Category: Television

Worst Episode, Ever?
Guest stars rocked 14th season premiere of The Simpsons. The episode, Long Live Rock!, featured a who’s who of music superstars, including Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Lenny Kravitz and Brian Setzer.
Like most animated programs, The Simpsons’ voices are recorded first. Animators then follow the vocal cues in rendering the characters. Most of the drawing takes place in Korea. Each episode takes nine months to create.
Being a guest voice on The Simpsons is like getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It’s proof that you’ve arrived, are still in the game or at the very least are cool to kids.
Usually, casting celebrities on the show begins with an idea from one of the writers. But not always.
As the series closes in on 300 episodes, more than a hundred celebrity guest voices have been featured. In just one episode last May, Stan Lee, Jan Hooks, Carmen Electra, Reese Witherspoon and Dennis Weaver all took part.
Some, of course, work better than others. Many fans complain that celebrity-filled episodes are usually pretty lame. However, some celebs belong in Springfield. Setting aside semi-regulars Kelsey Grammer (as evil Sideshow Bob) and the late Phil Hartman (legal dud Lionel Hutz and B-movie idol Troy McClure), here’s a Top Ten list of who worked best, divided into two categories.
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CELEBRITIES AS CHARACTERS
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Dustin Hoffman: Lisa’s Substitute
Hoffman shone as substitute teacher Mr. Bergstrom in this early episode, in which he was coyly billed as “Sam Etic.”
Michael Jackson: Stark Raving Dad
If this was Jackson (no one at The Simpsons has ever confirmed it), he never appeared more human or sympathetic than he did here as a cartoon. He plays Leon Kampowsky, a hulking mental patient who thinks he’s Michael Jackson. Jackson as a crazy white guy? Could be. The voice over was credited to John Jay Smith. Lisa later makes a sly reference to Jackson and Hoffman in Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie: “Everyone had a cameo. Even Michael Jackson and Dustin Hoffman. Of course, they weren’t credited, but you knew it was them.”
Jackie Mason: Like Father Like Clown
Another oldie but a goodie, with Mason as Krusty the Klown’s cranky pop, Rabbi Krustofski, in a send up of The Jazz Singer. “Seltzer is for drinking, not for spraying,” sez Krustofski.
Rodney Dangerfield: Burns, Baby Burns
Dangerfield was a perfect fit as Burns’ boorish son Larry in this eighth-season outing. “Whoa, this guy’s got more bread than a prison meatloaf.”
Jon Lovitz: A Streetcar named Marge
Lovitz perfectly overplays Springfield director Llewellyn Sinclair, who casts Marge (opposite bare-chested Ned Flanders) in a musical version of A Streetcar named Desire. “I have directed three plays in my career, and I have had three heart attacks,” Sinclair says. “That’s how much I care, I’m planning a fourth.” Lovitz has popped up in a few episodes, even resurrecting his old Critic character Jay Sherman.
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CELEBRITIES AS THEMSELVES
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Ringo Starr: Brush With Greatness
Decades after she sent Ringo a portrait she painted, Marge receives a belated thank you note from the former Beatle. “Dear Marge,” he wrote, “Thanks for the fab painting of yours truly. I hung it on me wall. You’re quite an artist. In answer to your question, yes, we do have hamburgers and fries in England, but we call french fries ‘chips.’ Luv Ringo.” Two other Beatles, Paul McCartney (with wife Linda) and George Harrison, also jammed with The Simpsons.
Adam West: Mr. Plow
In this great episode, Homer meets West behind the wheel of a battered Batmobile at an auto show. Homer: Gasp! Adam West! Kids! Batman!
Lisa: That’s not the real Batman. Adam West: Of course I’m the real Batman. See, here’s a picture of me with Robin. Bart: Who the hell is Robin?
Kim Basinger, Alec baldwin and Ron Howard: Brush With Greatness
The stars head to Springfield for peace and quiet until Homer, their personal assistant, blabs. Howard, who also once appeared as a Hollywood Square on The Simpsons, does a great job goofing on himself. Homer calls him both Fonzie and Horshack, but not Opie.
James Woods: Homer And Apu
The intense actor takes Apu’s place at the Kwik-E-Mart in order to research a role as a convenience store clerk. Naturally, he is robbed. Robber: All right, you. Hand over the cash and don’t try any funny stuff. Woods: Hey, pal, I assure you — if I tried any funny stuff, you would be in hysterics.
Mel Gibson: Beyond Blunderdome
At a test screening, Homer declares Mel Gibson’s new movie, a remake of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, to be “more boring than church.” Gibson hires Homer to rework the film and he turns it into a mindless, ultra-violent mess. Producer: You desecrated a classic film. This is worse than Godfather III. Gibson: Whoa, whoa, hey, whoa! Let’s not say things we can’t take back.
Good night, Springton … there will be no encore!

‘Greek Wedding’ Star Set for SNL
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Nia Vardalos, whose “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” has become a surprise box-office hit, is taking on a new role as “Saturday Night Live” host.
Vardalos will appear on the NBC show this Saturday, the network said. The musical guest is hip-hop artist and actress Eve.
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding, written by and starring Vardalos, has slowly accumulated more than $185 million in ticket sales since it was released last April. A sitcom based on the movie and starring Vardalos is planned for CBS.

BIG APPLE-BOUND
Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Tori Spelling set to star in and coexecutive produce a still-untitled comedy for NBC about an up-and-coming corporate publicist at a large New York firm who is assigned the dregs of the company’s accounts.

FULL CIRCLE
Former Spin City costar Alan Ruck, who nearly died last year from a strep infection but recovered in time for Spin’s series finale, signing on to play a cancer patient who’s going to die in Scrubs. The episode airs December 5.

