If you’re still looking for a great Mother’s Day gift and you’re tired of giving the same old Godiva/flowers/random book/random DVD/gift card presents, here’s a quick guide to some great alternatives (several TV-related, of course), including crafty goodies, retro sweet treats, the best mother-daughter TV show ever and the funniest Jack Bauer and reality TV-lovin’ author alive …

Stencil a Cake?

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Sorta ... it's like electronic stenciling a cake. You may have seen the regular Cricut on those ubiquitous infomercials. It's the cool crafter's machine that cuts shapes, letters, borders, numbers and pretty much anything else you'd want to cut out, from paper, cardstock and pretty much any other material you can get the Cricut blades to cut through. Now, the company has launched a Cricut Cake, which cuts through gum paste (as well as modeling chocolate, soft candy, cookie dough, etc.) to create cool designs you can use to decorate cakes, cupcakes, cookies and other fancy treats. Cool, right? The Cricut Cake. http://www.cricut.com/cricutcake/

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• Filed in Real Housewives, TV Books, TV Toys, TV on DVD, Ya Gotta See This!
• Tags: Gilmore Girls, Jack Bauer, Jen Lancaster, Mother's Day gift ideas, Real Housewives

Yes, yes, it’s silly, but I still sorta want this to be a real thing …

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• Filed in Seinfeld, TV Toys, Ya Gotta See This!
• Tags: Seinfeld, Seinfeld Rock Band

Okay, so it doesn’t really bear a strong resemblance to Claire from Lost (Emilie de Ravin), but this Claire tchotchke – a San Diego Comic Con exclusive that can be pre-ordered from
EntertainmentEarth.com – is still one of the most clever TV character bobbleheads ever.

When the long-MIA Ms. Littleton rejoined the Gilligans on the island this season, it’s fair to say that she had gone a bit “squirrely” … and not just because of her squirrel baby. There’s also her nutty relationship with Locke, or rather, the Locke-ness monster, and the wild look in her eye when she was in the tent with Jin.

So the depiction of her looking kooky, packing her gun and holding the little bundle of squirreliness = awesome.

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• Filed in Lost, TV Toys
• Tags: Lost bobblehead, Lost Claire, Lost Claire squirrel

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

- Drama series haven’t fared well for him, but maybe Christian Slater will have better luck with his big-screen-to-TV ambitions as the star of Fox’s untitled fall comedy pilot about a team of security-cracking twentysomethings.

- Fox invited Conan O’Brien to take part in the Idol Gives Back charity special that airs April 21 on Fox, but NBC refused to give O’Brien a pass to make the non-NBC appearance. Lame. Still, the invitation suggests Fox is trying to build a relationship with the star of its potential new late-night franchise.

- BTW, for a shot at winning tix to one of O’Brien’s sold out comedy tour shows, hit Twitter.

- Great idea: Comedian and Parks and Recreation co-star Aziz Ansari will host the MTV Movie Awards on June 6.

- No need to wait for the next Curb Your Enthusiasm DVD release to get bonus features: Larry David is producing a series of featurettes that will include guest stars and pundits dissecting the moral implications of each episode of Curb when the show begins airing on the TV Guide Network this summer (June 2, to be exact).

- EW.com has details on a casting notice that makes it seem like this will be the final season of 24.

- Yay: Days of Our Lives has been renewed through the 2010-11 season. But the bad news: rumor has it that long-time DOOL star, and half of the Bo and Hope supercouple, Peter Reckell, has been let go from the soap.

- Starz, led by former HBO honcho Chris Albrecht, is forging ahead with plans to become a real destination for original programming with the development of a new drama that will put a modern spin on the story of Camelot (the Arthurian legend, not the JFK one).

- If your NCAA hoops bracket isn’t going so well, check out The Late Show’s Stupid Pet Tricks bracket/competition (and enter for a chance to win a trip to New York City and see David Letterman’s show live).

- Rosie O’Donnell is planning to launch a new daytime TV talk show in 2011, just as Oprah’s daily show ends. Rosie’s gotten wackier and wackier since her days on The View, and her old daily talk show, so it’ll be interesting to see if she can still draw a big audience to TV every day.

- Glee, on Broadway? Makes perfect sense to me.

- Betty White is coming back to primetime full-time, and, more good news, about another classic TV star: Tom Selleck is in final negotiations to lead CBS’ fall cop drama pilot, in which he would star as the chief of the NYPD, and Donnie Wahlberg would play his son, an NYPD detective. Awesome.

