TVSquad

• Charlie Rose: Charlie in China, and an Iraq update
• The Daily Show: Christopher Walken
• The Colbert Report: Mark Moffett
• The Late Show With David Letterman: Adam Sandler and Mute Math
• Jay Leno: Holly Hunter, Phyllis Diller, and Ryan Adams
• Jimmy Kimmel Live: Brian Williams, Petra Nemcova, and As Tall As Lions
• Tavis Smiley: Herreast Harrison and Cherice Harrison-Nelson (repeat)
• Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Jessica Biel, Artie Lange, and The Cribs
• The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Carl Reiner, Jonah Hill, and Bright Eyes (repeat)
• Last Call With Carson Daly: Oscar De La Hoya and Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• Bud Molin: He was a film editor who worked on several TV shows, including the Sheldon Leonard-produced The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, and I Spy, as well as projects with Carl Reiner, including the movies The Jerk, Oh, God, The Man With Two Brains, and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. He also worked on I Love Lucy. Molin died in Rancho Mirage, CA at age 81. (That's him on the left, with Desi Arnaz and Dann Cahn.)

A new feature here at TV Squad: Standout Episodes, where we review a great episode of a TV series, one that's a perfect example of how great television can be.

"The Death of the Party"
Filmed: October 27, 1964
Aired: December 9, 1964

Since I mentioned The Dick Van Dyke Show earlier this week, I figured I'd start with an episode from that classic sitcom. But boy, it wasn't easy picking the first one.

I could have picked, well, approximately 156 of the 158 episodes the show had over its five season run, but this one stands out because it truly has everything you need for a great episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Longtime readers of this blog know how much I love this show. I pretty much became a writer because Rob Petrie was one. I also hoped I could get a woman like Mary Tyler Moore. It's my favorite show. Here's more proof: even though I had already bought three seasons of this show on DVD in individual sets, I still bought this complete set.

A quick background on the show, as if you don't already know: Dick Van Dyke plays Rob Petrie, head writer of the hit variety show The Alan Brady Show, husband to Laura (Mary Tyler Moore), father to Ritchie (Larry Mathews), best friend to his neighbors the Helpers (Jerry Paris and Ann Morgan Guilbert). He lives in New Rochelle, NY and commutes to New York City to write the show with fellow staff writers Sally Rogers and Buddy Sorrell (Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam) and deal with exasperated producer Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon) and egotistical star Alan Brady (Carl Reiner).

Got all that? Good. Let's get to the nitty gritty details of the set.

Clearly, George Clooney and Brad Pitt are more important than the writers over at Without A Trace.

Defamer reports that the air conditioning for the writer's offices at the CBS show has been turned off, because they are filming Ocean's 13 right next door and they don't want the sound of the air conditioners to ruin the sound recording of the movie sequel. Says someone on the scene:

"As a result, the staff is sweltering in heat equivalent to the surface of the sun (this is the Valley, after all) and it doesn't seem as though the injustice will end any time soon. The writers are calling on all of their brethren in the television realm to rise up in solidarity, pelting those responsible with (possibly killer) tomatoes until this grave situation is resolved."

Ha. I like it when they reference killer tomatoes.