TVSquad

NBC Universal, Donald Trump and Paula Shugart (president of the Miss Universe Organization) announced the celerbrity panel of judges today for the Miss Universe Pageant, which will be broadcast live from Vietnam this Sunday at 9:00 p.m. ET on NBC and Telemundo.. Donald Trump, Jr., Roberto Cavalli, Nadine Velazquez, Jennifer Hawkins, Louis Licari, John Nguyen will judge the competition.

So where are the celebrities? At least Nadine Velazquez is on My Name is Earl. I guess you could argue that Don, Jr. is on The Apprentice but I'd hardly classify him as a celebrity. I'm not saying that some of these judges aren't successful in their fields. Cavalli is an international designer. Licari is a colorist to the stars (I guess he'll be checking the girls for bad roots). John Nguyen is a successful entrepreneur. Jennifer Hawkins won the pageant in 2004. But, as far as Hawkins goes, it's like having Taylor Hicks be a guest mentor on Idol. Lame-O. At least they have real celebrities as hosts. Jerry Springer and Mel B. will led the ceremonies.

OK, it seems to be "David Milch Day" here at TV Squad, with petitions and spoofs and all that. Now comes word about the new show that Milch is doing with HBO (they certainly aren't wasting any time, eh?).

The new Milch show isn't Deadwood (sorry fans), it's a cop show, centering on a Vietnam veteran who returns to the United States and joins the New York City police force in the 1970s. This is actually a show that Milch and HBO have been working on even before Deadwood or John From Cincinnati, but now they have the time to work on it.

No word yet on whether this cop will levitate or not, but considering it's Milch and gritty 70's cops and HBO, expect a lot of swearing.

HBO has just announced that they are going to take Richard Ford's acclaimed trilogy of books, The Sportswriter, Independence Day, and Lay of the Land, and turn them into a six hour miniseries titled The Sportswriter.

The books focus on sportswriter Frank Bascombe and the problems he has in his life. The books cover everything from Vietnam to 9/11 and so will the miniseries. It will be directed by James Mangold (Men In Trees, Identity, Walk The Line) and written by Mark Bomback, who also wrote the upcoming third Die Hard movie with Bruce Willis and Justin Long.

This should be an interesting miniseries, especially if they get someone good to play Bascombe and stick close to the books. I've only read The Sportswriter. It's quite good.

[via TV Tattle]

Fans of The Amazing Race should be happy to know that Peter and Sarah have broken up. IGN has a question-and-answer with the duo, who were eliminated from the competition last Sunday. They don't say much about why they broke up -- uh, I think we can guess that Sarah did the dumping -- but they do talk about their behavior on the show, especially Peter. When he's asked about why he kept wanting to quit during challenges, he gives a bullshit answer, saying "I'm going to quit" is a motivator to him. Whatever, pal. He also accuses the producers of editing out his good moments and only focusing on his bad ones. Racers Tom and Terry did an interview when they were eliminated and they said the producers portrayed them and everyone else accurately and fairly-- and I trust those two more than I trust Peter. The couple also talk about their high and low moments, other racers, and Sarah's climbing challenges.

A quick promo/contest/text message type thing appeared near the end of The Amazing Race last night, asking viewers to vote for 'Most Annoying Couple' on The Amazing Race. I found this funny because the show always tended toward positive votes, like 'VIP' for the episode. But not last night. I thought it was a great question that was worth more than just a text message... it's worth an all-out discussion, people!

The three candidates for 'Most Annoying Couple' were David and Mary, Sarah and Peter, and Rob and Kimberly. They all definitely lead the pack for 'Most Annoying'. (I'd show pictures of them, but CBS' website doesn't have any!)

Let's break it down after the jump, and you'll see who I find most annoying. Feel free to chime in down in comments.

Finally, after having to deal with lesser Stephen J. Cannell shows being released (Renegade?!), one of my favorite shows is coming to DVD: Riptide!

Riptide starred Perry King and Joe Penny as Cody Allen and Nick Ryder, two private eyes who lived and worked off a boat in California. They were helped on cases by the third member of the team, the nerdy brainiac Boz, played by Thom Bray. This was a highly enjoyable 80s adventure-drama, and I've been waiting for it to come out on DVD for quite some time.

Interestingly, there might be two versions being released: a Canadian version is coming out, and insiders tell TVshowsonDVD that an American version is in the works too.