TVSquad

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was one of the more successful spy shows/movies inspired by the James Bond craze of the 1960s. It was a fun show (with a great theme song!), and the complete series has just been released on DVD.

Some people might see the show as a "spoof," and one could take it that way, but it holds up really well as a straightforward spy drama too. Personally, I prefer I Spy, but The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is right up there too. And this set should make fans of the show (you are probably in your 30s at least, maybe older) very happy.

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• Lois Maxwell: She is probably best known for playing Miss Moneypenny in all the James Bond movies up until Roger Moore's last (A View To A Kill), but she also appeared in several TV shows, including The Avengers, UFO, The Saint, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (80s version), Zero One, Danger Man, One Step Beyond, and Adventures in Rainbow Country. She died of cancer at age 80 in Australia.

A lot of people don't realize that the first James Bond wasn't Sean Connery on the big screen, it was Barry Nelson on television, on a 1954 episode of the CBS series Climax. Nelson played 007 in an adaptation of Casino Royale.

Nelson died in Buck's County, PA on April 7 while traveling. He was 89.

Besides the classic role of Bond, Nelson was a regular on the 50s series My Favorite Husband, and guest starred on several other shows, including The Twilight Zone, Murder, She Wrote, Fantasy Island, Magnum, P.I., Dallas, The Love Boat, Thriller, Cannon, Longstreet, The F.B.I., The Philco Playhouse, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and many others. On the big screen he was in several films, including The Shining, Airport, and Pete N' Tillie, and starred on stage in several productions.

This poll in the UK edition of Esquire isn't too much of a surprise I guess. I can understand why chef and TV host Gordon Ramsay is the most admired guy, especially in a popular, "of the moment" sort of way. But what I find funny is that he beat scientist and author Stephen Hawking, a man that has literally changed the way we look at space, time, and the universe.

Other people on the list after Ramsay (17%) and Hawking (14%) are Ray Mears (a TV survival expert - probably unknown to many of us here in the U.S.), who got 11% of the vote, new James Bond Daniel Craig, who also got 11%, and comedian/writer Ricky Gervais, who somehow only got 9% of the vote.

The new season of Hell's Kitchen, the U.S. show that Ramsay hosts, starts on FOX, June 4 at 9pm.

[via TV Tattle]

Hmmm...a mystery over at TV Land.com.

In the video section, there is a listing for "Remington Steel clips." Now, besides the fact that they didn't spell Remington Steele correctly, I don't remember the show being on TV Land (or Nick at Nite for that matter). The show is not even listed on their show list. So I clicked on the link to see what clips of the show the site had and I found out that there are also clips for Lost in Space and The Time Tunnel! Is this a promotion for the DVDs you can buy (there are links to buy them) and nothing more, or is it a little preview of shows TV Land has added to the lineup.

But this would be a good show for the network to pick up (I'm talking about Remington Steele, not Lost in Space or The Time Tunnel). I remember a cable network (I think it was A&E) ran the show every afternoon a few years back, and I really got into the show again.

• At 8, FOX has a new Cops, followed by a repeat episode and a new America's Most Wanted.
• NBC has a new, two hour Dateline at 8.
• TLC has two new episodes of Little People, Big World at 8.
• ABC Family has Eloise at Christmastime at 8.
• AMC has Patton at 8.
• Diamonds Are Forever airs on Spike at 8.
• Hallmark is showing Christmas movies all night.
• At 9, Food Network has Al Roker's Christmas in New York.
• Also at 9: Showtime has Bruce Campbell in Evil Dead 2.
• At 10, TLC has a new Trading Spaces.
• At 10:30, TBS has National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, followed by The Nightmare Before Christmas.

If you haven't seen the new James Bond film Casino Royale, go now. Seriously, don't even finish reading this story. Shut off your computer, grab your coat, and rush out to your local cineplex. It's that good.

But it's not the first version of Casino Royale. And I'm not talking about the lame comedy version in the 60s starring Peter Sellers, which pretty much everyone agrees is an atrocity and not an official 007 film. I'm talking about the 1954 TV version, starring My Favorite Husband lead Barry Nelson as James Bond. Or, more precisely, "Jimmy" Bond, in an attempt to Americanize the character from the Ian Fleming novel. It was an episode of the CBS anthology series Climax and aired live on October 21, 1954. Peter Lorre played Le Chiffre. The show was pretty much forgotten and not seen that much until the 80s, and in the late 90s a nice collector's edition video was released, with the entire show intact.

Oh, and the urban legend that a dead Lorre got up at the end of the show and walked offstage on live television isn't true. That didn't happen. Though it did happen on another episode of Climax.

Sure, you'll be busy cooking and/or running around to various homes tomorrow, but you might want to turn on the TV too. There's a lot more on than just football.

• At 9am, CBS has The Thanksgiving Day Parade. Not exactly sure what this is, but it's from NYC, so maybe it's the Macy's parade but they can't call it that for legal reasons?
• NBC has The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade at 9.
• The History Channel has American Eats at 9, followed by More American Eats.
• TLC has a Take Home Chef marathon starting at 9.
• There's a marathon of The Closer at 9 on TNT.
• FX has two Thanksgiving episodes of Spin City at 9.
• Discovery has a marathon of I Shouldn't Be Alive, also at 9.
• Food Network has Thanksgiving episodes all day long, starting at 9:30.
• Lifetime has a Thanksgiving episode of Frasier at 10.
• Spike has a James Bond marathon starting at 10.
• A Project Runway marathon airs on Bravo at 10.
• Another marathon: Sci-Fi has several eps of Eureka, also at 10.
• Shortly after 10, IFC has Pieces of April, starring Katie Holmes as a woman who cooks her first Thanksgiving dinner.
• At noon, CBS has the Dolphins vs. the Lions, while NBC has The National Dog Show.
• TBS has a Home Improvement marathon starting at noon with a Thanksgiving ep.
• Yup, another marathon: ESPN has The Contender at noon.
• ABC will have its regular soap lineup starting at 1pm: All My Children, One Life To Live, and General Hospital.
• The Family Channel has a Thanksgiving Full House at 3, followed by Turkey Day eps of other shows, including 7th Heaven.
• At 3:30, FOX has the Bucs vs. the Cowboys.
• At 6, TLC has the Thanksgiving ep of Little People, Big World.

Our regular roundup of what's happening over at our sister blog, Cinematical.

• Check out the new trailer for Casino Royale. This film is going to kick some serious ass.
• Get ready for Mummy 3.
• If they make The Hobbit, will Peter Jackson direct it?
• Mark has info about the Fantastic Four sequel.
• Bruce Campbell talks about Spiderman 3.
• Heath Ledger will play the Joker in the Batman Begins sequel. But who wants to play the Penguin? Bob Hoskins!

• At 8, CBS has the JC Penney Jam: The Concert For America's Kids, with Mary J. Blige, Kenny Chesney, Andrea Bocelli, and others. It's followed by new episodes of Big Brother: All-Stars and Rock Star: Supernova.
• NBC has a new Fear Factor at 8.
• Also at 8: ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker (the main event starts), while ESPN2 has more of the Little League World Series.
• At 9, FOX repeats the series premiere of Vanished.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9, followed by two new episodes of Stunt Junkies.
• Bravo has a new Work Out at 9, followed by a new Queer Eye.
• Spike has the very first James Bond flick, Dr. No, at 9.
• HBO has Acts III and IV of Spike Lee's When The Levees Broke. It's on at 9 too.
• At 10, Sci-Fi has a new ep of Eureka.
• There's a new Rescue Me on FX at 10.
• GSN has a new ep of The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All-Time at 10, with games 10 and 9.
• BBC America has a new Love Soup at 10.
• At 10:30, Food Network has a new Ham on the Street.

• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother: All-Stars, followed by a new Rock Star: Supernova.
• NBC has The Miss Teen USA Pageant at 8.
• ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker, starting at 8.
• At 9, Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs, followed by two new episodes of Stunt Junkies.
• There's a new Overhaulin' on TLC at 9, followed by a new Miami Ink.
• Spike has the 007 movie Tomorrow Never Dies at 9.
• Bravo has a new Workout at 9, followed by a new Queer Eye.
• Sci-Fi has a new Eureka at 9.
• At 10, ABC has a new Primetime.
• MTV has a new Real World at 10.
• Also at 10: FX has a new Rescue Me.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by a new Big Brother: All-Stars.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7, followed by NFL Hall of Fame Game, the Raiders vs. the Eagles.
• At 9, Spike has Die Another Day.
• HBO has a new Deadwood at 9, followed by a new Entourage, a new Lucky Louie, and a new Dane Cook's Tourgasm.
• There's a new episode of The 4400 on USA at 9, followed by a new ep of The Dead Zone.
• ABC Family has the premiere of Three Moons Over Milford.
• At 10, Showtime has a new Brotherhood.