Leave It, Ricky: What Did You Think of The Office's Scranton/Slough Crossover?

I'm of two minds about last night's crossover cold open on NBC's The Office ("The Seminar"), which, if you missed it, can be viewed in full below.

Let's be upfront about this: I'm an obsessive fan of the original UK Office, so the chance to see Ricky Gervais don David Brent's goatee was absolutely priceless, but I've also given up watching the US version for a while now as, in the last few seasons, it's descended into a bit of a tired and humorless mess.

Having said that, I thought that the chance encounter between Steve Carell's Michael Scott and Gervais' David Brent was a bit of a hoot at first, and easily the funniest cold open The Office has pulled off in quite some time (from what I remember of the last few seasons I watched).

Seeing the simpatico spirit that exists between the two men, each versions of each other, was unexpectedly touching, even as the two joked around and David asked if there were any jobs going around at Dunder-Mifflin.

Was it wonderful to see David Brent up to his old tricks, telling vaguely offensive jokes, giggling naughtily, and waxing philosophically about the nature of comedy "tickling the mind"? Absolutely. But there was also something oddly troubling about the sequence as well, something that got under my skin last night.

Could it be the fact that Gervais himself spoke out against appearing on-screen on the American version just a few years back, decrying it as potentially "desperate"? Or could it be the fact that the encounter seemed to establish that the events of The Office, unfolding in Slough and Scranton, are in fact taking place within the same narrative "universe"?

It's true that, over the last few seasons, these two characters have gone in wildly divergent directions in terms of their outlook and behavior while still retaining a bit of the same shared blueprint at their core. I think that Brent would have skewered Scott alive had the two had to spend more than a few minutes together; Gervais' boss is inherently a terrible, awful individual, while Michael is more of a bumbling idiot who fails to read social cues and offends because he's in search of the perfect punchline, a quest to achieve acceptance and (in his mind) fame.

But the fact that we're now meant to believe that these two paper merchant bosses and their similar staffs are in fact co-existing got under my skin in a way that the showrunners clearly did not intend. (Am I alone in this thinking?)

With Steve Carell set to leave The Office at the end of the season, it seemed likely that Gervais would make a drop-in on the show before Michael Scott heads to the paper warehouse in the sky (or, well, wherever Michael is heading next) and while I spent those few minutes chuckling, it wasn't enough to keep me from turning over once the credit sequence began. These days, the Office I most want to visit is Wernham Hogg, if I'm being honest.

But I am curious to know what you thought of the encounter between Gervais and Carell last night: was it a stroke of brilliance or a desperate ploy? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Trailer Park: Sky1's An Idiot Abroad, Starring Karl Pilkington

Karl Pilkington traipsing around the world and checking out the Seven Wonders? Sign me up please!

That's exactly the premise of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's new docuseries An Idiot Abroad, which will air this month on Sky1 in the UK and which will follow the notoriously round-headed Pilkington--the breakout star of HBO's The Ricky Gervais Show--as he makes his way around the globe to step outside his comfort zone and, well, maybe challenge himself.

Here's how Sky1 is positioning the series:

"Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are outraged that Karl has written off the Seven Wonders claiming they’re all “a bit s**t” having never seen any of them with his own eyes. They’ve thrown down the gauntlet to send him around the globe to force him out of his comfort zone. Stephen wants the experience to broaden Karl’s mind and change his outlook on the world. Ricky wants Karl to hate every minute of it for his own amusement.

Dispatched on what many would term a journey of a lifetime, the ‘little Englander’ will be putting his misgivings to one side as Karl finds out for himself what the fuss is about. He will travel to the Great Wall of China, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, Petra in Jordan, Machu Picchu in Peru, Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Taj Mahal in India and the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Meanwhile Gervais and Merchant will be keeping a watchful eye from London, monitoring every step of Pilkington’s journey. The conclusion of the series will see the weary traveler returning home to report on his findings."

The full trailer for An Idiot Abroad can be found below.



“I can’t wait to get started," said Pilkington via an official statement. "Not ‘cos I’m excited but ‘cos the sooner we start the sooner it will be over. The fact the nurse gave me an injection that protects me from dirty chimps put a dampener on the whole thing. I don’t think Ross Kemp has to have that injection.”

