During James Franco's appearance on 'The Colbert Report' (Weeknights, 11:30PM ET on Comedy Central) he managed to get into an intense argument with Stephen Colbert over who had been the bigger fan of 'Lord of the Rings' author J.R.R. Tolkien growing up.

"I hear that you were a big Tolkien fan," Franco told Colbert. "I was the biggest Tolkien fan."

"You were not the biggest Tolkien fan, Colbert responded. "I was the biggest Tolkien fan."

Franco immediately disagreed, and what followed was a debate over happenings in the Tolkien universe that was probably quite illuminating and endearing to all the other "biggest Tolkien fans" out there.

Okay, this is strictly in the "rumor" department. In fact, this piece is so unlikely that I hesitate to write it. But, I'm going to anyway. Sci Fi Wire hinted that Doctor Who's David Tennant might be up for the role of Bilbo Baggins in the upcoming two-movie version of The Hobbit, which will be produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Guillermo del Toro.

The logic behind this is that David Tennant will be at Comic Con and the production team of The Hobbit will be at Comic Con. I'll leave it to you to find the gap in that logic.

Now, I love David Tennant as the Doctor, but he's completely inappropriate for Bilbo Baggins. He's too tall. He's too skinny. I'd even say he's too good-looking.

I wouldn't say I'm completely against the concept, but if you're going to cast an actor who played the Doctor as Bilbo Baggins, I recommend Sylvester McCoy.

The Sci Fi network just announced its purchase of the U.S. rights to a German production, titled Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King, based in part on the Ring of the Nibelungs myth. Never heard of the myth? Apparently it's been known to have inspired composer Richard Wagner's operas and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, so what's one more?

The movie stars Benno Furmann, Kristanna Loken, Alicia Witt, Julian Sands and Max Von Sydow. The German version first aired on German TV in 2004, where it was the year's top-rated TV movie.

Honestly though, if Sci Fi's track record is any indication, I have high hopes for this mini-series. Though, the question is, is this mini-series meant to stand on its own, or is it a test precursor to a full-blown series? The movie was top-rated on German TV in 2004, if that's any indication to its success here in the U.S.