All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– I was skeptical about Scrubs returning next season with most of the cast MIA, but the show’s radical makeover, which will shift much of the action from the hospital to the classroom as Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) and Turk (Donald Faison) become medical school professors, will finally give the oh-so-Emmy-worthy McGinley a chance to get the leading man props he deserves.

– All these guessing games, but really, what else could the big Jon & Kate Plus 8 announcement be on tonight’s episode (9PM ET, TLC)? It’s gotta be a separation/divorce confirmation of some sort, doncha think?

– Here’s a story I hope is just conjecture: Legendary TV news man Walter Cronkite is reportedly “terribly ill.”

– Dancing with the Stars pro Julianne Hough will star opposite People mag’s Hottest Bachelor, Gossip Girl star Chace Crawford, in the upcoming Footloose remake, though rumor has it that producers are hoping she’ll improve her acting skills before filming begins.

– In addition to the cast of Seinfeld, Meg Ryan will also guest star on the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

– Ryan Seacrest confirms via Twitter that he is talking to Lindsay Lohan about starring in a reality show he would produce. Seems like her best option for making some cash these days, as her personal life and professional reputation seems to continue on the downward spiral.

– Simon Cowell has ‘fessed up to making some mistakes as a judge and producer in a lengthy mea culpa published in the British newspaper The Mail on Sunday.

– The West Wing‘s Bradley Whitford and Malcolm in the Middle and Raising the Bar‘s Jane Kaczmarek: one of the most surprising celeb divorces in a long time.

– And free wireless Internet access in New York City is just one of Sci Fi’s promos for its campaign to rebrand itself as the Syfy network.

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• Filed in TV News
• Tags: Bradley Whitford, Chace Crawford, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Donald Faison, Footloose, Jane Kaczmarek, John C. McGinley, Jon & Kate Plus 8 divorce, Julianne Hough, Lindsay Lohan reality show, Meg Ryan, Ryan Seacrest, Scrubs, Simon Cowell, Syfy, Walter Cronkite

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– New York magazine’s Vulture blog says Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins may be canceled. VH1 says: it ain’t so.

– The Adam Lambert Rolling Stone cover hits newsstands this week, and yes, he confirms it.

– Liam Neeson as Hannibal, Bradley Cooper as Faceman? Bring on The A-Team movie!

– David Letterman is probably sticking around CBS beyond the 2009-2010 season.

– Rachael Ray will be yakking about EVOO for a few more seasons.

– And My Name Is Earl might not be done just yet, either. TBS may greenlight 13 new episodes.

– Jimmy Fallon‘s Webby acceptance speech: “Thank God Conan got promoted.” Clever.

– And you’ve got to hand it to Fallon and crew for getting Mark-Paul Gosselaar to don his Zack Morris duds. With that crazy ’90s cell phone, even!

– Who’s the adorkable kid in this photo? Ryan Seacrest. No, really.

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• Filed in Boob Tube to Big Screen, TV News
• Tags: A-Team movie, Adam Lambert, American Idol, Best Week Ever, Bradley Cooper, David Letterman, EVOO, Jimmy Fallon, Liam Neeson, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, My Name Is Earl, Paul F. Tompkins, Rachael Ray, Rolling Stone, Ryan Seacrest, Saved by the Bell, The A-Team, VH1, Zack Morris

… or was he really surprised, and ticked off, when he got butt-faced (and junk-faced?) by Bruno (Sacha Baron Cohen) at last night’s MTV Movie Awards?

The rapper looked surprised, and angry, and Ryan Seacrest Tweeted last night that he had been told Eminem was definitely not privvy to the bit and immediately hightailed it out of the show with his bodyguards.

But check out the clip of the incident below. Sure, Slim Shady looks ticked off, but his bodyguards didn’t immediately react. Bruno actualy landed, butt-first, in Eminem’s face, but the bodyguards just sat there until Eminem, rather colorfully, requested that he be removed … so either he was in on the joke, or he might need to rethink his security detail and their reaction times.

Either way, funny stuff.

Or did you find the whole bit crude (and, given Eminem’s beef with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, and Howard Stern‘s butt-baring entrance as Fartman at the ’92 VMAs, totally unoriginal)?

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• Filed in Comedy, TV News, Ya Gotta See This!
• Tags: Bruno, butt, butt in face, Celebrity feud, Eminem, Fartman, Feud, Howard Stern, MTV, MTV Movie Awards, Ryan Seacrest, Sacha Baron Cohen, Triumph, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Twitter

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Did Joan Rivers really deserve to be named Celebrity Apprentice instead of Annie Duke, who raised three times as much cash for her charity? Cast your vote at AOL TV. I think Annie should have won, though Rivers’ dedication to and affection for her charity, God’s Love We Deliver, was touching.

– Chef Jamie Oliver and Ryan Seacrest are teaming for an ABC reality series in which they’ll give the citizens of America’s unhealthiest towns nutrition and exercise makeovers. Hmmm … Maybe Seacrest isn’t aspiring to be the next Dick Clark; he’s trying to be the Dude Oprah.

– The ratings for Dollhouse‘s season finale suggests the Joss Whedon series probably won’t return to Fox next season.

– Tonight’s episode of Gossip Girl sets up what could be a spin-off series, following the life of young Lily, Serena’s wild child mama.

– More spin-off news: G4 is doing its own take on E!’s The Soup, called Web Soup, a weekly round-up of the best of/worst of viral videos.

– Loooooove 30 Rock and Tina Fey, but have to call BS on the story that last Thursday’s Mamma Mia mentions didn’t amount to a plug. It was a very, very clever tie-in, but both the show and the movie are NBC Universal properties … coincidence? I think not.

– Jon Stewart‘s producing a special on the U.S. naturalization process for the History Channel.

– Alex and Hugh are back for the third season of Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel (May 31), and they’ll be joined by the first female driver to be a full-time driver on the show.

– What a great idea: Editing Lost into a “dummies” version that would have events unfold chronologically.

– Al Bundy’s back to be a TV papa again. Ed O’Neill (a fellow alum of Ohio University – go Bobcats!) will play a dad in ABC’s fall 2009 mockumentary-ish sitcom Modern Family.

– And Chuck star Yvonne Strahovksi is certainly keeping busy while she awaits news on whether or not the show will get a third season go from NBC.

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• Filed in 30 Rock, Celebreality, Chuck, Comedy, Drama, Lost, Reality, TV News
• Tags: 30 Rock, Annie Duke, Celebrity Apprentice, Chuck, Dollhouse, Ed O'Neill, Gossip Girl, Ice Road Truckers, Jamie Oliver, Joan Rivers, Jon Stewart, Joss Whedon, Lost, Mamma Mia, Oprah, Ryan Seacrest, The Soup, Tina Fey, Yvonne Strahovski