Channel Surfing: "Bones" Flashback in the Cards for 100th Episode, Maggie Grace Finds "Lost" Again, Ricky Gervais to Host the Golden Globes, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Bones' 100th episode will in fact be a flashback episode to reveal the first time that Emily Deschanel's Temperance Brennan and David Boreanaz's Seeley Booth worked together. "We’ll be there for the first time those two personalities clashed, Bones executive producer Stephen Nathan told Ausiello. "Events will conspire to make them come out of the case hating each other and vowing that they will never work together again... We’ll also see the introduction of Angela and the genesis of her friendship with Brennan." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Maggie Grace is confirmed to be returning for Lost's sixth and final season, according to TV Guide Magazine. She'll return to Oahu next month to reprise her role as Shannon Rutherford, who was last seen on the series in 2005. "Producers had invited Maggie back earlier, but the busy actress had to wait for shooting to conclude on a string of three film projects, including the role she just wrapped as Cameron Diaz’s kid sister in Knight & Day, also starring Tom Cruise," writes TV Guide's Will Keck. "I’m hearing Shannon may be cut into an episode shot earlier this fall with brother Boone, played by Ian Somerhalder." (TV Guide)

Ricky Gervais will host the 67th Annual Golden Globes award telecast, slated to air January 17th on NBC. The attachment of Gervais marks the first time since 1995 that the awards show has utilized a host. The Los Angeles Times' Denise Martin talks to Gervais about his upcoming stint. "I don't know! Maybe I'm cheap?" said Gervais when asked why he was asked to host the Golden Globes. "They're saving on presenters now because they all need goody bags," he said with a giggle. "No, no, someone must have said, 'Is there like a fat shmuck from Britain who doesn't know our ways and would think this is a real honor? Who'd do it for a giant pizza?' My agent overheard them..." (Los Angeles Times)

Microsoft has pulled its sponsorship of Seth MacFarlane's upcoming FOX comedy special Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show. The commercial-free special is still slated to air on November 8th, even without Microsoft on board and the network will announce another sponsor closer to broadcast. "We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of Family Guy, but after reviewing an early version of the variety show, it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand," said a Microsoft spokeswoman in a statement. "We continue to have a good partnership with Fox, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas. We continue to believe in the value of brand integrations and partnerships between brands, media companies and talent." (Variety)

TNT has given a pilot order to drama Delta Blues, about a Memphis policeman who moonlights as an Elvis impersonator and who lives with his mother. Project, from Warner Horizon and Smokehouse Pictures, is written by Liz Garcia and Josh Harto, who executive produce with George Clooney and Grant Heslov. (Hollywood Reporter)

Chazz Palminteri (Bullets Over Broadway) will guest star on an upcoming episode of ABC comedy Modern Family, where he will play a friend of Ed O'Neill's Jay. (TVGuide.com)

FOX has given a pilot script order to Ravens Parish, a family adventure story about "a man and his teenage son who return to their rural Mississippi hometown in search of a fabled cavern hidden beneath a nearby swamp that allegedly holds hidden treasure." Project, from 20th Century Fox Television and Generate, will be written/executive produced by Dan McDermott (Eagle Eye), who has a first-look deal at the studio. Generate's Peter Aronson and Jordan Levin are also on board to executive produce. Project shouldn't be confused with the network's similarly-themed The Mysteries of Oak Island, also about treasure-hunting family members; FOX is said to be looking for a scripted series with wide appeal to schedule alongside American Idol. (Hollywood Reporter)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Phil Morris will return to the CW's Smallville to reprise his role as Martian Manhunter in the upcoming "Society" two-part episode written by Geoff Johns, which sees the arrival of such Justice Society members as Doctor Fate, Stargirl, and Hawkman. The two episodes are slated to air in 2010. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Did you miss Nathan Fillion's Halloween shout-out to Firefly's Captain Mal on last night's episode of ABC's Castle? Fret not as you can catch the clip here. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Augusten Burroughs has teamed up with Ashton Kutcher's Katalyst Films to develop several television projects based around his work, including a Showtime comedy based on his memoir "Dry" and a drama at CBS entitled The Nature of Fire, about male firefighters who are forced to work with a female arson investigator. Both projects will be written by Borroughs and produced by CBS Television Studios. (Variety)

