TVSquad

The "Ask TV Squad" column, published every Wednesday, answers your questions about current and past TV shows, as well as about the celebrities appearing on TV. Every week, I will pick a question (or more) sent to us and provide answers in the column. If your question is not picked for a column, it may be answered in a subsequent column or in TV Squad's APB Podcast.

To submit questions to the "Ask TV Squad" column, you can post them below in comments or email them to asktvsquad@gmail.com.

This week, I follow up on the last "Ask TV Squad" about TV shows on DVD and answer a question about which TV DVDs you should own.

Thomas F. Wilson is mostly known for his role as Biff Tannen in the Back to the Future movies, but he's also done a lot of television. His second most famous role is likely that of Coach Ben Fredericks on Freaks and Geeks, and he's done a lot of voice acting for various cartoons including The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

Why bring all this up? Because he also does stand-up comedy and has a clip on YouTube that practically made me pee myself and potentially ruin a good office chair.

Freaks and Geeks is not only a cult classic among TV fans, but it's also one of TV Squad's favorite "Ol' Yellers". Those are the shows that were taken out back and shot down by the networks before they had a chance to fully develop, despite the crying, whimpering, snot-producing pleas of those who loved them most. It may not be clever, but it sounded a lot nicer than "stillborns".

So it's no surprise that the show made a cameo appearance in a recent AOL interview with mega-superduperstar Seth Rogen on the heels of his new movie Observe and Report about a rogue mall cop who is more tazer-happy than the campus police at the University of Florida.

We've talked a lot about great short-lived shows here at TV Squad. We even have a whole category for them. But it's always good to revisit the topic to see what you readers think.

Over at Entertainment Weekly, they've chosen the 25 great TV shows that got a quick hook, the shows that got canceled (way) before their time (we're talking really short runs, so Arrested Development and Sports Night aren't on the list). There are several shows on the list that you would expect to see (Freaks and Geeks, My So-Called Life, Firefly), some surprise entries that made me happy to see on there (The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr, Frank's Place, Karen Sisco, Now & Again), and a few head-scratchers (Malibu Road? Really?). It's slightly heavy on the current side, with Journeyman and Life on Mars on the list. I mean, Life on Mars is still running new episodes.

I was reading AOL TV's "TV's 50 Hottest Hunks - Ever," and I was struck by two thoughts: "Ugh, can people really use the term, 'hunk' without shuddering?" and, "David Boreanaz? Seriously?"

I get it. Television is populated with pretty people and there are just some guys who are objectively hot (hellooooo, Jon Hamm). Generally speaking though, I'm not drawn to the Luke Perrys and Mario Lopezes of the world. I like quirky guys, and so while most of the dudes on this list aren't going to make it into the People magazine "Sexiest Man Alive" issue, they keep me tuning in every week (heh, that sounded totally dirty).

Follow me after the jump for the undercover hotties: ten guys on TV I secretly love.

Sometimes you come across a line in a column, an opinion, an observation, that is so mindblowingly wrong-headed that it leaves your mouth hanging open for a full 30 seconds. That's what happened to me when I read this list of the Shows That Died Too Young (great one season shows that shouldn't have been canceled) over at The New York Post. Talking about HBO's John From Cincinnati, the writer says this:

John [From Cincinnati] was not only the most creative program in the medium's sixty year history, but also some of the most mysterious.

Now, the second half of that quote is grammatically baffling, but we get the idea: JFC was the most creative show that has been on television in its 60 year history. Well, what do you think of that?

Earlier this week our pals over at Cinematical reported that Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg now have a release date for their update of the cult classic Green Hornet. And now comes word that the pair, who previously worked together on Pineapple Express, Superbad, and Da Ali G Show, are writing an episode for The Simpsons. While talking with Collider, Rogen explains that after meeting James L. Brooks at a party he figured he had an in with The Simpsons. He was right, and after pitching 5 ideas for the show they got the gig. Animation schedules being what they are the episode won't make it into the upcoming season, but it's something to look forward to.

[via digitalspy]

When one of our favorite TV shows goes off the air, it can be devastating. However, many times, the cancellation is the birth of a spinoff. Sometimes it can be a great thing (Frasier) and sometimes not so much (AfterM*A*S*H). Here are some this month's spinoff ideas that I would love to see.

