TVSquad

(S01E01) The Knights of Prosperity is a show with all the right ingredients, and yet, the result feels more than a little half-baked.

Donal Logue plays Eugene Gurkin, a janitor who decides he wants a change when a co-worker falls over dead on the job. Gurkin doesn't want to die never having made something of himself, so after a failed attempt at securing a loan to open his own bar, he decides to rob Mick Jagger. All of this happens in about the first ten minutes of the episode, so you either buy into the concept right away or you don't. This is a sitcom after all, and not a feature film, so they have to get into it right away. Still, a little more set up would have been nice.

I'm reminded of the great American poet Dave Mustaine who said, "Hindsight is always 20/20, but looking back it's still a bit fuzzy." You may recall that before it became Knights of Prosperity, that show was called Let's Rob Mick Jagger. And before that, it was reported to be I Want To Rob Jeff Goldblum. Unfortunately, that didn't work out because Goldblum already had a gig set up at NBC called Raines. It's about a detective that sees dead people. I like to think of it as The Ghost Whisperer minus the boobs.

Adam mentioned a couple weeks ago that Raines would be starting in March. That's still the plan, but Cynopsis is reporting that they have cut the episode order from 13 to 7, which is never a good sign. Maybe things would have been better for Goldblum had he jumped ship to get robbed over at ABC. On the other hand, given the state of the rest of the ABC midseason shows, I wouldn't bet on that one either.

When Anna reported on CBS's schedule changes yesterday, she also mentioned that ABC is pushing back the premiere of the highly-anticipated comedy The Knights of Prosperity from its planned premiere on Oct. 17. Now, according to ABC, the show might not appear until mid-season, perhaps as late as January.

So the show must be having problems, right? Wrong, at least not according to the network. ABC thinks the show is so good that they want to promote it outside the craziness of this crowded fall season. "You really need to focus, you need to spend money and you need to surround the audience with these openings," ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson told the Los Angeles Times.

ABC gave the greenlight to two new comedies, including Let's Rob Mick Jagger, which is a single-camera comedy about a janitor and his friends who plan to rob Mick Jagger. It's executive produced by David Letterman. The original plan for the show was to rob Jeff Goldblum, but he's already busy with NBC. Jagger just recently signed on to appear in several episodes of the show that is all about robbing him.

ABC also picked up A Day in the Life, which has different views of a couple's wedding day. How are they going to get an entire season out of this premise? I dunno, either. The network also renewed What About Brian? for a second season.

And, part-improv/part-scripted comedy Sons & Daughters did not get renewed for a second season. Creator Fred Goss (interviewed earlier this year by Joel) confirms cancellation on his website.

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger may be playing a key role in a new comedy for ABC about a group of guys in New York who decide to rob a celebrity. That celebrity may be Mick Jagger, if negotiations pan out.

Originally, the title of the sitcom was I Want to Rob Jeff Goldblum, but Jeff is working on his own pilot project for NBC and was never attached to the project (although, I totally like the idea of him in that role). The creators turned to Mick Jagger, but his name won't be in the title and he will only appear in a few scenes.

I totally dig this idea for a show. I think they could keep it going by picking different celebrities to rob. I'd like to see them try to rob Patrick Swayze, Carol Channing, and Frankie Muniz. Who would you like to see robbed?

Just in case Mick Jagger or, God forbid, Keith Richards decides to flash us, ABC was already planning to put a 5-10 second delay on the halftime show. Now it will also be ready in case Matt Hasselbeck decides to moon the camera. For the first time in the Super Bowl's 40-year history, the entire event will be broadcast with a five-second delay. That includes pre-game, game, and post-game coverage. Gee, I wonder what that's all about. It couldn't be the thing that wouldn't die, AKA Janet Jackson's accidental or intentional boob reveal during the halftime show two years ago, could it? Apparently ABC doesn't want the $550,000 in fines that CBS had to pay for that major nip slip. Last year, FOX refused to put a tape delay on its broadcast of the Super Bowl. FOX network said it was treating the game "as a news event".

The Parents Television Council publicly praised ABC for going with the delay. The group president said, "ABC has wisely decided to ensure that this year's Super Bowl is not hijacked by raunchy performers as it was in 2004."

Now that the sex will be taken care of, what about all the shots of the coaches and players yelling curse words? Come on! We may not be able to hear them but we know they're not yelling about figs.

Remember how the NFL put an age limit on the "crowd" members who would rock out to the Rolling Stones during the Super Bowl haltime show? Yeah, that's been lifted. The original casting call was for groups of people between the ages of 18 and 45 to play the role of the crowd on the football field as the Stones perform. Organizers of the performance said they called for younger dancers because the role was physically demanding. People had to run on and off the field real quick. And they had to act like they're crazy for the Stones. Not surprisingly, the NFL heard from a lot of die-hard fans over the age of 45 who can totally rock out to the Stones like the younger crowd. So, they lifted the age limit. Or, maybe it was all the press they were getting over the casting call. Anyway, now you only have to be 18 years old or older to rock out to the Rolling Stones during the halftime show at the Super Bowl in February 5 in Detroit. All you old folks can sign up here.

Here's a way for you and 20 of your closest friends to go to the Super Bowl: act crazy about the Rolling Stones. The company that is planning the halftime performance for the Super Bowl just put out a casting call for 2,000 people to be the crowd on the football field when the Stones perform. The only catch? You've gotta be younger than 45. That leaves out a good chunk of the Stones fan base, doesn't it? The halftime planners say they put the age limit on the participants because the role of the crowd is physically demanding because people will have to sing, dance, and act like they're all-out nutso for the Rolling Stones. Um, there are plenty of people over the age of 45 who do that whenever the Stones go on tour. I think the real reason is that the planners know many of the Stones fans are older, like the band, but old isn't cool! They want the Stones and halftime in general to appear young and hip. That's the key demographic, baby! Anyway, if you are between 18 and 45, have 20 friends who are willing to shake their booty, and happen to be in Detroit on February 5th, you can sign up to audition here.