HomeImprovement
Fat Guys on Sitcoms Are ALWAYS (Pathetically) Trying to Lose Weight
Jason Alexander was just announced as the new Jenny Craig spokesperson, which is a pretty far cry from his old KFC-touting gig. Do we want to see Alexander in a bikini? Hell, naw. But if there's any way his new attitude can help reverse the trend of fat guys starring in sitcoms (often with svelte, gorgeous wives -- seriously, what's up with that?), then we're all for it.
Of course, it's not as though those chubsters never tried to shed the pounds ... some more enthusiastically than others. Because you know what's more hilarious than a funny fat guy? A funny fat guy as he pathetically attempts to lose weight. Here's hoping Alexander has more success than these guys did.
Home Improvement creators hoping to revitalize the family sitcom
Matt Williams has an impressive sitcom pedigree. He created the quintessential '90s sitcom with Roseanne. Then, with Carmen Finestra and David McFadzean alongside, he struck gold again with Tim Allen's Home Improvement. Now they're hoping lightning can strike twice (thrice?) with another take on the traditional family sitcom for ABC.Once a television staple, the family sitcom has probably never seen leaner days than right now. But with the multi-camera format making a comeback, there's no better time to test the waters. This time, the family will be a sports psychologist who works out of his home, along with his three kids and presumably a wife.
The big difference between this project and Williams' other two successes is the lack of an established comedian at the center of it. One could easily argue that both Roseanne and Home Improvement were just expansions of the stage acts of their respective stars. That was kind of a trend back then. Are you ready for a family sitcom in the vein of these classics, or has their time come and gone?
Sherri Shepherd's splashdown set for October
Last week on The View, Sherri Shepherd showed off her new body, clad in a bathing suit, and now it seems there was more to her remake than just good health and looking better. Shepherd's Lifetime sitcom, Sherri, will premiere on October 5, and you just know it's her intention to score a big time success. Lifetime has had this in the works for months. This is the network's first fully-owned sitcom, so you gotta believe the net has a lot of faith in Sherri.The show is based on Shepherd's stand-up, which is the same formula that worked for Roseanne, Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond), Tim Allen (Home Improvement) and a half-dozen other comics, and the exposure Sherri gets from The View won't hurt at all.
The same demographic that watches The View tunes in to Lifetime shows like Drop Dead Diva and Army Wives. Oh, and don't forget the Lifetime movies. Ladies love Lifetime.
Seven '90s TV Show Reunions That Need to Happen Right Now

The Zack Attack is back! Alas, it was for one night only.
Last night, Mark-Paul Gosselaar surprised Jimmy Fallon on 'Late Night' by showing up dressed as Zack Morris from 'Saved By the Bell' -- complete with giant mobile phone. Fallon's been obsessed with putting together a 'Saved By the Bell' reunion, and Gosselaar (who now stars in TNT's 'Raising the Bar') gamely agreed to participate -- if Fallon can get everybody else on board.
It got us thinking about which of our favorite '90s sitcoms need to hold reunions, like, yesterday. 'The Today Show' already hosted a 'Cosby Show' reunion, but here are some more meet-back-ups we really, really want to see:
ABC vows to bring funny back
The network that brought you Family Matters, Cavemen and is still bringing you the parade of unfunny that is According to Jim wants to bring the sitcom back to its rightful throne on the airwaves. ABC made a solemn vow to bring back more hit, half-hour sitcoms to the airwaves starting with the new TV season, according to Variety.
The network's heads made their announcement at last week's Television Critics Association gathering.
TBS loves Engvall
Where are the family comedies these days? They're a rare commodity on the big three plus Fox, and even if you include the animated clans on The Family Guy and The Simpsons and American Dad, you can count the family-type comedy shows on one hand. However, TBS has a throwback family comedy, one in The Cosby Show mode, and they're sticking with it. TBS's The Bill Engvall Show has just been given a third season renewal. The sitcom will be back in the summer 2009 with ten new episodes.
I've watched The Bill Engvall Show and enjoyed it. It's meant to evoke Cosby, but I also found a lot of Everybody Loves Raymond and Home Improvement in it as well, and that's a good thing. Engvall's a funny guy, and he's greatly aided in the show by sitcom vet Nancy Travis as his smart, attractive spouse.
