Alan Kirschenbaum
Comedy writer Alan Kirschenbaum, who co-created CBS' Yes, Dear as well as the network's midseason comedy Friend Me, has died of an apparent suicide, Deadline.com reports. He was 51.
Kirschenbaum, son of comedian...
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Gary Collins
Gary Collins has passed away at the age of 74.
The TV actor and host died a little before 1 a.m. Saturday morning in Biloxi, Miss. of natural causes, TMZ reports.
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Kyle Bornheimer
Worst Week's Kyle Bornheimer has landed a role on ABC's comedy White Man Van.
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Bobby Bowman
ABC has ordered production of the pilot for White Van Man, written by Bobby Bowman, whose credits include serving as an executive producer of My Name is Earl and writer for Raising Hope and Yes, Dear.
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Trace Adkins
Kenny Powers vs. Trace Adkins?
If the country star had his wish, it could happen.
"[I love] Eastbound & Down. It's funny as hell," Adkins, a former little leaguer, tells TVGuide.com. It's the one show he'd love to appear on.
Check out photos of Trace Adkins
When he's not tuning into Eastbound & Down, Adkins, who can be seen next in The Lincoln Lawyer, satiates his TV sports appetite ...
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Clarissa Explains It All, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Nickelodeon is bringing back the '90s.
Popular sitcoms All That, Clarissa Explains it All, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Rugrats, Rocket Power, Salute Your Shorts, The Amanda Show and Kenan & Kel will be added to a block of programming on TeenNick called "The '90s Are All That!" Nickelodeon announced on Thursday.
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Question: I'm a 45-year-old mother concerned about today's programming. It seems all there is to watch is blood, murder and sex. Whatever happened to funny family shows? You cannot sit down as a family and watch TV anymore. I'm not sure whom the networks are trying to appeal to, but do they realize that there are still generations of families with kids watching TV at 8 pm? This is a sad state of affairs when I can't even let my 15-year-old sit down with me to watch TV. We're reduced to Nick at Nite! When there is a good show, the networks cancel it. Look at the history: American Dreams, Yes, Dear, all replaced with sex: Two and a Half Men, the CSIs, Grey's Anatomy. And how many nights can they shove Dancing with the Stars down our throats? I'm just disgusted that when I sit down to relax, there's nothing to watch anymore.
Answer: Unfortunately, I can't give you much hope. These days, the networks' idea of "family" programming takes the form of the more benign reality programs, like
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Question: I was just wondering if anyone happens to know if there's something wrong with Anthony Clark. He just doesn't seem to be himself on Last Comic Standing. His hands and voice are shaky.
Answer: You're not the only one who wrote in with this observation as the show ended its run. I haven't a clue if he wasn't feeling well this summer or something, but it seemed clear to me that he was peculiarly and particularly ill at ease in the role of host. He was painful to watch. But then, he made my skin crawl on Yes, Dear as well, so maybe I'm just not a fan ...
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Question: OK, please tell me what the new CW is thinking. I just read in the news section that the CW announced they will not be picking up Reba for next season. Yet when they first announced the merger, they listed Reba as an asset. Do they really have enough quality comedies in the works that they can afford to dump WB's No. 1 comedy? Is there any hope of Reba being picked up by another network? I am a huge Reba McEntire fan (both of her acting and singing). How can they treat this wonderful woman like yesterday's garbage?
Answer: All I can say is that CW must really not want this show on its schedule, because according to what the trades say, the network may have to pay a steep penalty to cancel Reba, which still had a year to go on its current WB contract (although in the long run, it may be cheaper not to produce a full season of episodes — don't ask me). To be honest, I was always puzzled about why Reba was on WB instead of on a more mainstream network like CBS, where she would be
...
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Question: First, let me say that I really look forward to reading your columns each week; we seem to have the same taste in programming. My question is about how and why there seems to be an ever-growing incongruity in this country these days in terms of what passes for good TV comedy. To be honest, it really bothers me that shows like Arrested Development and Sons & Daughters could never bring in viewers despite being two of the sharpest and wittiest comedies to be produced in recent memory. Even Scrubs has never been a commercial success, and I frankly marvel that (thankfully) it's been able to stick around for at least five seasons. At the same time, inane drivel such as According to Jim and Yes, Dear have enjoyed great success in viewership (even making it to syndication!). It just seems that more often than not the only TV comedies that survive are the stale, formulaic ones, while the innovative, edgy, truly funny ones die premature deaths. Are these comedy gems just ahead of ...
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