TVSquad

(S02E08) All I'm saying is that it's about time someone took down those smug bastards in the library system. What, with their providing citizens with books and resources for free and their stupid desire to turn abandoned lots into more branches where they can sling their literacy propaganda at an unsuspecting populace. Disgusting.

I loved seeing Megan Mullally on primetime again. After the disastrous In the Motherhood (of which she was by far the best part), it's great to see her in a show I actually enjoy. As Tammy, she gives further credence to the theory that Leslie Knope isn't actually crazy: City government in Pawnee, Indiana really is as dog-eat-dog and cut-throat as she seems to think it is.

Now this is some casting news I can get behind. After the disastrous In the Motherhood, Megan Mullally is returning to television-- on a show that's actually funny! Mullally is set to join the cast of the amazing Party Down, a Starz original from Veronica Mars creator, Rob Thomas.

Mullally is replacing Jane Lynch, whose role as Sue Sylvester on Glee has been bumped up from recurring character to series regular. She plays "Lydia Dunfree, who leaves her small town and her failed marriage to help her 13-year-old daughter Escapade achieve her dream of becoming an actress. In addition to working as a cater-waiter for Party Down, Lydia is looking for Mr. Right."

I just had a baby six months ago, so like all new moms, all I do is talk about him. I'm quite boring, really. So when I started seeing ads for In the Motherhood, a new series based upon stories from real mothers, I got excited. A comedy that centers directly around my new focus in life? Sweet!

I was hoping for a show that shared funny, ridiculous stories about pregnancy, after-baby relationships and parenting mishaps. While In the Motherhood had plenty of ridiculous stories about these topics, they were a little short on the funny. I wanted to like this show, I should have liked this show, but ... I just didn't.

For a series that is supposed to be based on real stories, it just seemed ridiculously inauthentic. The characters and storylines were hyperbolic versions of real-world situations, and while I accept hyperbole in the pursuit of comedy, In the Motherhood took it to such an extreme that nothing about it was in any way relatable.

There aren't many actresses out there that you could affectionately call a "broad," but Megan Mullally's one of them. Ever since she came on the scene a decade ago as the caustic and spoiled Karen Walker on Will & Grace, Mullally has shown that she can be bawdy with the best of them.

Now, after a foray into the talk show world and a turn as a disabled and ugly -- but desirable -- chief of medicine on Rob Corddry's web series Children's Hospital, Mullally is back on series TV, on ABC's new comedy In The Motherhood (premiering Thursday at 8 PM ET), which was based on a web series that took episode ideas from submissions by real moms. In the series, Mullally plays Rosemary, a "bad ass," as Mullally calls her, who has raised the perfect son even though she's an imperfect mom.

In this quickie interview, Mullally talks about the new show, about a rumor that she was in a catfight with her co-star Cheryl Hines, about how Rosemary and Karen could be the new Odd Couple, and running her Kerry Weaver-esque Children's Hospital character past Laura Innes.

When Rob Corddry left The Daily Show, Fox scooped him up for a midseason replacement filler called The Winner. It was a horrible little sitcom from the creators of (shudder) Family Guy that should have been flagged long before the executives brought the script to read on the toilet in their private bathrooms.

The most painful part of the show was the feeling that Corddry deserved something much better than another pop culture referencing yawnfest. His Daily Show appearances always made for great television and he also made great transitions into movies whether they were minor roles in Old School or starring roles in the indie comedy Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story.

Now the fates have realigned and given Corddry the show he should have gotten when he left The Daily Show dangling from one last philosophical poop joke. The WB.com premiered a web series called Childrens' Hospital starring, written and directed by Corddry, the man who left a little part of himself in a Daily Show men's room oh so many months ago.

Queen Latifah couldn't make it work. Megan Mullally struck out, too. In fact, if you think about it, more stars fail in their attempts to become talk show hosts than succeed. For every Ellen DeGeneres and Tyra Banks, there's a Caroline Rhea and Magic Johnson.

So, will sitcom star Leah Remini go from the King of Queens to the queen of daytime talk? CBS -- home of King of Queens for a very successful run from 1998-2007 -- is developing a daytime show for Leah Remini that's being called something different than a typical talk show.

If you tune in to The Rachael Ray Show today, you might get an idea of what Leah could bring to daytime -- she's Rach's guest.

