Office star Jenna Fischer is producing TV shows now, and the first one sounds pretty good.
She's putting together a show based on the exploits of real-life private eye Charlie Parker. It would be set in San Antonio and Fischer is developing the show for her network, NBC. She describes it as an hour long comedic drama (thankfully she didn't use the term "dramedy"), a lot like Magnum, P.I. or Columbo.
Like most actors, Tom Selleck did commercials before hitting it big. This spot for Close-Up toothpaste ("there's mouthwash in it") is from 1977, three years before Magnum, P.I. debuted. Actually, Selleck was doing movies and TV guest spots way before this commercial aired.
We've seen TV show/movie mashup videos before, but this one is rather brilliant. It's the Star Wars movies done as the opening to Magnum, P.I. They didn't just find a few scenes that went well with the music, they actually went through the movie and found exact scenes that fit each scene in the Magnum opening. Below is the video. After the jump, the comparison.
The thing that gets me about the TV Land Awards is this: they're celebrating the types of TV shows that TV Land will one day not even show anymore.
But before reality shows and movies take over the network, it's kinda fun to see the casts of Magnum, P.I. (too bad John Hillerman wasn't there) and Home Improvement again (but still no Jonathan Taylor Thomas ... guess that tension is still alive all these years later). Neil Patrick Harris was a good host, and the lineup of old and new stars they had is actually quite impressive.
AOL has chosen the best TV shows of the 1980s, and it's not a bad list. But I'm sure everyone reading this will have their own thoughts.
Sure, there are shows that were my favorites I'd like to see on the list, but those would be personal choices. The only problem I have is where the shows place on the list. For example, is Fraggle Rock really a better show than Spenser: For Hire, Miami Vice, and Kate and Allie (even beyond the fact that it might be an odd show to compare to the other shows in the first place)? Is Facts of Life better than MacGyver?
I don't get RTN (Retro Television Network) where I live. If you go to their web site and scroll down, you'll see that the network isn't in every state yet. But it's something I'd like to see on my local cable system.
RTN is a channel that shows a lot of old TV shows. It's sort of what TV Land used to be, a long time ago, before they started to get into reality shows, movies, and Extreme Makeover.
The channel is still at a time in their history where they have the freedom to not only air cult-yet-mainstream shows like the original Battlestar Galactica, The Incredible Hulk, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Leave It To Beaver, and Magnum, P.i., they're also airing such shows as Delvecchio (!), It Takes A Thief (!), Kate and Allie (!), the original 50s version of Mike Hammer (!), Run For Your Life(!), and The Bold Ones (!). As you can see, this is one eclectic network. They also have original programming such as talk shows, RTN Mystery Theater, and Offbeat Cinema. Robin Leach is going to host a show on the network, too.
Sometimes a celebrity dies who wasn't just a TV star, they actually had a hand in almost every aspect of television over a very long period of time. We lost two such stars over the weekend.
For example, fans ofNCIS will know Nina Foch (right) from her role as Ducky's mother on the show. But did you know she also starred in several vintage horror movies back as early as the early 40s, such as Return of the Vampire and Cry of the Werewolf? She also had the honor of being the very first murder victim on Columbo, in 1968's Prescription: Murder (done in by hubby Gene Barry). She also appeared in several other TV shows, such as Bull, Just Shoot Me, Dharma & Greg, Murder She Wrote, L.A. Law, Hunter, Lou Grant, Barnaby Jones, Hawaii Five-0, That Girl, and a ton of others. She appeared in Spartacus, The Ten Commandments, An American in Paris and others. She was even the associate director on The Diary of Anne Frank.
Something amazing has happened recently in the TV media: the critics have discovered CBS's stealth ratings champ, NCIS, and it's now cool to come out of the closet and declare your fandom. Articles in USA Today, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times have reported the fact that not only is NCIS consistently in the top five of the weekly Nielsen ratings, but it's also a smart, well-acted and compelling TV show.
There are reasons to admire NCIS, and if you haven't been watching, here's five really good reasons to check out the show. I know that before I got coerced into giving NCIS a try, I didn't think I'd like it, but boy, was I wrong.
A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.
Jeff MacKay: He was a veteran character actor who you know as Mac from Magnum, P.I. and his role as Bud's father on JAG. He was also a regular on Tales of the Gold Monkey and Baa Baa Black Sheep and appeared on other shows such as Diagnosis: Murder, Outlaws, Airwolf, The Greatest American Hero, Hardcastle and McCormack, and the original Battlestar Galactica. He also appeared in such movies as All The President's Men and The Wild,Wild West Revisited. He died of liver failure at age 60.
