TVSquad

One of America's greatest TV icons has been officially recognized as one of its greatest humorists. Yes, he's still one of the greatest TV icons, but giving him another honor for his work in TV is like giving Jay Leno a free car.

Bill Cosby received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Monday at the Kennedy Center.

The event, set for broadcast on PBS on Nov. 4., featured presentations and words from comedy notables such as Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld. It also featured a Cosby Show reunion of sorts with Phylicia Rashad and Malcolm-Jamal Warner. It's a good thing Dr. Huxtable didn't take his boy out of the world after all.

Leo G. Carroll did it in 1966. Lisa Bonet sort of did it in 1987. What am I talking about? Double duty. That is, playing the same role on two series which are running at the same time. There are probably quite a few other instances, but Leo was head man Mr. Waverly on both The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. for a year, and Lisa was Denise Huxtable in college (A Different World) and when she came home to visit the family in Brooklyn on The Cosby Show.

Now, Rocky Carroll will appear on both NCIS shows. Doing double duty makes perfect sense for the NCIS twosome, especially since they're going to be airing back to back on Tuesday, 8-10 P.M.

Does Gary Coleman have a reality show yet? At this point, it seems that everyone and their brother is getting a reality show. You knew the end was nigh when Kim Kardashian's entire family got a reality show. That's a family getting a show based on a big ass. And I mean that in more ways than one. Keshia Knight Pulliam, who's famous for being a cute little girl on The Cosby Show twenty years ago is getting her chance to shine. Now 30, Pulliam is set to "star" in a reality show for Oxygen about her fun, young life with her live-in boyfriend. Yawn, man I think I fell asleep typing that.

But that's not all! Fantasia Barrino is getting her own reality show on VH1 and it doesn't have anything to do with skanks or dating! Fantasia won American Idol way back in Season 3, had her own Lifetime movie and a successful book and musical accolades to spare. But she's been more out of the public limelight in recent years while she performed on Broadway in The Color Purple. But still, I think Taylor Hicks needs a reality show more than Fantasia.

On this Tuesday morning, we've got a copy of The Cosby Show - 25th Anniversary box set on DVD for one lucky, random commenter. The DVD set -- with all eight seasons of the classic show -- is available in stores starting today.

To enter, leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, November 14 simply telling us why you'd like to own this DVD set. As always, we'll randomly choose one winner amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
Click here for complete Official Rules.

Where are the family comedies these days? They're a rare commodity on the big three plus Fox, and even if you include the animated clans on The Family Guy and The Simpsons and American Dad, you can count the family-type comedy shows on one hand.

However, TBS has a throwback family comedy, one in The Cosby Show mode, and they're sticking with it. TBS's The Bill Engvall Show has just been given a third season renewal. The sitcom will be back in the summer 2009 with ten new episodes.

I've watched The Bill Engvall Show and enjoyed it. It's meant to evoke Cosby, but I also found a lot of Everybody Loves Raymond and Home Improvement in it as well, and that's a good thing. Engvall's a funny guy, and he's greatly aided in the show by sitcom vet Nancy Travis as his smart, attractive spouse.

Watching the coverage of the Democratic convention has caused my old carpel tunnel syndrome to act up. I've been doing so much channel surfing; going from channel to channel to find just the right coverage has been a chore.

Good luck finding a balance between astute punditry, quality reporting, over-hyped production and clear coverage of the activities on the floor and stage by the political party. It's not easy. Here's some things, good and bad, that I've noticed in these first three days:

1) The Obama family are the Huxtables
After Michelle Obama's speech on Monday night, her two daughters -- Sasha and Malia -- rushed onto the stage and Barack appeared via video hook up to speak with them and Michelle, congratulating her for the speech. It was a perfect TV moment. As good as her speech was, the image of the family was even better. In a voice that reminded me of Rudi Huxtable, Sasha talked to her father and chirped, "I love you, Daddy." The Obama's became The Cosby Show. If that doesn't connect to the TV audience, nothing will. (Check out the video below.)

It's Father's Day. Dad's day of the year. Earlier this week, I took the AOL TV Dad's Quiz, like Debra, and I was reminded of the variety of fathers on the tube. I think I have a unique take on TV dads. My own died when I was just eight, so I tend to admire those characters that remind me of him. For that reason, the pipe-smoking, cardigan sweater wearing Jim Anderson on Father Knows Best doesn't ring true; neither does the coarse Archie Bunker of All in the Family.

So, here's my five favorite sitcom dads, the ones I related to the most. That means I've excluded single dads and animated dads. That means Hank Hill, Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin and Fred Flintstone are ineligible for my list. Also, this is strictly sitcom pops.

Television has often been a benchmark of current popular culture. Whether it's clothes, cars or furniture, people have always looked to TV to help them decide how to look and how to live. Here are ten great examples of how TV characters have "helped" us look our best.

Daisy Duke's Daisy Dukes (The Dukes of Hazzard)
No one knew it at the time, but when Catherine Bach slipped on those ultra-short denims, she was making an impression on more than the teenage boys who were watching. Years later, a brand new and very different generation embraced the Daisy Dukes, much to the delight of those teenage boys who were now old enough to know better.

Just last night, a fan named Kevin sent me this query...

"What actor/actress has received the most money for a sitcom syndication deal?"

Well, the short answer is Jerry Seinfeld. The long answer has all the details.

Reunions are hot, you know? On February 12, for example, Oprah reunited (most of) the kids from The Cosby Show, with Bill appearing via satellite. Well, never one to let a good idea go to waste, NBC jumped on the theme. They recently had a Family Ties reunion on Today, so now the morning show is commencing tomorrow with a series of more "Together Again" features. Tune into 8:00 a.m. hour each day so you don't miss a thing!

As my newborn son (part of a twin set; the other is a girl) rests in my arms, I just want to take this moment to thank two cable channels for being there for us as we struggled through the sleepless first night home:  Nick@Nite  and The Hallmark Channel.

Yes, I said the Hallmark Channel!

The Hallmark Channel was on during the 11 P.M. till 1 A.M. shift with four episodes of M.A.S.H . When I was younger I never liked the early episodes with Frank Burns, Colonel Blake, and Trapper John. Now I like those more, as well as the first two seasons where Colonel Potter and B.J. Hunnicutt joined the cast (these are the episodes The Hallmark Channel is showing now). Once Frank Burns left and Charles Winchester joined the 4077th the show got a bit too preachy for me, and Col. Potter began to spout too many southern cliches.