chimpanzees

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• The big scandals are the ones we love to talk about. Let's not talk about what Sharon Osbourne sends people wrapped up in Tiffany & Co. boxes ever again.
• Three Hollywood chimpanzees are finally out of the hands of their abusive animal trainer.
• Steven Colbert's word "truthiness" was just named word of the year by Merriam-Webster (and they don't even think it's a word.)

The video's embedded after the jump below, or you can download the file directly (Quicktime required). You can also subscribe to this vodcast via our feed.

Here's a sad story with a happy ending. Three Hollywood chimpanzees that had been routinely beaten into performing will live out their days on an animal sanctuary far away from their former trainer Sid Yost. The chimps had appeared on That 70s Show, The Craig Kilborn Show and a litany of other TV series, films and commercials.

The move to kinder, gentler pastures comes on the heels of a lawsuit that had been filed against Yost by the Animal League Defense Fund. Once the Animal League's allegations of cruel and unusual punishment were brought to light, Pam Anderson, Alec Baldwin and Bob Barker pledged never to appear on screen with chimpanzees again. (If they'd taken W.C. Fields' advice about kids and animals, they never would have in the first place.)