lewis black

I've never found Lewis Black particularly funny. I mean, he's OK, but I haven't found the greatness that a lot of people have. I like it better when he's being interviewed than when he's on The Daily Show or doing standup, like this appearance on G4's Attack of the Show. He talks about how we don't need news crawls on the news networks (I agree), religion, and his new book. (Video also here.)

The History Channel has gained the nickname "The Hitler Channel" among some I know for its constant airing of World War II specials (many of featuring, well, Hitler). Perhaps they were thinking of that reputation when they put together their new slate of specials, which, according to Broadcasting & Cable, includes specials hosted by Jon Stewart and Lewis Black of The Daily Show.

Stewart will be given two hours with which to target the immigration issue in a special called The Naturalized. Considering the current economic implications of immigration and its role in last year's presidential campaign, there should be plenty for Stewart to work with to keep the special current. Stewart has already begun work on it, according to B&C. The special will follow eight people on the track to becoming U.S. citizens. the special will air in the fourth quarter of 2009.

• AMC has a Breaking Bad marathon all night.
• At 6:30, TBS has the Cubs vs. the Dodgers, followed by the Red Sox vs. the Angels.
• At 8, ABC has a new Pushing Daisies, followed by the season premieres of Private Practice and Dirty Sexy Money.
• CBS has a new Old Christine at 8, then new episodes of Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY.
• NBC has a new Knight Rider, followed by new episodes of America's Got Talent and Lipstick Jungle.
• FOX has new episodes of Bones and 'Til Death (two episodes).
• The CW has a new America's Next Top Model at 8.
• At 9, Bravo has a new Project Runway, followed by a new Top Design.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters at 9, then a new Destination Truth.
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, then a new Criss Angel Mindfreak.
• At 10, FX has a new Sons Of Anarchy.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Lewis Black's Root Of All Evil.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk show listings.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Glad I held off on getting the season one set of Banacek, as the complete series gets released on DVD tomorrow. I'm also interested in The Starlost, since I think it's something I haven't seen before but I've heard many things about (not all good).

Of course, you Sports Night fans are going to want the new 10th Anniversary complete series set, even if you have the old set.

• Adam-12 - Season 2
• B.L. Stryker - Complete Series
• Banacek - Complete Series
• Beauty and the Beast - Complete Series
• Click & Clack's As The Wrench Turns
• Edward the King - Miniseries
• Laredo - Best of Season 2, Part 1
• Mr. Bean - Best of Mr. Bean, Vol. 2
• My Name is Earl - Season 3
• My Three Sons - Season 1, Vol. 1
• The New Fantastic Four - The Impossible Man
• Numb3rs - Season 4
• Lewis Black's Root of All Evil
• Sports Night - Complete Series
• The Starlost - Complete Series
• When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions

• At 8, FOX has a new Bones, followed by the season premiere of 'Til Death and the series premiere of Do Not Disturb.
• CBS has the season finale of Greatest American Dog at 8.
• NBC has a new America's Got Talent at 8.
• There's a new America's Next Top Model on The CW at 8.
• At 9, PBS has a new Great Performances.
• Discovery has a new Mythbusters at 9, then a new Man vs. Wild.
• Bravo has a new Project Runway at 9, followed by a new Top Design.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters at 9, then a new Destination Truth.
• GAC has a new Next GAC Star at 9.
• Sundance has a new Architecture School at 9.
• Showtime has a new Inside The NFL at 9.
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, followed by two new episodes of Criss Angel Mindfreak.
• At 10, FX has a new Sons of Anarchy.
• Food Network has a new Dinner: Impossible at 10.
  
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Lewis Black's Root Of All Evil.
• Also at 10:30, TCM has Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• More all-night coverage of the Republican National Convention on the news channels, some PBS channels, and CSPAN. Networks at 10.
• TCM has political movies all night.
• At 7, USA has The U.S. Open.
• At 8, FOX has the two-hour season premiere of Bones.
• CBS has a new Greatest American Dog at 8.
• The CW has the season premiere of America's Next Top Model at 8.
• Discovery has a new NextWorld at 8.
• At 9, FX has the series premiere of Sons of Anarchy.
• Bravo has a new Project Runway at 9.
  
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, followed by a new Criss Angel Mindfreak.
  
• At 10, Bravo has the season premiere of Top Design.
• There's a new Man vs. Wild on Discovery at 10.
• Food Network has a new Dinner: Impossible at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Lewis Black's Root of All Evil.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• The news channels have the Democratic National Convention all night, with the main networks joining at 10.
• At 7, USA has more coverage of The U.S. Open.
• At 8, CBS has a new Greatest American Dog.
• NBC has a new, two-hour America's Got Talent at 8.
• Bravo has a new Project Runway at 9, then a new Shear Genius.
• Discovery Channel has a new NextWorld at 8, followed by a new Mythbusters.
• At 9, Sundance Channel has a new Architecture School.
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, then two new episodes of Criss Angel Mindfreak.
• At 10, Food Network has a new Dinner: Impossible.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new Lewis Black's Root of All Evil.
• Also at 10:30: E! has a new Sunset Tan.

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 8, CBS has a new Greatest American Dog.
• PBS has a new Click & Clack at 8, followed by a new Nova scienceNOW.
• TCM has The Glenn Miller Story at 8, then The Benny Goodman Story.
• At 9, NBC has a new Baby Borrowers.
• FOX has a new So You Think You Can Dance at 9.
• There's a new Dog The Bounty Hunter at 9, then a new Criss Angel Mindfreak.
• History Channel has a new MonsterQuest at 9.
• Bravo has a new Project Runway at 9, followed by a new Shear Genius.
• Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters International at 9, then two new episodes of Scare Tactics.
• Also at 9: Food Network has a new Throwdown with Bobby Flay at 9.
• At 10, ABC has a new Primetime: Crime.
• TruTV has a new Black Gold at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has the season premiere of Root of All Evil.

