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It's always disheartening when you see musical heroes of your teens and twenties face the reality of the current state of the music biz, because the results are never pretty. Sting songs become credit card commercials. Prince goes on American Idol. Billy Corgan dates Jessica Simpson. Before you know it, you find yourself rocking out to "No New Tale to Tell" by Love and Rockets as it plays in the produce section of the ShopRite, wondering what happened to your youth.
This is how I felt when I saw Ben Folds at the judges' table in NBC's The Sing-Off last night. Ben Folds Five's firsttwo albums were among my favorites of the mid-'90s; they combined piano power pop with a snarky edge to make very funny, singable music. I played those CDs over and over again. So what was he doing judging these a cappella show choirs, looking like a shorter version of Rainn Wilson?
Apparently, MTV has cast two guys named Tyler as both the central protagonist and antagonist. Tyler Posey plays the nerdy high schooler who gets bitten by a wolf and Tyler Hoechlin has been cast as his arch-nemesis, another werewolf. One can only wonder if this casting was done in hopes that they would be confused for Taylor Lautner, the werewolf in the latest Twilight movie.
The Dogg is back. That's right, rapper Snoop Dogg is returning to One Life to Live on February 24... and you know what? I'm excited about it. Believe it or not, but when it comes to musicians dropping into a daytime soap, Snoop's was one of the best. You do know that singers often are written into a soap for a song and scene or two, don't you? Well, they do. Oftentimes, however, it's just awkward and unreal.
One Life to Live, on the other hand, does it really well. The last time Snoop was there, back in May, he did a couple of songs and interacted with the cast. The writers made it that Snoop had a past history with Bo, so they could get into it a bit in a funny way. When Snoop returns in February, he and Bo wil mix it up again. The Dogg will also do a song from his new CD, Malice N Wonderland.
If there was one guy on the New York Yankees championship team this past season who would be best described as a "character," it's outfielder Nick Swisher. This guy always had a smile on his face like he knew he had landed in a cushy spot and was happy about it. Well, he's done it again. Swisher will be guesting on How I Met Your Mother, playing a really complicated role -- himself.
On the February 1 episode (tentative date), Swisher appears at MacLaren's Bar. The episode is called "The Perfect Week" and Nick shows up at the bar, competing with Barney for the attention of the ladies. Barney, reportedly, is not thrilled that a guy with World Series swagger is on his turf.
Well, I know it's not polite to say I told you so, but -- I told you so! There, now I feel better. Actually, I am thrilled that Idina Menzel is this-close to being cast on Glee as the female version of Mr. Schu. The character Idina's negotiating to play is the coach of Vocal Adrenaline, the top show choir in Ohio. In the winter finale, Will was telling the kids in New Directions that regionals were next and they would be going up against tougher competition, specifically Vocal Adrenaline.
It would have been a great thing if Idina was cast as Rachel's mother, because of the remarkable resemblance, but this character could be a real winner, too. For one thing, if she is like Will, she'll have plenty of opportunities to perform. I don't think she'll be pulling out "Defying Gravity" -- been there, done that -- but there's a whole bunch of other songs she can do and do them well. After all, she is a Broadway veteran and a Tony winner. And she may be in all nine episodes to complete the season.
The world has fallen in love with The Big Bang Theory. That's no big shock here at TV Squad. Most of us have been swooning for the show since it began. However, now the Nielsen ratings are starting to reflect our enthusiasm. Monday night's episode of Big Bang was a series high, and surpassed Two and a Half Men, its lead-in and the anchor of CBS's sitcom stable. Until now.
For the record, in the 18-49 rating, Big Bang had a 5.7; Men had a 5.1. In total viewers, the Chuck Lorre comedy hour of Men and Bang drew approximately 15 million watchers. Now, if you're curious about the upcoming episode, read on. However, if you don't want to be spoiled or listen to some speculation, stop here.
NBC has just released the first two promos for Parenthood, which is now premiering in March, after the Olympics. The first one features Graham as Sarah, a single mom to two difficult teenagers. Her daughter is played by Arrested Development's Mae Whitman. It's a short clip, but it's a pretty good indication of the character, which is basically what would have happened to Lorelai Gilmore if Rory hadn't turned out so perfect.
We just finished recording our podcast where we interviewed Rich Sommer about Mad Men (what, you think we talked to him about Tiger Woods?), and when the subject came around to leading man Jon Hamm, Sommer mentioned that Hamm will be hosting Saturday Night Live in January.
That's great news; one of the funnier episodes of the last few seasons was Hamm's hosting stint last year. "Jon Hamm's John Ham" alone would have made the episode a classic, but his James Mason impersonation, among other sketches, made it a near-classic.
