Apparently, the laughter never stops on the presidential campaign trail. Only three days before America goes to the polls, John McCain will appear on “Saturday Night Live.”
No word on what McCain will do on the show, but he is almost certain to make only a brief appearance in the middle of what will be a marathon final push to Tuesday, according to the New York Times.
McCain has had two previous “SNL” appearances. He was a guest host of the show in 2002, during which he sang Barbara Streisand songs. He most recently dropped by the show to do a couple of cameo spots in May.
Say good-bye to Hank Hill, Peggy, Bobby and the whole gang. “King of the Hill,” the second longest running animated sitcom in television, has been given its pink slip by Fox. The show will wrap up production this spring after over 250 episodes.
Seems somewhat fitting: As a Texan leaves the White House, this family of offbeat Texans leaves prime time after a solid run. In terms of animated shows, only “The Simpsons” has aired longer than “King,” which debuted on Fox in 1997. But “King,” with its understated humor and slower pace, never came close to making as big a pop-cultural splash. In many ways, it was a brilliant show, but it was also one easy to overlook at times. In recent years, it has pretty much fallen off my radar.
But Fox isn’t abandoning animation. Waiting in the wings are a “Family Guy” spinoff — “The Cleveland Show” and “Shut Down, Shut Up,” which focuses on the lives of faculty members at a high school in a small northeastern fishing town. Meanwhile, Fox has renewed “American Dad” for a fifth season.
Megan Mullally talks about her appearance on “30 Rock.”
IT’S THE DAY before Halloween, and I just had a scary thought: What if “30 Rock” is on its way to becoming “Will & Grace”?
The latter show, toward the end of its run, went into overload mode when it came to big-name cameos. Cher, Britney Spears, Kevin Bacon, Madonna, John Cleese, Janet Jackson … It seemed like everybody who was anybody appeared on “Will & Grace.” Many critics and fans cite this celebrity worship as a key factor in its demise.
It’s not that cameos in general are such a bad thing, but when you start relying on them as much as “Will & Grace” did, they’re often distracting, pointless and annoying.
That’s why it has been rather unnerving to see all those
NBC promotional spots for the new season of “30 Rock” that place heavy emphasis on a star-studded guest list that includes Oprah, Steve Martin, Jennifer Aniston and others. Here you have a show that has captured back-to-back Emmys for best comedy, features a breakout star in writer-actress and Sarah Palin look-alike Tina Fey and is blessed with a hilarious cast that includes multi-award-winner Alec Baldwin “… and it’s leaning on a crutch of guest celebs? Read the rest of this entry »
Leading in the polls and seemingly riding a wave of momentum, Barack Obama looked to seal the deal Wednesday night with a glossy half-hour prime-time infomercial that aired across seven networks, carried plenty of emotional oomph and cost about $4 million.
We’ll know by next Tuesday if he got his money’s worth.
Clearly, the $4 million bought some finely polished production values. Beginning with scenes of amber waves of grain and swelling music, the brisk, well-edited documentary-like ad touched upon core American values while delivering powerful visual imagery and a message of hope.
“This election is a defining moment,” Obama said, while standing in front of an American flag. Of course.
Time will tell if the infomercial reached the undecided voters it was mostly targeted to reach, but it did succeed on a number of levels: It allowed Obama to talk directly to the American people (without a debate moderator or John McCain challenging him). It gave him a chance to concisely lay out his plans (without a pesky fact-checker to provide dissent). It gave the country a glimpse into his personal and family life. And it repeatedly tugged on heart strings.
OK, I’ll throw a little bone to all you “Mad Men” fans who are having withdrawls now that the show has aired its Season 2 finale. Here’s “The Simpsons” take on the drama’s opening credits.
Struggling NBC has decided to move its Friday-night crime series, “Life,” to 9 p.m. Wednesdays beginning Nov. 5.
The move pairs “Life” with “Law & Order,” which launches its 19th season the same night.
