Saturday Night Live is about to kick off its 34th season, and they're determined to do it with a bang. Doing a smart job of quickly pulling in America's biggest star of the summer, the show has announced that super-crazy Olympian god slash merman Michael Phelps will be hosting the premiere. It also looks like the musical guest will be Lil' Wayne, but who has time to care about that? Michael Phelps is swimming back to America and he's hosting!Michael Phelps to host SNL season premiere
Saturday Night Live is about to kick off its 34th season, and they're determined to do it with a bang. Doing a smart job of quickly pulling in America's biggest star of the summer, the show has announced that super-crazy Olympian god slash merman Michael Phelps will be hosting the premiere. It also looks like the musical guest will be Lil' Wayne, but who has time to care about that? Michael Phelps is swimming back to America and he's hosting!Talk Talk: Tiger Woods, Bill Maher, Governor Mike Huckabee
Here's who's on the late night talk shows tonight.- Charlie Rose: more coverage of the DNC
- The Daily Show: DNC coverage
- The Colbert Report: Governor Mike Huckabee
- The Late Show with David Letterman: Neil Patrick Harris, Kerri Walsh, Misty May-Treanor, and Nas
- Jay Leno: Bill Maher, Henry Cejudo, and Low vs. Diamond
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Don Cheadle, Emma Stone, and Antebellum
- Tavis Smiley: Governor Tim Kaine
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Tiger Woods, Vanessa Minnillo, and Jimmy Carr
- The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Billy Bob Thornton, Lewis Black, and The Boxmasters (repeat)
- Last Call with Carson Daly: Romany Malco and Sheryl Crow (repeat)
What's On Tonight: America's Got Talent, Mythbusters, Lewis Black
The news channels have the Democratic National Convention all night, with the main networks joining at 10.- At 7, USA has more coverage of The U.S. Open.
- At 8, CBS has a new Greatest American Dog.
- NBC has a new, two-hour America's Got Talent at 8.
- Bravo has a new Project Runway at 9, then a new Shear Genius.
- Discovery Channel has a new NextWorld at 8, followed by a new Mythbusters.
- At 9, Sundance Channel has a new Architecture School.
- At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, then two new episodes of Criss Angel Mindfreak.
- At 10, Food Network has a new Dinner: Impossible.
- At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Lewis Black's Root of All Evil.
- Also at 10:30: E! has a new Sunset Tan.
Check your local TV listings for more.
The Office to be made into a movie...but not the version you think
You read it correctly. The Office is headed to the big screen. Except that it's not the American version. Nor is it the original British version. The German version, called Stromberg, is getting the movie treatment.It will be an interesting experiment. If it is successful, I wonder if we'll see other franchises of The Office hit the big screen? Gervais and Merchant wrapped up the storylines of the British version quite nicely in the final special, so I don't see that version hitting the theaters (but since no story ever truly ends, I could be proven wrong).
The stars of the NBC version, however, are currently movie stars in their own right (Yes, I am counting The Rocker) and could possibly carry a movie version. However, at this stage a movie version would just interfere with the television version (much like Steven Moffat said about Doctor Who) so I don't see a movie of the U.S. version anytime soon.
Pushing Daisies star urges you not to meth up your life - VIDEO
Man, Intervention is a downer. Between the alcoholism, the anorexia and the 8-10 per-day dust can huffing habits, it is really hard to watch that show and maintain a positive outlook on life. Luckily, Kristin Chenoweth, Broadway diva and effervescent star of Pushing Daisies, has found a solution to all that nastiness: a peppy song about the dangers of crystal meth.
Chenoweth has teamed up with Funny or Die to create her own episode of Intervention. It still has distraught family members confronting an addict in a nondescript hotel room, but instead of a laundry list of ways that Bob, a musician and a meth addict, is ruining his and everyone else's life, there's a peppy song about "Tina," the poor man's cocaine, that includes warnings about "waking up in a pile of your own urine and doo-doo."
The video is after the jump.
Continue reading Pushing Daisies star urges you not to meth up your life - VIDEO
Ol' McMartha has a farm, ee-ay, ee-ay-oh!
Oh, boy, I can't wait! Finally, after all this time we're going to get to go behind the gates, into the exclusive, much-discussed but rarely filmed Martha Stewart estate. Actually, not the whole estate, but part of it. On her syndicated show, Martha Stewart's 153-acre Bedford, New York farm will be on display in the season ahead. When the show returns with new episodes on September 15, Ms. Martha will share all the fun stuff she grows and prunes and plants. You know what this means, don't you? Compost heap! Seriously, Martha believes in natural recycling.
There will also be her state-of-the-art greenhouses and her extensive flower and vegetable gardens. Over a hundred guests will join Martha on her tour of the farm.
TV Obits: MacKay, Cohen, Crane, Theobald
A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.- Jeff MacKay: He was a veteran character actor who you know as Mac from Magnum, P.I. and his role as Bud's father on JAG. He was also a regular on Tales of the Gold Monkey and Baa Baa Black Sheep and appeared on other shows such as Diagnosis: Murder, Outlaws, Airwolf, The Greatest American Hero, Hardcastle and McCormack, and the original Battlestar Galactica. He also appeared in such movies as All The President's Men and The Wild, Wild West Revisited. He died of liver failure at age 60.
