I Am A TV Junkie, A Blog For The Clicker Jockey

Official: Matthew Perry Is Showtime's Newest Star

THR.com:

The pay cable network has given a pilot commitment with a substantial penalty to the half-hour project, which is from Sony Pictures TV. Perry also will star as the title character, an egomaniacal local talk show host who is on a reluctant path to redemption.

The project marks Showtime's first collaboration with Perry and Tolan as well as Perry's first project with Sony. Tolan, meanwhile, co-created and executive produces the FX drama "Rescue Me" for Sony and will continue in that capacity as well.

"Tolan and Perry, a twisted match made in heaven!" Showtime president of entertainment Robert Greenblatt said. "I've been trying to get into business with Peter Tolan for literally 20 years, so my persistence finally paid off. And I couldn't be happier than to have him co-creating this bitingly funny character with Matthew Perry, who seems born to play this character better than anyone I can think of."

I wrote about this project , The End of Steve, yesterday, click here for that post.

Hey, Perry's not alone, Showtime has stars these days ... Mary-Louise Parker, Michael C. Hall, David Duchovny, Jimmy Smits, Toni Collette, Tracey Ullman, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers ... and of course, Billie. If you read this blog regularly and you're asking "Billie Who?" all I have to say is, "Bite me."

Speaking of Billie, wouldn't she be great starring as CBS News Chief Foreign Correspondent Lara Logan? Here's a link to a clip of Lara's Tuesday interview with The Daily Show's Jon Stewart from YouTube. Tell me that they don't strikingly resemble each other. And the accent would be easy for her. Lara's from South Africa.

And, one more thing about this interview ... Logan, who works for a Sumner Redstone subsidiary, said some rather harsh things about US network newscasts including her own CBS Evening News in which she's a participant regularly. I notice that the interview is not available as a standalone clip at The Daily Show's website, it also being part of the Redstone empire.

Hmmmm.

Kim Kardashian Damn Near Sits on Daily Show Rob Riggle's Face

Great Daily Show feature by the soul-discarding Riggle with lotsa guest spots (including Brooke Shields, big ass Kim and SVU's Chris Meloni -- my personal favorite L&O player and former front desk guy at Chelsea Gym in what I remember to be the late 70s and early 80s. Everyone loved Chris, that beautiful straight guy who worked the desk. And why not? Just look above.

(And thank you, David Mixner, for posting this pic with I stole outright from you.)

Why didn't I have a Chelsea Gym membership? Because I was gawking at IFBB pros at Madison Avenue Muscle, which I don't believe is there anymore.)

Like I said, clip after the jump. Most important to see is the "values statement" the pap interviewed gives, it comes at about 3:30 in the clip.

Night of Too Many Stars is the One Thing You Should Watch This Weekend

Well, that is it's the one thing you should watch this weekend if you only watch one thing.

Event Organizer (and the human part of Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog) Robert Smigel talks to Entertainment Weekly:

I'm always paranoid about asking people, because they're so incredibly busy. Some are old friends, and I have a sexual history with most of them, but still, this is our fourth annual show, and it's hard to keep asking. I think of things I could offer them for motivation. I know Adam is happy because it's a good cause, and I always let him wear the dog puppet in the shower. For others, it's not that obvious. Like, I don't really know Jonah Hill: He might want to wear a different puppet in the shower. I wish I could offer to have Triumph perform at their favorite fund-raiser, but most fund-raisers aren't like ours. An epilepsy dinner honoring Oliver Sacks somehow isn't the ideal setting for a puppet who closes by violating Ernie from Sesame Street. Fortunately, I'm dealing with very nice people, and they shock me by making it so easy. But it's good for them, too. Like, Jon Stewart's a fantastic guy. But up until now, people have only seen him as a really great guy. He needs this.

After the jump, Triumph and "Ladysmith Black Mambazo" sing about Ashlee Simpson's nose, Star Jones, Delta Burke, Marion Barry and some other people.

