TVSquad

Last week, our own Mr. Bob Sassone posted Family Guy's Emmy campaign video. It was a wee bit aggressive towards both The Office and Brian (who just wanted to relax after a nice shower, poor fella), and now it looks like Stewie isn't quite done yet. Videos were made for the rest of the nominees, including 30 Rock, Entourage and Weeds.

All the new videos are available here. Although it's pretty repetitive -- nay, incredibly repetitive -- it's kind of amusing to hear the jabs against each show.

There have been a lot of uneasy vibes floating around the offices of TV Squad HQ about the elevation of Family Guy to Best Comedy status by this year's Emmy nomination committee. I'm not speaking for the entire group, but it does feel a little out of place earning a nomination that even The Simpsons couldn't score in its 20 year history. It's like giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Michael Jackson for writing "Heal the World" and completely snubbing Nelson Mandela.

But no one is more unhappy about the news than pop culture's official lifeguard, Bill O'Reilly.

He called out Seth MacFarlane's cavalcade of cartoon pop culture for winning the nomination during his "Reality Check" segment.

The list of Emmy nominations have become the Hummer limo of the awards show world. They get longer and even more uncool, even though they are attempting to show just how cool they are with each passing year.

The whole system is in serious need of revamping. For the most part, the category structure hasn't changed in the last 50 years when then Academy President Rod Serling chose to eliminate favoritism by widening the playing field and the judging, a move so disastrous that no one has dared to even touch the system since then.

So if you're not going to revamp the process, at least add some categories that we wouldn't mind giving up four hours of sleep, exercise and our lives to wait for the winner.

This seems to be Neil Patrick Harris' year. A tour-de-force season on How I Met Your Mother was followed by hosting stints on the Tonys and TV Land Awards that showed how natural he was in the role of awards host. Heck, he even managed to get the Tonys some viral street cred by doing a Billy Crystal-esque medley at the end that stated the show "could not be any gayer if Liza was named mayor and Elton John took flight."

So, it's not a big surprise to hear that NPH is near a deal to host the Emmys as well, according to Variety.

Let it be known that my son knows a good thing when he sees it. He's 14 now, but between the ages of six and 10, he was obsessed with Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, a Cartoon Network show that just earned an Emmy. Character designer Ben Balistreri won in the juried award category for individual achievement in animation for the "Mondo Coco" episode.

I would see the show in passing and think, what the heck is this? It just looked so weird, and the animation is practically primitive compared to today's CG standards. But the concept is somewhat more complicated.

In the Foster's universe, imaginary friends become physical beings the instant a child imagines them. An Imaginary Friend is completely real and can be seen, heard, and felt by all under most circumstances. The only problem is that children outgrow them, and they're left to fend for themselves.

With Rescue Me's fifth season finally (kinda, sorta) getting closer, we're getting more and more news about what's in store for Tommy and the gang. In addition to the minisodes, we've also got some exciting potential casting news: Michael J. Fox may be joining Rescue Me for a multi-episode arc. Fox is set to play a love interest for Tommy's (Dennis Leary) on-again/off-again ex, Janet (Andrea Roth).

Rescue Me may seem like an odd show for the former Spin City and Family Ties star to pop up on, but Fox and Leary are longtime friends. This friendship means that even though the deal isn't completely finalized, there's very good chance that Fox will be seen on the FX drama next summer.

Just when you thought awards shows couldn't get any longer, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced that reality show hosts are eligible to receive Emmys. This year's 60th Annual Emmy Awards will include a category called Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.

The academy named popular hosts like Ryan Seacrest, Tom Bergeron, Samantha Harris, and Howie Mandel as possible nominees. Ty Pennington, Tyra Banks, and Jeff Foxworthy are also eligible. I'm not surprised that reality hosts are getting this opportunity. The Emmys have had categories for Outstanding Reality Program and Reality-Competition Program since 2001 and 2003, respectively.

So Jay liveblogged the Emmy Awards and we've seen the pictures and debated the winners and losers. But what about those bleeps and cutaways during Ray Romano's standup routine and Sally Field's acceptance speech? Here's the scoop.

A lot of people think that Field was censored because of her liberal views and the war in Iraq. Not so, according to FOX. They bleeped her because of her use of the word "goddamn." It's always been a weird rule on television that you can say "God" and you can say "damn," but if you put the two words together, civilization as we know it will end. People always say that religion is dumped on in the media too much, but I think that in this case the media goes out of its way to please everyone.

