TVSquad

I don't know if the word "obitutainment" has been used before, but it's here now. Jon Stewart mentioned it last night in this installment of the Rippy Awards (I just now realized it refers to R.I.P., ha). And this isn't about Michael Jackson! It's about Karl Malden and his connection to an NBC anchor Brian Williams. I think I'm as connected to Malden as Williams is.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Rippy Awards - Celebrity Crypts
www.thedailyshow.com

There was a time I was completely obsessed with The Streets of San Francisco. I never really watched it when it was on ABC in prime time, except for an episode here and there, but I used to watch it every day in the afternoon after school when a local station aired repeats. It was one of the highlights of the day for a while. It's one of those solid 70s shows with a good cast and some interesting guest stars (Arnold Schwarzenegger as a weight lifter who kills people when they make fun of his size!).

CBS is going to remake the show, and I can only imagine it's going to be CSI: San Francisco. The beauty of these old shows was the cast, so I don't know what you get by just taking the title and putting new actors in there. Hopefully they'll keep the old theme song, and resist the urge to add rap lyrics to it.

OK, so you're one of the people who is waiting for the first season sets of The Streets of San Francisco and/or The Untouchables to be released. But now comes word that both Paramount sets have been delayed a week.

The Untouchables set will now be released on April 10, a week later than originally announced, while the Streets of San Francisco set will also be released on April 10.

But there's one piece of good news, for fans of Twin Peaks: the second season will actually be released a week earlier than previously announced, on April 3. That's a Paramount title too. Maybe they wanted to get this one out a week earlier than the other two releases for some reason.

I loved this show when I was a kid. I watched it every single week, and then later in the 80s it was on one of the stations every single day and I watched it then too. It was a well-done show, starring Karl Malden and Michael Douglas. Oh, and theme song was awesome.

I honestly thought, for some reason, that the show was already available on DVD, but that wasn't the case. It is now! The first season of the show (actually, it's one of those "Season 1, Volume 1" deals) will be released by Paramount on April 3. It will be 10 episodes plus the pilot movie. No word or extras or commentaries yet.

It's amazing to see all of the famous faces that graced this show in the 70s, including Martin Sheen, Deidre Hall, Robert Wagner, John Ritter, Stefanie Powers, Harold Gould, Brenda Vaccaro, Stuart Whitman, Jamie Farr, Shelley Morrison (Rosario on Will & Grace), Leslie Nielsen, Dick Sargent, Dean Stockwell, Bill Bixby, Nick Nolte, Jessica Walter, and some guy named Arnold Schwarzenegger. There was a reunion movie in 1992, but Douglas didn't want to be in it (his character "disappeared" and Malden looked for him).

According to some recent buzz, Eva Longoria does not plan to renew her contract with ABC's Desperate Housewives. Longoria said, "I don't want to be on 7th Heaven -- on for 20 years and no one's really watching and it's hanging on by a thread." Apparently, she'd rather not waste her time on the show past her contract because she has her sights set solely upon the silver screen (she already has one new film, The Sentinel, co-starring Michael Douglas).

I'm not that into the whole Housewives scene, but I've heard that many think the show has lost its steam since it started out with a bang in 2004. Do you think Longoria's worrying a little too early, or are her fears justified?