Al Roker Messes Around With Brian Williams' LA Chair

Roker's playing with fire. I hear Williams commands a secret clandestine brigade of the Mounties and they could be at NBC Burbank from Vancouver in almost no time.

Plus, Brian could always call in assistance from the big giant head of Brian Williams that lives at The Daily Show studios in NYC. Harder for the big giant head to get to Burbank, however, needs a military cargo plane.

Roker Today show clip and Daily Show big giant head clip are after the jump.

And, just for good measure, because Brian is the funniest anchor in TV history, an SNL clip.

It's Vast and She Says It's a Conspiracy ...

... but it's not quite the vast right-wing conspiracy she used to claim, is it?

(And, btw, there was a vast right-wing conspiracy, she was right. It was paid for by this guy Richard Mellon Scaife, who you won't be seeing in this go-round because he's engaged in a nasty ass divorce battle with his second wife. Great Vanity Fair piece on the whole deal at this link.)

A Daily Show Samantha Bee clip on the Anti-Hillary Conspiracy, but first, my comments.

I dunno, but I have to tell you that these debates (Ha! They're not debates, they're these weird TV specials, kind of a weeknight version of Meet the Press where Russert sets the agenda and the agenda is gotcha journalism) are outliving their usefulness.

And, the longer these debates -- hell, the longer this campaign -- goes on, there's more of a chance that I will no longer respect Hillary Clinton. Because throwing everything against the wall to see if something sticks only tells me that the candidate is willing to say or do anything to win, and I generally back off when I see that.

Because that same person, when up against it, will do something contrary to all prior beliefs if it seems their future in peril. It is a perfect example of a lack of authenticity, you know, like when John McCain hugs George Bush on his birthday or kisses the late, not great Jerry Falwell's ring.

Which is why I don't sit glued to the set during what I call the Presidential TV Special. Just don't call it a debate.

Here's a link where you can find out how an actual debate is supposed to work.

Craig Ferguson Interviewed at Broadcasting & Cable

Ah, Craig. Lovin' ya more and more with each passing day and every time I think about Conan crossing his own picket line to go to work.

Yes, I'm still pissed. I think I'll be pissed for a while. And I'll write about that at some point, but my problem is that the "stars" of the Guild didn't do the right thing for the rank and file and that sucks.

And that's you and your buddy Colbert, too, Jon Stewart. And Leno? Well, if you can call that writing, I guess he's on my list as well.

(Yeah, I'm not a fan of Leno at all. He's really not funny, or what I should say is that he's funny in the annoying way that the guy in your office who thinks he's funny is funny.)

Back to Craig, he talked to Ben Grossman from B&C and said, among other things that he was friendly with Maureen Dowd. Now that's a dinner table that I would enjoy sitting at.

More, including excerpts and a clip after the jump.

Jon Stewart Draws His Very Lame Line in the Sand, He'll Do His Show but Won't Salute Sumner Redstone

So, Jon, buddy, I guess we see now what the deal is. Personally, I would not have crossed my union's picket line to get back to work on TDS.

As you know, I haven't been watching (didn't even watch Stewart and Colbert beat up on Conan the other night, as painful as it was to switch the channel -- hell, I didn't even watch the clippage of it on Access Hollywood).

So, you'll put money in Redstone's wallet by crossing your own union's picket line and write your show (and yes, Aasif Mandvi, you are writing that show, I'm sure there's a script) but you won't stand at a podium and say nice things about him (Hollywood Reporter):

The invite for the black-tie event Thursday at the New York Waldorf-Astoria, sent out several weeks ago, proclaims the Redstone event and announced Stewart, who hosts a show owned by Viacom's Comedy Central, as the evening's emcee.

But as of Tuesday, organizers said that Stewart wouldn't host, with Charlie Rose filling in as emcee.

I would rather you switch that around.

My Confession -- I Fell Asleep During The Daily Show

Yep, fast asleep.

Just couldn't keep my eyes open.

Jon did address the issues I've brought up at Facebook regarding brand identity -- he called what they were doing "A Daily Show" but not The Daily Show.

