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

As if you could forget , Conan O’Brien takes over The Tonight Show, uh, tonight (NBC, 11:30PM ET), and this preview, in which he pokes fun at his pale-ness, is still cracking me up …

– Meanwhile, though there’s been no lack of press for the big guy, the LATimes.com has an interview with Conan sidekick Andy Richter about his return to late night.

– The New York Post has some words of wisdom, sorta, from various celebs to Conan.

– O’Brien himself assures fans that his trademark quirkiness will continue, including, eventually, the Masturbating Bear.

– A video collection of Conan’s greatest hits from his old gig.

– And New York Times late-night TV expert Bill Carter has a preview of Conan’s first Tonight night, which will include guests Will Ferrell and Pearl Jam.

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• Filed in Comedy, Late Night, TV News
• Tags: Andy Richter, Conan, Conan O'Brien, Masturbating Bear, Pearl Jam, The Tonight Show, Will Ferrell

He may be a comedy A-lister, but on Tuesday’s episode of Discovery Channel’s Man vs. Wild (10PM ET), Land of the Lost star Will Ferrell feasts on a dinner of reindeer eyeballs and his own urine.

Host Bear Grylls and Ferrell parachute off a helicopter and into the Swedish hinterland, where they’ll rappel down a hundred-foot frozen waterfall, get crafty by fashioning their own snow shoes out of twigs and, yes, drink their own urine.

CBS may want to keep Ferrell in mind if they ever get that all-star version of Survivor off the ground …

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• Filed in Boob Tube to Big Screen, Comedy, Reality, Ya Gotta See This!
• Tags: Bear Grylls, Discovery Channel, Land of the Lost, Man vs. Wild, Will Ferrell

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Memorial Day weekend means TV marathons, and TVGuide.com has a round-up of ’em.

– Nurse Jackie, the quirky new nurse dramedy starring Edie “Carmela Soprano” Falco, debuts June 8 on Showtime, but you can watch the first episode now, free, at Sho.com. The password: “shifthappens.”

– Now that the networks have announced their schedules for next season, they have to deal with the dismal stats of the just-concluded 2008/09 season: ratings were down 16 percent.

– Don’t read this EW.com story unless you want to know the major twist that will kick off The CW’s remake of Melrose Place in the fall.

– Tonight’s season finales: Starz’ terrific comedies Party Down (10:30PM ET) and Head Case (10PT), which features a funny cameo by Jerry Seinfeld.

– What was missing from the American Idol finale (besides an Adam Lambert win, of course)? A goofy Will Ferrell song that was cut.

– Fringe‘s Kirk Acevedo took to his Facebook page earlier this week to say he’d been fired from the show. Not so, says a show producer.

– First Guiding Light is cancelled, and now All My Children killed Stuart Chandler. What is going on in daytime TV?!

– Just when you think you can’t possibly love Neil Patrick Harris more, you find out he has pop-up books in his guest room, Kiehl’s products in the shower and a selection of magazines in his bathroom. NPH!

– And in more things that make perfect sense to me, Project Runway star (and he is the real star of the show) Tim Gunn will become a Marvel Comics superhero.

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• Filed in American Idol, Comedy, Drama, TV News
• Tags: Adam Lambert, All My Children, American Idol, Carmela Soprano, Daytime TV, Edie Falco, EW.com, finale, Fringe, Guiding Light, Head Case, Jerry Seinfeld, Kiehl's, Kirk Acevedo, marathons, Marvel Comics, Melrose Place. spoiler, Memorial Day, Memorial Day weekend TV marathons, Neil Patrick Harris, Network ratings, NPH, nurse, Nurse Jackie, Party Down, Project Runway, Showtime, Starz, Stuart Chandler, superhero, Tim Gunn, TV Guide.com. TV marathons, Will Ferrell

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Law & Order will go for a 20th season on NBC, tying it with classic CBS western Gunsmoke as the longest-running primetime drama.

– Here’s a sneak peek at Fox’s new fall shows, including the awesome Human Target and The Cleveland Show.

– The View co-host Sherri Shepherd will have to split her time between her daytime gig and her new Lifetime sitcom, Sherri, which was picked up by Lifetime today. The autobiographical-ish comedy revolves around Shepherd’s character dealing with her husband’s infidelity by inviting his babymama and her baby to move in with her.

– Send good thoughts to Survivor champ Ethan Zohn, who’s battling a rare form of Hodgkin’s disease.

– Conan O’Brien‘s first Tonight Show guests on June 1: Will Ferrell and Pearl Jam.

– 24 season eight will premiere on Fox with a two-night, four-hour event that kicks off on Jan. 17. Only eight more months to go! Season seven, BTW, even though it just ended last night, is already on DVD today.

– It’s a buzzkill that ABC cancelled Samantha Who?. Here’s hoping Christina Applegate is back on the tube ASAP.

– G4’s summer line-up will include series about wannabe poker champs in 2 Months, $2 Million, and comedians commenting on “outrageous clips from women around the world participating in unusual activities” in The International Sexy Ladies Show.

– Ricky Gervais will create an animated series for HBO, based on his popular and hilarious podcasts with pals Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington.

– Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice creator Shonda Rhimes‘ new series Inside the Box, about a Washington DC newsroom, didn’t make the cut for ABC’s fall schedule, and has, according to Deadline Hollywood Daily, been sent back for “redevelopment.” Maybe execs just realized that both of her existing series were so lame this season that they require her attention more?

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• Filed in 24, Comedy, Drama, Late Night, TV News
• Tags: 24, Christine Applegate, Conan O'Brien, DVD, Ethan Zohn, Grey's Anatomy, Gunsmoke, HBO, Human Target, Inside the Box, Law & Order, Lifetime, Pearl Jam, Private Practice, Ricky Gervais, Samantha Who?, Sherri, Sherri Shepherd, Shonda Rhimes, Survivor, The Cleveland Show, The View, Tonight Show, Will Ferrell