TVSquad

(S18E18) Well, what do you know, Mickey Mantle did used to do commercials for Maypo. Thanks, Rich Texan!

In general, I liked this episode. At least, it had a lot more laugh-out-loud moments for me than last week's episode. I don't think the town has turned on Bart so savagely since that time he cut the head off the Jebediah Springfield statue. I thought the absurdity of everyone getting upset over children's sport made it even funnier. I also loved how, in the end, a picket sign that reads "Bart Sucks" lowers and then raises again with the phrase "We're Sorry."

Here's what's happening in the world of pilot casting, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter:

Stephen Moyer will play a vampire opposite Anna Paquin's mind-reading waitress in Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball's new series for HBO, True Blood. The series is based on the Southern Vampire book series by Charlaine Harris about vampires who live on synthetic blood.

Brook Kerr of Passions was also cast in the pilot, which Ball wrote and will also direct.

Dick Clark will return once again for ABC's coverage of New Year's Eve on December 31.

Clark was on the show last year after missing the 2004 show because of a stroke, and he'll be back to co-host New Year's Rockin' Eve as ABC rings in 2007 and the ball drops in Times Square. (The pic on the right is from this year's Emmy Awards, when he got a special award from Barry Manilow.)

That's the good news. The bad news? He'll have to ring in the New Year with Ryan Seacrest, Christina Aguilera, and a hundred young people who actually filmed their dance segments days if not weeks ago.

Can you believe that Ford actually created a convertible in the 1950s with a system that was so easy to use even a woman could operate it? No, kidding, an honest to goodness woman. Anyway, that's the premise of this retro commercial featuring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz of I Love Lucy. Apparently women didn't develop the basic motor skills needed to push a button until the latter half of the 20th century. You gotta love the whole atavistic vibe of the ad, from Ricky telling Lucy she's better suited to taking ice cubes out of the freezer to the salesman only addressing Ricky and not even acknowledging Lucy. Check out the clip after the jump.