Vince Vaughn Rebooting the Brady Bunch for the Twenty-First Century

The Brady Bunch is one of those shows whose appeal is lost to me. I mean, I get it. It just wasn't of my generation. I caught the reruns, played on Nick-at-Nite, TV Land, even VH1 (with an accompanying Pop-Up-Video version of every episode). But it always played too syrupy-sweet for me, and I liked a lot of crap as a kid!

The Brady Bunch Movie, on the other hand, is pretty ingenious. Plays up the cornball out-dated 70s-ness of the series in the mid-90s when grunge was hanging by its last, flannel thread. It's a comedy made by people in on the joke. Then they did a couple of sequels but damned if I watched him.

Well Vince Vaughn, his feet wet off Sullivan & Son, the TBS sitcom that looks like it was pulled straight out of the 80s (not a compliment), and CBS are gearing up for TV reboot. Mike Mariano (writer/producer on My Name is Earl and Raising Hope) is writing the pilot and there are some tweaks planned to update the Bradys, like having Mike and Carol Brady's exes around and them having a child together.

You all know the theme-song so I won't embed it below. What I will do however is a half-assed defense of the idea – in other words the "It could have been worse!" defense. In the early 90s after a couple of TV reunion movies did big numbers, CBS got the idea with baby-boomers entering their 40s and shows like Thirtysomething hot, why not a dramatic series about the Bradys called, wait for it, The Bradys?

Just watch the below (The opening credits but it perfectly sums up the wrongness of it all), and be amazed that people in authority, and paid millions of dollars annually, thought a drama about the Brady Bunch, featuring a laugh-track...for some reason, was a swell idea.

Laurence Fishburne Joins Hannibal

Laurence Fishburne (or Max the Orderly as we lovingly call him) must have hated the taste of that blue pill. The Matrix alum went cold turkey from procedural television exiting his two-year stint headlining CSI. Being Clark Kent's boss might have its perks but it's not a year-round gig – any hypothetical Superman sequel wouldn't shoot until 2014 at the earliest.

TV Line reports he’s headed back to the tube, solving crimes on a weekly basis. He'll play Jack Crawford, head of the FBI Behavioral Sciences for Hannibal, NBC's crime drama focusing on the relationship between Will Graham and Hannibal Lector. Interestingly this would mark the second time, in such short order no less, Fishburne has carried on a role traditionally played by a white actor; Dennis Farina in Manhunter, Scott Glenn in Silence of the Lambs and Harvey Keitel in Red Dragon.

Even when the papers are signed, the arrangement for Hannibal, from Bryan Fuller of Pushing Daisies so you know it stands a better chance of not being crap, would involve 13 episode seasons, no more, no less in the event it's a hit when it premieres mid-season 2013. So Fishburne, and leads Mads Mikkelsen (God are we all curious to see how he plays Hannibal the Cannibal) and Hugh Dancy, can still enjoy his plum film roles.

Take a Chill Pill, Internet - Community Renewed for Fourth Season

"Six seasons and a movie!"

How does a fourth season sound instead? Per THR, Community will return next season for thirteen episodes.

We know the Internet is in hysterics demanding as much Community as possible. But we have to face facts. NBC is in the midst of a massive overhaul internally. They want to return to their glory days of the 80s/90s. Doing so means cleaning house. Such action isn't exclusive to executives scrambling to save their jobs, but shows viewed as symbols of the old regime. Especially ones that, critically acclaimed and devotedly loved as they are, people let's face it aren't watching.

A shortened upfront order for an established show isn't the kiss of death (Just ask Chuck). But it would be wise to prepare yourself for the possibility that this is it.

Exit Stage Left – James Spader Off The Office

Bar none, James Spader was the best of the candidates to replace Steve Carell in last season's finale of The Office. The producers, thankfully, had the sense to see that too, and Spader became the new boss of Dunder Mifflin. Though he isn't in every episode and in a case of rewarding the actor with the biggest film career, Ed Helms was promoted to the head of the office. While Spader became the company CEO coming in and out.

