TVSquad

Queen Latifah couldn't make it work. Megan Mullally struck out, too. In fact, if you think about it, more stars fail in their attempts to become talk show hosts than succeed. For every Ellen DeGeneres and Tyra Banks, there's a Caroline Rhea and Magic Johnson.

So, will sitcom star Leah Remini go from the King of Queens to the queen of daytime talk? CBS -- home of King of Queens for a very successful run from 1998-2007 -- is developing a daytime show for Leah Remini that's being called something different than a typical talk show.

If you tune in to The Rachael Ray Show today, you might get an idea of what Leah could bring to daytime -- she's Rach's guest.

This was inevitable, really. Ex-Brady Bunch star and current reality show favorite Christopher Knight is going to host a new syndicated version of the board game Trivial Pursuit.

I have to agree with Rich Heldenfels when he says this press release for the show is rather odd. It's way too long, the type of bio you get when someone is trying to look more important, more well-rounded than they are. Not that Knight hasn't been around a while, but a list of the TV shows he's done would be enough, instead of saying weird things like "once and forever a Brady!" and "Christopher's successful endeavors beyond showbiz exist in peaceful subordination to his portrayal of Peter and his arguably estimable contribution to American pop culture." Wha? And when talking about the show TV Road Trip, why is the word "host" in quotes?

Anyway, maybe they'll have celebrity contestants on at some point. Maybe Peter's mom can be on the show. It bows on September 22.

[via TV Tattle]

The daily Deal or No Deal finally has a start date. Now you'll be able to fantasize about Howie Mandell's glowing dome of flesh five days a week as Deal or No Deal begins it's syndication run September 8th. And whereas Regis Philbin was far too busy during the week being all over our televisions to host the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Howie's schedule isn't nearly as dense. In fact, now he can set up a cot right there in the studio. Get himself a mini-fridge and a germ-free bubble to unwind in and he'll be good to go.

Since syndication isn't worth as much as prime time (why do you think there's no million dollar prizes on the regular The Price is Right), the top prize is being reduced to $500,000. But, they're adding an interactive element so that home viewers can cash in on the fun, too. Now you can get paid for sitting at home in your soiled underbritches screaming "Number 7! Number 7!" just because that model has the nicest cans. But, hey! I agree with your logic on that. I want to see her fumble with the latches, too. I mean ... wait ... what were we talking about?

Here's some cool news for any Star Trek fans who have been enjoying the new digitally remastered Star Trek episodes currently airing in syndication:

CBS will re-air "new" digitally-cleaned-up episodes of the original Star Trek series starting next month. Forty episodes will be shown in total, starting September 15, 2007 and ending August 2, 2008. You'll have to check your listings to see what time they're airing, though it'll be either on a Saturday or Sunday.

It's not too much of an exaggeration to say you could flip on your television at any time, any day, and catch an episode of Law and Order or any other series in the Law and Order franchise. TNT is mostly to thank (or blame) for this, having aired repeats of the series for quite some time.

The problem is, even people who love chocolate cake don't want chocolate cake all the damn time, so the ratings for Law and Order have been slipping. To try and alleviate this, TNT began to syndicate Without a Trace, but despite strong ratings when it first aired as a late night repeat from 2004 to 2006, its current place in primetime hasn't garnered nearly as many viewers.

Okay, so, a few months ago Rich gave y'all the skinny on a proposed half-hour syndicated version of Deal or No Deal. Well, Variety, citing "sources" but nothing more solid than that, says NBC Universal and Endemol USA will be moving ahead with plans for a syndicated Deal or No Deal, and that Howie Mandel will likely be hosting this version, as well. The syndicated version would appear sometime in 2008. Again, it's worth noting that neither NBC nor Endemol have confirmed any of this.

Since it's part of the same article, I should probably also mention that Access Hollywood and Yahoo have teamed up to create "omg!," a celeb-centric site featuring clips from Access Hollywood. The site, which is supposed to launch today, will serve as a direct competitor to AOL's TMZ.com (AOL also owns TV Squad). I just hope whoever supplies the alcohol and drugs to today's Hollywood stars keeps the supply coming so folks like me can sit back and watch these two portals fight for the best footage.

Cool news for Family Guy fans: the series will be going into syndication in 24 of the top 25 markets, including Minneapolis (which probably doesn't mean much to any of you, but I live in Minneapolis).

While I'm not as fanatical about Family Guy as some, I think it's perfect for syndication. It's a series with the kind of light humor that's perfect for playing in the background while you clean your house on a lazy afternoon, and I don't think it'll suffer too much from the obligatory editing that often happens when a program goes into syndication. When a show is as heavy on non sequitur gags as Family Guy, cutting one or two doesn't hurt the overall flow of the episode too much.

So there you go: between airings on FOX, Adult Swim, TBS and now a syndicated run, you'll be able to get your daily allowance of Family Guy. If you can learn to grow your own food inside your house, you'll never have to leave.