Funny lady Megan Mullally may be coming back to the small screen! The actress, better known for her role of neurotic Karen Walker on NBC's Will & Grace, will star as the mother in ABC's new series Bad Mother's Handbook.

This comedy is about a 32-year-old woman (portrayed by Alicia Silverstone) who takes care of her 16-year-old daughter (played by Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat) and her 48-year-old overbearing mother (Mullally).

And the world yawns as syndicators announce they've canceled The Greg Behrendt Show. But they're not pulling the plug immediately. According to TV Week, production will continue for the short-term and possibly through the end of the season but it will definitely be gone by the fall. Sony Television says it dropped Behrendt because he's creepy and has no business hosting a talk show. I kid! Actually, the majority of subscribing stations opted not to renew it in favor of The Steve Wilkos Show. Who is Steve Wilkos? He's a bouncer on Jerry Springer and his show is on fire with affiliates.

Other syndication casualties this year include The Megan Mullally Show and Geraldo at Large. Do the changes improve daily television viewing choices? Eh. Probably not.

It seems like networks and their production companies are signing more of these "cable window" deals every year, aren't they? You know what I mean; after a show's episode is first run, a cable network gets immediate rerun rights and ends up showing the rerun the same week it aired. I'd imagine the networks are doing it in order to combat the use of TiVos and other DVRs, and it's a boon for people who forget to record certain shows. But some shows just do not need to be rerun.

Case in point: The Megan Mullally Show. According to TV Week, NBC Universal confirmed that next-day reruns of the new talk show are being shown on cable station TBS at 8 AM Eastern and Pacific. Apparently, stations that bought the show knew about this "cable window" deal, so there is no underhanded side dealks in NBCU's part. But I just have to wonder: is there that much of a demand to see Megan's show the next morning? That's the beauty of a daytime talk show; even if you miss one, there's a new one the very next day. I wonder if this kind of exposure is going to help or hurt Megan's show.

When my friend Kathy Howe heard I was going to participate in a conference call with Megan Mullally today, she said, "OMG, tell her I LOVE her and want to MARRY her!" So, Megan, if you are reading this, now you know. I did not have the chance to ask Megan any questions during today's conference call (though I did try!), but I did get to listen to all of the other questions and responses. So, here is an overview of the conference call about NBC's forthcoming The Megan Mullally Show.

Although the series finale of Will & Grace was a bit disappointing as a whole, one bright spot was a nice little duet between characters Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) and Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes). It happened towards the end of the show, when we fast forward about 20 years and find Jack and Karen living together. With Jack at the piano, they perform a nice rendition of Unforgettable. It was a pleasant little moment that showcased the other talents of both Mullally and McFarland.

Mullally, whose normal voice isn't as high or whiny as Karen's, has been a professional singer for some time. Before joining the cast of Will & Grace back in 1998 she spent several years on Broadway in the productions of Grease and How to Succeed in Business Without Even Trying. She is also a lead singer for the Los Angeles-based band The Supreme Music Program. In 2002, Mullally and her band produced an album, Big as a Berry, which featured covers to such songs as Ode to Billie Joe and Danny Boy.

More information on Mullally and her band can be found at her official website. There is also a link for her new talk show, which is premiering this September. Perhaps we will hear more of Mullally's singing then.

(S08E23) There are those who are die-hard fans of Will & Grace, which premiered on the NBC schedule back in 1998. Then there are those who despise the show, which is about the relationship between Grace Adler (Debra Messing) and her gay friend Will Truman (Eric McCormack). The fans love the back-and-forth between the two characters and the dynamic of their relationship. Those who hate the show may be uncomfortable with the subject matter (homosexuality) or the cartoon-ish characterizations of Will and Grace's friends Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) and Karen Walker (Megan Mullally ), or the fact that it's just not funny.

I fall under neither category. I liked Will & Grace, but was not a huge fan. I'd watch it if I happened to see something interesting going on, and I'd laugh at a few of the lines (not as heartily as I would laugh during an episode of Scrubs, though). Yet, Jack annoyed me sometimes and the influx of guest stars on the show was somewhat distracting. In fact, over the last few years I didn't really follow it at all.

However, as this would be the last episode of the series, I decided to give it a review. My opinion on the last show of the series? Meh.