TV On The Internet

I've come to sing the praises of YouTube, a Web site devoted to bringing the unusual and little-seen to the masses.

I first got turned onto the site last month, when my brother forwarded me a link to an unaired pilot by "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence called "Nobody's Watching." It's similar in its theme and look to the old "It's Garry Shandling's Show" (everyone sing along: This is the theme to Garry's show, the opening theme to Garry's show, this is the music that you hear as you watch the credits, we're almost halfway finished, how do you like it so far, this is the theme to Garry Shandling's Show.... and so on)

"Nobody's Watching" got downloaded so many times that there are reports that the original pilot, which was never picked up, may get a second look by the networks. It involves two slacker guys who get offered their own "reality" pilot by an evil network executive; the show totally demolishes the hypothetical fourth wall and brings the studio audience into the act. It's well worth a download if you have a half hour.

I bring up YouTube because "Rescue Me" stars Denis Leary and Lenny Clarke were on NESN in New England, spending an inning in the broadcast booth with the Boston Red Sox announcers. Here is the link to their exchange about Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis, one of the funniest things I've heard all year. (You may have heard the audio to this on "Mike and Mike in the Morning" on ESPN Radio.)

****EDIT****: NESN made YouTube pull the clip off its Web site, evidently because it dislikes free publicity. I've found the audio file of the clip here — http://media.odeo.com/files/7/9/0/731790.mp3. It's rather lengthy; if you fast-forward to about three-quarters of the way through the file, you'll get to the Youkilis/Mel Gibson bit.

(Speaking of which, "Rescue Me" was phenomenal again last night, cementing its status as TV's best show. I'd go into a discussion about it, but I don't want to give away spoilers to people who may not have seen it yet.)

OTHER NEWS: RIP Bruno Kirby. He was a phenomenal talent who always made great movies ("When Harry Met Sally," "City Slickers," "The Freshman") better with his presence. Though he was known more for his films than TV appearances, his guest-starring bit on "Homicide: Life on the Streets" as a small-time crook who attempts to seek revenge on Andre Braugher's Det. Pembleton was the highlight of that season.