TVSquad

Like everyone else, I'm looking forward to the end of summer reruns, and for the new fall season to kick off over the next several weeks. In addition to returning shows and new offerings from the networks and studios, I'm also quite interested in Ken Burns' new documentary for PBS, The War, which debuts on September 23 at 8:00 p.m. and is scheduled to air in seven parts. Check your listings for airtimes in your area.

I've been drawn to the idea of a lengthy documentary about World War II partially for the historical aspect, but moreso because of the human aspect. Growing up, my exposure to that era was through films featuring rugged heroes and clean, bloodless battles. Combine this with the solipsism inherent in all young people, and the result is a skewed --if not completely false-- perspective on what it was really like to be alive during that era, not only for the soldiers on the battlefields overseas, but also for the people back home.

(S02E13)

Clay: Orel, you know you shouldn't upset your mother by coming home with dirty clothes, because then your mother talks to your father, and no one wants that.

In my last review I said that Moral Orel would benefit tremendously by being a half-hour, rather than an eleven-minute, show. Creator Dino Stamatopoulos has said the same thing in interviews. There's simply too much subtext to cram into such a short amount of time.

National Geographic has eight new series (and some returning series) on tap, set to roll out over the next several months.

Inside the Green Berets airs June 3 at 9:00 p.m.

Inside the Taliban airs June 4 at 9:00 p.m.

Critical Situation, a new series that explores how people responded when faced with some of the most dramatic moments in history kicks off June 12 at 9:00 p.m. I'll be posting a preview of this new series soon.

(S11E07)

"Oh my god, one of them is a war veteran! We're gonna have to give him some change!"

Oh, South Park, I think I love you. You not only hilariously satirized how society has dealt with the homeless problem, but you also parodied Dawn of the Dead, one of my favorite movies of all time. There were also a couple nods to Day of the Dead and Land of the Dead tossed in for good measure. South Park, if you were a crazed, half-dead, hideously burned woman I would kiss your lipless face.

This is the third installment of my two-part series in which I turn to that great teaching tool known as television in order to enlighten both myself and my readers on various subjects.

Today, we look at baseball, which I know absolutely nothing about. In fact, here's a true exchange that took place on my first day of summer youth baseball:

Coach: Adam, you take right field.

Me: What's right field?

Here's just a small sample of what I've learned about this great sport, thanks to TV:

(S11E04)

Lucky: I'm not sayin' stumpin' isn't risky. When you're out there with nothing but chains, beer and a winch you could rip your arm off and there ain't no one out there to sue.

Hank wasn't featured much in this episode, and that's rare. It seems that even when the plot doesn't revolve around Hank, he still serves as the lone voice of reason that helps maintain some semblance of sanity and common sense among his friends and family. Ultimately, he's the one that helps guide the story to its conclusion. This episode, however, focused on Luanne and Lucky, two people who pretty much live by their own code, which doesn't leave much room for Hank or anyone else. It also left us viewers with a nice little story about the compromises and sacrifices one has to make when they decide to spend their lives with someone.

Wired has news that tomorrow the South Park episode "Good Times with Weapons" will be made available exclusively in HD on XBox Live Marketplace. "Good Times with Weapons" is the episode from season eight in which the boys purchase ninja weapons and are transformed through the power of their own imagination into anime warriors. Unfortunately for Butters/Professor Chaos, reality starts to seep in when he takes a throwing star in the eye. In true form, the boys don't try too hard to help Butters, though they do dress him as a dog so at least he can receive veterinarian care. Hey, it's better than nothing.

Also, if you buy an XBox 360 between March 20 and April 3, you'll get a free DVD copy of this HD episode. And don't forget that season eleven kicks off Wednesday night with the episode "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson."

More information can be found here on one of our sister sites. Thanks, Tucker.

Here's an epilogue to my post about the tiff between Joe Rogan and Carlos Mencia that took place on stage at The Comedy Store a few days ago.

In a nutshell: Rogan and other comedians have been accusing Mencia of stealing material for some time, and the two men had a battle of words on stage with Rogan (and a couple other comedians) accusing Mencia of stealing material, and Mencia denying it.

On his Web site, Rogan wrote that he received a call from Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore (mother of Pauly Shore), asking him to explain what had happened. Later, he received a call from the club's manager telling him he might want to take a break from the club because of the tension between him and Mencia. He also told Rogan they weren't happy about him putting the video of the fight on the internet. Bottom line: Rogan has been banned from The Comedy Store, and Mencia will continue to perform there.

Carlos Mencia is not the first comedian to be accused of stealing material from other comedians --Denis Leary was accused of stealing from the late Bill Hicks, Dane Cook has been accused of swiping material from Louis C.K.-- but if all allegations are true, Mencia may be the one with the most evidence stacked against him.

I often wonder if "stealing" isn't sometimes confused with comics sharing a similar worldview. I'm not a stand-up comedian, but even I've seen funny ideas that have popped into my head appear on television shows, or in The Onion, or any other number of places. It seems that if you've thought of something, there's a good chance someone else has also thought of it.

I'm not part of the zany world of stand up comedy, but Joe Rogan is, and he's vehemently convinced that the majority of Mencia's material is stolen, and if the video below is any indication, comedians George Lopez and Bobby Lee also agree. Check out the clip to see Rogan and Mencia engage in a battle of words on stage at the Comedy Store. VIDEO CONTAINS FOUL LANGUAGE.

UPDATE: The YouTube video has been removed, so check it out here instead.

[via Digg]

I'd like to say I knew it all along, but I was initially duped by Pauly Shore's staged video that showed him getting punched by a heckler in Odessa, Texas. Shore now has a video on his MySpace page (via Best Week Ever) that shows him coaching the crowd and his fake attacker before his act, telling everyone to film it and then put it on the internet.

Shore later said he wanted the video to make fun of the whole "viral video" fad and to serve as a lesson to those who take things at face value. Most people still saw it as a cheap stunt on the part of someone who's been out of the spotlight for many years, but I still think Shore has a good point. Besides, it's not like he's the first one to do this.

At a recent gig at the 8th Street Comedy Club in Odessa, Texas, comedian Pauly Shore, who last thrilled television audiences as "The Weasel" on MTV in the '90s before moving on to a movies of dubious quality, was punched by a guy in a cowboy hat (clip, after the jump, contains swearing). I'll let you guys have at it in the comments about whether or not Shore deserved the beating based solely on not being especially funny.