TVSquad

AOL Television has compiled a list of the 50 Best TV Comedies -- Ever, this week revealing numbers 50-41. Inspired by what they did, I've decided to list my favorite sitcom sidekicks, those funny foils that oftentimes make the star shine even brighter than you might have thought. Coming up with just a ten-pack hasn't been so easy. Many times, I'd look at a show and think, "No, it's more of an ensemble. There isn't one sidekick." Falling into that category were B.J. and Trapper John on M*A*S*H. Neither were Hawkeye's sidekick, really (any more than Radar was). Same thing with Friends -- they were all each other's sidekicks. Also, on The Odd Couple, Oscar and Felix were equal; neither was a sidekick. Ditto Two and a Half Men and Laverne & Shirley. Also, because it's my list, I decided not to include married couples -- sorry Rob and Laura, Ricky and Lucy, Archie and Edith.

Whew, after all that, here, in alphabetical order, are the ten I love -- within my own parameters! Feel free to comment with your choices, if your favorite isn't on my list.

Paul Attanasio, House executive producer, has conjured up a legal drama for Fox. The network greenlighted a one-hour pilot, Court K, which is set in Milwaukee and involves a judge, a prosecutor and a public defender. Just because it's set in Milwaukee, don't expect to see Laverne and Shirley.

Like House is not your typical medical drama, Court K will not be a typical lawyer show, not that Boston Legal is typical, but you know what I mean. Court K is reportedly a lot grittier, with sardonic, dark comic elements. We'll have to see if any of the principals are hooked on Vicodan. I wonder if it'll remind me of the movie ...And Justice For All, which was also a dark comic look at a Baltimore courthouse. But then, wasn't that Night Court, too?

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

Jimmy Hall: Hall was a documentary filmmaker and Discovery Channel host. He is part of the network's annual "Shark Week," which will air this year starting July 29. Hall was killed in a parachute accident while filming a documentary for the network near the Arctic Circle. He was 41.

(S05E13) Ya know, no matter what part political affiliation you claim, I think we can all agree that Bill Clinton lends himself well to comedy. There's just enough hillbilly in his character to make him easy to laugh at. Family Guy certainly isn't the first show to take a run at Clinton, and they've now featured the former president four or five times, but there's plenty of room at that party.

That's getting ahead of the game though. Before we could get to the Peter and Bill hijinks, there was the loosely relevant opening at the Quahog Marine Center. While it was a long way to go to get to the main plot, there were a lot of funny bits in that opening. Herbert at the fondle tank, Stewie's stripper line, and Seamus saving Peter from the octopus were all good bits. I especially liked the Wacky Wall Walker finish to that.

This week is the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting The Gulf Coast, and former Night Court star Harry Anderson has announced that he and his wife, like many people, are leaving the city.

Anderson hasn't done much television since Dave's World left the air in the late 90s. Instead, he opened a club in New Orleans, where he has been performing a one man show and showcasing local talent. They also owned a home in the city, which had a magic shop on the first floor. But now Anderson and his wife are leaving the city, and in this interesting New York Times piece (you don't hear much about Anderson these days, so any story that pops up immediately grabs my attention), Anderson talks about what Katrina has done to the people of New Orleans, why he's leaving, getting mugged, and where he might move to.

Are you a fan of Boy Meets World, Night Court, Who's The Boss, Murphy Brown, or Airwolf? I hope you really enjoy the first DVD sets that were released recently, as those are the only ones you're going to be getting.

Seems that the DVD sets of those above shows didn't sell as much as the studios had hoped. For example, the season two set of Boy Meets World was off 12% from the first season, and the third season was down 39% from the second, so they're not going to release anymore sets of Boy Meets World. And that's one of the better examples, as the other shows did even worse. But I don't really get the math here. The reason why more Who's the Boss sets won't be released is because the first season set didn't sell as much as compared to the season 1 and 2 set of Seinfeld. And the reason why you won't see more Night Court is because that first season set didn't sell as well as Friends' last season set.

Why are they even comparing them to sales of Seinfeld and Friends, two of the most popular sitcoms of all-time?

I asked this question earlier today on sister site AdJab, but I figured the more people I ask, the better:

There's a funny new commercial out there from Sprint Nextel for their new GPS-enabled Nextel walkie-talkie phones. In it, two warehouse workers tell an inquisitive colleague about "the dots" they're watching, which are people with Nextel GPS phones on the road. The they tell the curious co-worker, "don't agitate the dots." Then a supervisor-type person walks in, wearing safety goggles and eating cake. "Who's agitating my dots? Are you agitating my dots?" he suspiciously asks the stranger.

That guy looks and sounds like Charles Robinson, doesn't it? You remember Robinson... he played court clerk Mac on Night Court. If it is, it sure is a heck of a comedown: a regular role on a network TV series to uttering a commercial catchphrase. Hey, a job's a job, right? Anyway, let's see if our eagle-eyed readers can confirm or deny this for me. You can watch the ad here.

They are there to maintain order, or just add to the chaos, but they are an essential part of the television's fake judicial system. Today we honor the people we call "your honor." It's time to judge the judges, but not too harshly. Here we go:

Judge Wapner (The People's Court): Long before there was Judge Judy or any number of cranky old people in robes bellowing from the bench, there was Joseph A. Wapner, who didn't tolerate any shenanigans from anyone and sometimes ruled the court room like a drill sergeant. Nevertheless, his decisions always seemed fair to me, and I often saw him decide for the party he seemed to personally dislike the most. A much mellower version of him turned up years later on Animal Court, but I liked the old surly Wapner better.

• "Never trust a hurricane named after a stripper. Next year, when Hurricane Tiffany comes, we're all out of here." - Night Court's Harry Anderson, New Orleans resident and business owner, about Hurricane Katrina.
• "Hey, that extra room? If the girlfriend thing doesn't work out, maybe that's where the nurse can live." - Dwight, to Michael, about his new condo, which will take 30 years to pay off, on The Office.
• "Your last roommate's kidney?" - Chandler, to new roommate Eddie, holding up a small dried piece of fruit and asking him if he knows what it is, on Friends.