Now that the excitement has died down, I've been scouring the complete list of nominations. Here's a few observations... Then, let me know what you think. -- Why bother with the Outstanding Mini-Series category? There were only two nominees worthy of a nomination. Exactly how many mini-series are even produced anymore? This is an outmoded TV format. Kill the category.
-- What's going on with the writers? 30 Rock dominates the comedy category and Mad Men dominates the drama category. What are the chances that the lone nomination in each category wins? I'd say slim and none. I call for limitations; only two episodes per series. Writing is such a subjective thing anyway. If you like 30 Rock's scattershot humor, you're more likely to vote for it compared to a traditional sitcom like Big Bang Theory. The latter should have snagged a nom for The Lizard-Spock Expansion episode.
The fifth edition of 
Attention, TV Squad readers, my friends and fellow television fans, it's time to announce the winner for The Excellence in Outsourcing Award, that is, the foreign actor who possesses the best American accent. There were many worthy nominees, but the overwhelming winner was House, MD himself, actor Hugh Laurie. That Englishman, one of her majesty's loyal subjects, has been making us all believe that he's just a Jersey boy. As Dr. Gregory House of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, he sounds like he was born in south Jersey, spent his summers in Asbury Park, and is as much a Garden Stater as Bruce Springsteen and Tony Soprano.
One of the things I noticed when I watched last week's pilot of The Riches was that Eddie Izzard was struggling to maintain an American accent of any kind, much less the southern accent that his character, Wayne Malloy, is likely to have.
TV Squad readers tend to know a lot about the inner workings of the television industry, so it's not a surprise to many of you that some shows we grew up with were actually retoolings of British sitcoms. Three's Company, Sanford and Son, and All in the Family are all based on shows that first aired across the pond. Sometimes, however, networks will try to turn a popular British series into a popular American series and fail miserably, and such was the case with Red Dwarf. I was a pretty big fan of the original Red Dwarf, and I would hear occasional rumblings that an American version was being planned. It turns out a pilot was actually shot with American actors, as well as Robert Llewellyn reprising his role as the android Kryten. NBC passed on the pilot but still wanted to try to turn it into a series. In the end, though, an Americanized Red Dwarf never came to fruition. 
Ice skating returns to NBC primetime tonight with the
finals in the ice dancing competition where an American team is in contention for a medal. But, the real interesting
action on the ice is over at the speed skating track. Americans Chris Witty and Jennifer Rodriguez are both going for
the gold in the 1000m. Expect to see and hear a lot about Witty from NBC tonight. She has overcome some pretty intense
personal problems since winning gold in Salt Lake City.
Oh joy. Ice dancing
begins tonight on NBC. That's one event that I just can't watch because it looks too much like
high-school-drama-club-on-ice to me. They can't jump or do lifts, so they wear weird costumes and look longingly into
each other's eyes. This is much more of an artistic event than a sport. Why is this still in the Olympics?
Beloved actor and writer Ricky Gervais, creator and star of the original
British offering The Office, will write an episode of the American version starring Steve Carell. The episode
will be co-written by Stephen Merchant. While Gervais and Merchant have each served as an executive producer
on the show, they have not yet written an episode. The news comes from Gervais' spokesman, and there's no
word on what the episode will be about or when it will air just yet.
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
