TVSquad

Two very unique comedies will get a time slot on an equally unique cable network.

Conan O'Brien's "Conaco" production company and actor Rob Corrdry both scored spots on Adult Swim for two new live-action sitcoms.

O'Brien's company won a spot for Eagleheart, a show about a fading TV star who wins a chance for glory once more on a production in Texas, but constantly clashes with the low-level TV exec in charge of the show.

Corrdry's medical drama spoof web series Childrens' Hospital will also go to Adult Swim. The channel will show re-edited versions of the episodes that aired on TheWB.com as well as produce new ones. Corrdry originally pitched the show to Comedy Central, but negotiations broke down with the network, probably because the show didn't have enough bimbo strippers and shirtless fat guys to fill their quota (cough, Secret Girlfriend, cough).

As I look back at the posts TV Squad did this year, a certain topic popped up quite a bit: "Hey, folks, take a look at [Name of big star] in this [funny/quirky/dramatic] web series you can only find at [Name of web site]!" While the quality of and star power behind web-exclusive programming has been building for a couple of years now, 2008 saw an explosion of web series that attracted enough buzz to make one wonder if Jeff Zucker wasn't thinking of this a little bit when he offered Jay Leno the 10:00 slot on NBC.

What caused this explosion? Well, we can thank one of 2008's other big stories -- the writers' strike -- for a lot of it.

When Rob Corddry left The Daily Show, Fox scooped him up for a midseason replacement filler called The Winner. It was a horrible little sitcom from the creators of (shudder) Family Guy that should have been flagged long before the executives brought the script to read on the toilet in their private bathrooms.

The most painful part of the show was the feeling that Corddry deserved something much better than another pop culture referencing yawnfest. His Daily Show appearances always made for great television and he also made great transitions into movies whether they were minor roles in Old School or starring roles in the indie comedy Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story.

Now the fates have realigned and given Corddry the show he should have gotten when he left The Daily Show dangling from one last philosophical poop joke. The WB.com premiered a web series called Childrens' Hospital starring, written and directed by Corddry, the man who left a little part of himself in a Daily Show men's room oh so many months ago.

"George Walker Bush: Still President": We've still got seven months before the era of President Bush is officially over. With Barack Obama and John McCain dominating the news, Bush has taken a little vacay to Europe, because he's pretty much the only American who can afford to do so at this point. What's up with Bush getting super touchy-feely with German Chancellor Angela Merkel? Has he learned nothing? When he wasn't giving massages or trying the classic "yawn and stretch" on the Chancellor, he attempted to convince the German press that he's not actually a fan of war and it was his own rhetoric's fault for making it seem otherwise.

Hey, Viacom, don't screw this up. After being hated by YouTube-visiting Daily Show fans everywhere, Viacom is taking a big step in making up cool points. Starting today, Viacom will have every minute of the Daily Show, dating all the way back to the first episode in 1999, online at DailyShow.com. Sorry, Craig Kilborn lovers, it's just ol' Jonny Stew and his crew.

Of course, this move is probably less about pleasing the fans and more about the mad cash that Viacom will make in advertising. Hopefully the ads won't be too intrusive on the videos and folks will be able to watch their favorite "This Week In God" without being bombarded with Lars and the Real Girl imagery.

Ohh, you didn't think we were done with that Larry Craig goodness, did you? Of course not. In a recent interview, Matt Lauer asked Senator Craig whether or not he could be bi. And then Craig took out his sexy, totally didn't meet in a bathroom, kind looks like the type to force feed you casserole wife, waggled his eyebrows and was all like, "Is this a good enough answer?" and then Matt Lauer was like, "Hoyeah!" and -- and -- I'm sleepy. Enter the R. Kelly impersonator to wake me up with his music. I liked the first guy's voice better, but this fellow was funnier. Ohh, "Trapped In The Closet" guy, bless your heart.

"A-Listless": Samantha Bee filed a report about the horrifying epidemic of celebrity exhaustion. This was a pretty good report, mainly because we got to see Rob Corddry again. The second Rob Corddry Daily Show appearance in less than a month! Doesn't that guy have a movie to promote? Just bring him back on the show, for the love of Corddry and all things bald and funny. I loved the over-credits bit of Samantha trying to eat her dog's head. Awesome.

Hurrah! The Daily Show is back from its two week break. Sometimes I wonder if political figures purposely plan their big announcements to occur during Daily Show hiatuses (why am I tempted to use "hiati"?). It certainly felt that way this time around.

"R. Party: Trapped in the Closet": The biggest (or, at least, the most fun) news: Larry Craig's very gay scandal. As if the initial issue wasn't damaging enough, Senator Craig is now attempting to withdraw his guilty plea. Mmm... Scandal. It's so good. When Jon turned to the correspondent in the stall, I thought, "Oh wow. That sounds like Rob Corddry. But no. No, it can't be. But then again the delivery is alarmingly un-crappy... Maybe it's just John Oliver with a weird accent" but it was Rob Corddry! This was the part where I quietly cheered to myself and got some weird looks from the people walking around me.

The answer is maybe. The Hollywood Reporter writes that creator Seth MacFarlane is looking at the possibility of doing a Family Guy movie sometime in the future, which makes sense because it's much harder to make movies in the past.

