TVSquad

Once the panel for the new Let's Make a Deal was announced, you knew that at some point someone was going to ask Wayne Brady if he was going to have to choke a bitch.

That line, from the hilarious Chappelle's Show bit where Brady made fun of his squeaky-clean image, came up halfway through, when a critic asked Brady the question, "submitted from one of our readers on Twitter." I wonder if that reader was one of us critics, who all burned up the Twitterverse with the line as soon as we heard Brady would be here today.

Brady, who can improvise a song on the spot, just sat there in semi-silence. "That was a great choice of question," he said sarcastically. He isn't running from the bit, he said, and he's heard ten-year-olds try to say the line back at him at airports. But he's promoting a daytime, family-oriented show and just wanted people to talk about that.

CBS programming chief Nina Tassler held court this morning in the CBS executive session. Her network is in an extremely strong position, so there wasn't much in the way of controversy to report, but here are some interesting tidbits from the session:

• Laurence Fishburne's character of Dr. Langston on CSI will assume a more take-charge position this year, he'll also be given a "wardrobe makeover" so he seems, as Tassler put it "more comfortable in his own clothes."
• Jorja Fox will be back for the first five episodes. And one of the main characters will get promoted. I won't spoil it for you, but you can probably figure out who it might be.
• A new Let's Make A Deal with Wayne Brady as host, will be taking the place of Guiding Light. Tassler wouldn't go so far as saying this is a trend towards the return of daytime network game shows, but she did say she wanted to get a new LMAD on the air for a while.
• No plans to bring back Flashpoint right now, though they can. More Canadian cross-production deals on the way, including The Bridge.
• On NBC's late-night / Leno strategies: "Whatever numbers they get, they'll declare victory anyway, so it doesn't matter."
• On the departure of Ben Silverman of NBC: "I'm really just a D-girl, so I wouldn't comment."

Game show fanatics will be pleased to learn that network game shows are returning to daytime television. Finally, people who take actual sick days will have something else to look forward to other than another mind-bending dose of NyQuil.

CBS has confirmed they are replacing the outgoing Guiding Light with a remake of the classic Let's Make a Deal.

The ex-Tiffany network has already shot a test pilot of the updated show with smiling crooner Wayne Brady in the host's chair. Brady hasn't officially won the job, but he's the front-running favorite. CBS executives are expected to make Brady's deal official later today at the Television Critics Association hoedown, unless, of course, he chooses to go for what's behind Door Number Two. Don't do it Wayne! It's just a lifetime supply of goat feed!

Probably in preparation for a long strike and also because this type of show is easy programming that not only brings in fair enough ratings but also does rather well in reruns, FOX announced earlier this week that it was ordering 13 extra episodes of it's music-contest hit Don't Forget the Lyrics.

(S03E10) I am so happy to know that gyms become passé by the year 2030. I agree with Old Ted / Bob Saget's voice: They are silly things. Silly, silly things that make you sweat indoors in a boring environment for extremely high amounts of money. After all, a pair of walking or jogging shoes are cheap and the outdoors are free, and more interesting...

Anyway, do I dare say that this episode was funnier than "Slapsgiving?" Yes, I do dare. I think the reason this episode was so good could be summarized in one word: Barney. Whenever we delve into Barn's life, we always find gold. Tonight, given Barney's yips at the Victoria's Secret after-party, I think we skipped past gold and struck uranium.

Fox has ordered up a second season of its summer game show, Don't Forget the Lyrics! The network has reportedly ordered 13 more episodes but has not given them any air dates. They could resurface next summer or as a mid-season replacement if and when one of its new shows tanks.

Don't Forget the Lyrics! is a karaoke-themed game show that is similar to one on NBC called The Singing Bee. Both premiered to decent ratings and fellow TV Squadder, Isabelle, prefers The Singing Bee over Fox's version. I only saw the premiere of Don't Forget the Lyrics! and I found it very entertaining, but that had to do with the entomologist contestant who knew all the words to the Jackson 5's A-B-C and wanted to buy a microscope with her winnings.

Um, no, these two weren't married recently in either Massachusetts or New Jersey. What's actually happening here is that "irreconcilable differences" is being cited as the reason for divorce from their significant others. But, you knew that already, didn't you?

In Wayne Brady's case it's his wife, Mandie Brady, that is filing for divorce under these circumstances. The former star of The Wayne Brady Show and Whose Line is it Anyway? (and current host of FOX's new show Don't Forget the Lyrics) and his wife married in 1999. The couple separated in April of 2006, according to papers filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court. Mandie is seeking joint legal and physical custody of the couple's 4-year-old daughter, Maile.

Wayne Brady will host Don't Forget the Lyrics, a new game show in which contestants must not forget the lyrics (in case the unoriginal title didn't make that clear).