The Daily Show: August 26, 2008 - VIDEOS
"Guess Who's Coming to Denver?": The Daily Show is back! They'll be in Denver for the whole Democratic National Convention, workin' their shiny new set. It's pretty much just Jon's "j" desk and a whole lot of big screens hanging in the back. The gang was in full form, and I believe this was the most I've laughed at the show in a while. Perhaps it only feels that way because the show has been gone for a week and a Monday. Thank goodness they returned, because I was starting to get the shakes.Rescue Me: Smoke (minisode finale)
(M10) Well, now - wasn't much going on there, huh? That isn't a negative comment though. Other than the 9/11 minisode featuring Jimmy, "Smoke" was probably my favorite one out of all ten. Just the 62 Truck boys doing what they do best - saving lives. No words were spoken (hence, the lack of a quote at the beginning of the post) as the guys rushed through one of the worst fires I think we've ever seen on Rescue Me. Tommy saved a young girl and Lou brought out a dog. Not bad.
Sunny's funny Season Four production blog launches
Can't get enough It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? The irreverent FX comedy is back September 18th (10/9 Central) for a fourth season of shenanigans unlike anything live action non-sketch television comedy has ever given us. Except for those other shows you are about to fill the comments with. If you're anxious for the show to start, and want more of Charlie, Mac, Frank, Dennis and Sweet Dee then have I got a treat for you.
Okay, well that's not fair. I really didn't have anything to do with it. But show writers Patrick Walsh and Sonny Lee aren't here to take credit for it, so we'll just say it's all me. That's right, come check out Paddy's Pub, the new production blog for the upcoming season of It's Always Sunny. It features cast interviews as well as excerpts from Dennis' erotic memoir and even an advice column written by Frank. Now there isn't much there right now, but it only launched August 26th. I mean seriously, what the hell do you people want from me ... I mean from staff writers Patrick Walsh and Sonny Lee.
Continue reading Sunny's funny Season Four production blog launches
Filming begins on the third (mini)season of Torchwood
On a regular basis, we get press releases sent to us here in the palatial penthouse suites of TV Squad. Most of them are your standard write-ups about a upcoming series or television event that can't be missed. Others, while they seem to print all of the necessary information, actually have an underlying subtext to them, arousing curiosity about what the networks and/or studios are not revealing.
Take the recent press release from BBC America that mentioned the beginning of filming on the newest series of Torchwood. The press release mentioned the subtitle of the series, Torchwood: Children of Earth, and that this newest series (actually, mini-series ... only five episodes) will focus on one single adventure that has the team battling for the future of the human race. The release also mentioned the return of John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper and Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto Jones.
Continue reading Filming begins on the third (mini)season of Torchwood
Sons of Anarchy -- an early look
You're going to hear a lot of things about FX's new motorcycle club drama Sons of Anarchy. It's different, it's edgy, and it covers a fairly taboo topic that, up to now, hasn't really been addressed in a TV drama.
However, strip away the leather jackets and exhaust fumes and you're looking at something we have seen before: Sons of Anarchy is The Sopranos on Harleys. You've got your powerful crime family, illegal gun smuggling, rival gangs, conspiracy, and for good measure? Drea de Matteo (of Sopranos fame) plays a crank addict. Trade the crank for blow and we've seen that before too.
Eureka: Show Me The Mummy
(S03E05) This week in Eureka wasn't quite what I expected. After the dramatics from "I Do Over" I assumed most of that would be swept to the side and we would be treated to one of the more comedic episodes. The fact that the episode was based on a mummy, and that goofy title, kind of hinted at that as well. It wasn't all yuks and Egyptian mysticism though. Weaved in with that weekly story we had the fallout from those major events from last week.
Will ESPN enter the late night talk show game?
This is an interesting notion -- ESPN is looking to launch a late night TV show. The sports network has reportedly approached three prominent sports journalists to anchor the show, but not one of them has shown any interest. The names are Dan LeBatard, Miami Herald columnist and local sports radio host; Colin Cowherd, ESPN national radio voice; and Jason Whitlock, Kansas City Star sports writer. While I believe that ESPN has real interest in a late night sports show -- maybe a talk format about sports and entertainment -- I have real questions about the validity of the names floated in this report, especially with regard to Whitlock.
Jason was once a regular fill-in on Pardon The Interruption. He is very smart and funny and opinionated. Apparently he was too opinionated for some at the Disney-owned network. When he refused to pull his punches in his criticism, he was dropped by ESPN. Are we to think that now ESPN has asked him to not only come back, but possibly host a show for them?
Continue reading Will ESPN enter the late night talk show game?
What to expect in season four of Prison Break
If you've watched FOX over the summer or read the upcoming season and episodes' official descriptions, you surely know of the big bombshell that will be revealed in the season premiere of Prison Break. It's clear that FOX wants its audience to know of that reveal before hand in order to lure some viewers back to the show and create a buzz around the show.If you don't know what I'm talking about and don't want to know about it, don't read beyond the spoilers warning. I suggest you also stop watching FOX until September 1 at 8 p.m. and that you stay clear from anything Prison Break related. Because, as I've said before, it's clear the network wants you to know and they are not hiding that reveal at all.
Beware: spoilers ahead!
Continue reading What to expect in season four of Prison Break
