TVSquad

What a mess the whole Jon & Kate Plus 8 Minus 1 debacle is. Apparently, after learning that TLC was moving forward with a revamped show named Kate Plus 8, Jon demanded through his lawyers that the show cease production immediately or face criminal charges.

A letter from his attorney noted, "In the event that anyone enters the marital property, Jon Gosselin will notify the local authorities to effectuate police action against any trespassers." Keep in mind that Jon seemed fine with the kids being on the show last week, when he was still a big part of the show and was, in fact, filming an episode with the kids.

Yesterday, we wrote about Chris Brown's appearance on Larry King Live, where he tried to ameliorate his image. As Jane pointed out, Chris didn't really say very much. On the other hand, in the new People magazine, Brown has opened up and put his foot directly in his mouth. Chris Brown is ticked off with Oprah Winfrey and thinks she owes him an apology. Or so it seems.

Brown was offended that Oprah did a show last March about domestic violence, based on Brown's public assault on his lover, the singer Rihanna. The incident took place in a car after they had both been to the Grammys. Brown was found guilty, ordered to stay away from Rihanna, sentenced to five years of probation, one year of domestic violence counseling, and six months of community service.

Dear Larry,

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP WITH THE SHOWS ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON?!

Honestly, what else can you possibly say? You've already interviewed every Jackson lawyer (past and present), interviewed his dermatologist, talked to his friends, talked to Jermaine Jackson, given a live tour of Neverland Ranch (complete with ghosts), had Marlon Brando's son on almost every night, interviewed Jackson's former nurse, and you actually went to the memorial service itself and reported from there. What else can you possibly do? Are you going to have an exclusive interview with Michael Jackson's nose? Talk to his mailman?

The sheer volume of coverage surrounding Michael Jackson's untimely death has reached such a solid density that you can actually take a hammer to it (and believe me, I've tried).

The man's death was tragic and newsworthy, and the recent memorial was also deserving of some extreme attention, but some of the bits and pieces almost scream for the story to stick around. Mark my words, Michael Jackson will replace Jesus and the Virgin Mary as the holy face that some yahoo will see in their morning batch of French toast.

One of those stories reached such a fever pitch that the network that spawned it tried to put a stop to it. An overly vigilant CNN viewer spotted a shadowy figure walking across the camera during Larry King's visit to Neverland Ranch. The video found its way to YouTube where it garnered over 4 million hits and sparked a wave of news coverage not seen since, well, Michael Jackson's death.

We've talked about this a lot here at TV Squad, how the word "exclusive" isn't used correctly in TV news these days. In fact I'll go one step further and say that networks often lie when they say something is an "exclusive." They'll say that an interview with a famous celebrity or a politician is an exclusive, but you realize you just watched an interview with the same person on another network the night before, or there's an interview with the same person the next day.

Now, some networks will say they have an exclusive before another interview airs, so in that case I guess we can say they're right (if we give them the benefit of the doubt that they didn't know the other interview was coming, that is), but more often than not they know it's not an exclusive.

Since Michael Jackson died two days ago, TV and radio stations have been busy with around the clock news coverage, specials about the King of Pop, and even non-stop playing of Jackson songs and videos. More special programming is planned this weekend, and AOL has a list of what we'll see.

This morning at 10:30, E! will have the special Michael & Farrah: Lost Icons (good for them to include Farrah, whose death was overshadowed by bad timing). At 8 tonight (and Sunday), CNN will have Man in the Mirror, followed by a rerun of Larry King Live coverage and interviews about Jackson's death. At 10, The Bio Channel will air Bio Remembers: Michael Jackson.

• At 8, NBC has a new I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.
• At 9, FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance.
• USA has a new Burn Notice at 9, followed by a new Royal Pains.
• The Jonas Brothers appear on Larry King Live on CNN at 9.
• TLC has a new American Chopper at 9.
• Bravo has the special Real Housewives of New Jersey: The Last Supper at 9, then a new episode of The Fashion Show.
• Also at 9: Spike has a new TNA Wrestling.
• At 10, NBC has a new episode of The Listener.
• Comedy Central has a new Tosh.0 at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

When I heard that David Carradine was found hanging from a closet in his hotel room yesterday, one of the first things I thought was, "Huh. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would commit suicide." He just seemed like one of those full-of-life guys that wanted to experience all he could before he checked out. I even wondered aloud to my fiancee if he died doing something... else, using the rumored cause of death of INXS' Michael Hutchence as a reference.

I guess I wasn't far off. Now Thai police are speculating that Carradine may have accidentally died during a "sex game gone wrong," according to The Washington Post. This is after his manager, who was on Larry King Live last night, his friends and family, and his colleagues all agreed that there was no way Carradine was suicidal.

