TVSquad

Every once in a while, a show creeps up on the American public and really captures its imagination. Unfortunately, a lot of times that show is in a terrible timeslot on a tiny little network struggling to survive. Such was the case with Jack & Bobby.

I'd like to think people didn't just automatically assume that this was a biopic about the Kennedys, though it certainly was playing with that notion intentionally by choosing that name. At its core, the show was simply another teen drama; the kind The WB had built a network around by the fall of 2004.

But it was also something more than that. It was an in-depth examination of the genesis of an American hero. How can someone go from being an ordinary person with ordinary problems into the most powerful man on the planet? While Jack and Bobby were typical all-American brothers, it was one of their destiny to rise to the seat of President of the United States by the mid-21st Century. That's the destination. Jack & Bobby was the journey.

When Rob Corddry left The Daily Show, Fox scooped him up for a midseason replacement filler called The Winner. It was a horrible little sitcom from the creators of (shudder) Family Guy that should have been flagged long before the executives brought the script to read on the toilet in their private bathrooms.

The most painful part of the show was the feeling that Corddry deserved something much better than another pop culture referencing yawnfest. His Daily Show appearances always made for great television and he also made great transitions into movies whether they were minor roles in Old School or starring roles in the indie comedy Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story.

Now the fates have realigned and given Corddry the show he should have gotten when he left The Daily Show dangling from one last philosophical poop joke. The WB.com premiered a web series called Childrens' Hospital starring, written and directed by Corddry, the man who left a little part of himself in a Daily Show men's room oh so many months ago.

Even before I caught Twilight on the big screen, I was comparing it to Roswell, the great teen sci-fi/romance series that aired on The WB (and later The CW UPN) from 1999-2002. The Twilight ads and trailers seemed to tell the same story Roswell told more than nine years ago: A sensitive girl is saved by a supernatural hunk who makes it his mission to protect her at all costs. The two fall in love, but the relationship is complicated by his other-worldly circumstances.

It's not exactly the most original story in the world. This sort of thing goes back to Bram Stoker's Dracula, (and probably further back than that). Still, after watching Twilight, I was a bit shocked by its similarities to Roswell, especially since Roswell wasn't half as popular as Twilight. I haven't read the Twilight or Roswell book series, so I can't tell you if the similarities persist in print (but my friend Stephanie can). I can only compare the big screen and TV versions.

From major plot points to character motivations, these two franchises have a lot in common, but one clearly stands above the other. Let's compare, and you'll see what I mean:

The name Melissa McCarthy doesn't ring a bell? No, she's not Jenny McCarthy's sister (she's her cousin). You probably know Melissa under the name Sookie St.James, Lorelai's best friend on Gilmore Girls.

This gifted actress has appeared in over 20 different TV and movie projects in the past 10 years but mostly devoted her time to Gilmore, appearing in more than 150 episodes of the series.

The 37-year-old actress from Plainfield, Illinois, first performed on stage. She started her acting career by doing stand up and improv in New York. She attended The Actors Studio, where she studied drama. This led to a bunch of acting gigs in stage productions. When she moved to Los Angeles, the actress joined The Groundlings as a main cast member of this improv and sketch troupe.

When Moonlight first aired, TV fans couldn't help themselves but to compare the series with Angel. Both series have a good looking vampire as its lead and said main character is an investigator. At first glance, Moonlight's lead vampire, Mick St. John, may sound like an Angel clone. Let's compare, shall we?

You've heard about all of the controversy surrounding CBS' new reailty show Kid Nation, from charges of child abuse to coaching from producers, but did you know the show might have originated with Jamie Kennedy?

Broadcasting & Cable has video of a sketch from The WB's Jamie Kennedy Experiment titled "Child Island." It features Kennedy impersonating a TV producer who tries to pitch a reality show to parents about a group of kids who are stranded on a island with nothing but the clothes on their backs. In the promo shown to parents, you see the kids quickly dissolve from fun-loving to Lord of the Flies savages.

The eerie part of the sketch is you know that the real pitch for Kid Nation probably wasn't that different than this (except for the video promo, of course). And you can imagine someone from the show saying what Kennedy does: "Honey, this is as real as reality TV can get." Video after the jump.

