TVSquad

Ben Stiller, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson, Tony Sirico, Steve Schirripa, Alicia Keys, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley and Ty Pennington will be joining the likes of Elmo, Big Bird, Grover, Bert, Ernie, Oscar the Grouch and Mr. Snuffleupagus for a primetime ABC special titled Elmo's Christmas Countdown.

The one-hour special will be narrated by a puppet version of Stiller aptly named "Stiller the Elf." Sirico and Schirripa of The Sopranos will play Bert and Ernie in one scene, along with some help from their Muppet pals.

Soon, Larry the Cable Guy will be as synonymous with Christmas as Frosty and Rudolph.

Okay, perhaps not, but the redneck comedian is hosting a Christmas special on VH1 this year. Mr. Cable Guy will co-executive produce the musical/comedy special, a twisted take on the old Andy Williams Christmas specials. In fact, one of the musical guests they hope to get is Andy Williams himself. Hint: check Branson, MO.

I'll admit I've never been a fan of Larry the Cable Guy, though I certainly don't fault anyone who can find success with whatever brand of comedy they choose. Still, a Larry the Cable Guy Christmas special with guests like Andy Williams and Tony Orlando makes me wonder exactly what the demographic VH1 is going for these days. Whatever it is, I'm not it.

The special will most likely air sometime in early December. It tapes in Las Vegas this August.

NBC says the fireworks display "will feature nearly 35,000 brilliant shells exploding over New York City" in the country's largest Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza. The one-hour Spectacular will be televised at 9PM from New York.

Director Johnatan Demme obtained over 200 hours of footage of the Katrina aftermath, and the resulting documentary, Right to Return: New Home Movies from the Lower 9th Ward will air for five consecutive nights on Tavis Smiley's PBS show beginning this evening. You can check for times in your area by clicking here. The series concludes on June 1.

I mentioned earlier this month that Comedy Central had another Roast planned for August. Well, now we know that the roastee is Flavor Flav.

Seriously, Flavor Flav?

Yep, Flavor Flav.

The special, which airs August 12 at 10:00 p.m., is also being hyped as Comedy Central's first carbon-neutral event. The press release explains: "Comedy Central will offset its carbon emissions with the help of partner, NativeEnergy, a national marketer of carbon offsets and renewable energy credits (RECs), offering individuals and organizations a means to compensate for their global warming pollution." What not many people know is that until recently, all the humor on Comedy Central ran on diesel and coal. Or something.

Big thanks to my pal Wild Bill for smacking me upside the ol' noggin' about this documentary.

Star Wars was the first movie I remember seeing in the theater, even though I was only seven months old when it was released (I saw it in 1980 when it was re-released to coincide with the release of The Empire Strikes Back).

I'm sure Star Wars fans have know about the History Channel's upcoming Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed for some time now, but if not, here's your heads up: the special airs May 28 at 9:00 p.m., then repeats at one in the morning.

What the hell does Star Wars have to do with history. you ask? Well, that's what this documentary is all about. It will delve into some of the subtle and not-so-subtle mythological and historical parallels that run throughout the original trilogy, including Napoleon, Hitler, King Arthur and Greek legends.

On May 6 at 9:00 p.m., NBC will air Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation. The special, as evidenced in the title, will look at the late night mainstay and the actors who called the show "home" during the '90s. Having gone to high school and college throughout the '90s, this is the era that sticks in my memory the most, when folks like Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Norm MacDonald, Phil Hartman, David Spade, Chris Farley and Dana Carvey were just funny guys no one had ever heard of before.

The special will include interviews with former cast members, insight from repeat hosts Alec Baldwin and John Goodman, plus interviews with writers Tim Herlihy and Adam McKay, who went on to successful careers as film writers. If you're a fan of Saturday Night Live, it's probably worth checking out, but especially if you happen to be around my age and these episodes were the ones you quoted and discussed with your friends the next day in school.

Mankind has come up with a lot of ways to shorten life: there's war, murder, parachute packs filled with kitchen utensils rather than a parachute, etc. However, prolonging our life span is still somewhat of a mystery, though there are new ideas always being put to the test.

On April 14 at 8:00 p.m., CNN: Special Investigations Unit: Chasing Life will look into these methods, including calorie-restriction diets, stem cell treatments, dietary supplements, and human growth hormones. The special will examine the benefits, drawbacks and controversy surrounding these different approaches. The special will be hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and is based on his book, also called Chasing Life.

Tonight at 9:00 p.m. on the Food Network, Al Roker will host Childhood Obesity: Danger Zone, a special that delves into the obesity epidemic that now affects more than 12 million children in America. The special will focus mostly on children, including: a teenager who weighs 500 pounds; the public policy initiative put in place by Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee to help overweight children; and a doctor who teaches kids how to shop for healthy food.

On February 19 at 9:00 p.m., Leonard Nimoy will host Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier on the History Channel. The documentary will look back on the franchise's forty-year history and feature interviews with several actors from various Star Trek series including Avery Brooks (Deep Space Nine), Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek Voyager) and Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation).

The special will also feature footage from Christie's auction of Star Trek memorabilia, costumes, props and set pieces from last October that took in over seven million dollars.

Unfortunately, our resident Star Trek insider Wil Wheaton won't be part of the documentary. No matter, at least here you can read his Star Trek: The Next Generation reviews, which are probably funnier than anything you'll see in this new special. What's equally as upsetting as Wil getting the shaft is that I also wasn't asked to participate in the documentary, despite being Nichelle Nichols' stunt double* on the original Star Trek.

*I was never Nichelle Nichols' stunt double.