Come On Down! You're the next contestant in th...oh wait, no, that's the celebrities.

Yes folks, CBS screwed things up yet again, mixing reality TV with washed-up actors, singers and tv show hosts, somehow thinking they've cooked up a program no one will be able to resist. The only question that should be asked is...

Are they kidding?

New to CBS starting tonight (8 p.m.) as part of a 7-episode, four-week run (that's SEVEN episodes folks, a full FOUR episodes more than the previously cancelled "Love Monkey"), is the new "reality" series called "Gameshow Marathon."

The show, hosted by Emmy Award nominee Ricki Lake (photo, above right), will feature celebrity contestants competing in elimination tournaments throughout the series, showcasing a different classic game show every week.

The classic game shows include:

-The Price Is Right (5/31)
-Let's Make a Deal (6/1)
-Beat the Clock (6/7)
-Press Your Luck (6/8)
-Card Sharks (6/15)
-Match Game (6/22)
-Family Feud (6/29)

The washed-up actors, actresses, singers and former tv show hosts include:

-Lance Bass ('N Sync)
-Paige Davis (Former host, "Trading Spaces")
-Tim Meadows (Actor, "Saturday Night Live")
-Kathy Najimy (Actress, "Sister Act")
-Leslie Nielsen (Actor, "Airplane" & "The Naked Gun" series)
-Brande Roderick (Actress, "Baywatch")

Now, I know what you're thinking -- these people are all past their prime, but do they really need the money? Other than those appearance fees, they'll be playing for you, the viewer. Nice try CBS, but the premise of the show is still ridiculous (Maybe with the exception of watching Leslie Nielsen play Plinko.)

People watched those primetime Price Is Right episodes from Vegas. We used to watch game shows like Let's Make A Deal and such in the prime-time hours. Why the need to go with B-list celebrities? Throw some strangers out there and give us some underdogs to root for!

The competition in the timeslot is non-existent, facing off against Dateline: NBC, George Lopez, and, of course, the WE network's 31st showing this month of Dirty Dancing. Nobody puts baby in a corner folks.

I'll stick to Mythbusters and open up a book tonight. Game over.

Happy, er, Good Luck, Tubing everyone...

-Marc

Well, I've officially bookended the 24 universe.  After much cajoling, my friends got me to watch season five while it aired, and I got hooked.  Of course, I couldn't live without knowing what else happened on Jack Bauer's other crappy days, so Marc was kind enough to lend me season one.

About a week later, and I'm done.  Yeah, I'm that much of a loser.  Anyway, I really enjoyed the first season.  It has a raw and new feel to it that must have disappeared somewhere in the last few seasons.  At the same time, it wasn't perfect.  It's obvious the writers have learned a few lessons about polish and plausibility (of course, we're talking 24 here, so let's not go TOO crazy on the realism).  For example, there were a few plotlines that could have been given way less attention (Kim and her moronic meanderings, Terry's magical on-again-off-again amnesia, etc) or dropped entirely.  There were also things that should have taken more of a limelight and given more time to develope(Nina x50).

I'm also very pleased at the ending, and after watching the sappy, happy-go-lucky alternate ending on the DVD, I'm enormously happy that the writers/producers decided to keep things dark.  The commentary nailed it on the head: they wanted viewers to think anything was possible and drop normal TV expectations, and it worked wonderfully.

I can't wait to see what the middle of the series has to offer, it'll be interesting to see how it's developed.  I've seen the two extremes, now I want to see the evolution.  So...  anyone got a season two set I can borrow?  ;)

    -Tucker

I wasn't looking for it - although I was pumped by a few commercials last week - but I found and watched the first episode of "Last Comic Standing." The beginning of this series is the best part (like the end) because it's all about the standup. The in-between is where the reality TV drama sickness gets injected as the final comics are shuffled off to live in a house together. Oh well - I might just have to skip a few episodes - no worries.

What's new this season?
* Jay Mohr has been replaced by "that guy" from "Yes, Dear," also known as Anthony Clark.
* The "house" is being replaced by a stay on the Queen Mary cruise ship in Long Beach, Calif.

What's the same?
* The selection process - a la American Idol - is still long lines with good and bad comics.
* Some of the same old faces are back for another try, including some that we just don't want to see.

What you missed in the first episode?
* "Skippy" from Family Ties auditioned and made the initial cut but didn't get any further.
* Some dude from MTV Road Rules also auditioned but didn't make much of a showing.

I have a new reason to get my ass in front of the TV on Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. Who needs "House" anyway? It's summer - bring on the laughs!

- Judianne

Well, my friends, Armageddon has passed.  All the shows are done (except for the odd straggler here and there like The Sopranos, which has one more episode) and some of them have been banished never to return to our TV-viewing schedule.  How have I not already started to get the shakes from withdrawl?  Well, I've made friends with my DVD player again.  I'm almost done with the first season of 24, which means I've got three more seasons to plod through before the show comes back next year.  No need to rush, but I'm sure they'll be watched by the end of August.

Jack Bauer isn't the only one who'll be spinning in my DVD player - I also intend to watch a few other shows I let slide for one reason or another and have decided to give the benefit of the doubt.  Here's a list of my planned summer pickups; hopefully this won't make the next TV season too crowded.

Veronica Mars - I've heard too many raves about this show to let it go.  Last few times I've heard this kind of buzz was surrounding three of my favorite shows: Lost, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica.

Boston Legal - I'm tired of hearing hilarous stories second-hand from co-workers, so I might as well get in on the Shatner & co. party before it comes back.

