Could the Cast from My Name is Earl take over Gilligan's Island?

This Cast photo of My Name is Earl reminds me the 60's TV show Gilligan's Island. The actors from My Name is Earl could probably do a bang up job as the new cast of a Gilligan's Island tv show re make.

(Photo above is property of the TV Show My Name is Earl).

(Photo above is property of the TV Show Gilligan's Island)

At first glance, Earl Hickey (Jason Lee) could be Gilligan, Randy Hickey (Ethan Suplee) would be the skipper, Joy Turner (Jaime Pressly) would be Ginger "Snaps", Catalina (Nadine Velazquez) would play Mary Ann, Darnell Turner (Eddie Steeples) would be the Professor.

This leaves the casting for millionaire Thurston Howell the Third and his wife "Lovey". I could see Beau Bridges (Earl's father on the show, Carl Hickey) and Nancy Lenehan (Earl's mother on the show, Kay Hickey) playing the eccentric millionaire couple.

I would consider switching roles of Darnell Turner and Earl Hickey, Turner switching from the Professor to Gilligan, and Earl Hickey from Gilligan to the Professor. However since Gilligan is the lead, I doubt such a switch would be on the table for a Gilligan's Island's remake since it would be considered a step down for Earl (Jason Lee) to play a supporting cast member when he has already been the lead in My Name is Earl. Plus making Gilligan look silly as the original did might be considered racist nowadays if an african american actor (Eddie Steeples) played the part.

On the other hand, I think Eddie Steeples would somehow elevate the roll of Gilligan into more than a screw up, and I'm guessing Steeples could do physical comedy well, whereas Jason Lee could bring authenticity to the professor's part. Maybe a running gag could be that the Professor and Gilligan occasionally accidentally knock heads and each becomes the other one.

I think a remake of Gilligan's Island updated to present times could be kind of funny if it could comedically be shown that they can't be found or rescued through a series of really ironic and boneheaded things going wrong. Kind of like what happens on "LOST". (ha ha)

It would probably be a real challenge to write the scripts as the actors would probably all have to be played as more enlightened overall than the original Gilligan's Island. The more enlightened the characters are, the less likely they would be to do some of the dumb things they did do that kept them on the island the first time around.

On the other hand, what if all of their electronic gadgets kept them so pre-occupied that they weren't as motivated to leave the island. Maybe the geo navigational readings are somehow misdirected so when they leave messages nobody can find them. Maybe nobody really misses them because of email and messaging. Maybe somebody offers them a million dollars each if they can stay lost for a year.

Maybe they are stranded on the island as a stunt gone wrong. They agree to stay on the island to raise money for global warming, and agree to stay as long as a certain amount of money is raised each year. Of course, the running gag is every they find out that they have raised more than the amount that keeps them on the Island. (This could lead to a really funny series finale when we find out just who wanted to make sure they stayed on the island).

Maybe in during the course of the show, they demonstrate real life situations that prove global warming may be happening???

I'm not clamoring for a Gilligan's island remake, but if one were done, it would be kind of funny if the cast of Earl was used to make it happen.

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Youtube Video, GoD and DoG by Wendy J. Francisco.

I saw this youtube video called GoD and DoG by Wendy J. Francisco on Carol Leifer's facebook page and thought I would share it here.

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8th Annual TV Land Awards features a special announcement from Charo, aka April Lopez.

What if Marilyn Monroe had suddenly announced she was becoming an archaeologist and she wanted to be known by her original name? While that probably would have made news, the odds of that ever happening in her time were probably slim and none.

Which is why I found the Love Boats popular guest start, Charo, and her explanation to the TV LAND audience that she is now a concerto musician who performs In Italy, China, and all over the world, by the name of April Lopez, so endearing.

"Hola, Buenos Noches, My name is Charo, I was born in a Spain, and I own everything to senor Aaron Spelling. I did the love boat when my cuci cuci was only a gici gici (pause for audience laughter). I travel around the world. I'm a musician now, doing concerts with symphonies. In Italy my name is April, in mejico my name is April, in Canada my name is April, In China my name is April...Thank you.... Mr. Aaron Spelling, thank you everybody. God Bless you."

After Charo said "in China my name is April", I thought a punchline was coming such as "all over the world I am now April, but here on TVLAND, I will always be Charo!"

Either way, if you are a Charo Fan from the Love Boat Days, she now goes by the name of April Lopez and she may be visiting a concert hall near you.