Sherri Saum (In Treatment) has been cast in a recurring role on the CW's Gossip Girl, where she will play Holland Kemble, "a powerful business executive-turned-Upper East Side trophy wife and could be trouble for Lily (Kelly Rutherford) and Rufus (Matthew Settle)." (Hollywood Reporter)

James Van Der Beek will guest star in an upcoming episode of ABC's crime procedural The Forgotten, where he will play a financier who is questioned by The Forgotten Network. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Comedy Central has ordered an animated project called Hounds, which will star comedian Ron White as the voice of Chicken, described as "a countrified Yoda with a bottle of Jack and a bag of weed, an opinionated Southern philosopher who considers himself the center of the universe." Chris Thompson will write the pilot script. Elsewhere at the cabler, Joey Kern (The Sasquatch Gang) has replaced Jonathan Sadowski in supernatural comedy pilot Ghosts/Aliens. (Hollywood Reporter)

MGM Domestic Television has acquired syndication rights to Discovery's quiz show Cash Cab and plans to get it on broadcast networks by next fall. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

HBO Renews "True Blood," "Hung," and "Entourage," Others Still Up in the Air

HBO's Richard Plepler and Michael Lombardo took to the stage yesterday at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Pasadena that HBO had locked in its entire current Sunday night lineup for additional seasons next summer.

The pay cabler has officially renewed True Blood for a third season, Hung for a second season, and Entourage for a staggering seventh season. All will return to the lineup next summer rather than premiering earlier.

"True Blood, Hung, and Entourage will all be coming back next summer and we're very excited about it." Lombardo told the press. "So stay tuned for next June."

The duo, in an executive session at the aforementioned TCA panel, also relayed information about HBO's other crop of series and whether we could expect to see them return or not, with the fate of several series still very much up in the air.

Curb Your Enthusiasm returns September 20th with a new series and will be slotted together with new comedy Bored to Death, starring Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, and Zach Galifianakis, which will launch on the same night.

Lombardo wouldn't give any details about Evan Rachel Woods' appearance in Season Two/Season Three of True Blood. "Alan Ball would kill me," he said emphatically.

As expected, Big Love will be back in January. HBO expresses their disappointment that Big Love's talented cast didn't net Emmy nods for the truly amazing third season. (Editor: personally, I agree with them completely. Egregious error.)

Also on the subject of the Emmys, which announced yesterday that they would cut eight categories--including movie and miniseries awards--from the live telecast and instead film them separately and air edited versions of the winners' acceptance speechs, Plepler shot back at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. "For an awards show that seems to celebrate TV," said Plepler, "it seems odd that you would minimize categories that have huge viewership."

Flight of the Conchords isn't quite as dead as it appeared a few months back, with Plepler and Lombardo stating that the future of the series was squarely in the hands of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie. "When they are ready, we're ready," said Plepler about a potential third season of Flight of the Conchords. "The challenge is of course they're not only writing a television show but have the added challenge of writing an album. So it's double the pressure. But we're waiting and as soon as they tell us they're ready, we'd be thrilled."

Things are looking less certain for a second season of the critically acclaimed drama series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, which HBO co-produces with the BBC. "We're actually in conversations now and try to figure out the next step on that show," said Lombardo. "That show has been a challenge creatively as you know because the creative vision behind that show, Anthony Minghella, unfortunately passed away after the pilot was done." Fingers crossed that they can reach an agreement to bring Jill Scott's Precious Ramotswe back for a sophomore season...

And things are still very uncertain for a third season of In Treatment. "We're trying to put it together," said HBO. "It was adapted from an Israeli series, which had two seasons, so we would have to create new scripts from whole cloth but we're working to see whether that's possible." As for a final word on the series' fate, the duo said: "Gabriel is very interesting in doing it again so stay tuned."

Meanwhile, Little Britain USA is dead. But HBO said that they are in talks with creators/stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams about doing a series of specials featuring new characters and new situations. But don't hold your breath for these; at the very earliest the first special would air on HBO at the end of 2010 or shortly thereafter.

