TVSquad

We're used to reading all of the lists that rank the best and worst TV shows of all-time, now ABC is getting even more specific than that. What are the top moments in television history?

You can vote for them at the ABC site and your answers will be revealed on the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, which will be broadcast on Sunday, September 21. There are two categories, comedy and drama (sorry fans of game shows and reality shows). No, you can't write in your own vote, you have to pick from the finalists that they've already chosen for you, so right off the bat you know there's going to be a lot of "but what about..." and "why did they include..." talk.

Already announced was that the seventh and final season of the amazing The Shield will premiere on September 2nd, but now comes word that it will The Shield finale will air November 25th. I know that gives us the full thirteen episodes promised but as it's been more than a year since we've had a new episode to chew on, forgive me if this suddenly feels like a really short-lived reunion. There is something so magically beautiful about what Shawn Ryan has created here; I'll go ahead and dub it the best cop show I've ever seen on television.

The thing you have to wonder about is how it's all going to end, and I do believe Ryan will give us a definitive ending here. Vic Mackey has been the "hero" of the series, but still ... should the Strike Team get away with all the shit they've pulled over the past six seasons? Shane's treatment of Lemansky deserves retribution, but is Shane necessarily a worse guy than Mackey? Remember how the first episode wrapped. There is a line of victims behind these guys, and each one is in it as deep as the guy next to him.

If you watch MSNBC for the politics fix, no doubt you have seen Rachel Maddow. She's one of the talking heads, a politically savvy woman who has been featured on shows like Hardball with Chris Matthews and Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

In fact, she's been Keith's regular fill-in this summer, a sure sign that she's MSNBC's star on the rise. The network has just announced that Rachel Maddow has been chosen to replace MSNBC's Dan Abrams, bumping his show Verdict out of the primetime lineup.

Maddow is getting a great spot on MSNBC, right after Countdown at 9 p.m. Abrams is not getting kicked to the curb. Like when Tucker Carlson lost his show and remained one of the net's pundits.

Here's who's on the late night shows tonight.

• Charlie Rose: Designer Bob Lutz
  
• The Daily Show: Senator Chuck Schumer (repeat)
  
• The Colbert Report: Lucas Conley (repeat)
  
• The Late Show with David Letterman: Shia LaBeouf and N.E.R.D. (repeat)
  
• Jimmy Kimmel Live: Benjamin Bratt and Huey Lewis and the News (repeat)
  
• Tavis Smiley: Chazz Palminteri and Joey Cheek
  
• The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Rainn Wilson, Corey Kahaney, and The Hold Steady (repeat)
  

Note: Leno, O'Brien, and Daly are all pre-empted this week for the Olympics.

• NBC has the Olympics all night.
• TCM is showing Barbara Stanwyck movies all night.
• At 8, ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker.
• Over on ESPN2, more coverage of The Little League World Series.
• At 9, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• Bill Maher is the guest on Larry King Live, on CNN at 9.
• Sci-Fi has a new Eureka at 9, then a new ECW.
• There's a new Food Detectives on Food Network at 9, followed by a new Road Tasted with The Neelys.
• At 10, A&E has a new episode of The Cleaner.
• Lifetime has a new How To Look Good Naked at 10.
• History Channel has a new Evolve at 10.
• Bravo has a new Million Dollar Listing at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

As I type this, there are 11 court shows currently in first-run syndication, with Judge Judy leading the pack. These shows have become one of the more stable franchises for stations across America, as original programming has made way for pre-packaged fare. With the market seemingly saturated by the amount of court shows, you would think that the studios would be holding off in producing any new series.

Hello! It's television -- the obese glutton of the media world!

Four new series are being worked on right now. Three of these will make their first appearances as the fall season officially begins in a few short weeks. The fourth may not appear until 2009. However, when it does, it may push Judge Judy out of the top spot its held for several years. According to TV Week, former Minnesota governor and pro-wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura is currently in negotiations to host a court show aimed at the daytime television audience. Should the negotiations work out, Jesse could be presiding over some type of court cases by the fall of next year.

Another daytime talk show? Apparently, but this one could have some promise. Why? It's got Bonnie Hunt.

The Bonnie Hunt Show will be unscripted and low-key with a lot of audience interaction. The producers who back Ellen's and Tyra Banks's talk shows are behind Hunt, so shouldn't we be too?

My fondest memories of Hunt as an actress are not of TV (although her sitcom, Life with Bonnie, was pretty funny, just not my bag), but rather her roles in Jumanji and Jerry McGuire. I feel that those characters allowed Hunt to showcase her dry wit balanced with her gentle nature the best. But I do agree with the producers: Hunt's got personality.

Back to the unscripted: If Hunt's show remains unscripted and unpredictable, my guess is that they'll have a hit. Do you have any predictions as to whether or not Ms. Hunt can weather the daytime talk show competition?

[via Pop Candy]

Here's who's on the late night shows tonight.

• Charlie Rose: Rick Wagoner, CEO of GM
• The Daily Show: Seth Rogen (repeat)
  
• The Colbert Report: Jane Mayer and Joey Cheek (repeat)
  
• The Late Show with David Letterman: David Duchovny and Black Kids (repeat)
  
• Jimmy Kimmel Live: Rosie Perez, Brandon T. Jackson, and Tyga (repeat)
  
• Tavis Smiley: Joshua Bell
  
• The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Chris O'Donnell, Larry Black, and Phantom Planet

Note: Leno, O'Brien, and Daly are all pre-empted this week for the Olympics.

