TVSquad

Most people don't turn in to Fine Living Network for laughs, but all that's about to change on September 16, at least for as long as a new comedy series called Whatever, Martha! runs. Imagine, if you will, an entire clip show culled from The Martha Stewart Show.

Now, picture a couple of chicks sitting around and making fun of said clips. That's the concept for Whatever, Martha!, and if this idea reminds you of Mystery Science Theater 3000 -- sans puppets -- that's a good thing.

Fine Living has gotten Martha's blessing for the show. Heck, she's leading the laughs by allowing the clips to be used. Also the two women who'll be presenting the show and mocking her every half-hour are close to her: Alexis Stewart, her daughter, and Jennifer Koppelman Hutt, whose father -- Charles Koppelman -- is the chairman of Martha's media empire.

So, this is all in the family for the Stewart camp, and whatever jokes, cracks and observations made by the women will be with the Martha Stewart seal of approval.

I'm not sure who to root for in this particular dispute. The British authorities have banned Martha Stewart from entering the country due to her previous conviction of obstructing justice.

The television personality was hoping to visit England for some business engagements. Stewart's assistants confirmed her visa denial, but didn't give details (I don't understand this particular fact. American citizens don't need a visa to go to England, only need a passport.).

"Martha loves England; the country and English culture are near and dear to her heart," said Charles Koppelman, chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. "She has engagements with English companies and business leaders and hopes this can be resolved so that she will be able to visit soon."

I'm not the biggest fan of Martha, but this seems like a bit of a snow job. She did the crime and did her time. Why do the British authorities feel that she is still some sort of threat?

She did, however, get to visit her ancestral country of Poland. Score one for the Poles! Maybe they'll keep her.

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

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• It was great to see Teri Garr on Letterman the other night.
• There's a 20th Anniversary DVD set coming for Mystery Science Theater 3000.
• Martha Stewart has been banned in the U.K.
• Seth MacFarlane spills the beans about what Family Guy has in store for viewers this fall, and reveals which celebrities are mad at the show.

Soap operas thrive on drama and they're not above borrowing from other sources. You could say it happens all the time, because it does. Of course, you can also go by that old Hollywood axiom that there are really only seven stories and they're told over and over again in a variety of new and different ways. Be that as it may, a look at some soap stories going on now will remind you of some other media.

For instance, on All My Children, you might look at Erica Kane's incarceration for insider trading (or whatever she was supposed to have done that was criminal) and think it's reminiscent of the Martha Stewart case. After all, like Martha, Erica is host of a TV show and an entrepreneur of the highest order. But the part of Erica's story that made me giggle was when she was on the run from prison with fellow con Carmen. Being handcuffed together was right out of The 39 Steps (the Hitchcock movie and now on Broadway) and The Defiant Ones, but the two women from different worlds clicking was more like Ugly Betty. Remember, last season when Claire Meade escaped from prison chained to a tough girl named Yoga? Think the AMC writers were taking notes?

Late last year we told you how Emeril Lagasse was going to leave Food Network. Now we know where he's going.

The chef is going to move his Emeril Live show to the Fine Living Network. The show will air in the same time slot (7pm) that it currently runs in, seven nights a week. The new shows start on July 7th. Emeril is part of the Martha Stewart empire now (except for his many restaurants, which he has held on to), and repeats of Martha's daily syndicated show run on Fine Living every night as well. Both shows will air next to each other on the schedule.

Television icon Martha Stewart has suffered a family tragedy when her dog Paw Paw passed away from renal failure. He was almost 13 dog years old.

The dog's full name was "Kublai Khan Paw Paw Chow Chow". He was a 60 pound chow and had appeared on Martha's television programs a few times.

I admit I am neither a fan of dogs nor a fan of Martha but I find any death of a beloved pet to be tragic. All this being said, the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if we're being told the entire truth of the situation. I have a few alternate theories on Paw Paw's death:

So, AOL TV did a poll about America's favorite talk show hosts and 1.3 million people made their feelings known. Interesting results. I didn't agree with some of them, like who I like waking up with. Diane Sawyer was the top choice, but I'd go for the second place finisher, Matt Lauer. As for whom to go to bed with -- TV talk show wise, that is -- I can't believe most of the people chose Jay Leno. Is he really that popular? I prefer David Letterman; I'm a sucker for the Top Ten lists.