Fellow comedy Eastbound and Down, however, will return for a second season next year. The series "found young, passionate audience... There was no way we weren't bringing it back." Season Two of Eastbound will shoot at the end of winter or beginning of spring next year.

And animated comedy The Life and Times of Tim will return, with season two of the Media Rights Capital-produced series kicking off in the next few months. Ideally, Tim would be paired with the untitled animated Ricky Gervais comedy series--based on the podcast Gervais does with Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington--but the latter likely won't make it on the air until next year.

As for new product, HBO said that the plan is to launch David Simon's newest series the post-Katrina New Orleans-set Treme, in April, trailing out of the end of its WWII mini-series The Pacific.

And HBO is anxiously awaiting a cut of its period drama Boardwalk Empire from executive producer Martin Scorsese and writer Terence Winter. Expectations are that once they see a cut of the pilot, HBO can order it to series and go back into production in September. "From everything we've seen it's fantastic, it's big, and it's everything we'd hoped it'd be," said Plepler.

Finally, HBO proved themselves magnanimous in success. Former HBO topper Chris Albrecht, now an independent producer, "should go where the work is and if he has something for" HBO, they are happy to take the pitch, said Plepler.

"Deal With It, Cate Blanchett!": "30 Rock," "John Adams," and "Mad Men" Among TV Winners at Golden Globes

Is it just me or was it positively inspirational to see 30 Rock rack up so many statuettes last night at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards?

The NBC comedy, which many predicted would be canceled as soon as it launched, racked up three awards including Best TV Comedy, Best Actress in TV Comedy (Tina Fey), and Best Actor in a TV Comedy (Alec Baldwin), all three of the categories in which it was nominated. Likewise, HBO's miniseries John Adams cliched all seven awards in all of its nominated categories (go Laura Linney, Paul Giamatti, and Tom Wikinson!) and Mad Men took home the top spot for TV Drama... even though series leads Jon Hamm and January Jones were cruelly overlooked for their superlative performances this season.

What did I think of the awards and what burning questions do I still have? Let's discuss.

I'm not quite sure why Jeff Zucker looked quite so displeased when 30 Rock took home the award for Best TV Comedy but the man could barely muster a smile for the comedy series' first Golden Globe best series win, despite the fact that it airs on NBC. I loved that Alec Baldwin had to whisper to Tracy Morgan to remember to thank Zucker but, having given a stink-eye like that, don't look for Zucker to get many more kudos from Fey and Company in the future.

Was it just me or was Morgan's acceptance speech for 30 Rock's win the very best acceptance speech of all time? Sure, my heart melted to see Kate Winslet win not just once but twice last night (after years of going home empty-handed) and Sally Hawkens' shocked I love you's were absolutely adorable, but Morgan brought down the house with his tongue-in-cheek (and stream-of-consciousness) speech.

"Tina Fey and I had an agreement that if Barack Obama won, I would speak for the show from now on," said Morgan. "Welcome to post-racial America. I’m the face of post-racial America. Deal with it, Cate Blanchett!"

Um, wow. I was rolling on the floor.

Second best acceptance speech then has got to go to 30 Rock producer/star/writer Tina Fey:



"If you ever start to feel too good about yourself, they have this thing called the Internet, and you can find a lot of people there who don’t like you. I’d like to address some of them now. BabsonLaCrosse, you can suck it. Dianefan, you can suck it. Cougar-Letter, you can really suck it, because you’ve been after me all year." (If she had worked in "by the hammer of Thor," she'd have clinched the best speech.)

Was anyone else shifting uncomfortably in their seats when Baldwin mentioned his daughter Ireland and how she makes him laugh at home?

I was really upset that Anna Paquin took home the award for Best Actress, TV Drama over the vastly overlooked January Jones. I was thrilled that the HFPA finally recognized that amazing talents of Jones, who along with the other women of Mad Men typically seem to be absent from the awards races... so what was up with Paquin's win for True Blood? Could things be shifting back in HBO's favor once again? (And, to my friends at HBO, congratulations on sweeping awards.)

Did anyone notice a man climbing over a wall during NBC's ludicrously awkward red carpet pre-show? What was up with that?

I keep forgetting that Kate Winslet is married to Sam Mendes... and not Leonardo DiCaprio.

