TVSquad

Did you know that Kathy Griffin was on the stage during the filming of the 1984 Pepsi commercial that injured Michael Jackson? She mentioned it on one of the gossip shows last night (can't remember which one and I'm ashamed I even tuned in), but she revealed that she was an extra in the commercial.

I thought of that when I saw this clip this morning from her Bravo show, where she went on Reverend Al Sharpton's radio show to talk about her performance at the Apollo Theater later that night.

Comedian Eddie Griffin (Malcolm & Eddie) had his stand up performance cut short on August 31st while performing at an event for Black Enterprise Magazine. According to a spokesperson for the magazine, Griffin repeatedly used the N word which prompted the host to come on stage and tell Griffin that he was finished.

Black Enterprise spokesman, Andrew Wadlium told the press that he supported the decision as the right thing to do.

While there has certainly been much controversy over the word in question, it may come as a surprise that a black comedian was censored for using the word in front of a black audience.

Don Imus' career on television is done, but television is not done with Don Imus.

Yesterday, the women of TV talk weighed in on the "Imusgate" fiasco.
On the heels of a recent interview with Matt Lauer on The Today Show, Al Sharpton decided yesterday to make an encore presentation of his opinions with Meredith Vieira. This visit was more targeted at addressing the racist/chauvinist double standards in the music industry. Hmm, no wonder Lauer didn't score this interview -- it was worthless. I'm scratching my head. Where is the logical nexus between Don Imus and rappers?

In a somewhat predictable move, Oprah Winfrey sat down with the Rutgers woman's basketball team and discussed the situation in grand Oprah style.

Katie,

There's been a lot of talk lately about the third place ratings that The CBS Evening News continues to get. There are people saying that you aren't professional enough and that the show doesn't cover hard news the way it should. You even fired your executive producer and hired another, and then this week fired a producer for plagiarizing (and just what are those first person "Notebooks" if other people are writing them?). These are all things that you have to fix, but may I make one suggestion that might help immediately?

Don't lead your newscast with news about Don Imus on the day that there was a major bombing in Iraq.

Don Imus is obviously old school in his thoughts and prejudices. If he were more in tune with popular culture and current social mores, he might have realized that you can only get away with making disparaging remarks about one person's hair. And that is Sanjaya Malakar.

It would have yielded Imus equal amounts of publicity for his show and his name would not be on the tip of Al Sharpton's tongue. He could have also been a foil for the tone-deaf Jennifer Lopez, who couldn't get enough of her Spanish-singing crooner, Sanjaya, on American Idol last night.

Talk show host Don Imus has been suspended from his show by both CBS Radio and MSNBC, which telecasts his radio show every morning. The suspension is for two weeks but doesn't start until next Monday.

This is because Imus referred to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." Imus went on Al Sharpton's radio show on Monday and, as Howard Stern pointed out today, probably made things worse by the apology he made there and other comments he made.

MSNBC says that any "any future relationship with Imus is contingent on his ability to live up to his word." I wonder why the suspension doesn't start til next Monday. Do they want the ratings bump the controversy is going to create? Will Imus talk about it on his show the next four days? CNN has certainly been talking about it all day.

Rob Corddry recently appeared on FOX News to promote his new show, The Winner. He ended his interview with "This crawl is chafing my nipples!" Aww. I really love Rob Corddry, and that's why I'm so disappointed that The Winner is a load of crap. I started watching a few episodes online and I couldn't make it through the first ten minutes of any of them. Sad.

"Ebony and Irony": The Whistlin' Dixie was all right. Reverend Al Sharpton was a good sport for agreeing to come on The Daily Show. This must have been such a crazy subject to talk about. I think both the Reverend and Jon handled it very well.

Of all the 24 hour news channels, I'd have to say that I like CNN the best and watch it the most. FOX News is FOX News, and MSNBC blows hot and cold. But sometimes CNN just makes some really odd decisions that leave you scratching your head.

Right now they're showing the James Brown funeral. Again.

Now, James Brown was important to rock and roll, blah, blah, blah, but we already saw this funeral, the whole thing, just a few days ago on CNN and the other channels. Do we really have to see it again? I know it's New Year's Day, but isn't there any news going on in the world? Any war news we should know about? How about President Ford's body, which lies in state right now, with people walking past it giving their respects?

I know that pop culture is an important force in the world (I write about it full-time, so I'm all for it), but come on. It's 3pm on a Monday and you're repeating a singer's funeral? Not that the others are any better. FOX News is showing a special on religion and politics and MSNBC is showing more of those damn documentaries about crime. Gah.

Fans of Everybody Hates Chris know that Chris' mother, Rochelle, is a woman who doesn't take any BS from anyone, a "ghetto snob" who isn't afraid to tell you exactly how she feels, and often at full volume. In fact, sometimes she can be -- what's the word I'm looking for? Oh right, a total bitch. That's okay, though, it makes her character stand out from the crowd and creates a nice dynamic between herself and the rest of the family.

As I've said in my reviews of the series, Everybody Hates Chris is highly fictionalized, but as Hunter S. Thompson attempted to demonstrate in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, sometimes fiction can reveal something that's even truer than the truth.

A recent episode of The Boondocks cartoon rubbed Reverend Al Sharpton the wrong way. The episode, called The Return of the King, featured an animated Martin Luther King, Jr. using the "n"-word. The story has King being named a traitor and terrorist sympathizer for his non-violent response to the September 11th attacks. It aired on January 15, the night before the MLK holiday. I didn't see the episode, so I can't tell you exactly how the "n"-word was used.

Sharpton is demanding that Cartoon Network apologize and pull any episodes "that desecrate black historic figures." Cartoon Network released a statement (not an apology), defending Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder. The Network said, "We think Aaron McGruder came up with a thought-provoking way of not only showing Dr. King's bravery but also reminding us of what he stood and fought for."

Al Sharpton still wants to be president, so starring in a sitcom probably isn't a great idea. Or, is it? At least, he doesn't seem to think so. He's putting to rest rumors that he is going to be in a new CBS sitcom called Al in the Family, which was going to focus on what Al Sharpton is best at: being Al Sharpton. It's not like Al hasn't been on television before (other than presidential debates), he had guest appearances on Boston Public and My Wife and Kids. Of course, Rev. Sharpton gave a great quote about why he won't be doing a sitcom, "I'm not interested in being Archie Bunker, I'm looking forward to becoming George Bush." That sounds like an announcement that he's running in 2008, doesn't it?