You can see TV Land Awards Video Highlight Clips (including April Lopez as Charo) by clicking here.

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TV LAND 8th Annual Awards Review.

The TV Land Awards is many things all at the same time. It is the land that time forgot, it is the land of successful but somewhat discarded misfit toys, it is the place you go when you are feeling nostalgic. It is also the place you go to snicker, oogle, and fondly remember the past.

Perhaps the 8th annual TVLand 8th annual awards is like going back to your high school reunion to see who has aged worse than yourself, or, the moment you take to reverently reflect on your own past and the people who entertained you week after week when you realized our life was not just about you.

The TV Land Awards is also the place you can go to where everybody who walks on stage may actually speak. It is the place that an A actor like Tom Hanks will show up to to lend his support. It is also the place where the lead actor from Everybody loves Raymond, Ray Romano, would probably rather be anywhere else but at the TV Land Awards, but he still shows up and steps up, and gave it up, for the show.

And now I'm inspired. I would love to see the honored show ensembles do a scene specifically for the TV land Awards. I would love to see Raymond getting his TV Land award invitation on his TV show set, and have a scene play out with cast members as to why he doesn't want to go.

Maybe the scene ends with Raymond's dad, (the now deceased Peter Boyle, yelling at him to go and enjoy his life while he still can), cut to Raymond and the gang getting up on stage.

Maybe the show ensembles that are being honored are featured on a current television show and that clip is used to introduce the ensemble at the TV Land Awards as the ensemble goes on stage.

I liked the linking of the past with the present. It's why Tom Hanks showed up, to respect how he got his start. It's so Ray Romano can meet his own idols such as Bob Newhart, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks.

It's so many of the actors can take a moment on stage and thank executive producers like the deceased Aaron Spelling.

Bernie Koepel had a sedated Robin Williams moment when he ad libbed, "I'm so glad to be here...to be anywhere".

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Alex LOGIC aka Alessandro Machi scoops The New York Times by 3 days regarding the PRIME TIME SIT COM REVIVAL.

Did Alex Logic, aka Alessandro Machi, scoop the New York Times?

Click here for Alex Logic article up above.

Click here for New York Times Article Below.

You can click on the image above to read the date of their article (April 16, 2010).

Alex LOGIC SCOOPS the New York Times by three days!

I will admit to making a mistake in my article. I couldn't remember the name of the fourth comedy show on ABC's Wednesday night comedy schedule, so I didn't name any of them. It turns out the reason I could not name all four shows is that ABC regularly runs their three comedy hit shows and then adds an additional run of one of those three shows as the fourth show. I could not name the fourth show because it no longer was airing!

Factor in that Modern Family follows three very separate, very funny but related households, and that just became too much math for me to do.

There is a lot of GOOD STUFF in my article that is spot on including if at least one of the networks doesn't add a comedy show line-up to Tuesday night, as soon as possible, they are being daft beyond comprehension.

The syndication angle was also covered by my article and the New York Times article.

However, the New York Times article failed to mention the lack of a laugh track on ABC Wednesday comedy night, and that was a central theme to my article as it helps explain the proliferation of GOOD comedy shows because the comedy shows with laugh tracks "feel different" than the comedy shows without laugh tracks, and that makes it a win win for both types of situation comedies.

The New York Times made no definitive mention of the reality TV angle and how dominant American Idol was a few years ago. My point is that the networks may have waited too long to pounce on Tuesday night so that viewers could choose to watch a good sit com over a long in the tooth reality TV show like American Idol.

By the way, I liked Gary Unmarried and am surprised CBS took that show off the air. This was something the New York Times failed to mention as they presumed Accidentally on purpose had been on all year long when it has only been on for about six weeks as a replacement to Gary Unmarried.

CBS should move The New adventures of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried to Tuesday Night and let ABC have Wednesday night. And although I did not mention NBC's Thursday night line-up in my prior article, I consider 30 Rock to be the best show out there, and The Office a top ten as well.

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Going Retro, life lessons learned while very young and competitioning my Hot Wheels Cars Collection, plus Spiderman pays a visit.

I rediscovered my favorite Hot Wheels car from my youth yesterday, and it brought back a stream of memories. My favorite Hot Wheels car was "The Demon" (see photos). One reason why "The Demon" (later known as "The Prowler) was my favorite Hot Wheels car was it was the fastest hot wheel car ever made (don't even argue this point as you will lose all credibility with me). But speed wasn't the only reason "The Demon" was my favorite car.

