TVSquad

The Colbert Report is in vacation right now (it returns on September 14), so how about we look at the career of Stephen Colbert to get us through these weeks?

Rolling Stone has a new cover story on Colbert and an interesting feature up at their site that gives an overview of what Colbert has done over the years. Not just the stuff we've all seen (like The Dana Carvey Show and Strangers with Candy), but also his work on the short-lived sketch show Exit 57, a dramatic turn on Law and Order: CI, and voiceover work for a really terrible-looking video tennis game.

Amy Sedaris is creating and will write and star in a new sitcom co-produced by 20th Century Fox TV. Paul Dinello, her Strangers With Candy co-creator, is also involved. The show is being co-produced by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants.

It's sad that the third co-creator of Strangers With Candy couldn't be involved with this production, but I think Stephen Colbert is a little busy right now with that television show of his. Strangers With Candy itself was considerably risqué and I doubt whatever she's developing will be suitable for network television. Perhaps she'll go back to Comedy Central? Hopefully, it won't land on Fox where anything of quality is canceled prematurely.

I have been lucky enough to see Amy Sedaris live on two occasions (as well as watching many episodes of Strangers With Candy) and think she has buckets of talent. Whatever she's developing, I'm confident will be better than 95% of the crap on television.

No, it's not Adrien Brody's snarky older brother. It's David Pasquesi, one of the stars of Spike TV's first original half-hour comedy, The Factory.

Looking at Pasquesi's IMDb page, he's done a fair amount of TV and film work, but the majority of his experience comes from both theater and improv. He currently does shows and occasionally teaches at Chicago's IO (Improv Olympic). Back in the day, he honed his improv chops under the tutelage of the legendary Del Close and was part of the class that developed The Harold. An improv geek's reaction to that would be "Holy crap!" and everyone else should be thinking, "Who's Harold?" Yeah, don't worry about it. If this interests you though, check out this great interview he did back in '06, all about his work in improv.

Hardcore Stephen Colbert fans might take one look at this list and scoff. To them I say, "Hey, girls who live on the Colboards, chill out." This list is meant for the casual fan of The Colbert Report, who loves the show and, at most, knows Colbert's history through The Daily Show and maybe a little Strangers with Candy.

As someone who has been a fan of Colbert for about eight years, I'm here to educate, here to spread the good Word. It is the duty of a good fan -- especially one with too much time on her hands -- to change the minds of people that see Colbert just as the TV blowhard who happens to share his name.

Spike TV has ordered six episodes of Factory, a largely improvised comedy revolving around four small-town factory workers who'd rather do anything than work at their boring jobs, according to a Hollywood Reporter story. It will be the Guy Network's first original comedy series.

Set to premiere on June 29 at 10 p.m., Factory is directed, produced by, and stars Mitch Rouse (pictured), co-creator of Strangers With Candy, the short-lived TV series that ran from 1999-2000, as well as the 2005 prequel feature film by the same name.

Rouse has an interesting list of credits. In addition to numerous feature films, he played Dr. Ryan Gibson on According to Jim (come on, there must be someone out there who watches this show), Fireman #1 on Reno 911, and was a regular on Exit 57, a mid-1990s comedy-sketch show.

Julia mentioned previously that Amy Sedaris would be appearing in a guest role on Andy Barker, P.I. Well, Julia wasn't lying, but you won't see the episode on TV. Instead, click on over to NBC's site to see "The Lady Varnishes," in which Sedaris plays a sex-crazed older woman who spent some time in the slammer. Funny, that sounds an awful lot like her Jerri Blank character from Strangers with Candy. The two characters do share similar traits, but who the heck cares, I'd give my left leg to see Sedaris in anything (and that statement will mean more to you after you've watched the episode).

Paul Dinello, one of the co-creators of one of the greatest TV shows of all time, Strangers with Candy, and the man who played gay art teacher Geoffry Jellineck on the series, is set to direct the new FOX comedy pilot Me & Lee?

The pilot is called Me & Lee?, just to clarify. I didn't want you readers to think I was asking you whether or not Dinello is directing the pilot.

With Helen Mirren's Detective Tennison bowing out on Sunday's Prime Suspect finale, television is losing one of its finest tough broads.