In the first Wednesday episode of “Life,” a woman is found in a pool of blood sitting at a table with a romantic dinner set for two. The investigation leads Crews (Damian Lewis) and Reese (Sarah Shahi) to a support group for lottery winners full of eccentric characters. The detectives soon discover lottery winners often suffer broken psyches after suddenly becoming richer than they ever could have imagined. Meanwhile, Rachel (Jessy Schram) refuses to tell Crews anything about her family’s murder or about Jack Reese, however, the two unexpectedly realize they share a common bond. Erik Estrada (“CHIPs”) makes a cameo. Adam Arkin and Donal Logue also star.
The Barack Obama campaign has spent $3.5 million to air a 30-minute advertisement on several channels in primetime tonight, but will America tune in?
By now, you’d think that much of the country has had enough of the political salesmanship, or has decided how they’ll vote, or both. I would even think that, in some cases, viewers might resent Obama for intruding on their nightly TV routines.
Still, it’s a bold move by a campaign that has taken a lot of offbeat approaches to reach out to voters (a convention acceptance speech in a football stadium; text messages to alert people to his VP pick, etc.).
The New York Times describes the Obama infomercial as heavy in strings, flags and presidential imagery. Obama will speak into the camera at first, then the program will tell the stories of what four American families are confronting and how the candidate addresses those issues, the paper says.
But that’s not the only TV exposure for Obama. The Democratic candidate will also visit “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” (11 p.m.) on Comedy Central tonight. Also, on Thursday, he’ll be the guest on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” and on Friday he’ll do a lengthy sit-down interview with Wolf Blitzer for CNN.
If you’re a fan of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” you’ll have to wait a while longer for the return of your show.
“Criminal Intent” was supposed to launch its new season next Friday (Nov. 7), but USA just announced that it will be shelved until next year. A specific launch date will be forthcoming.
Meanwhile, CBS has announced that it is yanking freshman drama “The Ex List” from the schedule. The series has been generating mediocre ratings on Friday nights and once again CBS has trouble finding traction with a show that isn’t a crime procedural. Maybe they should have had the lead character trying to solve murders while looking up her old boyfriends.
First the CW remakes one of the defining television show’s of my generation, ‘90210,” (Yes, I’m still watching the spinoff), and now word comes from the LA Times that the CW is bringing back the tawdry “Melrose Place.”
Truth is, I was always a bigger fan of “Melrose” than “90210.” I even liked it in its first season when it was trying to be all earnest and about something. But then Fox wised up, brought special guest star Heather Locklear on board, and the rest is TV history. Locklear reinvented the show, and it cemented her reputation as a true TV star.
Today’s prime time soaps owe Aaron Spelling’s “Place” a debt of gratitude. It introduced us to the divine Marcia Cross as the deliciously-evil Kimberly Shaw. It’s also the first place we noticed “Sex and the City’s” Kristin Davis.
So just like with “90210,” I’ll anxiously await to see how the CW reimagines “Melrose” for a new generation.
America’s tweens, as expected, went crazy for “High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” making it the No. 1 big-screen movie over the weekend. To celebrate, we’re going to give away what we’re calling a “Tween Dream” package through our trivia-question raffle.
What this package consists of is the “HSM2 Dance Editon” DVD set, the “Hannah Montana” Best of Both Worlds concert DVD and a Hannah Montana. Yes, this could be one of the coolest prizes we’ve ever given away here at the Freak Blog — and just think: If you win, you’ve got a nice jump on your Christmas gift list.
All you need to do to become eligible for the “Tween Dream” package is answer this simple question:
What was the name of the resort where the “HSM” gang worked during their summer vacation?
To participate, click on “Leave a Comment” and jot down your answer. I’ll take responses through Thursday. (And don’t panic if you don’t see your answers posted to the site. I clear them into a holding area).
i still dont get it….. its so...