TVSquad

There used to be a lot of TV shows on overnight that were worth watching. I don't mean repeats of sitcoms or dramas that usually air earlier, but original programming geared towards the night owl. There aren't many shows like that anymore, but there's one on Fox News (yes, Fox News) at 3 AM and it's well worth catching (if you're worried about staying up that late, well, that's why God put DVRs on this Earth).

If I had to describe Red Eye it would be like this: it's a mix of Politically Incorrect and The McLaughlin Group, only for people who are up late at night drinking or eating too much junk food, with a host who comes at things from a conservative viewpoint but it's not really a political show. They go more for the jokes than they stress any ideology, and it's actually really funny. Like The Daily Show or The Colbert Report, it can't be easy to write a show that's on every single night, but host Greg Gutfeld pulls it off.

I guess all those good reviews and high ratings haven't gone unnoticed. United States of Tara has only been on the air for a month, but Showtime has already committed to another year of Toni Collette dealing with her multiple personalities. The network has given the green light to a 12 episode second season.

Tara's premiere earned 2.67 million viewers, more than the premieres of Showtime's Dexter, Weeds, Californication and The Tudors. I'm with America on this one. I was charmed by the Tara premiere, and it's quickly become my favorite Showtime series.

(S01E01) My first reaction to seeing the Tara premiere was that this one is going to be very hit and miss with viewers. Diablo Cody doesn't have a long list of credits, but she certainly does have her own unique style. If it's a style you like, you'll be able to fall right in with this one. If you don't ... yeah ... this one could grate on you. Even if that is the case though, I would encourage you to hang in there and give the show a little time. Underneath the occasionally too clever dialog, the Gregson's story has a heart.

When I went to last summer's press tour, one of the more intriguing previews I saw there was of Showtime's new series The United States of Tara. It was intriguing for a couple of reasons: first, it was written and produced by the combination of Diablo Cody and Steven Spielberg. That's right; the stripper-turned-Oscar-winning-screenwriter of Juno fame is teaming up with the hitmaker to produce this show.

But the topic of the show is also interesting: Toni Collette stars as Tara, a suburban housewife and mom who also happens to suffer from dissociative identity disorder. Each of her three alternate personalities can pop out at any time, and her family has to deal with it when it does.

Showtime is offering an unedited version of the pilot if you want to sign up for it, but we also have the full pilot (albeit a bit edited for content) after the jump, thanks to our friends at AOL TV. I'm sure it'll be funny and touching all at once. As long as none of Tara's personalities ever says "honest to blog," I'll be a happy camper.

Some quickie news from Showtime, presented by entertainment president Bob Greenblatt:

• Ilene Chaiken is developing a spin-off for The L Word, which will feature a yet unspecified character from the original show, whose upcoming season will be its last. There will be an open-ended plot in the season finale that Chaiken will continue online, then pick up if the spin-off comes to pass.
• Two more 13-episode seasons of Weeds have been ordered.
• A seventh season of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! has been ordered, making it Showtime's longest-running show.
• A reality/documentary show called Lock 'N Load has been ordered; it's filmed in a gun shop, and it shows the various people who purchase guns and "exploit their right to bear arms," according to the press release.
• Two new pilots have been ordered and filmed. The United States of Tara, produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Diablo Cody, stars Toni Collette as a suburban mother with multiple-personality disorder. John Corbett stars as her husband (yes... it's a comedy). The other pilot is tentatively-titled Nurse Jackie. It stars Edie Falco as a New York City nurse with a painkiller addiction who sometimes crosses moral lines to help her patients (no... it's not a comedy). Tara will begin airing in winter 2009, and Jackie will begin airing in late spring or early summer.
  

When you think of funny people in America, who do you immediately think of? Stephen Colbert? Robin Williams? Chris Rock? Matt Stone and Trey Parker? How about David Letterman or Dane Cook?

Some of the people above are on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 25 funniest people in America (two of the people above aren't on the list, nor should they be!). Some of the choices are downright baffling (as usual for these lists): Augustun Burroughs? Please. Diablo Cody? Good writer, but one of the funniest in the country based on Juno? But it's good to see the Sedarises on there (both David and Amy), as well as people like Tina Fey and Demetri Martin. There are even two current cast members of Saturday Night Live on the list. Can you guess who they are?

Once you read the list, you can go into the comments and say "why the hell is _________ on the list?!?"

Showtime is bringing us a new comedy series. They've ordered twelve episodes of The United States of Tara which will star Toni Collette as a wife/mother who suffers from dissociative identity (multiple personality disorder). The half-hour comedy will follow Collette, her husband (played by John Corbett), and their children as Collette copes with her different identities. They never know which age, temperament or even gender Collette will be on any given day.

Oscar-winner Diablo Cody (Juno) wrote the pilot and will continue on as a writer and executive producer. She is joined by executive producers Steven Speilberg, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Alex Junge. The pilot was directed by Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl).

Our resident Spaced-nut Annie mentioned the upcoming region 1 DVD set back in March. If you haven't seen the show, just the fact that it's coming out is reason enough to go pick it up. It really is as good as everyone says. But if you have seen the show, it looks like this one will be worth checking out for you as well.

As I was going about my workday, a little blurb popped up on twitter from Diablo Cody that said, "SPACED (The ORIGINAL!) is coming out on DVD soon! (And a lucky bitch named Diablo Cody got to contribute commentary.)" That's interesting enough, and you should check out her Twitter feed. It's an entertaining read. Even better though, she goes on to add that we can also expect commentary from Bill Hader, Patton Oswalt, Quentin Tarentino, Matt Stone, and Kevin Smith. Sign me up for that.

A curious search later, Google sent me to spaced-out.org.uk, which confirms the commentary and goes into further detail about the extras included on the new set. They also have some fun quotes about the show from J.J. Abrams, Kevin Smith and Matt Stone.