back to school

To some, it's the most wonderful time of the year. For our younger brethren, it's the most dreaded time period ever. Yes, it's time for kids to go back to school.

But, what if your school was made up of your favorite teachers from television? It'd be more fun, right? It's a fantasy we've all had here at TV Squad.

The school would be made up of TV legends. Buffy Summers would help us select classes/slay vampires and Mr. Feeny would give us sage advice, both in the classroom and over the shared fence of our homes. Naturally, the physical location of TV Squad High School would be Torrance High School, the school used for Sunnydale and West Beverly High School.

Recently we unearthed a page from the long-forgotten TV Squad High School yearbook of our dreams. It's just page one of the staff section, but man, don't you wish you went to this school?

Check out the full-size image ...

"I guess obviously you've downsized. You had to sell the desk." -- Robin Williams

Leno's had a couple of nights now to get a feel for what kind of show he wants to do, and figure out how to stay relevant in prime time. Most of the feedback that I've seen from people who saw it hasn't been very positive. They're disappointed that it feels so much like The Tonight Show.

If one of the ways he's trying to differentiate himself is by having longer comedy bits and fewer guests, then I think that's backfiring a bit because every single comedy video he's shown has gone on way, way too long. It's as if they're trying to create internet viral-worthy videos like Saturday Night Live has with their "Digital Shorts," but they're missing the mark.

This is the time of year when kids go back to school (maybe it happened a couple of weeks ago where you live or this week in other parts of the country), and Staples has pulled their classic "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" ad out of storage. This is one of my favorite commercials.

By the way, this was first run in 1994. Which means that the kids in the ad are probably out of college by now. You are old.

(S03E11) The first forty-five minutes is a documentary about the trainers and (season two winner) Matt Hoover visiting high schools to raise awareness about good nutrition. Not part of the game, but a worthwhile goal, and it's much better than a full hour of recapping, though even the fifteen minutes of recapping was too much filler for me. Still, I hope it doesn't start a trend among other reality shows. I don't look forward to seeing The Donald visiting his high school to teach business management and hair care, or Boston Rob giving rice rationing and lying lessons to middle-schoolers.

Trainer Bob Harper shows up wearing a suit at the school gym that looks like something Paul or Ringo gave away to a thrift store in 1965. Thankfully he soon switches to his usual workout clothes. And was it just me, or is Matt regained a lot of weight since his win last year?