Alan Alda
Harry Morgan, 'M*A*S*H' Star, Dies at 96
Harry Morgan, best known for playing Colonel Sherman T. Potter on the long-standing army dramedy 'M*A*S*H,' died at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, according to TheWrap. He was 96.Morgan played Col. Potter for eight years, until 'M*A*S*H's' final episode on Feb. 28, 1983. The series finale was the most watched television episode in US television history at the time, with a record-breaking 125 million viewers.
A decorated TV actor, Morgan also appeared in other iconic roles, like Detective Bill Gannon on 'Dragnet.'
"Harry had a thousand stories. That of course comes from appearing in over 100 movies, and probably 10,000 television programs," M*A*S*H executive producer Ken Levine wrote, paying tribute to Morgan on his blog on Wednesday. "Harry was very much like Colonel Potter. He raised horses, and in fact, in the final episode when he says goodbye to Sophie, that really was one of Harry's horses. The picture on Potter's desk was of Harry's real wife, Eileen. And the only difference in personalities between Harry and Sherman is that Harry held his liquor better."
Ferguson Curses at His Audience for Getting Involved in Alan Alda's Story (VIDEO)
Alan Alda appeared to be the only one on 'The Late Late Show' (Weeknights, 12:37AM ET on CBS) who was fascinated by his story of Marie Curie. We guessed that, at least based on Craig Ferguson's expression throughout, which was one of feigned interest.But then, when Alda revealed that the guy who revitalized passion in her heart after the death of her husband was himself married, the audience gasped. Not only were they following the story, they were clearly on the edge of their seats, and now so invested in her story as to be shocked.
Alan Alda, Hugh Dancy Stop by 'The Big C,' Bret Michaels Sues CBS for Tonys Fall and More TV News
Alan Alda is donning scrubs once more.The onetime 'ER' actor has booked a guest role on Showtime's 'The Big C' as Dr. Atticus Sherman, an oncologist whom Laura Linney's Cathy consults after her first cancer treatment fails, the network announced today.
Also joining the half-hour comedy: British actor Hugh Dancy, who has signed on for a recurring part, Deadline reports.
In other TV news ...
• Remember that time Bret Michaels got hit in the head with a stage piece at the Tony Awards? Well, he's suing CBS and the show's producers for not telling him how to exit the stage properly. [THR, Esq.]
• CBS corporate synergy alert! Julie Chen and Holly Robinson Peete of 'The Talk' and Drew Carey of 'The Price is Right' will appear on each other's shows in a crossover event scheduled for next week. [EW]
• Alton Brown has signed a new three-year deal with the Food Network. The star will continue to develop and host shows as well as appear on 'The Next Food Network Star,' 'The Next Iron Chef' and 'Iron Chef America.' [Deadline]
Alan Alda's Take on the Super Bowl Besting 'M*A*S*H' Record
You gotta love the feisty attitude of former 'M*A*S*H' stars Alan Alda and Wayne Rogers about Sunday's Super Bowl broadcast being a record-breaker. Alda was gracious about the 'M*A*S*H' finale being topped by the Super Bowl broadcast. The New Orleans Saints victory over the Indianapolis Colts had more total viewers than the 1983 'M*A*S*H' finale. But Alda and Rogers both added a shot of vinegar to their honey coated responses. Alda said in a statement to the L.A. Times, "If they broke our record, I'm happy for New Orleans and I hope it gives even more to cheer about to a city I love." However, he did wonder about how Nielsen measured the audience. It's a good question and one many people ask.
TV Squad Ten: Events from The West Wing that wouldn't really happen
As I mentioned before, I recently completed my summer project of watching the entire series of The West Wing from start to finish. After using a month or so to cogitate, I decided that while the show feign realism, it didn't quite achieve the mark.Many of the events I refer to occurred after creator Aaron Sorkin was ousted from the series. I take that as more than coincidence.
Major spoilers for the show follow after the jump, so if you haven't seen it yet, turn back now.
30 Rock: Kidney Now! (season finale)
(S03E22) "There's no such thing as bisexual. That's just something invented in the 90s so they could sell more hair products." - LizOK, so how long before "We Need A Kidney" is available for download from the NBC site or from iTunes? I suspect it will be up before you finish reading this review.
I was going to talk about how this episode was a little disappointing, but then I hit rewind on my DVR and watched it again and realized, wow, they actually hit all of the season finale notes rather perfectly. Not in a "we're having a baby!" or "he has amnesia!" way, but in a way that symbolized that "this is the end of the season but we're not going to go overboard" way. Some might think that having 20 big-name musical guest stars on a season finale actually is over the top, but it didn't turn out that way. This episode was quite funny.
Musical guest stars galore on 30 Rock finale
Guest stars include Elvis Costello, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Maroon 5's Adam Levine and Clay Aiken. The clip below reveals some shocking truths about some of these famous crooners, including Aiken's relation to NBC page Kenneth Parcell.
