In 1994 the world had been without “Knight Rider” for a few years. “Knight Rider 2000″ had failed to be popular enough to warrant a full series, and the concept was sitting on a shelf.

Universal Television decided to resurrect the franchise as part of their “Action Pack” line, which featured several made-for-tv movies/back door pilots.

Originally, they were going to make a new version of Knight Rider that was a continuation of the original series. You can even find an early draft of the script that shows this incarnation of the show.

They scrapped that idea, however, and what resulted was a completely new concept that involved a post-apocalyptic future, a cross dressing video game CEO, and a beat up Ford Mustang that had been highly customized by had the soul of a woman named “Hannah” trapped inside it.

I’m not kidding.

It is one of the worst tv movies every made…and it is truly the definition of tv we wish we could forget.

In more “Office” news, Amy Ryan has signed on to return to the series for 5 episodes next season.

I have to say I’m really disappointed by this news because she needs to be on the show FULL TIME.

Amy Ryan’s character is an absolutely perfect addition to the series and will be genuinely sad to see her go if she’s only going to be with us for 5 episodes. I really hope she can be a part of the cast for a longer period of time.

What can we send to NBC to make this happen? Pieces of office chairs? Illustrations of Yoda doing yoga? I don’t know – but something must be done!

Amy Ryan FULL TIME!!!! Spread the word!

Today I’m happy to report that Steve Carell has signed up for 3 more years of playing Michael Scott on the NBC hit series “The Office”.

Ricky Gervais broke the story on his blog over the weekend, and it looks like the show is a lock (ratings willing) for at least 3 more seasons. Some people had speculated that Carell might transition to films full time after the success of features like “The 40 Year-Old-Virgin” and “Get Smart”.

Work continues on the “Office” spin-off as well, and Gervais is involved in the process, although there is still no word on just what its going to be about, or who the full cast might be.

We’ll just have to wait and see.

CBS has announced their fall schedule. I have to say there is very little here that I’m personally excited about, but I do know that CBS is a ratings machine these days, so I’m guessing there are millions of people out there who can’t wait for September to roll around so they can get back into their favorite shows.

If you’re looking for their start dates look no further:

September 18: Survivor: Gabon at 8:00

September 22: The Big Bang Theory at 8:00; How I Met Your Mother at 8:30; Two and a Half Men at 9:00; Worst Week at 9:30; CSI: Miami at 10:00

September 23: NCIS at 8:00; The Mentalist at 9:00; Without a Trace at 10:00

September 24: The New Adventures of Old Christine at 8:00; Project Gary at 8:30; Criminal Minds at 9:00; CSI: NY at 10:00

September 27: Crimetime Saturday at 8:00 and 9:00; 48 Hours Mystery at 10:00

September 28: 60 Minutes at 7:00; The Amazing Race at 8:00; Cold Case at 9:00; The Unit at 10:00

October 3: Ghost Whisperer at 8:00; The Ex List at 9:00; Numb3rs at 10:00

October 9: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation at 9:00; Eleventh Hour at 10:00

The Top Ten drama and comedy finalists for the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced yesterday. This list represents the ten shows that received the most votes from the Television Academy, and which will subsequently go before the Blue Ribbon Panel on the weekend of June 28-19…hey, that’s tomorrow! The results will be announced on Thursday, July 17.

Top 10 Comedy Series Finalists
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
The Office
Pushing Daisies
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men
Ugly Betty
Weeds

Top 10 Drama Series Finalists
Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Grey’s Anatomy
House
Lost
Mad Men
The Tudors
The Wire

Sure there were only 2 episodes of this awful excuse for television, but in those two episodes the producers of this show managed to bring the entire United States down a few notches just by our allowing it into our homes.

Fights like Dustin Diamond vs. Ron Pallio, Joey Buttafuoco taking on Chyna (after John Wayne Bobbitt was forced to drop out because of getting arrested for beating his wife), and Tonya Harding stepping into the ring with Paula Jones (after Amy Fisher dropped out at the last minute).

Look at that list. Joey Buttafuoco and Amy Fisher are famous because she attempted to murder his wife after they were having an affair. John Wayne Bobbitt is famous for having his penis cut off. Paula Jones was only famous for having had an affair with the President.

These are the kinds of “celebrities” that the producers of this show wanted to put in the ring. This is seriously the lowest television has ever gone, in my opinion.

July 17th is the start of the auditions for the 8th season of American Idol. That kicks off in San Francisco, California. The American Idol crew will continue on through 7 other cities which include:

Thursday, July 17
San Francisco, Calif., at the Cow Palace

Monday, July 21
Louisville, Ky., at Freedom Hall

Friday, July 25
Phoenix, Ariz., at the Jobing.com Arena

Tuesday, July 29
Salt Lake City, Utah, at the EnergySolutions Arena

Saturday, Aug. 2
San Juan, Puerto Rico, at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico

Friday, Aug. 8
Kansas City, Mo., at the Sprint Center

Wednesday, Aug. 13
Jacksonville, Fla., at the Veterans Memorial Arena

Tuesday, Aug. 19
East Rutherford, N.J., at the IZOD Center at the Meadowlands

Visit AmericanIdol.com for full details on rules and restrictions.

As a special tribute to George Carlin, on Saturday night NBC is going to air the very first episode of Saturday Night Live (then called NBC’s Saturday Night) which George Carlin hosted.

The show is quite a bit different than the current SNL format we’re all familiar with. The “Not Ready for Primetime Players” were only a part of the show – not the entire program.

For a nostalgic look at not only Saturday Night Live history but also the history of George Carlin, tune in on Saturday night and prepare to be transported back to 1975.

This summer Joss Whedon is taking his unique talents online with a series called Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. The…thing…stars Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day and Natha Fillion – and it looks amazingly funny.

The first trailer has just made its way online, and you can see it above.

During the summer that is often time for reflection. Lets face it – there’s nothing worth watching on television right now. Tonight you can choose between “Deal or No Deal”, “Farmer Wants a Wife”, or stabbing yourself in the eye.

All three options sound like a less than ideal evening.

It is during this time of the year that we are reminded of just how terrible television can be. So, with that in mind, I thought I would take a look at some truly bad TV in this new segment “TV We Wish We Could Forget”.

For our first installment we’re going to take a look at a UPN show from the latter part of the 90s. It’s a little gem called “Homeboys in Outer Space”.

This “sci-fi” show is the definition of terrible. It features and odd-couple like paring of “homeboys” who flew around the universe in winged car. The show featured guest stars like Tempestt Bledsoe, Little Richard, George Takei, Erik Estrada, and Gary Coleman. Even with star power like that – the show couldn’t find an audience.

Except, of course, for the NAACP who protested the show because of its constant use of racial stereotypes.

“Homeboys in Outer Space” ran from 1996 to 1997 – and was terrible the entire time.