As memories of "The Demon" began resurfacing in my mind, I realized something about myself, The Demon, and Spiderman! My number one superhero has always been Spiderman. One of the primary messages from the Spiderman Movie series has been, "With great power comes greater responsibility".

It suddenly dawned on me yesterday that I too had exercised great responsibility many years earlier when I harnessed the power of the "The Demon" for peaceful purposes only.

When it became obvious that "The Demon" was the fastest Hot Wheels car ever known to kid kind, I began racing The Demon less and less. I saw no reason in lording the power of The Demon over my racing competitors. What's the point in having the fastest hot wheels car in the world if no one wants to race you?

The never ending dejected faces of those who raced and lost against the Demon made me realize it was time to retire The Demon from racing and move on. I would use my other Hot Wheels cars to battle it out on the Hot Wheels Race Track. No other car ever came close to the dominance of The Demon, and we were all the better for it.

Although I no longer raced "The Demon", from time to time the legend of The Demon would be brought up and I would be cajoled into bringing it out of retirement for show and tell. I would first point out how cool looking "The Demon" was. The color, the shape, the menacing gravity defying downward slope that seemed to give this Hot Wheel car a head start even before the race had begun.

But then came the coup d'etat. Asking for silence, and getting it, I would ever so gently drop "The Demon" from a scant millimeter or two above the table so all could hear the independent four wheel springy suspension bounce into action, made all the more impressive by the unflinching plastic tires that seemed to enhance The Demon's four wheel springyness. 


The drop and spring was always followed by acknowledging oohs and aahs that "The Demon" was indeed, in a Hot Wheels league unto itself. A league of champions that would make even Stan Lee Proud.

I have a memory of one time bringing "The Demon" out of retirement because some trash talking second guessers were wondering if maybe "The Demon's legendary status" was all hype.

The Demon surpassed itself that day as the margin of victory over the next fastest hot wheels car seemed to be even greater than any of us could ever recall. (The extra margin of victory had nothing to do with us dropping, crashing and unknowingly bending the axles on all of our other Hot Wheels cars from all the racing and over use we inflicted upon them while the Demon was in retirement.)

Soon, others bought Demons as well, but something strange happened. No other Demon seemed to be as fast as MY DEMON. But I never lorded my Demon's prowess over anyone else, because as Spiderman says, "With Great Power, Comes Greater Responsibility".

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Subaru Saved My Life Commercial needs an encore, and fast.

I think the Subaru "saved my life" commercial is every effective the first couple of times one sees the commercial. The piano music is effective and the taking of the shift knob also is effective in tugging at the heart strings.

What bothers me about this commercial is once I've seen it a couple of times, a natural progression occurs in which I kind of want to know more. If you're going to pull at my heartstrings, show me the truth, don't just tell it me.

Did the subaru driver fall asleep and hit a tree? If so, show the circumstance, even a still shot, of the car and the tree. If the person driving the subaru car whose life was saved perhaps was at fault because they fell asleep (because it was front end damage), then tell us to not drive when sleepy.

If the damage was caused by someone else who was drunk or fell asleep and crossed over the double line, tell us. If the person driving was trying to make a cell phone call or text message, and that caused the accident, TELL US.

How about Subaru save a few more lives by revealing how the accident happened, so others can prevent the accident from happening.

The Subaru "saved my life" commercial starts as a nostalgic, feel good commercial but after a few viewings ends up being kind of a creepy, narcissistic commercial because it's about a man and his car who selfishly keeps to himself what he or the other driver could have done to PREVENT the accident.

Suddenly the message becomes, it's ok to be stupid, as long as you drive a subaru and then buy another one after you crash the first one.

One more thing, the guy looks pretty healthy to me. I don't know if the time line of the totaled car varies from accident to accident, but in this instance, the driver had enough time to completely heal and then still visit his car before the car was put to rest. Lucky him.

There is an area of "commercials progression" that just doesn't exist, that would have helped this commercial. Should commercials slowly evolve? Show the initial version of the subaru commercial and tug at our heart strings, but then reveal more of the story in subsequent versions of the same commercial. If you hit a home run in your first at bat, what are you going to do your next time up, especially if you plan on showing the same commercial over and over.

The subaru saved my life commercial needs an encore, and quickly.

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HSUS 24th GENESIS AWARDS TO AIR ON ANIMAL PLANET APRIL 24 AND 25, 2010 AS A ONE HOUR SPECIAL.

