TVSquad

We've already told you about the complete series Get Smart DVDs, but did you know that there was an updated version of the show, and it starred Andy Dick?! The complete series of this version is being released on DVD on June 3.

I actually knew about this, but I always thought it was just a pilot movie or a pilot that didn't go to series, but it actually lasted seven episodes on FOX. The odd thing is, it aired in 1995, when Dick started NewsRadio. Apparently he only appeared in the pilot (according to the IMDB link above) and then went on to NewsRadio from there. That sounds a little odd to me, since he played the son of Agent 86 and Agent 99. Plus he's on the cover of the DVD. Hmmmm. If anyone has any other information about the show let me know in the comments below.

After the jump, the opening credits of the show.

Update: According to TV.com, Dick was in every episode. Also, one of the extras on the set is in an episode of NewsRadio, which is understandable (plus an ep of T.J. Hooker, which is not).

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This is one of the funniest videos I've seen all week, second only to the video of Miss Teen and her educational policy. It's Andy Dick outside of a nightclub, confronting a TMZ photographer.

It's not funny in one way, because Dick is obviously, um, a little out of it. But the funny parts are 1. Dick is wearing a dress shirt, tie, and shorts, and 2. Dick's "attack" is rather lighthearted, even if he does shove the camera (the cameraman jokes with Dick throughout the entire thing and gets off some funny lines). A random woman on the street shouts encouragement to Andy too.

The best part is he chases the TMZ guy a couple of blocks, and as an added bonus we get an accidental tour of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

A lot of people have wanted to do this for a long time, and now Jon Lovitz has done it. It also brings up something from the past I wasn't aware of.

At L.A.'s Laugh Factory the other night, Lovitz and Andy Dick got into an argument about Phil Hartman's death and Andy Dick's drug use. Five months before Brynn Hartman shot Phil and herself to death, Dick allegedly gave her cocaine at a house party that Lovitz also attended. Brynn Hartman had been sober for ten years, and now Lovitz blames Dick giving her the cocaine as the reason why she got hooked again and killed Hartman and herself five months later.

• Charlie Rose: Ian McEwan
• The Daily Show: Margaret Spellings (repeat)
• The Colbert Report: Bay Buchanan and Bob Deans (repeat)
• The Late Show With David Letterman: Regis Philbin and Darlene Love (repeat)
• Jay Leno: Jamie Foxx, Jimmy Fallon, Peter Bjorn and John (repeat)
• Jimmy Kimmel Live: Andy Dick, Danica Patrick, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (repeat)
• Tavis Smiley: Right To Return Part 4
• Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Cuba Gooding, Jr., Joy Behar, and Jonathan Katz (repeat)
• The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Carrot Top and Miranda Lambert
• Last Call With Carson Daly: Amy Smart and Amos Lee (repeat)

I think it can be universally agreed that the fifth season of NewsRadio - the final season - was by far the worst season of the series. Not only was Phil Hartman killed during the hiatus, but another cast member (Jon Lovitz) came on board and just didn't fit in to what the rest of the group had built over the previous four seasons.

The season kicks off with the "Bill Moves On" episode, where the gang has just returned from Bill's funeral (he died of a heart attack), and everyone mocks Dave's 2 hour eulogy. Matthew doesn't really believe Bill is dead, everyone thinks Lisa is drunk, and Catherine (Khandi Alexander) returns to the show for one episode. This is one of the better episodes of the last season, because it's important to the show's history and (as is revealed on one of the commentaries), they didn't really rehearse it or do any run throughs. It was hard enough getting through it once on tape night. The tears you see are real. It ends with everyone taking an item off Bill's desk to remember him. Jimmy takes the whole desk. A nice tribute.

(S18E14)

Marge [talking to Bart at the psychiatrist's office]: Bart, honey, this is all we can afford for now. If it doesn't work, maybe when you're older you can pay some lady to make you happy for an hour.

Bart: You know, I'm pretty sure I will.

Part of the fun of watching The Simpsons is trying to guess who the guest voice is each week. This episode had five guest voices packed into the episode, some of which were easier to guess since the actors were playing themselves, of course: Steven Sondheim, Meg Ryan, Peter Bogdanavich, Andy Dick and James Patterson.

As Joel told you earlier, The Simpsons reaches 400 episodes this May. But who should be in the 400th ep, Keifer Sutherland or The FCC?

There are two episodes in the running: one is a spoof of 24 that will feature the voice of Sutherland, and the other will be a satire about the FCC (Kent Brockman gets in trouble for saying something on television). I vote for the FCC ep. A good satire of that organization would be a nice way to celebrate the milestone. Hopefully, like recent episodes of Studio 60, the episode gets in some really good jabs at the FCC.

Other Simpsons news: guest voices for the rest of this season will include Stephen Colbert, Andy Dick, Meg Ryan, and Natalie Portman. The big screen movie opens on July 27 and will be rated PG-13.

So what episode would you vote for? It doesn't say that this episode is the season-ender, even though it's in May. Maybe they can run the FCC ep as the 400th and the 24 episode as the season-ender, maybe have a nuclear bomb go off in Springfield and leave a cliffhanger for next season.

For two reasons. The obvious reason is because Phil Hartman isn't in the picture. Instead, we get Jon Lovitz, who pretty much made the last season of the show unwatchable (except for a couple of episodes). He was really out of place as a regular cast member on the show (though he was great in the guest roles he had earlier in the series), and his character was completely unlikable.

But the second reason I'm not thrilled with the pic is that the original artwork on the box actually had Phil Hartman on it (you can see it here). The cast was standing in front of a picture of Hartman. In the new version, the cast is standing in front of a picture of New York City. Yeah, Hartman wasn't in the last season, but wouldn't that have been a nice nod to Hartman in the final set? The first episode of the season is about Bill McNeal's death, after all.

The fifth season set will be released on March 20.

Actually, make that two.

Several months ago, I pointed out that the DVD version of the NewsRadio episode "The Injury" (the one where Matthew hurts his hand) is the edited version. In the subplot where Bill is doing on-air commentaries about broadcasters using the word "penis," Dave confronts Bill, and besides Dave saying the phrase "per penis" (referring to how much money Bill be have to pay as a fine), Bill calls Dave a penis under his breath. Both of these mentions of the word penis are not in the version on the DVD.

But I was watching the episode on TBS today (stations are starting to air NewsRadio again, including TBS and Nick at Nite) and it aired unedited! All the penises were intact (so to speak). I'm now wondering why the version shown on television has all mentions of a naughty word but the DVD version is edited? I understand that the episode wasn't shown until the third season (even though it was filmed in the second season) because of all of the penis mentions, but why is the original version intact on TV but censored on the DVD?

And I'm still wondering why the swears on the NewsRadio DVD commentaries are bleeped out. Seems odd to me.