Mr. Monk and Uncle Nigel

My wife Daphne and I started watching the TV series Monk on Netflix around Christmas on last year. Tonight we will watch the two part finale, finishing the eight seasons of the USA Network show, and we're very sad to be done.

We've wondered aloud on several occasions why we never watched Monk when it originally aired. We've also wondered what show would replace Monk for us when we we finally finished it. I like USA's similar series Psych as well as their new San Francisco show Fairly Legal. But neither could really fill the void for us.

So, I was curious as to what Monk's writer/creator Andy Breckman would do next and was happy to find that he's created a show called Uncle Nigel. It was picked up by TBS and is indeed an hour-long comedy about a detective! Monk director Randy  Zisk is also attached.

The show centers around Nigel Wells (Gary Cole), a Philadelphia homicide detective who hires his incompetent nephew Ronnie as a partner. Cole is always brilliant -- whether as the creepy guy (who was maybe Satan) in American Gothic, as Mike Brady in the Brady Bunch films, as Lumbergh from Office Space, as Ricky Bobby's dad, or any number of other memorable characters.

Many actors auditioned for Ronnie (EW has a wishlist here), but the job went to Matt L. Jones. I absolutely love this idea because Matt was so good as Badger on Breaking Bad.









Ethan S. Smith (below) may not have grabbed the role of Ronnie, but if this audition is any indication, the show could be pretty good.

TBS.com has no info for Uncle Nigel and I've yet to find a firm release date elsewhere. The news of the show's pilot came over a year ago, but these things take time. With a pedigree of the folks listed above as well as cast members such as Lea Thompson, we can stay optimistic I'm hoping to see Nigel and Ronnie Wells sometime soon.

SNL Announces 2010-2011 Hosts

I don't know when this became an entertainment blog...but since it sort of has been lately, I thought I'd post some news about Saturday Night Live

While I'm sad Will Forte and Jenny Slate are leaving the show, the 2010/2011 season of SNL is shaping up to be a good one. The following people have been announced as hosts:

• September 25 - Amy Poehler will host the 36th season's premier with musical guest Katy Perry.
  
  
• October 2 - Bryan Cranston & Kanye West - I am so excited about this one. Every time I see Bryan Cranston interviewed on a late night show, I think, "He should totally host SNL!" He may be the Emmy winner for acting in a drama, but I also remember how funny he was on Seinfeld, King of Queens, and of course, Malcolm In The Middle.
  
  
• October 9 - Jane Lynch & Maroon 5 - It was bound to happen. She's been hysterical in everything she's done from Best In Show to 40 Year Old Virgin to Glee.
  
  
• October 16 - Justin Long & Owl City - I'm so happy Justin's not just known as The Mac Guy. He's never hosted, but he did a decent impersonation of Matthew McConaughey when his girlfriend and Going the Distance co-star Drew Barrymore hosted last season.
  
  
• October 23 - Emma Stone - She's very naturally funny and that's shown through in movies like Zombieland and The House Bunny.
  
  
• December 4 - Lindsay Lohan? - She's in talks to host again. If the VMAs were the start of her comeback, this may be a continuation of that. She's hosted three times in the past, in 2004 with Usher, in 2005 with Coldplay, and 2006 with Pearl Jam. She's been funny every time. Anybody remember the first Debbie Downer sketch?
  

NBC has also announced that new cast members include Vanessa Bayer, Paul Brittain, Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah.

Mourning the loss of Gary Coleman and Diff'rent Strokes

I've always felt a connection to Gary Coleman. I have been saddened over the past several years to see the troubles he went through. May he rest in peace.

Like many children of the eighties, I learned the word bigot from the show that made Gary Coleman (and his character Arnold Jackson) a household name, Diff'rent Strokes. The show also reinforced my parents' teaching that racism is unacceptable. It taught me to love "even the purple people" as Arnold put it.

Come to think of it, Diff'rent Strokes taught me many truly important lessons. I learned about:

• Eating disorders - Arnold suspected, and turned out to be correct, that his sister Kimberly had an eating disorder. I had never heard of bulimia before this episode.
  
• Taking care of the environment - washing with acid rain turned Kimberly's hair green
• The ills of drugs - First lady Nancy Reagan even appeared on an episode to thank Arnold for his work against drugs
  
• CPR and the importance of telling the truth - Arnold's brother Willis lied about knowing CPR to get a job. When Arnold electrocuted himself, his life was jeopardized because of Willis' seemingly harmless lie.
  
• Bullies - they never showed The Gooch and I'm still a little scared of him
• Child molestation - Gordon Jump played many memorable characters--from WKRP's Art Carlson, to Maggie's dad Ed Malone on Growing Pains, to the Maytag Man in his later life--but none were as memorable to me as his portrayal of Mr. Horton, the child molesting bicycle salesman from the two episode special

I could go on and tell you about Dudley and Robbie. I could talk about the guest appearances by Ed "Too Tall" Jones or Muhammad Ali. I could tell you about my crushes on the mean Lisa and Janet Jackson's character Charlene (and maybe Mrs. Garrett too). I could tell you the exact moment the show jumped the shark (it literally involved a red-headed stepchild).

