TVSquad

We've talked a lot here at TV Squad about movies made from TV shows. A while back, Anna listed her picks for the 10 best movies based on TV shows, and then Paul listed his picks for the 10 worst. (I also chimed in with my picks for 5 TV shows that are better than the original movie). Now Rotten Tomatoes picks the 50 best movies made from TV shows, and the results are...odd.

Now, some of the choices are predictable if not accurate, including Star Trek II, Wayne's World, South Park, Mission: Impossible, The Untouchables, and The Brady Bunch Movie. And fans of Firefly will be happy to see Serenity on the list (and in the top 10!).

The FOX network has announced plans for a brand new cop show about a police officer from Albania who is transplanted to the US.

The one hour project, currently tittled Raffik, will be a fish-out-of-water story focusing on the officer's reactions to the wonders of America.

The only details of the project that have been revealed are that Anthony Horowitz is the creator. Horowitz previously created Foyle's War and also worked on Poirot both for ITV.

Most TV viewers don't know who Larry Charles is, but fans of the shows Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm are well aware of him. As one of the more underrated members of Larry David's team, he wrote some of both shows' most memorable episodes. His last project, as the director of the Borat movie, also earned him praise, even if he toiled away deep in Sacha Baron Cohen's shadow.

But the success of Borat has been good for everyone, including Charles: Variety is reporting that he has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the ABC TV Studio for what the industry rag said was in the "mid-seven figures." In the deal, Charles will write and direct a number of projects, including "scripted and hybrid comedies and possibly even animation," according to the article. This will be the first time he has worked for broadcast TV in a number of years.

I thought Jon Stewart did a fine job as Oscar host, but I can understand them wanting to go with a more "traditional" choice. And with Ellen, I think the mainstream people get someone who they can enjoy (her daytime talk show is a hit) and the people who want their humor a little more wiseass will get their way too (people forget Ellen can be quite clever).

In this interview with TV Guide, DeGeneres promises not to suck, and also says that she's not going to copy what people in the past have done. Meaning, she's not going to put on the dance shows and dance a la Billy Crystal. She does say that it's going to be a little more fun and casual than most years.

And her favorite Oscars host was Johnny Carson, so that's a good sign.

Related:
NPR wants you to write an Oscar speech
Ellen DeGeneres stand-up special on Comedy Central in February

Variety is reporting that, despite comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's current international popularity, both of his signature characters are having a tough time gaining any kind of traction in, of all countries, Spain. Not only has the Borat movie only taken in 2.1 million euros since being released almost a month ago, but the TV3 network's broadcasts of the old HBO series Da Ali G Show are tanking in the ratings. The article speculates a bit as to why this is happening: since the TV3 network has been showing Britcoms like Blackadder with success, that's not a reason; the time slot seems to be suitable for the audience the network wants to attract.

Felicity co-creator Matt Reeves has a high concept series in development for ABC. (That's poor Matt on the right, sitting behind Felicity's more famous half J.J. Abrams.) Called Ordinary Joe, Reeves' new series follows the story of a man, who at 21 had to decide whether to go after the girl he always wanted, choose the girl who always wanted him or remain single. The show picks up 12 years later and flashbacks to the three different versions of his life that would have been depending on what choice he made. Each episode intertwines the series of events that follows the three different life choices - connecting them via theme.

It's a little Sliding Doors, a little Run Lola Run. All of my favorite themes are there -- fate, regret, choices, connection, what's unchanging about a person and what's not. Ever since 24's success, networks have been looking for high concept shows like this. Hugh Jackman has a Rashomon-like project in the works. There are a slew of part-scripted, part-documentary Borat-y projects in the works, too. What will float, and what will sink? We'll have to wait and see. Let's just hope the lead in Ordinary Joe gets a haircut in each version of his life so we can tell the difference.

There's an old British 'Where Are They Now'-type special up on YouTube that is all about Sacha Baron Cohen. The special looks a little dated because it focuses on his work on television as Ali G, and it shows Kristoff, an Albanian reporter character that strongly resembles Borat. It chronicles Cohen's childhood-- he attended an affluent school and then went to Cambridge. There are some old, cringe-worthy video clips of him and his brother ridiculing Jews and of Cohen hosting various cable access shows. One interesting revelation is a picture is of Cohen as a model. That's right- behind the Ali G and Borat characters is a rather good-looking fellow. His short stint as a fashion model reportedly inspired his red carpet reporter character, Bruno.

The video is after the jump. It's pretty long, so if you just want to see the modeling bit, it's at 8:00.

You read that headline correctly: the current issue of Rolling Stone has an interview with comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Not Borat, not Ali G, not even the somewhat clueless version of himself that he projected when he was promoting Talladega Nights. For some reason, the ever-elusive Cohen decided to bare all and speak to writer Neil Strauss, who's sold a lot of books by putting on a character himself.

In the excerpt that RS has posted online, we learn a few interesting things: for instance, we've known for some time that Cohen is Jewish, but here we learn that he's so observant that he keeps kosher and observes Shabbos (you'll never see him on Friday nights or Saturday during the day). We also find out that he's a bit reserved and would rather be plying his comedic trade behind his characters' faces than do anything on his own. It's an interesting read that makes me want to actually pick up the dead-trees version to read the entire article, which is saying something in this web-centric world.