Seems like the Dancing with the News news is coming fast and furious these days (it must be August). Yesterday Allison told you about Dan Marino not doing the show, and the day before that I told you that Dan Marino was going to do the show. Football players...can't make up their minds (see also Favre, Brett).
Now comes another name thrown into the mix: Tom Selleck! That's the latest rumor for the show. In fact, it's gone beyond the rumor stage and supposedly (emphasis on "supposedly") Selleck has already accepted the gig. Part of me wants to say "don't do it Tom!" but the show really does need an injection of real star power (if the names leaked this week really are accurate, though we know that they got Marino wrong).
"We brought in a character, partway through the year, [actor] Michael Weston as this private investigator House goes to. The spinoff would be less of a spinoff, it would be more us using House to launch it. It would be an independent world. A character out of the House mold, but definitely different."
We all know that studios go ga-ga for big screen movies based on TV shows. Even if they tank, there seems to be an unending appetite to bring a beloved (or even semi-beloved) TV show to a theater near you: The Fugitive, Charlie's Angels, Transformers, The Beverly Hillbillies, Serenity (Firefly), The Simpsons, South Park, The Flintstones, The Jetsons...the list is endless. Now Den of Geek has a list of 23 shows that studios are planning to bring to the big screen.
But this list is really incomplete in so many ways. We've all heard that Magnum, P.I. might get the movie treatment, but this list only says that Matthew McConaughey might star and doesn't mention other people who have been rumored to have been attached to it in the past, including Ben Affleck and George Clooney.
OK, so one of the scenarios below is actually true. Can you guess which one?
a.) Superbad star Jonah Hill is going to write and star in a big screen adaptation of 21 Jump Street. b.) Nicolas Cage is going to star in a big screen version of the action series Riptide. c.) George Clooney will star in and direct a movie version of Magnum, P.I. d.) Ian Ziering will star in a big screen version of The Greatest American Hero.
We've talked a lot here about theme songs and how they just don't make them like they used to. The openings to shows used to be a lot longer, a real part of the show. Today we're lucky if we get a few bars of music and maybe a credit or two. Heck, one show, Lost, only plays one note and shows the logo.
The Popcorn Trick has a list of the Top 25 Opening Credits of '80s Action Shows, and you can't argue with most of the picks. Magnum P.I. is on the list, as is Riptide, Miami Vice, and The A Team. I would quibble a little bit with the choice of The Rockford Files. One of my favorites, but it was really more of a '70s show than '80s (it ended in 1980). I was 13 years old when Vegas premiered (in 1978 - it ran until 1981) and I wanted to be Dan Tanna and live in Vegas and have hot girlfriends and drive around with a lion in my sports car.
Cagney and Lacey shouldn't be on the list though. It should be replaced with one of several other shows from the '80s. After the jump, the five shows they missed.
Office star Jenna Fischer is producing TV shows now, and the first one sounds pretty good.
The thing that gets me about the TV Land Awards is this: they're celebrating the types of TV shows that TV Land will one day not even show anymore.
AOL has chosen the best TV shows of the 1980s, and it's not a bad list. But I'm sure everyone reading this will have their own thoughts.
I don't get RTN (Retro Television Network) where I live. If you go to their web site and scroll down, you'll see that the network isn't in every state yet. But it's something I'd like to see on my local cable system.
Sometimes a celebrity dies who wasn't just a TV star, they actually had a hand in almost every aspect of television over a very long period of time. We lost two such stars over the weekend.
Something amazing has happened recently in the TV media: the critics have discovered CBS's stealth ratings champ, NCIS, and it's now cool to come out of the closet and declare your fandom. Articles in USA Today, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times have reported the fact that not only is NCIS consistently in the top five of the weekly Nielsen ratings, but it's also a smart, well-acted and compelling TV show. 
A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.
Seems like the Dancing with the News news is coming fast and furious these days (it must be August). Yesterday Allison told you about Dan Marino not doing the show, and the day before that I told you that Dan Marino was going to do the show. Football players...can't make up their minds (see also Favre, Brett).
Back in May -- remember that far back -- Isabelle wrote about the fact that David Shore, creator of House, was contemplating a new show. It was a spinoff of House, but not a medical show. It was going to be in the private eye genre.
OK, so one of the scenarios below is actually true. Can you guess which one?
We've talked a lot here about theme songs and how they just don't make them like they used to. The openings to shows used to be a lot longer, a real part of the show. Today we're lucky if we get a few bars of music and maybe a credit or two. Heck, one show, Lost, only plays one note and shows the logo.
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
Six Mad Men characters who are in limbo after the finale
Fact or Fiction: Big Bang, Brothers & Sisters and CSI
The TV Squad Podcast: Linda Purl talks about The Office, we talk spoilers, and more