The HSUS 24th Genesis Awards will air on Animal Planet April 24th and 25th, 2010.

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Van Nuys Post Office Finds Effective Way to Squash April 15, 2010 Tea Party Tax Protestors, and it probably was accidental.

I have always believed in "double realities" in which two differing interpretations of the same event can be convincingly demonstrated as being the truth. I was surprised to see no IRS income tax protesting at the Sherman Way Van Nuys Post Office on April 15th, 2010 after 11:00 PM. Usually people with signs can be seen until after midnight.

As I walked away it suddenly dawned on me that the smelly, loud, and in the way generator was the culprit. If the generator had even been kept a mere 15 feet away, the environment would not have been so uninviting. I think there were generators last year, but I don't recall them being right where the mail was collected. It is true that the farther away the generators are from the lights, longer power cords have to be used which can present a public tripping hazard.

All I can say is this years use of the power generators and their placement, along with the lighting placement, ended up being an effective way to shut down protestors who were no match for the loud and foul power generator that was being used.

A couple of portable car batteries with fusable links (for safety purposes) could probably power more than enough light for several hours, would be nice and quiet, and would not spew out burning oil into the air substantial enough to make ones eyes water, and would have allowed for protestors to peacefully gather, and be heard.

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Deal or No Deal, another one of those game shows that would benefit from some new ideas, Alex LOGIC ideas.

I have always enjoyed what I call "simple math" such as adding, subtracting, dividing, multiplying, creating ratios and percentages. I'm pretty good with simple math and when I see game shows such as "The Price is Right", or "Deal or no Deal", I view the shows and then begin to ponder if the show could be "improved".

Deal or no Deal is a popular, albeit flawed game show. Deal or no Deal is mathematically flawed in a way that allows the show to remain interesting, but also ensures the show will never be viewed with the fervor or loyalty of other game shows that actually require some skill sets.

That's right, there are NO SKILL SETS involved in the show Deal or no Deal as it currently is constructed. In this instance however, Deal or No Deal's lack of a skill set requirement is not necessarily a bad thing. The show probably benefits by fooling both the audience and the contestants into believing that skill is involved.

The idea I have come up with does not add a new skill set requirement for the contestants, however my idea would still make the game both more interesting and possibly create a more loyal audience base.

For those who have read different articles on Alex LOGIC, you know that I am very generous in giving out suggestions and ideas to improve a specific television show or commerical.

However, this is one of those instances where I would prefer to share my ideas after being hired as a consultant. If Deal or no Deal would like to make their show "more" fulfilling, I have an idea that should do just that.

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How NBC, CBS, ABC are letting Fox off the hook by not offering Sit Coms every night of the week.

It all started with the Jay Leno move to 10:00 pm. NBC and Jay Leno hyped the move to 10:00 pm as being a progressive, trend setting move. Then I read how television producers were livid at losing those precious five hours of prime-time programming to a talk show slot.

I have since noticed some really questionable programming time slot decisions by all of the major broadcast channels. My theory is this all started because of the explosive popularity of American Idol several years ago, the other networks counter programmed with their own reality tv shows. At that time this probably made a lot of sense. Why spend a lot more money producing original programming only to be trounced in the ratings by a less expensive to produce reality tv show? But that was then, and this is now.

Now the pendulum has swung in the other direction and sit coms and the moving of Jay Leno back to his old time slot have opened up some original programming, except for Tuesday night. There are NO sit coms on Tuesday night, but on Wednesday night, ABC sit coms compete directly with CBS. But what is just as dumb is CBS goes directly from two sit coms on Wednesday to the grizzly show Criminal Minds. If I sit down to watch the New Adventures of Old Christine and Gary unMarried (which hasn't been on lately), why would I then want to watch a show like Criminal Minds?

Even crazier, ABC has FOUR sit coms on that same Wednesday night, each one is very good and these four ABC sitcom shows are surprisingly different from each other. I seem to recall none of them using a laugh track, either, which I consider to be a very bold move.

CBS has four sit coms on Monday, but none on Tuesday. I consider Tuesday the sit com black hole of prime time television. I believe ABC, NBC and CBS are blowing it by NONE OF THEM offering a sit com on Tuesday night, which is playing into the hands of Fox Television quite nicely.

I think it is safe to say that sit coms can once again be more popular than aging reality tv series like American Idol or Dancing with the Stars. I also think that a good sit com has a longer shelf life because it is more likely to end up on a cable channel being re run over and over than a reality tv show, and a good sit com shot on film may have the longest shelf life of all.

