TVSquad

As a longtime Howard Stern fan, John Melendez will always be known as Stuttering John to me. Over the many years he was on the show, Melendez somehow managed to get control of his stammer, but not his annoying Long Island accent. So when Jay Leno decided to add a little bit of "hipness" on The Tonight Show by plucking Melendez from Stern's clutches and making him the announcer of the show five years ago, you had to wonder about the wisdom of that decision.

Of course, the move didn't work: Melendez may not have stuttered while he was introducing the show, but hearing him butcher celebrity names -- did he call Pamela Anderson "Pamaler Andason" once? -- on a daily basis was brutal. And Leno quickly realized that without Stern and his writers to support him, Melendez wasn't all that funny.

So it's not a surprise to learn that, with the clean slate provided by a move in timeslot, Melendez won't be the announcer on The Jay Leno Show.

Here's some good news for people who have missed Andy Richter since he stopped being Conan O'Brien's sidekick nine years ago: NBC just announced that he's signed on to be the announcer of The Tonight Show when Conan takes it over in June.

Now, this doesn't mean that we'll see Andy on the couch next to Conan, as he was in Late Night's early years. He's the announcer; think of what John Melendez does for Leno and add the fact that, you know, Andy actually has comedic talent. Richter will announce the show and participate in both live and pre-taped comedy bits.

For fans of Andy Richter the actor, though, this isn't good news. After starring in two very funny failed sitcoms, Andy Richter Controls the Universe and Andy Barker, P.I., it seems like his returning to the daily Conan fold would preclude him from starring in another one anytime soon. But that also means he won't star in another Quintuplets, either, so maybe this is a good idea.

One of the many problems facing broadcasters as we move into the future is the proliferation of DVRs and their fantastic ability to allow people to blow right through all of those bill paying commercials. In the continuing effort to thwart quick fingered viewers, networks are turning to live commercials.

The idea being that the live commercial offers something different enough that it will be worth your time, while your 300th viewing of Cisco welcoming you to the human network no longer even registers. The New York Times has a good article on how this latest incarnation of what is a very old idea is being implemented. They talk about spots that Kimmel and Leno have done and also give a peak at Spike's plans for a live three-minute game show that would run during commercial breaks.

On the Howard Stern show today, Artie Lange announced that he signed a development deal with FOX. It's like the usual development deals you hear about; Artie will get paid a lot of money to either help develop sitcoms that he will star in, or make himself available to act in someone else's project if FOX thinks he's a good fit for it. Like he mentioned on the air, it's one of the sweetest gigs in show business.

For now, he'll still be doing Howard's show, because there is not sitcom vehicle imminent; but if a project does come along in ten months or so, he'll have to leave.