TVSquad

When the Super Bowl first began, halftime shows consisted of marching bands and the occasional big name performer for a song or two. Carol Channing actually did two halftimes -- 1970 and 1972! Well, times have changed and so have the expectations.

The 2009 Super Bowl in Tampa reportedly has landed Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to anchor the Super Bowl halftime show. It'll be The Boss's first time performing for the NFL's biggest show.

One thing we can count on with Springsteen, there'll be no wardrobe malfunctions. Even if Little Steven whips off his bandana, the censors won't care. Ever since Justin Timberlake ripped the top off Janet Jackson and got a chunk of bra to go with it, revealing her breast to the ogling TV audience, the networks have been careful to keep the halftime shows purely musical.

He's no Johnny Carson or Bob Hope or Billy Crystal, but pop star and former boy band fave Justin Timberlake could be the next star to host the Academy Awards. The Oscars are still months away, but the Academy is already contemplating a way to make the show more Nielsen worthy.

Last February's show, hosted by The Daily Show's Jon Stewart (he also hosted in 2006), celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Oscars but was a ratings dud. It was the worst Oscars ever, in terms of Nielsen ratings, even though it had a 21.9 rating and 33 share.

Many people blame those dismal numbers on a disinterest among viewers in the films that were in contention last year, including heavy dramas No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton, which seemed to have little appeal to mass audiences.

I remember watching the halftime show of the 2004 Super Bowl and seeing Janet Jackson's nipple at the end of her duet with Justin Timberlake. I couldn't believe what I had just seen and I knew it was going to be a big thing. Of course, no one knew at the time just how big it was going to become. It actually changed the way TV shows are presented now.

But here's some good news for logic: a federal appeals court has thrown out the $550,000 fine that the FCC gave CBS for broadcasting the football boob scene. In the ruling the court said the FCC acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" when they handed out the fine.

A day hasn't gone by where we haven't received some sort of tip or email asking us, the TV Squad, how to get on [insert reality show here]. Unfortunately no, Simon Cowell does not work for us, and Donald Trump isn't my BFF, so we really can't help all that much.

The folks at RealityWanted.com often send us a list of new and existing reality shows that are looking for new, er, talent, and they've given us permission to make mention of them here. We'll try to make this a regular feature as often as we get a new list.

This time we have Don't Forget the Lyrics, Family Court and other new shows.

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• TruTV has picked up six episodes of Man vs. Cartoon, which is sort of like Mythbusters, only for old cartoons.
• Gary Busey follows up his Oscar red carpet antics with this.
• The first Burn Notice novel comes out in August.
• More info on NBC's plan for a 52-week TV season.
• The Late Show with David Letterman announces the end of the writers strike.
• No, Paula Abdul's new video has not been rejected by MTV.
• And finally, video of Larry King dancing with Janet Jackson.

American Idol's ratings may be down, but it is still the number one show on television. And the juggernaut has spawned all kinds of imitators, including, America's Got Talent, Dancing With the Stars, Skating With Celebrities, and Rock Star Supernova.

And now, the Jackson Family is developing its own talent contest for CBS, tentatively called Pop Dynasty. Before you ask, NO, neither Janet nor Michael is involved with the show. This is Jermaine, Tito and LaToya's baby. The three Jacksons will serve as the show's judges.

Paris Hilton has followed Britney Spears' lead by backing out of her hosting gig for Fox's Billboard Music Awards. Unlike Brit Brit, who didn't give a reason, Paris apparently quit the show because she didn't like the jokes that were written for her. She says that she didn't appreciate making jokes about people who are her friends. She couldn't come to an agreement with the producers about her scripts, so she quit.

This behavior pretty much goes along the lines of what Tina Fey told Howard Stern recently. She said that Paris takes herself way too seriously (oh, and she is stupid and sheds fake hair).

The hostless Billboard Music Awards air Monday on Fox at 8 pm. Musical guests include Janet Jackson, The Killers, Gwen Stefani, Fergie, Mary J. Blige, Nickelback, and Ludacris featuring Pharrell and Young Jeezy.

CBS is fighting like hell against the $550,000 fine against its stations for the now-infamous "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show when Janet Jackson flashed America. The network has taken the fine to an appellate court, where it argued the decision "raises First Amendment and due process questions and is arbitrary and capricious".

The network says the baring of Janet's breast was an accident that lasted nine-sixteenths of a second and called it a "blink and you miss it" event. The network argues that, despite the FCC ruling, the incident was not explicit or graphic because very few people actually saw it in real time (oh, but we all saw it on the news in slow motion and on the internet). The network also cites previous FCC rulings on nudity that contradict its Super Bowl fine, claiming the FCC essentially changed its rules in order to impose a stiff fine to appease the "masses" who freaked out about a boobie. In response, the FCC accused CBS of wanting to show naked bodies to little kids... or something like that.

On Friday, CBS finally paid the $550,000 indecency fine that the FCC levied against the network and its stations for the Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl. Then, according to this article, they turned right around and sued the government agency over their ruling, claiming the fine for the unexpected incident was unfair.

Then why did they pay the fine? According to CBS, they had to pay the fine in order to file the appeal. Some system, huh? You can't sue the government until you pay them first. Anyway, its good to see the networks finally fighting back against the nebulous indecency rules that the FCC uses, especially in light of the recent ten-fold increase of the fine amount. If the incident happened today, CBS would have had to pay the FCC (gulp) $6.5 million. All for a floppy boob. Jeez.

The FCC denied CBS' second appeal of a hefty fine for the now-notorious "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl. I'm sure we all remember where we were when, during the half-time performance, Justin Timberlake ripped off Janet Jackson's breast patch to reveal her bare boob and some sort of sun-like nipple ring. The incident touched off a fury among many Americans over indecency on television. After its second appeal, the FCC has ordered CBS to pay a $550,000 fine for the bare breast incident. The FCC concluded that the show was indecent and that the so-called wardrobe malfunction was, in fact, "willful".

Here we go again. The FCC just handed down a big, fat, steaming pile of fines to the big four networks for indecency. Surprisingly, the biggest fine of all was against Without a Trace. CBS and 111 of its affiliates might have to pay a whopping $3.63 million fine. To put that in perspective, Howard Stern only racked up $3.5 million in fines for the CBS network. What was so offensive? A scene in a December 2004 episode that depicted teen-agers in an orgy. CBS strongly disagrees with the fine. The FCC also refused to reduce the fine for the Janet Jackson Super Bowl boobage, which stands at $550,000. Also for CBS.

Just in case Mick Jagger or, God forbid, Keith Richards decides to flash us, ABC was already planning to put a 5-10 second delay on the halftime show. Now it will also be ready in case Matt Hasselbeck decides to moon the camera. For the first time in the Super Bowl's 40-year history, the entire event will be broadcast with a five-second delay. That includes pre-game, game, and post-game coverage. Gee, I wonder what that's all about. It couldn't be the thing that wouldn't die, AKA Janet Jackson's accidental or intentional boob reveal during the halftime show two years ago, could it? Apparently ABC doesn't want the $550,000 in fines that CBS had to pay for that major nip slip. Last year, FOX refused to put a tape delay on its broadcast of the Super Bowl. FOX network said it was treating the game "as a news event".

The Parents Television Council publicly praised ABC for going with the delay. The group president said, "ABC has wisely decided to ensure that this year's Super Bowl is not hijacked by raunchy performers as it was in 2004."

Now that the sex will be taken care of, what about all the shots of the coaches and players yelling curse words? Come on! We may not be able to hear them but we know they're not yelling about figs.