TVSquad

Have you seen the new ads for the new TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age? It stars Ray Romano, Scott Bakula, and Andre Braugher as husbands and dads dealing with middle age. It has been announced that Robert Loggia will play Romano's dad on the show. He's one of those actors that's great in everything he does and it's cool to have him in this show and in that recent Apple ad.

But instead of that ad I'll post this classic from the early 90s. If you say so Mr. Loggia!

Ray Romano was a guest on last night's Late Show with David Letterman, and he revealed he made a bet with his sons: if they could guess what the tagline for the Worldwide Pants logo at the end of each show would be, he'd give them $10,000. They haven't won yet, but they did supply Letterman will some new taglines for the show.

I don't know about you, but I'm suffering from serious 24 withdrawal. Like, to the point where I'm ready to start watching the entire series from the beginning again.

But maybe there's a little glimmer of light there. I'm not talking about the 24 movie this fall to tie us into next year -- although that certainly qualifies. I'm talking about the new series, Night and Day, from 24 co-creator Joel Surnow and Todd Robinson.

TNT has just given the green light to the series, a fast-paced, gritty drama about the life of an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Hmmm, sounds strangely familiar...

Scott Bakula is Ray Romano's new best friend. Bakula is the latest addition to the cast of Men of a Certain Age, a pilot for TNT. The drama focuses on three men in their forties that have been friends since college; Bakula is one of the leads. His character, Terry, is an "intelligent, but struggling, actor." Terry's best friends have struggles of their own. Joe, Romano's character, is a divorced father who runs a party supply store. Owen, played by the supremely gifted Andre Braugher, is a family man who works at his father's car dealership.

This recent bit of casting news just made the TNT pilot a must-see for me. Ray Romano, Scott Bakula, and Andre Braugher seem like an unlikely group of buddies, but I suppose it depends on the chemistry between the three actors.

Back in April, Allison reported that Ray Romano was working on a pilot for TNT. Romano is playing the lead, and now Andre Braugher has been added to the cast of Men of a Certain Age. The series, a dramedy along the lines of Sideways, focuses on lives of three middle-aged friends. Braugher will play Owen, a car salesman and family man. Ray Romano and Mike Royce (Everybody Loves Raymond) are writing and producing the show together.

I've been an Andre Braugher fan since Homicide: Life on the Street, and I'm excited to see him get a promising role like this. Braugher is more of a dramatic actor, but he's definitely capable of getting some laughs. No word yet on who's playing the third friend. The character has been described as an aspiring actor.

Welcome back, Raymond.

TNT has signed Ray Romano for a new one-hour comedy/drama pilot, Men of a Certain Age. After the success of Everybody Loves Raymond for CBS -- 1996 -2005 -- Ray Romano left television sounding very much like a guy who wasn't interested in another show. After all, he could have kept Everybody Loves Raymond going for years. It was an Emmy-award winning, Nielsen champ. The show is doing great in syndication.

Sure, Oprah Winfrey might have her own TV network, but that doesn't mean she's number one.

The Harris Poll has released their annual list of the 10 favorite TV personalities, and Oprah actually came in second (after being on top for five years). The first place winner? Believe it or not, it's Nancy Grace.

OK, just kidding about that. Number one is actually Ellen DeGeneres, who was number eight last year. The full list is after the jump.

So Jay liveblogged the Emmy Awards and we've seen the pictures and debated the winners and losers. But what about those bleeps and cutaways during Ray Romano's standup routine and Sally Field's acceptance speech? Here's the scoop.

A lot of people think that Field was censored because of her liberal views and the war in Iraq. Not so, according to FOX. They bleeped her because of her use of the word "goddamn." It's always been a weird rule on television that you can say "God" and you can say "damn," but if you put the two words together, civilization as we know it will end. People always say that religion is dumped on in the media too much, but I think that in this case the media goes out of its way to please everyone.

Well, the Emmys have come and gone and for the most part, I enjoyed the telecast. The non-threatening hosting style of Ryan Seacrest infected the whole telecast with a feeling of safety that only served to make the routines of comedians like Ray Romano and Jon Stewart look more edgy.

