TVSquad

Sometimes it's true that all's well that ends well. And sometimes to reach that happy ending, arms are twisted, feelings are hurt, and bad blood is spilled. In the case of The Young and the Restless and actor Eric Braeden, there was a good deal of acrimony on both sides. The fact that Braeden is back in the fold now and he will continue as Victor Newman for the foreseeable future, doesn't obscure the fact that it was a nasty situation.

I don't mean of one particular show, I'm talking about the best episode of any TV series? Not an easy thing to do. Just think of how many shows and how many episodes we've had in 60+ years. The new issue of TV Guide is out, and while the full list of the 100 best episodes isn't online yet (here are #'s 100-81), we do know some episodes in the top ten (TV Guide did a similar issue back in 1997).

The number one ep? "The Contest" from Seinfeld. "Chuckles Bites The Dust" from The Mary Tyler Moore Show and "Opie The Birdman" from The Andy Griffith Show are up there too, as is the pilot episode of Lost and the "College" episode of The Sopranos. What's the first episode that comes to mind when you think of great TV?

I don't watch anything on The CW, but I know that there are a lot of people who do. Gossip Girl, Supernatural, Smallville, 90210, One Tree Hill, Privileged. It's always the last channel in the ratings of the big five networks (including ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC), but these shows have their fans. So it's a little odd that TV Guide would drop the network from its grid (scroll down).

Yup, the long-running magazine says that there just isn't enough room to list all of the channels now, so they've gotten rid of The CW and other channels recently, including MTV and their own TV Guide Network (though that was just sold to Lionsgate).

Hey, if this means more coverage for Mad Men, I'm all for it.

Lionsgate, the studio that produces both that AMC show and Showtime's Weeds, has bought both TVGuide.com and The TV Guide Network. This may come as a surprise to readers who thought that they were sold a couple of weeks ago to someone else. Turns out that deal was final yet and Lionsgate came in quickly with another offer and it was OK'd.

Months ago I suggested that all of TV Squad's writers and readers should pool their money and buy TV Guide. Turns out that if we had done that we would have paid too much money. The magazine just sold for $1.00.

That's not a typo, and I'm not talking about the cover price being reduced. TV Guide itself was actually bought from Macrovision this week for $1.00.

I'm sorry, but while I think that everyone is entitled to their opinion about "best this" and "best that" (not to be confused with "favorite this" and "favorite that"), sometimes such a list has some entries that just make you scratch your head so much that you have to throw the whole list away and start over. Case in point, this list of the 10 Best TV Pilots from the new issue of TV Guide.

While I'm not going to sit here and argue about shows on the list like Lost, The Sopranos, and Alias, I am going to take issue with the inclusion of Desperate Housewives, The Shield, and Football Wives. Honestly, are these true representatives of the best first episodes of TV shows? Forget about what the shows became (great shows can often have so-so early episodes), just the first episodes themselves. Was there truly anything special about Desperate Housewives that would place it ahead of...oh, I don't know, 400 other shows in the history of television?

Industry staple magazine TV Guide will be co-opted by the Walt Disney-owned ABC network for its August 25th issue. The issue will have 21 ad pages, all of which will be promoting ABC. It will also contain a DVD with a sneak-peak at ABC's fall shows.

To me, this willingness of TV Guide to prostitute itself out for an issue is an example of how print media is in decline and how desperate TV Guide must be for advertising dollars. On the other hand, TV Guide is released with such frequency that people will likely forget such an advertisement onslaught by a single network by the following week. If CBS wanted to do the exact same thing the following week, I doubt TV Guide would say "no."

If you're an ABC fan, this issue could become something of a collectible. If you're not, then it'll probably just be annoying. With the existence of the Internet, does anybody even subscribe to TV Guide anymore?

On Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen plays a vulgar playboy, a shallow guy who's more interested in booze, women and having a good time than being responsible and working hard. The role has earned him a couple of Emmy nominations and a lot of money. A lot of money. In fact, in a new poll from TV Guide, Charlie Sheen is the highest paid actor on TV, making $825,000 per episode; in a season of 23 shows, that comes out to nearly $20 million.

That's more than he could make in the movies, and unlike films, Charlie can keep on raking it in on Two and a Half Men for years. The show is a huge hit in syndication, so more episodes will simply mean more money down the road.

