TVSquad

As my late friend Adam Finley reported last month, Ryan Seacrest has been picked to host this year's Emmy Awards. I'm sure that most of you, like me, have already spent enough time lamenting the fact that Seacrest really has no business hosting a show like The Emmys. I guess the producers thought that after American Idol and America's Top 40, The Emmys were the next logical step.

Well, now the producers have decided that Seacrest hosting wasn't bad enough, there's a chance that he may do a number at the beginning of the show.

Think it can't get any worse? Read on.

I love Tony Bennett. I wasn't really familiar with his stuff until I had a chance to see him open up for Paul McCartney in Hollywood a year-and-a-half ago. At least, I didn't think I was familiar with his stuff. But, when I heard him sing "Rags to Riches" and "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" I was thinking, "I know these songs ..."

Since then, I see him and the era he represents everywhere I go and wonder how I could not have known before. I mean, they play his stuff in shopping malls, elevators and automated phone systems a thousand times a day. It's obvious those businesses rely on the innate smile-making ability of that era to keep people happy when they'd otherwise go insane.

• At 7, ABC has a repeat America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by a new Extreme Makeover, a repeat Desperate Housewives, and a repeat Brothers & Sisters.
• CBS has a new 60 Minutes at 7, followed by new episodes of The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and Without A Trace.
• NBC has Football Night In America at 7, followed by the Seahawks vs. the Broncos.
• Hallmark has the movie A Carol Christmas at 7, then Jack Frost.
• The CW has a new Reba at 7:30.
• At 8, FOX has repeats of The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad.
• There's a new 7th Heaven on The CW at 8, then a repeat America's Next Top Model.
• Lifetime has the movie A Different Kind of Christmas at 8, followed by A Dad For Christmas.
• Disney has a holiday movie at 8 too: The Ultimate Christmas Present.
• At 8:30, PBS has Tony Bennett Duets: The Making of an American Classic.
• Food Network has a new Iron Chef America at 9, Batali vs. Blais.
• At 9, Discovery has more of the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship Dog Show.
• TNT has Noah Wyle and Bob Newhart in the sequel The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines. It's on at 9 as well.
• Also at 9: AMC has Miracle on 34th Street.
• At 10, HBO has a new ep of The Wire, while Showtime has a new ep of Dexter.

Bennett? I think I broke it!

Sorry, punchline to an old joke, couldn't help myself. Anyway, Tony Bennett, whose albums have made the charts in every decade since the 1950s, will sing a series of duets this evening with the likes of Barbara Streisand, Elton John, Christina Aguilera, John Legend, Diana Krall, k.d. lang and Michael Buble. Tony Bennett: An American Classic, which celebrates Bennett's 80th birthday, airs tonight at 8:00 on NBC and is directed by Rob Marshall, who also directed Chicago and Memoirs of Geisha. The tribute will include big production numbers and stories about Bennett from folks such as Billy Crystal and John Travolta.

Call me old fashioned, but I'd rather just see Tony on stage by himself singing his hits and a few standards without all the extravagance and folderol, but what the heck, it's good to acknowledge that he's still influencing artists from different generations.

• At 8, ABC has the 2006 American Music Awards, with host Jimmy Kimmel.
• CBS has new episodes of NCIS, The Unit, and 3 Lbs.
• NBC has the special Tony Bennett: An American Classic at 8, followed by new eps of Law and Order: CI and Law and Order: SVU.
• There's a new Standoff on FOX at 8, followed by a new House.
• The CW has a new Gilmore Girls at 8, then a new Veronica Mars.
• PBS has a new Nova at 8, followed by a new Frontline.
• Remember the show China Beach? It's on American Life at 9.
• Also at 9: Spike has Die Another Day, which seems pretty crappy after you've seen Casino Royale.
• At 10, FX has a new Nip/Tuck.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• At 10:30, Food Network has a new ep of The Hungry Detective.

• At 8pm, FOX has a repeat of Bones, followed by a repeat of House.
• ABC has repeats of According To Jim, Rodney, and Boston Legal.
• Also at 8, CBS has a repeat of NCIS, followed by The 28th Annual Kennedy Center Honors, with Tony Bennett, Robert Redford, Tina Turner, Suzanne Farrell, and Julie Harris.
• There's a new Fear Factor on NBC at 8, followed by repeat eps of My Name Is Earl, The Office, and Law and Order: SVU.
• The WB has repeats of Gilmore Girls and Supernatural, while UPN is has the film All About The Benjamins.
• TBS has two funny repeats of Friends, starting at 8.
• ABC Family has Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas In July. It's on at 8 too.
• Emeril tries some "Cooking With Champagne" on the Food Network at 8.
• At 9, Spike has one of the better Roger Moore 007 outings, For Your Eyes Only.
• Also at 9, HBO2 has Adam Sandler in Spanglish.
• At 10, A&E has two repeats of Airline, while TNT has a repeat of The Closer.
• AMC has Honeymoon in Vegas at 10, with Nicolas Cage.
• Also at 10, E! has a new ep of Gastineau Girls, followed by the special Big Buzz Gone Bad, which focuses on pop culture trends that went bad.
• At 11, BBC America has Monty Python's Flying Circus, followed by two eps of Coupling.
• Also at 11, Style Network has a new Isaac, with guests Selma Blair, Roger Bart, and Kimberley Locke.