She's been a vamp, a vixen, a medicine woman, royalty and she's even tried Dancing with the Stars. Now she will solve crimes. The Hallmark Channel has greenlit Dear Prudence, a Jane Seymour crime-solving Martha Stewart-type celebrity. They're calling this a backdoor pilot because Hallmark doesn't do series TV; however, if the movie were to be successful, it could become one of a rotation of star-driven mystery movies that Hallmark currently presents.

The richest man in the world has a secret. He likes to watch the goings on in Pine Valley. You know, the place Erica Kane -- Susan Lucci, don't you know -- calls home. And now he's going to be on his favorite ABC soap, too -- for the second time! Billionaire Warren Buffett will play himself on All My Children during May sweeps.

Just a few weeks ago, TV Squad reported that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia acquired Emeril Lagasse's media properties. Now, the Bam-man will be starring in a new daily cooking show. Celebrity chef and restauranteur Emeril Lagasse will star in Emeril Green, a show that will be shot entirely at Whole Foods Market. The enterprise will be shot in front of a live audience, and will air on Planet Green, Discovery Communications' new 24/7 eco-lifestyle television network, PG launches in June 2008 with a bunch of new shows, including Emeril Green which will launch in July.

How's this for a winning recipe? Domestic diva Martha Stewart has snagged superchef Emeril Lagasse for her empire. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. announced today the acquisition of Emeril's franchise -- all those cookbooks, kitchen products and TV shows in which he stars -- for $45 million in cash and $5 million in stock at closing. That $50 million could swell by $20 million more if "if certain benchmarkets are achieved."

Martha's purchase, however, does not include Emeril's Homebase, which includes the chef's 11 stellar restaurants, including Emeril's New Orleans and Delmonico's Steakhouse in Las Vegas.

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today, on TV Squad Daily:

• On her Christmas episode, Martha Stewart shared some lovely holiday crafts that she made in prison.
  
• Christina Aguilera bought the Osbournes' house after falling in love with its kitchen on the reality show.
  
• MTV just announced their "Street Team '08."
  

The video's embedded below, or you can subscribe to this podcast via our feed. Plus, you can also download the file directly.

OK, so we all know that Thanksgiving Day means football, football, football, NFL and college, and several networks (including CBS and FOX) will satisfy those fans. But there's more to Thanksgiving than that. What follows after the jump is a list of all of the other shows you can watch tomorrow, if you can get the remote control away from your brother-in-law or uncle. Lots of marathons and Thanksgiving-themed episodes.

• AMC is showing Alfred Hitchcock movies all day and night.
• At 7am, NBC's Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America, and CBS' Early Show will all have Thanksgiving features, including cooking tips and reports from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

No, she didn't steal money or electronics or even heads of lettuce. She stole a person! Rachael Ray's Every Day With Rachael Ray magazine has named a new publisher, and it just so happens to be the old publisher of Everyday Food, one of the magazines in Martha Stewart's vast empire.

This is not going to warm the coldness that both cooking stars have toward each other. They have completely different outlooks on how to go about cooking, and when Rachael Ray's show started, Martha (or someone from her show) actually sent people into the audience to see what Ray's show was about. And then Ray put Barry Manilow on her show before he went on Martha's show, and that didn't go over too well either.

In short, Martha doesn't think that Ray is a good thing, and Ray doesn't think Martha is delish.

We first told you about this back in August, and now the complete list is out: Turner Classic Movies is letting celebrities program the network for the month of November. Each celeb is picking three or four films, and here are a few of the more interesting choices (it started Thursday with Alfred Molina's picks).

Whoopi Goldberg likes A Face in the Crowd and Funny Girl. Jerry Stiller likes A Night At The Opera. Kermit The Frog loves dancing to Singin' In The Rain and The Band Wagon. Martha Stewart would probably have some decorating ideas as Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.