TVSquad

The Emmy nominations will be announced tomorrow morning at 8:30am, and I'll be live-blogging the announcement, so come back here at that time for all the news. Well, actually, you won't have to "come back here" if you never leave, right? So please keep TV Squad open in a separate window as you do the rest of your web surfing and keep hitting refresh for the latest news. Thank you.

I'm sure a lot of the usual suspects will be in the mix when they announce the nominees: Lost, House, Desperate Housewives, The Wire, Hugh Laurie, Boston Legal, etc. But there are several shows and actors that I'm really pulling for and should get nominations, if the world is fair. My list after the jump.

The Saturn awards ceremony was held last night, and Lost dominated the television categories with four wins. The drama won the award for Best Network Series and nearly swept the acting categories. Evangeline Lilly lost the Best Actress award to Ghost Whisperer's Jennifer Love Hewitt, last year's winner. Most of the first-time nominees, such as Pushing Daisies and Journeyman, were shut out. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was the only exception; Summer Glau tied for Best Supporting Actress.

Comedian Jeffrey Ross hosted the event. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a successful awards season for Lost. A complete list of winners in the television categories follows after the jump.

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• Aaron Barnhart has some interesting thoughts on MSNBC.
• What is TidalTV?
• Star Trek: The Exhibition opens in San Diego today.
• More money problems for Ed McMahon: now Citibank is suing him.
• It was great to see Teri Garr on Letterman the other night.
• There's a 20th Anniversary DVD set coming for Mystery Science Theater 3000.
• Martha Stewart has been banned in the U.K.
• Seth MacFarlane spills the beans about what Family Guy has in store for viewers this fall, and reveals which celebrities are mad at the show.

TV syndication upfront ad sales are brisk, with syndicators expected to sell higher levels of ad inventory, similar to the broadcast networks.

Sales are more than 50% complete, with one syndicator, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, more than 70% sold out of its 2008-09 ad inventory, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

What's it all mean? It means that syndication upfront totals are expected to be around $2.4 billion, up 4.5% from last year.

Maybe one reason is that syndicators are incorporating more product integration into their packages, especially with talk and entertainment shows. Strong categories include packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, movies, and fast food.

Hmmm ... I wonder what they're saying. That TV viewers sit around eating Big Macs, doing drugs, and woofing down Cheetos? Yeah, that can't be right.

Finally, a new teaser for the much anticipated Family Guy spin-off, The Cleveland Show. Actually, "anticipated" is probably a strong word since American Dad has already destroyed my faith in Seth MacFarlane's ability to produce another hit. Frankly, I don't see how The Cleveland Show could possibly be worse than American Dad.

"New" probably isn't the right word either since the following video looks like something that most likely aired during last month's upfronts. But hey - I hadn't seen it yet, so it's new to me. Complaining aside, I'm pumped for this show and the preview doesn't disappoint. The idea of Cleveland packing his bags and heading south to marry a woman he hasn't seen since high school is hilarious to me. Bears and British folks as neighbors? This could work. Video and full description from FOX after the jump.

Summer hasn't even started yet (though I always consider Memorial Day the start of summer), but FOX has all of the premiere dates for the new and returning shows. Some of the shows were announced as starting the week of August 25, but those dates have been pushed to September 1. In fact, all of the FOX shows bow in September this year. But that's OK. Better than waiting until October like a lot of networks, right? (Of course, the World Series starts on FOX at the end of October so there will be an interruption.)

After the jump, the rundown (except for 24 and Dollhouse, which premiere in early '09). Feel free to print out and post on your refrigerator!

Due to the complicated and apparently outdated Emmy Awards nomination rules, prime-time animated shows like Family Guy, The Simpsons, American Dad, South Park and others have had to choose which Emmy category they want to compete in, animated or comedy series. Then, that decision impacts eligibility for writers and animators on those shows in other categories. Well, Family Guy is in a unique position this year, as their "Blue Harvest" Star Wars parody was classified as a special. And as the animated category looks at single episodes, Family Guy can submit "Blue Harvest" to the animated category, and the show itself, to comedy series.

I'd say it's a tremendous long shot that an animated show can be nominated over the live-action comedy series it will be facing. But there's always a first time for everything; when Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast picked up an Oscar nod for "Best Picture" it was groundbreaking in the same way. It's a tough debate. These shows compete with prime-time comedies every week and yet get put up against the likes of Spongebob Squarepants come awards time. How do you compare The Venture Brothers and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends?

Being the award for Excellence in Animation, this was easily the widest ranging category, and you all really came through in your nomination suggestions (sorry The Venture Brothers doesn't qualify). With animation owning several channels all to itself and still appearing everywhere else, you've got kid's shows, very much adult only series (did I mention The Venture Brothers can't get nominated?), gag cartoons, sci-fi cartoons and even gothic horror.

