My earlier Emmy roundup focused on the award winners and what they say about the TV business. But the Emmy show is receiving a flat-out horsewhipping from critics everywhere. (Check out the roundup on tvtattle.) Tim Goodman at the San Francisco Chronicle writes about them as if they were a travesty, an abortion, a war [...]

He’s the deal—or no deal—the big networks have decided to take. / NBC Once upon a time, Howie Mandel reminded us at the Emmys last night, he was on St. Elsewhere, a groundbreaking NBC medical drama. Today, he introduces babes with briefcases and relays messages from the banker on NBC’s Deal or No Deal. Ladies [...]

Politico reports that Al Franken—whom you may know as Stuart Smalley, or as the Democratic nominee for Senate from Minnesota—had a hand in this weekend’s Saturday Night Live spoof of negative ads from John McCain: Should SNL have accepted input from a Democratic Senate candidate? Dollars to doughnuts this will become a cause celebre among [...]