TVSquad

The World Series is just around the corner and Fox has done something to make the coverage a bit more interesting. No, they have dictated that the umpires be replaced with androids, although after the screw-ups from Game Four of the ALCS, that might not be a bad suggestion. Fox Sports has added White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to the pre and post-game analysis.

Aside from being a World Series winner, Ozzie is a character. He's funny, audacious, occasionally inappropriate, but highly knowledgeable about baseball and entertaining. He won't hold back what he thinks and if you want to hear real inside baseball talk, that's what Ozzie will deliver.

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• The estate of the creator of Mr. Ed is suing MGM for royalties.
• Here's a complete guide to the (possible) strike and what we can expect on Monday.
• Jaime Weinman has some thoughts on CBS' sitcom strategy.
• There's a new cartoon coming, about John Oates' (of Hall and Oates) mustache, who play rock music and fight crime.
• Boy Meets World star Ben Savage is joining Chuck, playing Nicole Richie's husband.
• CNBC + a jar of mayonnaise = either a really gross rumor or a really stupid rumor.
• Did you know that there's a Rock Paper Scissors league, and Fox Sports will telecast the tournament in October?

Anyone catch the live broadcast of Costas NOW last night? I was lucky enough to get a few tickets and went to the live taping in Manhattan with my girlfriend. And I really do mean lucky. Not only did we get seated in the front row, but we were seated right in front of all the panelists. Everyone. Joe Buck, Cris Carter, Mitch Albom, Mike Tirico, Michael Wilbon, John McEnroe... the list goes on. And of course, Bob Costas was only a few feet in front of us on stage. For a sports and TV fanatic, it was very impressive. So why am I writing about it? The town hall format of the show covered a lot of hot topics in sports, but there were a couple segments that really stood out because they directly relate to what we're doing here at TV Squad -- blogging and athletes' (or in our case TV celebs, writers, and producers) reactions to the media.

Ryan Seacrest + Super Bowl = Is Nothing Sacred?

When you think about the Super Bowl, does the name "Ryan Seacrest" come to mind? Probably not. I'm pretty sure I know more about football than Ryan Seacrest (which isn't saying a heck of a lot). Yet somehow, Fox has awarded Super Bowl hosting duties to their American Idol golden boy.

As master of ceremonies for football's biggest game, Ryan will host pregame red-carpet events, as well as the halftime show. Super Bowl XLII is set to take place in February at the University of Phoenix stadium in Arizona. And while halftime entertainment has not yet been announced, I'm starting to suspect that we might see a couple of American Idols perform.

Jay Mohr, comedian and sports fan, will be providing twenty-minute video segments for FoxSports.com this month. The series, called The Alternative With Jay Mohr, will mix remote segments, monologues and comedic sketches. Mohr will also pen a weekly column for the sports site.

Sports fans shouldn't be too surprised to see Mohr in this capacity. The comedian/actor, who currently appears on CBS' Ghost Whisperer, hasn't exactly hidden his love of sports, having appeared as a guest host on Jim Rome's Sirius Satellite Radio program, not to mention frequent appearances on The Best Damn Sports Show Period and NFL Sunday Morning.

Question: what's more exciting than watching the home run hitting contest at the All-Star Game? Answer: watching the batting practice for the home run hitting contest at All-Star Game! And online too!

That's what is going to happen at this year's game, which airs July 10 on FOX. FOX Sports and mlb.com are going to have a two-hour webcast before the home run contest starts. It will be hosted by Chris Rose and Harold Reynolds. There is also going to be a red carpet special before that, with coverage of the players arriving at the park.

Keith Olbermann has a new gig.

Or should I say "another gig," as he'll still be host of MSNBC's Countdown. But he's going to add a co-hosting position on NBC's Football Night In America, the pre-game show that airs at 7pm on Sunday nights before the NFL game that NBC telecasts.

Olbermann has a long history in TV sports, having hosted ESPN's SportsCenter with Dan Patrick years ago (he was one of the models for the characters on Sports Night) and his own show on FOX Sports Network that was good but didn't last too long. This will be his first job in network sports in several years, other than what he does on Dan Patrick's radio show. Olbermann will join Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis, and Tiki Barber, who started on NBC this morning.

[via TV Newser]

The FCC just released a report that says Americans would save up to 13% on their cable bills if the cable companies would just let us buy channels individually. That can't be making the cable companies happy, which insist on not only pushing channel packages on us, but also on raising their rates as much as 6% each year.

Channels I'd dump if I could buy cable a la carte: