wiseguy

By now you've heard the terrible news that prolific producer/writer Stephen J. Cannell has died at the age of 69 of melanoma.

Not all TV producers/writers/creators are well-known, but Cannell was. That will happen when you are involved so many shows (in his case, more than 40). Even casual TV fans know the guy who rips the paper out of the typewriter and throws it up in the air at the end of his shows.

Since the 1960s, Cannell did many shows, either as a writer, creator, producer, or director (and sometimes all of those). He even acted, and had a recurring role on ABC's 'Castle.'

Here's my list of the great Cannell shows. Feel free to add yours in the comments below.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

This week is an 80s extravaganza, as we have the first season of 'Matt Houston,' the first season of 'Scarecrow and Mrs. King,' a 'Wiseguy' collector's edition, and even a 'Tenspeed and Brownshoe' complete series set.

For those who have never heard of the latter, it was a comedic private eye show starring Ben Vereen. I remember the reviews for the show were outrageous, but for some reason, the show was very short-lived (which is why we're getting a complete series set).

I'm very, very tempted to get 'Matt Houston' and 'Scarecrow and Mrs. King,' though I don't know if they will hold up today. I'm guessing that 'Scarecrow' will hold up better than the Lee Horsley show.

• 'Charlie & Lola' - Vol. 10
• 'The Commish' - Season 1
• 'Greek' - Chapter 4
• 'Hannah Montana' - Vol. 6: Miley Says Goodbye
• 'In Plain Sight' - Season 2

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Well. This week has a little bit of everything, no matter what the TV fan is looking for. We have current shows (NCIS, House, Scrubs), recent shows that have been canceled (Life, Samantha Who?), classic shows you probably thought you'd never seen on DVD (Wiseguy, Wanted: Dead or Alive), kid shows (Suite Life on Deck, Sonny with a Chance), cartoons (Batman, Dungeons & Dragons), and quirky reality and/or documentary shows (Dog The Bounty Hunter, MonsterQuest, The Universe).

There's also two DVD sets called TV Sets, which are a mix of various episodes of sci-fi shows (Star Trek, The 4400, Medium) and crime shows (Streets of San Francisco, Dexter, CSI: NY).

I haven't gotten into iTunes video yet. My iTunes music file keeps getting fatter and fatter, but I haven't done anything with video yet. I'm content with buying DVDs and using YouTube and AOL TV for my video needs. But if more stuff like this gets put on iTunes, I might change my mind.

Stephen J. Cannell is starting to put his shows on the music/video service. Granted, the first batch of shows aren't anything I'm interested in (the list includes Hunter, Silk Stalkings, Wiseguy, and 21 Jump Street, with a young Johnny Depp), but I do hope it's successful so we'll see more of the Cannell shows that I'm interested in (though if I'm really interested in them, I probably already own the DVDs). This promises to be just the first group of shows, with more to follow later this year.

One show I do like watching again that is included in this batch is The Greatest American Hero. After the jump, the catchy theme song to the William Katt/Robert Culp/Connie Sellecca series from the 80s.

Reader Lisa Litts asks the following question:

I would like to find out what happened to Ray Sharky. I don't remember what show he was on a show in the 80's. I would like to know if he is still living or dead.

Sadly, Lisa, Ray Sharkey, passed away in 1993 of AIDS. However, before his untimely death (he was only forty-years-old) Sharkey did appear in a number of successful series in the 1980's. He is mainly remembered as Sonny Steelgrave, crime-boss and friend to Vinnie Terranova (Ken Wahl) on the CBS drama Wiseguy. While Sharkey appeared in only about a dozen episodes in the first season (which began in the fall of 1987) he made a lasting impression.  While playing Steelgrave on Wiseguy he also had an recurring role U.S. District Attorney Harry Breitel on the NBC show Crime Story.

As the White House staff shakeup continues a name has been mentioned as a replacement for outgoing Press Secretary Scott McClellan: FOX News Channel weekend anchor and political analyst Tony Snow.

Snow, who was previously a speech writer for the elder president Bush, is currently in negotiations with White House officials to take over the position. The New York Times is reporting that Snow is also waiting for a clean bill of health from his doctors (he had surgery for colon cancer in 2005) before he makes a final decision.

Snow is not the first personality to leave politics then jump back in again. Back in the early 1970's Fred Dalton Thompson was an active lawyer during the Watergate hearings. He then appeared in such television shows as Wiseguy, China Beach, and Roseanne and the movies Die Hard 2 and The Hunt For Red October before returning to politics as Senator of Tennessee from 1994 til 2003. He is currently playing Attorney General Arthur Branch on Law & Order.

[via the New York Times]