Still, I fell asleep. I did wake up, however, during the first of the two interview segments with the Cornell U. labor law prof, but after a few moments I realized I was listening to a Cornell U. labor law prof and quickly fell back to sleep, not waking at all while Colbert played on the teevee and finally at about 4:20 (don't read anything into that, it's just a time of day) Homer needed to go outside and pee.

But I think that we can all stipulate to the fact that there was a script written for the show, and I don't doubt that Jon Stewart had something to do with it.

Which makes him a scab.

And although I know that a lot of you think that they have defied their mandate, remember that they are a TV show, part of show business, and not the bastions of progressive political thought that we all project onto Jon and his crew.

Still, I'm very, very disappointed in Jon and all who participated.

So I'll be watching Family Guy reruns (yes, I have the dialog memorized by now, what of it?) at 11 until this HBO In Treatment series starts weeknights on, I believe, the 24th, and when I tire of that (who knows how long that will be) maybe I'll be fortunate enough to run into a streak of decent Charlie Rose interviews (also at 11 on my PBS station, check yours for time/channel).

And for Jon, I would suggest reading this, because you obviously need to remind yourself what labor unions are for.

Here's a taste:

The new AFL, breaking with the cloudy organizational structure that had hampered the Knights of Labor and other previous attempts at federation, placed emphasis on the autonomy of each affiliated union in its jurisdiction, and encouraged the development of practical collective bargaining to gain improvements for the membership. But it takes two to make collective bargaining work - employers and workers - and as American industry moved into a period of immense growth and power in the latter part of the 19th century, the lords of industry were little inclined to negotiate with the unions of their employees. The Sherman Antitrust Act, designed to break up the power of monopoly corporations, was used very strongly against small unions, contrary to its intent. And so, the companies grew in strength while their lawyers fought successful rearguard actions to make the law inoperative.

Thus the decade of the 1890s and the early years of the 20th century witnessed many intense struggles between essentially weak unions seeking to liberate their members from back-breaking toil under often unsafe and unhealthy working conditions for very low wages, and powerful corporations with heavy financial resources, the active or passive support of the government and its police forces, and the backing of much of the press and the general public. It was a perfect climate for union-busting and violence.

Daily Show & Colbert Return Tonight With No Writers

And frankly, I can't figure out how they're gonna do it.

Furthermore, this is a big problem for the Stewart-Colbert audience. I would have to surmise that this is the most politically progressive audience in television and they will be looking for any instance of Jon and Stephen possibly violating the orders of the WGA and writing material (case in point -- Jay Leno).

The Comedy Central audience between 11 and 12 may be the most pro-Union audience in television, which begs the question: Will we protest anything we think might be a violation of the Guild agreement?

Because I know I will. This could cause irrepararable damage to these two brands.

Check in with me tomorrow and we'll review what went on.

Stewart & Colbert Return January 7, Stunned Silence Ensues

I just don't understand what they're going to do. with the 23 minutes of air time each of them will have to fill.

This is just a bad idea, a very bad idea.

It's like trying to make pizza without crust, ice cream without cream, Kool-Aid without the water.

Variety:

"We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence," Stewart and Colbert said in a joint statement issued Thursday afternoon.

Return of both hosts comes right as the presidential primary season kicks off; how much fun the hosts can poke at the proceedings will likely be a source of much debate.

In a statement, the WGA's west coast arm took Comedy Central to task for "forcing" the hosts back in their chairs.

"Comedy Central forcing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert back on the air will not give the viewers the quality shows they've come to expect," the WGAW said. "The only way to get the writing staffs back on the job is for the AMPTP companies to come back to the table prepared to negotiate a fair deal with the Writers Guild."

According to insiders, trademark features like Stewart's "Headlines" and Colbert's "The Word" will obviously have to take a break since they're heavily scripted.

I might check in on it once or twice, but if it's not up to snuff I'm not going to waste my time.

I love these guys, but they need words, especially Colbert, who as we have all come to appreciate is doing something so much more nuanced than Stewart that requires scripting.