One plan McFarlane mentioned was to have former Family Guy scribe Ricky Blitt come back to work on the film script. It's worth noting that none of this is official, and that a basic plot for a Family Guy film hasn't even been thought up, though McFarlane does state he doesn't want to do a huge movie like the upcoming Simpsons Movie, but rather a smaller story focusing on the Griffin family.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by new episodes of The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and Without A Trace.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos at 7, then a new Extreme Makeover.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7, then new episodes of Grease: You're The One That I Want, Deal Or No Deal, and The Apprentice.
• At 8, FOX has a new Simpsons, then new episodes of The Winner, Family Guy, and The Winner.
• Nickelodeon has a new Zoey 101 at 8.
• Also at 8: Sundance has a new ep of Slings & Arrows.
• At 9, Sci-Fi has a new Dresden Files, then a new Battlestar Galactica.
• Food Network has a new Iron Chef America at 9, then a new Challenge.
• If you haven't seen The Sarah Silverman Program yet, Comedy Central has a marathon starting at 9.
• HBO has a new Rome at 9.
• At 10, Showtime has a new episode of The L Word.

Check your local TV listings for more.

An article in the San Bernadino County Sun states something fans of new comedy have known for quite some time: The Daily Show has helped boost a lot of comedians to higher recognition. Steve Carell, Lewis Black, Stephen Colbert and Ed Helms all went from being relative unknowns to not-quite-as-unknown Daily Show correspondents and then on to high profile movie and television gigs.

The article asks, is Rob Corddry next? I would say yes, because even if his new series The Winner doesn't stick around, I think Corddry has proved himself as a very funny and very likable leading man (I highly recommend his movie Blackballed: the Bobby Dukes Story), and I think there's a role tailor-made for him somewhere out in the great comedy cosmos.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by new episodes of The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and Without A Trace.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos at 7, then new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7, then new episodes of Grease: You're The One That I Want, Deal Or No Deal, and The Apprentice.
• At 7:30, FOX has a new ep of The War At Home, then a new Simpsons, the premiere of The Winner, a new Family Guy, then another new ep of The Winner.
• Starting at 8, TLC has a David Blaine magic marathon.
• The Food Network has a new Emeril Live at 8 (shrimp recipes, ugh), then new episodes of Iron Chef America and Challenge.
• Discovery Times has The Lost Tomb of Jesus at 8.
• At 9, Lifetime has the new movie My Baby Is Missing.
• Sci-Fi has a new Dresden Files at 9, then a new Battlestar Galactica.
• Also at 9: BBC America has a new ep of Gordon Ramsay's The F Word.
• At 10, MSNBC repeats this morning's Meet The Press, if you missed it.
• VH-1 has two new eps of Dice: Undisputed. They start at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

When I was in college, FOX aired a show called Get a Life. In it, Chris Elliot played a 30-year-old paperboy who lived with his exasperated parents and just refused to grow up. It was a weird little show, but it had its moments.

If you were a fan of that show, you'll like The Winner. Think of it as a less-creepy version of Elliot's show, with just as many funny moments. And for those funny moments, you can thank Rob Corddry.

The former Daily Show correspondent stars as Glen Abbott, who is currently the richest man in Buffalo, but in this show, he looks back fondly at 1994, when he came of age... at 32. Yes, the voice over method is a bit of a takeoff of The Wonder Years, but the show isn't really a parody of that.

Wow, I didn't even realize that FOX was going to do this, but they have posted four episodes of Rob Corddry's new comedy The Winner, which premieres (on television) on March 4 at 8:30.

Now, this is the part of the post where I tell you that I've watched a couple of the episodes and the show is either a.) funny!, b.) a disappointment, or c.) too early to tell, it could get better! Unfortunately, my speakers aren't working right now. Actually, they are, because I can play CDs and iTunes and other stuff just fine, but I can't play the sound on web videos at all (and yes I've checked the settings).

The show looks good. The way the credits come on and there's a title. And the way Rob Cordrry looks when he walks around a room, sits on a couch and moves his mouth. Wow! I can't wait to hear what all the characters are saying.

[via Pop Candy]

Jon Stewart and the gang returned after a two-week break (riding high from his two Emmy wins, I suppose). "We wanted to come back on a day that felt, y'know, funny." Of course, the first news was regarding the controversy over the inaccuracies of ABC's 9/11 mini-series, "because, as you know, nothing is typically more accurate than a made-for-television movie." I loved the montage of Bush's Stages of Grief (denial, anger, anger, anger, Hanukkah, acceptance, denial).

I've been away without Internet or TV for a while (I'm surprised I didn't die from boredom), so instead of doing four thorough, very late write-ups, I'm going to do some really, really quick coverage on the last week of The Daily Show.

First of all, it was Rob Corddry's last week as a correspondent. Since TDS didn't prepare a special send-off, Rob released some balloons (like, three) and brought in a hilarious collection of his best moments. I never realized just how often he did that "I mean coooome oooon" thing until the montage. Man, I'm really going to miss Rob... and his shaved tuft of hair. It's like an island in a sea of shiny. I hope he finds a lot of success in his new projects. Godspeed, Mr. Corddry!