TVSquad

Adam Finley
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We know that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was picked up for a third season, but how did they get Danny DeVito to stick around? The video below explains everything, and if the warnings at the beginning of the video aren't enough, let me tell you upfront that the video is NOT SAFE FOR WORK and contains mature themes.

Tell you what: skip down to the bottom of this post and watch the video first, because I'm going to talk about it and I don't want to ruin any of it for you.

The third annual New York Television Festival is now taking place in the Big Apple. As we did last year, we will review each of the pilots in competition there. This is the first of those reviews.

Last year I decided not to review any of the pilots from the New York Television Festival, but this year curiosity got the better of me and I said yes.

I decided to review one of the comedy DVDs. More specifically, the one featuring a pilot with puppets. You know what I learned, Mable? I learned that if your plot is lame and contrived, having puppets as half your cast doesn't improve things at all. Let's get into it (you can view the pilots at MSN):

A documentary about Second Life that actually takes place within the virtual world has been picked up by HBO for a premiere sometime next year.

The documentary, Molotov's Dispatches in Search of the Creator: A Second Life Odyssey, was created by multimedia director Douglas Gayeton, whose avatar, Molotov Alva, serves as a guide through the virtual 3D world. Gayeton previously worked on the CD-ROM version of the film Johnny Menemonic, and is a partner with Propaganda Films along with David Fincher, Spike Jonze, and Alex Proyas. The documentary was produced by Submarine in Amsterdam, however, not Propaganda.

"Gee whiz, that crazy nut just shot at me! I'd like to give that silly so-and-so a bop on the noggin, by golly!"

Yeah, I just can't imagine a World War II veteran talking about his experiences and not using a few expletives, and there are more than a few curse words bandied about in Ken Burns' seven-part documentary The War. The swearing comes not only from the soldiers themselves who use phrases like "holy s**t" and "***hole," but from the narrator, who explains what the military acronyms "FUBAR" and "SNAFU" stand for (if you don't know, Google it).

Starz Entertainment is getting into the scripted sitcom biz with two new comedy series slated to kick off in January.

The first, Hollywood Residential, focuses on the problems facing a home-makeover show geared toward celebrities. The other new series, Head Case, is about a psychotherapist whose clients are all big Hollywood celebs.

The "celebrity" angle of both shows is not a coincidence: Mike Ruggiero, Starz VP of programming, says it's a way of getting viewers used to seeing scripted shows on the channel by featuring some of the celebrities also seen in the movies that originally made up Starz's programming. I don't quite understand that logic, since HBO seemed to do just fine when it started airing original programs without any big names attached.

I've never understood the term "guilty pleasure." I figure that if I enjoy something -- a song, a TV show, a movie, etc, I shouldn't feel guilty about it. Yeah, so I have a couple REO Speedwagon songs on my iPod, what of it?

The only TV show that kinda falls into the "guilty pleasure" category for me is Cops. I never make a point of watching it, but when it's on, I can't turn it off. Still, the whole time that tiny angel sits on my shoulder telling me I really shouldn't get my entertainment through the misery of others.

And so, it's with the utmost hypocrisy that I tell you how much I dislike the idea behind the new FOX series, Smile, You're Under Arrest. The series will trick individuals with outstanding warrants into thinking they're being awarded with prizes or money when in fact the police are waiting to arrest them. The concept comes from the brain of producer Scott Satin (Who Wants to Be a Superhero?), who is working with the (in)famous Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriff (Arizona) whose tough stance on criminals has garnered him scorn from some and accolades from others.

I'll blame my relative indifference toward the anime series itself, but it was only recently that I had heard anything about a live-action Dragon Ball Z flick.

Last month, IGN had a brief write-up about the alleged adaptation, but didn't have much other than speculation. Now, however, comes word that the movie will begin shooting in Montreal sometime in the near future, with plans to wrap production by next July. There has been no official word on who will star in it, or who will make it, though Roland Emmerich's name was tossed around.

Fred Thompson's plans to announce his candidacy for the 2008 presidential race once again brings up the question of "equal time" provisions that are in place to assure a single candidate is not given more airtime on television than anyone else.

Thompson, a Republican and former Tennessee senator, played DA Arthur Branch on NBC's Law and Order for five seasons. NBC, in keeping with the provisions, has stopped airing episodes that feature Thompson, but TNT, whose schedule overflows with Law and Order reruns, will keep airing the Thompson episodes.

Leverage has been added to TNT's list of drama pilots, only one or two of which will be chosen for next summer's schedule to air alongside popular series The Closer and Saving Grace. The other dramas include an untitled legal drama from Stephen Bochco starring Jane Kaczmarek and Mark-Paul Gosselaar, the William H. Macy dramedy Family Man, and Truth in Advertising, a drama about an ad agency.

The folks behind some of my favorite series of the past decade talking about the TV comedy business? Yes, please.

Golden Fiddle has a transcript of a panel discussion with David Cross (Arrested Development, co-creator of Mr. Show), Bob Odenkirk (the other co-creator of Mr. Show), Chuck Tatham (writer, Arrested Development), and Wonder Showzen creators Vernon Chatman and John Lee.