Tough broads have feelings and faults, but they're nobody's baby. They also don't give a crap what you think of them. They dress for utility not for style, and they work -- usually in domains stereotypically belonging to men.

We'll miss you, Detective Tennison. You are the inspiration for this list of tough TV broads - the ones little girls and little boys can look up to.

"Star Mitzvahs": Nicole Kidman's the UN's new Goodwill Ambassador? Wow. Oprah and Bono, on the other hand, are doing their work through GAP shirts "which, if washed in the wrong load, will bleed philanthropy into your whites". Madonna has been spreading her own brand of love by dancing on African ground and swiping African babies.

Senior Black Correspondent Larry Wilmore (he's alive!) had some interesting information regarding the recent celeb trend of adopting African babies... They're cheap to take care of! We all know they can be fed with only 12 cents a day (that's less than a McGriddle). Orphan outsourcing is the future! By the way, I'm totally loving the Seventh Seal meets Cool Runnings idea. DO IT. Wilmore is doing okay. I'd like to see him have a specific "character" down, though.

I was cleaning up some of the files on my old computer when I stumbled across one that brought back some interesting memories. It's a photograph of one of my all-time favorite celebrities! I remember being so amused by the picture the first time I saw it I immediately saved it (in fear of it disappearing off the face of the Internet in the near future, I guess). And now, I share it with all of you. See if you can guess who this celebrity is.

Okay, I'll go Gene Shalit for a second and give you a cheesy hint: This late-night TV star looks willing to "bear" it all!

Answer after the jump.

If you were one of the two readers who was wondering where I was last Sunday -- we didn't do a "previously on" post -- Here's the short answer: I was in a car on the road from Milwaukee to Detroit and wasn't around to do this post. But I'm back, so the summary is back.

Anyway, in case you've missed it -- perhaps you were in some massive traffic jams thanks to the Illinois DOT -- here are some highlights from the last week at TV Squad:



Breaking News

• MTV2 picks up Crank Yankers.
• Did Jamie Foxx act like a diva on the Miami Vice set?
• The AP is upset with FOX for banning photographers from press tour conference.
• Full House's Jodie Sweetin gets more work.
• Red Buttons dies at 87.
• Project Runway model gets seriously hurt in an accident.
• Kelly Clarkson gets her own HBO concert.
• Rescue Me renewed for fourth season.
• The resumption of The Sopranos is being pushed back to March.
• TBS, FOX sign new deals with Major League Baseball.
• CBS swaps timeslots for The Class and How I Met Your Mother.
• Has Star Jones' replacement on The View already been chosen?
• The July 4 week had the smallest broadcast network audience ever.
• Barnard Hughes dead at 90.
• Producer of Rock Star: Supernova sued over band name.
• Music rights issues are keeping us from getting DVDs for The Wonder Years.

Discussions

• Adam examines YouTube copyright issues.
• Is the missing Moral Orel episode going to air?
• Did 18 TVs cause an apartment building fire?
• What do you think the URL for the CW network is?
• Does Stephen Colbert actually teach Sunday school?
• Anna's Dwight Schrute bobblehead arrives... broken.
• Sally Field joins ABC show Brothers & Sisters.
• Arrested Development creator may make an AD movie.
  

Opinions

• Annie thinks Comedy Central's support of the Strangers with Candy movie is weak.
• I think the World Series of Pop Culture is too easy so far.
• Rich gives a preview of Angela's Eyes.
• Danica McKellar is the world's hottest math geek.
• Rich wishes the SciFi network was more like Canada's Space channel.
• We preview some of ABC's fall pilots.
• Will O. previews Eureka.
• Michael S. reviews the first two Office webisodes.
• Adam reviews the Strangers with Candy movie.

