One of America's greatest TV icons has been officially recognized as one of its greatest humorists. Yes, he's still one of the greatest TV icons, but giving him another honor for his work in TV is like giving Jay Leno a free car.
Bill Cosby received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Monday at the Kennedy Center.
The event, set for broadcast on PBS on Nov. 4., featured presentations and words from comedy notables such as Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld. It also featured a Cosby Show reunion of sorts with Phylicia Rashad and Malcolm-Jamal Warner. It's a good thing Dr. Huxtable didn't take his boy out of the world after all.
Thursday's return of 30 Rock afforded a pretty fun segue into The Jay Leno Show. 30 Rock has always been a little self-aware, and here they took that to the next level. During the closing credits, Jack (Alec Baldwin) said to Liz (Tina Fey), "Step into the light, Lemon. There's nothing wrong with being fun and popular and just giving people what they want." He then turns directly to the camera and adds: "Ladies and gentlemen, Jay Leno."
Unfortunately, when we cut to The Jay Leno Show, his dancing girls (an homage to Jenna's video in 30 Rock) were better at looking good in their tight shorts than they were at dancing. Then, after Leno came out, we got to overhear a woman wanting to get something signed. "Can I leave it?"
I did enjoy the smooth transition into the show. It creates a sense of synergy on the network where you feel like all these shows are one big happy family. Except for Southland. But I guess there's always that one relative nobody wants around ... Hey, I just wrote a Jay Leno joke!
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the premiere episode of The Cosby Show. Here's the famous scene from the episode where Cliff explains to son Theo about the realities of living on your own and not going to college. This was an instant classic, because Cliff's reaction to Theo's speech about being a "regular person" wasn't expected, especially by an audience that had just clapped at what Theo had said.
Joan Rivers was in Pasadena in July to promote her show on TV Land, How'd You Get So Rich?, but when I spoke to her after her presentation, I was more interested in a couple of issues. First, her longevity in a business that takes even older comedians and tosses them to the side (Cosby, for instance, is more community activist than comedian these days). Second, I wanted to ask her about her experience on The Apprentice, which included her feuds with wedding planners, Clint Black, and Annie Duke.
But, Joan being Joan, she also randomly let loose on Brooke Shields, Sarah Palin, and whoever else was in her mind during the ten minutes we spoke.
We start off by talking about longevity. She feels one of the reasons she stays relevant is that she doesn't live in the past. "I don't give a shit about Johnny Carson," she said.
So I hate summer and I spend most of the hot and humid days of June, July, and August sitting in front of a fan and drinking Diet Coke (and Diet Pepsi - yes, I like both). And that got me thinking about New Coke.
Remember that? It was the disastrous reformulation of the Coke taste that people didn't really like and it came and went rather quickly in the mid-80s (though you could still get it in some areas as recently as 2002!). Wikipedia has the history of New Coke (long, but very much worth the read), and here are the commercials that introduced it to the world.
All the talk last week was about Conan O'Brien's first week at The Tonight Show (and rightfully so), but let's not forget that David Letterman had new episodes too. The CBS site offers a recap of the best moments from The Late Show and I've posted it below. It features comments about Jay Leno and Conan, Bill Cosby, John Krasinski, Paris Hilton, Paula Abdul, Jessica Biel, a cranky new neighbor, and a giant bird flying around the studio audience.
While ABC, NBC, and CBS have historically remained in a cutthroat battle for viewers, each network has shared one common trait: come the season of network promotional campaigns, all actors must be prepared to look absolutely ridiculous.
After the jump ... Remember this pop cultural gem (video below) that gained traction on the Net not too long ago? The sheer oddity of the clip alone forces us to ask ourselves several questions: do these people all live together? Why is Marla Gibbs dressed like an astronaut? Does Bea Arthur do everybody's shoppingl? CAN'T NELL CARTER JUST SIT DOWN AND REST HER FEET FOR A SECOND? (Seriously, give her a break!)
Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to take you into the world of how a writer of TV-related items thinks during his day. After reading about Jerry Seinfeld's new role as pitchman for Microsoft's Vista operating system my mind didn't turn to thoughts of how Jerry has become a corporate shill and will do anything to get his mug back on television. Nor did I think about the many pluses and minuses of Microsoft Vista. No, what I reflected upon was the fact that Jerry is not the first high-profile television personality to promote a computer.
That, in turn, brought me to YouTube and its glorious library of video history, from which I was able to cull a few examples of those other big-time TV folks who expounded on the glories of those new-fangled personal computers. New-fangled, you question? Yes, because these examples all come from the 1980s: the dawn of the personal computer era. Here are five examples of our favorite stars promoting the dickens out of their Commodore, Atari, and Texas Instruments computers.
It's Father's Day. Dad's day of the year. Earlier this week, I took the AOL TV Dad's Quiz, like Debra, and I was reminded of the variety of fathers on the tube. I think I have a unique take on TV dads. My own died when I was just eight, so I tend to admire those characters that remind me of him. For that reason, the pipe-smoking, cardigan sweater wearing Jim Anderson on Father Knows Best doesn't ring true; neither does the coarse Archie Bunker of All in the Family.
So, here's my five favorite sitcom dads, the ones I related to the most. That means I've excluded single dads and animated dads. That means Hank Hill, Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin and Fred Flintstone are ineligible for my list. Also, this is strictly sitcom pops.
I love Cosby sweaters--those loud, patterned fashion monstrosities that look good on no one. Bill Cosby is auctioning off three sweaters from his days as Heathcliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show. Proceeds from the eBay auction will benefit Hello Friend/The Ennis William Cosby Foundation, which supports education. Cosby started the foundation in 1997 to honor his son's memory.
The auction will run from June 2 to June 18, with opening bids starting at $5,000 per hideous sweater. It's all for a good cause, though. Hello Friend donates books to underfunded schools and helps train teachers, among other things. Ennis Cosby was studying to be a teacher at the time of his death, and his family wanted to continue his work.
If you've never seen the '60s intrigue drama I Spy, and haven't had the displeasure of having your brain cells infected by the abysmal big screen adaptation from a few years ago that starred Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson, you're in for a treat: the entire series is now on DVD.
Oh, it was on DVD before, but there are two differences with this release. One, the entire series has been remastered, and two, the series is in order by season. The other releases featured individual DVDs that had random episodes on them. The entire series had been released (I think, anyway), but since they weren't in season order, it was rather odd.
Luckily, the new sets take care of that error. And those aren't the only two surprises on this set.
Reunions are hot, you know? On February 12, for example, Oprah reunited (most of) the kids from The Cosby Show, with Bill appearing via satellite. Well, never one to let a good idea go to waste, NBC jumped on the theme. They recently had a Family Ties reunion on Today, so now the morning show is commencing tomorrow with a series of more "Together Again" features. Tune into 8:00 a.m. hour each day so you don't miss a thing!
At 7:30, FOX has Game 6 of The World Series.
One of America's greatest TV icons has been officially recognized as one of its greatest humorists. Yes, he's still one of the greatest TV icons, but giving him another honor for his work in TV is like giving Jay Leno a free car. 
Thursday's return of 
Joan Rivers was in Pasadena in July to promote her show on TV Land, 
While 
Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to take you into the world of how a writer of TV-related items thinks during his day. After reading about 
It's Father's Day. Dad's day of the year. Earlier this week, I took the 
I love Cosby sweaters--those loud, patterned fashion monstrosities that look good on no one. 
If you've never seen the '60s intrigue drama 
Just last night, a fan named Kevin sent me this query...
Reunions are hot, you know? On February 12, for example, Oprah reunited (most of) the kids from The Cosby Show, with Bill appearing via satellite. Well, never one to let a good idea go to waste, NBC jumped on the theme. They recently had a 
Charlie Rose: TBA 
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The TV Squad Podcast: Linda Purl talks about The Office, we talk spoilers, and more
