TVSquad

Now that 30 Rock has become a mild success for Saturday Night Live veterans Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan it seems that other former SNL alums are making an attempt at primetime popularity. Case in point . . . It's being reported that 8-year SNL veteran Horatio Sanz has joined the cast of the comedy Business Class.

In this pilot for NBC Sanz will star with Boston Legal's Mark Valley (who does nothing on that show but complain). The single-camera comedy will feature Sanz and Valley as two rival soda salesmen who live their lives on the road. Hey, I'm laughing already!

This would be Sanz's first foray into primetime television since leaving SNL last year. Maybe it's me, but it seems that Horatio was underutilized during his years at SNL, which is surprising because he had a pretty decent track record before coming on-board the sketch comedy show. I mean, he was one of the early founders of the Upright Citizens Brigade. I would think that would amount to a little more screen time. If I'm way off base here let me know.

• Cronkite to introduce Couric; Schieffer to sing some folk.
• K-Fed to try to act on CSI.
• Here is the new version of Megatron.
• John Mayer will also be on CSI.
• Bob Evans might sue Entourage.
• Racially-divided Survivor ticks off NYC officials.
• Forest Whitaker will do a guest stint on ER.
• Taylor Hicks suing over the iTunes release of pre-Idol material.
• Patty Hearst to guest on Veronica Mars.
• Horatio Sanz thinks he'll remain on SNL.
• Others aren't so sure: rumor is Sanz, Parnell and Thompson are out.
• All we really know is that four SNLers are out.
• Here is the new Survivor cast; teams to be divided by race.
• USA renews The 4400 for a fourth season.
• Jimmy Kimmel to host game show.
• ABC News specials now on iTunes.
• Cuomo named news anchor at GMA
• ABC moves up premiere of Men In Trees.
• Study finds that there are not enough gay characters on TV.
• Zach Braff thinks this is last season on Scrubs.
• Stargate SG-1 cancelled.
• Music video banned by MTV for blatant product placement.
• Here's (snicker) Kevin Federline (chuckle) rapping (heh) at the Teen Choice awards.
• Giamatti to play John Adams in HBO miniseries.
  

• Did The Colbert Report rip off a web show?
• Keith gives a "State of TV Squad" address.
• Is there a possibility Stargate SG-1 will live on?
• What shows should be cancelled immediately?
• Can you find any clues in the Lost season three poster?
• Enter our latest contest by telling us which show will get sacked first.
  

• Awesome TV jerks.
• Reasons why I don't care about the Emmys.
• Five interviews with cool dead guys.
  

• I call out a phony press release about the "new" Sci Fi Channel.
• We catch you up on The 4400 before the finale.
• I'm worried about The Daily Show after Corddry's departure.
• Here's a look at the press kit for Standoff.
• Joss Whedon lists TV's best characters.
• An early review of Dexter.
• Bob doesn't like MSNBC's new graphics.

• Sports Night: "Sally"
• The Simpsons: "Lisa's Wedding"
• Angel: "The Prodigal"
• Seinfeld: "The Boyfriend"
• The Prisoner: "Living in Harmony"
• Futurama: "When Aliens Attack"
• The X-Files: "Lazarus"

• Monk: "Mr. Monk Goes to a Rock Concert"
• Stargate Atlantis: "Common Ground"
• Psych: "Shawn vs. The Red Phantom"
• Stargate SG-1: "Counter Strike"
• Rock Star: Supernova: Week 8 Elimination
• Rescue Me: "Hell"
• Eureka: "Dr. Nobel"
• Vanished: "Pilot"
• Kyle XY: "Overheard"
• The Closer: "Borderline"
• Prison Break: "Manhunt"
• The Venture Bros.: "Love-Bheits"
• Entourage: "What About Bob?"

With the recent departures of Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch from Saturday Night Live, and the announcement of (wink, wink) budget cuts by executive producer Lorne Michaels, one begins to ponder what SNL will look like once the bloodletting is complete. So, my dear TV Squad fans, I pose a question to you: if you were in Mr. Michaels' seat who would stay and who would go?

(S31E19) This is one of those shows that no matter what I write in the following paragraphs, people are going to disagree with me. I really do think that as this season has progressed, it's gotten stronger. Early episodes in this season weren't as good and as readers have pointed out, I was far more critical of those earlier episodes. Well, there's a reason for that. I think they've steadily gotten better, save for the crappy sketch here and there and or the few horrible episodes we did get this season (Dane Cook was a huge disappointment). Last night's episode with Elaine... er, I mean Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a perfect example of what I'm trying to say here. This was a solid episode with a few huge errors, the biggest in my opinion being a "Weekend Update" that ran in at just over 14 minutes. That's way too long.

(S31E18) There was a lot to like about this episode, but there was a lot that should never seen the light of day too. For Hanks' eighth outing at SNL host, I would have expected a bit more. We've already seen so much this season with episodes from other classic hosts like Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, that I was hoping maybe we'd get cameos from some of them. Another one of those "welcome to the club" sketches would have been funny... with those fez hats, cigars, and smoking jackets. Oh well, like I said, there was still plenty to like.

Cold Open - Politically charged as usual, the show opened with Bush and Cheney chit-chatting and discussing the current state of oil reserves and gasoline prices. Tom Hanks (as Senator Bill Frist) then shows up to tell the President about his new plan since his recent idea for a $100 gas rebate for all Americans did nothing except what the President described as "eat it." The entire conversation then evolved into some kind of infomercial where Frist was selling his new plan to Bush. As a token of the Government's thanks for allowing the drilling in Alaska, all Americans would now get $120, a free vacation to Busch Gardens, and two free Wonder Mops. Sounds like a deal to me... well maybe I'd do it if there were two re-fill shammies to come with the mops. What's that? There are two shammies? Sign me up!