TVSquad

How much of Swingtown is real and how much is pure fiction? According to Mike Kelley, Swingtown's creator, there are elements in the show that come right from his childhood memories of growing up on the North Shore, a trendy suburb of Chicago. But the sex and the swinging? That's mostly creative license.

So were there really sex parties and swinging in the Kelley home? "You know, it comes from imagination, for the most part."

Inspired by 1976, the era of women's liberation, disco-dancing, the end of the Vietnam War, and sexual freedom thanks to the pill and no AIDS, Kelley balances the fantastic elements with nostalgia.

Did you watch the finale of Top Chef on Bravo last night? It wasn't as exciting as the previous three seasons, but what it lacked in drama, it made up for in history. For the first time ever, a woman was crowned Top Chef. Chicago chef Stephanie Izard beat out Richard Blais and Lisa Fernandes by preparing a four-course meal -- including dessert -- that wowed the judges and outshone her competitors.

I was rooting for Stephanie because all through the Top Chef challenges, she showed talent, temperment, taste and modesty (with regard to her chef skills). She consistently produced great food and even though the win last night was not based on the entire season, it could have been because she again came through.

Just to be clear, Stephanie didn't win because she's a woman and it was time for Top Chef to give the prize to the female of the species. This isn't a Hillary thing, so don't go there!

To many people, William Shatner is a beloved TV icon. To others, he's a shameless self-promoter, a commercial pitchman for everything from margarine to hotel rooms. Few feel neutral about Shatner, so this story may come as something of a surprise. William Shatner rarely watches himself on TV and film. Like a lot of actors, when he works, he's in the moment and doesn't go back and study what he did and why. It's been working for him. As Denny Crane on Boston Legal, he's won two Emmys in the last three years.

Last summer Anna told you about a new Oprah store that was planned for Chicago. The store has now opened, down the street from her studio, and The Chicago Sun-Times has all the details.

Besides all of the stuff you know you'd be able to buy at the store (Oprah books, O magazine, books by Oprah-endorsed people such as Maya Angelou, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Bob Greene), you can also get $300 Gianfranco Ferre brown crocodile ankle boots, velour jogging suits, and polo shirt/leash outfits for your dog. What, no cars or refrigerators?

(S14E12) "Were you ever drunk at work?"-- Sam to Abby

Good evening, and thank you for flying TV Squad. We know you have many choices in which television reviews you read, and we appreciate your clickage. Our regularly scheduled attendant Rich Keller is unavailable this evening, so I will be serving up complimentary opinions and maybe even a little snark. Truthiness is $5. We appreciate correct change. So, sit right back and let's get started.

The stage version of Family Guy will be in Chicago next month. That's right, there's a stage version of the Fox show. Family Guy Live started in 2004 at a Montreal comedy festival and then had a couple of shows in LA and New York in 2005. It appeared again in Montreal this summer and now is headed for a two-night gig in Chicago.

The live show features all the actors who do voices for the show, including creator Seth MacFarlane, Mila Kunis, Seth Green, Mike Henry and Alex Borstein. The performance is a compilation of musical numbers from the actual series. And, because it's live, I can only imagine that it hasn't been nearly as censored as it would be on Fox.

There will be just two shows in September 15th at the Chicago Theater. The production coincides with Family Guy's syndication on Tribune stations, which have headquarters in Chicago.

Just like Disney and NBC before her, Oprah is opening up her own store for Oprah-themed merchandise. It's going to be in Chicago, naturally, adjacent to Harpo Studios where she currently films her show.

The store is supposed to draw the Oprah audiences inside after they view a taping, but it will inevitably become a draw for just about anyone as Oprah is both the Queen of the World and the High Empress of Chicago.

Items available in the store will be pretty much the same stuff you can find in the Oprah Boutique on her website, such as the Oprah iPod cover, African crafts, clothing, DVDs, and the baby gear. It would actually be neat if the store would also feature some of her "favorite things" that she lists in each edition of her magazine.

[Via TV Tattle]

I mentioned not too long ago that Reno 911! would be going into syndication, and it looks like Superstation WGN has picked up the series for its late night comedy block this fall that will also include Scrubs, Becker and Corner Gas (a Canadian sitcom). WGN has acquired the first three season of the improved series for a two-year run. The series finishes off its fourth season on Comedy Central starting April 1, and it has been picked up for a fifth season, as well.

I think Reno 911! should translate pretty well to syndication. Naturally, some stuff may be have to be censored or edited completely, but one advantage the show has is that it's shot as if its a legitimate reality show, a la Cops, which means naughty bits and swear words are often censored, anyway. I suppose they'd still have to do that even on Comedy Central, my point is that such censoring just adds to the "reality" of this fake program.