File this one under the category of really, wild rumors that should become reality: Desperate Housewives wants Governor Sarah Palin to appear as a guest on the show.

Like I said, this is a rumor that cropped up yesterday, saying that head-writer/creator Marc Cherry was "very hot to trot to have her appear in the season finale." That was followed by an ABC spokesman denying that there's a shred of truth to the story.

Still, what if it's not such a Lucy Ricardo idea? Sarah Palin as a visitor to Wisteria Lane would be terrific -- and probably a boost in the ratings (which are doing great anyway, but still why not do even better?).

• NBC has the Olympics all night.
• TCM is showing Barbara Stanwyck movies all night.
• At 8, ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker.
• Over on ESPN2, more coverage of The Little League World Series.
• At 9, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• Bill Maher is the guest on Larry King Live, on CNN at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Eureka at 9, then a new ECW.
• There's a new Food Detectives on Food Network at 9, followed by a new Road Tasted with The Neelys.
• At 10, A&E has a new episode of The Cleaner.
• Lifetime has a new How To Look Good Naked at 10.
• History Channel has a new Evolve at 10.
• Bravo has a new Million Dollar Listing at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Somebody give Ed McMahon a job, please! There are more stories emerging about the famous TV sidekick's financial woes, and it's just sad that he's in such dire straits.

Granted, he's not alone in these tough times -- and, yes, he has had millions in his time -- but the revelations that the former Tonight Show star and Star Search host is in money trouble strikes me as really unfortunate. And apparently that help from Jay Leno is slow in materializing. Why isn't Publisher's Clearinghouse giving him a gig?

The latest news is that Citibank is suing McMahon for $200,000, a loan they extended to Ed. In a lawsuit filed in L.A. Superior court on June 9, the bank is seeking $179,687 in damages, plus legal fees. This is on top of the potential foreclosure on his Beverly Hills home.

Now that we're past the rumors of Ryan Seacrest replacing Larry King as host of King's CNN show, Bill Zwecker has another rumor to report: it's Jay Leno who might replace the veteran talk show host.

It's no secret that several networks are interested in Leno after he leaves his NBC show in 2009. Both ABC and FOX have shown interest in offering him a late night spot, and there's even been talk of NBC keeping him in-house to do some sort of new show with them. But Zwecker is reporting that CNN might actually want to grab Leno, give him a show on the network (perhaps even late night), and then when King finally does retire in a few years Leno will be already on the network and ready to take over in the 9pm slot.

Sometimes I wonder if Leno is sitting at home, laughing at all of the rumors and speculation because he really has no intention of doing anything but stand-up and working on his collection of cars.

[via TV Tattle]

• At 8, ABC has Vacation Swap, followed by a new episode of The Bachelorette.
• NBC has a new American Gladiators at 8, then a new Dateline.
• ABC Family has a new Greek at 8, then a new Wildfire.
• Also at 8: TV Land has an Andy Griffith Show marathon.
• At 8:30, ESPN has the NBA Playoffs.
• At 9, Larry King Live has all the finalists from American Idol.
• USA has a new Monday Night RAW at 9.
• A&E has the premiere of The Andromeda Strain at 9.
• At 10, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
• E! has the premiere of Denise Richards: It's Complicated, then the premiere of Living Lohan.
• Also at 10: MTV has two new episodes of The Paper.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• USA has an NCIS marathon all night.
• At 8, The CW has a new Smackdown!
• PBS has a new Washington Week at 8, followed by new episodes of NOW and Bill Moyers Journal.
• TCM has two Jack Lemmon movies starting at 8: How To Murder Your Wife and The Out-of-Towners.
• At 9, NBC has a new, two hour Dateline.
• Larry King Live welcomes American Idol winner and runner-up David Cook and David Archuleta at 9.
• Discovery has a new Man vs. Wild at 9.
• At 10, ABC has a new 20/20.
• There's a new episode of The Soup on E! at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• ESPN has NBA Playoffs all night.
• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, then a new Grey's Anatomy and the season finale (part one) of Lost.
• NBC has the one hour season finale of My Name Is Earl at 8, followed by the one hour season finale of The Office and the season finale of ER.
• The CW has the season finales of Smallville and Supernatural.
• FOX has a new Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? at 8, followed by a new Don't Forget The Lyrics.
• At 9, CBS has a new CSI, followed by a new Without A Trace.
• Ryan Seacrest is the guest on a new Larry King Live, at 9 on CNN.
• Also at 9: Hallmark has the new movie Bridal Fever.
• At 10, Spike has a new TNA Impact.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new 'Lil Bush.

Check your local TV listings for more.