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)

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• 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!

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• 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

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– The Eminem/Bruno (Sacha Baron Cohen) brouhaha from the MTV Movie Awards got all the press, but how deliciously campy was it when Kristin Cavallari showed up at Spencer and Heidi‘s wedding wearing the exact same color dress as her old Laguna Beach enemy Lauren Conrad on last night’s ep of The Hills?

– More Hills news: The stars of the show are upset that Paris Hilton called their show fake. Insert your own joke here about the pot calling the kettle fake.

– BTW, the winners at last night’s Andy Samberg-hosted MTV Movie Awards included Heath Ledger for Best Villain and waaaaaay too many popcorn statues for the Twilight cast.

– Wanna guarantee yourself a reality TV deal? Apparently fertility drugs, and a heaping side dish of crazy, are the answer. As creepy as she is, Octomom Nadya Suleman has signed a deal to film a series starring her brood, though no American network has agreed to air it. Yet. Meanwhile, did you know that she actually likes the Octomom nickname, so much so that she’s trying to trademark it?

– Bob Saget‘s Surviving Suburbia couldn’t survive the summer TV line-up. Better Off Ted, meanwhile, will get some summer lovin’ from ABC, as the quirky comedy rejoins the line-up on June 23.

– Susan Boyle losing Britain’s Got Talent … as shocking as Adam Lambert losing American Idol?

– Ray Romano talks about his upcoming dramedy, how he thinks Jay Leno‘s new show will do and about what he watches on TV. Hint: Lots of reality stuff and 24.

– And speaking of 24, Freddie Prinze Jr. as a wannabe Jack Bauer and now Forrest Gump‘s Mykelti Williamson as the new Bill Buchanan on the next season of 24 … it’s almost sounding like a whole new show, isn’t it?

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• Filed in 24, American Idol, Celebreality, Comedy, Drama, Reality, TV News
• Tags: 24, Adam Lambert, American Idol, Andy Samberg, Better Off Ted, Bob Saget, Britain's Got Talent, Bruno, Eminem, Freddie Prinze Jr., Jack Bauer, Jay Leno, Kristin Cavallari, Laguna Beach, Lauren Conrad, MTV, MTV Movie Awards, Mykelti Williamson, Nadya Suleman, Octomom, Paris Hilton, Ray Romano, Sacha Baron Cohen, Spencer and Heidi, Spencer and Heidi wedding, Spencer Pratt, Surviving Suburbia, Susan Boyle, The Hills