TVSquad

OK, so one of the scenarios below is actually true. Can you guess which one?

a.) Superbad star Jonah Hill is going to write and star in a big screen adaptation of 21 Jump Street.
b.) Nicolas Cage is going to star in a big screen version of the action series Riptide.
c.) George Clooney will star in and direct a movie version of Magnum, P.I.
d.) Ian Ziering will star in a big screen version of The Greatest American Hero.

After the jump, the answer.

I haven't gotten into iTunes video yet. My iTunes music file keeps getting fatter and fatter, but I haven't done anything with video yet. I'm content with buying DVDs and using YouTube and AOL TV for my video needs. But if more stuff like this gets put on iTunes, I might change my mind.

Stephen J. Cannell is starting to put his shows on the music/video service. Granted, the first batch of shows aren't anything I'm interested in (the list includes Hunter, Silk Stalkings, Wiseguy, and 21 Jump Street, with a young Johnny Depp), but I do hope it's successful so we'll see more of the Cannell shows that I'm interested in (though if I'm really interested in them, I probably already own the DVDs). This promises to be just the first group of shows, with more to follow later this year.

One show I do like watching again that is included in this batch is The Greatest American Hero. After the jump, the catchy theme song to the William Katt/Robert Culp/Connie Sellecca series from the 80s.

If you're a TV fan and have been around for a while, the TV logos/credit montage in the video after the jump is going to be like a trip back in time, a history of television in 5 minutes and 33 seconds.

Some of them are national logos (Paramount, Sid and Marty Krofft, Viacom, Desilu), and some of them will probably only be known to people in certain markets (Lexington Broadcast Services?). Some of the companies are repeated, but you get to see different logos they used.

I've been waiting for this for years, and judging by comments left at the site here, many of you readers have been waiting too: Stingray, the NBC drama series that ran in the mid 80s, is officially coming to DVD in December! The news was posted on Stephen J. Cannell's web site.

Now, I should say that the show is being released by VEI in Canada in December, but luckily our friends to the north make shiny DVDs that also work on our machines down here. Thank you friends to the north!

Stingray starred Nick Mancuso as a mysterious loner who helped people out of jams. He didn't ask for money, only that the people he helped do him a favor somewhere down the line. There were only 23 episodes of the show (plus the pilot movie), so I would assume the entire series will be released in one set. At least I hope so.

[via TVShowsonDVD.com]

Hey, say that headline 5 times real fast.

I was watching Ebert & Roeper this weekend, and the fill-in for Ebert (he should be back in 2007) was actor and director Mario Van Peebles, who most recently won acclaim for directing the movie Baadasssss!, playing Malcolm X in Ali, and as a cast member on the show Rude Awakening a few years back. But back in the late 80s he starred in a really fun Stephen J. Cannell show titled Sonny Spoon, about a con man who helps people (and himself) out of various jams. He used his connections on the street, the help of a bar owner (real-life dad Melvin Van Peebles), and, best of all, several disguises to solve the crime. You don't see that enough on television these days, people using funky disguises. I think some of the heist shows have used them here and there, but it was a major part of Sonny Spoon. And the show was hip without being annoying, and was just really entertaining.

I've been waiting for this.

Stingray is finally coming to DVD! No, I'm not talking about that show with the puppets. I'm talking about the short-lived NBC show from the mid-80s starring Nick Mancuso. He played a mysterious stranger with no-name who helped people out of jams and solved crimes. He didn't ask for money, he only asked that you do him a favor in the future. Whatever it is, you must do it. He would use the favors not for personal gain, but to help others in trouble. The show was stylish, fun, and even had some cool original songs.

There's no official word that has been announced. I got this info from someone at Stephen J. Cannell's site. You can check out TVShowsonDVD.com for more info, or keep tabs on Cannell's site to see when the set will be released.

I'll be first in line.