TVSquad

Here's some animation news from the past week or so:

First, don't forget that Frisky Dingo's second season kicks off on August 26 on Adult Swim at midnight. That's next Sunday.

In a younger vein, kids can look forward to brand new episodes of Danny Phantom starting tomorrow, August 20. New episodes will premiere throughout the week at 4:00 p.m. each day, ending with the hour-long TV movie Phantom Planet at 8:00 p.m. on Friday.

Every so often I'll stumble upon something on the Web I think is totally the bees' knees, but then my excitement is met with total indifference by the folks who read this blog.

So who knows what y'all will think of it, but Way Out Junk is the coolest blog I've seen in some time. It's a collection of albums, many based on television, that are out of print. The blog allows you to download free MP3s, almost all of them transferred from the original vinyl albums.

(S02E20) Up to this point, we've seen how his upbringing, home life, and troubles at school helped to shape Chris' worldview, but this is the first episode where we caught a glimpse of what made Chris want to be a comedian.

Since this series is a somewhat fictional take on Chris' life as a kid, we don't know if the real Chris Rock sneaked downstairs to eavesdrop on his parents listening to Redd Foxx albums, but one assumes young Chris was probably exposed to the legendary comedian at some point, not to mention the likes of Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and George Carlin.

(S02E17) Remember when I said I couldn't review this show anymore? Well, I have the CW again, so it's all good. Hopefully it won't be removed from my cable again.

My love for this show may have just increased ten fold. This episode was not only well-written and well-acted as usual, but it actually contained a reference to Night of the Lepus, probably the best movie ever made about gigantic killer bunnies. I'm not sure I believe Chris' real father actually had an irrational fear of rabbits, but it provided a nice B story about how willing Julius is to be there for his kids, even if it means passing out at a magic show.

With more than 700 episodes, Doctor Who is the longest running science-fiction series of all time, says the Guinness Book of World Records. Long ago, the series hit on the clever idea of creating a sci-fi explanation that would allow the Doctor to appear in a various "incarnations" therefore neatly explaining away periodic changes in actors, and allowing the series to remain fresh. In fact, in its twenty-first century version, which followed a near-decade break in production from 1996 until Christopher Eccleston picked up the role in 2005, The Doctor seems as popular as ever.

Doctor Who first appeared on the BBC in 1963. "The Time Lord" has been played by ten actors in all. David Tennant now has the role, and season two episodes of the new Doctor Who will appear in the U.S. on the SciFi Channel beginning tonight, with "New Earth." Billy Piper is still along as plucky Rose.

Who's your favorite Doctor?