With your help from my Adam Finley Award call for nominations post last week where you tried to trick me into nominating The Venture Brothers, even though I can't, we've managed to narrow down the field of contenders to what we feel were the five strongest entries into the wide world of television animation in the past season. Don't forget to check out the Reader's Choice at the bottom where you can vote for which of the five you think are deserving to win. Next week, we'll be revealing both your winner and ours.

For many longtime TV Squad readers the name Adam Finley could only be associated with one thing: the wide world of animation. Adam was passionate about animation, covering many shows for us here as well as reporting on anything and everything happening in the industry. So it's only right that the award for Excellence in Animation be named after him.

There's all kinds of possibilities for contenders here. I'd give a nod to both Star Wars tributes -- Family Guy and Robot Chicken -- and South Park definitely stretched their animation style with 'Major Boobage,' but I didn't think the episode was all that good. Aqua Teen Hunger Force had some good episodes this season (personal favorites include the VeggieTales parody and that crazy trilogy that opened the season).

But I've by no means watched all the best in animation this year, so I call out to you, dear readers. Which episodes or shows do you think set the bar or even raised it in this past year? Are The Simpsons out of their prime and not worthy of TVS recognition? How about King of the Hill or American Dad? The new The Mr. Men Show is retro-tastic, simple, but still cleverly awesome! Too many to handle! Help me TVS Readers, you're my only hope!

Bobby Bowman is continuing his monogamous relationship with 20th Century Fox TV. The My Name is Earl executive producer has inked a new two-year deal with the studio.

Bowman will continue on Earl, where he manages the writing staff and oversees the writer's room, serving as executive producer with creator Greg Garcia and director Marc Buckland. He'll also develop new projects for the studio.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, it's a seven-figure deal (so if my math is right, it's at least one million, but less than 10 million).

Bowman has spent the past eight years at 20th TV, working on Family Guy, Yes, Dear, and Earl. He describes his relationship with the studio as "monogamous," saying, "They do exciting shows and have great executives. Sure, I would prefer it if 20th were monogamous in return, and didn't feel the need to have multiple partners. But they're not going to change."

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then a new Cold Case and two episodes of Dexter.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7, then episodes of Monk and Psych.
• At 8, FOX has a new Simpsons, followed by a new King of the Hill, the season finale of Family Guy, and a new American Dad.
• There's a new Everybody Hates Chris on The CW at 8, then new episodes of Aliens in America and The Game.
• PBS has a new Nature at 8, followed by a new Masterpiece.
• Also at 8: TCM has the 1965 special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music.
• At 9, Showtime has a new episode of The Tudors, then the season premiere of This American Life.
• At 12:15am, Cartoon Network has a new Squidbillies, then a new Assy McGee.

Check your local TV listings for more.

So I was reading this press release about a new CBS reality show called Greatest American Dog (working title). The network has just named a host of the Greatest American Dog and his name is Jarod Miller. The show premieres on July 10. What caught my attention was this phrase, "Animated zoologist Jarod Miller." Now, maybe it was just me, but for a moment I envisioned Jarod Miller as Brian Griffin, the dog on Family Guy. You know, an animated cartoon creation. After all, on Family Guy, Brian is the most intelligent character, and he has co-hosted a radio talk show.

In fact, the only thing animated about Jarod is his enthusiasm for animals. He's a guy who really loves his job. He's been on talk shows galore, putting creepy crawlies on Rachael Ray and keeping snakes from slithering all over Jimmy Kimmel.

• TNT has NBA playoff action all night.
• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then new episodes of Big Brother and Cold Case, then an episode of Dexter.
• ABC has two new episodes of Extreme Makeover starting at 7, followed by new episodes of Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7, then new episodes of Monk and Psych.
• At 8, FOX has new episodes of The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and Family Guy.
• There's a new Everybody Hates Chris on The CW at 8, then new episodes of Aliens in America and The Game.
• Nickelodeon has a new Zoey 101 at 8, then a new Dance on Sunset.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 8.
• At 9, Sci-Fi has the new movie Infected.
• Showtime has a new episode of The Tudors at 9, followed by a new Tracey Ullman's State of the Union.
• At 10, Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
• At 12:15am, Cartoon Network has a new Squidbillies.

Check your local TV listings for more.

I know, I know, a lot of you are thinking "I always watch Seinfeld online!" But now you can do it legally.

TBS is streaming episodes of the show on their web site. Right now it looks like there are only four episodes you can watch: "The Truth," "The Muffin Tops," "The Yada Yada," and "The Millennium." I was going to say that these are four classic episodes of the show, but then again I would say that approximately 98% of the episodes could probably be considered classic. If you're like me and you've seen each episode 55 times, this might not seem like a big deal (especially since it's on at least twice a night and there are DVDs), but it's a good option to have I guess (sorry Mac users - TBS hates you).