TVSquad

If Wanda Sykes' appearance at the White House TV Correspondent's Dinner was a taste of her new FOX late night show, then get ready for the appetizer.

Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily scored a copy of the audition packet the show's producers sent out to prospective comedy writers that included a few choice bits that would make David Letterman's Sarah Palin punchline squad blush.

These are not bits that have been confirmed as part of Sykes' first show. They are just examples designed to guide the prospective writer towards the kind of work they are looking to produce when the show hits the air next fall. But even for random examples, they make my diseased mind wonder what could actually get on the air and how many strokes it will cause for elderly housewives across the nation.

When I first saw the headline from this Nikki Finke report on NBC's Parks and Recreation, the highly-anticipated collaboration between Amy Poehler and the folks who write and produce The Office, I thought the story might be about set tension or significant rewrites or even those ever-so-useful "notes" from the network.

But it turns out that the article was about notes the network got as part of a "Consumer And Market Intelligence Research Summary." Basically, the pilot went through audience testing, and the test audience saw some problems. In the 12-page report (nine of which are charts and graphs, as Finke takes pains to point out), the test audience liked a lot of the pilot, but thought it dragged in parts, was too similar to The Office in tone, that Poehler's character needed to have "more energy and enthusiasm," and that there are "there are no 'datable' men in the cast."

To that, I say: who gives a flying crap?

Among the Hollywood industry insider columnists, Nikki Finke's hit rate is pretty high, so it's troubling to read a report from her about the acrimonious contract negotiations between Lionsgate and Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner. It's gotten so bad that Finke is reporting that Lionsgate is calling around looking for someone to replace Weiner as show-runner.

As everyone else in the industry is saying: What the hell?

Mad Men just finished its second season with record ratings. It's the first basic cable show to win an Emmy for Best Drama, and Weiner is the show's heart and soul. Believe me when I tell you that it's his vision and attention to detail that you see in every scene. Weiner gave critics a tour of the sets during the July TCAs, and he was able to speak about the look and feel of the show as easily as he was able to talk about the stories and characters. I can't imagine anyone else running the show, even if it's someone that's already on staff.

Moonlight is not going to just go away quietly and join that long list of one-and-done shows. People keep saying it's over, but apparently not everyone is listening. The latest rumor, from Nikki Finke's blog, has the show landing at the CW. And how would that work, considering that the CW has already made their schedule? I'm glad you asked.

You may recall a post from a few days ago about the network throwing in the towel on Sunday nights. That has now been confirmed with their upfront announcements. Sundays have now been outsourced. Moonlight comes back into the picture as a possibility to fill one of those two hours for Media Rights Capital, the new programmers for Sunday nights. If they could get even 60 to 70 percent of the show's viewers to make the move with them, it could be the most watched show on the network. Something that sounds very plausible given the loyal following the show has developed. It's still firmly in long-shot territory, but has the makings of quite a story.