"Through the magic of actor chemistry and excellent writing, they created a world I wanted to be in every week and made me want to learn how the magic was done. I read once that Kurt Vonnegut said his only professional regret was that he never got to write an episode of Cheers. I'd like to put my name second on that list."
-Modern Family co-creator Christopher Lloyd on how he badly, badly wishes he had gotten to write for Cheers. Full disclosure: His dad, David Lloyd, wrote for Cheers. But that doesn't change the fact that it's a great show.
David Faustino, who you are probably most familiar with as young Bud Bundy from Married with Children, has signed on to a guest spot on Modern Family. This is fun, as his former TV father, Ed O'Neil, is on that show! In theory, I would really love to see him appear as a smartass underachiever who constantly gets on Jay's nerves, all while Jay complains about not wanting to have sex with Gloria and Manny behaves like a promiscuous airhead. Alas, the two won't even share any scenes together: Faustino will be playing Claire's "highly successful classmate" at her college reunion. But at least we can imagine Al [...]
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation just dropped its “Where We Are on TV” report 2012, its annual analysis of LGBT presence in broadcast and cable TV. GLAAD reports that the 2012-2013 TV season has the highest-ever percentage of LGBT characters on scripted primetime network TV, and comedy-wise, ABC led the pack in terms of having the most gay characters (thanks to Happy Endings, Modern Family, and a handful of other sitcoms). While some of ABC’s LGBT characters, in particular Adam Pally’s Max Blum, are unique ones that defy stereotypes, three of the network’s six gay characters fall into a “sassy gay assistant” archetype (the three characters [...]
A few weeks ago Robin Roberts began a leave of absence from Good Morning America in order to focus on her treatment for MDS, a blood and bone marrow disease. Besides the more serious-minded guest hosts – like Barbara Walters and Oprah – ABC will also try to have some funny folks in. Coming up soon are Stephen Colbert and Rob Lowe. Also, they're planning on having a week in which a different member of the Modern Family cast will host each episode. (My DVR is already set for when the French Bulldog hosts.) The comedian (or dog) guests won't have to concern themselves with much news, instead [...]
Today's Lost Roles is brought to you by Childrens Hospital, which has its season premiere on Adult Swim tonight at midnight. If you're cool, you'll watch it.
Lost Roles is a weekly column exploring “what might have been” in movie and TV comedy as we take a different actor, writer, or comedian each week and examine the parts they turned down, wanted but didn’t get, and the projects that fell apart altogether. This week, I interviewed Rob Huebel, star of beloved comedy shows like Human Giant and Childrens Hospital (currently kicking off its fourth season) and movies like The Descendants and I Love You, Man. Huebel was nice enough to [...]
