TVSquad

So Simon Cowell and Sting are going at each other. Sting said some not-so-nice things about The X Factor , including "it's a preposterous show, and you have judges who have no recognizable talent apart from self-promotion...basically I was looking at televised karaoke." Cowell responded by saying: "Talking about these contestants being a bunch of karaoke no-hopers ... I thought it was pompous." Cowell invited Sting to come on the show.

So who's right? I assume Sting's comments would apply to American Idol too.

The former Friends cast member will be heading up the Los Angeles-set parts of the new HBO s comedy show Little Britain.The show is the U.S. counterpart to the BBC sketch show of the same name. The series will focus on the hijinx of British comedians Matt Lucas and David Walliams (stars from the BBC show) here stateside. They are currently filming in North Carolina. Schwimmer will be directing the studio segments of the six-part HBO series here in California. Guests for his segments include Rosie O'Donnell and Sting.

This isn't the first time Schwimmer will be directing or showing his love of all things British. He directed a few episodes of Friends. And this past year, made his feature directorial debut with Run Fat Boy Run The film starred Simon Pegg as a non-committal cad who has a change of heart toward the mother of his child and enters a marathon to prove his love.

"Don't get high on your own supply." --Thomas Lennon on how he doesn't have basic cable.

Thomas Lennon, the star and co-creator of Comedy Central's Reno 911!, got to together with Mahalo's Lon Harris to talk about basic cable, the how it's not gay to love Sting in Dune, Christopher Walken's answering machine, and Falcon Crest. He also dishes about the finale of Reno 911! (currently in its fifth season), the Upright Citizens Brigade, and Balls of Fury. Oh, and he might mention something about The State reunion.

Fans of Thomas Lennon and all things Reno 911! will enjoy this interview. Lennon is genius! The video is after the jump.

One of my television guilty pleasures would have to be blooper shows. And my favorite bloopers are the news bloopers because 1) they're live, and 2) they involve something that is usually supposed to be so serious and controlled. This clip of Bill O'Reilly going ballistic isn't from a live broadcast, but it's still pretty great.

It's from his days as anchor of the syndicated tabloid show Inside Edition (he was anchor from 1988 to 1995). What's funny is that, even back then, when nine out of ten people you stopped on the street probably didn't have any idea who Bill O'Reilly was, it still looks like he was egotistical and ready to destroy anyone who disagreed with him or irritated him in any way. It's actually rather shocking, no matter how many times you watch, the moment where he goes from being really peeved to "oh my God he's going to kill the cameraman and the stage manager." I wonder how Sting feels about being the person who inadvertently set Bill off?

Full video after the jump! Looks like CBS forced them to take down the video. But trust us, it was funny.

Update: Here it is.

Are you a fan of the rock band The Police and musical instruments that aren't plugged in? Then I have good news for you.

The Police, who are currently on a reunion tour, will be performing an all-acoustic set for MTV Unplugged somewhere in Miami on July 13, according to Fox News. There's no specific word yet on just which venue the performance will take place, but fans will no doubt be able to catch the performance on MTV (and perhaps also VH1 and CMT). The article further states that an album could result from the Unplugged performance, which should make fans very happy, especially those fans who can't afford tickets.

• At 8, ABC has a new Wife Swap, followed by a new Supernanny and the Oprah special Building A Dream.
• FOX has a new Prison Break at 8, then a new 24.
• CBS has new episodes of How I Met Your Mother, The Class, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement, and CSI: Miami.
• NBC has a new Deal Or No Deal at 8, then a new Heroes and the premiere of The Black Donnellys.
• The CW has a new Everybody Hates Chris at 8, then new eps of All Of Us, Girlfriends, and The Game.
• Lifetime has two new episodes of Gay, Straight, or Taken? at 8, then the new movie A Decent Proposal.
• Emeril cooks recipes from Mississippi on a new Emeril Live. It's on Food Network at 8.
• Also at 8: ABC Family has a new Wildfire.
• At 9, USA has a new Monday Night RAW.
• American Life has 77 Sunset Strip at 9, then Bourbon Street Beat and Harry O.
• IFC has Gosford Park at 9.
• At 10, Discovery has two new episodes of Stunt Junkies.
• Sting performs on a new Great Performances on PBS at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

One of the big regrets of my life was not seeing The Police in concert when they were together in the late 70s and early 80s. They're one of my favorite bands, and I don't really know why I never made an effort to see them live. I saw Sting live once and it was great, but it wasn't the same.

I might be able to get another chance. There are rumors swirling that the band is going to get together again this summer for a 30th anniversary tour, but before that happens they'll open the Grammy Awards on ABC on February 11. It's official now. Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland will open the show. There are also rumors that they are rehearsing in Vancouver for that world tour, though nothing has been said beyond the Grammys gig.

Now...what song should they play to open the telecast?

(S01E05) So let me get this straight. Sting has been around so long that he can just decide to make an album of songs based on the writings of a 15th century poet, play it with a lute (!), and get a guest star gig on a major network TV show? Nice. I can't wait for the day when Keith lets me write just about obscure game shows from the 1960s, in Latin.

I was wondering if Sting was going to play one of his classic songs after he played his new song at rehearsal. I wasn't the only one: Harriet says the same thing at the end to Matt, and he tells her that he wasn't going to but Matt asked him to play it and he did. (Oh, and curse you NBC once again for tricking us into thinking that Matt and Harriet were going to get back together. Damn previews!)

Dateline NBC's journalistic integrity is being called into question after it was revealed that the network paid an organization to set up a pedophile sting for an ongoing investigation titled "To Catch A Predator." An organization called "Perverted Justice" was paid by NBC to set up a sting operation in which sexual predators were lured to a house in Ohio where they were caught by officials. NBC is insisting it did nothing wrong, and that Web-based crimes require new ways of approaching stories. Others disagree, claiming that by money exchanging hands the credibility of the story was affected.

The USA Today piece also had this quote: "NBC said it received at least 15,000 letters or e-mails in response to its February story. Not one parent complained about the journalistic methods used to film the piece, [Dateline NBC executive producer David Corvo] said." Well, they certainly didn't receive any complaints about NBC paying Perverted Justice, because no one knew about it when the segments aired.