I don’t know if you guys have been keeping up with the latest developments regarding late-night talk shows, so I’ll give you the latest news. As we all know, Conan O’Brien is taking over The Tonight Show next year. Jay Leno is out, NBC wants to find him work, but they don’t know where. Now for what you may not know:

Max Weinberg definitely will be making the move to LA with Conan. It’s unconfirmed whether or not the whole band will be going with him. More frighteningly, Jimmy Fallon will become the new host of Late Night when Conan leaves.

When I first heard that Fallon was taking over, I was appalled. Jimmy Fallon, he pretty much sucked on SNL and then made several shitty movies. But now that I think about it, Jimmy Fallon might be one of those comedians who doesn’t belong in scripted entertainment. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll be able to flourish as a talk show host. At least I could see him being on-par with Jimmy Kimmel or Craig Ferguson. But he’ll probably suck for a while.

So the question is: What late night talk show are you going to be watching next year? I’ve got a lot of respect for Letterman and I’m sure his fans aren’t going anywhere. I’m sure Late Night fans will mostly be moving to The Tonight Show. And I’ll at least check out Fallon on Late Night. As for Kimmel, Daly, Ferguson and the rest, who really gives a crap?

So I was reading up on what’s in store for Family Guy next season when I found this bizarre little tidbit. Apparently in 2009 Fox is planning a Family Guy spinoff show… Pretty wacky huh, I mean a spin-off of a succesful series when it’s still on the air? I’ve heard of shows dishing out spin-offs when a show is over or on it’s last breath. Joanie and Chachi was on during the last few dismal seasons of Happy Days and the same goes for Fox’s The Lone Gunmen (a spin-off of the The X-Files that was on during the last few seasons) but a spin-off of Family Guy now? Probably the strangest thing about all of this, is who’s going to star in this spin-off… Well in this new show, were going to get to follow the day to antics of Peter’s good friend, Cleveland Brown. Thus the show is called Cleveland now perhaps you’re thinking the same thing I’m thinking, “Is this a a huge elaborate joke?” Well as of right now it appears to be true. I’ve found several sources for this and apparently in Spring of 2009 we’ll get a new Fox show about Cleveland.

So aside from the fact that a spin-off of Family Guy makes absolutely no sense, I ask “Why Cleveland? Can he really carry a show?” Now I’m as big a Family Guy fan as the next guy but I honestly only find Cleveland mildy amusing at best. It would almost seem that on the show, that they play off the fact that he has such a dull and soft-spoken nature. He’s certainly not the best choice for a spin-off if you have to do one. I hate to admit it but even Quagmire would make a better show, maybe even that perverted old guy Mr. Herbert would be better. I don’t understand why they don’t let fans vote on stuff like this. I mean for the most part, this has been met with a failry negative reaction, so why do it? The fact is spin-offs just don’t work. I guess Fraiser or The Jeffersons maybe are some of the rare cases, but for the most part it’s a just desperate attempts to squeeze out every penny. You know I even think The Simpsons has better potential for a spin-off show. The show’s dried up and weak these days, so why don’t they spin-off that show? I remember when they made that Simpson’s Spin-Off Showcase episode and I actually really enjoyed that Chief Wiggum P.I. They should do that…. hmm maybe it’s time for a King Of the Hill spin-off as well, I hope everyone is ready for The Misadventures of Kahn Souphanousinphone!

That guy sitting in front of us at There Will Be Blood can finally relax, The Hobbit has a director. And at least one star. Guillermo del Toro, of Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth fame, will be directing two films based on the epic that precedes the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Ian McKellen has announced that he will be reprising his role as Gandalf (The Grey).

Frankly, even though this will probably be pretty good, I can’t say I’m that excited for it. The Lord of the Rings was a great three-year ride but it’s come and gone and I’m over it. Andy Serkis will probably be showing up again, but aside from that it will be a whole new cast. So I can’t help but feel that this is just another cash-in from Hollywood. I doubt these films will be as magical, lightning never strikes the same spot twice.

Sorry to make two video posts in a row, but HBO uploaded one of the recent Real Time episodes to YouTube that I thought was pretty good. I mean, it has Cornell West, who doesn’t love to listen to him?

Hey all you Coldplay fans! Well it sure is exciting that come round June 16th, Coldplay will be releasing their fourth album “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends” Produced by Brian Eno, “Viva” will supposedly carry more “Hispanic influences” (though how much that will be played up is unknown so far) and will hopefully be breaking some new ground with a more oblique style. So until than, I thought it was worth mentioning that this Tuesday “April 29th” Coldplay will have their new single “Violet Hill” available for download for free on their website… But remember to act fast because it’ll only be up for a week.

P.S. Up above I posted the cover for the new album, pretty wild huh? Looks like an album cover for some German Metal band.

I’ll have my copy this week, maybe I’ll be able to review it for the site, but it doesn’t really seem necessary. Gonna be one hell of a weekend.