TVSquad

When the networks all get together at their secret meeting. . . you know, the one where they laugh about how none of the mysteries will be solved on Lost and where they try to figure out how many more shows they can stuff into Thursday nights to cause our DVRs to have a meltdown . . . they need to adopt a new amendment into their secret constitution. An amendment that will be as important as the one that decrees that Cop Rock will never be duplicated, and the one that commands CBS to continually green light shows by Joe Pantoliano and then cancel them or keep them off the air entirely.

I'm talking about the amendment that prevents the networks from making live-action remakes of classic animated programs ever again. Especially if it is a remake of an animated holiday classic that millions of viewers still remember fondly. Because, no matter how hard they try to stay truthful to the original, they always manage to screw it up. Particularly when they decide to update the live-action remake of the animated holiday classic to reflect modern fads and values. When they try that disaster looms.

Alright, I stand corrected -- there now may be hope for me to find the dean of Hearst College more than mildly interesting. Fellow Mars fanatic Michael Ausiello of TV Guide has landed some juicy details about who's taken the role, now that Michael McKean has had to turn it down -- none other than fellow improv-erific Ed Begley Jr.. Begley's appeared in A Mighty Wind, just as McKean has, though you've no doubt known him for his roles in Arrested Development, St. Elsewhere, and too many more to mention. OK, I feel better now.

[Thanks Karen M. O'Shea for the tip!]

Sometimes there are news stories and (*gasp*) even spoilers that, once I've read them, I wish I hadn't. Case in point, Rob Thomas revealed to TV Guide's Michael Ausiello that within the span of 12 hours, Michael McKean had accepted and then passed on the role of the dean of Hearst College, the backdrop school for most of the next season of Veronica Mars. I agree with Thomas -- that truly is the most depressing casting news in the world. How the heck am I going to like the person filling those shoes now?

Why, Michael? Why?