TVSquad

Over the past few days it has once again become quite apparent that they have yet to invent an Olympic sport that I won't watch. Really. Fencing, Women's Air Rifle, Badminton... I'll watch it all. I spent my weekend traveling between the various channels, internet streams, and the occasional visit to my Slingbox in Boston. As far as the games go, they're as good as they've ever been. The coverage from NBC though, unfortunately, is still not nearly what it should be.

I'll admit, they got me. When I read about the plans for more live coverage, and how they were going to make use of all the other NBC/Universal properties, I thought this would be the year, the Olympic nirvana that always could have been. It's really not panning out that way. More than anything else, the word that keeps coming to mind for the NBC coverage is annoying. After the jump, some notes for NBC.

Due to the complicated and apparently outdated Emmy Awards nomination rules, prime-time animated shows like Family Guy, The Simpsons, American Dad, South Park and others have had to choose which Emmy category they want to compete in, animated or comedy series. Then, that decision impacts eligibility for writers and animators on those shows in other categories. Well, Family Guy is in a unique position this year, as their "Blue Harvest" Star Wars parody was classified as a special. And as the animated category looks at single episodes, Family Guy can submit "Blue Harvest" to the animated category, and the show itself, to comedy series.

I'd say it's a tremendous long shot that an animated show can be nominated over the live-action comedy series it will be facing. But there's always a first time for everything; when Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast picked up an Oscar nod for "Best Picture" it was groundbreaking in the same way. It's a tough debate. These shows compete with prime-time comedies every week and yet get put up against the likes of Spongebob Squarepants come awards time. How do you compare The Venture Brothers and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends?

Being the award for Excellence in Animation, this was easily the widest ranging category, and you all really came through in your nomination suggestions (sorry The Venture Brothers doesn't qualify). With animation owning several channels all to itself and still appearing everywhere else, you've got kid's shows, very much adult only series (did I mention The Venture Brothers can't get nominated?), gag cartoons, sci-fi cartoons and even gothic horror.

With your help from my Adam Finley Award call for nominations post last week where you tried to trick me into nominating The Venture Brothers, even though I can't, we've managed to narrow down the field of contenders to what we feel were the five strongest entries into the wide world of television animation in the past season. Don't forget to check out the Reader's Choice at the bottom where you can vote for which of the five you think are deserving to win. Next week, we'll be revealing both your winner and ours.

When I first came across this video on my web travels, I thought it was part of that infamous Star Wars Holiday Special that aired in the 70s and hasn't been seen on television since (I think George Lucas is trying to forget it even exists). However, this is actually from Donny & Marie, and it's just as surreal, if not more. Long before she was dancing with other stars, Marie played Princess Leia to Donny's Luke Skywalker. Kris Kristofferson plays Han Solo (and looks like he'd rather be someplace else), the voice of Darth Vader is Thurl Ravenscroft (Tony the Tiger!), and General Harkin is played by...Paul Lynde!

The most incredible part though is Redd Foxx, who hovers above and gives little bits of wisdom. The 70s were a very screwed up time. I also don't think that Donny & Marie would get very far if they tried out for American Idol. I used to watch this show though.

(Note, the first video after the jump is completely out of ;sync. Believe me, it wouldn't be any better if the sound and video were together.)

For many longtime TV Squad readers the name Adam Finley could only be associated with one thing: the wide world of animation. Adam was passionate about animation, covering many shows for us here as well as reporting on anything and everything happening in the industry. So it's only right that the award for Excellence in Animation be named after him.

There's all kinds of possibilities for contenders here. I'd give a nod to both Star Wars tributes -- Family Guy and Robot Chicken -- and South Park definitely stretched their animation style with 'Major Boobage,' but I didn't think the episode was all that good. Aqua Teen Hunger Force had some good episodes this season (personal favorites include the VeggieTales parody and that crazy trilogy that opened the season).

But I've by no means watched all the best in animation this year, so I call out to you, dear readers. Which episodes or shows do you think set the bar or even raised it in this past year? Are The Simpsons out of their prime and not worthy of TVS recognition? How about King of the Hill or American Dad? The new The Mr. Men Show is retro-tastic, simple, but still cleverly awesome! Too many to handle! Help me TVS Readers, you're my only hope!

TV Squad already did a review of this episode when it was originally broadcast. What follows is a review of the DVD extras.

