How many people remember Dragnet? Or maybe I should say how many people remember actually watching Dragnet, the "just the facts" police show starring the iconic Jack Webb? The reason I ask is because the U.S. Postal Service is immortalizing Dragnet with a postage stamp tomorrow.
In light of the fact that letter writing and postal service are dramatically in decline, my guess is that there will be an older crowd nodding appreciatively when Dragnet is honored. You see, the younger generation (did I really say that?) doesn't have much use for stamps and won't be buying the Dragnet first class stamp.
Last week was a really special week for late night comedy shows. No, I'm not talking about a certain feud between a host and a politician. I'm talking about the four shows that The Colbert Report did from Iraq. There was a lot of great stuff, and if you missed any of it, here's a quick recap. (Video also here.)
Last month's triumphant return of the "Celebrity Jeopardy!" sketch to Saturday Night Live was a hilarious bit of celebrity snark genius. It is without a doubt the only sketch in the show's history that just gets better and better every time a new one is rolled out for the public to digest and enjoy.
The most recent incarnation of the sketch was no exception. In fact, it built on the solid foundation that lay before it by casting Tom Hanks as a clueless himself and bringing back Norm MacDonald as Burt Reynolds. MacDonald's appearance was funny not just because he does a scary good Reynolds, but I also like to think that every time he returns to the show, Don Ohlmeyer cries a little inside.
As much as there was to laugh at in the sketch, a tiny but hilarious joke seeped through the cracks and no one seemed to spot it -- until now. I have found the missing joke from last month's Jeopardy! sketch, thanks to my keen eyes, my intrepid nose and my ever-widening butt.
NBC has released the roster of guests for the first week of shows, and it's a mix of big stars, big musical guests, and one guest thrown into the mix that really sticks out. After the jump, the line-up.
(S34E23) Wow. Way to go, Will Ferrell. Maybe they should just bring back Saturday Night Live alumni for season finales from now on, because this episode was spectacular. Ferrell brought back some old favorites and a slew of famous faces, from the familiar to the inexplicable, including Amy Poehler, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway and Artie Lange. Here are some video highlights from the evening (Hulu vids are US only. Sorry, kids... you can also watch these videos at NBC's website).
In the immortal words of Lennon and McCartney, all you need is love. That's especially true for the Hendrickson family of Utah, also known as Big Love. The polygamist clan that's been the center of more complicated stories than most daytime dramas has taken hold and HBO has given Big Love a fourth season renewal.
The Tom Hanks produced series recently returned to HBO after an extended lay-off -- thanks in part to the Writers Strike -- and it's come back stronger than ever. I know for me, it's one of the main reasons I haven't dropped HBO.
Do you remember what film won the Oscar for Best Picture last year? (No Country for Old Men). What about Best Actor and Actress? (Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard). If you didn't remember, don't feel bad. You're probably like most people. Most of us weren't watching in 2008. Even though they were celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Academy Awards, it was the lowest rated and least watched telecast ever.
As I perused the Academy Award nominations yesterday, I couldn't help but think that this year's broadcast is going to have a hard time drawing a huge TV audience. And considering that the only thing you can usually count on with the Oscars is that they'll run over three hours long, the show will probably leave something to be desired, too.
In fact, here's six reasons the Oscars -- which will be broadcast live on February 22 on ABC -- will probably stink.
So I've been back from LA for a couple of days, watching Rich and Keith file frantic reports from Comic-Con. It just makes me shake my head in sympathy. Though CC is a different animal from the TCAs, in both structure and in sheer volume of people and activities, I still know exactly how they feel. It all starts to feel like a blur after awhile -- panels, reporter scrums, parties, meeting your favorite (and not-so-favorite) TV stars... When you get back to "normal life," it almost feels like it never happened.
Anyway, now that I have a day or two to reflect, I took a cue from our friends at AOL and came up with a list of things I learned on this press tour. But this list will involve both the network-related things I learned with what I learned about celebrities, my fellow critics, and myself.
Have you seen all those feel-good commercials on CBS showing the actors returning to work after the WGA strike, the message promising us that good times -- and fresh new episodes -- would soon be on the air? Well, here comes the cold shower. The big story this morning out of L.A. is that Hollywood is shaking with fear that the actors will strike this summer if a new contract isn't hammered out before June 30.
Big names like George Clooney and Tom Hanks have been quietly urging Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg to commence negotiations now in hopes of averting another contentious battle. Even AFTRA (SAG's sister organization, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) reportedly wants to start formal talks.
The Kennedy Center Honors were taped this past weekend in Washington DC for a December 26th broadcast on CBS. This year's honorees include Andrew Lloyd Webber, Zubin Mehta, Dolly Parton, Smokey Robinson and Steven Spielberg. The moment making the internet and gossip blog rounds right now features Jessica Simpson flubbing the lines to Dolly's "9 to 5." You won't see that in the broadcast. In fact, what you see in the broadcast is an extremely pared down version of the live awards show.