With the Village Voice reporting on the general lameness of SNL's afterparties these days, it figures that it took two British dudes to shake things up post-show. When Hugh Laurie and Sacha Baron Cohen hit a local bar after their SNL appearance, Cohen - still in his Borat character - couldn't resist messing around with the locals on the walk over. Unfortunately he messed with the wrong local.

British newspaper The Sun is reporting that he tried to buy a man's clothes saying, "I like your clothings. Are nice! Please may I buying? I want have sex with." I wonder which part the guy didn't find funny? He was so offended that he punched Cohen in the face and continued punching him. Who came to his rescue? None other than Dr. House, who pushed the attacker away and helped Cohen to his feet. Cohen received no lasting bruises, and I'm sure if there was something internal House would have noticed right away.

You got to give it to the guy for staying in character even in off hours, but for his own safety, maybe it's time the real Sacha Baron Cohen please stand up.

Thanks to TV Squad reader Chris W for the tip.

Remember the '90s, that golden age of the internet when hamsters danced, there were mullets galore, sexually ambiguous men dressed as Peter Pan, all our base were belong to somebody, and a man from Turkey offered his lips to the online world? Those were good times. Now one of those long lost remnants of Web's past have returned, and we can thank Borat for it. It seems that Mahir Cagri of "I Kiss You!" internet fame feels that Borat, the character created by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for HBO's Da Ali G Show, and the star of the new film, Borat: Culture Leanings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, is based on him. In an e-mail and brief interview with Wired, Cagri said he planned to seek legal action against Borat, and that "sometimes, I been no mustache." I think that goes to show that no matter how separated we are by geography, there are still some things that unite us all, for I have also never been a mustache.

No doubt capitalizing on Borat fever, CBS' broadband channel Innertube is broadcasting the full-length pilot episode of The Papdits created by Da Ali G Show writer and producer Ant Hines. The show's Borat-type premise follows the misadventures of a family from Kashmir as they interact with Americans while looking for the perfect place to settle and make their fortune. Their journey begins in Arkansas.

The show, again like Borat, is a comedy/reality hybrid. You've got mockumentary, talking head shots like The Office, but also scenes in which the actors are improvising off of unwitting American dupes. The Papdits perpetuate that uncomfortable, cringe-inducing humor we've all come to know and love.

Those of you who saw Borat last weekend probably also saw the incredibly hilarious trailer for the Reno 911! movie, called Reno 911: Miami. In the film, the team goes to Miami for a law enforcement convention and then ends up taking over for the Miami PD. From Dangle's short shorts to Wiegel's trash-talking on the beach... you're gonna love it. Plus, the whole cast of MTV's The State makes an appearance. The trailer is now up exclusively on Australian Yahoo! and it plays kinda crappy on a Mac (where's the love, y'all?).

I'm getting conflicting reports about when it will be released: Wikipedia says it's February 23rd, but Whitney at USA Today says it's not until May 10. Unfortunately, the Reno 911! fan site hasn't been updated in a year so it was no help. If you know a release date, put it in the comments!

*Update: Thanks, Whitney! The movie comes out in the states on February 23rd.

As part of The Daily Show''s good-bye to Ohio State University, a few of the correspondents donned OSU gear and talked about how much fun they had during the past week. However, Rob Riggle put on some Michigan gear and pretty much made the entire crowd want to kill him. What a brave, brave man.

John Hodgman, Daily Show Resident Expert and second busiest man alive (after Flavor Flav, because going through an intense book tour is just slightly less taxing than Flavor of Love), dropped by to talk about the new computerized voting methods. "These new voting machines are SHINY. They go beep and boop." This segment got me thinking... Which would be more awesome? The Diebold Transformer or the Diebold Accuclaw?

With the release of Borat this Friday to movie theaters around America, HBO wants to remind you that they were the ones who gave U.S. audiences a look at the lovable Sacha Baron Cohen character that appeared regularly on Da Ali G Show. So, with that in mind, the network is going to go Borat crazy over the next two weeks.

It will begin this upcoming Saturday when HBO airs all 12 episodes of Ali G not once, but twice. The run of episodes (I get tired of saying marathon because it really isn't) will begin at noon and end at 6:00 PM. Then, the network will air eight episodes on Monday (from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am) and four on Tuesday (8:00 pm to 10:00 pm). If you miss those episodes they will be available on HBO on Demand from November until late January.

One can hope that the media blitz on this new movie as well as the word on the street makes Borat the hit of the year in the theaters. We shall see come this Friday.

If you're like me, you think about a Halloween costume at the very last minute. This year, if I suddenly need to dress up, I may go to Forbes.com and . The financial website has printable face masks for all sorts of famous figures, including Stephen ColbertKatie Couric (although, it's the old Katie Couric and it's scary).

There's also a Lindsay Lohan mask-- which looks more like Kate Bosworth if you ask me-- and a Borat mask. For the politically minded, there's Kim Jong Il, and for the people who like to make others uncomfortable, there's always Rep. Mark Foley. Blackberry not included.