TVSquad

Every once in a while, the British television show Doctor Who is revamped. This is usually done by replacing the lead actor and his supporting crew. However, it is also done by changing the logo of the series. As a result, certain logos are associated with certain eras. Yesterday, the BBC has revealed on their website the logo to be associated with the Matt Smith era of the show. They also have a video of the historical logos of the show.

I don't have a particular favorite logo, although I liked both the "diamond" logo of the 70's, most closely associated with Tom Baker's era, and the "neon" logo of the 80's, which spanned three Doctors (Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Colin Baker). The current one isn't bad either with the cylinder thing with pointy ends (what is that shape called?).

A video preview of thenew logo is available on certain sites such as Topless Robot. What do you think of it? Which logo has been your favorite?

So what do you think of it? I like it. Conan says that he "wanted a logo that acknowledged the long, rich tradition of The Tonight Show while still looking good on hats, t-shirts, mugs, lawn furniture, notebooks, stemware, urns, defibrillators, water bottles, cell phones, sports equipment, pens, vacuums, chimes and our new line of unisex cologne."

Now we just have to see what the theme song and opening will look like. Conan takes over the show on June 1.

America's Next Top Model could learn a few things from LOGO's reality show Rupaul's Drag Race. Although the two shows are different beasts (one is about models that accidentally look drag, the other intentionally looks drag), the competitive qualities of the show remain the same. There is still runway walking, working in different fashion themes, and looking fierce.

RuPaul has said that the two shows aren't interchangeable and it's true: Drag Race is colorful, fun, and intriguing; qualities that Top Model has lost after all these years. Here are several good reasons why Top Model isn't on top anymore.

Once again, people, I'm forced to asked the question, what the hell is going on here? Has black become white? Has up replaced down? Has Rush Limbaugh been saying he wishes Barack Obama all the best, while Janeane Garofalo is caught trying to start a fire in the White House rose garden?

The makers of The Sarah Silverman Program have been in a standoff with Comedy Central over their latest budget negotiations. Thankfully, a deal was reached and the show will return for another season, but the deal was even bigger than the budget they called into question.

Well, no one ever said you had to be good at math to run a major network, or any of the other basic requirements for passing standardized testing, for that matter. Fred Silverman's parents, for instance, had to hire their boy a special tutor so he could pass finger painting.

I'm going to hazard the guess that if you are a regular visitor to TV Squad that you, like me, probably watch more television than the average bear. Partly out of good old fashioned curiosity, and partly because I'm paying for all of those channels so I might as well use them, I make it a point to cover as much of my cable TV package as I can when time allows. Doing so, you end up finding some odd and interesting things. After the jump, five things I've learned from my cable TV over the last week or so.

What must it be like to be RuPaul? Hmmm ... I can't really even fathom it, so let's just continue on with this news item as if it's important.

RuPaul's Drag Race, a new reality competition series helmed by the drag queen him/herself, has been greenlighted by MTV Networks' Logo, which targets lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender viewers, notes The Hollywood Reporter.

Rick and Steve are a gay couple, and they're animated. I don't mean they're lively, I mean they're the stars of a new animated series for Logo called Rick and Steve. The series, which begins July 10 at 10:00 p.m., features voice work by Alan Cumming, Margaret Cho, Wilson Cruz and Peter Paige. The music for the series is composed by the same folks who wrote the music for Avenue Q.

The characters in Rick and Steve resemble tiny posable toys, which makes the show look like something created for the Nick Jr. set. Of course, the themes are just a tad more adult than that, or so I gathered by watching the trailer.

Logo --the gay, lesbian bi-sexual and transgender network-- is taking the first steps toward continuing its short-lived series Noah's Arc as a feature film. The series, which focuses on Noah and Wade, two black gay screenwriters and their friends in Los Angeles, ended last year after its second season. The feature film, which will continue where the series left off, is still in the very early stages of development, but should hit theaters in 2008 according to Logo. This would be the first feature film developed by the new channel.

You can watch a full episode of the series here.

The GLAAD Media Award nominations were announced over the weekend. The Awards honor films, movies, music, news outlets, advertisements, plays and even comic books that offer "fair, accurate and inclusive" representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. There are no real surprises among the nominees, which include The L Word, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty ("jazz hands") and The Office. The individual episode nominations are reserved for those shows without regular gay characters and include Grey's Anatomy, a show making headlines right now not for its storylines but for actor Isaiah Washington's reported homophobic remarks. Amazingly, South Park was not nominated for its brave portrayal of a post-op Mrs. Garrison.

The Awards will be broadcast on Logo on April 21st. A list of the television nominees follows the jump. A full list of nominees in all categories can be seen on the GLAAD website.

No, you haven't tuned into the alternate universe version of TV Squad. What you are seeing here is true blue. According to Extra, Rosie O'Donnell has been named as the replacement for Meredith Riviera on ABC's The View. Meredith is replacing Katie Couric on NBC's Today show when Katie moves to anchor the CBS Evening News this summer. Rosie was on the short list of candidates that included Connie Chung, Patricia Heaton from Everybody Loves Raymond and current CNN American Morning anchor Soledad O'Brien.

ABC will make the official announcement on Friday, April 28th. From 1996-2001 O'Donnell hosted her own syndicated daytime talk show that was a critical and popular success. She is currently executive producer of The Big Gay Show, a comedy sketch show that will appear on the Logo network.

[via Zap2It -- thanks Anthony!]

It's official. Rosie O'Donnell is returning to television, but this time she's behind-the-scenes. She is executive producer of a comedy sketch show called The Big Gay Show. Logo, MTV's gay-themed cable channel, is picking up six half-hour episodes of the program. It will premiere some time next year.

And, according to this website, O'Donnell is also working on a comedy pilot with novelist Alice Hoffman about a gay Erma Bombeck-type advice columnist. O'Donnell said the comedy will be about the main character's life in her blended family when her ex-husband and his 10-year-old son move in with her.

MTV's gay and lesbian Logo network is teaming up with comedian "Ant" (most of you will remember him from Last Comic Standing) to seek out gay life in small town America. For US of ANT the comedian will travel across the United States and visit random towns to see how the gay community is getting along. The comedian claims he'll be throwing a dart at a map to decide where to go, though I imagine a more scientific approach will probably be used. Or not.

 

Those of us who grew up in small towns know they don't always embrace alternative lifestyles. The idea has possibilities, and it will be interesting to see what the show does with its subject matter.

Rosie O'Donnell is returning to television, but this time she'll be behind the camera. She partnered up with MTV to launch a sketch comedy show on MTV's new network, Logo. The channel targets gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender viewers. O'Donnell's sketch show is going to be a lot like Saturday Night Live, featuring up-and-coming comedians, political and pop culture satire, and even some musical numbers. The show will also include celebrity guests who are "friends of the LGBT community." Rosie is serving as the show's executive producer, and she will pair with writers from The Rosie O'Donnell Show, which aired from 1996-2002. When Logo launches launched on June 30, it was in an estimated 19 million homes.