TVSquad

The team behind Robot Chicken is moving on up ...to Fox. They sold an animated series to the network that is intended to appear on prime time.

The formula of the new show will be familiar. It's pretty much a family and school-based comedy like all the other Fox animated shows. It's somewhat of a shame as Robot Chicken presented something fun and different while this could potentially be lost in a crowd that includes the entire Sunday night Fox line-up. Hopefully Green and company can add some sort of unique flavor to the show that will help it distinguish itself.

Obviously, Seth Green is already involved with the Sunday night Fox animated shows, since he's the voice of Chris Griffin on Family Guy. That show even throws in lines occasionally promoting a fictitious Family Guy/Robot Chicken feud. I wonder if this news will change the dynamic of that "feud" somewhat. Probably not, other than giving them something else to make in-jokes about.

It was mentioned a few months ago that some of the folks behind Robot Chicken (including Seth Green) are making a new Adult Swim series called Titan Maximum, which is basically a Voltron parody. I didn't realize when I first heard of this project that there was also a little Thunderbirds in the mix as well. And quite probably some Team America: World Police.

It's too early to tell, but based on the preview, the show certainly looks funny. Unlike Robot Chicken, this show will likely have things like plots and regular characters (the nerd kid from Robot Chicken doesn't count). In that sense, it's more a parody in the vein of The Venture Brothers.

If you asked around to most experts and fans attending Comic-Con International what the biggest event was today, they'd probably pick the 3 p.m. panel featuring James Cameron and his first public showing of footage from Avatar.

But Seth Green was scheduled opposite Avatar to discuss Robot Chicken, the new Titan Maximum and whatever else his fans could throw at him.

Sure the crowds were massive for Cameron, but it was also a maxed-out Meeting Room 6A for Green and the Adult Swim shows as fans lined up down the hall, down another hall and, eventually, outside the upper level of the convention center.

Seth Green and a bunch of his associates from Robot Chicken will be lending their voices to a new animated series called Titan Maximum which is, for all intents and purposes, a parody of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and their ilk (or even Voltron). Many of the people behind this show are also behind Robot Chicken.

I've been saying for years that if the world is threatened by an extra-terrestrial menace, the last group of people I would want to defend me is "teens with attitude". With that in mind, this sounds like a really funny concept. I'm just not sure if it would work as a continuing series. It might be better as a limited series or just a movie. Hopefully Green and company will prove me wrong.

It helps that two of the writers behind it write for comic books (Geoff Johns and Zeb Wells) since it's such a comic book premise. This is definitely one that I'll set the DVR for.

Last week, I devoted my first Jane After Dark column to my top five Buffy moments. I was thrilled to read all the responses, both here on TV Squad and at Whedonesque, where the post was picked up. Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are a passionate bunch!

This week, I thought it would be fun to delve into my favorite Buffy hookups. One that didn't make the list but holds a special place in my heart is Giles and Joyce. It was a fleeting moment, but one that was fun and would have made for great storytelling had it continued.

But who to pair Buffy up with -- Spike, Angel or Riley? What about Spike and Drusilla? And while Willow and Tara had a special love affair, there's a lot to be said for Willow and Oz. And what of Xander? Sure, he and Anya had a fun romance, but his hookups with Cordelia and even Faith were intense in their own way.

Oh the choices! Read on for my thoughts, and please add your own in the comments below.

(S07E09) What does it say about this special holiday episode of Monk that the wittiest, most clever and memorable minute was when they unfurled the promo for the series return in 2009, using the music from Magnum, P.I. and dubbing the show Monk, P.I.? The USA marketing guys really hit a home run with that ad; it was brilliant.

Sadly, "Mr. Monk and the Miracle" was a sub-standard episode and hardly worth the moniker of "special." The mystery was rather simple -- about the most complicated piece of evidence was the hand print in the refrigerator -- and when Michael Badalucco (The Practice) appeared as Leland's pharmacist, you kind of knew he was involved in some way. Yet while the show wasn't up to the best of Monk standards, it did have a moment or two to redeem it.

(S03E10) We've reached the climax of this volume of Heroes. With the coming of the eclipse the first time, abilities manifested in our plethora of characters, or at least some of them. Or at least it was a catalyst of some importance. Now Claire is apparently a catalyst of some importance. Because the writers aren't sure how to make her anything other than kind of annoying, but she's the "hot chick" so they have to keep her. But that's another issue. It's time for another eclipse, and this time what havoc will it wreak?