We've talked about the FOX comedy The Loop several times on this blog. I didn't care much for the show. It had some good points and a ton of potential, but it just wasn't funny. I know, I know, there are many of you who disagree with me and will let me know in the comments below (as you have in the past), and I guess this news is for you people.

The show is coming to DVD on March 6. It's the first (and so far only) season of the show, all 7 episodes. The show will be in "Anamorphic Widescreen." I'm not sure, but I think that means it's going to be close-captioned.

This brings up a good point though: what happened to this show? Was it "officially" canceled or just put on "hiatus," that netherworld where shows go to die? It just seemed to be there one moment and then just not around anymore. Sorta like Stacked.

Update: The Loop lives! The second season premieres later this year.

CSI will soon be making the rounds to science museums across America. The franchise has created "The CSI Experience", an interactive exhibit for adults and older kids to experience the excitement that is forensic science. Museum visitors will get to gather evidence and test it in labs and autopsy rooms, as they're guided along by videotaped messages from the stars of all three CSI franchises.

The $2.4 million exhibit was created by CBS, the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, and the National Science Foundation. Rice University is also creating a website to accompany the traveling exhibit.

"The CSI Experience" premieres May 25th at the Chi's Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

When Battlestar returns with new episodes on the 21st it will be bringing along a new partner on the Sci Fi schedule, The Dresden Files. The show is based on the popular series of novels by Jim Butcher. Both follow the adventures of Chicagoan Harry Dresden (Paul Blackthorne, 24). His life is not like yours or mine, because Harry is a wizard.

But unlike that other wizard named Harry, in Mr. Dresden's world there are no boundaries separating the world of magic from the world of the everyday. Earning his living as a wizard-for-hire, he's the only one in the phone book, you can imagine that things don't always go so smoothly for Harry. A good many of the people that know of or find out about him dismiss him as a kook straight away, without investigating further. Interestingly, I think the show may have some of those same issues.

If you caught Thursday's Daily Show, you saw host Jon Stewart mock the Jimmy Dean/Sara Lee breakfast treat that provides a sausage wrapped in a chocolate chip pancake and skewered on a convenient wooden stick. While I think that particular breakfast item belongs in the pharmacy section as an ipecac to induce vomiting in case you accidentally ingest poison rather than in the freezer section next to the Eggo toaster waffles, Chicago-based Sara Lee said they received calls and e-mails asking where they could find the snack. Apparently people will listen to Jon Stewart when he attacks the current administration, but they prefer to make up their own mind when it comes to what pancake-wrapped meat they shove down their gullet. Stewart may have inadvertently kicked off a whole new trend of complete meals on a stick: I imagine we can expect to see a block of cheese wrapped in bologna and bread with a mayonnaise dipping cup soon, as well as a giant meatball wound in spaghetti.

If I were to pick 10 of my favorite TV people of all-time, my list would include people like Rod Serling, Dick Van Dyke and Carl Reiner, everyone behind The Simpsons, and, of course, American Idol judge Paula Abdul.

OK, I'm kidding about that last one.

But also on that list would be veteran comic Bob Newhart. Not only did he star in two great classic sitcoms (The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart), and a third underrated one (George & Leo), he's also a brilliant standup comic. He even had the #1 album and won a Grammy, beating out people like Frank Sinatra. He's funny, has a unique style, and just seems like a helluva decent guy.

If for some reason you find yourself at the Northwestern University Homecoming Parade in Chicago this Friday, keep an eye out for Stephen Colbert, who will be leading the parade. The Chicago Sun-Times spoke with Colbert about his college years, a time during which he describes himself as a poet and a jerk, not to mention pretentious. Yeah, well, everyone's pretentious in college, that's why we don't allow college students to mingle with the outside world. Not surprisingly, Colbert was in theater, along with David Schwimmer (note the picture on the right).

What might be surprising is that he aspired to be a dramatic actor, a story not unheard of among comedians. Jon Lovitz also set out to be a dramatic actor, but fell into comedy much like Colbert did. Reading the article, I remembered something Lovitz once said in an interview about a mentor who told him the key to comedic acting was to say absurd things but act as if what you're saying is completely sane. Watching the Colbert Report, it's pretty clear Stephen understands this as well.

[via CC Insider]

Movie critic Roger Ebert is still recovering from surgery he had in June to remove a cancerous growth on his salivary gland and then emergency surgery he had in July when a blood vessel burst. Ebert published a letter in Thursday's Chicago Sun-Times saying that he hopes to be back at work (at the paper and on television) in time for the Oscars and the Cannes Film Festival. He also said he plans to review The Queen, starring Helen Mirren, in this Friday's newspaper since a producer managed to get him a DVD copy of the film.

Since Ebert left his television show, Richard Roeper has hosted various guest film critics including Kevin Smith and Jay Leno. This week's co-host is A.O. Scott, a reviewer for the New York Times.