Tonight I could have written the great American novel, learned to play Chopin's Etudes, brought peace to the Middle East, or painted my house. Oh, the ennui of such pedestrian avocations. Let somebody else do all that (especially the house painting). I spent my time camped in front of the Emmys, snapping screen shots of the rollicking festivities. Nine galleries (click the headers below); over 500 pics.

The Acceptance Speeches. That's Thomas Haden Church to the right, praising God for his good fortune or taking a much-needed leak, I can't tell which.

Tony Bennett and Christina Aguilera. It was Tony's night (Bennett and Soprano, actually), and it was Aguilera's good fortune to be his co-crooner.

In Memoriam. Dead people, sadly. Some well known; others who actually do the hard work.

Jon Stewart and Steve Colbert. They solve global warming, then steal Ricky Gervais' Emmy.

Presentations. Possibly more glamorous than winning.

Ryan Seacrest. America's host, for better or worse.

The Audience. The camera loves Julia ... and dozens of others.

Lewis Black. And his many pissed-off faces.

The Sopranos. They mobbed the stage for no reason, then later they won the big award.

• At 7, NBC has a new Football Night in America, followed by the Patriots/Chargers game.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• FOX as The Emmy Awards at 8 (E!'s red carpet coverage started at 6).
• Nickelodeon has a new Drake & Josh at 8, followed by a new Zoey 101.
• At 9, PBS has new Mystery!
• Lifetime has a new Side Order of Life at 9.
• There's a new Iron Chef America at 9 on Food Network.
• HGTV has a new Design Star at 9.
• USA has the season finales of The 4400 and Dead Zone, starting at 9.
• VH-1 has a new Rock of Love with Bret Michaels at 9, then a new Hogan Knows Best.
• Also at 9: HBO has a new Tell Me You Love Me, followed by a new Curb Your Enthusiasm.
• At 10, MSNBC has this morning's Meet the Press, if you missed it this morning.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Robot Chicken.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Get this: not only is Ryan Seacrest going to host The Emmys later this month, he actually might sing as well.

This is all part of Seacrest's plan for world domination by the year 2019. He's already hosting The Super Bowl and New Year's Eve coverage on ABC and doing various weekly radio shows and shows on E! He also waits tables three nights a week at the T.G.I. Fridays in Glendale, CA. How does the man do it?

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• Kid Nation, the reality show that sets kids loose in an abandoned New Mexico town, is (of course) creating some controversy,
  
• The Emmy nominations are in!
  

The video's embedded below, or you can subscribe to this podcast via our feed. Plus, you can also download the file directly.

We'll have full coverage of the Emmy Award nominations tomorrow (Thursday) morning starting just before 8:30 Eastern Time. That's 5:30am on the West Coast, where they announce the nominations. Crazy Hollywood people getting up so early.

In the meantime, head on over to AOL and pick who you think is going to be nominated tomorrow in several categories, including Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Actor, and Best Actress. Then come back here tomorrow morning for the live blog and see how you did.

Those cruel Emmy bastards. Here Regis Philbin is today, recuperating from his heart bypass surgery (unless it's still going on, which is possible), and he doesn't even get a nomination for Best Talk Show or Host!

Ellen got a nod though, and she led all nominees with 12 nominations. Going up against her for Best Talk Show are Dr. Phil, The View, Tyra Banks, and Rachael Ray. If she's not the winner out of that group, something is wrong somewhere. She's also up for Best Talk Show Host, with the same nominees and also Lisa Rinna, who apparently hosts something called Soap Talk.

The shows up for Best Soap are Guiding Light, The Young and the Restless, One Life To Live, and The Bold and the Beautiful. Bob Barker got a nomination for The Price Is Right. His last day on that show is in June.

Oh, and that Today Show "It's a New Day" theme? It got a nom too.

Here is the full list of nominees.

American Idol is a powerhouse of ratings. The Emmy telecast -- not so much. In fact, last year's show was down 13 percent in viewers from the previous year. How can Emmy grab a little of that Idol magic? Perhaps by hiring the guys behind Idol. Which is just what FOX has done.

Idol producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick have been tapped to executive produce the telecast for The 59th Annual Emmy Awards, which will air on Sunday, September 16 (8-11 PM ET) from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

FOX Entertainment President Peter Liguori said, "Nigel and Ken have consistently raised the creative bar with their innovative work on American Idol and we believe they will continue to do so during their first Emmy telecast."