TVSquad

Now that the strike is over, networks and the powers that be behind each shows are deciding how many episodes they can shoot in the coming two months or so to air by the end of May or early June. Their decision will be based on the storylines they can offer and wrap up in a small number of episodes as well as the production cost. Some series, like Heroes, that require more FX, flashy sets, more post-production time, may resume shooting in the coming weeks but those episodes will more than likely be for next season. But one thing most fans (I include myself in the lot) didn't consider in the equation to determine the number of new episodes will get are the actors' contracts.

September is that magical month we TV fanatics have been waiting for, when all our favorite shows return and new shows try to find a place in our hearts and our DVRs.

However, don't spend your August reading books and spending time with loved ones, because there are a few shows popping up this month you may want to check out. Someone spent a lot of time building that TV set, so the least you can do is sit around and watch whatever is on. Here's a few things:

Variety reports that negotiations to have actress Whoopi Goldberg join The View (she's been a guest host several times) are close to being finalized, though the network has made no official announcement just yet.

ABC is also apparently talking with comedian Sherri Shepherd about the possibility of joining the show. Currently the only three permanent hosts are Barbara Walters, Joy Behar and Elizabeth Hasselbeck.

Goldberg would replace Rosie O'Donnell, of course, who left the show a couple months ago.

On August 15, 2007, PBS World, a new 24/7 PBS channel, will launch in 20 markets, including major ones like New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Cleveland and Tampa.

This is cool news for folks like myself who see PBS as a kind of oasis on the television landscape: a place away from the cacophony of lame reality shows, egregious sitcoms and screaming political pundits. Still, I can't help but wonder how a 24/7 PBS channel will fare in an age where so many other channels offer the same kind of nature, science and documentary programming PBS does. I submit that Nova, Frontline, Independent Lens and Nature are still the best shows in their particular field, but it's not like this is the old days when PBS was the only place to catch a special about elephants.

The new 24-hour format will also allow member stations to tailor programming to local tastes. The aforementioned series will also be a part of the new channel, along with other PBS shows and original non-fiction series.

When I heard Speed Racer was coming to Nicktoons, I figured it was the original cartoon, but no such luck. Instead, a newer version is being created to (not) coincide with the upcoming live-action film version from the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix), although having both debuting around the same time will definitely result in the kind of synergy studios crave.

The new Speed Racer 'toon is being produced through Lionsgate and Animation Collective, the studio behind Kappa Mikey, an anime-inspired comedy that also airs on Nicktoons.

You've come a long way, Conan. It's tough to believe you stepped in as host of NBC's late night almost fifteen years ago, but you did, and you know what, for a first timer I think you did okay.

Conan is so comfortable in his role as host now that it's somewhat endearing to watch his first show after all these years. He's not nearly as animated and spring-loaded as he is now. In fact, he appears downright humbled to be stepping into Letterman's timeslot. Of course, after a few years I don't think many of us even look at Late Night as Dave's old show anymore. It's all Conan's game, now, baby.

All of these pilots are available to watch on Adult Swim Fix right now. They'll air on television this Sunday.

Superjail:

Superjail is made by Augenblick Studios, the same animation studio that made the animated segments for Wonder Showzen. The same sick and surreal sensibility that resulted in such Wonder Showzen "classics" as "D.O.G. O.B.G.Y.N." is present in this series about a gigantic jail that's run by an eccentric Willy Wonka type if Wonka happened to take that extra step from "crazy loner" to "completely batshit insane." The blood and guts and overall surreality of the episode can be pretty funny, but I think its success will depend on how the story and characters develop. I can dig bunnies being skinned alive and men being sliced up with chainsaws, but if that's all this series offers it'll get old rather quickly.

I was always a bit uncertain as to just how it was World Poker Tour fit in with the Travel Channel. I understand that the games took place in different places across the globe, but that always seemed like the equivalent of making a show about janitors who work in a hospital and calling it a medical drama.

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best analogy, but the point is that World Poker Tour, after almost five years on the Travel Channel, is heading over to GSN, which seems like a much better fit. World Poker Tour, one of the first popular "poker" shows and the one that made people like me who said "who the hell wants to watch people play poker?" choke on our words, will become part of the network's Friday night "Casino Night" lineup.

The fifth season of World Poker Tour is currently airing on the Travel Channel. It will hit GSN early next year.

Boomerang, the Cartoon Network spin-off that was once home to old, classic cartoons, is adding two new shows to its line-up that are neither old nor classic: Krypto the Superdog and Gerald McBoing Boing.

My fellow animation nerds are probably saying, "wait a sec, isn't Gerald McBoing Boing from the '50s?"

Yes, the original Gerald McBoing Boing short, based on a recording written by Dr. Seuss, first appeared in theaters in 1951 and won the Academy Award that same year. Boomerang, however, will be airing an updated version that ran on the now-defunct Tickle U block of preschool programming on Cartoon Network. It would seem logical that if you bill your network as featuring old cartoons you'd pick the Gerald from the '50s and not the one from 2005, but I stopped trying to figure out such decisions a long time ago.