Loved that Laura Dern thanked Recount writer Danny Strong (a.k.a. Jonathan from Buffy) during her acceptance speech and made a political statement ("I will cherish this as a reminder of the extraordinary, incredible outpouring of people who demanded their voice be heard in this last election so we can look forward to an amazing change in this country.") to boot.

How hysterical was Ricky Gervais last night as he poked fun at the Hollywood Foreign Press for not nominating him for Ghost Town and bemoaned the lack of gag reels on Holocaust films? If there's one person you can rely on to crack some off-color jokes and make everyone stop drinking and eating for two seconds to pay attention, it's Ricky. (Whereas I thought that Sasha Baron Cohen's jab at the breakdown of Madonna and Guy Ritchie's marriage went a little too far over the line.) And I thought that his way of getting everyone's attention was a hell of a lot more funny than Jennifer Lopez ("Mama's talking"). Genius.

All in all, another reminder of why the Globes are a boozy, unpredictable affair where anything can happen and a lively antidote to the more staid, predictable, and at times painfully slow Emmys and Oscars.

A full list of the winners of last night's 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards can be found here.

"Is He Having a Laugh?": Ricky Gervais to End "Extras"

It had to happen sooner or later. Despite the fact that I've enjoyed every single second of Extras, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's follow up to The Office, I've always known that like its predecessor, this would not be a long running show.

The Office lasted 12 episodes and was wrapped up with a two-part special that tied up all of its loose ends, particularly the romance between Tim and Dawn. So I was curious to see what would happen if Gervais and Merchant actually created a third season of a show. But at the same time I knew the likelihood of Extras coming back for a third season (and outliving, as it were, The Office) was slim to none.

Sadly, we'll never know what a long-running Gervais and Merchant comedy would look like. The writing/producing/starring twosome have opted not to continue Extras, after all. Like The Office, the series will end with a special.

That special, unfortunately, doesn't have a date or casting in place. A spokesperson for the BBC added that the idea for the Extras conclusion was still in the early planning stages. However, Gervais and Merchant "will, at some point, sit down together and write it," she said. (Er, yeah.)

Personally, I think it's sad that the story of Andy, Maggie, and Darren is coming to a close so soon, just when the series really hit its stride in Season Two, with the arrival of When the Whistle Blows' wig, glasses, and catchphrase and some brilliant comedic gems from Ashley Jensen's Maggie and Stephen Merchant's Darren.

Here's to the memories, my friends.

HBO's "Extras" is Extra Funny, Even If Nobody's Watching

I always get depressed when there's a series that I love watching that no one seems to talk about (or, hell, watch at all).

In this case, I'm talking about the second season of Ricky Gervais' follow-up to The Office, the mordantly hilarious comedy Extras, which recently launched on HBO.

Quick recap time: Gervais plays Andy Millman, a hapless extra, er, background artist who has been slaving away in obscurity for years and years with little hope of escaping a mindless life of drudgery and anonymity. (Hmmm, sounds like David Brent.) He's got a useless, boorish agent (played to great comic effect by co-creator Stephen Merchant, reunited here with his Office mate), no love life to speak of, and constant companion in his friend, the cute but clueless Maggie (played by Ashley Jensen, who has cleaned up and gone all glam as Christina on Ugly Betty.)

The second season has brought Andy a modicum of success in the form of a BBC workplace sitcom called When the Whistle Blows. Poor Andy envisioned a realistic look at the ennui and monotony of a group of factory workers (rather like, well, The Office) but thanks to massive interference from the hapless BBC execs controlling the purse strings he's wound up with a truly awful sitcom that would have felt dated 30 years ago. And to make matters worse, he's forced to destroy the character he created (based on a real-life person he knew) by wearing a terrible wig and over-sized glasses and uttering a mirthless catchphrase ("Is he having a laugh?") that losers in the pub ask him to repeat endlessly.

Somehow 6 million people tune in to the initial broadcast (a miracle which underlies the fact that the majority of the viewing public will watch anything, even Skating with Celebrities or When the Whistle Blows), but Andy's still getting heckled despite the ratings. Hell, he even manages, in last week's episode, to bore David Bowie to the point where he crafts a song about Andy called "Fatty Takes His Own Life." (Yes, it's just that depressing.)