PAGING TIFFANY, AND DEBBIE GIBSON, AND TONI BASIL, AND OXO, AND LIMAHL, AND…
Fox developing a summer reality series called Second Chance, which would give washed-up pop idols an opportunity to kick-start their careers. Variety describes the show as a blend of VH1’s Behind the Music and American Idol.

SOUTH PARK creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone talk a bit about bringing Kenny back to life this season.
If South Park fans have heard this catchphrase once, they’ve heard it 1,000 times: “Oh my God, they killed Kenny! You bastards!” But the hapless red-hooded boy always lived to die again ó that is, until the end of season five, when a muscular disease seemingly snuffed him for good. (Kenny was totally M.I.A. in season six.) But take heart, for TV Guide Online has learned Kenny McCormick will return!
“We’re not exactly bringing Kenny back,” teases South Park co-creator Trey Parker. “We’re doing something more clever than that.” Adds his partner, Matt Stone: “We’re kinda sorta bringing him kinda back…” Finishing Stone’s irksomely vague thought, Parker says: “In the very way you’d expect South Park to bring him back, we’re bringing him back.”
Is it true that Parker and Stone deep-sixed Kenny simply because they got tired of writing all of his unholy deaths and resurrections? “It actually came just from an idea that it would be really funny to do an episode where Kenny died and everyone cared,” Parker laughs. “It was a whole sort of movie-of-the-week episode where this child was dying and everyone was concerned ó whereas obviously it had been going on for years and no one gave a s–t.
“It turned out to be a really funny episode,” Parker proudly adds, “and we were like, ‘Let’s keep him gone. Let’s see how long we can ride this out.’ We started focusing on other characters, like Butters, to take his place and really had fun. It’s been cool.”
Well, Kenny’s impending exhumation is sure to have South Park fans in speculation overdrive. Might he turn up as a ghost again? Could he have a long-lost twin? Or will he rise out of Kyle’s toilet bowl like Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo?
Like the gleeful geeks they are, Parker and Stone reply in unison: “It’s better than that! Better than that!”

‘CSI: Miami’ Sniper Episode to Air
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A “CSI: Miami” episode about a sniper that CBS had considered postponing will air as planned Nov. 18, the network said Wednesday.
The decision to air the episode came after arrests were made Oct. 24 in the Washington area shooting attacks that left 10 people dead and three others wounded.
John Allen Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17, face federal and state charges in connection with the attacks that began Oct. 2.
The “CSI: Miami” story was conceived in August and the script was delivered weeks before the real-life shooting attacks began, CBS said last week.
The episode features a forensics team studying crime scenes from an attacker who kills people from atop a building. The Monday night drama is a spin-off of CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”
Earlier this month, 20th Century Fox said it was delaying the release of the movie “Phone Booth,” a thriller about a man who answers a pay telephone and finds he’s the target of a faraway gunman he can’t see.

Fox Disbands ‘Girls Club’ After Two Episodes

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – After two airings, Fox has returned its verdict on its legal drama “Girls Club,” and the news is not good for the defendant.
The network canceled the heavily promoted show on Tuesday, after it posted a significant decline from its already weak premiere episode.
That first showing finished fifth in its time slot, according to Nielsen Media Research, and was 82nd for the week out of 131 total rated programs.
The second episode was down 16 percent in total viewers from the first show and down 16 percent in the ratings among audiences aged 18 to 49, a key demographic for advertisers.
“Girls Club” was the latest drama from famed producer David E. Kelley. The show was dogged by negative reviews and largely failed to draw young women, its target audience.
Fox had counted on the show as the successor to another Kelley legal drama, “Ally McBeal,” which was a hit for the network before ending its run last season.
Kelley, best-known for shows like “L.A. Law” and “Picket Fences,” has two other shows on air this season: “Boston Public” Monday nights on Fox and “The Practice” Sunday nights on ABC.

Women’s Group Blasts TV, Calls it Sexist
In its third annual report on how women are portrayed in prime time TV, the National Organization for Women (NOW) is vilifying the six top networks, accusing them of pandering to an “adolescent boy’s fantasy world.” According to the study, the networks employ 134 more men than women. They also criticized the nets for those women being in the beauty standard of Jennifer Aniston (FRIENDS), i.e. “young, thin and white.” “Network programming sends a distorted, often offensive image of women, girls and people of color brought to you through the point of view of white men and boys,” said NOW Foundation president Kim Gandy. “Television remains very much a man’s world, with women serving primarily as eye candy.” Most of the networks say they have not seen the report yet and therefore do not have a comment.

Seinfeld to Unveil New Comedy Routine on Letterman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Superstar comedian Jerry Seinfeld plans to try out an all-new routine this Thursday on the CBS “Late Show with David Letterman,” his first TV stand-up performance since his last visit with Letterman in March 2001.
Seinfeld’s most recent “Late Show” appearance comes as the former television sitcom star promotes his newly released film “Comedian,” a behind-the-scenes look at the stand-up circuit from his perspective and that of up-and-coming comedy talents.
Seinfeld recently appeared with Letterman’s NBC rival, “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” to talk about his movie and the release of his illustrated children’s book, “Halloween.” And while he showed a clip from the movie in which he and Leno were seen joking together, Seinfeld did not perform any stand-up on the show.
Seinfeld’s previous “Late Show” visit in March 2001 marked his return to television stand-up comedy after nearly three years. Prior to that, he had last performed TV stand-up during his August 1998 HBO comedy special, “I’m Telling You for the Last Time.”
His self-titled NBC sitcom, starring Seinfeld as a New York comedian hanging out with three of his pals — Elaine, George and Kramer — was one of the biggest prime-time hits of the 1990s and was ranked this year by the editors of TV Guide magazine as the greatest television show of all time.
CBS is owned by Viacom Inc. and NBC is part of General Electric Co.