Gerald McBoing Boing will debut on Boomerang Monday, February 5 at 6:00pm, followed by Krypto the Superdog at 7:00pm.

I placed the original Gerald McBoing Boing short after the jump.

FOX is preparing to launch a new morning show with Mike Jerrick and Juliet Huddy, former weekend co-hosts of Fox and Friends. The new morning show will air at 9am in markets where News Corp. owns the stations. I never watched Fox and Friends, so I can't tell you how entertaining these two hosts are, but FOX is confident that the show will mix well with its other popular morning programming.

Before coming to Fox and Friends, Jerrick hosted specials on HBO and SciFi and was also a co-host on Good Morning Philadelphia. Huddy started at Fox News as a reporter in 1998. According to AP, the new show will use some of the same elements as other shows but also try a few different ideas to set itself apart. Ultimately, however, I think the success of any new daytime talker will come down to how likable the hosts are. You can try all the gimmicks you like, but if the hosts can't endear themselves to the audience, you've already lost.

The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet premiered this morning. If your caught it, I'd like to hear your reaction.

Vivica A. Fox will be joining the cast of Curb Your Enthusiasm for the show's sixth season, which kicks off next year. According to Hollywood Reporter, there's not much information, though information points to Fox playing the member of a black family who moves into the David's home after a natural disaster. So there you go, Vivica A. Fox will be playing a black woman, and frankly, I couldn't be happier. I was starting to grow tired of seeing her constantly playing an elderly Chinese man.

The storyline is meant to spoof the events of Hurricane Katrina, as well as race relations. I imagine we can look forward to Larry saying something incredibly inappropriate. The article doesn't mention whether Fox's character will stay on the show or whether she'll only be part of this specific storyline.

There's not a lot of information on this new drama pilot for FX, so I'll try to be as vague as possible. Allen Coulter, director of the film Hollywoodland, has signed on to direct a new untitled drama pilot for FX. The series, scripted by Todd A. Kessler (The Sopranos), Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman, is a legal thriller, and if they can make it unique considering that idea has already been done exactly twenty-seven gazilion times, then more power to 'em. Coulter's other TV directing credits include The X-Files, Millennium, and most recently, The Sopranos and Sex and the City. He's been involved with some inventive and cutting edge shows (excluding Sex and the City), and given FX's record so far of cutting edge programming like The Shield and Rescue Me, this combination may actually result in something worth tuning in to.

Adult Swim, you know I love you, but damn it, you make it so difficult to find information on upcoming series. Nevertheless, there seem to be a few clues floating around the online world of Adult Swim that indicate Tim and Eric, creators of one of favorite series of the last couple years, Tom Goes to the Mayor, are developing a sketch show (working title: Sketch Show) which is currently set to debut on February 11 at 12:15 am Sunday evening (early Monday morning). As I've stated before, this may have been mentioned on the Adult Swim TV bumps, but being a Tivo rider, I often miss those. However, the duo mentioned originally wanting to do a sketch show with Bob Odenkirk in this long and rambling IM interview, and the folks over at the Adult Swim messageboards have been chatty-chatting about it, as well.

I'm going to assume this new series won't be animated, which is just fine with me. I may very well be accused of blasphemy here, but I would love to see Adult Swim become its own 24-hour network dedicated to anything weird and unique, animated or otherwise. It seems to be going in that direction anyway, and if that means a place where alternative ideas can grow and flourish, that doesn't seem like such a terrible thing.

On August 29, NBC will launch "NBC News on Stage" on iTunes, which will include the Today live summer concert footage of John Mayer performing three songs from some album I'm never going to purchase. If Mayer isn't your cup of tea, other programs to be added to the list include interviews with the Rolling Stones, Jerry Garcia, U2, Judy Garland, Johnny and June Carter Cash, Madonna, and Ray Charles. NBC is not offering this or any of its news programming on iTunes for free, which, to quote Mother Theresa, is a big stupid load of crap. The John Mayer segment, which will also feature interviews and behind-the-scenes stuff, will cost $3.99 and will only be available for a limited time.

Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi is one of those people I would love to sit in a room with and listen to his rants. Since I'm still working on my John K. Kidnapping Machine, I have to settle for his blog (Warning: NSFW), which he's been using to provide sage advice to people interested in becoming animators and cartoonists, and to slam the conventions of modern day animation, most notably on shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, and South Park. On this post, he talks about how characters in old cartoons evolved at a much faster rate than characters on any of the aforementioned shows. As ideas grew and changed, so did characters. He writes: "You have to be raised in an uncreative environment in order to blindly accept how bland and crappy everything is today." Later in the post he adds: "No one should accept professional work that looks like they could do it themselves."

In the comments section of the same post, he further asserts that "the very concept of animated sitcoms is faulty in the first place." His argument is that no character in an animated sitcom has ever been able to emulate the best actors in the best sitcoms. And as pure animation, they don't exactly hold up, either.