TVSquad

This web-only video below is part of the "Where's My Emmy?" campaign to convince people to vote for Family Guy. It starts out funny (with a joke or two about The Office) but then turns really unfunny when Stewie starts to beat up Brian.

Now we know why Homer weighs so much: he's eating too many Big Macs. Seriously, Fox is capping off their 20th anniversary celebration of The Simpsons by hiring Super Size Me director Morgan Spurlock to direct a documentary of the show.

Sadly, since Fox is behind this production, the documentary will likely be biased on behalf of The Simpsons. Possibly even making them into sympathetic characters, thus ignoring Homer's temper and drunkenness, Bart's antisocial psychotic behavior, Marge's ignorance of the aforementioned and Lisa's extreme liberalism. Of course, if all that was taken into account, the documentary would only be about Maggie.

I do hope the documentary has some original material, like a framing sequence with the family. Although that's been done before with the "Behind the Laughter" episode. The Simpsons did it! The title of the documentary says it all: The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3-D on Ice. In 3-D. On Ice. This is a must-see.

There's good news and there's bad news. You can decide what bits fall into which catergory. First of all, MTV is still on the air and pumping out new show after new show. Secondly, they've announced a new music-related project. This music-related project also happens to be another one of their reality programs. And it features the tween world's favorite Australian electropop-rock twin act The Veronicas.

Well, at least it's not another Laguna Beach spin-off spin-off.

There are a few forms of reality television I enjoy, the most predominate of which is the documentary (which has been around for as long as television itself). Even the editorial opinion documentary such as any of Michael Moore's movies have their place.

It looks like A&E is trying to blend the two genres with their new series The Fugitive Chronicles, which will dramatize, documentary-style, "some of the most compelling fugitive captures in the past 20 years". It will include re-enactments and interviews with the hunters and the fugitives (although the fugitives for the most part won't be represented live because they're currently in prison).

This seems like a pretty good idea given the popularity of crime dramas and reality television. It may also give a good lesson on the things one has to do to escape from the law in case anybody watching is planning to break the law in the future. That's info-tainment!

I didn't realize that the late 90s offered up so many cartoons that are still around today. A week or so ago, I mentioned that The Powerpuff Girls were celebrating a 10th birthday with a Cartoon Network special and complete DVD box set. Now comes news that a certain walking and talking sponge is celebrating a 10-year anniversary, as well.

Nickelodeon's pants-wearing sponge will be celebrating his decade of entertainment in a number of ways. If you go to the new SpongeBob.com you'll have a chance to play SpongeBob games, watch SpongeBob videos, and read the blog of Mr. SquarePants' creators. If you watch any of the networks of the MTV universe (which Nickelodeon is a part of) you'll be able to view a documentary on the character and its popularity. Finally, if you can wait a few months, you will be able to catch some new SpongeBob SquarePants episodes featuring Dennis Quaid (March) and Johnny Depp (April).

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• John Stamos says that jet lag was responsible for his weird behavior in recent interviews in Australia.
  
• Control your excitement! The Spice Girls reunion and TV documentary is a definite "go."
  
• The Oprah Store is coming soon to Chicago.
  

The video's embedded below, or you can subscribe to this podcast via our feed. Plus, you can also the file directly.

I usually loathe the summer television season because everyday is like Sunday: there's nothing good on. Actually, I believe that's what Morrissey meant when he wrote "Everyday Is Like Sunday". Save for a few shows, my summer programming is erratic and I don't follow anything religiously. Sometimes I'm so bored by summer shows, I'll -- dare I say it -- turn off the television. Then I sit around and daydream about the new Harry Potter book or something. Yes. Summer TV is that bad. However, there are a few things that I'm currently looking forward to -- and not all of them are re-runs.

Despite the title, the documentary Autism: the Musical is not a musical at all, but it is about a group of autistic children putting on a musical. The film has been praised for being uplifting rather than depressing, and with HBO's recent acquisition, those who aren't able to catch it during its limited run in theaters will be able to see it on HBO sometime next year. A portion of the money from the film will go to the Autism Speaks charity.

I'll admit I don't know anything about autism, outside of what I've read in books and seen on television, but considering how depressing the subject can be, I think it's wonderful that someone has decided to create a film about autistic children that aims to be both positive and inspiring. I think all kids, regardless of who they are, have the capacity to do great things, at least on some level, and I can't imagine this documentary being anything but uplifting.

