All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Everybody Loves Raymond star Brad Garrett‘s upcoming animated comedy certainly sounds funnier than his painfully unfunny ‘Til Death: Garrett is developing and will voice a character in Dumb Bunny and Jackass, an R-rated (i.e. it’ll most likely end up on cable) ‘toon about two famous cartoon characters and their lives after they’re no longer on the animated A-list.

– Kathy Griffin will steer the jokes on the Comedy Central Roast-ing of Joan Rivers, which tapes in Los Angeles on July 26 and will air on the network on Aug. 9.

– Jay Leno‘s big plan for his new primetime show: Driving onto the stage in selections from his famous car collection, an attempt to try to corner the ad market with the auto industry.

– Rita Wilson, Mrs. Tom Hanks, is producing HBO’s series adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides‘ Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Middlesex, about the complicated history of Calliope, an intersexed person who was raised as a female, but later lives as Cal, a man.

– The Sci Fi Channel officially becomes SyFy today, and not everyone is happy about it. Fans will probably dig the network’s new dramedy series Warehouse 13, though.

– Don’t expect Lost: The Movie after Lost the series ends next year, say Lost producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. But they do promise lots of answers to the lots of questions they’ve raised on the show throughout its run.

– Meanwhile, rumor has it that there may be a Doctor Who movie.

– Which classic music series is coming to DVD? Hint: Unscramble these letters from the Soul Train Scramble Board to find out: OLUS RTNAI.

– Zap2It is asking viewers to vote on the greatest TV characters in categories like Best Dad, Best Boss and Best Co-Worker, while future weeks will include voting on categories like Best College Student (Felicity, duh), Best Therapist (Bob Hartley, of course) and Best Psychic/Medium – Real or Fake (Shawn Spencer).

– Alec Baldwin for Congress? Every time I hear about a celebrity who’s mulling a political career and want to laugh it off as “that could never happen,” I just visit this Website.

And tonight in primetime:

– ABC Family’s terrific new dramedy 10 Things I Hate About You, an adaptation of the 1999 movie of the same name, premieres (8PM ET)
– MyNetworkTV celebrates real-life heroes on The Hero Awards (8PM)
– Seven families get all Chevy Chase as they take a vacation across the country (and compete against each other for prizes) on NBC’s The Great American Road Trip (8PM)
– TV Land has an 11-episode Roseanne marathon (8PM)
– SyFy’s Warehouse 13 premieres (9PM)
– On NYC Prep (9PM, Bravo), the kids head off to winter break vacays, where PC acts like a butthat in Mexico and Jessie obsesses about him in Florida
– In a hilarious Rescue Me (10PM, FX), Tommy’s good deed turns into a misdeed when a sick kid hijacks a fire truck.

• No Comments
• Filed in TV News
• Tags: Alec Baldwin congress, Brad Garrett, Doctor Who movie, Dumb Bunny and Jackass, greatest TV characters, Joan Rivers Roast, Kathy Griffin, Lost series finale, Middlesex HBO, Soul Train, Syfy, Warehouse 13

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

-Just not a good month for TV celebs: On the heels of the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, MTV video legend Michael Jackson and pitchman Billy Mays, The Gale Storm Show and My Little Margie star Gale Storm – one of TV’s first big stars – died on Saturday at age 87, while comedian, celeb impersonator and frequent late-night TV guest Fred Travalena died Sunday at age 66 after a battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

– The B-Side Blog has a sneak peek at the new Big Brother house, where the latest round of reality TV hamsters will move in on July 9.

– For TV fans, this is the year to attend Comic-Con in San Diego. The TV-heavy line-up includes panels with the casts of Lost, 24, Chuck, Bones, Burn Notice, Glee, MythBusters, The Cleveland Show, Futurama, Heroes and upcoming series V, Flash Forward and Human Target.

– No good Oprah deed goes unpunished? May be, as her gifts to her staff – a fancy luxury cruise – is reportedly going to cost each of them $1,000 in taxes.

– As the Sept. 18 series finale of long-running daytime soap Guiding Light grows sadly closer, 60 Minutes is planning a special Sept. segment that includes interviews with cast, while the Daytime Emmy telecast on Aug. 30 will also include a special tribute. Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter‘s Roger Friedman claims the show’s sponsor, Procter & Gamble, is purposely trying to turn fans against the show because the company wants out of the soap biz.

– Casting news: Reaper star Missy Peregrym has signed on to star in ABC’s Canadian cop drama Copper, while Desperate Housewives guest star T.J. Ramini – he played Gabby’s trainer, Yaniv – will be a recurring star on season eight of 24, where he’ll play Tarin, a cohort of the Middle Eastern leader who’ll be played by Anil Kapoor.

