TVSquad

On Sunday, Michael Vick will be interviewed on 60 Minutes in hopes of showing contrition, making a case for his NFL comeback and generally doing as much PR as possible to rehabilitate his image. The former Atlanta Falcon quarterback and NFL poster boy is pretty desperate to get back into the league -- and the money that comes with it.

Michael Vick, as you probably know, was once the highest paid quarterback in the NFL. He was on the cover of magazines and was considered an unstoppable force on the field. Off the field, however, he was running an illegal dog-fighting business. He spent most of the last two years either in court or in prison for his involvement in a syndicate that promoted gambling and killed dogs.

NBC's Football Night in America is something like too much of a good thing. The network seems intent on stuffing the Sunday night broadcast with everything but the kitchen sink.

When Tiki Barber retired from the New York Giants, he joined their broadcast. Same thing with Jerome Bettis of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then Keith Olbermann, a sports guy before becoming the host of MSNBC's Countdown, was inserted into the show. And that was on top of the three mainstays Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth and Peter King.

Now, you can add one more star to the constellation. Dan Patrick is joining Football Night in America. Patrick, formerly the main man at ESPN -- and Keith's longtime partner on Sports Center as well as Dan's radio show -- will be paired up with Olbermann again and will be slotted in as pre-game show's co-host.

There's no question that Patrick will be an asset. His 18 years at ESPN proved that, and I admired his maverick spirit when he bolted the comforts of Bristol, Connecticut and set up a new deal with his radio show.

(S02E17) Remember when I said I couldn't review this show anymore? Well, I have the CW again, so it's all good. Hopefully it won't be removed from my cable again.

My love for this show may have just increased ten fold. This episode was not only well-written and well-acted as usual, but it actually contained a reference to Night of the Lepus, probably the best movie ever made about gigantic killer bunnies. I'm not sure I believe Chris' real father actually had an irrational fear of rabbits, but it provided a nice B story about how willing Julius is to be there for his kids, even if it means passing out at a magic show.

Sad news to report on this Christmas Day. James Brown, the true 'Godfather of Soul' passed away earlier today at the age of 73 due to complications from pneumonia. Mr. Brown wasn't a television star, although he did appear in numerous talk, variety and award shows, but he was imitated and emulated by many other TV performers during his lifetime.

One such imitator was comedian Eddie Murphy, who would regularly add impressions of James Brown to his stand-up routines. This eventually fed into his appearances during his run on Saturday Night Live. The clip you'll see after the jump was from, I believe, one of his guest appearances on the show . . . after he left for movie stardom in the mid-80's. It's entitled 'James Brown's Celebrity Hot Tub'. There are no celebrities (other than a picture of Dr. Joyce Brothers sitting in the hot tub with Eddie/James). There's just Eddie performing an extremely good impression of James as he is about to get into the hot tub.

In my opinion, it is one of the more memorable skits that Eddie performed on SNL. You can see the video after the jump.

When James Brown (no, not the "Sex Machine" James Brown... the other one) left Fox to become the new host of The NFL Today at CBS, Fox kept everyone in the dark about who was going to take his place as host of Fox NFL Sunday. They even made the mystery into an ad campaign. But the mystery is over: the network has named lead play-by-play man Joe Buck as the host of the pre-game show. Because Buck is still going to broadcast the games, though, the show will be on the road the entire year, originating from the stadium where Buck is supposed to be working that week. Curt Menefee will host the halftime and post-game shows.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News, who reported on the unconfirmed rumors yesterday, felt that Fox was making too safe of a move with Buck. According to Raissman, it was a perfect opportunity for Fox to develop someone new in the host role, someone who can evolve as he tries to corral Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Jimmy Johnson. I'm not quite sure about that argument; after all, for every Bob Costas that gets a chance to shine in the studio, there's two Brent Musburgers that make us want to throw things at the screen. Those aren't good odds, as far as I'm concerned.