I could talk about Diff'rent Strokes all day, but I'll just say this: I learned all of these lessons and gained all these memories from a truly funny 30 minute sitcom. Which leaves me with the question, what are prime time shows teaching children today?

The Prisoner starts tonight

AMC's The Prisoner starts its three night run tonight. The mini-series, starring Jim Caviezel and Sir Ian McKellen, airs through Tuesday at 8/7 central each night.

Here's a trailer. Watch a longer one here.

Still asking why WSMV forces NBC's widescreen shows to fullscreen...

It's been a week and a half and I still haven't heard back from WSMV about why they force their NBC programs to fullscreen when they are supposed to be shown in full screen. Here's the letter I wrote and posted on October 29.

Here's a picture Abby took of my TV the other night when NBC showed Michael Scott's "World's Best Boss" cup in a commercial

Why does WSMV force NBC's widescreen shows to fullscreen?

I just wrote the following letter to Nashville's NBC affiliate WSMV 4.

To whom it may concern:

Why does WSMV force all of its widescreen shows (SNL, The Office, Heroes, The Tonight Show, etc) to full screen?

When you force widescreen to full screen you cut off a portion of the picture. A few weeks ago, I was watching Saturday Night Live and the sketch involved two actors sitting across from each other at a long table. Neither of the actors could be seen in the frame because the program had been forced to full screen!

The vast majority of people are used to widescreen because of the DVD industry. So, people are used to the black bars at the top and bottom.

Why does channel 4 do this?

Sincerely,
Eric Coomer



I'll let you know when and if they write back.

DVD Trailer of the Week - The Nine

I loved this ABC series, so it seemed appropriate for today to feature it. It's actually not available on DVD, and for some reason is no longer on iTunes. So, just watch this and wish you'd seen it. Or lament with me how great it was before they canceled it.

SNL, Will Ferrell, and Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon" (The Sketch...well most of it...and only until NBC makes YouTube delete it...but anyway. Yeah.)

SNL, Will Ferrell, and Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon"

Prediction: Sales of Billy Joel's excellent "Goodnight Saigon" will increase on iTunes after the epic sketch on the season finale of Saturday Night Live with the full cast, Will Ferrell, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway, Green Day, Paul Rudd, Artie Lang, Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, Elisabeth Moss, and Norm MacDonald.

Here's the original. I'll post the sketch tomorrow if I can. Watch as much of the episode as you can find on Hulu or NBC.com because it was hysterical.

Dan Miller - 1941-2009

I wasn't going to blog this week. But I had to log in to just say that I already miss Dan Miller so much. He was my favorite local anchor. He was every bit as good as Brokaw or Rather or Cronkite. He was comfort. He was home. And Nashville will never be the same again.

Rest in peace, Dan.



Read more here.

American Idol Lip Syncing

I never miss American Idol. I was really mad when I saw them blatantly lip syncing last week. It was plain as day. I've never gone to see the top ten perform in concert for the American Idol tour and now I'm not sure why I would. Those numbers are the ones they do on tour together right? Who's to say they won't be lip syncing them there too! If so, what's the point.

Also, everyone's been talking about Justin Guarini commenting on this on the TV Guide Channel's American Idol wrap up show. Guess what, he lost his job over it! That's crap. Totally unfair.

What's your opinion on all this?

Breaking Bad

Seriously, why have I not been watching this show since it started?!?

WHY DOES BILLY MAYS FEEL THE NEED TO YELL IN HIS COMMERCIALS?

I picture him when he goes home after a long day of commercial shoots saying things like, "HI HONEY, HOW WAS YOUR DAY?" or "KIDS! DID YOU FINISH YOUR HOMEWORK?" or "I'M FEELIN' SUSHI TONIGHT!"

Anyway, I know it's not very Christian of me, but every time his commercials come on, I kinda want to punch him in the face.

P.S. There are some hilarious videos of him (some for fake products) on YouTube. Specifically the gangsta remix.

Andy Richter to Rejoin Conan O'Brien

When Conan takes over The Tonight Show on June 1, Andy Richter will become the announcer, a role once taken by Ed McMahon for Johnny Carson as well Edd Hall and John Melendez for Jay Leno. I'm still trying to figure out how Stuttering John became the announcer for Leno.

According to MSNBC.com, Conan said in a press release, “Andy is one of the funniest people I know, and we’ve maintained a close friendship since he left ‘Late Night'. We have a proven chemistry that will be an incredible asset to ‘The Tonight Show.’”

Richter will also star in some sketches on the show. Read more here.

I guess this means Joel Godard will be staying in New York.

