All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Microsoft has pulled the plug on its planned sponsorship of the Nov. 8 Family Guy variety special, saying “it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand.” As Hollywood Wiretap points out, it’s almost like Microsoft execs had never seen an ep of the show, since the variety special’s topics – including jokes about the Holocaust, deaf people and incest – are actually fairly tame by most Family Guy episode standards.

– Top this, Oscar people! Ricky Gervais is hosting the Golden Globes on Jan. 17.

– Gotta love the cleverness of this clip from ABC’s Castle, in which Nathan Fillion‘s Richard Castle pays homage to Fillion’s Captain Malcolm Reynolds role in Firefly by donning a space cowboy costume for Halloween.

– George Clooney is producing a new TNT drama about a cop who moonlights as an Elvis impersonator. Sons of Anarchy fans will note similarities to Bobby Elvis, the biker/accountant who moonlights as an Elvis impersonator.

– TV director Linda Day, one of the few female directors who worked regularly in TV in the 1980s according to The Hollywood Reporter, died on Oct. 23. The 71-year-old TV vet had helmed episodes of shows like Married … With Children, Archie Bunker’s Place, Kate & Allie, Mad About You, Clueless, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Who’s the Boss?

– Blue Collar Comedy Tour funny guy Ron White will produce and provide voicework for a new Comedy Central animated comedy called Hounds, which will revolve around a character named Chicken, “a countrified Yoda with a bottle of Jack and a bag of weed, an opinionated Southern philosopher who considers himself the center of the universe.”

– Ernie Hudson will pop up on Law & Order as the new boyfriend of S. Epatha Merkerson‘s Lt. Van Buren.

– Seen that DirecTV ad with David Spade “interacting” with dead pal Chris Farley in a scene from Tommy Boy? Are you creeped out by it, too? I’m also really surprised that Spade would sign on to do it. He was not only Farley’s co-star, but also one of his closest friends, and it just seems like an awfully insensitive, exploitative move by someone in that position. Maybe Spade thought it was something fans of the movie and Farley would find endearing?

– Perez Hilton says Saturday Night Live producers are trying to arrange a Kanye West appearance for the show Taylor Swift is hosting on Nov. 7. Swift is also the musical guest on the episode, which, presumably, would poke fun at the Swift/West MTV Awards brouhaha.

– And tonight’s must-see-TV: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (8PM ET, ABC), one of the three best Peanuts specials (along with the Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes, of course); Derek Jeter guest starring on The Biggest Loser (8PM, NBC); the star-studded Scream Awards on Spike (10PM); and an episode of Sons of Anarchy (FX, 10PM) that will leave Jax in an interesting position in his battles with Clay, after a decision by Jax costs someone close to SAMCRO very dearly.