TVSquad

David Lloyd was one of those TV writers whose work spread across the history of television. He worked on shows ranging from The Tonight Show in the 60s to Frasier in the 90s and early 2000s.

Lloyd died last night after a long illness.

Lloyd had a part in many memorable TV shows over the years, as a writer and/or a producer, including Cheers, Wings, Taxi, Lou Grant, Rhoda, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Phyllis, The Tony Randall Show, Dear John, The Dick Cavett Show, The Associates, The Best of the West, and many other shows.

Ken Levine has a great tribute to Lloyd on his site, including a discussion of how Lloyd was as a writer. It includes an example of Lloyd's script for the classic Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Chuckles Bites The Dust."

It's hard to believe but last night was the first time that Paul McCartney was on The Late Show with David Letterman.

As Letterman says in the clip below, they had been trying to get him for 15 years with no success. McCartney had been in the studio before, of course, as a member of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 (and once for MTV), but this was his first time on Dave's show. He talks about coming to America back then and what the other band members were like.

(Here's video of the performance from McCartney and his band.)

There are talented TV actors who never get their big break. There are talented TV actors who managed to land one key role that has to last them a lifetime. Then, there are talented TV actors like Tim Daly.

The Private Practice star has progressed from a long-running sitcom (Wings), to an all-time television classic (The Sopranos), to an iconic animated series (Superman) and a cutting-edge drama entering its third season (ABC's Private Practice).

The New York City native and child actor turned adult success story connected with TV Squad to look back at his career and ahead to the future of Private Practice.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Wings is really one of the more underrated sitcoms of all-time. It bopped along for eight seasons in various time slots and never got any real critical acclaim, but it was a very likable show, entertaining and with some really well-written characters. And now they've released it in a box set, which means I have to go out and buy it. That's happening more and more with shows nowadays: after the single seasons have been released, they come out with a complete set. This irritates some people who have bought the single season sets, but I'm not quite sure what fans expect.

• Cranford - Complete Miniseries (Blu-Ray)
• Death Note - Box Set, Vol. 2
• Exosquad - Season 1

The final season of the show that made USA famous for something other than playing non-stop reruns of Wings is turning into a reunion special. Or should I say a special reunion?

Bitty Schram, the actress who played Sharona, Adrian Monk's original partner in fighting crime on Monk, will return for an episode sometime during the show's eighth and final season.

This will mark her first appearance on the comedy-mystery since she mysteriously disappeared from the show halfway through the third season. It should also make for an interesting close to a series that has redefined the way the higher channels on the dial create and produce their own series.

Where are all the Coach fanatics? Let me hear it for my Becker obsessives! Who's got at least five syndicated repeats of Dharma and Greg in their DVR queue at all times? Anybody?

Cue the crickets.

Arthur Smith, a researcher with The Paley Center For Media, defines the aforementioned sitcoms as "middlin," or shows widely considered to be "forgettable ... programming [the] equivalent of end tables. They look fine in the room, but if they disappeared, you might not notice for a while."

Not that Coach or Becker or Dharma and Greg (or, for that matter, The King of Queens, Still Standing, or Yes, Dear) are necessarily awful shows. Granted, none of them could step foot in the shadow of the quality boasted by reruns of Arrested Development, The Office, or syndication staple Seinfeld, but obviously someone had to be watching them, right? ... Right?

You know that scene in the movie When Harry Met Sally, when Meg Ryan is in a New York deli and simulates having an orgasm? Then Estelle Reiner looks over and says to the waiter, "I'll have what she's having."?

Well, that's how a lot of actors in Hollywood must be feeling about actor Steven Weber -- "I'll have what he's having!" -- because he's been on a hot streak going from role to role to role, TV series to TV series. The latest is his landing a juicy part on Desperate Housewives.

The former Wings star will be playing Julie's lover, her college professor who's a serial monogamist, having been married three times. Susan, reportedly, is going to freak out about her daughter getting serious with a guy who's old enough to be her father.

This role is being slated for just one episode, so far, but you never know. He could turn out to be Susan's son-in-law down the road.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Every week I hope and pray that I don't have to spend a lot of money on DVDs - or anything else, really - and each week there's something new I need to have. This week there are three DVD sets I'm going to order. How about you?

• The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Animated Christmas Blast
• Alvin & The Chipmunks - Daytona Jones and The Pearls of Wisdom
• CSI: Miami - Season 6
• Casper - Spooktacular New Adventures: Vol. 2
• Grey's Anatomy - Season 4
• Gulliver's Travels - Miniseries
• A Haunting - Season 4 and Seasons 1-4 set
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Season 3
• Judge Judy - Second to None
• Kate & Allie - Season 5 (Canada only)
• Keeping Up Appearances - Life Lessons From Onslow and The Full Bouquet
• Medium - Season 4
• Riptide - Complete Series
• Smallville - Season 7
• The Spectacular Spider-Man - Attack of the Lizard
• The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries - Season 1
• To The Manor Born - Silver Wedding Anniversary and Complete Series
• Ugly Betty - Season 2
• Wings - Season 7

"Deedee Chappel. Get ready to unzip your pants!" - Lowell

That's one of my favorite lines in TV history, and I'm happy to say it was uttered in a show I had the pleasure of being an extra in many years ago, NBC's Wings. A great friend of mine, Suzanne, worked on the show and, since I was going out to Los Angeles for a vacation, she got me on the set as an extra. The episode was titled "If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother" and guest-starred Debbie Reynolds. It was filmed in October of 1994 and aired on November 22.

