Happy Days Dad Tom Bosley Dies at 83

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It's been a rough week for former sitcom parents. First, Leave it to Beaver's mom, Barbara Billingsley died, and now Happy Days' dad Tom Bosley.  When Billingsley died, I ran a clip from Airplane!, because as famous as she was for Beaver, that's what I knew her from.  Happy Days, however, was from my time.

My pop-culture awareness arose at the exact time that the ABC network was coming out of eternal last place with a resurgence of programming, seemingly tailor-made for my generation.  Happy Days, the nostalgia-fueled 50s family sitcom, was the show that started their new era.  It spun off Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy, and was joined by shows like Charlie's Angels, Three's Company, Soap, Love Boat, Fantasy Island and others. If I was watching--and I usually was--the TV set was on ABC.

Bosley's Howard Cunningham holds a place in my childhood memories as "ideal dad," probably like Hugh Beaumont or Danny Thomas did for an older generation.  Happy Days wasn't Shakespeare, but it had a lot of heart, and a lot of laughs. And it should be noted that while Mr. & Mrs. C were kind of a frumpy, middle-aged couple, they were not above getting "frisky."  None of the twin beds or never-seen bedroom for them!  RIP, Mr. C.

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Tom Bosley, 'Happy Days' Dad, Dead at 83

. . .According to TMZ, family members reported that Bosley died after a staph infection. Bosley's agent, Sheryl Abrams, told the Associated Press that Bosley suffered from heart failure at 4AM Tuesday in a hospital near his Palm Springs home and that he was also battling lung cancer. . .

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Heroes Cancelled, Law & Order Too

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It's not too surprising that Heroes has been cancelled. I watched every episode, but there is no denying that it was running out of gas.  The whole carnival storyline took up way too much time this past season, and to be honest, the show never got its mojo back after the writers' strike.  But I'll miss my weekly dose of heroes, especially Jack Coleman's HRG, and Zachary Quinto's uber-creepy Sylar. RIP, show.

Law & Order isn't a surprise either. It's been on forever, and has had four spin-off series (with one more on the way). It's the kind of show you can drop in on any time, or miss anytime. So the fact that it will be in reruns forever, all over the cable dial, will be like it never went away.

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'Heroes' Canceled

NBC is no longer holding out for 'Heroes.'


According to the Live Feed, the network has officially axed the series, about ordinary people with extraordinary powers, after four seasons.

The news ends a rocky ride for 'Heroes,' which premiered in 2006 to a staggering 14.3 million viewers and a 5.9 rating among adults 18-49, making it NBC's highest-rated fall drama premiere in five years. The show continued to hit ratings gold in subsequent episodes, including its season 2 premiere, which attracted 14.1 million viewers. . .

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Fall TV: FlashForward

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Well, I don't know about you all, but I loved it. It wasn't quite as awe-inspiring as the premiere of Lost, but it was close. If everyone on earth experienced a blackout for over two minutes, there would be a hell of a lot of mayhem, possibly more than they've shown so far. Every car, every plane would be careening out of control. People crossing the street, people climbing rocks or even going up the stairs would be in immediate peril.

They showed some of that, but unfortunately, things seemed to go back to "normal" a little too quickly. Still, I think they did an admirable job, and I'm hooked. I'll be back for as many weeks as ABC gives the show. Which, as we know, could be seven seasons, or seven episodes. Time will tell.

For the last several seasons, I've given a pass to several shows that I feared would die a quick death, like Day One, Invasion and Jericho. I was right, and those shows bit the dust before any resolution could take place. On other shows like Swingtown, Traveler and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I watched despite those fears, only to be disappointed by (too soon) cancellations. But I'm biting the bullet with FlashForward and hoping for the best. By the way, if you missed it on Thursday, the show is re-running tonight at 8:00pm. Watch it! Please?

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FlashForward: No More Good Days

Well, that was it. The most eagerly anticipated premiere of the season, if early buzz is any indicator. Is it the next Lost? Is it as good as everyone says it was? It can be. As much as I liked this pilot, though, I can't say that I know for sure how good the show is going to be based on it. . .

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Bad Idea: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Remake

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Hollywood has had some bad ideas. But remaking Buffy the Vampire Slayer without creator Joss Whedon or any of the cast or writers of the cult TV series has to top the list.

Fran Rubel Kuzui was involved in getting the original movie version made, and that film--while enjoyable on some levels--was far from the success the TV series later became. And though Kuzui and her husband were not involved in the TV show or the spinoff, Angel, they got executive producer credits on every episode anyway for contractual reasons. This has given them something of an unsavory reputation from fans.

So now, Kuzui wants to remake the original movie to get a few more dollars apparently. And while the remake might snare the occasional Buffy viewer, most fans would shun it like the plague. Since those people would constitute the target audience, what would be the point? All it would do is sour the prospects of a proper follow-up to the series--something that would secure the Kuzuis money for nothing. Let's hope this one never makes it to the screen.

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A Buffy remake without Joss?

It looks like Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment are working with original movie director Fran Rubel Kuzui, the director of the original movie, to create a remake of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The trick is, they're not involving the creator or any of the original cast of the television series. In fact, they're not even basing it on the television series. . .

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