Big League Stew spoke with TBS exec Jeff Gregor and he said this:

"This is just a hypothesis on my side: You think there are a lot of (FrankTV) spots, but there's actually not as many as you think. They're just so good at entertaining and engaging that when they come on you feel like you just saw one not too long ago."

Gregor also said that TBS is " going to make sure at least that there's a very good variety so that there will be no wear-out of the various jokes that Frank is entertaining us with."

Mission accomplished.

TBS exec: FrankTV ads "entertaining and engaging" [Big League Stew]

DISH said it filed the complaint because Madden and Barkley reps have threatened imminent legal action over the national campaign. The spots feature comedian Frank Caliendo, star of TBS series "Frank TV," impersonating the 2 (see them at www.dishnetwork.com). Other famous faces lampooned in the campaign includewww.dishnetwork.com George W Bush and Al Pacino (not mentioned in the court filing). Caliendo, who is ID'd as a comedian in the spots, appears as himself side-by-side his impersonations, who tout DISH products.

So actually what's happening here is that DISH Network is going to court to get a ruling on the commercials; a preemptive strike against any potential litigation. How will it turn out? Hey, I'm no lawyer; Last year the government declared me legally dead, and sold my house. But I'm pretty sure that the fact that, in the ads, the real Frank Caliendo is standing right next to the fake Madden, should be a tipoff to any viewer who might be confused. Is there really anyone out there thinking "Hey, John Madden wants me to get rid of my cable hookup!"

But really I don't care what happens, as long as they don't mess with this one:

Meanwhile, I would advise Caliendo to get to work on his Alan Dershowitz impersonation.

Madden, Barkley Suing Over Caliendo Dish Net Ad [SportsbyBrooks]
Madden, Barkley Join DISH's Legal Hit Parade [Cable360]

* = May not be true.

Fortunately for us, if not for them, Collar Stays watched the whole show so we didn't have to. They came away, shockingly, less than impressed.

The impressions were actually really, really good, but they just weren't funny at all. About halfway through the show, as Frank was engaging a studio-audience member (also the co-host for the evening - not making this up) in a meaningless conversation which had the sole purpose of introducing the next impression, I realized that he seemed miserable. I bet he's like a really tall kid who doesn't really want to be a basketball player - but he's tall, so his parents, coaches and teachers push him into it. I bet Frank never wanted to be a comedian - but at a young age, he found he could duplicate the vocal patterns of other humans. So he was probably pushed into comedy, because that's what you do when you do impressions, but he was never really into it.

Only three episodes left! Catch it while you can!

Am I Really In This F—-ing Demographic? [Collar Stays]

Seriously: All that for four shows.

Frank TV, a sketch-comedy series due later this month from Frank Caliendo (Mad TV), will be cut short and produce just four episodes.

Well, that was totally worth it. Fortunately, the subliminal programming will only cost us those four hours. We were afraid it would run for 10 years, and our brains would require us to watch every single one.

OK, we really weren't worried about it running for 10 years.

How The Strike Affects Cable [USA Today]

A reader sends in this promotional item his company received in the mail recently: It's the Frank TV clock. In case you wanted to see this guy every minute, of every day.

You see, John Madden? He's boisterous! Robin Williams? Energetic! Jack Nicholson? Full of himself! George Bush? Dumb! it's not easy to see into the soul of such enigmatic, elusive figures, and fortunately, we're gonna have a full hour show devoted to it ... every day! (Or every week. We haven't gotten that part nailed down yet.)

We feel obliged to apologize to Frank Caliendo, who we're sure is a nice enough guy and might even be kind of funny, in a different context, one that doesn't involve him being in our face every day for two weeks. Here we are, a week later, still reeling.

Lion In Oil points out something that, through all the endless ads, we failed to pick up: The show doesn't even premiere until November 20! That's more than a month from now: that's two days before Thanksgiving. (Oh, who debuts a show two days before Thanksgiving, anyway?) By the time this show airs, we will have forgotten about the ads. And that, friends, is the best gift Frank Caliendo could give us.

By the way, in case you think running a picture of an ad for "Frank TV" comes across as some sort of advertisement for the show, allow us to make this clear: Please, please do not watch this show. Thank you.

Goodbye, Frank TV [Lion In Oil]