TVSquad

(S01E01) "Oh god, with the curry again. This shirt smells likes Indira Gandhi's thong." - Archer

I should preface this review with something basic - I am in no way whatsoever an animation buff. I didn't watch a lot of cartoons as a kid and now that I'm a big boy, my Adult Swim knowledge stretches about as far as Aqua Teen Hunger Force with the occasional episode of Sealab 2021 tossed in. So... I guess I know a little. Enough to say that Sealab's mastermind Adam Reed definitely has a hit on his hands with his first stab at a half-hour show in FX's Archer.

So if you're looking for a treatise one why Archer's flash animation or cell-shaded stop motion freeze-frame whatever-it's-called is superior vs. parochial and clunky, then this is not the review for you. I'm basing my review on content alone and seeing as how Archer won't be back for its official premiere until January, we were very fortunately given more than enough to whet our appetites.

When FX initially picked up six episodes of its first foray into animated comedy, the plan for Archer was to pair it with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Since that greenlight, two things happened.

First, FX got trigger-happy and greenlit a whole bunch of other shows (from the likes of Louis CK and Don Cheadle). Second, and more importantly, according to FX it turns out that from start through post, it takes almost a whole month to complete one episode of Archer. With Always Sunny premiering this Thursday night at 10PM ET on FX, slotting in Archer's six eps suddenly became impossible. So the plan has changed. Instead of pairing Archer with Sunny mid-season, FX plans to launch its fantasy-football themed sitcom The League instead. However, if you were looking forward to seeing Archer, I've got some good news.

Since programming anything new is probably a waste on a holiday weekend, Comedy Central is programming roughly 4,000 previously aired stand-up specials (okay, just 40, but that's a lot) from some of the biggest names on its rosters, including Dane Cook, Jeff Dunham, Katt Williams, Louis C.K., Lewis Black, Brian Regan, Demetri Martin, Ron White, Lisa Lampanelli, and Jim Gaffigan. They'll also sprinkle in some of their Comedy Central Presents half-hour showcases. It's called the Stand-Up Blowout Weekend.

The first special is at 3 PM - Aisha Tyler is Lit: Live at the Fillmore and end, officially, with Drew Hastings: Irked and Miffed at 3 AM Monday morning. Sunday at 10PM is the network premiere of Dave Attell: Captain Miserable, which originally aired on HBO on December 8, 2007.

Comedy talk shows are a vastly underrated wasteland of quality programming, but they're shorter on female eye-candy than the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show.

ABC is hoping to change that by giving comic babe and former Talk Soup slinger Aisha Tyler her own piece of programming.

The network is letting her develop a pilot for a "hybrid" style talk show that incorporates sketch, stand-up and other variety comedy into a fully "wired" show that will communicate with their audience over the Internet's series of complex tubes.

• At 5, IFC has The 2009 Spirit Awards.
• At 8, FOX has a new Cops.
• HGTV has a new Divine Design at 8, followed by a new Design on a Dime.
• TCM has From Here To Eternity at 8.
• Also at 8: HBO has the movie Taking Chance.
• At 9, FOX has a new America's Most Wanted.
• CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show at 9.
• At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
• At 11, FOX has a new Talk Show with Spike Feresten.
• Comedy Central has Aisha Tyler Is Lit: Live at the Fillmore at 11.
• At 1am, Cartoon Network has a new Bleach, then a new Code Geass.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S03E24) Before I forget, I have to say that Brad's baby is adorable. Great casting. OK, now that I've got that out of the way...

This was a near perfect season finale with the firm of Crane Poole & Schmidt swinging for the fences. With Jerry and Clarence suing a casino and Denny guaranteeing a win this episode was way out of bounds. The fact that Alan had the balls to refer to himself and Denny as a comedy team was awesome.

I really appreciated seeing Denny questioning his own usefulness. Personally, I can really relate. There comes a time in everyone's life when you have to recognize that your life is not what it used to be, and to imagine other people seeing you differently than they used to can be a scary thought. As funny as it is to see him make a fool of himself, it was nice to see both Denny and Shatner putting things in perspective.

Looks like the first season of CBS' Friday night hit (can something be a hit on a Friday night?) Ghost  Whisperer is coming to DVD on September 26. No offical word yet, but TVShowsonDVD.com is usually really accurate about these things.

Wow, September is turning into an incredible month for TV on DVD. Besides Ghost Whisperer, we'll have season one of Mission: Impossible, season two of Lost, season two of Entourage, season one of Diagnosis Murder, Stella, season one of Simon and Simon, and season one of Hustle.  And that's just what's been announced so far. More to come I'm sure.