• NBC has Olympics coverage all night.
• At 8, ABC has High School Musical: Get in the Picture.
• TCM has The Big Knife at 8.
• Noggin has a new Go, Diego, Go! at 8.
• At 9, Discovery has a new Raging Nature, then the premiere of Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein.
• TNT has a new episode of The Closer, followed by a new Saving Grace.
• GSN has a new World Poker Tour at 9.
• HBO has Thank You Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House at 9.
• Toon Disney has a new Chaotic at 9, then a new Digimon.
• At 10, ABC Family has a new Middleman.
• MTV has the season premiere of The Hills at 10.
• There's a new Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on Food Network at 10.
• Showtime has a new Weeds at 10.
• Also at 10: Travel Channel has a new Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

Check your local TV listings for more.

One of the fun games to play when it comes to TV shows is "What If." What if Mickey Rooney had been cast as Archie Bunker on All in the Family? What would have happened to the show (and to Rooney)?

That's one of interesting revelations (though that one has been known for quite some time) in the new book Mickey Rooney as Archie Bunker and Other TV Almosts by Eila Mell. It lists a bunch of actors and actresses who almost got roles we know and love. For example, Jenna Fischer (The Office) tried out for the role of Sydney Bristow on Alias, but was deemed not sexy enough for the part (as we told you about before). Whitney Houston didn't want the role of Bill Cosby's daughter on The Cosby Show so the role went to Lisa Bonet. And Leonardo DiCaprio almost played David Hasselhoff's son on Baywatch (the role went to Brandon Call and later Jeremy Jackson). That one isn't surprising at all, considering DiCaprio did work on Growing Pains and other shows.

Nostalgia still reigns supreme on television (along with a lack of original material). The 60's/70's icons The Banana Splits are now getting their own show on Cartoon Network.

I'm old enough to remember when The Banana Splits were on television (from reruns. I'm not THAT old) and I'm curious about how whomever now controls their fate will translate the show for newer audiences. The original show was very much a staple of the hippie culture from back then. It would be disappointing if the show went from hippie to hipster. The original show most notably launched the careers of Sid and Marty Krofft who went on to make such iconic 70's children's fare as H.R. Pufnstuff and The Bugaloos among others.

The most memorable part of The Banana Splits was their theme song "The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)". However they modernize that song, whether it becomes a rap or a High School Musical-style pop song, I can only say right now that it will be inferior to the original.

Our Monday morning roundup of a half dozen things TV Squad readers - and TV fans in general - will be talking about this week.

1. The season premiere of The Hills. It literally hurts my stomach to think that people are going to watch this, but they will. (Tonight at 10pm on MTV.)

2. The Olympics. Many viewers will probably stop watching now that Michael Phelps has done his thing, but there's still plenty of running and jumping going on. (All week on NBC, along with various coverage on MSNBC, CNBC, USA, and Oxygen.)

3. The series premiere of The Cho Show. Hopefully Margaret Cho will have better luck with this than she had with All American Girl. (Stars Thursday at 11pm on VH-1.)

4. The season finale of Law and Order: CI. Chris Noth left last week. What will happen in the finale? (Sunday at 9 on USA.)

5. The Little League World Series. Guaranteed to be steroid-free! (All week on ESPN and ESPN2, semi-finals on ABC Saturday afternoon, final on ABC Sunday.)

6. The new fall season. Summer isn't over yet, but here's a handy guide to get you psyched.

• NBC has coverage of the Olympics all night.
• At 8, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 8, then a new Iron Chef America.
• ESPN2 has more Little League World Series action at 8.
• TCM has On The Town at 8, followed by Singin' in the Rain.
• At 9, PBS has a new Masterpiece.
• USA has a new Law and Order: CI at 9, followed by a new In Plain Sight.
• History Channel has a new Ice Road Truckers at 9.
• There's a new Generation Kill on HBO at 9.
• Also at 9: BBC America has the premiere of Skins. It's followed by another new episode.
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Gene Simmons' Family Jewels, then a new Two Coreys.
• At 10, AMC has a new Mad Men.
• Lifetime has a new Army Wives at 10.
• Comedy Central has The Bob Saget Roast at 10.
• G4 has a new Code Monkeys at 10, then a new Hurl.
• At 11:30, Cartoon Network has a new Venture Brothers.
• At 12:15am, Cartoon Network has a new Fat Guy Stuck in Internet, followed by a new Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job.

Check your local TV listings for more.

I was searching around for something interesting to write about tonight and came across a piece on Human Wrecking Balls, a new series premiering on G4 this fall.

According to the G4 Web site, the show features brothers Craig and Paul Pumphrey (combined weight: 550 lbs.), who demolish everything from boats and cars to houses and bars using Only Their Bare Hands. (Picture Tim the Tool Man doing his "Arr, arr, arr" here.)

"Guys seem to have an innate fascination with watching demolition," says Neal Tiles, President of G4. "Add to this the science behind it and the idea of two brothers doing all the demolition physically, and we think Human Wrecking Balls is an excellent addition to our programming line-up."

• NBC has more Olympics coverage all night.
• TCM has Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movies all night.
• At 8, CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News has the Saddleback Church Presidential Forum.
• ESPN has Little League World Series coverage at 8.
• Disney Channel has a new Disney Channel Games at 8, then a new Suite Life of Zack & Cody.
• Food Network has Ice Cream Unwrapped at 8.
• CMTV has Elvis: Viva Las Vegas at 8, with Toby Keith, Chris Isaak, Celine Dion, Faith Hill, 50 Cent, and others doing Elvis songs. It's followed by Jailhouse Rock.
• At 9, FOX has a new America's Most Wanted.
• CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show at 9.
• Lifetime has the movie Confessions of a Go-Go Dancer at 9.
• Cartoon Network has two new episodes of Naruto at 9.
• At 9:30, HGTV has a new Divine Design.

Check your local TV listings for more.