Unfortunately, the writers seemingly played all the tricks they had stuffed in their hats with the Robert California character a few shows into this season. Even picking the right actor hasn't been enough to revive The Office unlike that other time Spader took over a fledging series and brought it back to life. For those of you not old enough to remember, I'm referring to his joining The Practice and that final season going over so well, they spun off Spader's character into Boston Legal.

In the wake of that, Spader will not return for a ninth season (assuming there will be), reports Variety.

Executive Producer Paul Lieberstein (aka Toby) is trying to pass this off like it was their plan the whole time for the California character to only have one season and then move on to greener pastures. Please, don't insult our intelligence, Sir.

Carell doesn't show any signs of returning to guest-star, co-star/writer Mindy Kaling will leave if her pilot at Fox gets picked up, Helms and John Krasinski are both said to be wanting to leave (Both their contracts expire this season) and then there's the matter of that God awful sounding Dwight spin-off for Rainn Wilson. NBC, we know you're still bleeding for programming. But do everyone a favor, take The Office out back and shoot it in the head.

Chill Out, Internet – Community Returns Next Month

In what will surely send Twitter into overload, Dan Harmon has twittered Community will grace NBC stations or Hulu if you're like many and wait till the next day to catch it on March 15.

Beyond that, the fate of the cult-favorite comedy is anyone's guess. Best enjoy what's in front of you from here on, regardless of its fate past May, and stop your bitching about NBC yanking it off air. Not the first time, or last, a show us nerds loved that got no love from its own network or the Nielsens.

X-Factor Fires a Bunch of People – America Shrugs

According to Entertainment Gossip Bitches (Take your pick), everyone in the picture above who isn't Simon Cowell or the black guy (I kid - music producer L.A. Reid) won't be back for the second season of X-Factor, the over-hyped singing competition show pretending like there was no such thing as American Idol before it.

Is anyone truly incensed by this? Back during Cowell and Paula Abdul's judging duties on Idol, there were always rumors, like clockwork, about how Paula was getting fired and how she and Simon were at each other's throats (Ryan Seacrest's too). Such over-thinking on throwing hosts and judges out the door and yet the simplest solution is looking straight in their face, and they either can't see it or won't acknowledge it.

It was stupid to have singing competition shows all year long. As useless as their winners have been (Hasn't been a champion to have a legit career since Carrie Underwood - eight years ago), it was a yearly tradition for people to click on American Idol in January and after crowning a winner in May, take the rest of the year off to cool down and get it out of your system. Nobody wants to see that 12 months a year and especially with Idol without Cowell's venomous, but generally on the money, criticisms, and judged by people who can't afford to be truthful because they still have a PR image to maintain and albums to sell.

Why does Fox think their ratings are down big time this year?

Dwight Centered Office Spin-Off In Development – Really, NBC?

While they put on their best brave face and confidentially spoke of the infinite story possibilities, you just know everyone knew The Office was never going to be the same. The moment Steve Carell confessed in the spring of 2010 the (then) forthcoming seven season for the hit NBC comedy was his swan-song, we all speculated that perhaps the showrunners would have the good sense to let the series end as its lead character, Carell's kind-hearted doofus Michael Scott, walked off into the sunset to begin his new life with the love of his life Holly (Amy Ryan).

But then we snapped out of that idealistic delusion of grandeur and realized this is NBC we're talking about; once the #1 rated network on television now reduced to having its ass handed to it by the likes of A&E, Univison and MTV (to name a few cable channels). No, we were stuck with a comedy without its protagonist to anchor on and no viable B-plots (Jim and Pam now have two children and, as much as they try, the Andy/Erin love-woes ain't cutting the mustard) to keep us watching anymore.

Now NBC, as reports "TOLDJA," so needy for programming they're leaning on an, that's right, Office spin-off. One that will serve as a vehicle centered on the odd-ball, but dedicated, salesman Dwight Schrute, as played by Rainn Wilson.

Let's just put aside not only how desperate this comes off and how far too late into the series' run this is. Just think to yourself. Is there anything else left to be said or done with Dwight as a character (as brilliant as he is portrayed by Wilson) that requires now an entire half-hour comedy where he is the primary focus?

If all works out (and again...this is NBC we're talking about; they need the programming so it will most likely go down), the untitled Office spin-off would premiere in the midseason 2013 season.