TVSquad

Actors Donal Logue and Eliza Dushku, along with writer/producer David Hemingson, recently signed on for new network projects.

Logue stars in FOX's Barry Sonnefeld-directed comedy pilot, Hackett, as a "bad-boy literary luminary" who goes from teaching at Yale to teaching at a public school in Ohio. The pilot also stars Rachel Boston (American Dreams) and Morgan Murphy. Logue was last seen on ABC's short-lived The Knights of Prosperity. Sonnefeld will work on Hackett, as well as direct episodes of Pushing Daisies, a new series for ABC premiering Wednesdays this fall.

After seeing Comedy Central's as for this Daily Show/Colbert Report "Midterm Midtacular" mash-up , I expected a lot more integration. Aside from the obvious change in content, this special wasn't all that, um, special. It was just like the usual Stewart/Colbert block, but with one or two more check-ins. No breaking news. No balloon drops. No t-shirt giveaways. Ehh.

Okay, first thing I noticed about this episode was Jon's hair. For some reason, it looked a little more grey than usual. Or maybe he just didn't gel it as much. I don't know. I found the absence of a mini-pompadour surprisingly unsettling. It actually took me a while to adjust my eyes. That's probably not a good thing.

"From Top To Bottom": Pastor scandal! The Jesus Camp clip was absolutely terrifying/hysterical. I was, for lack of a better phrase, totally skeeved out. Jon had a talk with Ted Haggard at Camera Three's naughtier cousin, The Glory Hole Cam. First of all, I'm glad Jon remembered to floss before using that camera. Secondly, Jon has really pretty eyes. It was a really funny bit, but I can't help but wonder how many people flipped to Comedy Central right in the middle of that, with no idea of what the hell was going on.

"Indecision 2006": Forget any of the news going on in Iraq, Samantha Bee broke in with some important information... John Kerry is losing elections he's not even in. Kerry seriously botched up a joke. He left out an "us" in one of his comments, meant to be a jab at Bush, and it turned into an unintended insult against our nation's troops. Of course, it was a pretty stupid thing for Kerry to do, but the GOP have been making it seem even worse thant is. I laughed way too loudly at the clip from Kerry's CD of botched comedy stylings... "Hickory dickory dock... A woman felated my penis." Aasif Mandvi explained how comedy works in the American government... The big wigs get to make as many inappropriate jokes as they please, but John Kerry's botched jokes are not cool.

Jon started with some news about election irregularities and a Katherine Harris joke (regarding Ohio's Ken Blackwell, who garnered considerable boo's and hisses at first: "Think of him as a more do-able Katherine Harris..." [audience laughs and cheers] "They boo him, and suddenly they all want to bang him!"). Samantha Bee, Aasif Mandvi (he's ALIVE!), and Rob Riggle, dressed as a slutty nurse for Halloween, briefly offered some thoughts. Apparently, during the Daily Show special OSU performance on Saturday (not televised), Jon pointed out a slutty nurse or something? I don't know, I wasn't there... Some people on the Internet were talking about how Riggle was dressed very similarly to Saturday's slutty nurse and, since it was on the Internet, it must be true.

First of all, Comedy Central finally has a new Daily Show cast picture. It took 'em long enough. Everyone looks really good (you can see it here, but it's a massive image)... Neither Aasif Mandvi nor Larry Wilmore are included, as you can see. It looks like we're back to having the cast a strict shade of pale.

This week's programming consists of four days of midterm coverage, titled "Battlefield Ohio: Midwest Midterm Midtacular". The cast and crew are spending their time at Ohio State University, with a shiny new set to reflect the glamour of Ohio and the snazziness of midterms. The first part of the night's episode was written for the Ohio/midwest folk (I've spent most of my life on the East Coast, so Joel had to tell me about the midwest's excessive chain restaurants situation). Although I understood the Applebee's and Bob Evans jokes, I'm sure I would have enjoyed them much more if I actually lived in the state.

During some election years, The Daily Show takes the program on the road for some out-of-town tapings. Although the plans haven't been finalized yet, the show is in talks to hang out at Ohio State University (in Columbus) before this year's mid-term elections. The episodes would be taped during the week of October 30, probably in the Roy Bowen Theatre.

Hmm... I have a friend that will be attending that school in the Fall. Note to self: Force friend to give frequent updates about Jon Stewart's whereabouts; stalk vicariously.

Dave Chappelle is going to be performing in Seattle this Sunday. You know when Seattle found out? Last night. Tickets went on sale just over an hour ago (10 am Pacific) for $52.50.

It's not just Dave. It's The Block Party Tour featuring Dave Chappelle. Seattle's Paramount Theatre describes it as Dave Chappelle and a "special musical guest". Apparently, it's the road show version of the movie, The Block Party All Stars featuring Dave Chappelle, that's coming out on March 3. In the movie, Chappelle tries to reunite the Fugees. I believe clips of the movie were shown during his Oprah appearance, which showed him bringing people from his hometown of Dayton, Ohio to Brooklyn for a rap/hip-hop/stand-up comedy street concert. Here's the trailer for the movie.

Since I loves me some old timey cartoons I thought these old opening day fliers for Kings Island in Cincinnati were pretty awesome. Yeah, they're just pamphlets, but they feature the Hanna-Barbera characters who apparently roamed the park when they weren't on television. The fliers are from 1972. Nowadays it's the characters of Nickelodeon who represent the park. I suppose that works, too.I don't tend to keep close tabs on amusement parks, but until now I was unaware that Hanna-Barbera was ever associated with a theme park. I guess one can learn new things everyday, sometimes decades after the fact.

[via Cartoon Brew]