TVSquad

Have you ever wanted to audition for a reality television show, but didn't have enough sick leave to fake an illness for your boss or the patience to wait in lines that would rival the bread lines in Cold War Russia?

Mark Burnett has struck a deal that will let people produce their own audition tapes.

Burnett signed a deal with Studio One Media to supply high traffic areas with self-serve kiosks that let people put together their own tapes for a measly twenty bucks. They can also provide a web-based service that lets contestants upload their own videos.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Wow, this is quite a week for TV fans of all types. You can get the complete series sets for The Sopranos and I Dream of Jeannie, and anniversary sets for such TV classics as The Cosby Show and The Long Ranger. I even see a season 2 set for Mister Peepers! I didn't even know there was a season 1 set already released, so I'll have to look into that.

The Studio One anthology is a real gem, and I'll have a review of it later this week.

• 7th Heaven - Season 7
• Band of Brothers - Miniseries (Blu-Ray)
• Chuck - Season 1 (Blu-Ray)
• The Cosby Show - 25th Anniversary
• Father Knows Best - Season 2
• Firefly - Complete Series (Blu-Ray)
• I Dream of Jeannie - Complete Series
• Little House on the Prairie - Complete Series
• The Lone Ranger - 75th Anniversary
• M Squad - Complete Series

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• Michael Pate: He was a veteran Australian actor who appeared in many TV shows over the years, including Batman, The Rifleman, The Time Tunnel, The Rat Patrol, Matlock Police, Hondo, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Disneyland, The Wild Wild West, Daktari, Get Smart, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Zorro, Wagon Train, Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Lassie, and a ton of westerns. He was also the first person to play the Felix Leiter character, in the 50s TV version of Casino Royale. He appeared in several movies, including Houdini, Major Dundee, The Silver Chalice, Howling III, Return of the Gunfighter, PT109, McClintock!, and Sergeants 3. He died of complications from pneumonia at age 88.
  

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• John McPherson: He was an Emmy-winning cinematographer, having worked on such shows as Amazing Stories, Baywatch, St. Elsewhere, Voyagers, The Incredible Hulk, Kojak, and movies such as Jaws: The Revenge, batteries not included, and Fletch Lives. He was also a director, on such shows as Babylon 5, JAG, Nash Bridges, Beverly Hills, 90210, Sliders, Strange Luck, Alien Nation, and The Incredible Hulk. He died last month at age 65.

There have been rumors swirling ever since Conan O'Brien was tapped by NBC to replace Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show that O'Brien would be asked to move to L.A. from his current New York City home. And now it's been made official by NBC: Conan will move to L.A. when he takes over the show in 2009.

The network has big plans for the area. NBC is selling off part of its Burbank lot and Conan's show will beam to us from the renovated Studio One at Universal Studios.

Here's an interesting fact about William Shatner, who celebrated his 76th birthday last week: Boston Legal is not his first legal drama. Back in the early 1960's Shatner had an recurring role on The Defenders as Assistant District Attorney Earl Rhodes. And before that, 1957 to be exact, he appeared in an episode of the anthology series Studio One titled "The Defenders".

Why am I mentioning all of this? Well, the producers of Boston Legal are planning to use footage from Shatner's Studio One appearance in the April 3rd episode. According to a piece at contactmusic Shatner's character, Denny Crane, will be taken hostage by a man who holds a grudge against him stemming from a 50-year-old court case. That means that the 76-year-old Shatner will be paired with the 26-year-old Shatner throughout the show.

By the way, the episode of Studio One that will be used also featured a young Steve McQueen (credited as Steven McQueen), who was an unknown at the time. It hasn't been determined if footage featuring McQueen will be shown during this episode of Legal.