Personally, I'm a fan of going in unexpected directions with casting. I'm really hoping that the next Batman features Tilda Swinton as The Riddler. For this reason, I'm not a fan of any of the "obvious" Hollywood choices like Owen Wilson, Ryan Reynolds, Jack Black, or Seth Rogen. Honestly, I might even consider casting three women.

So here are my choices (and character suggestions):

- The spiritual ghost buster who doesn't believe all ghosts are bad is Penelope Cruz. I know some people are annoyed by her but I thought she was very good in a rather dull film "Bandidas". She seems like a natural comic actress and she wouldn't look bad in a uniform or covered in slime. The Plan B would be James Franco, in a sort of soberly spiritual version of his Pineapple Express role.

- The gung-ho 'buster who thinks before he speaks, fights, or does anything at all would be played by Danny McBride. The one thing I'd like to change about McBride would be that he actually does know what he's doing but has a hair trigger. So far, he usually just plays dolts. I'd like this role to be someone who is intelligent but just gets caught up in the moment too often. With Plan B, I might actually go with Rachel McAdams or Craig Robinson.

- The "Egon", wise-cracking brainiac would be noneother than Amy Adams. I'm a huge fan of Adams but would like to see her in more films where she's herself or a regular woman. She played the nerd well in Talladega Nights but this role would give her more sass. I could also see Kristin Wiig in this role.

- The leading man. The spokeperson for the crew who sells the Ghostbusters to the public but is actually a bit of a coward would be played by James Marsden. The more obvious choice would be Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson but I'd like to give Marsden a shot. I think he is Franco-esque in the fact that his comic potential has yet to be utilized.

Now, I don't know if those are the character types that they will be going with but I wouldn't mind seeing a Cruz, McBride, Adams, Marsden lineup.

Honestly, I'm not sure this is good idea for Obama. O'Reilly doesn't really interview. He tries to bully and he usually resorts to a victory-via-volume tactic of shouting down those who disagree with him. He cuts people off and, even worse, doesn't matter if facts get in the way of his argument. (The much discussed Malmedy mistakes being the prime examples). Bill O'Reilly is a prima donna who is going to be firing on all cylanders tomorrow and the idea that this could even be a discussion is ridiculous since he'll never budge from his points-of-view. Even when his buddy Dennis Miller has corrected him on things, O'Reilly will begrudgingly admit that there could be something redeeming about the other side of the argument but still throws in little jabs and mocking statements to try to support his original position.

Of course, it's not like Bill O'Reilly is alone. Most news shows are just op-ed programs and blogs don't even seem to want to pretend to be unbiased. Pundits want to be celebrities. They don't want people to listen to the news as much as they want people just to listen to them speak. I guarantee every big name news personality is jealous of O'Reilly, not because of the great interview but because he's going to be as close as any of them can be to a rock star tomorrow night. There was nothing more disappointing to me than to watch Arianna Huffington's answer to the Drudge Report turn out to be nothing more than a lefty version of Drudge's site. Rather than trying to show people that she can be better, Huffington just showed she could be as bad as her opposition.

Politically, I get the move; this high profile matchup is going to make McCain's speech an afterthought (especially with many Americans skipping politics altogether to watch football) but this is a ploy that definitely could blow up in the Dems' faces. It probably won' be high minded politics but it'll almost certainly be good theater.

The worst part of the show is, not surprisingly, the tagged on adult stuff which was probably added to keep older viewers interested. The producers need to figure out if they want to keep the adults as key characters or not because the way they are handling it now is pretty poor. I mean, how do you not show the moment that a husband tells his wife that he has a child from another woman? That whole storyline, as well as the druggie actress, could have been delayed so that they could focus on the main characters in the first couple hours. As it was, nothing was really built out. For instance, Ethan (who seems like the #1 candidate for Steve Sanders receding hairline award) takes one scene to decide to kick Dixon off the team and then one quick, almost inexplicable scene later, to change his mind. Nevermind 90210, it was flimsy by "Saved By The Bell" standards.

If there's a breakout star in this bunch, my guess is it's either Shenae Grimes, Jessica Stroup, or Tristan Wilds (although I'm basing that more on his turn in "The Wire" than this). That's being generous though because there isn't really one character that really distinguished themselves from the typical teen fare. In terms of pilot episodes, "Gossip Girl" was far more effective in giving us characters and conflicts in one episode than "90210" did in two. Hopefully, "90210" will build to a stronger show as opposed to flaming out like "Gossip Girl". There's room to grow but it definitely needs to focus a bit and infuse some life/personality into the characters.