Andy and Maggie are fantastic protagonists and one can't help but feel the genuine, well, pathetic connection between them. (And, no, before you ask, there's no hint whatsoever of any sexual tension between them.) While we all know what a comic genius Gervais is, Ashley Jensen is the true find here. In Jensen's hands, Maggie manages simultaneously to be frumpy and sexy, insightful and idiotic. She's the one constant in Andy's life, the Fool to his Lear, and she's always willing (perhaps too readily so) to reveal the truths that Andy dare not acknowledge.

I can't think of a better comedic pairing than these two. David Bowie might want Andy to end his miserable life, but as for me, I can't wait to see what tragicomedy Ricky Gervais cooks up for Andy and Maggie next.

"Extras" airs Sunday evenings at 7 pm ET/PT on HBO.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Ghost Whisperer (CBS); 1 vs. 100 (NBC); WWE Friday Night SmackDown (CW; 8-10 pm); Grey's Anatomy (ABC); Nanny 911 (FOX); Wicked Wicked Games (MyNet)

9 pm: Close to Home (CBS); Las Vegas (NBC); Brothers & Sisters (ABC); Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy (FOX); Watch Over Me (MyNet)

10 pm: NUMB3RS (CBS); Law & Order (NBC); 20/20 (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Hardware on BBC America (11 pm ET).

It's the second season of Britcom Hardware, starring Martin Freeman of the original UK version of The Office, taking place at a small (you guessed it!) hardware store. On tonight's episode ("Nude"), Rex decides that one of his employees has to go after he realizes the shop is losing money, while Anne is approached by an artist looking for nude models.

8:30 pm: Spaced on BBC America (11:30 pm ET).

It's the second season of one of the wackiest Britcoms ever devised. On tonight's episode ("Mettle"), Tim and Mike make it to the finals of Robot Wars but their efforts are in vain as they are sabotaged by rivals; meanwhile, Brian is invited to do an art installation and Marsha joins him for some free booze.

10 pm: Hyperdrive on BBC America (9 pm ET)

On the second episode of this hilarious space station-set workplace comedy ("Hello, Queppu"), the HMS Camden Lock makes contact with an isolationist alien race but Teal destroys the flirtation brewing between Henderson and the alien princess when she imbibes too much of the local drink and lands them all in the clink.

10:40 pm: Feel the Force on BBC America (9:40 pm ET)

It's the US premiere of UK cop spoof Feel the Force. On tonight's episode, Frank and Bobbins get overlooked for a plum assignment, but Bobbins decides to stick her nose in anyway.

The Scandalous 1980s Musical Past of Ricky Gervais Caught on Tape

It's pretty rare that I am actually speechless.

I don't know what to say after watching this clip of The Office's Ricky Gervais' appearance on UK talk show Room 101. Let me put it this way: our very own David Brent (that would be Gervais, natch) was in a band called Seona Dancing and filmed this 1984 music video for their song "Bitter Heart." Watch it and you'll catch a seriously baby-faced Gervais and a rare glimpse of genius. Or at least of 1980s- inspired madness.



It's no "Free Love on the Freelove Highway" but just... wow. Seriously, wow. (Special thanks to Televisionary reader Whitney for bringing this rare gem to my attention.)

Ricky Gervais Serenades "Simpsons" Viewers

I was more than a little impressed by how much I enjoyed last night's episode of The Simpsons. But then again, considering it was written by (and guest starred) comedy legend Ricky Gervais, I shouldn't have been all that surprised. He is, after all, the man who brought us David Brent, HBO's Extras, and a certain Guinness Record-holding weekly podcast.

(First off, I have to take a moment and just gush about the live-action opening that Fox used last night for The Simpsons. In an episode featuring one of Britain's top comedians, it's only fitting that producers used the live-action opening sequence created by a bunch of Brits for a promo that aired on the UK's Sky network. From the opening images of the nuclear plant's smoke stacks to baby Maggie getting scanned at the grocery check-out and little Lisa whailing away on her saxophone, it was sheer genius. Every moment tracked beautifully and in three-dimensional brilliant color. Having seen it online, I had to rewatch it several times on the television and marvel at its awesome power.)

