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.

Video -- Daily Show's John Oliver, Tonight at 10 on Comedy Central

Watch him tonight. We'll talk about it tomorrow. Here, John talks about all those Republicans who stood up on a stage on national TV and pledged their support to the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

LINK

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.

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.

Writers for Stewart, Colbert Head to DC For WGA Issues Debate

And although it might be nothing more than a PR/news event, I'm gonna hope that CSPAN has some cameras there. If they do, I will do my best to have video.

Broadcasting & Cable (John Eggerton, who is, btw, a cool guy):

According to the Writers Guild of America, the writers will host a mock debate about the issue on Capitol Hill thanks to some sympathetic congress folk.

The debate will be held Jan. 23 in the Rayburn House Office Building and moderated by Dee Dee Myers, former Clinton White House press secretary and consultant/writer on NBC’s The West Wing.

Writers in attendance will be The Daily Show's Rachel Axler, Kevin Bleyer, Tim Carvell and Jason Ross; Colbert Report's Michael Brumm, Peter Grosz, Peter Gwinn and Tom Purcell; and a special guest appearance by Allison Abner, former West Wing writer.

Legislators hosting the debate are Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Anthony Weiner (both New York Democrats) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).

Still not watching The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. I will when the writers return. And, when Stewart and Colbert get punished by their Union.

I am a collective bargaining hardass.

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.

Their Writers Take to YouTube, and No, It's Not The Daily Show -- Video

But it's the best thing so far that has come out of the writers' strike, and you need to see this.

Must see stuff, and a great explanation of what the writers are fighting for from Daily Show scribe Jason Ross.

And, a cameo from John Oliver.

Also, an unintended cameo from Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone.

LINK