TVSquad

Okay, maybe it's not a "clone" per se, but the premise reads like an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Coming to NBC: a group of small-town fanboys try to make continuing episodes of their favorite sci fi series after it is canceled. Larry Charles, who was behind such fare as Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Borat and Bruno, will be behind the production.

The new idea is also "semi-scripted", which means it'll likely be heavily improvised much like most of the series and movies that Charles has been involved with. Warner Bros. TV is the company producing and they also do The Big Bang Theory, so they're in effect competing with themselves. This is a good thing because they win either way.

Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing this premise played out on an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon gets the idea and, using his sly coercive techniques, makes everybody else play along. Since he knows no other females, he coerces Penny (who is an aspiring actress anyway) to play the token female in the series. Quick! Call Chuck Lorre!

Most TV viewers don't know who Larry Charles is, but fans of the shows Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm are well aware of him. As one of the more underrated members of Larry David's team, he wrote some of both shows' most memorable episodes. His last project, as the director of the Borat movie, also earned him praise, even if he toiled away deep in Sacha Baron Cohen's shadow.

But the success of Borat has been good for everyone, including Charles: Variety is reporting that he has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the ABC TV Studio for what the industry rag said was in the "mid-seven figures." In the deal, Charles will write and direct a number of projects, including "scripted and hybrid comedies and possibly even animation," according to the article. This will be the first time he has worked for broadcast TV in a number of years.

(S03E05) Phillip Baker Hall is The Man.

It doesn't matter how many times I see "The Library", or even how many times in the span of an hour I see Hall's scenes as library investigator Lt. Bookman (like I did when I watched the epiosde on DVD just now... once with notes, once with writer Larry Charles' comments, and again in a mini-featurette about the episode). I laugh out loud every single time.

And how can you not? Bookman's Joe Friday-inspired speeches are a complete riot. The intensity that Bookman has for his seemingly mundane task -- investigating overdue library books -- comes through in Hall's performance, especially in the long rant directed towards Jerry in his apartment. More on that a little later.