McCormack & Van Lowe: At Your Service
When Keith Mars becomes sheriff of Neptune and his daughter Veronica joins the FBI, Vinnie Van Lowe emerges as the county's number one private detective. His new caseload is so overwhelming and his moral compass is so out of whack that he's forced to employ attorney Cliff McCormack on a permanent basis. Together with the help of their excitable intern (Alia Shawkat), they bring their distinctive style of crime-solving to the citizens of Neptune.

What's going on at the other TV blogs via the internets.

• BuzzSugar has the scoop on the Freaks & Geeks reunion.
• Bill O'Reilly is not happy with David Letterman or John Edwards.
• Mad Men's Rich Sommer (Harry) has one of the coolest celebrity blogs you'll find, and check out the incredible Xmas card he sent out.
• What were you doing in 1983? I was graduating from high school and watching MTV.
• New York picks 10 shows that they'd like to see NBC's Ben Silverman bring back.
• This teen wanted to crash a Hannah Montana concert - literally.
• Matt Roush loves ABC's new show Eli Stone.
• During the strike, Alan Sepinwall is reviewing episodes of Cupid.

The video at the end of this post has a lot of swearing, so if that's not your thang, watch this instead.

We all know that Judd Apatow (Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, Forty Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) is a man who can do no wrong and who deserves our respect, adulation and fawning worship. However, no one has ever expressed his love for the man quite like Andy Milonakis (The Andy Milonakis Show).

As I'm going over the other TV Squad blogger lists for their summer viewing, I realize there's a whole lot of nothing on TV during the summer, as if I needed anything to tell me that. Sure, there are some gems in there, but not much that gets me excited. Thank the lord for TV on DVD.

- Ghost Hunters -- Always a guilty pleasure of mine, and since last season things have improved. They've cut back on a lot of the drama that most of us just don't care about and seem to find some pretty interesting evidence most of the time, and the fact that these guys roam around my backyard most times (New England) makes it even the more interesting to me.

A few weeks ago, AOL Television editors and TV Squad bloggers teamed up to name the shows they wished could come back from the dead.

Many of you wondered, "Where's Arrested Development? Freaks and Geeks?? Sports Night???" You took issue with some of the choices -- especially shows that had long runs, like The West Wing. For others, our picks were too edgy, like Keen Eddie.

So, we gave you the chance to strike back: We asked fans on both sites to nominate the shows you'd resurrect from the graveyard of television. Boy, was there a long list. We gathered together some of the best posts and here are the results.

Judd Apatow, who will forever be a hero to many TV viewers who loved the too short-lived NBC series Freaks and Geeks, is saying goodbye to television. But not before one final shot with the soon-to-be-released feature film The TV Set.

The movie stars David Duchovny as a series creator who butts heads with various studio executives (including Sigourney Weaver) who just don't get what he's trying to do with his TV show. And, yes, it's a version of what Apatow and The TV Set director Jake Kasdan went through when they worked on Freaks and Geeks.

At the NBC party for the TCA press tour earlier this month, there was a small contingent of ER cast members floating around, but two of them happened to be my favorites: Linda Cardellini and Parminder Nagra (what, you think I was going to say Shane West?). Both actresses seem to be more prominently involved in the veteran show's storylines this year: Cardellini's Samantha Taggart has already had to deal with killing her fugitive ex-husband and now is trying to figure out how to control a son whose behavior is going south, and Nagra's Neela Rasgotra has been in a torrid affair with John Stamos' character, Tony Gates.

I caught up with both of them and asked them about how they think the year's been going so far and what's in store for each of their characters during the remainder of the season.

Searching through my mental Rolodex, I think I remember Adam doing a post about the five best fictional bands on TV. And now IGN has weighed in on the matter, picking their Top 10 TV Bands.

Some of the usual suspects are here, such as Charlie's band DriveSHAFT from Lost and The Silver Platters from The Brady Bunch. But there are some funky choices, like Creation from Freaks and Geeks and Cold Slither from G.I. Joe (??). But what bands are missing here? How about the Monkees and The Partridge Family? IGN explains they were purposely left out because they were the main focus of the show, which I don't really think is fair, but whatever. This site might have some of the bands we can't think of.

I wonder how old this writer is though. I mean, how can you list The Blowholes from The Adventures of Pete & Pete and not mention that Marshall Crenshaw was in the band? He's the guy on the left in the photo. You can't just call him "a local meter man"! (Side note: wow, two Adventures of Pete & Pete mentions in one day!)