TVSquad

Jeffrey Tambor, aka Arrested Development's beloved George Bluth, is the
latest star to sign up for a guest stint on the HBO comedy Entourage. Tambor joins Sopranos star Jaime-Lynn Sigler and Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester on the guest star roster for Entourage's fifth season, premiering in September.

While both Sigler and Meester are set to play possible love interests for everyone's favorite semi-successful actor Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier), Tambor will be throwing a wrench into their plans for love when Vince suddenly discovers his propensity for older bald dudes. Okay, that's not true at all. Fact is, there's no word on what role Tambor will be playing, or if he'll be playing himself. Regardless, it's Jeffrey Tambor, so it will be awesome.

Since producers probably won't use my love interest idea (although I am totally copyrighting that right now, just in case) what are your opinions on Tambor's role? Should he be a studio exec? Mentor? Rival for Jaime-Lynn Sigler's affection? Post your thoughts in the comments below.

John Schneider could be back on our television screens soon, if someone will buy the show. The odd part about this one isn't the content, but rather the production. Schneider is starring in twentysixmiles -- a reference to Catalina Island, where the show is being shot -- which is an independently funded production. Executive producer Rob Miller is spending some $5.5 million to shoot six episodes of the show that can serve as a launch to the series, or a trio of movies.

And he's doing the whole thing with no deal in place for broadcast. Ballsy. Despite the lack of a studio deal, they have managed to land some pretty big names to join Schneider. George Segal (Just Shoot Me), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), and James Denton (Desperate Housewives) are all set to make cameos while Jessica Tuck (Judging Amy), Eric Lange, and Daniel Quinn will be part of the regular cast. Schneider's character is a high powered executive who moves to Catalina Island after his wife divorces him in order to be closer to his children.

(S01E01) The good thing about this new series is that you know in the first two minutes whether or not you are the audience the show is looking for. All you have to do is ask yourself, "Am I interested in seeing a man forced to go down on a dildo being worn by a dominatrix?" If the answer is yes, keep reading.

The premise of the show is quite simple. Eric Schaeffer wrote a book about being single and trying to find love. When he went on his book tour he decided to make stops along the way, talk to different people about love and relationships and film it all for this documentary.

A lot of hilarious, yet terrible, things run in the Bluth family--huge mistakes, catchphrases, and unconventional modes of transportation. In honor of TV Squad's Arrested Development week, let's take a look at some of the qualities that make the Bluths unique.

Drinking and Drug Problems - Lucille's drinking problem is world-famous, but the other Bluths have been known to use alcohol and drugs on occasion. Lindsay had some issues with Zanatab back when she was part of "The Solution," and Buster can't get enough juice. G.O.B. frequently used roofies (known to him as forget-me-nows) on other people during his magic career. In the clip below, the Bluth siblings and Tobias got drunk to prepare themselves for an intervention. Michael only lets loose when he's drunk, and it's a wonderful thing to see. I love that he's wearing a Franklin wig.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

(S01E02) Many people will tell you that they got sucked into Arrested Development by its pilot. I wasn't. For some reason, I didn't watch the pilot when it first aired. But that's just fine, because the second episode, "Top Banana," was a perfect representation of everything AD ended up being. Throwaway jokes. Quick cut-aways and flashbacks. Subtle catchphrase generation. A "lesson of the week" couched in vicious barbs between members of the Bluth family. Oh, and two words that I'll never forget: "No touching!"

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

(S01E01) Some shows come out of the gate with such a power that you can't help but stand up and take notice. For the far too few of us who happened to catch Arrested Development when it premiered, it quickly established that it was going to be something a little different than the other comedy fare on the television. The trend at the time was moving toward the single camera format, that's almost become the norm for comedies nowadays (The Office, My Name is Earl, hell NBC's entire Thursday night lineup).

There was a time when audiences were less receptive to this kind of television. It was funny, but minus a laugh track. So while shows like The King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond and even According to Jim had this comfortable format with the basic house set and laughter to cue us into the funny bits, AD was something a bit more challenging. Perhaps it was just a few years ahead of its time, or perhaps it was on the wrong network (FOX), or perhaps it was just too smart for its own good.

Have you noticed that there are some actors who just work constantly? They go from TV show to TV show, take a film role, do some voice over work, pop up here and there and never struggle to get a gig. (Maybe this should be a new TV Squad award category -- The Don't Worry About His Next Paycheck Award?)

Anyway, you can put Gary Cole in that category. After playing the lethal Wayne Davis, Dana Delaney's ex, on Desperate Housewives last season, Gary Cole has signed to play the father in Good Behavior, an ABC pilot starring Catherine O'Hara. Rob Thomas is creating Good Behavior, which is based on a New Zealand TV show called Outrageous Fortune, about a family of criminals who decide to go straight when the patriarch, that would be Gary, is busted and sent to jail for five years.

