TVSquad

Controversy raged last weekend as fans and media types reacted to a new DirecTV ad using the late Chris Farley in scenes from Tommy Boy. Now, some aggressive YouTubers are taking their shot at offending some people (with DirecTV execs at the top of the list).

The original ad featured a live action David Spade discussing DirecTV against Farley's antics from Tommy Boy. While Spade insisted Farley wouldn't mind, a lot of his fans took offense to using a dead man to hawk a product.

But the video below, from a YouTube page, The Landline, lights up the satellite TV provider with an edgy send-up of the "dead talk cash" stunt with faked DirecTV ads featuring a pseudo Heath Ledger, John F. Kennedy, and someone else you'll recognize.

There's a conspiracy theory floating around that this is actually clever viral marketing from DirecTV itself -- since no publicity is bad publicity. But, if that were true, and word really got out, it'd be "deadly" to the company's business.

The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:

• Did you know that ten members of the Wayans family makes appearances in Dance Flick? Read the review here.
• If you remember, when Heath Ledger passed away, he was in the middle of filming the Terry Gilliam film, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. It premiered at Cannes this week; you can read the review here.
• Michael Moore's next film sets its release date. It's a look at the current financial crisis, and comes out October 2, a year and a day after the $700 million Wall Street bailout.
• I'm saying right here and right now, that I have zero interest in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, so I would already be in trouble. Cinematical asks, "What films would you break up over?"
• It's been getting mixed reviews, so Cinematical asks how you rate Terminator Salvation.

Thank you Associated Press, not just for making the most sound choice for Entertainer of the Year since Stephen Colbert, but for giving me another excuse to do a Google image search of Tina Fey cheesecake photos. And I didn't even get them anything for Christmas.

Broadcast producers and newspaper editors -- who weren't busy safeguarding their pensions and 401Ks by burying what's left of them in the desert -- cast their votes in the AP's annual Entertainer of the Year Poll. The honors went to 30 Rock star and SNL lifeguard Tina Fey.

It's really the no-brainer choice. Sharon Eberson, entertainment editor for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, told the wire service, "She gave us funny when we really needed it and, in a year when women in politics were making huge strides, Fey stood out in the world of entertainment."

The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their latest musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:

• Notorious pin-up model Bettie Page passed away Thursday night at the age of 85. Cinematical eulogizes the icon who spawned a thousand imitators.
• It's almost time for the Sundance film festival and Cinematical is already all over it. Get acquainted with some of the films that will be featured this year, with this collection of trailers.
• The Golden Globe nominations were announced yesterday, and with the exception of Heath Ledger for Best Supporting Actor, The Dark Knight was snubbed. Do you think that's a travesty? Discuss over on Cinematical.
• Speaking of the Globes, if you haven't seen the full list of nominees, you can check it out here.
• Hey, it's no secret that our country is going through some hard times. We're in a recession, unemployment has reached a 25-year high, and stuff generally sucks. If life is getting you down, check out this collection of 40 inspirational speeches in two minutes.

Oscar turned 80 last night. For eight decades, Hollywood has been handing out gold statuettes for the best in motion picture arts and sciences. Sadly, last night's show will not have to worry about winning an Emmy. Not only was the show pedestrian, long and uninspired, it was also a bomb in the Nielsen overnight ratings. In fact, it was historically disappointing: averaging just 32 million viewers to become the least watched Oscar telecast ever! EVER, people!

Of course, if you're worried that with ratings so bad, some day the Academy Awards won't be broadcast -- don't. The Oscars, like the Super Bowl, make a fortune for the network broadcasting it. ABC made an average of $1.8 million for each 30-second spot.

John Gibson, the mentally unbalanced guy who hosts a daily show on FOX News, went even more overboard on his radio show (syndicated by Fox Radio Network) yesterday.

Gibson opened his radio show with funeral march music and an audio clip from Brokeback Mountain, then said "Well, he found out how to quit you," referring to the line Ledger says in the movie to Jake Gyllenhaal. He then said that Ledger was a "weirdo" and speculated that he killed himself either because he had money in the stock market or because he watched the Obama/Clinton debate. Joe Scarborough played the audio on his MSNBC show this morning and had some comments of his own for Gibson, saying the comments were "as callous and harsh as anything I've ever heard" and "unspeakably rude."

John, maybe you should just stick to worrying about the non-existent "war on Christmas" you talk about every year?