TVSquad

So, last year I mentioned that Snoop Dogg got into a bit of trouble for allowing both a feature film and a reality series to be made about his youth football league.

It would seem whatever problems hindered the possibility of a Snoop reality series have been taken care of, because later this year Snoopy Snoop will be the center of a new series for E! that will follow the rapper, actor and producer as he tries to balance his family life and his work.

(S02E20)

This is an early review.

This two-parter really made me hate Clay Puppington, and I don't think I can say that about any other cartoon character. Hell, Cartman from South Park has done tons of horrible things, even indirectly killed people, but watching Clay treat Orel so poorly and so dismissively made me want to break off his frail, wire-supported arms.

Despite what Best Week Ever says, Grindhouse co-director Robert Rodriguez is not directing a live-action version of the popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Jetsons. He was, however, shown the script and says he might be interested in it. This is just one of many projects being offered to him, so it remains to be seen if we'll be seeing a Rodriguez-directed film with the likes of George, Jane, Judy, Elroy, Astro, Rosie, Mr. Spacely, Mr. Cogswell and Orbity, the Scrappy-Doo of the Jetson's universe (and I liked both characters, I'm just saying they were polarizing).

CBS and three of the lesser members of the Jackson family (LaToya, Jermaine and Tito) have teamed up for an American Idol-like competition called Pop Dynasty to find the next family of pop stars. Jamie Foxx, Marcus King and Greg Shelton are also attached to the project, which is still in the early stages of development. As of this writing, CBS is planning on producing at least eight episodes.

According to Variety, CBS was impressed with LaToya in Armed and Famous, even though the series itself didn't quite garner a large audience. The show will focus not only on the musical talent of the families, but also on how they interact with one another. I'm assuming members of the Jackson family will be teaching the patriarchs how to sufficiently beat their children into top-selling pop sensations.

Every Sunday throughout June and August, Tom Kenny (Mr. Show, SpongeBob SquarePants) will be hosting Funday Night at the Movies, a showcase of classic family films on Turner Classic Movies that both children and adults can enjoy. The weekly summer movie showcase will air at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday nights and feature the following films:

• Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
• Bringing Up Baby (1938)
• Little Women (1949)
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
• Oliver! (1968)
• Pride of the Yankees (1942)
• Shane (1953)
• Singin' in the Rain (1952)
• Sounder (1972)
• The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
• The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• Treasure Island (1934)
• 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (1954)

I have to admit I hadn't paid much attention to the work of comedian Richard Jeni over the last few years, but when I was in middle school and his specials aired on Showtime, I thought he was one of the most hysterical comedians I had ever seen. This equation of his is one I still quote from time to time:

'God is love. Love is blind. Therefore, Ray Charles is God.'

That makes perfect sense to me, but what's always a little more difficult to figure out is why a person would take their own life. According to Jeni's family, who released a statement saying Jeni's career was going fine and that they believe his death was probably a suicide, spurred by Jeni's having been "diagnosed with severe clinical depression coupled with bouts of psychotic paranoia." No official announcement from the autopsy has been made yet.

You can read the full statement on Jeni's official site.

Independent Lens doesn't shy away from featuring documentaries on difficult subjects, but out of all the ones I've seen so far, this one was the most heart-wrenching. Motherland Afghanistan follows an Afghan American doctor who returns to Afghanistan to work in a hospital to provide medical care and expertise for pregnant women who live in a land where infant mortality rates are high and medical supplies are always in short supply. Dr. Qudrat Mojadidi role at Afghanistan's largest hospital is not only to help patients, but to train the doctors and staff with the help of funding from the U.S. government.

Motherland Afghanistan focuses on a crisis in Afghanistan largely ignored here in the states, but it's worth seeing not only because it's educational, but because it shows there are still people willing to try and make things better despite the odds, and to help those in need not only through medical treatment, but through education as well.

Motherland Afghanistan, filmed and directed by Dr. Mojadidi's daughter Sedika, will air on select PBS stations tonight at 10 p.m.

If you're a fan of Sherwood Schwartz's classic sitcom The Brady Bunch, you'll be pleased to know that the complete series will be available on DVD on March 27, according to TVShowsOnDVD. There's no details on the set just yet, though apparently the DVDs come wrapped in a brick of pot. Okay, maybe it's not pot, but whatever it is, you'll probably get really messed up if you smoke it.

The Brady Bunch, which aired from 1969 to 1974, was the story of an aesthetically-pleasing woman who raised a trio of three girls who were also pretty. Their hair was gold, not unlike that of their mother. The youngest daughter's hair, in contrast to those of her siblings, was in curls.

Meanwhile, there was a man named Brady, the patriarch of a family consisting of himself and three boys. Together they equaled four men who lived in a house together. Despite this, they were all very much alone.

One day, however, the aforementioned man and woman met each other. Knowing almost preternaturally that it was more than a hunch, they decided to combine the two families into one. That's how they became the Brady Bunch.

And Ann B. Davis as Alice.

The popular '80s sitcom Growing Pains will be added to the Nick at Nite lineup this month, kicking off with a marathon on January 21 from 9pm to 1:30am (and then repeating from 1:30am to 6am). Starting on January 22, the show will slide into its normal timeslot Monday through Thursday at 9 and 9:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 10:30pm, and Sunday at 9:30pm.

Growing Pains was one of the shows my family watched while I was growing up, and that's pretty much where it stays: in my memories. I've tried watching reruns in recent years, but it's still very much "of the '80s" to me. That isn't to say it was a bad show, and it followed the precedent set by The Cosby Show of having a family where both the mother and father had high-paying careers. Also, the kids were mischievous but never complete hoodlums. Actually, the more I think about it, it was pretty much a white Cosby Show in many ways.

To say the least, this past year has been insane for Duane "Dog" Chapman, star of A&E's reality series Dog the Bounty Hunter. His eldest daughter was killed in a car accident right before his wedding, and later he was arrested on charges of illegal detention along with his son Leland and his work partner Tim Chapman stemming from their capture of convicted rapist and Max Factor heir Andrew Luster in Mexico in 2003. The Constitutional Hearing, which began on December 22 in Guadalajara, Mexico, will start up again in January (the courts are closed for the holidays).

A&E will air a one-hour special, The Year of the Dog, that will look back on the past year in the life of the Chapmans, including the aftermath of Dog's arrest. The special airs at 9pm on January 2.