One of my favorite parts of every Emmy telecast is the presentation of the writers nominated for best variety or comedy show. The Daily Show's use of Alberto Gonzalez and Conan's collection of laborers in his pick up truck made me laugh out loud. By the way, did anyone else notice the look of shock on the face of Conan's wife? Priceless.

You would think that the early, painful demise of The Nine, Kidnapped, Smith, Six Degrees, and other new dramas this season that there would be more comedy pilots picked up for the 2007 season. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, that's not the case.

Except for some solid buzz from a handful of comedies, including ABC's Sam I Am, ABC's Cavemen and Miss/Guided, and several shows at CBS, it looks like more dramas will make the schedule, including NBC's Bionic Woman and Journeyman, ABC's Dirty Sexy Money and Pushing Daisies, CBS' Babylon Fields, The Man, and Viva Laughlin. The new Jimmy Smits drama might replace Close To Home on Fridays, while FOX has the much-hyped Sarah Connor Chronicles, K-Ville, and Them.

Veteran comic/director/writer David Steinberg has a lot of stuff going on.

The second season of his TV Land talk show, Sit Down Comedy, began a couple of weeks ago with an interview with Jerry Seinfeld. This Wednesday, Steinberg sits down with Daily Show host Jon Stewart. The show airs at 10pm. The following weeks, Steinberg will interview Garry Shandling and then Ray Romano.

But that's not all: Steinberg also has a book coming out in June, The Book of David. And he's a busy guy in his life as a director too. He's directing his seventh season at Curb Your Enthusiasm, episodes of Campus Ladies, and a pilot for Dane Cook.

There might be a lot of people who aren't familiar with Steinberg since a lot of his work has been behind the camera for a while, but he has quite a resume.

David Steinberg is back for another season of Sit Down Comedy on TV Land. Six new episodes will air Wednesdays at 10PM beginning February 21st. Less of a kiss-ass than James Lipton and with more comedy chops than Terry Gross, Steinberg creates just the right atmosphere for his Sit Down stand-up guests to reflect on their careers, lives and whatever else is on their fertile minds. Best of all, his guests aren't there to plug any products so an actual old school conversation can unfold. Remember those? You might see them on Charlie Rose from time to time or on those Dick Cavett DVDs Shout! Factory released last year. Too bad Steinberg's show is only thirty minutes long.

You can check out Sit Down Comedy's guest line-up after the jump.

Every year the Harris Poll asks TV viewers for who they think is the best TV personality. Every year, Oprah is number one, and a bunch of the usual suspects are in the top 10. But the 2006 actually has a few surprises. Here's the list:

1. Oprah Winfrey
2. Jon Stewart
3. Bill O'Reilly
4. Hugh Laurie
5. David Letterman
6. Jay Leno
7. Ray Romano
8. Kiefer Sutherland
8. Ellen DeGeneres
8. Conan O'Brien

According to Reuters, Ray Romano is in talks to star in a new comedy series on HBO. The show would be single-camera (no audience) and star Romano as a billionaire who has six months to live. He reportedly pitched the show idea to HBO months ago, but talks between the network and FOX productions have only recently begun. Initial negotiations are for ten episodes. Dennis Klein, co-creator of The Larry Sanders Show, has already been tapped to write the show. It's being executive produced by the Joel Surnow and Bob Cochran, executive producers of 24.

Would you like to see Ray Romano on an HBO series?

Not all television dads are the epitome of fatherhood. There are plenty of dads out there in TV land who, frankly, would rather be somewhere else. So, in the fine tradition of opposing viewpoints, we present the five worst TV dads.

Aaron Echolls (Veronica Mars):  Sure, to the movie-watching public he was known as a class-A actor who was kind to his fans. But, to his family, he was known as an adulterer with a violent temper who beat on his son Logan. Oh, he also murdered Veronica Mars' best friend Lilly and the abusing boyfriend of his daughter Trina (Update: well, almost). On the bright side, he has a really nice head of hair for someone his age.