TVSquad

Well, OK, I'm a day behind with this. I blame Christmas and lots of food and booze. Looks like it's not a big week for DVD releases anyway:

• Airwolf - Season 2
• Davey and Goliath: The Lost Episodes
• Girls Behaving Badly - Vol. 1
• New Adventures of He-Man - Vol. 1
• Simple Life 4
• Tourgasm

Wow - an invitation to list all of my TV-related wishes for the coming year. This is just like sitting on Santa's lap except without the horrible awkwardness and guilt. When I was a kid, I felt like I had to ask for world peace instead of a bike. That's what happens when you grow up Catholic. It was selfish to have "wants" and worse to state them aloud.

This would explain why it was such an unprecedented joy for me to spend time reveling in the frivolity of my own TV desires this holiday season. I have been given a momentary, guilt-free license to indulge. And, I pass that license on to you. Feel free to offer up your own television wishes in the comments section. I couldn't recommend it to the recovering Catholic portion of our readership more.

In case you're looking for something to do tonight before you go back to work tomorrow, you should check out Dane Cook: Vicious Circle on HBO at 9PM. It's Cook's first HBO special (he had at least one Comedy Central gig that I can recall) and it's well deserved. His two comedy albums (Harmful if Swallowed, Retaliation) both sold like crazy and he recently finished up a nation-wide college tour that was documented in the HBO series Tourgasm. I was at the Syracuse University show and saying it was one of the funniest two hours of my life still doesn't do it justice. So I'll leave you all with this: I think somebody sh*t on the coats. If you know what I'm talking about, then I know what you're doing tonight. If that means nothing to you, then you better be watching HBO this evening.

Word is that HBO has recently signed a multi-project deal with comedian Dane "Suck My Back!" Cook. This deal will include specials and series, among other things, and marks the first time that HBO has ever done this with any individual. They say that they're planning to air Dane's comedy tour documentary, Tourgasm, and they're also working on a pilot for a half-hour comedy series.

Whoa. Comedy series? I love Dane and all, but, honestly, the idea of having him lead a comedy series makes me a little nervous. I never fail to crack up at his jokes (despite hearing them quoted all around me, 24/7) but is he really enough to carry a show week after week? The only things I see happening are A) Dane is way too much for the series (unfortunately, I can only imagine him playing an over-the-top jackass... not the sort of character that the audience really sympathizes with) and it gets real old, real fast or B) they tone down Dane so much that it's painful to watch and his career goes hurdling down the toilet faster than the punchline for one of his drinking anecdotes. But, either way, I'll be watching to find out.