TVSquad

Don't get me wrong... I think everyone is entitled to a vacation, especially the hard-working folks at the comedy factories known as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. But it sucks when I tune into Comedy Central to get my late night fix and I see reruns. This is the situation I'll find myself in this week, as both shows are on vacation.

I can tell right away that TDS is a rerun; if the intro to the show doesn't show the date, it's a repeat. From there, there's a 95% chance that Colbert is also a rerun, so the entire 11 PM - 12 AM block is now available to me.

It's a weird feeling; without TDS/Colbert, I feel kind of adrift.

This year's Emmy Awards goodie bags are worth an estimated $27,000 to $33,000, depending on how big of a celebrity you are, and it's all taxable income. Bah humbug. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences just sent a letter out to celebrities to remind them to pay taxes on the goodies.

Blah, blah, blah. You want to know what's in the goodie bags, don't you?

OK. This article has the complete list, but I'm just picking out the interesting stuff including vacation packages in New Zealand, Hawaii, California, and Whistler, B.C. It also includes one-year membership to YogaWorks, a $329 Sprint phone, gift certificates for spas and restaurants, Diamo scooters, and Dooney & Burke luggage. Of course, the stars don't have to pay taxes on the goodies if they donate it to charity or turn it down altogether.

The Emmys air Sunday, August 27th on NBC. Thankfully, Conan O'Brien hosts.

Keith Olbermann brings a certain... attitude... to his nightly newscast on MSNBC. He's bitingly sarcastic, self-deprecating and good-natured. The scripts for the newscast are heavily written by Olbermann himself, but his producers and writers obviously have his tone down and write the way he speaks. So, when Keith is on vacation and someone else fills in, the show really, really sucks. It used to be that Alex Witt filled in for Keith, but she didn't seem to know what she was reading. She read everything straight. Witt was apparently booted off in favor of Alison Stewart, who clearly understands Keith's wit and wisdom, but she still can't deliver his scripts. She tries too hard to be like Keith, but she obviously does not speak the way scripts are written. Bottom line: when Keith is on vacation, I don't watch.

As far as I can see it, there are three options: 1) Keith works 52 weeks a year, 2) MSNBC replaces Countdown with something else when he's on vacation, 3) Keith clones!