As cable television channel offerings expand, it appears to me that the good sit coms that shot at least 150 episodes are the ones that stand to make the most consistent revenue stream once the show is retired its original run. ABC and CBS are just knocking each other silly on Wednesday night with their competing sit coms while neither network has even one sit com on Tuesday night.

Counter programming has not come full circle yet, but it should. Nowadays, if ABC has a reality tv show on, and NBC has a police show on, of course CBS can have a sit com on. I would rather watch a good sit com over a reality tv show, and to not give me and others like me that type of choice every night of the week is just playing into Fox television's hands since Fox has no sit com's that come to mind.

Fox has moved away from sit coms and the other network's should not parrot the move. It no longer makes sense to avoid competing against American Idol with sit coms since American Idol is showing its age. What I think has rejuvenated the sit com is that it no longer has to be locked into one or two rooms with a fake soundtrack. ABC is proving the power of no laugh track with their Wednesday night sit com programming that seems to also have more locations then the more conventional and just as popular sit coms on CBS.

And that is the key, because CBS and ABC are using different styles of sit coms, both styles can remain popular without weakening the overall popularity of sit coms.

The studios have rejuvenated the sit come genre but are still afraid to make an offering every night of the week and instead mistakenly believe they should program their sit coms against each other, which must please Fox Television and their lack of a sit com option, immensely.

I'm somewhat surprised that SAG and AFTRA have not gently encouraged ABC, CBS and NBC to offer sit coms on Tuesday night, which has become to be known as reality TV hell from my perspective.

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How'd You Get So Rich promos starring Joan Rivers teeters on bad taste, but then redeems on their facebook page.

Watching Joan River's promos on TV Land for the second season of her show, How'd you Get So Rich, is like watching a new age version of good cop, bad cop. Unfortunately, some of Joan River's promo's are in bad taste as Joan Rivers is seen searching out rich people while avoiding "boring" regular income people.

I'm surprised that Joan Rivers did not ask for help from Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice teams to design some television promo's for Joan to use. It seems like a cross promotion opportunity between the two shows has been missed. It might have just been a timing issue as Celebrity Apprentice is probably done filming by now while Joan's second season has possibly just recently started filming.

After viewing the facebook page for How'd you get so Rich, I have to commend TV Land and Joan Rivers for actually asking fans to submit sample questions that Joan might end up selecting to ask her "rich" guests.

The ridiculing of boring middle income people in Joan's earlier promos seems to have recently been supplemented with a brief explanation that the rich people featured on her show used to be "just like the rest of us". This is a huge step forward and I'm glad that somebody realized how crass and not completely thought out the earlier promos were.

I tried finding the earlier "How'd you get so Rich" promo's on Youtube that I thought were offensive but had no luck. I guess we can call that the bad cop, invisible cop move. Show the offensive "How'd you get so Rich promos" on TV Land, just don't put them on youtube or on the net where anyone can study them.

This is where copyright issues get murky in my opinion. Should I not be allowed to copy the Joan River's How'd you get so rich promos and upload them to YouTube for the express purpose of using the promo to make a social commentary? Why is it ok to inflict the origina message on the masses for profit, but someone cannot comment on the messages by using the same content for commentary purposes only?

Overall I think the newer "How'd you get so Rich" promo's and the facebook page for How'd You Get so Rich seem to be heading in the right direction. I wonder if Donald Trump has mentioned Joan's show on his own Celebrity Apprentice show since Joan has appeared on Celebrity Apprentice this season.

Ultimately, I think it is terrific that there is a How'd you Get so Rich facebook page that is welcoming suggestions for questions that Joan Rivers may ask her guests. and I hope the show properly credits whomever's questions they use.

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Edit update (May 03, 2010). I had a chance to see a show from last season and saw Joan fishing for stories on Rodeo Drive. It was a reminder to me about how difficult it really is, and costly as well, to line up guests for any television show.

It takes real money to hire a staff, have an office, send out PR, get leads, pre-interview the leads...or, just have Joan go out on Rodeo Drive and blitz people who are walking by and who look rich!

Good for Joan! The ability to mine the public streets for a story is compelling and spontaneous.

However, spontaneous story telliing is not so good for the economy and the all the people NOT BEING hired to do legitimate work for her show. Since the cost of show is kept artificially down, it will make it that much harder for other shows to get made down the road.

How'd Joan get so rich, by keeping her overhead so low, and maybe by depriving others of a job on her own show.

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