Tonight was the big night to award people for their superb acting skills. Of course, I speak of the annual TV Land awards. The only award show for people who at this point, forgot they were ever a part of television history in the first place. For many, it's been fifty years since they last appeared. For some, there's no explaination for their being there at all. A few of these shows "Jumped the Shark" after only three or four episodes before getting the axe. Only TV Land believes that getting their hands on these old relics and giving them awards is like capturing lightning in a bottle. I invite you to their website where you can see the whole collection of shows in a nice list. Quite a majority of these air on their cable channel in other parts of the world. This is a great way to teach other countries about America's good taste. Hey, remember the hit early 1980's sitcom Square Pegs? It starred an up and coming teenage girl and was based on the movie Valley Girls. Such a show would be dead and buried for years like it was however, because Sarah Jessica Parker was in it and is now promoting the Sex in the City movie, TV Land dug up the gravesite and stole the tapes. It only makes sense that this sitcom deserve kudos now, some twenty five years after the fact.
Speaking of TV Land, it was a few years ago that Brad Garret of Everybody Loves Raymond put on a tuxedo and entertained the audience as host of the awards show. Right after that, FOX gave him the pitch for a show to call his own instead of playing second fiddle...Til Death emerged and had trouble right out of the gate. The first two episodes aired before it was put on hiatus for a complete overhaul. What happened next? It came back but, FOX has finally taken this disaster off life support before next season... This has left Brad Garrett a complete mess. Not only are his pockets empty but his self esteem has been kicked to the curb. Poor guy can't even find himself a ladyfriend! He's decided to make his situation public and says he's even counting on telephone dating to bring him back to life. The last person to try this as a last resort tried it about five times and ended up divorced five times. Look what it's done for his career! The person is none other than Tom Arnold, the ex of Roseanne. An open plea to Steven Spielberg..."Don't do what I think you're gonna do next. E.T. isn't worth it!" Now that several old films he worked on have been revisited with prequels and sequels, I'm not ready for a warp speed trip back to 1984's E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. I mention this because if you haven'r heard, now that Star Wars and Indiana Jones have come back, he's alreafy answering questions about ET,'s future. I for one, am not one of the folks who wish to see this alien again. Not only was it a hokey idea but that guy was creepy and way too popular! Yeah, Michael Jackson scared the hell out of me then, and the little sidekick of his that peddled those Reese's Pieces wasn't that nice looking either. Besides, Drew Barrymore has done a lot since then and would more than likely be "too busy" to squeeze in a cameo. As for Henry Thomas (Elliott), he's got a lot of time on his hands, He retired after the film and comes back on occasion to do an "Artsy Fartsy" movie that only gets screened at The Cannes Film Festival. He's near 40 now for crying out loud! A pjone call to cast him would really do damage to this one time family film. A middle aged man and E.T. playing in the closet conjures up images of an alien pedophile. If aliens do exist, thank goodness they are only seen in the sky over Roswell, New Mexico. It's a dumb idea Steven. Don't even think about it! ...And oh yes, Debra Winger WAS the person who provided the alien's voice Use that bit of trivia as an icebreaker at your next dinner party.
