TVSquad

A professional knife thrower (with the unbelievably cool action hero name of Jack Dagger) taught Conan O'Brien how to throw knives last night on The Tonight Show. Don't worry, Dagger doesn't let him throw at any actual living human beings.

It's the contemporary version of Ed Ames throwing the tomahawks.

Sometimes it's really dangerous to try to recreate something you've seen on television. Can you imagine trying to fly like Nathan on Heroes or trying to be an overweight guy who marries a really hot woman like on all of the sitcoms? Dangerous! We've already seen a bunch of kids injured by trying to copy stunts on Jackass and Punk'd.

But some recreations aren't that dangerous, especially if you do them inside. Mena Trott over at the Dollar Short blog decided to see if she could attach balloons to her young daughter and have her float in the air, a la Webster in the opening credits of the 80s ABC sitcom. The result? Well, turns out you can't put a bunch of balloons on a child or a small person (or a dog) and make them float in the air.

On a cool Thanksgiving morning old (Underdog) and new (Stewie from Family Guy) parade balloons battle it out for a inflatable bottle of Coca-Cola. As they cross the skyline of New York City fists fly and heads are butted. But, in the end, neither is the one who claims the prize. That honor goes to the honorable Charlie Brown, who seems to have finally won something in his life.

This was a cute and gentle commercial by Cola-Cola, which rarely disappoints when it comes to Super Bowl ads. I never realized that the Underdog and Stewie Thanksgiving Day balloons had such angry looks on their faces. That was an advantage in this commercial as we saw the two balloons battling it out. I enjoyed when Underdog slammed Stewie against the building. Nice job overall.

I know everyone was really busy yesterday, cooking and rushing around, but I was wondering if anyone still watches the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? I have no idea what the ratings are for the show every year, though I wouldn't be surprised if they are pretty good, considering there isn't anything else on the networks at that time.

I'm not a parade person at all. I can't stand, well, standing there waiting for marching bands and people in funny costumes go by (I've never seen the Macy's parade, I mean parades in general). Yesterday the weather was pretty bad in New York City: windy, rainy, raw, but the crowds still came out to watch the parade go by. Besides not liking parades, the one thing I hate about TV coverage of parades is the inane banter that the hosts do, and the info they're obvivously reading off of cards. Drives me nuts. TV Newser reports that Meredith Vieira might have gone a little bit overboard during her first year of covering the event.

I like the idea of the Macy's Day Parade, and the spectacle and the gala and the tradition, and I'm glad people like it so much they have it every year. But I can't watch it. How about you?

What a load of crap. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a tribute to helium, lip syncing, egregious product placement, and in a small way, Thanksgiving. However, don't expect to see either Kermit the Frog or Charlie the Brown floating high above with all the other balloons. Instead, they'll be replaced by Flying Ace Snoopy, Pickachu and the Energizer Bunny. Okay, I'll accept one Peanuts character replacing another, but c'mon, getting rid of an icon like Kermit the Frog for some lame incoherent cartoon character or a product mascot? If I hadn't accepted long ago that this annual parade is essentially a slow moving advertisement, I'd be much more bothered than I am right now.

Oh yeah, and if you're concerned about another balloon-related accident like the one that occurred last year, extra precautions have been taken, including wind instruments along the route to help avoid such occurrences. Now the only thing they'll have to worry about is a bolt of lightening striking the Snoopy balloon and causing it to come to life a la Frankenstein's monster, resulting in utter mayhem as he flies his doghouse over Broadway, launching sidewinder missiles at the SpongeBob balloon. When you think about it, that's really what Thanksgiving is all about ... in my head.