TVSquad

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Men In Trees.
• CBS has a new Armed & Famous at 8.
• NBC has new episodes of My Name Is Earl, The Office, Scrubs, 30 Rock, and ER.
• There's a new 'Til Death on FOX at 8, then new episodes of The War At Home and The O.C.
• The CW has a new Smallville at 8, followed by a new Supernatural.
• Around 8:45, HBO Family has Don Knott's in The Incredible Mr. Limpit.
• At 9, HGTV has a new Divine Design.
• Also at 9: Terri Irwin (Steve Irwin's widow) guests on CNN's Larry King Live.

(Part 1 of 5) It's the time of year when we talk about what happened over the past year, and that unfortunately includes the deaths of many notable personalities. After the jump is a list of the celebrities and other TV-related people we lost in 2006, in no particular order. (Note: it's not easy to compile a list like this and I'm sure I forgot someone. Let me know in the comments and I'll try to add them.)

When you hear the name of Barney Fife, deputy sheriff on the classic The Andy Griffith Show, what comes to mind? Well, he was smug and self-confident, over-analytical, overzealous, and a bit of a blowhard. But how about eloquent, intense and heartwarming? No, you say? Well, you'd be wrong, because there was one particular episode where he was just that, all in defense of his partner Sheriff Andy Taylor.

Jump ahead and I'll tell you all about it.

When I'm bored, which is often, I like to poke around Google Video's selection of lengthy interviews from the Archive of American Television. The other day I found there's a lot of interviews of some really great television personalities who have since passed on to that great cathode ray tube in the sky. Here are five I think are worth checking out:

Fred Rogers: Several years ago, despite the fact that he hadn't really done anything besides what he had done most of his life, host a children's program, Esquire magazine named Fred Rogers their Man of the Year. It was one of the best profiles the mag had ever done, and it's because nobody on television was as kind and genuine as Fred.

Some of the most memorable characters in television were never actually seen. They were talked about, and their presence, even if it was always offscreen, was often crucial to the plot. I've come up with five awesome (but unseen) TV characters. Here they are:

Vera: From what I recall, Vera, the wife of beer-lover Norm Peterson on Cheers, made only one appearance on the show, and that was just her legs. According to both Wikipedia and IMDb, she was played by George Wendt's real-life wife, Bernadette Birkette.

• Andromeda - Vol 5.4
• Baby Looney Tunes - Volume 1: Playday Pals; Volume 2: Let's Play Pretend
• The Brady Bunch - The Complete 5th Season
• The Cosby Show - Season 2
• The Electric Company - The Best of The Best of The Electric Company
• The Flintstones - Season 5
• Hogan's Heroes - The Complete 3rd Season
• Lily the Witch - Volume 1; Volume 2
• Multiple Shows - Star Trek: The Borg Fan Collective
• Police Woman - The Complete 1st Season
• The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour - The Complete Series
• Three's Company - Season 6
• Underdog - The Best of Go-Go Gophers; The Best of Tennessee Tuxedo
• Walking Tall - The Complete Series
• Wild 'N Out - Season 1