It's also been revealed that Jeffrey Tambor will star in the pilot, playing Hy, Jackie West's partner in a down and out pawn shop. Hopefully, this will morph into a long term, recurring role, something good so Tambor can make fans forget Welcome the The Captain and evoke memories of Arrested Development.

(S03E14) "I bet you wish you had more than one God now, eh?" - Ravi Kapoor as Earl's doctor

Boy, that Jeff Zucker is one hell of an actor, isn't he?

Generally, I love it when a high-paid executive is willing to make fun of himself for his company. Case in point; when Les Moonves talks to Dave Letterman on the phone I think it's hilarious. The key, however is that the executive in question has to be able to effectively deliver a joke. I think My Name is Earl missed an opportunity for some real nice comedy. Too bad Jerry Seinfeld didn't have another movie to promote.

Now that the Arrested Development movie is pretty much a done deal, fans are dreaming of what the big screen event should include. FilmSchoolRejects listed eight things the Arested Development movie must include, such as the stair car, Lucille 2, and the banana stand. Being the AD fan that I am (I've seen every episode at least 5 times if not more), I've decided to come up with my own list. A girl can dream, no?

Talks of a potential movie featuring the dysfunctional Bluth family first started even before the show's finale aired. However, nothing really officially had been done about it until recently. This past week, rumors of an Arrested Development feature movie have resumed but, this time, it is the cast talking!

Kristin Dos Santos from E! Online confirms that the cast members were asked by the show's producers if they would be willing to star in the motion picture. AD's leading man, Jason Bateman, confirmed to the gossip columnist that preliminary talks had begun. Elsewhere, Jeffrey Tambor admitted on the Ron and Fez Show on XM Radio that he was approached by Ron Howard to see if he was willing to reprise his role(s).

My first impression of this show is that it has a great cast. Al Madrigal is a very funny guy who has been kept off of TV for way too long. You may remember that Al was the star of the aborted sitcom The Ortegas a few seasons ago. I have always thought Chris Klein was funny but never got a chance to show it off and, of course, Jeffrey Tambor has now become a fixture in the comedy landscape due to his brilliant work on Larry Sanders & Arrested Development.

Madrigal plays the doorman of the building named Jesus, who insists that you pronounce his name like the well-known savior. Klein is Marty, a tenant of the building and best bud of the new tenant, Josh (Fran Kanz). Tambor plays Uncle Sol, the veteran of the building who used to write scripts for Three's Company. Ironic, in a way, since Tambor actually starred in the Three's Company spinoff, The Ropers.

Now that the fall shows are drying up, those midseason replacements are becoming more and more essential. Zap2It tells us CBS has shifted the premieres of The Captain and The New Adventures of Old Christine from January 28 to February 4 (so as to not compete with the State of the Union Address). And furthermore, The Captain has been redubbed Welcome to the Captain.

In this new series, Fran Kranz plays a young man who moves into a legendary Hollywood apartment complex. His new neighbors are played by the likes of Raquel Welch, Jeffrey Tambor, Chris Klein and more. Which I guess means it's a show about a bunch of wacky neighbors, as opposed to the requisite one.

I think the phrase "hit or miss" is appropriate when it comes to television and Jeffrey Tambor. He's been involved with some truly great series (The Larry Sanders Show, Arrested Development), and some not-so-great series (Twenty Good Years).

Now, Tambor is heading back to the small screen to star in The Captain, which was recently approved for a six-episode, midseason run on CBS. Tambor stars as a retired writer whose apartment building is soon occupied by a younger writer, played by Fran Kranz. The series also stars Raquel Welch, Al Madrigal, Valerie Azlynn and Joanna Garcia.

As we told you earlier, Sony Pictures is going to release a 4 disc Not Just The Best Of The Larry Sanders Show DVD set on April 17. The set will include 23 of the best episodes, a ton of extras like interviews and behind the scenes footage, and new interviews with costars and guest stars, but some fans aren't too happy about how the show is being handled.

The first season DVD set was released in 2002 and, according to DVD Dossier, was met with anger by fans of the show. They say the video transfer was really grainy and unprofessional, not to mention the fact that the extras were lacking. The site wants to know why they are releasing this "best of" set instead of continuing the season sets with a release of season 2.

Anyone have the first season DVD set? How is it? Are you looking forward to this set?

[thanks to Judith for the tip]

I don't think I've ever heard news that this was coming to DVD, but fans can be happy that this special set comes out on April 17.

It's not a first season set (is there a first season set out?), it's more of a "best of" from all six seasons, even if it is titled "Not Just The Best of The Larry Sanders Show." The four disc set will include 23 episodes, a making of featurette, deleted scenes, a cast reunion, and interviews with several stars and guest stars: Jeffrey Tambor, Rip Torn, David Duchovny, Jon Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld, Carol Burnett, and Alec Baldwin.

The interviews were done a year ago by Garry Shandling himself, with a handheld video camera, so you know they're not going to be just DVD filler interviews and footage.