Retro Squad

• NewsRadio: "Luncheon at the Waldorf"
• Firefly: "Jaynestown"
• Sports Night: "Dear Louise"
• The Simpsons: "Bart's Girlfriend"
• The Office (BBC): Episode 7
• Angel: "Sense & Sensitivity"
• Buffy: "Angel"
• Futurama: "A Fishful of Dollars"

Episode Reviews

• Monk: "Mr. Monk and the Garbage Strike"
• Psych: "Spellingg Bee"
• Stargate SG-1: "Flesh and Blood"
• Stargate Atlantis: "No Man's Land"
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: "Hundred Dollar Baby"
• Big Brother All-Stars: Elimination #1
• Doctor Who: "Fear Her"
• Hustle: Episode 15
• Blade: "Descent"
• Last Comic Standing: A roast and an ejection
• The Closer: "To Protect and Serve"
• The Dead Zone: "Articles of Faith"
• Deadwood: "A Two-Headed Beast"
• Entourage: "Crash and Burn"

On Friday night, Comedy Central aired a Strangers With Candy mini-marathon, hosted by the stars (Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris, and Paul Dinello) to promote the film. It was great and all, but I was annoyed to see the ridiculous time slot they stuck it in... 1:00 AM to 3:30 AM. Seriously, Comedy Central? You're going to hand over the throwaway time for one of your original series, but play nice with My Super Ex-Girlfriend and their "Sunday with the Guys" afternoon slot? I know Strangers fans are usually a little weird, but we're not all nocturnal. Stephen Colbert's one of your main men now, Comedy Central! Show him some love.

I'm an insomniac, so I caught the whole marathon. Did anyone else watch?

Fans of Strangers with Candy know that Amy Sedaris based the character of Jerri Blank somewhat on real-life ex-junkie/prostitute Florrie Fisher, the centerpiece of a 1970 documentary titled The Trip Back. The documentary was just one of many television specials created during the 70s and 80s to scare kids silly when it came to drugs, or not scare them at all, depending on how much a rambling middle age woman actually frightens you. I've stuck a clip of Fisher ranting about LSD after the jump, but if you want a little more of her wit and wisdom, click here.

[via The Hater]

The television series Strangers with Candy was one of the tightest, most cohesive comedies to come along in the last several years. Its subtle mix of vicious satire, peripheral sight gags, and jokes that sometimes hung in the air for a moment before your brain was able to catch up to them was suited perfectly to the half hour format. In addition, the main cast (Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello, and Craig Hollimon) are all great comedic actors who played together like veteran jazz musicians, each adding his or her own unique personality to the whole. But can something that worked so well on television make the transition to the big screen and still be just as good? The answer is yes, sort of.

Strangers with Candy the movie serves as a prequel to the television series which ran on Comedy Central in the late 90s. Fans of the series know the story: Jerri Blank ran away from home thirty-two years ago to delve into prostitution and copious amounts of drugs. After being released from a stint in prison, she decides to return home to start her life over again as a 46 year old high school freshman. In the movie, Jerri returns to find her father (this time played by Dan Hedaya rather than Roberto Gari*) is in a stress-induced comma caused by the sudden disappearance of his beloved daughter all those years ago. The doctor tells Jerri that if she were able to do something truly amazing, say, win the school science fair, it might help her father to wake up.

(S01E05)

Principal Blackman: Talk your monkey ass off. I'll be watching you.

This episode, in which Jerri comes face to face with her long lost son (though she doesn't realize it until the end of the episode) was co-written by Tom Lennon of The State and Reno 911!

This episode starts off, as all the season one episodes do, with Jerri explaining who she is and why she's in her forties and attending high school. She tells her tale to a ficus she's inexplicable planted in the middle of a baseball diamond (it's an Arbor Day thing). Meanwhile, it's also almost time for the Sadie Hawkins Dance, which, as many of you may know, is when girls have to ask the boys to the dance instead of vice versa. Her friend Orlando begins to drop some not so subtle hints that he'd like to go with her, but Jerri finds herself attracted to the new student, Ricky, played by Frederick Koehler (a.k.a. "Chip" from Kate and Allie). Jerri likes Ricky but she can't let anyone know because Ricky is hated by everyone, including the teachers, simply because he's new. When he first arrives in Noblet's class, Noblet doesn't give him a desk but instead makes him sit in the back on a box of slightly irregular jeans. Jerri tries to maintain a friendship with Ricky while also maintaining her status among her peers, such as one scene where she uses a tire iron to smash his car to impress her friends, all the while insisting to Ricky she really does like him.