All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– I’m bummed that The A-Team movie finished a distant second to The Karate Kid remake at the movie box office last weekend. The A-Team is such a fun flick, easily one of the best TV-to-movie makeovers in a long time, and with an opening sequence that is more action-packed and entertaining than the entire runtime of most movies. If you were a fan of the TV show, check it out. Even if you weren’t, it holds up as a good summer popcorn movie. Everyone in it is fantastic (even Jessica Biel!), though District 9 star Sharlto Copley steals the whole movie as H.M. Murdock.

– It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fans who actually live in Philly, prepare to stalk The Gang. Kidding, but the cast will be in town to shoot scenes for the upcoming sixth season next week, and will hang out to help co-stars (and soon-to-be new parents) Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson open a new bar they’re investing in.

– Awesome: Ricky Gervais will guest star on the upcoming eighth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

– Does the winner of America’s Got Talent really get $1 million prize? Yes, but it’s doled out over the course of 40 (!) years, and that’s not the only fine print in reality TV prize contracts, as The Daily Beast details in an interesting new feature.

– This seems like a casting coup: Ed Asner has signed on to play Tom Arnold‘s grumpy dad in the CMT comedy pilot Regular Joe.

– More TV daddy news: Brian Cox will play Laura Linney‘s father in the upcoming Showtime dramedy The Big C, which also co-stars Precious Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe and The Wire star Idris Elba.

– And one more bit of fun casting news: 7th Heaven papa Stephen Collins will be back in primetime next season, as a series regular on the Michael Chiklis superhero family drama No Ordinary Family. The former Rev. Eric Camden will play the boss of Chiklis’ character’s wife, played by Dexter‘s Julie Benz.

– Oh, and speaking of Dexter …The death of Benz’ Rita will necessitate the hiring of a nanny by Dexter, and that nanny will be played by The Tudors alum Maria Doyle Kennedy. Also joining the Dexter gang for season five: Southland star Shawn Hatosy.

– What’s the most-watched TV series in the world? Make a guess and then click here to see if you were right.

– Wanna bid on a weekend with the stars of History Channel’s addictive Pawn Stars, uh, stars? Check out the eBay charity auction, which opens tonight at 10PM ET, for a shot at a weekend in Vegas, which includes accommodations at the Palms, dinner with the Harrison clan and Chumlee at the Palms, playing in a poker tournament with the show’s stars and an internship at the Gold and Silver Pan Shop.

– MTV is giving up on VJs … now the network is looking for a “TJ,” a Twitter jockey, to bridge the network’s TV presence with its social media presence.

– And, when the Real Housewives women started singing, you knew this wouldn’t be far behind: The Situation has recorded a rap song.

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• Filed in Boob Tube to Big Screen, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Reality, TV News
• Tags: The A-Team movie

Tom Cruise‘s exaggerated (sorta … kinda … ok, not really all that much) spoof of a Hollywood movie exec, Les Grossman, the one he debuted in Tropic Thunder and then stole last week’s MTV Movie Awards with? Immediately after the MTV show, rumors began swirling that Cruise, Ben Stiller and Paramount were hatching a Les Grossman movie, and now, via a pretty funny Paramount press release, it is officially in the works.

Here’s the text from the just-released, uh, release, in which the studio announces the project as if Grossman is a real person (again, he’s actually not so far off a few guys) and as if Tom Cruise is “said to be in talks to portray Grossman in the film”:

Paramount Announces “UNTITLED Les Grossman Project”
After Landmark 2010 MTV Movie Awards
HOLLYWOOD, CA (June 9, 2010) – Paramount Pictures and MTV Films announced today that they are set to develop a movie around mega-producer Les Grossman. The announcement comes on the heels of Grossman’s groundbreaking and visionary production of the soon-to-be Emmy® award-winning 2010 MTV Movie Awards Sunday night. Tom Cruise, along with Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld of Red Hour Films will produce and have secured the life rights to Grossman.

Grossman, best known as a mega producer, has most recently mentored talents such as Rob Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. In 2008, Grossman was introduced to the masses by Stiller in the comedy “Tropic Thunder” where the famed producer had a cameo playing himself.

Said Ben Stiller: “Les Grossman’s life story is an inspiring tale of the classic human struggle to achieve greatness against all odds. He has assured me he plans to quote, ‘F**king kill the sh*t out of this movie and make Citizen f**king Kane look like a piece of crap home movie by the time we are done.’ I am honored to be working with him.”

When asked what the screenplay was about Grossman responded: “To quote my great friend Kirk Lazarus, ‘I don’t read the script, the script reads me.’”

Adam Goodman, Paramount Film Group President said, “Everything I learned in this business, I’ve learned from Les. I started out as his assistant, and from the first day he threw his desk at me when I got his lunch order wrong, I have loved him like a father. I am forever grateful to Ben and Stuart Cornfeld and their ability to secure his highly-coveted life rights.”

Tom Cruise is said to be in talks to portray Grossman in the film.

Michael Bacall (“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”) will write the script. He is repped by WME.

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• Filed in Boob Tube to Big Screen
• Tags: Tom Cruise Les Grossman, Tom Cruise MTV Movie Awards

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Royal Pains and Burn Notice return tonight on USA Network.

– Curb Your Enthusiasm has begun airing on the TV Guide Network (10PM ET), and even if you’ve already seen them all, or own the DVDs, these encore airings are worth checking out again, because each episode will be followed by a mini-discussion by celebs, comedians and “ethicists,” who will dissect Larry’s bad behavior from the episode, with Curb co-star Susie Essman moderating.