Extras include:

• Episode commentary by Seth McFarlane and a bunch of other members of the production team (absent are any of the character voices other than McFarlane himself).
• A twelve minute interview of George Lucas by Seth McFarlene on Star Wars, Family Guy, and a variety of other topics including dating.
• A nineteen minute documentary about how much the creators of Family Guy love Star Wars.
• The original animatics for the episode (includes jokes and animations that didn't make the final cut).
• A Family Guy Star Wars Clip Show (clips from Family Guy episodes which reference Star Wars).
• A generic Family Guy promo for Fox.
  

This time we've got five copies of Family Guy - Blue Harvest on DVD for five lucky, random commenters. The set is available in stores tomorrow.

To enter, simply leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, January 18, simply telling us what your favorite episode of Family Guy is. As always, we'll randomly choose five winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
Click here for complete Official Rules.

(S04E12) "Blind we are, if creation of this clone army we could not see." - Yoda

I can't be the only one that had the clone wars running through their noggin through half of this episode. I'm not even a big Star Wars fan, but as soon as Todd started in explaining how the base worked, and how they used it in the war with the Ancients, it was all I could think about. I'll be hearing Yoda in my head all weekend now. That's not to say it was a bad episode. The idea is certainly familiar, but it brought with it some interesting backstory, and that's more than a fair trade.

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• Lonny Chapman: He was a veteran stage and screen actor/director who appeared on several TV shows over the years, including Murder, She Wrote, NYPD Blue, Matlock, Jake and the Fatman, Riptide, Hotel, Knight Rider, Trapper John, M.D., Simon & Simon, Vegas, Quincy, M.E., Charlies Angels, Kojak, McCloud, and many, many others. He also starred in several Broadway plays, including Come Back Little Sheba, and served in World War II. He died of heart disease at age 87.

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• Will you watch Star Wars, the TV Show? How about if it doesn't have any of your favorite characters in it?
  
• Guiding Light is about to get a major makeover.
  
• The strike is coming! The strike is coming! Maybe. What you can expect, if it does .
  

The video's embedded below, or you can subscribe to this podcast via our feed. Plus, you can also download the file directly.

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• Gloria Reuben is returning to ER, and so is Noah Wyle.
• CBS is getting heat for having Rita Braver interview Lynne Cheney.
• Seth Green is going to guest star on two episodes of Grey's Anatomy.
• I first saw this on Jimmy Kimmel Live: the Star Wars trumpet girl!
• What's with the odd promos for the new TBS series Frank TV?
• Jaime Weinman analyzes The Brady Bunch as much as I do, heh.
• Check out Buddy TV's television quiz.

According to James Hibberd at TV Week, the team behind the Family Guy Star Wars episode may take a crack at parodying The Empire Strikes Back next year, possibly even having it be an annual event like The Simpsons Halloween specials.

One good thing about parodying Empire is that they can touch on the Han/Leia romance since the roles are played by Peter and Lois Griffin, respectively, who are married on the show. The producers weren't allowed to touch the Luke/Leia kiss because they wanted to play on the incest angle (which would have worked doubly so since Luke was played by Lois' son Chris). This logic may also explain why Princess Leia is played by Lois rather than Meg.

(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.

Hey, all you Griffinites out there! I just wanted to remind you that the Family Guy tribute to Star Wars, in reality the sixth season premiere, airs tonight at 9 pm. Yes, I'm just as surprised as you that this show, as well as The Simpsons and King of the Hill, are actually airing during the official fall premiere week. Due to previous seasons chocked with baseball, football and American Idol's Tribute to Randy Johnson's Toenails, we usually didn't get to see the season premieres of these shows until election time. Maybe someone over at FOX finally has their head screwed on correctly.

I had a chance to review the episode ahead of time (you'll see my 'very special' post on it this evening) and all I have to say is this: if you like movie spoofs like Airplane and Spaceballs you'll like this Family Guy episode. While it actually sticks to the plot of Star Wars quite well, there are enough silly jokes in there to make the show quite enjoyable. Plus, it's interesting to see how each of the members of the Family Griffin are cast into Star Wars roles.

Those crazy kids over at CollegeHumor.com have posted a great mash-up of The Simpsons and Star Wars.

I realize that Simpson/Star Wars parodies have been done to death, but this latest one goes into such detail that it stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Pay special attention to how each Simpson plays a specific Star Wars character and the depiction of specific scenes from different films. I am particulalry fond of Ned Solo and Barney "Chewie" Gumble.