TVSquad

If Jim Parsons wins the Emmy tonight for The Big Bang Theory, you better believe he'll be in a position to pick and choose the projects he does in the future. But here's one that I think would be fascinating, to quote Dr. Sheldon Cooper's favorite Vulcan scientist: Jim Parsons would like to appear on Friday Night Lights.

In a recent interview, Jim was asked about his favorite current show -- other than his own -- and he said it was Friday Night Lights. That's right, the NBC drama series about high school football deep in the heart of Texas! Somehow it's hard to imagine Sheldon in pads and a helmet. Maybe he could be the water boy? Or the genius offensive coordinator.

Zachary Johnson and Jeffrey Max are two effed up dudes.

Before they hit the "viralsphere" with Lasagna Cat, the production team and creative geniuses behind Fatal Farm created an incredibly twisted, brilliantly subversive, and unarguably hilarious series of "alternative intros" parodying the openings to classic sitcoms. No two intros follow the same theme or formula, except to say that they're all unequivocally... Messed. Up.

From blood and guts to go-carts and the hinting of pedophilia, each parody brings with it an innate ability to eviscerate any leftover nostalgia from the sight of, say, the Happy Days jukebox or the beginning chords of the theme to Cheers. (Believe us, you'll never think of Rhea Perlman the same way again.)

Strap in, sit back, and take an incredibly disturbing trip down Memory Lane, courtesy of your friendly tour guides at Fatal Farm:

January 15th, 1974. It was on this cold winter day (cold, because it was pre-global warming) 35 years ago that the American public was introduced to Richie Cunningham, Fonzie, Potsie, and the rest of the gang of Happy Days. A simple family sitcom, the Gary Marshall-created program would change the face of ABC, as well as television, for the ten years it was on the air, as well as beyond.

Happy Days came at a time when the family comedy was going through an upheaval. Gone were the days of simple shows like Leave it to Beaver and The Dick Van Dyke Show. In its place were shows like All in the Family which turned the typical family comedy on its heels. With Vietnam, a poor economy, and Watergate all weighing down on Americans at that time, the introduction of Happy Days gave viewers a chance to remember and laugh at some simpler times.

I recall a time when Ron Howard was diligently trying to distance himself from the two television icons that made him famous: Opie Taylor and Richie Cunningham (from The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days, respectively). Now, thanks to Funny Or Die and in an effort to get his candidate of choice (Barack Obama, if you didn't know) elected, he is prepared to step back into those two roles. And to do so, he takes Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler with him.

I didn't really grow up with Andy Griffith, but it was quite the nostalgia trip to see Ron Howard and Henry Winkler as Richie and the Fonz again. Winkler seemed to just slip back into the character despite all the years.

Now that local groups have raised enough money, the Bronze Fonz statue will make its Milwaukee debut at an August 19 dedication ceremony. Henry Winkler will attend the ceremony, along with Happy Days co-stars Marion Ross, Tom Bosley, Erin Moran, Don Most, and Anson Williams. A few spots for the statue were considered, but the Fonz found a home on the city's RiverWalk.

This project has been in the works since last fall, when a Milwaukee tourism group announced its plan to raise funds for the statue. The dedication ceremony is invitation-only, but the public is welcome to attend a free frozen custard social following the dedication. Later that day, the Happy Days cast will throw out the first ball at a Brewers game and Anson Williams, better known as Potsie, will sing the National Anthem.

Television has often been a benchmark of current popular culture. Whether it's clothes, cars or furniture, people have always looked to TV to help them decide how to look and how to live. Here are ten great examples of how TV characters have "helped" us look our best.

Daisy Duke's Daisy Dukes (The Dukes of Hazzard)
No one knew it at the time, but when Catherine Bach slipped on those ultra-short denims, she was making an impression on more than the teenage boys who were watching. Years later, a brand new and very different generation embraced the Daisy Dukes, much to the delight of those teenage boys who were now old enough to know better.

As I sit in a converted dorm room at a college in Castine, Maine, waiting for either the start of my stand-up show or the sweet embrace of death to break up the monotony of my day, I find myself with gobs of time to explore some of the less-traveled corners of Wikipedia. After reading a 500 word analysis of what state Benson may have taken place in (really!), I moved on to the entry for "Jump the Shark." Gary Marshall is quoted there as admitting that even he felt a little weird watching Fonzie, leather jacket and all, jumping over that now mythic shark. He points out, however, that Happy Days remained a top-twenty hit for seven more years and produced more than 100 more episodes after it aired.

It occurred to me that had the internet existed in the 1970s, the backlash to the jumping the shark episode would have been immediate and crushing....

Reunions are hot, you know? On February 12, for example, Oprah reunited (most of) the kids from The Cosby Show, with Bill appearing via satellite. Well, never one to let a good idea go to waste, NBC jumped on the theme. They recently had a Family Ties reunion on Today, so now the morning show is commencing tomorrow with a series of more "Together Again" features. Tune into 8:00 a.m. hour each day so you don't miss a thing!

(S03E10) "Dr. Pronto to reception please." - Nurse

The simple decision to recap last week's episode in such a comically dramatic style is one of the things that sets My Name is Earl apart from other sitcoms.

After watching Catalina's scene with Joy's children, I now understand why they have so little screen time. They are bad actors. While I give the show credit for using kids who actually look like their parents, I feel that these kids could easily fall into the DJ Conner trap where their continuing lack of cuteness reveals their lack of talent. As a side note, seeing Catalina with those kids really made it difficult for me to enjoy her scenes in my usual way. Hey, I'm a creep not a criminal.

This very important anniversary was actually a week ago today but I just realized it this morning as I was eating my Happy Days cereal and wearing my Fonz pajamas and Ralph Malph slippers.

September 20th marked the 30th Anniversary of the day Arthur Fonzarelli (aka "Fonzie," aka "The Fonz") put on his leather jacket and a pair of water skis and jumped over a cage filled with stock footage of a man eating shark. Of course, we know that the famous episode launched a very successful catch phrase and web site called "What choo talkin' bout Willis?"

After the jump, a video of that classic TV moment. I haven't seen an episode of Happy Days in years, but it was probably well on its way to getting away from the original intent of the show before this. But yeah, this scene is even more ridiculous than you remember it.

[via LAObserved.com]

Originally I was going to list the best catchphrases in general, not limiting my choices to single words. But, as we only list five in our The Five posts, I knew early on that it would be a near impossible task to list only five favorites. So, here we have it, the five best single-word catchphrases of popular TV characters.

1. "Aeyyy!" OK, so technically this isn't a "word," but you can't deny the popularity of the trademark call of coolness from the one and only Fonz of Happy Days.