It would have been so easy for Tom Hanks to skip the 'Bosom Buddies' reunion yesterday during the taping of the TV Land Awards, which will air next Sunday night at 9PM. He's one of the biggest movie stars in the world, appearing in more popular and/or critically-acclaimed and/or biggest-grossing modern movies than most other actors, so why in hell would he even bother to go to the reunion of some low-rated show he was on 30 years ago for only 37 episodes?

Because he's Tom Hanks, that's why.

Can you imagine 'American Dad' without Roger? It just wouldn't work at all. Episodes with Roger in a pivotal role are generally at least twice as funny as those without him, which is probably why we're seeing more and more of him. That said, this week Klaus actually got himself pulled into a pretty solid B-story, which is a rarity.

In TV, there are two distinct worlds: our world and the cartoon world. So far, we've gotten along pretty well because, for the most part, cartoons have kept their animated butts in their world.

We don't allow it to happen very often because when cartoons try to invade the real world on those rare occasions, the transference is nightmarish. Their distorted animated features and expressions can make 'Eraserhead' look like an Olson Twins movie.

Here are five of the creepiest looking and sounding real life cartoon crossovers that will have you bleaching your brain with the magic of Clorox 2.

Family is really important, although these days on television, we're seeing more and more groups that are sort of like family, friends or office mates or co-workers that supply the support and love of a traditional clan, but don't have share any DNA with one another. But there's nothing quite as dysfunctional and compelling as a real family, the old-fashioned type with lots of siblings, some aunts and uncles, maybe even a set of grandparents.

Currently, there are four traditional families on TV that would be a lot of fun to hang out with. They're all different kinds of family, but they could all provide just the kind of craziness to create a really good time. Check it out:

Conan O'Brien's 'Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television' Tour might be a once-in-a-lifetime event, but that doesn't mean it isn't bound by the laws of concert tours.

Those are the unspoken laws of live entertainment physics that affect every staged entertainment venue across the globe. And just like actual physics, they are cruel mistresses with no pity for people who dare to challenge them or go outside their boundaries of motion, inertia and box office receipts.

With 'American Dad' restored to FOX's Sunday night lineup this past weekend, all seems right with the world. The network spent years building their "Animation Domination" block, and should be commended for bringing animation back into prime time. The problem is that they seem to have painted themselves into a corner, or at least that's how they're acting.

With the success of these cartoon comedies on Sunday night, FOX programmers seem to think Sunday is their only night for comedy, and they keep trying to establish new live-action hits there. Shows like 'Brothers,' ''Til Death' and the recent 'Sons of Tucson' have all failed to gain traction with the Sunday night FOX audience.

It's time for the network to consider expanding their comedy presence to another night. Leave the successful "Animation Domination" block alone, and let it do what you built it to do. Comedy is on the rise, and ABC proved you can launch a new night of it successfully, if the shows are good enough. But where should FOX go?

Normally, you'd think it odd to spotlight a series that lasted four seasons in a column like 'Gone Too Soon.' But 'Soap' was a different kind of series. Like the soap operas it was mocking, it was a premise that could have gone on for years and years. In fact, there's no reason to imagine that it couldn't still be on today.

From 1977 to 1981, Susan Harris crafted what would become a timeless comedy classic for ABC. But despite high ratings throughout its run, 'Soap' would only see four seasons, abruptly ending on a slew of cliffhangers that have frustrated fans for decades.

Despite that, the stellar cast and writing have stood the test of time in a way very few television series can, even if the wardrobes haven't. 'Soap' is as relevant and hilarious today as it was more than thirty years ago now. It deserved a longer life, and both the series and its fans deserved a true ending to Harris' brilliant vision.

Brian, one half of the gay couple Brian and Steve on 'The Sarah Silverman Program,' is a big fuzzy nerd. Which is okay, because that's also the personality of the man who plays him, Brian Posehn.

Posehn is a zombie-loving metalhead, a fan of cartoons and comic books, and a hilarious stand-up comedian. His new album, 'Fart & Wiener Jokes,' is out April 27th, featuring a shirtless, buffed up Posehn on the cover in a heap of comedy carnage (he says he wanted it to look like a Man O' War album).

We almost didn't get to see Brian and Steve again this year. Silverman and Comedy Central were at odds over the show's budget, until the LOGO network came in and threw in more money to make the production possible. Posehn isn't sure there will be a season four, but he's got plenty of other projects on tap (a possible spinoff for Brian and Steve, a faux reality show with party rockers Steel Panther, and a new Cartoon Network show).

Here's tonight's TV lineup (all times Eastern). All shows mentioned are new, unless otherwise noted.

8:00 to 9:00
ABC: 'Dancing With the Stars' -- Results show
The CW: '90210'
FOX: 'American Idol' -- 88 minutes long. See below.
NBC: 'The Biggest Loser' -- Two hours
PBS: 'NOVA' -- Focus on the ever-expanding universe

9:00 to 10:00
ABC: 'Lost'
The CW: 'Melrose Place'
FOX: 'Glee' -- Starts at 9:28. Stupid FOX!
BBC America: 'Survivors'
Discovery: 'Deadliest Catch'
PBS: 'Frontline' -- Profile on President Obama's administration
TLC: '19 Kids and Counting'

10:00 to 11:00
ABC: 'V'
NBC: 'Parenthood'
BET: 'Tiny & Toya'
Bravo: 'The Millionaire Matchmaker' -- Season finale
Food Network: 'Chopped'
FX: 'Justified'
HBO: 'REAL Sports with Bryan Gumble'
LOGO: 'The Big Gay Sketch Show'
MTV: '16 and Pregnant'
TLC: 'The Little Chocolatiers'
Travel: 'Food Wars'
USA: 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'

11:00
Bravo: '9 by Design' -- series premiere

Check your local TV listings for more information. After the jump, the late-night talk shows.

