CBS Monday night comedies have been doing pretty well so far this season, as far as the ratings are concerned. The Big Bang Theory is challenging Two and a Half Men for top Nielsens for a sitcom; How I Met Your Mother is doing as well or better than last year, and the new kid on the block, Jenna Elfman in Accidentally on Purpose, has benefited by being smackdab in the middle of all that established comic success.
Fantasy football is a tricky thing. You either love it or you hate it and that largely depends on whether you're good or bad at it. For the most part, the same can be said about FX's newest comedy The League. When it's good, it is good, but when it's bad... well, you get the picture.
The show, which premieres tomorrow night, Thursday 10/29, at 10:30 p.m. after It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is FX's first solid attempt to produce a lasting companion piece to Sunny and, given some of its predecessors (like Starvedor Testees), it'd be easy to write The League off. But, like a two-minute drill that gradually picks up steam, The League might actually go... all... the... way.
One of my favorite character actors will be guesting on an upcoming episode of Modern Family, Chazz Palminteri. And for a change of pace, Chazz will not be toting a gun. Instead he'll be swinging a golf club, and unless the sitcom takes a radically wicked turn, I don't think Chazz will be taking swings at Ed O'Neill's head.
On the other hand, things can get pretty intense on the links. In the episode, Chazz is golfing with Ed's character, Jay, and somehow the relationship between Cameron and Mitchell comes into play and there's a big gay understanding... or is that a misunderstanding?
(S07E05) If there's anything that will make you look bad, it's driving lessons. That's whether you're the driver or the instructor. In my experience, driving lessons are like a big magnifying glass revealing everything in too sharp a focus. And so it was that Jake had the misfortune of trying to get some time behind the wheel with the peanut gallery of Charlie and Alan offering advice in between hurling insults at each other.
But the real horror was still to come. Alan and Charlie have been brothers for their entire lives, but the past six and a half years of living together has turned them into something foul. Jake didn't know how foul until they went for ice cream. More after the jump.
I wasn't really prepared to like The Middle. I had no expectations, really, because aside from knowing that it was Patricia Heaton's latest sitcom, there had been very little scuttlebutt about it. So, when I tuned in, I expected the typical Patty Heaton I had seen for years on Everybody Loves Raymond or the upscale version I'd watched on Back to You.
Well, what a surprise when I saw her on The Middle. This is a Patty I had never seen before, and I not only liked her character, I admire her performance.
You know, ever since Friends went off the air, rumors have cropped up again and again that there would be a big screen version of the show, presumably picking up the storylines from the grand finale. Of course, if you remember the great stories on Joey, maybe post-Friends storytelling isn't such a grand idea after all.
However, at least one person is sure that a feature film is coming. James Michael Tyler, who poured the coffee at Central Perk as Gunther (he also ogled Rachel), was asked about the movie version and Tyler said that Friends: The Movie is definitely on.
Has the loss of Pushing Daisies left a big gaping hole in your heart? Are you wishing you could get ABC for pushing such quality programming off the air? Do you have some kind of blueprint involved in said wish with images clearly marked "rented van," "unlocked security door" and "army of heavily armed Mexican banditos"?
Well, call off your henchmen because one of the show's chief creators has something new and improved on his hands that you might like. Barry Sonnenfeld, the executive producer of Pushing Daises, is shopping around a new supernatural show that doesn't sound as deep or detailed as Daises, but could be just as fun.
One of the big things on the web now is taking dramatic TV shows and giving them a laugh track. You can probably do this with a lot of dramas (depending on what you find funny), but this is one below is centered on the eating establishment in True Blood and, as New York says, makes the show seem like Alice.
When I first read the headline about Arianna Huffington getting into the TV comedy business, I had visions of her as Maude or something equally as bizarre.
Fortunately, it was just my skewed sense of humor at work, because Arianna Huffington, the political talking head and co-creator of The Huffington Post, is not starring in a sitcom. ABC has bought Huffington's idea for a multicamera sitcom. And just to make sure it's funny, they've hired executive producer Greg Malins (Friends, How I Met Your Mother) to develop the project.
20th Century Fox TV is producing the show for ABC and, yes, it is about politics. See, there are these three freshman members of the House of Representatives, two men and a woman (but no pizza place). They share an apartment in the D.C. area. "One is swept up in the movement of change... one has been in politics for a long time, and one is a master of the media and sound bites," said Malins.
The votes were counted and 77.2% of TV Squad readers believed Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory has Asperger's Syndrome. Based on Slate writer Paul Collins' article on the subject and reported by Joel, you were asked your opinion and agreed with Collins.
I'm just as thrilled as ol' Annie that AMC is bringing the walking dead back to the barely alive audiences of prime time television with Frank Darabont's revisioning of the iconic Walking Dead. I was even tickled to hear that J.S. (I don't know if he hates that name or not) knew of a post-apocalyptic drama series in development hell called Alive. I've been a big fan of the post-apocalypse genre since the oil barrel zombie in Return of the Living Dead taught me that I don't have as much control over my bodily functions as I once believed.