30 Rock: Mama Mia

(S03E21) "Liz Lemmon, I may hug people too hard and get lost at malls, but I'm not an idiot" - Tracy Jordan
Maybe Jack Donaghy is right. More family does mean more aggravation. The search for Jack's real dad yielded a plot based on Mama Mia (apparently, I've never seen it, and I'm pretty sure I'll die that way) and an appearance by TV's most recognizable liberal – Alan Alda.
Don't get me wrong. I love Alan Alda. I was looking forward to seeing him on the show. He was great. But imagine ultra-conservative Jack's heartache when he found out that Hawkeye Pierce was his dad. The look on Jack's face when Alda stormed out of his office and cursed in Yiddish said it all. And I'm pretty sure Jack never imagined himself living out the plot of an Abba musical. Liz Lemon seemed pretty excited about it, though.
May Sweeps Guest Stars
May sweeps has officially arrived. For TV fans that means a full month of explosive season finales, jaw-dropping cliffhangers and -- best of all -- a long list of famous guest stars from both the big and small screens.Among the A-listers you'll see this season: a daytime TV queen (Elisabeth Hasselbeck), a 'Star Trek' icon (Leonard Nimoy) and a two-time Oscar winner (Jodie Foster) who will finally let Maggie Simpson do the talking.
Check out our guest stars gallery to see when all of Hollywood's finest will be sweeping their way onto your favorite TV shows.
Seven people we'd like to see on Dancing With The Stars - VIDEO
Well, it's official. Yesterday, ABC announced their new line-up for the eighth season (!) of Dancing With The Stars. And, as usual, the names chosen range from weird to ... even weirder (really, David Alan Grier?). Not that we necessarily disagree with the producers' choices, but we'd like to take a moment to suggest seven potential choices of people we believe to be fully primed for a spot on the dance floor.Listen up, DWTS producers. Season nine is just around the corner, and Alan Alda is probably waiting by the phone. (...In our wildest dreams, that is.)
Burn Notice: Double Booked
(S02E08) I like it when old friends of the main character show up for a visit. Generally, because they inevitably give out some personal information. For example, it seems that Michael has had a fondness for yogurt for some time now. The other tidbit was that Michael didn't have such high moral fiber back when he was working for the government. I'm willing to bet it was the reconnection to his family and friends that brought him back from the dark side.
The other thing that visits from old friends bring us is cool guest stars. Tim Matheson doesn't work near enough for my tastes and to see him turn up as a douchebag ex-coworker of Michael's was fun.
Five more television personalities who have pitched computers - VIDEOS
Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to take you into the world of how a writer of TV-related items thinks during his day. After reading about Jerry Seinfeld's new role as pitchman for Microsoft's Vista operating system my mind didn't turn to thoughts of how Jerry has become a corporate shill and will do anything to get his mug back on television. Nor did I think about the many pluses and minuses of Microsoft Vista. No, what I reflected upon was the fact that Jerry is not the first high-profile television personality to promote a computer.
That, in turn, brought me to YouTube and its glorious library of video history, from which I was able to cull a few examples of those other big-time TV folks who expounded on the glories of those new-fangled personal computers. New-fangled, you question? Yes, because these examples all come from the 1980s: the dawn of the personal computer era. Here are five examples of our favorite stars promoting the dickens out of their Commodore, Atari, and Texas Instruments computers.
Hawkeye and Trapper, together again - VIDEOS
A lot of M*A*S*H fans were upset when Wayne Rogers left his role of Trapper John on the CBS show. Many thought he wouldn't have the success he had on the show and others just missed the character (he was replaced by Mike Farrell's B.J. Hunnicutt). He went on to many guest roles and a short-lived, 1976 private eye series I liked, City of Angels. But he actually made most of his money over the past 30 years from smart financial investments. So much so that he's now a commentator on the FOX Business Network. His recent guest was his former co-star Alan Alda.The two talk about several things in the first video, including Alda's new movie (Diminished Capacity), memory loss, Alda's award nominations, and their days on M*A*S*H. In the second video, Alda sticks around for a discussion with an expert on shows that are actually good for you, and two of those shows are shows that Alda starred in (M*A*S*H and The West Wing).
Short-Lived Shows: Coronet Blue - VIDEO

This is a post about a TV show I've never even seen.
Coronet Blue was a short-lived TV show that ran on CBS in 1967. It was actually filmed in 1965 and CBS canceled it, deciding to burn off the episodes during the summer. The show actually did better than expected, but by that time the people involved in the show had moved on to other things. The show's star, Frank Converse, went on to N.Y.P.D. (hey, if you mix that show title with this one you get...NYPD Blue!).
Whatever happened to the cast of M*A*S*H?
AOL has an interesting slide show over at their TV section, about the cast of M*A*S*H and what they're up to now.
Of course, we know what happened to a few of them. McLean Stevenson and Larry Linville both passed away, and Alan Alda almost became President of the United States. But I wasn't aware that Wayne Rogers wasn't acting much anymore and had made a ton of money in the business world and was on the board of directors of a Fortune 500 company and appears on a FOX business show, Cashin' In.
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