From what I've heard -- from none other than Matt Weiner himself -- Hamm does a mean Tim Gunn impression. Let's hope that Project Runway has started by the time Hamm comes on SNL so he can break it out. It's not a big stretch to go from James Mason to Tim Gunn, so I'd imagine it's as killer as advertised.
To whet your appetite, here's the "Jon Hamm's John Ham" sketch:
Just a week or so ago we told you about Heroes' Sendhil Ramamurthy being cast in the new NBC comedy Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, which stars David Tennant, Jane Curtin and Jeffrey Tambor. Now comes word that maybe Ramamurthy shouldn't give up his gig on Heroes just yet.
Jerry O'Connell has replaced Ramamurthy in the role of a lawyer who is a close friend of Tennant's (the plot of the show has Tennant as a lawyer who suddenly gets nervous and can't appear in court so he trains his clients to represent themselves - can't wait to see how they keep that plot fresh).
Of course, we should have seen this coming. I believe O'Connell has a contract with the universe that he has to appear in a new quirky sitcom every single year. In 2008 he starred in the short-lived Do Not Disturb, and in 2007 he starred in the short-lived Carpoolers.
Could it be that the cool show for guest appearances is going to be Glee? It well may be the case after Kristin Chenoweth's musical showstopper last October. Kristin's Tony-award winning costar from Wicked, Idina Menzel, wants to do Glee. How do we know? Her husband, Private Practice's Taye Diggs, confirmed it.
There's more to it than just that. Apparently the Glee fans -- Gleeks -- have noticed the remarkable resemblance between Idina and Lea Michele.
Why, she could be/play Lea's mother! They look alike and they are both big time Broadway belters. We've heard Lea's incredibly rendition of "Defying Gravity," the song that made Idina a star, on Glee, too.
It was bound to happen. We even wrote about it this past July. While a reunion show probably won't happen, it's always news when two cast members from the former hit sitcom Friends appear on screen together. In this case, it's Lisa Kudrow who will be guest-starring on Courteney Cox's sitcom, Cougar Town.
Of course, as a twist, they will not be friends in Kudrow's visit, but rather enemies. Kudrow plays a dermatologist that Cox's character goes to see. Will this be any different than Jennifer Aniston's appearance on Dirt playing a rival of Courteney Cox on that show?
I'm sure I'm simplifying what he's writing about because I'm not savvy about the form, but in his own words, he wrote, "I took the plunge and experimented with the form myself when I signed on to appear on 20 episodes of General Hospital as the bad-boy artist."
So on Saturday night, instead of going to a holiday party or shopping for gifts, gather around the TV and watch Kristin as E.J. Baxter, a New York publicist who comes up with the idea of a hunk calendar using the men of Montana. She goes west to find her twelve Montana men, and -- wouldn't you know it? -- she falls in love with one of the guys. Josh Hopkins from Swingtown. How bad could that be?
He hasn't take the job yet, but if he does he will replace Diane Sawyer, who we told you was going to take over for Charles Gibson when he vacates the anchor chair on World News. Gibson's last day will be Friday, December 18 and Sawyer's first day will be on Monday, December 21.
Part of the negotiations between Stephanopolous and the network revolve around the Sunday morning show he does now, This Week. He wants to keep that gig too while he works Monday through Friday on GMA. If he decides not to take the job for some reason, then current host Chris Cuomo could get the job (it must be odd to be the second choice even though you've done the exact job for a while). Whoever gets the spot will be co-host along with Robin Roberts.
Does it take a brainiac to play a brainiac? No, of course not. But when Danica McKellar guests on The Big Bang Theory on January 11, that's what they'll get. Not only is Danica well-remembered as the nearly-perfect Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years, Kevin's neighbor and the girl he always adored, she's also smart as a whip. She has the degrees to prove it.
A couple of years ago, TV Squad put Danica In the Limelight. Ryan learned that Danica had graduated Summa cum Laude from UCLA with a degree in Mathematics. She is the McKellar in the Chayes-McKellar-Winn Theorem.
It's always disheartening when you see musical heroes of your teens and twenties face the reality of the current state of the music biz, because the results are never pretty. Sting songs become credit card commercials. Prince goes on American Idol. Billy Corgan dates Jessica Simpson. Before you know it, you find yourself rocking out to "No New Tale to Tell" by Love and Rockets as it plays in the produce section of the ShopRite, wondering what happened to your youth.
We know a new version of the Michael J. Fox '80s flick 
The Dogg is back. That's right, rapper 
If there was one guy on the 
Well, I know it's not polite to say I told you so, but -- 
The world has fallen in love with 
We just finished recording 
Just a week or so ago we told you about 
Could it be that the cool show for guest appearances is going to be 
It was bound to happen. We even wrote about it 
If you had any doubt before, 
The Washington Post is reporting that 
Does it take a brainiac to play a brainiac? No, of course not. But when Danica McKellar guests on 
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