Fallon Scores Good Guests

On March 2nd Jimmy Fallon takes over NBC's Late Night, the show once hosted by David Letterman and (until last night) Conan O'Brien, on March 2. And his first week of guests look promising.

Robert DeNiro will be the first guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Musical guest that night? Van Morrison.

The New York Post says other week one guests include Tina Fey, Jon Bon Jovi and Santigold on March 3; Cameron Diaz and Billy Crudup on March 4; Serena Williams, Ludacris and Donald Trump on March 5, and Drew Barrymore and Mario Batali on March 6.

Perhaps the craziest and coolest thing about Fallon's "Late Night" is house band The Roots, who announced they have retired from touring to dedicate themselves fully to the show.

You may have noticed that many of the first week guests already have connections to Fallon. Barrymore costarred with him in Fever Pitch. Tina Fey was his Saturday Night Live castmate and co-anchor of Weekend Update. Several of the other guests hosted or guested on SNL. Cameron Diaz, a good friend of Jimmy, has hosted SNL several times and shined in his "Barry Gibb Talkshow" sketch with Justin Timberlake.

And of course there's this:

I wonder how Conan really feels...

So, Norm Macdonald was on an episode of Late Night With Conan O'Brien last week. He sort of summed up how a lot of people feel.

From Lisa de Moraes' Washington Post article (read it here) :

"It's stunning how Jay Leno outfoxed you again."

"Yeah, he's good," Conan said, laughing uncomfortably, as the story started to veer off-script.

"He's very good...He's the shrewdest guy," MacDonald continued, in re Leno. "He outfoxed -- you're in good company -- he outfoxed Johnny Carson, David Letterman. Every 10 years, some redheaded rube shows up," MacDonald plowed on.

"I'm like some clown off the bus with a cardboard suit: 'Gee, golly! This is going to be great!' " Conan joked-but-not-really.

Here's where MacDonald broke into his Leno imitation: " 'Yeah, you can come after me!' And you go, 'Hey, thanks, Jay!' "

"Uh-huh," said Conan, still not looking completely happy.

MacDonald is now in high gear: "Your agent is like, 'There's good news and bad news. You are doing "The Tonight Show," it's true. But remember that discussion we had when you said, "I will never have to [:O] follow Leno again?" ' "

More Conan laughing uncomfortably while the audience cheers and applauds.

"Yeah, yeah. It's so nice to have you back, Norm. It's so very nice to have you back -- and you bring joy to so many people," Conan said, and then he tried clumsily to change the subject: "And, you know what, I'll tell you something, Norm. These are tough times, people need to laugh now. Because -- it's the economy."

Da dum dum.

Last Late Night With Conan Tonight

I grew up with Johnny Carson and David Letterman on NBC's late night. My son will grow up with Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon. Oh and Carson. The other one. Carson Daly.

Hmm...Jimmy Fallon used to always refer to Carson Daly as "a massive tool" when he would imitate him on SNL. Wonder how that'll play out. "Goodnight everybody! Stay tuned for the massive tool!"

Tonight is the end of another era. Tune in and watch Conan destroy the rest of the set.

Here's a classic moment:

Stuff I Love - Lost

I've said it before (in great detail). I'll say it again. ABC's Lost is the best show on television. It may be my favorite show of all time.

Get to know Lost:

• Watch Lost's previous seasons on DVD or online.
  
• Explore the official site.
  
• Check out Campetin's YouTube videos.
• Peruse the Lost wiki.
• Subscribe to the official podcast.
  
• Catch the premiere of season 5 on ABC January 21.
  

The Line

Comedy nerds unite. Seth Meyers of Saturday Night Live recently directed an internet minisode (there's a word that didn't exist last year) series starring Bill Hader (SNL, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Joe Lo Truglio (The State, Superbad), Jason Sudeikis (SNL, The Rocker) and many other recognizable faces.

The Line is about a group of movie geeks who wait in line for eleven days outside a theater in anticipation of the latest and final film in the (fictional) FutureSpace saga.

Check it out here.

Free Tivo!

Yes, free I say. Well, good luck. I couldn't find the link but we got a free TiVo box from tivo.com and (believe it or not) Focus on the Family. Seems James Dobson's people are pleased with TiVo's ability to filter out the un-family programming television is so apt to offer and its ability to highlight quality family programming.

I wonder if they care that Dobson's favorite "gay cartoon" Spongebob is considered family fare.

Anyway, TiVo is pretty cool indeed. Although I don't have a network router and was unaware I needed to have the thing plugged into the internet at all times. I was only plugging it in to my cable modem when it ran out of programming info and then replugging my computer's ethernet cable back in. But that method stopped working and now it's just a digital VCR.

So, I'm going to have to call TiVo and figure this out because I want my "season pass" back for Greek, American Idol, and Lost. Oh and BET is now airing classic episodes of Diff'rent Strokes!

Lord help me. I am a geek. And a couch potato.