Maybe it can make Peter whine less. Or Claire be less useless of a character. Or Matt more important of a character. Or Mohinder go back to normal or just die already. Things were definitely turned sideways this episode, and I think it was in a good way. I know all they naysayers will keep saying nay, many of them doing so without even watching the episodes (which makes their opinions irrelevant), but things are getting on track. Now if they can just avoid a disappointing conclusion to this volume, I'll be thrilled powerless.

The CW may have kicked off its fall season on Labor Day, but for most of the other networks, things are just getting started. So what does that mean for you? Heavy promotion for not only the new shows premiering this fall, but for returning favorites as well. To that end, My Name Is Earl creator Greg Garcia and star Jason Lee spoke with reporters recently about Earl's upcoming 4th season.

My Name Is Earl returns for its 4th season on NBC with two back-to-back episodes, September 25 at 8pm. Not only did Garcia and Lee give us a taste of what to expect when we catch up with our favorite Camdenites, but they also dished the dirt on dream guest stars, what previous guest star peed over by craft services, if an Earl movie is in the works, and perhaps a word or two about a famously abrasive 30 Rock star. All of the details are after the jump.

I have come to an epiphany when it comes to American Dad and Family Guy: a studio audience is needed. I came to this realization after attending both the Comic-Con panels for these respective shows, which showed clips from their respective series. Scenes that I would have generally smirked at or given a chuckle made me laugh out loud along with the rest of the audience. Which brings me to one of two conclusions: either laughter is contagious, or I am just a lemming.

Either way, an enjoyable two hours was spent with casts from both shows as they did some table readings, provided some clues to upcoming episodes,and provided clips from some previously run and new episodes of both shows.

(S06E12) As a result of adopting (and by adopting, I mean bird-napping) a parrot from the veterinarian's office, Peter becomes a pirate. The sad part was that it wasn't even International Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day.

Actually, that's not really what the episode is about. It's more about Chris' pursuit of a vet intern named Anna. While Chris' pursues Anna, he gets advice from Peter and the gang (which, as the history of the show has proven, is never a good idea).

The pirate segment of the episode wasn't very good and seemed out of place. Fortunately, it was very short. Despite its use in the promos, it was kind of forgettable. I did enjoy the car chase bit involving "sugar cane, tobacco and spices". The car chase itself seemed like something of a cross between a pirate movie and a video-game.

(S06E11) Brian learns that he had an illegitimate 13-year-old child from a previous relationship (voiced by Harvey Fierstein). The child is dropped off at the Griffin household and Brian now has to raise him.

It should be noted that this season has been shortened to 12 episodes, most likely due to the writer's strike. The season finale will be shown next week. The remaining unfinished episodes will be part of next season's broadcast.

From March 14th to March 27th, The Paley Center for Media is presenting the twentieth-fifth annual William S. Paley Television Festival. The Paley Center, formerly the Museum of Television and Radio, says that the festival celebrates "television's rich and diverse programming and the creative process behind the medium." This year the festival includes Chuck, Friday Night Lights, Pushing Daisies, and Gossip Girl among others.

Last night, I attended the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reunion. For what happened during the panel discussion and some pictures, read on past the jump...

(S06E01) A long time ago, but somehow in the future . . .

Who would've thunk it? When Family Guy premiered back in 1999(!) many people tossed it away as a pale imitation of The Simpsons and kind of ignored it. Who knew that eight years later, at the start of the show's 6th season, Seth MacFarlane and his crew would be able to get the approval of George Lucas himself to air a spoof of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. It shows how far Family Guy has come since it returned to the prime-time airwaves.

By now, you've probably heard about Britney Spears superfan Chris Crocker and his tearful pleas to leave poor Britney alone after her not so auspicious return to MTV's Video Music Awards. You haven't seen it yet? Well, click right here to view the video before you continue. Done? Feel scared? Wondering if that's a boy or a girl (it's a boy)? Even more scared? Now you're ready to continue.

As we live in a world of instantaneous ridicule, plenty of videos have gone up on YouTube and other video sties mocking Crocker. One of these comes from Seth Green, he of Robot Chicken and Family Guy fame (oh, and that show that featured a girl vampire killer. Her name was Barbara, Belinda, Beefy . . . I can't remember).

Out of the dozens and dozens of shows that go to pilot every season, we only see a handful. Some of them vanish forever and some might end up online in one way or another.

Below is a list of ten shows that didn't make the fall schedule on the networks this year. Some of them might show up midseason, but most won't. And just for a little added fun, I've included three shows that are completely made up. Can you tell which ones they are? I'll answer in the comments later tonight (and don't go looking online for the answer; that's no fun). The shows are listed after the jump. Some of them sound crazy, but hey, if you told me two years ago that those Geico cavemen commercials would be a series...