Shawn Spencer's family is growing. First, there's his mother, Madeline, coming to Santa Barbara for a visit, in the personage of Cybill Shepherd. And now comes news that another major television star is coming on board for a guest role. Steven Weber will be appearing in an episode of Psych as Shawn's Uncle Jack.

Jack is Henry's brother, although I don't see a big resemblance between Corbin Bernsen and Steven Weber. However, if the character is more like Shawn, that will give Weber a chance to play it wild and wacky. Maybe he'll be like his Brian Hackett incarnation on Wings.

According the TV Guide, this Psych episode sounds sort of like a Raiders of the Lost Ark/National Treasure adventure. Uncle Jack comes to town in search of a treasure. He has a map to a hidden Spanish cache of goodies and enlists Shawn and Gus in his search. Now you just know that James Roday will be pulling out a bullwhip and Fedora.

Weber, by the way, is expected back on Brothers and Sisters next season as Sarah's part-time lover. When the show wrapped, their romance was still humming.

Recently, the AOL list of the 50 Best Sitcoms of all time got me thinking about ten all time great sitcom sidekicks. Working on that list inspired me to look at the best in sitcom siblings -- ADULTS ONLY. The brother/sister relationship, brothers, sisters, family dynamics are great fodder for comedy. For my collection of the best, I've limited it to grown-up siblings only because there are some truly funny things that happen only among adults brothers and sisters that are unique and universal at the same time. After all, unlike the childhood years when kids are controlled by parents, adult siblings remain close and in each other's lives by choice -- and that has made for some wonderful situation comedy.

Niles & Frasier Crane, Frasier
Two brothers, both psychiatrists, both opera buffs, both wine connoisseurs, both heterosexual despite evidence to the contrary. The Crane brothers were like two peas in a very funny pod, sparking each other in comedy, competitive and supportive at the same time. Making their brotherly friendship even funnier was the fact that their Dad, Martin, who was nothing like either one of them. What's even funnier is the fact that when Frasier was originally spun-off from Cheers, the writers didn't include the character of Niles. It was only after seeing an 8x10 of David Hyde Pierce, and how much he looked like Kelsey Grammer's brother, that they put him in the pilot. Frasier would not have been nearly the hit comedy it was without the brother angle.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• Arrest & Trial - Best Of, Part 2
• Arthur - Season 10
• The Catherine Tate Show - Series 2
• Checkmate - Best Of Season 2
• Day Break - Complete Series
• Frisky Dingo - Season 1
• The Invisible Man - Season 1
• Kong: The Animated Series - Vol. 4
• Laredo - Best Of Season 1, Part 2
• Midsomer Murders - The Early Cases and Box Set Ten
• The Mike Douglas Show - Moments and Memories
• Noble House - Noble House
• Painkiller Jane - Complete Series
• Party of Five - Season 3
• The Price Is Right - Best Of
• The Shield - Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
• Sliders - Season 4
• Suburban Shootout - Season
• Tripping The Rift (Movie)
• Upright Citizen's Brigade - Asssscat
• Wings - Season 6

I need a little help this week...

"There was an episode of Wings where it was kind of an homage to Casablanca or Dragnet. This was a very funny episode but I don't know what season or episode. Two lines that may help you out. In the episode they all talk in a monotone voice. Joe (Tim Daly) says at one point "Why the hell am I talking like this". Also, someone says to Antonio, "You Scrapachi?" mispronouncing his last name. If you can help please do. Regards, Ian McCurdy"

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow. It's a complete series extravaganza!

• The Andy Williams Show - Best Of
• The Bob Hope Show - The Ultimate Collection
• The Captain and Tennille - TV Specials
• The Colbert Report - Best Of
• The Cosby Show - Season 5 and 6
• Doctor Who - Series 3, Story #123 and 124
• Flight of the Conchords - Season 1
• Full House - Complete Series and Season 8
• Gilligan's Island - Complete Series
• House of Venus - Season 1
• King of Queens - Complete Series
• Martin - Season 3
• McLeod's Daughters - Season 4
• The Munsters - Scary Little Christmas
• The Pink Panther Show - A Pink Christmas
• Project Runway - Season 3
• Seinfeld - Complete Series and Season 9
• Sesame Street - Old School Vol. 2
• The Tonight Show - Heeere's Johnny: The Definitive DVD Collection
• Wildfire - Season 2
• Wings - Season 5
• Wonder Woman - Complete Collection
• The X-Files - Complete Collection Edition

Steven Weber's a really good actor, and NBC must like him a lot. He's going to star in a new sitcom for the network called Zip.

The comedy is about a guy named Trip Stringer (only on TV can someone have a name like that) who is broke and lives in Beverly Hills and always tries to come up with get rich quick schemes with the help of friends. Hopefully this won't be another Knights of Prosperity.