The series debuts on FOX July 11 at 9:30 p.m. and July 12 at 8:30 p.m., and features contestants singing along with a studio band, the words in front of them karaoke-style. When the music stops and the words disappear, the contestant must continue to sing the correct lyrics. If the contestant correctly guesses nine lyrics in a row, they have one final chance to try for a tenth lyrics and the chance to win one million dollars.

If this sounds familiar, that's because NBC's Great American Singing Bee is pretty much the exact same concept. I don't quite understand how two networks became infatuated with this idea, but I blame the popularity of karaoke. And like karaoke, I assume these shows will be much tolerable if you've had a few drinks beforehand.

Ryan J. Budke strikes again! After visiting the set of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip earlier this week, Ryan returns with a visit to the set of the hit CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother.

In the video, Ryan speaks to all of the cast members about Wayne Brady, who will appear as Barney's brother in an episode airing on November 27th. There was a bit of confusion with some of the cast as they believed that Wayne's last name was Newton. Alyson Hannigan actually says she loved Wayne Newton on Whose Line Is It Anyway?. It is easy to confuse the two as they look so much alike. Wayne Brady himself is also interviewed, and tells the tongue-in-cheek story of how he got to be on the show.

Oh, by the way, in next week's episode of HIMYM the secret is finally revealed as to why Robin has such as distaste for shopping malls. Think 1980's, acid wash, and teen pop-star sensation. If you're interested in finding out ahead of time, then click on this link for some spoiler video. Ryan's set visit can be seen after the jump.

Well, that wasn't much of a surprise, was it? In a show that should have lasted all of ten minutes, Alfonso Ribeiro was named winner of the first Celebrity Duets competition. By winning, $100,000 was donated to his charity Fresh Start. And, I wouldn't be surprised if David Foster, one of the judges for this competition, didn't ask Alfonso to stop by his studios one day. Personally, I always thought Alfonso was the front runner since the beginning of the competition, and I'm glad that he won.

I'll admit that I fast-forwarded through a good portion of tonight's fluff, but there were some highlights. We actually got to see what Little Richard was most famous for . . . singing and pounding the piano keys. Although he seemed a bit out of it (more than usual) he really belted out a version of Good Golly Miss Molly. Wayne Brady also performed this evening with Boyz II Men (now known as just 'Men'). If you had never heard them before, you would have thought that Wayne was part of the group since the beginning; he's actually quite good. Another highlight was solo performances from the remaining three finalists. I thought Alfonso did the best job, and Hal was much less screechy than in past duets. I thought that Lucy's solo performance was the worst, mostly because she looked like she was having a seizure up on stage.

All in all, I liked Celebrity Duets. I think they had a good mix of semi-professional and novice singers and it was actually quite entertaining. If there is another season of the show I would drop Little Richard from the judges tables and switch David and Marie Osmond, so that David could speak first. Definitely keep Wayne as host. If you have some ideas for improvements (besides canceling the show) let me know.

(S01E05) Alfonso Ribeiro, Lucy Lawless and Hal Sparks. These are your three remaining Celebrity Duets performers.I'm rooting for Alfonso, who I always felt was the front-runner. Even a bit better than Jai Rodriguez. Although, I do have a soft spot for Hal. So, without further ado, here are the night's performances.

(S01E03) It's about 1:00 a.m. as I write this, so let's get down to the business at hand. To recap from last week, Lea Thompson was let go. I'm surprised, since I thought she did a fairly decent job. I'm guessing that a number of wives and girlfriends called to vote her off because they were tired of their husbands and boyfriends ogling Thompson in her mini-skirts. And now, this week's performances:

1. Lucy Lawless and Dionne Warwick: This was one of Lucy's better performances (this coming from the man who thought she should have been let go after her first week). She was a nice fit to Dionne's husky singing. Judge Marie Osmond liked her performance as well, but thought she was being a bit timid. Judge Little Richard also liked her performance (although it was hard to tell). Finally, Judge David Foster agreed with his colleagues, but requested that she sing her next duet in a higher harmony.

(S01E02) Welcome to the second review of Celebrity Duets, now on at its regular time. Thanks for sticking with me, despite the poor decision I made last week when I thought Lucy Lawless should have been the celebrity to be let go from the competition. From the comments I read you thought that she did much better than I did. Well, you won't have to worry about that now, because I will only be covering the talent portion of the show. The judging will either be covered by another one of our talented TV Squad writers (beautiful people one and all), or not at all.

So, without further ado . . .

(S01E01) Jai Rodriquez and Alfonso Ribeiro. Remember these two names because they'll probably be the finalists for Celebrity Duets. Granted, the eight stars that were selected for this show all have singing talent. But, these two really stood out, particularly Jai. Although I'd like to see Alfonso win, only so we can see the 'Carlton Dance'.

For a Simon Cowell production this wasn't a bad show to watch (and I am NOT a fan of either American Idol or America's Got Talent). Wayne Brady was a good choice for host. He was a bit stiff in the beginning, but began to warm up to his role as the night progressed.