Check your local TV listings for more.

So, what's more evil to you, ultimate fighting or bloggers/commenters?

That's the question that will be debated tonight at 10:30 pm on the second season opener of Comedy Central's Root of All Evil. Arguing that ultimate fighting is worse is Andy Daly, while Patton Oswalt argues that blogs and the people who comment on them (cough) are the true evil in this world.

You know, even though I blog all day long I can see Oswalt's point, especially about the comments left on some blogs. I mean, at least with ultimate fighting, if you don't like it, you can ignore it completely. It's a niche thing. But if you're the type of person who reads blogs and reads the comments section of many blogs or you work on the web, it's hard to get away from, and many comments are just...ugh. It's easy to do when you're anonymous. You can really put forth the hate and vitriol (but not here, because TV Squad readers are absolute saints).

Oswalt has a blog too. Not sure if he reads the comments. After the jump, the opening arguments from tonight's show.

Lewis Black's second season of Root of All Evil is back next week. And the topics on the premiere are close to my heart: Ultimate Fighting Vs. Bloggers. Because I am both a blogger and an ultimate fighter (okay, maybe not the second one), I will definitely be tuning in to see Patton Oswalt and Andrew Daly argue the case for each and hear Black's final judgment on which is more evil. I have a sinking feeling it's going to be bloggers.

The show is also getting a few new comedians. Jerry Minor and Andrea Savage will join Daly, Oswalt, Greg Giraldo, Andy Kindler, Kathleen Madigan, and Paul F.Thompkins. And here's some of the other topics: Steriods Vs. Boob Jobs, Disney Vs. Scientology, Strip Clubs Vs. Sororities, Olympic Games Vs. Drinking Games, NRA Vs. PETA, and The Hills Vs. Rocket Scientists. I think the Disney Vs. Scientology episode is going to be especially funny. Which debate do you think will be good?

Root of All Evil premieres on July 30th at 10:30 p.m. ET on Comedy Central.

"Total (Lack of) Recall": Either the House Judiciary Committee loves talking about torture or they haven't been getting any answers during their hearings. Last week, they managed to pull John Ashcroft in for questioning, but they might as well have stayed at home. I can't look at John Ashcroft without thinking of "Let the eagle sooooar", so I'm glad that Jon Stewart brought it up. No mention of Robert Wexler's fantastic "I enjoy cocaine because it's a fun thing to do" from The Colbert Report, but we know everyone was thinking it.

Comedy Central has ordered a second season of the weekly series Lewis Black's Root of All Evil. Lauren Carrao, the president of original programming and development, made the announcement today adding that she was thrilled the second season could begin as early as this summer. Of the show's renewal, the comedian joked, "I am conflicted. I am thrilled it's been picked up but it means I have to go back to work."

For those of you unfamiliar with Black's show, it features a rotating set of comedians at a round table discussion of various pop culture topics. The press release gives "Dick Cheney Vs. Paris Hilton" and "beer vs. weed" as examples of past topics. The comedians argue who or what is the most evil and Lewis Black gives the final verdict. He also opens each show with one of his fiery monologues. Lewis Black also talked to TV Squad after the first season began.

Here are some of the comedians who have appeared on the show: Andrew Daly, Greg Giraldo, Andy Kindler, Kathleen Madigan, Patton Oswalt, and Paul F. Tompkins. The show returns on Wednesday July 30th at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.

"You Don't Know Dick": It's about time for another segment! I was worried they had run out of wacky things about our VP. The Today Show's Meredith Vieira stopped by Dick Cheney's house, which doesn't look quite as pixelated in person, to show the world just how rich and creepy his home is. Abandoned children's toys and lonely swings aren't exactly inviting images. The most amusing part of this was not the sneak peek at the Cheney household (although I'm sure you loved it), but the sheer terror evident in the audience's reactions to any mention of "nude, pixelated Cheney genitalia". That's actually the name of my new emo band.

When I was younger, people I knew had various ways of smoking weed. One guy even made a bong out of an apple once. I didn't know it at the time, but now I look back and he seems like the MacGyver of pot smokers. Though he's not the only one who did such a thing, of course.

Case in point: the cover of the new Comedy Central Home Grown DVD. It's a DVD that showcases various episodes of Comedy Central shows, including Chappelle's Show, Reno 911, TV Funhouse, The Sarah Silverman Program, Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, and Strangers with Candy. This is the cover that Paramount released to media outlets back in March. Now they've changed the cover to this, a closeup of a giant mushroom. Looks like they had second thoughts about having a bong on the cover of a DVD and decided to change it. Of course, I'm not sure if a mushroom connection is something they thought about all the way (and also having some people think of a penis when they see the cover, ahem).

The DVD comes out on June 10.

• At 7:30, FOX has the "Idol Gives Back" American Idol special.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother, then episodes of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY.
• NBC has a new Deal Or No Deal at 8.
• The CW has new episodes of America's Next Top Model and Pussycat Dolls.
• HGTV has a new Designed To Sell at 8, then new episodes of Get It Sold, Deserving Design, Design on a Dime, and House Hunters.
• At 9, ABC has a new Supernanny, followed by a new Primetime.
• PBS has a new American Masters at 9.
• Food Network has a new Chefography at 9, about the Food Network itself.
• Travel Channel has two new episodes of John Ratzenberger's Made in America at 9.
• Also at 9: Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters, followed by a new Destination Truth.
• At 10, Comedy Central has a new South Park, then a new Lewis Black's Root of All Evil.
• There's a new Top Chef on Bravo at 10.
• Spike has a new Ultimate Fighter at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.