smart's Don Adams at the Playboy Mansion.

It's always great to see Don Rickles on TV. He's rarely out of form, and he has a knack for sailing some great zingers past the censors. Which means his appearance on last night's My Life on the D-List was a perfect opportunity, a place where he could be a bit more loose.

We got a taste of that from him, walking around Kathy Griffin's house, but we also got a glimpse of the guy I have heard about from comedians who've met Rickles - the old softie who is ever willing to talk shop with other comics. It was a great moment when Griffin and Rickles talked about how both of their mothers would try to tell them not to pick on people so much, with Griffin's mom providing a bit of the dialogue. Meeting Rickles was on Griffin's mother's "bucket list."

I thought I'd use the occasion to take a look around YouTube to find some of Rickles' best TV appearances. He seems to have been everywhere, from The View to cable.

I'm going to share my Emmy thoughts, but there's so much to digest, I figured I'd space it out a bit. If you missed the announcement, check out Bob's live blog.

First thought: Why do I feel like I did when the Daytime Emmy nominations were announced? Oh yeah, because all these nominations are predictable! Where's the surprises, where's the nominations from out of left field? These nominations lack the element of shock, at least to me. Here's my thoughts, plus I dug through the whole list and found some other interesting items...

While we all mourn the demise of the celebrity Roast, I thought this might be a good time to reflect back on a time when the master, Don Rickles, used just the right combination of acerbic wit and what would today be called "political incorrectness" for hilarious results.

All comedians, in their own way, are skilled at keeping an audience engaged, but very few can match the likes of Don Rickles. There are a lot of angry comedians out there, and even some who aren't afraid to take a few shots at the audience, but Rickles' act was only ostensibly about insults. At its core, it was about creating a kind of communal moment in which no one was the butt of the joke because everyone was the butt of the joke.

As Annie mentioned in her review, Don Rickles was on The Daily Show last night. I typically don't watch The Daily Show until the day after, because, at the old age of 30, I'm out like a light by 8:00 p.m., barely able to finish my bowl of oatmeal.

I usually skip over the interview segments of the show, but today I actual watched the segment with Rickles. I may be a fan of a lot of today's "alternative" comics (a term as meaningless as "alternative music"), but I also have a lot of respect and admiration for older comics such as Rickles. And it's genuine respect, not that fake respect you exude because they're old and society demands it from you. No, Rickles is a very funny and amicable gentleman, and even at the age of 81 the man is still as sharp as he ever was.

"Masters of Debate": Senior Political Analyst Jason Jones covered the second Republican debate. So much goodness in this one segment... "I bleed Christ, and I shit tax cuts!", Jewington Analplay, Difficult Abortion Situation, Jon having fun with props, 24 references. I don't think I've ever had so much debate-related fun.

Welcome to TV Squad Lists, a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.

Gung Ho
Before Scott Bakula became one of the hottest leading men in sci-fi, he starred in many terrible sitcoms. The worst of which was this TV version of the Michael Keaton film. Never mind that any conflict was completely resolved by the end of the big screen version, the scripts were not funny and Bakula isn't really known for his comedic timing.

Bob Patterson
One of the more famous flops in history, mainly because it starred Jason Alexander who had just ended his run on what TV Guide called "the best sitcom ever," Seinfeld. Imagine if George Costanza got his own show and then forgot how to be funny. That is Bob Patterson.

Tom Smothers' Organic Prime Time Space Ride
After The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was unfairly canceled, Tom & Dick Smothers were thought of as two of the funniest and most cutting-edge comedians of the day. So when Tom's new show was announced people expected the same bold humor they were given before. Sadly the wildest thing about this show is the title.

Don Rickles, the premiere insult comic, will be honored with the first Pinnacle Award at the Comedy and Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado next month. The ceremony will include a screening of John Landis' documentary about the comedian, The Rickles Project. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Landis and Rickles.

Rickles got his start playing night clubs, later moving on to film and television. He appeared on several of Dean Martin's "Roasts" and was also the star of his own television series in the '70s, C.P.O. Sharkey, one of a few short-lived shows featuring Rickles (others included Daddy Dearest and The Don Rickles Show). Rickles also guest starred on several other television series, such as The Twilight Zone, The Addams Family, and Newhart.