- And My Name Is Earl dad Beau Bridges will be Jim Rockford’s (Dermot Mulroney) dad on CBS’ Rockford Files remake.

- Among the stars of Bravo’s upcoming The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills spin-off: Kelsey Grammer’s wife Camille and two of Paris Hilton’s aunts, including Escape to Witch Mountain star (and guest star of a memorable Little House on the Prairie episode) Kim Richards.

- The last time Oprah went on trial, the end result was that Dr. Phil was unleashed on the world. Let’s hope things turn out better this time.

- Among the new shows SyFy announced at the network’s upfront presentation last week: a cooking show, a magic show and a reality series about special effects make-up artists.

- What every Jersey Shore fan needs on his or her desk: A talking bobblehead version of Snooki, The Situation or DJ Pauly D.

- Paula Abdul has officially turned down the offer to host an ABC revamp of Star Search, making it seem even more likely that she’s holding out for a spot on Simon Cowell’s U.S. version of X Factory.

- And, at last, someone else who feels the way I do about The Middle. I like Modern Family a lot, but I love The Middle.

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• Filed in 24, Daytime TV, Real Housewives, TV News, TV Toys
• Tags: Aziz Ansari MTV Movie Awards, Christian Slater Fox comedy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Days of Our Lives renewed, Jersey Shore bobblehead, Peter Reckell, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Tom Selleck

Didja hear about the Mad Men Barbies? To coincide with the Emmy-winning AMC series’ fourth season premiere in July, Mattel is releasing a set of Mad Men-themed dolls, featuring Barbie dolls in the likenesses of Don Draper (Jon Hamm), Betty Draper (January Jones), Roger Sterling (John Slattery) and Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks). The dolls will cost $74.95 each, and no, they won’t come with accessories like cigarettes and tiny glasses of vodka for those 10AM meetings with Ken, Barbie and Skipper.

The Mad Men dolls are the latest in Barbie’s pop culture line, which also includes dolls that pay homage to Heidi Klum, Cyndi Lauper, Charlie’s Angels, Elvis in Jailhouse Rock, the Twilight gang, Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland, Star Trek, I Love Lucy, Goldie Hawn from Laugh-In, Diahann Carroll as Julia, Barbra Streisand, and my fave, the Carol Burnett Barbie, which honors one of her most famous Carol Burnett Show sketches, the “Went With the Wind” skit in which her Scarlett makes a dress out of curtains (and leaves the curtain rod in!).

A few suggestions for other TV dolls Mattel might consider adding to the collection:

- Lost – I personally want a Hurley doll, because he remains the coolest of the island castaways, but show fans could create their own love triangle with Barbie versions of Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Optional accessories: Dharma-brand chocolate bars, a hatch to replace the Barbie Dream House and an Oceanic Airlines plane (which can be split in half, of course).

- 24 – This Jack Bauer doll would come with an audio chip, allowing Jack to utter phrases like “Damnit!” “Chloe, I need the location now!” and “I’m gonna need a hacksaw.” Jack would come with his magic Jack bag, filled with cell phone, laptop and CTU badge, while Tony Almeida, David Palmer, Chloe O’Brian and Kim Bauer dolls would also round out the set, and yes, the Kim doll would come with a plastic mountain lion.

- American Idol – Actually, only a Simon Cowell doll. He’ll come with a week’s worth of black Armani t-shirts and the ability to roll his eyes at the other dolls.

- Big Love – Let’s have Barbie versions of Bill Henrickson and his three wives. But warning to the other female dolls in your collection: Now that Bill’s gone public with his polygamy, he could be looking to add to his brood. Run, Barbies, run!

- Classic female TV stars – Nothing snarky here. Mattel has Barbie versions of Lucy and her chocolate factory adventure, Goldie Hawn on Laugh-In and Carol Burnett and the curtain dress, but where’s the Mary Tyler Moore doll, with the little beret she tosses up in the air? And the Betty White doll, both Mary Tyler Moore Show and Golden Girls versions? Tina Fey as Liz Lemon and from her Saturday Night Live news co-anchor stint … Bea Arthur, Golden Girls and Maude versions … Roseanne as Roseanne? What other TV or pop culture stars would you like to see immortalized in the Barbie universe?

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• Filed in TV News, TV Toys
• Tags: Jon Hamm Barbie, Mad Men, Mad Men Barbies, Mad Men season 4 premiere