I've always liked Las Vegas. It has never been one of my favorite "must see" shows, but it has always been entertaining. It looks great, and has a nice mix of comedy, drama, and mystery. The stories are all too often wrapped up in a nice little bow in the last couple minutes, but that's the Las Vegas way.

The fourth season has been pretty good overall. The only thing I haven't really enjoyed is the very special Mary story that has come about over the last few episodes. That being said, I was a little confused when they started promoting this Friday's episode, "Heroes", as the season finale. It seemed a little quick. Looking at the season to date, it is. Season four is only going to be 17 episodes while the first three seasons all had 23 or 24 episodes.

In case you missed it, BET will be airing episodes of the HBO series The Wire, a show that is so popular it's my favorite show of all time, even though I've never seen a single episode. That's right, it's that good.

When I mentioned it before, I wrote that some might not be that interested in seeing the show in syndication, since that means some things will have to be cut out. It is true that in order to meet standards certain elements will have to be trimmed, but BET won't be chopping important bits out just to squeeze in more commercials. Instead, the BET version of the series will run an hour and a half, rather than just an hour. I have to say, that's a pretty cool move on the part of BET, and it might just sell the idea to viewers who were iffy about watching it on anything else but HBO.

If you don't have Comedy Central, you just might have a chance to catch two of the network's series anyway when both Reno 911! and Chappelle's Show go into syndication this fall. Of course, one would assume these episodes will be edited for syndication, either for content or to sandwich in more commercials, which is one of the reasons I never bother to watch the syndicated version of South Park. Still, it's another chance to catch these shows, and that's not a bad thing at all. The two series are the first to be syndicated through a deal between New Line Television and MGM.

Comedy Central has also picked up Reno 911! for a fifth season, and the movie Reno 911: Miami will hit theaters next month.

Good news: your chances of seeing men pound the living crap out of one another on television have just increased. The Ultimate Fighting Championship will be syndicated in late 2007 as UFC Wired, hosted by Joe Rogan, who has already appeared on UFC pay-per-view events and on UFC coverage on Spike TV.

UFC Wired will pit the top UFC champs against one another. This isn't really my cup of tea, but then I've always been missing whatever male gene makes one drink heavily, pick fights, slap puppies and fix tractor engines. Oh why did I have to be born handsome instead of strong?

Anyway, the new series will run for twenty-two episodes, so keep an eye out to see if it plays in your neck o' the woods.

When a favorite show of mine enters syndication, the same thing always happens: I watch the reruns every time they air, even if the same episode airs twice in the same week, and basically overindulge.

This is what's happening now with Scrubs. Not only is it on for an hour every day at 7 on Comedy Central, but my local Fox affiliate is showing a full hour of the show as well... at midnight. And since both sets of reruns are on different tracks -- CC is running the episodes in order from the pilot, while the syndicated reruns are from seasons one and four -- there is little overlap (though I'll watch even if there is overlap). So you know what that means, kids: Uncle Joel stays up until 1 AM just to see reruns of a show he could easily buy on DVD and watch whenever he wants. Thank God I don't have an office to go to, else I'd be toast just about every morning.

In this world of downloads and full-season DVDs that still draws us to reruns? Are there reruns that you still catch every day, even though you may have the DVDs sitting right there on your shelf? Let me know in the comments.

Just when you thought you could keep up with all of the contests here at TV Squad, we're about to throw another one in your lap.

In celebration of Scrubs arriving in syndication, five days a week (starting September 18), we've got some great prizes in store for you, including a $250 Best Buy gift card or a 15-inch LCD television, and ten runner-up prize packs that include Scrubs labeled hats, stainless steel coffee mug, clipboard and light pen.

So, what do you need to do to win one of these great prizes? Read on below for details!

If you, like me, can't resist watching the original Star Trek when it pops up on your television, then you are in luck. Startrek.com is reporting that the original series is being remastered in HD to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the series. Along with the shiny new digital transfer from the original film, the episodes will also be receiving new CGI effects to replace many of the original 60's tech shots. The sound of the series gets the digital upgrade as well, including Shatner's timeless opening monologue. No word on whether or not they are going to remove all of those pauses in his speech...

The new episodes will start airing in syndication on September 16th. For the whole scoop on what's new and different, go check out the list.

In the battle over the right to air reruns of the hot-right-now Grey's Anatomy, the Lifetime network is victorious. Near the end of a bidding war, it looked as though TNT and Oxygen were going to share the rights to reruns, but Lifetime swooped in with some fat cash and won the contract. The network will reportedly pay $1.2 million to air each episode and it has agreed to a 200 episode minimum. How can Lifetime afford Grey's Anatomy? Well, it's actually 50% owned by Walt Disney Co., which also owns ABC and Grey's syndicator Buena Vista Television. Lifetime will begin airing season one episodes once a week beginning in January. The network can begin airing the series daily in 2009.

In addition to Grey's Anatomy, Lifetime has also snagged the rights to air Desperate Housewives, which joins the schedule on August 5, and Medium, which begins airing in the fall.