– If you want to pretend that that whole “sideways” aspect of Lost never happened, check out this fan’s videos, with the alt-world stuff edited out.

– Is Homer Simpson really the greatest TV and film character of the last 20 years? I’d actually rank Cosmo Kramer higher, and maybe Tony Soprano, too. And Jack Bauer at 44?! No way … should be in the top 20 (or top 10), at least.

– HBO’s upcoming comedy based on Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke keeps adding to its already fantastic cast, with Sanaa Lathan and Jason Patric the latest addition to a lineup that includes Diane Keaton, Ellen Page, Wes Bentley and Leland Orser.

– Can’t wait to the see the big-screen Smurfs movie … here’s a sneak peek of Hank Azaria in action as the evil Gargamel.

– Coco sidekick Andy Richter is going to be the host of a Pyramid revamp.

– Green Day and Glee cast members will be among the performers of the Sean Hayes-hosted Tony Awards telecast on June 13.

– The next season of VH1’s Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew is on hold, because producers can’t get enough celebs to sign on for the show. Not that there is a lack of celebs who need rehab, of course, but at least some of them are apparently still able to see that airing their dirty laundry on reality TV isn’t the healthiest way to get better.

– Upcoming third season of True Blood: expect lots of werewolves.

– This year’s Spike Awards (which air June 20 on the network) has a better lineup of talent than the Oscars. Among those who’ll pop in for the dude-centric awards show: George Clooney, the cast of The Hangover, Kiefer Sutherland, Robert De Niro, James Gandolfini, LeBron James, Ben Affleck, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Rock, Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron, Sylvester Stallone, Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Liotta, Ozzy Osbourne, Liam Neeson, Adrien Brody and Shaun White.

– With all the self-help-y reality shows on the air, it’s hard to believe it’s taken this long for Tony Robbins to star in one, but it’s finally happening on July 27, as the life coach hosts Breakthrough with Tony Robbins on NBC.

– Is House on the way out?

– And Bret Michaels as an American Idol judge? Great idea! And yes, he does have experience: He was already a judge on Nashville Star.

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• Filed in American Idol, Award shows, Boob Tube to Big Screen, TV News
• Tags: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Homer Simpson, Smurfs movie

Thanks to Warner Bros., you can check out the red carpet premiere of Sex and the City 2, the latest boob tube-to-big screen flick, at 6PM ET on Monday, live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Just click back to TVScreener.com at 6PM today and Sarah Jessica Parker and her NYC (and desert)-loving pals will be walking the red carpet …

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• Filed in Boob Tube to Big Screen, Ya Gotta See This!

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– The Daytime Emmy nominations were announced this morning, and the nominees for Outstanding Drama Series: All My Children, The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital and The Young and the Restless.

– PBS will air a four-hour sequel to documentarian Ken Burns‘ classic Baseball series. The Tenth Inning, which will cover the last decade and a half of action in Major League Baseball, will premiere on Sept. 28 and 29.

– Still trying to wrap my head around last night’s Lost and all the questions it answered/new ones it raised. The finale, of course, is just a little more than a week away, and if that’s already making you nostalgic about the show, check out the upcoming Lost props auction, where goodies like Dharma food, Charlie’s Drive Shaft ring, Kate’s toy airplane, Hurley’s passport and winning lottery ticket, and, what I think is the coolest of all, Jin’s wedding ring, which was a pivotal part of last week’s heartbreaking episode.

– About NBC’s fall 2010 schedule: It’s looking good for Chuck, not so good for Heroes, and kinda iffy for the remake of The Rockford Files that TVScreener.com readers really wanted Joe Flanigan to be a part of.

– Comedy Central has pulled the plug on The Sarah Silverman Program.

– Lifetime is spinning off Army Wives. The new show will revolve around Brigid Brannagh‘s Pamela, as she divorced hubby Chase and rejoins the police force in Charleston, South Carolina.

– USA has an awesome line-up of returns planned for the summer: Psych‘s fifth season kicks off on July 21 (10PM ET) and will include guest stars like Jean Smart and John Michael Higgins; 24‘s Mary Lynn Rajskub is guest-starring on the June 10 episode of Royal Pains (which returns on June 3 for its second season, which will also include Henry “The Fonz” Winkler); and Burt Reynolds will play a, ahem, veteran, spy guy on an episode of Burn Notice, which premieres its fourth season on June 3.

– MTV has picked up the pilot for a remake of the British teen drama Skins.

– Now that Betty White has wowed everyone on Saturday Night Live, is she headed to WWE’s Raw? Or Dancing with the Stars?! Or the Oscars?

– Speaking of SNL, Alec Baldwin hosts the season finale this week, but fans have already started campaigns to lobby for hosts for next season (the show’s 36th!), including Carol Burnett, Glee star Jane Lynch and White’s fellow Golden Girl Rue McClanahan. Can’t go wrong with any of them, no?

– And one more SNL bit: The Daily Beast has a great interview with producer Lorne Michaels, who dishes about the Betty White episode, the upcoming MacGruber movie and the big Conan/Leno/NBC mess.

– With American Idol ratings steadily heading downward and Simon Cowell‘s American version of X Factor coming soon (not to mention America’s Got Talent), it would seem that another singing competition series is the last thing TV land needs. Yet uber-producer Mark Burnett is shopping one, called One in a Million.

– And the next big screen-to-boob tube makeover: A TV series version of the Tom Cruise flick The Firm.

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• Filed in Betty White, Boob Tube to Big Screen, Saturday Night Live, TV News
• Tags: Daytime Emmy nominations, Ken Burns baseball, Psych season 5