But even though these two shows have shown just as deep TV has tried to dig its own heel-mark into the genre, it goes a lot deeper and frankly, I'm not sure you want to dig that deep. This is a show about life after an unfathomable nuclear accident that kills everyone in the world except for six people who are left to fend for themselves in an unrelenting wasteland of death, despair, destruction and death ... and it was a sitcom.
Last week on The View, Sherri Shepherd showed off her new body, clad in a bathing suit, and now it seems there was more to her remake than just good health and looking better. Shepherd's Lifetime sitcom, Sherri, will premiere on October 5, and you just know it's her intention to score a big time success. Lifetime has had this in the works for months. This is the network's first fully-owned sitcom, so you gotta believe the net has a lot of faith in Sherri.
The show is based on Shepherd's stand-up, which is the same formula that worked for Roseanne, Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond), Tim Allen (Home Improvement) and a half-dozen other comics, and the exposure Sherri gets from The View won't hurt at all.
The same demographic that watches The View tunes in to Lifetime shows like Drop Dead Diva and Army Wives. Oh, and don't forget the Lifetime movies. Ladies love Lifetime.
I've been pretty down on a lot of the stuff NBC has done about the new fall season, especially the Jay Leno experiment. But here's something that strikes me as a smart move. NBC is streaming the pilot of Community on Facebook. It's sans commercials and free for anyone who's a Facebook user who's willing to become a fan of Community. Or they can send a link from the fan page to friends, or place it on their Facebook profile.
Marketing-wise, this makes a lot of sense. The demographic NBC is targeting is the Facebook generation. And just the idea of seeing something before it previews anywhere else -- on your laptop for free just by going on Facebook -- is easy as pie.
One of the most terribly underrated comedy shows on television today is FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Here's a hot tip for any Americans that have yet to experience the delightfully atrocious characters from the show: Get on it. Hulu is rolling through all of the episodes and they've just started at the beginning (first five episodes are now available). Perfect time to start, kids.
For those that are already a little more well-versed in the Always Sunny universe, there's fun stuff for you, too. The gang is taking an It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia tour to perform a live stage version of one of their most popular episodes, "The Nightman Cometh."
I love Top Chef (well, the regular version... this oddball Masters edition seems to be just summer filler until the real show starts again). I especially enjoy the hosting stylings of Padma Lakshmi, and not just because of her looks. She has a presence, seems to know her food, and displays an intelligence that fits well in the cerebral nature of the show.
But the word "funny" has never come to mind when I've seen her work. Which is why I'm scratching my head at the news that NBC is developing a sitcom for Lakshmi. You heard me. As in most cases in the world of TV, the premise can be boiled down into one oh-so-confidence-infusing sentence, according to Variety: "Building on her Top Chef credentials, the show will star Lakshmi as a woman working in the culinary world." One possible title? Single Serving.
Oofah. The show's got "two week mid-season stinker" written all over it, doesn't it?
CBS Monday night comedies have been doing pretty well so far this season, as far as the ratings are concerned. The Big Bang Theory is challenging Two and a Half Men for top Nielsens for a sitcom; How I Met Your Mother is doing as well or better than last year, and the new kid on the block, Jenna Elfman in Accidentally on Purpose, has benefited by being smackdab in the middle of all that established comic success. 
One of my favorite character actors will be 
(S07E05) If there's anything that will make you look bad, it's driving lessons. That's whether you're the driver or the instructor. In my experience, driving lessons are like a big magnifying glass revealing everything in too sharp a focus. And so it was that Jake had the misfortune of trying to get some time behind the wheel with the peanut gallery of Charlie and Alan offering advice in between hurling insults at each other.
You know, ever since 
Has the loss of Pushing Daisies left a big gaping hole in your heart? Are you wishing you could get ABC for pushing such quality programming off the air? Do you have some kind of blueprint involved in said wish with images clearly marked "rented van," "unlocked security door" and "army of heavily armed Mexican banditos"? 
When I first read the headline about Arianna Huffington getting into the TV comedy business, I had visions of her as Maude or something equally as bizarre. 
I'm just as thrilled as ol' Annie that AMC is bringing the walking dead back to the barely alive audiences of prime time television with 
Last week on 
I've been pretty down on a lot of the stuff NBC has done about the new fall season, especially the Jay Leno experiment. But here's something that strikes me as a smart move. 
One of the most terribly underrated comedy shows on television today is FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Here's a hot tip for any Americans that have yet to experience the delightfully atrocious characters from the show: Get on it. 
I love 
The TV Squad Podcast: Linda Purl talks about The Office, we talk spoilers, and more
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The TV Squad Podcast: Bill Scheft of The Late Show, Cake Boss, Mad Men and more