No Emmy nomination for Rebecca Romijn and here's why
The Emmy nominations won't be announced until July 17, but we can tell you right now without a doubt that Ugly Betty's Rebecca Romijn will not be among the outstanding supporting actress in a comedy category at the Emmys. No, we're not psychic. It's just that her spokesman has confirmed that her name was never actually submitted. DOH! And why was that, you wonder. No good reason, said her rep, "It was an oversight." According to L.A. Times' Tom O'Neil, this isn't really that far-fetched an occurrence. Tim Allen, at the height of his Home Improvement success, missed a chance for an Emmy nomination when somebody fumbled the ball. The next year, his paperwork was hand-delivered, accompanied by the University of Southern California marching band.
Romijn's omission -- on the surface -- looks like a mistake. Yes, it's true that her status on the show is going from series regular to recurring, but I don't believe she purposely kept her name out of the running to in some way act out in protest against the show. It makes no sense? How is she hurting Ugly Betty by not getting an Emmy nomination? No, this was a screw up, nothing more.
TV Dads Quiz
Which TV dad liked to call his son "dummy"?Just like real fathers, TV dads come in all shapes and sizes.
We've got the good (Cliff Huxtable, 'The Cosby Show'), the bad (William Walker, 'Brothers & Sisters') ... and the really, really scary (Tony Soprano)?
How well do you know these popular paterfamilias? Take our TV dads quiz now and find out.
Even more spinoffs I would like to see
When one of our favorite TV shows goes off the air, it can be devastating. However, many times, the cancellation is the birth of a spinoff. Sometimes it can be a great thing (Frasier) and sometimes not so much (AfterM*A*S*H).
Here are some of this month's spinoff ideas that I would love to see.
Mr. Hawkins Goes to Texas
After the conspiracy of the Cheyenne government was revealed on Jericho, Robert Hawkins (Lennie James) thought the hard part was behind him. He had no idea what was in store. As America tries to form a new governing body, they are desperate for honest men to help lead the way. With help from Mimi Clark (Alicia Coppolla), his personal assistant, Hawkins fights government bureaucracy with the same zeal that he fought domestic terrorism.
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Tim Allen's scary Internet avatar
A few weeks ago, while doing some research on stand-up comedians who became sitcom stars, I ended up Googling a whole bunch of names to get some additional pre-television history on them. One of these was Home Improvement's Tim Allen. While looking up Tim's information I came upon a listing for his personal website. It was a weird listing though -- something like Tim Allen -- T'Avatar. Well, since I know Tim's not a Romulan, I thought this was just an abbreviation of something. Needless to say I clicked in.
Turns out, T'Avatar was short for Tim Allen's Avatar, which appears in an opening video to his website. Folks, this Avatar freaks the living piss out of me.
Reaper: Acid Queen
(S01E13) "Racist." - Tony
So, Andi decided to bite the bullet and tell Sam how she feels. Now I know this could easily be seen as a disastrous turn of events for Reaper but it could very well be awesome. The way I see it, Cady & Sam were destined to break up anyway and now Sam has one more very big reason to show Cady "the gate." The best part will be Cady making Sam's life a literal hell on earth after he dumps her. The whole situation could lead to a very cool cliffhanger for next season. I know what you're thinking but I'm being optimistic.
I'm curious about Sam's discovery that Steve and Tony are demons. I mean, if anyone else had walked in and saw them sanding their horns they would have completely freaked out but Sam, having had experience with that sort of thing, was able to handle it and react accordingly. Does Sam's relationship with the devil make him more susceptible to supernatural events? I think so.
Figuring out Pamela Anderson
A lot of people will tell you that Pamela Anderson got where she is today by her boobs alone, but that isn't much of a revelation. It was clearly her body that secured her roles in shows like Baywatch and Home Improvement, but what has always confounded me about her is that she never seemed to desire what I imagine most buxom actresses do, which is to have attention diverted from their chest and garner some legitimate respect for their craft. Okay, maybe describing Pamela's line reading as "craft" is a bit of a stretch, but as I've tuned in and out of her career over the years I can't help but notice how boobcentric it's been, and clearly by her own choice. There's her current show, Stacked, whose title refers directly to Pam's voluptuous frame, and then there was her recent Comedy Central Roast, where she wore a black see-through shirt, no bra, and was, for all intents and purposes, topless. It makes me wonder if maybe the reason she's so busty is because her boobs actually have brains inside them that have made all of her career choices while "Pam" is merely a biological attachment at the mercy of her double-brained Boob Master. The simple answer here seems to be that Pam is just using what she has for the benefit of a public that doesn't expect too much from her. What I find odd is that she doesn't seem to expect much from herself, either.
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