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Putting a controversial egomaniac like Rush Limbaugh on Jay Leno's late night dais might seem like a squeeze play for a show that's reaching the bottom of the ninth of its opening day. And, well, it is, or at least it smells like it. Jay is no stranger to controversial guests, from his infamous interview with Hugh Grant just days after he got caught nibbling on a hooker's tea and crumpets to his recent sit-down smack-down with Kanye West.

So "El Rushbo" sounds like a natural punching bag for Leno's friendly jabs and right crosses, right? Not really. Leno bled into confrontational the way two guys in a bar argue a round of "F*$&, Marry or Kill," but for the most part, let the big-headed one (both emotionally and physically) speak as long as he wanted.

And when Rush is on your show, that's exactly what you let him do. Let him speak until the blood stops rushing to his brain. Whether you love him, hate him, or constantly think about the level of hell that's been specifically designed for him, he makes for an entertaining interview.

The Jay Leno Show has only been on for a week, but it's already starting to fall into a familiar pattern, and that's a good thing for late night. Familiarity creates a steady audience by making it more comforting, and helps weed out what doesn't work and focus on what does.

Unfortunately, the thing that makes the late night format work is breaking Jay's show.

Just about the only thing that works with Jay's show is his monologue. The rest make him feel more out of his element than Donnie from The Big Lebowski.

This clip from The Daily Show pretty much summarizes what's wrong with the cable news channels. And no, Jon Stewart isn't just dumping on Fox News here, he also goes after MSNBC for being obsessed with Rush Limbaugh and CNN for their insane i-Report/Twitter reliance.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
"i" on News
thedailyshow.com

I've always had a problem with Barbara Walters and her list of the 10 most fascinating people of the year. There are always a few people on the list that definitely belong there, such as a President or a politician or the person who starred in the biggest movie of the year. But her 2008 list, which she revealed last night, is pretty lame.

I've found four people on the list that I think should be there: Barack Obama, Tina Fey, Sarah Palin, and Michael Phelps. If you wanted to stretch it you could include Thomas Beatie, the pregnant man, but I'll stick with the other four. It's obvious why Obama and Palin on the list. Fey is on there for not only winning several awards but also for being a major player in the intersection where the election met pop culture. Phelps won 300 gold medals at The Olympics.

Leave it to Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert to tackle the tough issues, to tame the tiger, to take on all comers, to invite the biggest, loudest, richest mouth in radi... Oh? You mean, it's not that Rush?

That's right. The Colbert Report has booked Rush to appear Wednesday night (11:30 PM/EST). That's Rush the band, not Rush Limbaugh, the radio yapper. Limbaugh would no doubt have been the butt of countless jibes -- assuming he would even submit to the possibility of being kidded -- but he's not coming on the show.

Rush, the Canadian band, will not have to worry about Colbert's rapier wit. They're coming on the show to sing.

This is a real feather in the cap for The Colbert Report. Rush has not appeared on American TV in over 30 years, and they're going to perform "Tom Sawyer," their most-famous song.

Stephen C. has been embracing the music this summer. In addition to Rush, Nas is going to perform on July 23, Toby Keith on July 28, and Crosby, Stills and Nash (no Young -- although he has appeared in the past on the show) on July 30.

Is this a trend away from comedy for The Colbert Report or just injecting some variety into the format? I think it's the latter, and as long as I like the musical act, I'm okay with it.

(S06E01) A long time ago, but somehow in the future . . .

Who would've thunk it? When Family Guy premiered back in 1999(!) many people tossed it away as a pale imitation of The Simpsons and kind of ignored it. Who knew that eight years later, at the start of the show's 6th season, Seth MacFarlane and his crew would be able to get the approval of George Lucas himself to air a spoof of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. It shows how far Family Guy has come since it returned to the prime-time airwaves.

While critics -- and TV Squad commenters -- may be wondering if Jack Bauer's time has run out as ratings for 24 have dropped this season, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh defended one of his favorite shows saying that 24 has not jumped the shark.

Noting that the show's creators are friends of his who have been swamped with work, including other projects, Limbaugh told a caller who asked if 24's salad days were behind it, that he expects next season will be thrilling. "They're going to be back next year with an entirely different concept about this in a whole lot of different ways," Limbaugh said.

Acknowledging complaints from many fans (I'm raising my hand here) that Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart were wasted this season as the Logans were only given but fleeting screen time, Limbaugh urged fans, ". . . [D]on't give up on it."

[via TV Tattle]

"Bush-bashing accidental liberal hero." "Keith the Impaler."

Those phrases were used to describe MSNBC's Keith Olbermann in a New York magazine profile of the cable talker who first earned fame as the wise cracking sports guy on ESPN's SportsCenter, which later inspired Aaron Sorkin's SportsNight.

The article -- which describes Olbermann as a "world class agitator" and "sworn enemy" of Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly -- says Olbermann appeals to liberals like radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh appeals to conservatives.

New Yorker Magazine has an extensive piece in this week's issue about the politics not only of 24, but of the show's writers and producers.

While saying that there's a mix of political viewpoints represented on the 24 set and in the story lines, the magazine portrayed producer and co-creator Joel Surnow as a Rush Limbaugh loving "right-wing nut job" (a moniker Surnow gave himself), while describing producer Howard Gordon as a "moderate Democrat."

The article also touched on issues such as the portrayal of torture and the graphic nature of some scenes (which Gordon called "improvisations in sadism"), as well as the morality of its main character, Jack Bauer (who Gordon said, "is basically damned").

Radar Online just posted a really brief review of The Half-Hour News Hour, FOX News' The Daily Show-esque comedy program. As most of us expected, the future of this program does not look good. It has been described as a show combining "the timeliness of Newsweek with the incisive wit of Mallard Fillmore".

Whoa. Come on, Radar, that was below the belt. Nobody deserves to be compared to Mallard Fillmore. Although, I suppose The Half-Hour News Hour was kind of asking for a beating by even daring to even entertain the notion of a Limbaugh/Coulter White House.

I had trouble sleeping the other night (there were sugar plums dancing through my head – angry, murderous sugar plums), so I turned to the best TV option I had available to me: TNT HD's replay of A Perfect Day starring Rob Lowe.

Here's the plot: lower middle class guy writes a book that becomes a best seller. As he climbs the economic ladder, he becomes a workaholic and is thus estranged from his family. A mysterious stranger then appears and helps him to realize that true happiness doesn't come from work and success, but rather from spending time with his wife and his improbably named daughter, Carson.

I watched the whole thing for the same reason I play with hangnails and follow Philadelphia sports teams – I secretly hate myself.

We mentioned that this was coming a few months ago, but now it's official: DarynKagan.com launches today.

It's run by ex-CNN newsanchor Daryn Kagan (which is a good thing, or they'd have to come up with a new URL) and will feature only inspirational, uplifting, positive stories. Now, I don't see anything wrong with inspirational, uplifting, and/or positive stories, but I think that it's less a "news" site than a web site with positive features on it. Though I have to admit I'm very curious about three stories that are coming up in the next several days, including one titled "International Breast Milk Banks."

Some of the story categories include "Animals," "Heroism," "Kids," "Love," and "Over 60." I'm assuming the Over 60 category is about people over the age of 60 who are enjoying life and not about people who drive over 60 mph. And what if there's a story about a puppy that saves a kid and a grandparent from a fire? What category would that go in?

[via TV Newser]