On last night's episode ("Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife"), the Simpsons win third prize in a contest: a tour of the Fox studios in Los Angeles. Touring the lot (I loved the golden statue of Misha Barton, by the way), they stumble onto a new reality show being cast called "Mother Flippers," itself a take-off on the feud between ABC and FOX over their dueling family-swap shows, Wife Swap and Trading Spouses. (After Lisa mentions that she saw a similar show on another network, a Fox exec offers her an ABC sweatshirt.) Hoping to win enough money for an HD plasma screen television like the one Lenny has, Homer promptly signs Marge up for the show. While the rest of the family have to endure an uptight, repressed Yale-educated woman (she makes them write reports on the TV shows they watch; Homer's report on CSI: Miami--and how he falls asleep only to wake up to see "Letterman talking to Alias"--is priceless), Marge ends up with a well-behaved family: a young son who speaks Mandarin Chinese and is always behaved and her new "husband" Charles (voiced by Ricky Gervais).

Gervais is, of course, hysterical as the self-effacing Charles, who quickly falls for Marge's genuine charms and cheerful personality and tries to woo her. The effect is a cross between The Office's David Brent, complete with tie-pinching mannerisms, off-color jokes, and awareness that the cameras are filming him (did you catch his riff on sensitivity towards women's issues?), and the Ricky Gervais of his weekly podcast: off-kilter and animatedly hilarious. I was rolling on the floor when Charles, a "singer-songwriter," pulled out a guitar, seemingly out of nowhere, to serenade Marge with a home-written tune. Marge, of course, turns down Charles for the dubious charms of Homer and returns home, resetting everything back to just the way it was at the opening.

Except that one thing had changed.

Ultimately, Gervais' episode reminded me of why I love(d) the show in the first place. And that there is still material and situations out there for The Simpsons to mine. I only wish that every episode could be as witty and rewarding as last night's. Then again, Gervais can't write everything. But, until we get his (and co-writer Stephen Merchant's) episode of the US edition of The Office, I'll be rewatching this Simpsons episode a few more times.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: King of Queens/How I Met Your Mother (CBS); Deal or No Deal (NBC); Everwood (WB); Wife Swap (ABC); Prison Break (FOX); One on One/All of Us (UPN)

9 pm: Two and a Half Men/The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS); The Apprentice (NBC); Everwood (WB); Supernanny (ABC); 24 (FOX); Girlfriends/Half & Half (UPN)

10 pm: CSI: Miami (CBS); Medium (NBC); Miracle Workers (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

Wow, for once Monday ends up being a busy night of telly for me. I'll be either watching or TiVo'ing the following tonight:

6 pm: Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

The enfant terrible of the cooking set returns for a new batch of episodes on the Travel Channel. In tonight's two-hour special, Anthony travels to Asia... or specifically to the two culinary hubs of the continent: Japan and China, where I am sure he will eat all sorts of interesting and culturally adverse meals.

8 pm: Ed vs. Spencer and Bromwell High.

Because I missed their premieres on Thursday night, I'll check out the second window premieres of new Brit series Ed vs. Spencer and Bromwell High on BBC America. In the premiere episode of Ed vs. Spencer (a Brit remake of Canadian series Kenny vs. Spenny), "Who Can Make Themselves the Illest?" the boys deliberately try to make themselves ill in a competition to see, well, who can make themselves the sickest. Meanwhile, over on animated series Bromwell High ("Tolerance"), the girls prepare a school presentation on tolerance.

9 pm: The Apprentice.

On tonight's installment of The Apprentice ("Cruise Control"), the teams race to film a commercial aboard a cruise ship... the only problem is that they have to complete the challenge before the ship sets sail. Ah, that Donald. Always finding new and creative ways to impose deadlines.

9:30 pm: Old Christine.

Meanwhile, over on CBS' Old Christine ("One Toe Over the Line, Sweet Jesus"), everyone's favorite divorcee Christine is annoyed when her brother Matthew tells ex-hubby Richard that she is on her fifth date with a new boyfriend. I still can't believe I am actually watching a sitcom with a laugh track and everything. It's simply too... weird.