There are those in the world that will try to convince you that Bosom Buddies, the early 80s sitcom starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari as two advertising guys who have to dress as women in order to afford the rent at an apartment building, is a terrible show. A show that was short-lived because it was so bad. A show that Tom Hanks is probably embarrassed to have on his resume.
None of those things are true. Hanks is proud of the show and has talked about it fondly for years. And the show is actually good. Sure, the premise is ridiculous and "sitcommy," but so what? If it's funny, it's funny. This show was funny, and the two leads and the supporting cast (including Telma Hopkins, the late Wendie Jo Sperber, and Holland Taylor from Two and a Half Men) are great together.
TVShowsOnDVD is reporting that the first season of the show is finally coming to DVD, after many years of speculation. No official word from the studio yet, but there is a pic of the box for the set, which will include 19 episodes. Hopefully there will be some commentaries too.
If you were casting a miniseries about the American Revolution, concentrating on John Adams, who would be the first person you would think of to play the second president? That's right, the name Paul Giamatti doesn't come to mind right away, does it? Well, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman did; they're producting a seven-hour HBO miniseries based on the David McCullough book John Adams, and they cast Giamatti in the title role. He'll play Adams during the revolutionary years, when he stoked the revolt behind-the-scenes. The series is set to start shooting in January and will begin airing in March 2008.
I've got to say, resemblance-wise, it doesn't seem to be a match. Even tempermant-wise, I'm not sure. Adams was more of a low-key guy, while almost every role Giamatti's played has been on the high-strung or emotional side. If anyone's got the acting chops to pull this off, though, it's Giamatti. And he'll be the only actor that can say he played both a Founding Father and Pig Vomit.
(UPDATE: I have been taken to task by the readers for calling Adams "low-key." Apparently, my knowledge of American history needs an update, because Adams was supposedly a big pain in the ass. So Giamatti might be perfect for the role.)
Sitcoms Online is reporting some cool news for fans of the 80s series Bosom Buddies, which chronicled the lives of two men (Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari) who worked for an ad agency and had to dress in drag in order to stay in an apartment meant for women only. The show also featured the lovely Donna Dixon and the late Wendy Jo Sperber. TBS will be airing reruns of the series on Saturday mornings from 6 to 7 a.m. starting in September. Speaking of Tom Hanks, whatever happened to him? Last I heard he was doing movies or something.
How many people remember Dragnet? Or maybe I should say how many people remember actually watching Dragnet, the "just the facts" police show starring the iconic Jack Webb? The reason I ask is because the U.S. Postal Service is immortalizing Dragnet with a postage stamp tomorrow. 
Last month's triumphant return of the 
Unless you've been in a coma for the past year and just woke up, you probably know that 
In the immortal words of Lennon and McCartney, all you need is love. That's especially true for the Hendrickson family of Utah, also known as Big Love. The polygamist clan that's been the center of more complicated stories than most daytime dramas has taken hold and 
Do you remember what film won the Oscar for Best Picture last year? (No Country for Old Men). What about Best Actor and Actress? (Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard). If you didn't remember, don't feel bad. You're probably like most people. Most of us weren't watching in 2008. Even though they were celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Academy Awards, it was the lowest rated and least watched telecast ever. 
So I've been back from LA for a couple of days, watching Rich and Keith file frantic reports from Comic-Con. It just makes me shake my head in sympathy. Though CC is a different animal from the TCAs, in both structure and in sheer volume of people and activities, I still know exactly how they feel. It all starts to feel like a blur after awhile -- panels, reporter scrums, parties, meeting your favorite (and not-so-favorite) TV stars... When you get back to "normal life," it almost feels like it never happened.
Have you seen all those feel-good commercials on CBS showing the actors returning to work after the WGA strike, the message promising us that good times -- and fresh new episodes -- would soon be on the air? Well, here comes the cold shower. The big story this morning out of L.A. is that 
New TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
At 8, NBC has a new 1 vs. 100, followed by a new Las Vegas. 
The Kennedy Center Honors
There are those in the world that will try to convince you that Bosom Buddies, the early 80s sitcom starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari as two advertising guys who have to dress as women in order to afford the rent at an apartment building, is a terrible show. A show that was short-lived because it was so bad. A show that Tom Hanks is probably embarrassed to have on his resume.
If you were casting a miniseries about the American Revolution, concentrating on John Adams, who would be the first person you would think of to play the second president? That's right, the name Paul Giamatti doesn't come to mind right away, does it? Well, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman did; they're producting a seven-hour HBO miniseries based on the David McCullough book John Adams, and 
Sitcoms Online
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