Right behind Charlie on the list is fellow CBS leading man, CSI's William Petersen. He's making $600,000 an episode. He's only doing ten episodes this season, but since he's also an executive producer on the series, he's probably making even more.

Is that music coming from The Closer production?


The Closer's Executive Producer James Duff, told TV Guide -- exclusively -- that a wedding may be in the works. Could Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson, a woman who's great at her job but a neurotic mess in her personal life, get it together to actually marry the love of her life, FBI agent Fritz Howard? Could it happen this season?

If there's one thing about success in the entertainment business it's this: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. That means if something is working on another show, steal/borrow the idea. As I've pointed out before, the soaps are inspired by movies and TV shows all the time, including Ugly Betty and The Devil Wears Prada and 24 and anything else that the daytime dramas can adapt into the soap opera format.

The latest form of flattery will be on All My Children with the introduction of Beth Ehlers as a new character in Pine Valley, Lieutenant Taylor McBride, a U.S. Army vet who has recently been deployed in Iraq.

Saturday -- a time of rest and relaxation. A time to put your feet up, grab a lemonade, open a book, and let the cool, summer breezes gently rock your hammock as a lazy July day passes. Of course, that's if you aren't attending the San Diego Comic-Con. Then, it's out of your bed, quick shower (if any), breakfast-on-the-go, and right back into the queues to see your particular favorites talking about their television shows.

Like Friday, Saturday at Comic-Con will be packed with television goodness. This is the day that many of the big guns come to play. Shows like The Office, Lost, Battlestar Galactica will be making appearances. They will be joined by newcomers Chuck, Dollhouse, and Pushing Daisies. There will even be an appearance by the recently single Sarah Silverman. There's also a good bit of television animation being featured, particularly by Nicktoons and B.E.T. Animation.

In order to make sure you get the most out of the money you paid to get into the convention, we here at TV Squad are providing you with a complete list of television-related panels for that day. If you are interested in seeing what else is going on July 25th you can review the official full schedule at the Comic-Con website. Remember, times and appearances are subject to change and seating in all event rooms is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

I think that would be called Holding Hands in the City.

Hannah Montana herself tells TV Guide that she wants to make a younger, cleaner version of the HBO hit show (and now movie hit, too) Sex and the City. Not sure if she's ever seen the show, but sex was a rather big, important part of the lives of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha. It's even the first word in the title of the show. Maybe she actually meant to say that she wants to remake Saved by the Bell: The College Years.

Other words of wisdom from Cyrus: her most important things in the world include her mommy (no word on daddy?), her black Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers, grilled cheese sandwiches and the Bible. I'm kind of the same way when it comes to those last two, only I'd change them to pizza and Esquire magazine.

[via TV Tattle]

There's been some scuttlebutt stirred up to suggest that next season's two-hour 24 prequel TV movie will be considered part of the 24 hours in Day 7, therefore leading some to think that there'll only be 22 episodes. But how could there only be 22 hours in a day, right? Well, TV being what it is, I'm sure they'd find a way to do two hours in one -- other shows do! -- but that won't be the case. There will be 24 hours, 24 episodes in the 2009 season of 24.

Part of the reason for all this confusion is an interview that actor Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty) gave to Premiere.com. Carlyle, who will be playing someone who'd been a mentor to Jack, said that the 24 TV movie, which is meant to cover what's happened since the end of Day 6 with the new Day 7, would apply to the Fox episode commitment. He told Premiere.com, "This is two hours in real time, and there'll then be 22 episodes."

I'd like to begin this week's offering by adding my thoughts on the untimely death of Tim Russert. I didn't know him personally, so anything I could say about the man would pale in comparison to all the nice things his friends and co-workers have already said.

What I will say is that the irony of Russert dying on Father's Day weekend so soon after writing his book, Big Russ and Me (which chronicled his life with his father as well as his son Luke), is so thick that twenty years from now, it will be hard to believe that it happened the way that it did.

As a guy who rarely watches the news and gets most of my information from The Daily Show, I appreciated Russert's informative and entertaining style of reporting.

TidalTV is a web-based video service. But it doesn't look anything like YouTube, Joost, or even Hulu. If anything, it looks like the service you get from your cable or satellite provider.

The TidalTV display is laid out like an electronic program guide with a video window in the corner. You can click on the video to bring up a full screen version. Or you can click on the program guide to flip channels. There's also an on-demand section if you don't want to watch the scheduled programming stream.