What would a sitcom starring Patton Oswalt look like? We may be about to find out. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oswalt has been cast in a new pilot, co-starring Matthew Broderick, called 'Beach Lane.'

The Reporter says Oswalt will be playing a newly-rich newspaper editor who hires Broderick's character, a "renowned journalist,' to try to revive his paper. Kristen Johnston has also been cast as Oswalt's real estate agent step-sister.

Oswalt is one of the most brutally funny stand-up comedians working today. That's not something you would have gotten from watching him on the popular series 'The King of Queens,' on which he played Spence, a meek supporting character. He was a good character actor on that show, but it wasn't a role that would showcase Oswalt's talent.

Here's tonight's TV lineup (all times Eastern). All shows mentioned are new, unless otherwise noted.

8:00 to 9:00
ABC: 'Dancing With the Stars' -- Two hours
CBS: 'How I Met Your Mother' and 'Rules of Engagement'
The CW: 'Life Unexpected'
FOX: 'House' -- Finally!
BBC America: 'Top Gear'
Cartoon Network: 'Adventure Time With Finn & Jake'
Nick: 'Glen Martin, DDS'
TLC: 'Little People, Big World' -- Two 30-minute episodes

9:00 to 10:00
CBS: 'Two and a Half Men' and 'The Big Bang Theory'
The CW: 'Gossip Girl'
FOX: '24'
NBC: 'Trauma'
A&E: 'Intervention'
Cartoon Network: '6TEEN'
TLC: 'Ultimate Cake Off'
TruTV: 'Operation Repo' (starts at 9:30)

10:00 to 11:00
ABC: 'Castle'
CBS: 'CSI: Miami'
A&E: 'Runaway Squad' -- Two 30-minute episodes
FX: 'Damages'
MTV: 'True Life'
Oxygen: 'Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood'
Showtime: 'Nurse Jackie' and 'United States of Tara'
TNT: 'Saving Grace'
Travel: 'Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations'

Check your local TV listings for more information. After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Two weeks ago, Jon Heder ('Napoleon Dynamite') dropped out of a sitcom for Comedy Central produced by Gary Sanchez Productions. As it turns out, the company, led by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy, had their replacement already on hand.

Sanchez has tapped Chris Gethard, who has a small role in their summer action comedy 'The Other Guys,' to replace Heder in the sitcom, which is now tentatively called 'Big Lake.'

Gethard is far from Heder's level of fame (his other project this summer is 'It's Not You' with Shannon Elizabeth and Steve Guttenberg), but Gethard comes with an impressive pedigree outside of television. He's a staple at the Upright Citizen's Brigade in New York (the New York Times recently featured one of his more inventive shows).

If you're not familiar with the cable channel Current TV (the one started by Al Gore), you're probably not familiar with the show 'InfoMania'. I would describe it this way: it's 'The Daily Show' meets 'The Soup,' with a dash of 'Best Week Ever.' I know, I know, you're saying to yourself, why do I need to watch yet another show that takes news and entertainment clips and gives them a snarky spin?

Well, that's a great question, person who says things to themselves. You need to watch this because it's a one-stop for all of the things you don't have the time or energy to keep track of and watch.

I don't know if you've heard. But, apparently, the bird is the word.

'Family Guy' snuck in a nice callback to the season seven episode, 'I Dream of Jesus,' when Peter burst out with "Surfin' Bird." We got just a taste of Peter's classic dance and performance, but it was enough to bring back the laughs from that excellent episode.

Luckily, the night didn't need to rest on its past glories, as Seth MacFarlane returned to Sunday night dominance. With the failure of 'Sons of Tucson,' FOX dusted off 'American Dad' and brought the series back early to pinch-hit with new episodes. While 'Family Guy' didn't bring us the promised crossover event -- that was apparently an April Fool's joke on us -- they did play the cruelest joke you could imagine on their cast: they told them all they were going to die.

Fans of 'Arrested Development' might not be too happy with David Cross after they read this interview. Why? Because he has doubts that an 'AD' movie is ever going to come to pass.

"(I)t's not going to happen," Cross told me the other day when I spoke to him about his new stand-up special, 'David Cross: Bigger and Blackerer,' which premieres on the new cable channel Epix on Saturday (Friday night) at midnight ET.

"Way too much time it's been (since the show ended)," he told me. "I mean, there's so many people involved. Everyone's doing their own thing, you know. And everybody's aged. It's just not going to happen. I'm sure I speak for everybody when I say we'd love for it to happen, we'd love to work on it, but just I don't think... not going to happen."

In the special, which Sub Pop will release on DVD in June, Cross talks about all his usual hot points: religion, the health care debate, politics... and airplanes. If you don't get Epix, the channel is providing a free pass to see the special online. The first thing I was curious about: the pre-teen kid who came out and did a piece of his act at the start of the special.