TVSquad

There are a lot of great shows that stand out in my mind as favorites from my childhood: Magnum P.I., Simon and Simon, Cheers, Quantum Leap. They all paved the way for future shows in some form, but the one that was truly groundbreaking is Soap.

For those of you who are generationally challenged by this post and have no idea what I am talking about, Soap was a sitcom -- sort of -- that aired from 1977 to 1981, a pitifully short time for the originality that it oozed. What was so special about Soap?

1. It was essentially the first time we saw Billy Crystal
And what a role: a very gay man who fathers a child and is in a custody battle for her. And toward the end of the series, he is somehow hypnotized into thinking he is an old Jewish man, probably where Billy's famous schtick originated.

As was reported earlier this week, the first victim of the cancellation fairies has been claimed: Viva Laughlin. 41 out of 671 of you chose this show, and we've randomly chosen commenter Eric D from those entries. Congrats Eric -- you'll be hearing from us soon!

Now, this is not the end of the contest! As you know, we're extending this on until three new shows have gotten the boot. We've got two more $75 Amazon.com gift certificates to give away. Everyone's once again eligible to enter, following the complete rules after the jump.

Every year we get a new crop of fall shows to look forward to (or maybe not-so-much), and while some gain a huge fan following and others barely truck along, one thing is for sure -- at least one show will not complete even one season.

Already we've seen that it's possible for a show to be canceled before it even starts, but that won't stop us from holding our annual contest to pick the first new show to get the boot. In fact, this time we're going to give everyone three chances to win. The prizes: $75 Amazon.com gift certificates. Read on for details.

This is very cool news for fans of Jon Favreau's gone-but-not-forgotten IFC talk show Dinner For Five: every episode is now available at Amazon.com!

The actor made a deal with the Amazon company CustomFlix Labs to make every episode of the show available to fans in a number of ways. You could go the usual route and buy each season (there were four seasons total) or buy the complete set for around $42.99. But the cool part is this: you can actually buy single episode DVDs! They go for around $10.00 each. But wait it doesn't stop there (great, I'm turning into a informercial guy): you can actually customize your DVDs with your favorite episodes. Check out Favreau's.

Here's some news to add on to our Holiday Loot spending guides we've been posting: Amazon is having a huge sale on FOX DVDs, some of them as much as 50% off. So now you can get those cool DVDs you asked someone to get you for Christmas but didn't get because someone got you socks or a McDonald's gift card instead.

For example, you can get the first season of Bones for only $24.97, which is 50% off the list price. A fan of Arrested Development? You can get the third season for only $18.00! You can also get seasons of The X-Files, M*A*S*H, Angel, and other titles. Of course, if you're already a fan of these shows you may have already bought them when they first came out. But I know a lot of people (like me) don't always buy the DVDs when they first go on sale. Unless it's the complete seasons of shows like The West Wing and The Twilight Zone, and then I go nutty.

Amazon always has discounts on their items, less than you'd pay in the store, but these prices are even bigger discounts than usual so it might be a good time to beef up your collection.

[via TVShowsOnDVD]

I've never seen an episode of Nickelodeon's Dora The Explorer. My Nickelodeon viewing is limited to The Fairly Odd Parents and maybe SpongeBob SquarePants once in a while. What is the show about, exactly? Is it one of those shows that's animated but is really for adults more than the younger set? Does Dora work for the vice squad or maybe an escort service?

The reason I ask is because of this, the Dora The Explorer Aquapet, from Wild Planet Toys. Oh, it's wild alright, if wild means offensive. And please note that it says that the toy is "fun for all" and "interacts with you." Frankly, it looks like something that a woman would buy at Spencer's Gifts, or, as one of the reviewers says on the Amazon page, "maybe as a prank for a bachelorette party." Did the company realize what they had when the product was done, or even at the drawing board stage?

Amazon.com has shown a few snippets here and there, but now the official launch of Bill Maher's talk show, Fishbowl, will be tomorrow morning. Each show will be 30 minutes long, and Maher will interview various celebrities and other people of note, including The Dixie Chicks, Ludacris, Dean Koontz, and Stephen King.

It's funny because Bill Maher was on The Late Show With David Letterman recently and said he's really not that computer literate and doesn't know exactly what people will get or what they need to see it. But he has started using e-mail a lot.

Maher's Real Time will return with new eps on August 25. You can catch podcasts and other stuff at the HBO web site.

Now this could be cool: imagine getting a DVD of an episode of your favorite TV show, say 24 or The Office or Lost, a mere 24 hours after it airs on television?

That's the plan that Amazon has. Their CustomFlix Labs, which is going to make quick DVDs available for special shows like Antiques Roadshow and The Westminster Kennel Dog Show, is looking to create instant DVDs for regular network shows as well. Much like iTunes does.

Is this a good idea? Would you rather buy a DVD or watch it on iTunes?