TVSquad

Now regular Squad hoppers know I'm no drooling American Idol watcher, so maybe you think my opinions on this show are worth less than the U.S. dollar injected with swine flu.

But this move to bring in Ellen DeGeneres, a talk show host, actress and comedian, screams of another move in the world of TV commentating. A move that seemed well reasoned enough but went down in a glorious ball of blue and orange flames on live television.

Comedian and long time TV fixture Dennis Miller's very short stint as the color commentator for ABC's Monday Night Football screams of similarities louder than that guy in the Edvard Munch painting watching the Orson Welles sex tape. Great, Miller's voice is back in my head again. Thanks cha cha, I mean, Ellen.

Oh my god, now I'm going to have to rearrange my entire schedule. I wanted to make sure and tell you all as soon as possible so you could do the same. Because of a football double-header on Sunday, September 20, CBS is bumping the Emmy's up a week to September 13. I know, madness! I wrote it on my calendar in permanent ink! But I guess in the NFL's world, you shouldn't think of anything as permanent. Look at what they do to the prime-time schedule already.

Hell, the fall edition of The Amazing Race traditionally runs 20 to 40 minutes late every week because of football. There's no DVR adjustments possible for this. They really should schedule a flexible news program in 60 Minutes slot that can be truncated as needed so the rest of the lineup can start on time. And now, out of fear that football will run long, they're bumping the entire Emmy ceremony with only three month's notice. Celebrity desingers are panicking as we speak, and those poor accountants are going to have to count a week faster. It's absolute chaos!

For nearly 20 years, NFL football fans could feast on Sunday games and then flip on ESPN for a complete wrap up on NFL Prime Time hosted primarily by Chris "Boomer" Berman and Tom Jackson. It was a staple. Then in 2005, ESPN dropped the show.

Now, it's coming back (sort of) and in addition to Boomer and Jackson, John Saunders will be rejoining them, re-creating the original troika from 1987. The essence of NFL Prime Time will be found in the 7 p.m. ET edition of SportsCenter each Sunday during football season. Essentially, they'll be doing what they did on NFL Prime Time, and in doing so, they'll be taking aim at NBC's Football Night in America, that network's lead in show for the Sunday Night Football game.

This should be really interesting because the NBC pre-game show is like Thanksgiving dinner -- loaded with stuffing. They have stars galore, including the recently added, former ESPN stalwart, Dan Patrick.

The move by the NFL to exclusively air this weekend's game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants on their own NFL network, which reaches only 40% of US households, was met with much criticism and frustration. With a win this weekend, the Patriots would become the first team to go undefeated in a 16-game season (the Dolphins did it in the 14-game '72 season).

Now it looks like pressure from Washington has changed their mind and suddenly the game is airing on NFL Network and both NBC and CBS. Of course, several local affiliates to the two teams had already negotiated exclusive rights to the game and sold ads at inflated rates, so they can't be too happy about having to share the game now with CBS and NBC.

Veteran rockers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have been chosen as the musical act for the Super Bowl game. The game will be played in Glendale, AZ on February 3 and will air on FOX.

Wow, what a choice. I think that the halftime show is also going to be sponsored by Brylcream. They must be trying to get the boomer - or even the post-boomer - audience. At this rate, in the coming years we'll also see performances by Bob Seger and Jackson Browne. And before anyone thinks I want to see a rap star or Avril Lavigne rock the halftime show, there's nothing wrong with having older rock bands headline the show - it's just that Tom Petty isn't Paul McCartney or Prince, and I can't really see the band having the same "even Generation Y likes this band!" hipness that a lot of older bands have. Unless I'm completely out of touch with what's hip nowadays (a good bet).

Oh well, at least there's no danger of seeing Petty's ... well, you know. It's after the jump.

And now, this breaking news just in from our redundancy is redundant department:

You've heard it hundreds, if not thousands, of times during a broadcast of one sporting event or another . . . the announcement that any rebroadcast or retransmission of the program is illegal without the exclusive written consent of one professional sports league or another. However, did you know that the airing of that copyright notice is actually protected under copyright as well? I didn't, and neither did law professor Wendy Seltzer. She posted a sample of the NFL's copyright notice on YouTube to show her students how far these notices go in exaggerating their rights.

When we reported on the NFL's crackdown on Super Bowl church gatherings a few days ago, many of you commented that the league's policy -- no large gatherings to watch the game if the screen is 55" or above -- was a bunch of what Col. Potter used to call "horsehockey," especially when it came to places of worship.

It seems like the league got the message... sort of. According to WorldNetDaily, the NFL has no objections to churches holding these large-screen gatherings, as long as no admission is charged (because you know how those little churches like to make wicked profits from games like this).

Here's another reason why everyone calls the NFL the "No Fun League"...

The league is cracking down on any mass-viewings of the Super Bowl that is brought to their attention, including parties that charge admission -- get this -- any gathering that views the game on a TV that's 55" or above, whether admission is charged or not.