The Peabodys are an interesting case in a world over-saturated with award ceremonies and self-congratulatory accolades. The Peabodys don't actually have categories or even a set number of awards to give out every year. The good folks at the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication just give them out as they deem necessary, and their goal isn't just to recognize local news stations or broadcast journalists. The Peabodys' aim is to hold up examples of "what can and should be done in the worlds of journalism, entertainment, documentary, education and public service," or so their press release tells me.

As we've previously reported, This American Life is coming to Showtime, and we were lucky enough to get a look at the first four episodes. It's no secret that I had high hopes for this show, and was all set to have them crushed, trampled, and stomped upon. However, I'm happy to report that that my hopes are still intact, at least after having seen four episodes. There's still room for my hopes to be smashed into a million crystalline fragments down the road.

First off, if you've never heard an episode of This American Life, it's high time that you head to iTunes and subscribe to their podcast. It's one of the best radio shows I've ever heard, and presents stories from Americans that you'll never hear anywhere else. It's pure documentary work where the hosts and interviewers don't overshadow the subjects, and features as much humor as it does touching drama. A real gem on the radio dial, and it's a labor of love on Public Radio International, which is more famous for its content, and not for the fortunes they pay their hosts.

(S18E13) I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it -- for the most part, this week's episode was "just okay" in my opinion. It was nice to see Eric Idle return as the snooty muck-raking journalist Declan Desmond (first seen in the episode "Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky"), but the episode felt like two different episodes battling for the same thirty-minute space.

I always enjoy it when the writers come up with ways to incorporate all the secondary and tertiary characters into an episode ("22 Short Films About A Springfield" is a good example), but this one tried to tack on the bit about Homer being depressed with what he's become in life, leading he and his family to take over Burns' summer home and pretend it's their own.

A new DVD, American Idol: Unauthorized, takes aim at the Idol juggernaut, interviewing fans, critics, experts (in what, I'm not sure), and past contestants in an attempt to dig up and reveal behind-the-scene scandals and scoops.

I haven't viewed the doc, but according to this review, there's quite a bit of sour grapes whining coming from past Idol rejects. Scott Savol (Season 4) claims creative editing made him appear "lazy." Corey Clark (Season 2) whines about not getting a free hairstylist. And Julia Demato (Season 2) complains that some contestants were given more attention from vocal coaches than others.

MTV News' Gideon Yago is bidding the network adieu to pursue "creative ventures" on the Left Coast. Yago has been one of the slightly more tolerable voices of MTV News for the past seven years, but a screenplay sale to Focus Features has him packing his bags.

Idolator published his farewell note to his co-workers, which included this classy send-off, "I have learned a great many things during my tenure here...There is one lesson, however, that I consider far more valuable than all the others combined: our audience deserves integrity and respect. Growing up in America is a difficult, sometimes traumatic, often alienating, very strange proposition. In between trying to figure out who they are and what matters in life, there is a chorus of parents, teachers, people and pitchmen telling them what to think and what to do...please keep fighting for them and thinking of them in the fine work that you all do."

War, what is it good for?

It's good for Ken Burns, we know that much. The documentary filmmaker behind the hugely popular Civil War documentary series is preparing to delve into war yet again with a new PBS documentary about World War II. Burns originaly didn't want to do another war documentary, but decided the story needed to be told while there were still people alive who fought in the war.

The War will air starting on September 17 and will be the first new series created by Burns after he inked a deal to have his work shown exclusively on PBS until 2022. The 14-hour documentary does include some swearing from soldiers who describe their time serving during the war, which means two versions of the series might be offered to stations who want to avoid any FCC problems. I would hope stations opt to show the uncensored version, since a few curse words seems perfectly appropriate when describing one's personal war experiences.

While video-sharing sites and online communities like MySpace are making user-generated video more and more common, TLC is hoping to bring that same concept to television with My Life As a Child, a new documentary series set to air February 26 at 7pm.

Last year, TLC asked kids ages 7 to 12 to document their lives on camera. Twenty kids out of four hundred were chosen to have their footage used in the series. The kids featured include eight year old published author Adora; Cole, a boy with cerebral paulsy who takes karate classes; and Lisetanne, a black girl being raised by her white adoptive mother. The series will focus on aspects of growing up that is typical for kids of all generations, plus new experiences such as growing up in a same-sex household.