The Sopranos - Ok, so I've watched every season religiously,  but my roommate hasn't seen a single episode, so we'll be working our way through the Jersey crew to get her ready to catch the final few episodes in 2007.

When all else fails - Ultimately those won't be enough to fill the TV void all summer, so I'll most likely start working my way through re-runs of my TV-on-DVD collection - and that's not counting any sets that come out in the next few months.

Yeah, yeah...  this all sounds super nerdy, but I've got to get my flickering-box-fix somehow.

    -Tucker

Last night I watched the first show of "So You Think You Can Dance." This was not on purpose. I was out of it and recovering from my wisdom teeth surgery and still quite strung out and my roommate had control of the remote. I don't remember a lot of it but I do recall seeing a man fall on his face - hard, and a young man (with his mom in tow) telling everyone that he was all about sex and that he wanted his stage name to be just that - "Sex." It was the creepiest thing I've ever see - and that's not the Vicadin talking. There was absolutely nothing about this guy that made me think of sex in any way - from his zebra-stripped shirt to his red, shiny belt, to his long chest hair to his creepy look-alike mother touting his sexy stature. BARF!

Needless to say, "Sex" did not make it to the next round but I'm sure you'll see clips of him again. He HAD to be kidding but the presence of his strange mother made it seem pretty legit. How depressing.

- Judianne

Chalk it all up to a little misunderstanding.  Some of you may know I am a staunch American Idol opposer.  I hate it with every fiber of my being - in fact, I hate it almost as much as I hate Oprah.  So understandably it was with great trepidation that I mashed the "record" button on tonight's and tomorrow's shows for my new roommate.

Now, I mentioned this at work, and Marc's eyes grew to the size of saucers.  "WHAT?!  You're taping Idol and not LOST!?"  I returned his shocked expression with a blank stare of my own.  "No, I'm DVRing Idol in the background while I DVR Lost."  It was there that the communication breakdown became obvious: Marc's never had experience with a dual-tuner DVR.

In case you've never encountered such a beast either, dual-tuner DVRs allow you to tune in to/record two shows at once.  To use tonight as an example, while I'm recording that Idol crap Lost will be recording as well.  I could also watch something I already recorded while they both go, but I wouldn't be able to switch channels without losing either Lost or Idol.  I don't plan on switching away from Lost, so it should all be ok.  I'll just have to make sure I delete Idol as soon as she's done watching it so I don't involuntarily vomit all over the place when I see it on the "MyDVR" list.

For Marc, this realization was like an epiphany.  I admit that I'm late to the DVR party, but I really don't see it being useful without the dual-tuner model.  How do you people live only being able to record/watch one thing at a time?

    -Tucker

I think the shock value of entire TV shows turning out to be a long dream sequence is trite and old hat and whatever overused descriptions you can think of that fit. It's disappointing to me, in a time when there is so much creative production going on, that writers would even go there. Prime time television should have higher standards than day time soaps and writers/producers have a responsibility to think of a new way to do it beyond having the character wake up at the end and everyone saying... oooh, he imagined the whole thing. DUMB!

I won't point fingers at any particular shows or stations (FOX) but it's unacceptable to me to waste my time with a dream that has little consequence to the series as a whole.

- Judianne

I know I am going to get it from many a reader for posting this blog, but here goes...

I watched the beginning of Oprah's Legend's Ball special on TV last night. I wasn't planning on it, but it came on when I sat down and turned on the tube. Before I knew it I was watching intently and getting all teary and being generally silly. I yelled at my roommate for trying to change the channel.

I am not an Oprah follower (I don't tune into her show regularly and I certainly don't buy her books or her magazine or any of the other junks she peddles) but there's something about her. Perhaps it's witchcraft, perhaps it's just good marketing, perhaps it's just me being ridiculous, but Oprah has a power over women (myself included) that is unexplainable.

Now that I am reflecting on the show, it wasn't good at all. It was just Oprah talking about a party that she threw that probably cost more than I will make in three lifetimes. It was a load of crap featuring all the usual suspect celebrities.

So why did I watch so much of it? That is the mystery that is Oprah. It's disturbing - yes. But will it likely change? No. You guys will just have to learn to live with it (or take her down in a grand expose - I know a few men that are already plotting that one).

- Judianne

"American Idol" is going out with a bang this year... and it makes me want to barf.  They are doing a whole red carpet thing at the Kodak Theater starting at 6 p.m. (EST). It should only take five minutes to tell me who won, actually. So what's up with all the pomp and circumstance?

I already had to endure Ryan Seacrest on the Oscar red carpet. And this is not the Oscars, it's "American Idol" with Taylor Hicks and Katherine McPhee.

I suppose it's to be expected from the marketing machine that is FOX but does anyone else think this whole thing is getting a little ridiculous?

- Judianne

PS: I bet Kelly Clarkson isn't among the celebrity guests.

I know we'll get the answer tonight, but what's up with 24?  I was thinking this over all week long: I just don't see how they're going to plausibly wrap things up this season.  My thoughts are that they'll resolve the issue with the president, but hunting down the mysterious group of string-pullers sounds like it could be good fodder for a whole season by itself.  We already know the show isn't going anywhere for a while (they signed, what, three? four more seasons?), so might this be a direct lead into next season?

We'll know more about what's going on in Jack Bauer's life by the end of the night, but I have to say I've very much enjoyed this season.  The show gets a little over the top and ridiculous at times, but it's a nice guilty pleasure.  I've got the Season 1 DVD waiting to fill some TV voids this summer, so I should be all caught up on Jack Bauer's bad-assitude.  Of course, it'll be weird to watch characters who I know eventually die, but whatever, I think I'll get over it.

    -Tucker