TVSquad

Like you, I wanted to take a shower and pour bleach into my ears after hearing what Mackenzie Phillips had to say on Oprah yesterday (thanks Oprah). But one of the interesting revelations that has come out of all of this is that Phillips had done heroin and was high during a One Day at a Time reunion on Today last year. Here's the clip from that episode.

Bonus: I didn't realize that One Day at a Time was based on the life of Meredith Baxter's family.

It was inevitable. Ever since Rosie O'Donnell grew a second head and spit venom at Elisabeth Hasselbeck, The View has been on the radar. Even without current host Rosie O'Donnell, there's been buzz with new co-host Whoopi Goldberg. Hasselbeck keeps causing trouble on the set with her lone conservative voice, Whoopi is outspoken in her own right, Joy Behar is a lunatic and even Barbara Walters has been known to snag a headline or two. Of course Lifetime wants a piece of that buzz. And to get it they're grabbing ... uh ... Sherri Shepherd?

Doesn't Sherri Shepherd think she'll fall off the edge of the earth if she goes too far? I thought she was still there because they didn't want to have to rebuild the table with one fewer chair. Huh, I guess I was wrong. Lifetime picked up Sherri Shepherd's sitcom Sherri for 12-episodes.

I don't usually post gossip show clips, but I'm doing this for two reasons. One, I find it funny that two 70s icons are going after each other over their weight loss programs. And two, I can't imagine Ted Koppel doing this story when he was on Nightline. (Full Nightline segment here.) Bertinelli calls Osmond's Nutrisystem food "crappy," while Osmond wonders why a 49 year-old would want to be in a bikini. (For the record, I think Bertinelli looks great in a bikini.)

Personally, I don't think it's fair that some of these Hollywood folks get to just keep on making television shows. Especially the ones who don't age like the rest of us. I mean, what if I was waiting for Valerie Bertinelli to get too old for television? Or John Stamos, or Michael J. Fox? These people never look any older. I think they've found the Tuck's secret spring and have been sipping it for decades. In the end, there can be only one and my money's on Dick Clark. I think he is one of the Tucks.

Bertinelli has just been signed to star in a TBS sitcom as a mother of two. Good lord, One Day at a Time was more than thirty years ago! By my estimations that would make her ... let's see, she was a teenager then ... yes I know you can find her birthday easy enough online ... cross-reference how much hotter she was than Mackenzie Phillips ... then carry Schneider's creepy factor of 9.5 and you get ... one hundred and thirty two years old! Amazing! She doesn't look a day over forty-eight. I've gotta find that spring.

We seem to be in the middle of a Valerie Bertinelli renaissance.

First Bertinelli signed up with Jenny Craig and is the new spokesperson (bye-bye Kirstie Alley), then she became a correspondent for Rachael Ray, then she released a memoir, and then she made the inevitable appearance on Oprah. She was also on Larry King Live earlier this week and when he asked her if she would like to do a talk show, she didn't say "hey, I already have one!" but that must have been the case, because she has one. Bertinelli has signed with CBS to develop a new talk show for the 2009-10 season.

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!

First she lost all that weight on Jenny Craig, and now she might gain it all back.

Actress Valerie Bertinelli is joining Rachael Ray. She'll be a celebrity content buddy, doing stories about food and family and being a working mom. Her first show will be tomorrow, October 23. Bertinelli will report from New Orleans, where she'll give women a guide to Monday Night Football and cook gumbo.

I've always liked Bertinelli. It's about time she's back on television in some way. I hope she gets her own series. Something tells me that she'll be more likable than Ray on her appearances on the show, though "celebrity content buddy" has to be one of the most annoying titles I've ever heard.

Valerie Bertinelli, who many remember as Barbara Cooper on One Day at a Time, is publishing her first book, a memoir titled Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time. The book will focus on Bertinelli's life as a young TV star, and her battles with weight gain and depression.

Bertinelli also appeared on Touched by an Angel and is currently a spokesperson for Jenny Craig.

Honestly, I think she looks a lot better with a little extra weight. Not that my five year old self didn't pine for the younger, skinnier Bertinelli when she was on One Day at a Time, but I don't likes m' ladies to be all skin and bones, you know? Of course you do.

All of you Jericho fans out there writing letters, sending emails, and signing petitions can give yourself a pat on the back. The show hasn't been brought back from cancellation yet, but getting the President of CBS Entertainment to post an update is no small feat.

That President, Nina Tassler, posted an update to all of the fans on the Jericho Wiki over the weekend. You can read the full statement at the CBS site. In a nutshell, she says it was a hard decision, thanks the fans for their support, and teases that in the coming weeks they hope to develop a way to provide closure to the Jericho story.

That's the sticky wicket right there. "Develop" seems to imply the possibility of a tv movie, or maybe even a mini-series, to wrap things up. But we have been down this road before, where the closure came in the form of notes from the producers regarding what was planned. I think a movie or mini-series could work really well. There is already a built in audience, and it couldn't do any worse than whatever touchy-feely Hallmark movie event starring Valerie Bertinelli is already on the drawing board. Obviously, bringing the series back is the main goal for the fans, but what would you settle for?

[ thanks Jonathon ]

Alright, I'll admit it: I used to watch One Day at a Time, OK? I also used to watch Kate and Allie and The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. So sue me.

Now it looks like One Day at a Time is finally coming to DVD. Many readers have written in to TVshowsonDVD.com telling them that a preview of One Day at a Time shows up in the extras on the Facts of Life DVD set. No official word yet, but since they have a preview on the DVD that's probably a sign that they are working on transferring them to DVD.

At last, we can see the overacting of Bonnie Franklin the way it was meant to be seen. We can see pre-Van Halen Valerie Bertinelli in all of her Valerie Bertinelliness. We can see the rise and fall and rise of Mackenzie Phillips. We can see Pat Harrington Jr. before ... wait, what's he up to now?