Last May, when the sixth season finale of Smallville aired, a lot of TV fans were left wondering if Lana Lang, Chloe, and Lionel were dead or alive. Thanks to spoilers, we learned the fate of two of these characters pretty quickly. However, the third one kept us wondering, especially since the contract of the person playing that character was up in the air. Negotiations took so long that the show started shooting new episodes not even knowing if that character would be back or not. Want to know if all those three characters are back? Curious about new storylines and which characters from the past will resurface? Wait no more, we bring you answers!

Spoilers ahead!

(Part 5 of 5) In the winter of 2006 CBS and Warner Brothers got together to create a new 5th network . . . The CW. You read right, I said 5th network. That's probably confusing you right now since you thought there were six major broadcast networks on the air last winter: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, WB, UPN. Yes, that's true, but The CW was to do something unique to make it the 5th network. It was going to combine the programming of both the WB and UPN, eliminating those networks completely.

It sounded like a good idea at first. Take the best programming from both WB and UPN and put it on one network. No more jumping between the two networks to find the show you wanted to watch. No more confusion as to whether Veronica Mars was on WB or UPN. Plus, there was elimination of much of the mediocre crap that filled their weeknight schedules.

Like I said, it sounded like a good idea.

After 11 years of work, the WB signs off for good on Sunday September 17th, making way for the new CW network. The frog network is going out with a bang though. To celebrate the final day of broadcasting they will be showing the pilot episodes of some of their more popular shows. You can look forward to seeing Felicity, Angel, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Dawson's Creek. Along with the number one episodes, the night will be rounded out with classic images and promos from the history of the network.

Now, we could go all Buffy crazy and start listing best five episodes, or have that Dawson/Joey/Pacey argument all over again. Maybe even bring up that whole Felicity's hair question. Rather than that, let's go the other way. Those shows were all great, and they've stayed in the public conscious, but what about those WB shows that didn't become household names? Take a trip down memory lane as I list five of the WB shows that we forgot.

For the three people who were fans of last fall's WB bomb Just Legal, which was cancelled after three episodes, you can now rest easy; the soon-to-be-defunct network has decided to burn off the remaning five episodes of the show. According to this article on The Futon Critic, the network will show the pilot, then the unaired episodes, every Sunday at 7 PM ET starting August 6.

I guess they're showing the pilot to remind everyone what the show was about. I can give it to you in eight words: Don Johnson. Old lawyer. Young lawyer. Wackiness ensues. There. Now you can free up another summer Sunday and go to the beach.

The WB is scheduled to breathe its last breath on Sunday, September 17. In a look back at its eleven-year run, the netlet will run the pilots of the five shows it considers to be its most important. So, starting at 5 PM, viewers will get to see the pilots of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson's Creek, Felicity, and Angel. During commercial breaks, the network will air promos from the various campaigns shown over the network's run. Hopefully they'll also bring back Michigan J. Frog, who they summarily dismissed last year; the poor guy deserves some respect.

And, yes, I only named four shows. Felicity airs from 5-6PM, followed by Angel from 6-7PM, Buffy from 7-9PM, and the Creek from 9-10PM. Why not air the pilots for Smallville, Gilmore Girls, or 7th Heaven? Because they're still running, silly; they're all part of The CW's fall lineup. According to this article in Variety (registration required), getting the rights to air these pilots from the studios and their current cable homes was tough, but deals were struck that included date and time promos for the cable reruns and ads for the DVD releases by the studios.

Anyway, it should be a fun day of nostalgia before the CW takes over the next day.

[Thanks to Jeff, Dorv, Scott and Tammy for the tips. ]

I watched Everwood its first season, and found it to be quite good. Very well acted and sincere and it had a different feel than other WB type teen dramas (for one thing, it wasn't really a teen drama - it focused on the adults as much as the kids), and even though I lost track of the show after that first year, I was sad to see it go. There was a glimmer of hope that the show might get a 7th Heaven-like last minute renewal last week, but now it looks like it's gone for good.

But Ausiello says you should keep going with your "Save Everwood" campaigns.

[via TV Tattle]

• Out: Jack and Bobby, Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, Grounded For Life, High School Reunion, The Mountain.
• New: Just Legal, Related, Twins, Supernatural, Pepper Dennis (January), Misconceptions (January), Modern Men (January), The Bedford Diaries (January). 
• Returning: 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Reba, Living With Fran, Charmed, Blue Collar TV, What I Like About You.
• Moving: Smallville (Thursdays at 8 p.m., EST), Everwood (Thursdays at 9 p.m), One Tree Hill (Wednesdays at 8 p.m).

Read on for show descriptions.