TVSquad

Time's annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World is out, and for the third year in the row I just missed making the list (last year I was 103, this year I'm at 102, so I'm getting better!). The list is broken down into five different categories: Leaders & Revolutionaries, Heroes & Pioneers, Scientists & Thinkers, Artists & Entertainers, and Builders & Titans. This year, Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana herself, is #59. And the weird thing is, it's under the Scientists & Thinkers category.

OK, that's not true (she's under Artists & Entertainers), but it got me thinking that there must really be a shortage of influential people in the world today.

Please excuse this late Daily Show review. Yes, another one. But, as usual, I have a legitimate reason for my tardiness, because you know I fly right. I'm still recovering from my journey to The Colbert Report's first night in Philadelphia, the full report for which will be posted very soon. Spoiler alert: I didn't get mugged.

Until that gets posted, enjoy this review and reruns of Sunday's Night of Too Many Stars autism benefit that Jon hosted (if you download from iTunes, proceeds go to the charity!). Jon briefly touched on a specific moment from the night, when Senator Chris Dodd made an appearance behind the phones, sporting a mysterious blue ear. The only logical explanation is that the senator is actually a secret Blue Man. Really, I don't know why he was rubbing his ear against a Blue Man backstage and, to be quite honest, I don't really want to think about it. This may or may not be because I'm imagining a body-painted David Cross in cut-off shorts as the Blue Man in question. Eww.

There are very few times that I wish I lived in Los Angeles (I'm a cold weather guy). This is one of them.

The annual William S. Paley Television Festival kicks off on March 14 (at its new home at Hollywood's Cinerama Dome) and runs through the 27th, and it looks like a lot of great shows are going to be celebrated during those two weeks. Already announced are panels that will reunite the cast from Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, as well as nights devoted to Chuck, Mad Men, Pushing Daisies, Gossip Girl, Dirty Sexy Money, Elvis Presley, and Judd Apatow. And there are still more events to be announced next week.

I'm disappointed by this list (I'm disappointed by most lists these days) because they're aren't many TV people on it. Oh, there are some TV execs and producers (J.J. Abrams) and plenty of former TV stars (George Clooney, Will Smith, Will Ferrell), but there's no Tina Fey? She's the first name that popped into my head, TV-wise. I know there are others (readers, that's your cue to comment!). Freaks and Geeks creator Judd Apatow is on the list, as is Tyler Perry. Sacha Baron Cohen is there too.

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).

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.

Apparently CBS isn't just screwing around with that Innertube thing on their website. The network has signed Michael Cera (Arrested Development) to do a scripted short-form series. The Good Life will be a mockumentary about two aspiring television producers who are convinced that their show is the next big thing. Unfortunately for them, it's not. Cera will be joined by Clark Duke, who you may remember from CSI, but I doubt it. He played Frat Boy #1 two years ago, if that helps. The pair will also both be in Judd Apatow's next film, Super Bad, next year.

This is a big step for the networks and new media. It's one thing to have a web only reality show, added bonus clips, or to burn off episodes of your failed series online. But it is an entirely different thing to hire known actors to create a series specifically for online distribution. Now let's see NBC answer by finally producing some more Nobody's Watching episodes.