– And tonight in primetime:

– The premiere of Oxygen’s Dance Your Ass Off (10PM ET), a Biggest Loser-meets-Dancing with the Stars/So You Think You Can Dance-ish reality competition
– Brenda and Fritz clash when they work together on a missing person/murder case on a new ep of The Closer (9PM, TNT)
– New York will apparently be unemployed after the season finale of New York Goes to Work (10PM, VH1)
– Zoey wigs when she loses her first patient on Nurse Jackie (10:30PM, Showtime)
– Celia’s baaaa-ack – and living in Nancy’s garage, while Agent Roy Till also pops back into Nancy’s life on a new Weeds (10PM, Showtime)
– Buddy bakes a cake and plans to stash live birds inside of it on Cake Boss (10PM, TLC)
– Kathy Griffin hangs with Paris Hilton (is getting off the D-list really worth that?) on My Life on the D-List (10PM, Bravo)
– Guy Fieri hits the road for pumpkin-oatmeal pancakes and bacon-wrapped meatloaf on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (10PM, Food Network)
– And it’s down to five on The Bachelorette (8PM, ABC)

• 3 Comments
• Filed in 24, Reality, TV News
• Tags: 24, Big Brother, Big Brother house, Cake Boss, Comic Con TV, Dance Your Ass Off, Desperate Housewives, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Fred Travalena, Gale Storm, Guiding Light, Guiding Light finale, Guy Fieri, Kathy Griffin, Missy Peregrym, My Life on the D-List, New York Goes to Work, Nurse Jackie, Oprah, Paris Hilton, The Bachelorette, The Closer, Weeds

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– IGN.com’s counting down the “25 Funniest Will Ferrell Characters.” It’s a great list (when Roger Klarvin, Ferrell’s character in the funny “luv-ahs” skits on Saturday Night Live, only merits a spot at number 20, you know there are some great ones coming up). This is a big week for Ferrell – not only does the big-screen makeover of Land of the Lost open on Friday, but he’s nominated for a Tony Award on Sunday.

– VH1’s upcoming miniseries The Great Debate is sorta like Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil in reverse. Instead of debating which of two pop culture ideas is the worst, The Great Debate will feature talking heads like Omarosa, Jerry Springer and Tila Tequila debating which is better – Star Wars or Star Trek, Rocky or Rambo, Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune … you get the idea. The week-long series kicks off on July 6, and fans can weigh in now by voting on such topics as “Funny or Not?” (including Adam Sandler, Dane Cook and Kathy Griffin), “Sibling Rivalry” (Kevin or Matt Dillon? Owen or Luke Wilson? Paris or Nicky Hilton?) and “Hot or Not?” (including Michael Phelps, Fergie and Zach Braff). Sounds like a fun summer series, though you have to wonder, weren’t any of the Best Week Ever peeps available? Omarosa and Tila Tequila aren’t exactly, to play off the title, the great debaters.

– So you wanna be a star? Auditions for American Idol, season nine, kick off in Boston on June 14.

– The ratings are in, and the season premiere wasn’t a fluke. Plenty of people are still rubberneckin’ at the trainwreck that is Jon & Kate Plus 8. More Gosselin news: US Weekly is featuring the fam on its cover for a sixth consecutive week. Almost makes you nostalgic for the days when Britney was doing something crazy every week, huh?

– Claire (Hayden Panettiere) is getting a college roommate on Heroes next season, and she’s being played by Californication‘s Madeline Zima.

– The Jay Leno Show will debut on NBC on Sept. 14.

– Breaking Bad‘s second season just ended, but there’s already a preview clip for season three.

– And Grandma Gilmore, a.k.a. Gilmore Girls (and Dirty Dancing!) great Kelly Bishop, will guest star in the new season of Army Wives … as a cougar!

• No Comments
• Filed in American Idol, Boob Tube to Big Screen, Late Night, Reality, TV News
• Tags: Adam Sandler, American Idol, American Idol auditions, Army Wives, auditions, Best Week Ever, Breaking Bad, Breaking Bad season three, Californication, Dane Cook, Dirty Dancing, Fergie, Gilmore Girls, Gosselins, Hayden Panettiere, Heroes, Jeopardy, Jerry Springer, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Kathy Griffin, Kelly Bishop, Kevin Dillon, Land of the Lost, Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, Luke Wilson, luv-ahs, Madeline Zima, Matt Dillon, Michael Phelps, Nicky Hilton, Omarosa, Owen Wilson, Paris Hilton, Rambo, Rocky, Roger Klarvin, Saturday Night Live, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Great Debate, The Jay Leno Show, Tila Tequila, Tony Award, Wheel of Fortune, Will Ferrell, Zach Braff