1. More Glitz, Less Biz
Entourage is always at it's strongest when it is about, well, the entourage. The show was three quarters male fantasy and one quarter show business. Any time a script or movie was mentioned, it was usually just a plot device to lead to the next argument or character-building moment. The career was secondary to the fun. Now, it's almost all business. The show focuses too much on deals being made, contracts being signed, etc.

This is also a problem that The West Wing had. The first seasons were filled with great characters and personal stories. By the end, too many stories focused about actual discussions over fake politics.

The show about guys from Queens in Hollywood needs to stay about guys from Queens in Hollywood. Yes, they've been in Hollywood for a few years now but if you know anyone from New York, they hold onto their roots forever. Let's see them live a little... and work a lot less.

2. Less Ari 
I know Jeremy Piven's Ari Gold is a great character but he needs his own spin-off. The Ari storylines can be good but more often than not they seem like filler and, more importantly, you can't focus on as many characters as Entourage has going right now. You end up with three half baked A-stories rather than one solid episode. Also, a little Piven goes a long way. He's better as the spectre looming over everyone than one of the guys.

3. Find the Core
The first couple seasons were based around E trying to steer his friend's career while also juggling his crazy friends. Now the episodes are aimless. Each episode needs to have one central figure who drives the story. Keep things connected. Too often you have three almost competely disconnected stories; it's almost like you are watching three different show cut together.

4. The Fantasies are Too Fantastic 
As I mentioned before, Entourage is basically the male fantasy of living the dream, picking up women, doing as you please. And, of course, hijinks ensue. In the last season, the hijinks were just a little too goofy. Someone falling for a tranny is one thing but having it be the Mayor who Drama is trying to get to annex his apartment in 90210 is just too much. Again, if you focus on the entourage and make it about Drama, it would have been a better storyline. Drama falls for a girl, someone says she is a tranny, the guy have to go about trying to figure out if it's true or not.

Entourage is about Hollywood. The writers really can't figure out some fun, interesting stories without becoming completely cartoonish? Go into the paparazzi, blogs, get some gold diggers after Drama, something, anything. It's hard to believe that Hollywood only has enough material for 40 or so episodes. 

5. Fresh Meat
The show could use some new supporting characters. Of course, adding new people is one of the riskiest propositions in show business. While some shows have pulled it off (again, The West Wing was great at cycling in fresh faces), others have failed miserably. Need we mention Dom?

The one new face from last season was Ana Faris and she was basically wasted since, again, her impact was almost solely on the business. E picking up another client is an interesting premise but it didn't really go anywhere and they squeezes basically two or three scenes out of him wondering if he should tell Ana that he hates the script.

This could be risky but a few new faces, particularly a couple new adversaries might help keep things moving and, most importantly, give the guys a reason to band together.

"They say, 'Your promotion's in Sunday night football,'", explained Schwartz, "and I go, 'Yeah, but we're on against Monday Night Football.'" 

Ah, reminded me of the push for High School Musical: Get in the Picture during the NBA Finals when I'm sure a lot of tweens and musical fans were glued to their TV's. 

Really? "Word Up"? They greet you with a phrase that was already played out when the WB network first launched? Not a good sign. Another issue was that I couldn't get the videos to play on Firefox. Then again, Firefox is pretty much a disaster of late and I did get to see the trailer for "Sorority Forever" on Safari. The show looks like your standard soap opera. Nothing in the trailer really made it seem like something to look forward to.

I tried watching "Whatever Hollywood". It's basically a show about three girls making videos for their website. Two of the first three videos are "comedic" "rap" songs and that's basically all you need to know. Isn't about time that people stop thinking rap songs about random every day things is high comedy? Well, I guess if you think greeting people with "Word Up!" is cool, the answer's probably a no.

On the bright side, The Jeanie Tate Show is pretty funny. (I tried to embed it but it wasn't loading so here's the link.)

I understand why we need conventions but when the candidates are usually already selected by the time of the roll call, what's the point? I found it funny that the Obama camp was considering a shortened roll call. The whole reason for these events is supposed to be the roll call and that's what is getting cut out. I just can't get fired up or moved by many speeches that really have no purpose besides being a very expensive infomercial.  

Well, it seems like someone has finally listened. ABC is re-tooling "Cupid", the former failed Jeremy Piven vehicle about a single guy who may just be the reincarnated Greek god of love. Will it work? Who knows? I'm not sure about casting Bobby Cannavale in the lead but who knows...

Still, there are a number of shows that should get a mulligan. Maybe try Freaks & Geeks but set in modern day. I thought Daybreak (a kind of thriller meets Groundhog Day) is a show that could be a 24-style hit. Dark Angel is another idea that had promise but wasn't exactly carried out in a crowd-pleasing manner.

Yes, shows like 90210 and Knight Rider have better built-in recognition but that doesn't necessarily mean those people will watch. Just look at The Bionic Woman.