This kid is never going to have any friends...

There's a very good chance you may have already seen this since it went crazy viral on the 'net yesterday, but I couldn't resist talking about it. It's hands down the biggest WTF news item I've read in a quite some time.

Nice family photo, huh? Happy parents doting on their adorable 3-year old son. His name?

Adolf Hitler Campbell.

That's right. Young Adolf's parents named him after the infamous German leader because "no one else in the world would have that name." Well... that's true. Or they could just be white supremacists.

The Campbell's story hit the newswire after a local supermarket refused to put the young lad's full name on his birthday cake. I imagine that supermarket will make the same refusal should the Campbell's ever order one of Adolf's two sisters a birthday cake there as well. Their names?

JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell.

Ain't that America?

NBC takes gamble; gives Leno 10PM slot

After what has seemed like endless speculation about whether or not Jay Leno will stay with NBC once Conan O'Brien takes over The Tonight Show in May 2009, the peacock network dropped a bombshell this week:

Leno is staying and they're moving him to 10PM.

For months, Leno has been taking jabs at NBC on his late-night program and for the most part, it seemed like the supposedly disgruntled host would probably end up on either FOX or ABC as a direct competitor to Conan. Not the case - Leno has changed his tune and seems happy to be staying around. The magnitude of this move is immeasurable. NBC is taking a huge gamble and there are a number of things to consider...

• By moving Leno into the prime-time 10PM slot, NBC is effectively saying good-bye to original programming in that block. No more hour long dramas means NBC saves money. Considering that Sunday Night Football consumes all of its respective night, that means NBC potentially has to program only 8PM to 10PM, five nights a week. That's a mere 10 hours of original programming, 3 or 4 of which are almost assuredly going to be reality shows. This is an entirely new model for the evening TV landscape.
• Despite the fact that Leno is currently a ratings darling, that too may change. Consider what he'll now be going up against - CSI: Miami and CSI: NY are both huge ratings grabbers for CBS and FOX still airs 10PM local news broadcasts on most of its affiliates which often do much better than competitors 11PM broadcasts. Will a traditional late-night audience be around at 10PM?
• More than anything though, this unfortunately speaks directly to NBC's faith in Conan O'Brien. The Late Night host admitted this week that much of his success is owed directly to having Jay Leno as a lead-in and he said he was thrilled for that to continue. Personally I can't see how he could possibly be happy about this since it's sure to hurt his numbers as he tries to gain new fans in May. While it's expected that Conan will bring his sizable viewership numbers with him, he's still a much newer, fresher, and younger host, while Leno's style still hearkens back to the days of Johnny Carson - a style many still prefer. Having Leno continue as Conan's lead-in not only takes away from the monumental transition on The Tonight Show, it practically negates it. You may recall the feud between Letterman and Leno when Carson retired. Granted Leno isn't retiring and that's the point - the average American isn't going to view this as anything other than, "Oh hey, all those shows start an hour earlier." Also, consider this: currently Leno leads right into Conan - a HUGE help. Once the regime change takes place, the 11PM news will be in between them. Will Leno's legion stick around for that 1/2 hour? Number will probably drop off.

Of course, lost in all of this mess is Jimmy Fallon, who's taking over the Late Night seat. What does everyone else think though? Is this move a risk for NBC, or a more-of-the-same safe bet?

The Suite Spot Weekly TV Round-Up: 11/16 to 11/22

I'm about to go on a giant FX rant, so bear with me because right now, it's pretty much the only network on TV where everything is worth watching. In the last Round-Up, I mentioned that both Nip/Tuck and Damages will return in January and dates for premieres have since been announced. Nip/Tuck's WGA Strike-shortened fifth season will resume on Tuesday 1/6 with eight new episodes to go in the season and Damages will follow on the next evening, Wednesday the 7th with its season two premiere. I honestly can't say enough good things about both of these shows and they each deserve your viewership. FX is doing some amazing things for an ad-supported cable network. Check out the latest promo for Nip/Tuck, set to Kanye's "Flashing Lights:"

And speaking of January premieres, ABC has announced that Lost will return a month earlier than expected on Wednesday, January 21st with two new episodes back-to-back. However, the real buzz about the show right now is focusing on the official season five poster released by ABC yesterday. See any clues?

In other ABC news, the alphabet network did some slashing this week and shit-canned three popular, but ratings challenged, series: Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, and Eli Stone. All three series were cut short during last year's writer's strike and despite their season two renewals, they just couldn't find an audience. However, one new show is making the grade and ABC has extended freshman drama Life on Mars to a 17 episode order. It's one of the better new shows this season. So check it out and hopefully ABC will give it the back 5 for a full 22.

That's all I got for this week. If you're looking for something good to watch this weekend, then Sunday evening is your night with Entourage (the season five finale) and 24: Redemption (the two hour season seven prequel).

Escalator Etiquette...

Growing up in New Hampshire I knew of only four escalators. Two at the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, and the other two at the Rockingham Mall in Salem. Riding them was like a 15 second amusement park ride. It was your chance to run down them and beat your buddy, your chance to run up a downward moving escalator to show your youthful brawn and very youthful brain. Times have since changed for me, and now escalators are a mode of transportation for me in New York City. Thousands of us use them every day, and they are treated like a highway. If you are on the right side of the escalator you respect the right to standstill and relax, and by relax I don't mean pass wind on the pour soul behind you because you had chinese for lunch. The left "lane" is the passing lane with hurried bodies rushing up and down. And when people use the left lane for the standstill and create a "road" block people get ticked and rage semmingly escalates, pun fully intended. You hear small talk, "Oh they must not be from around here!", or "Look at that old bag slowing us up!" Folks lets treat this mode of transport like the pedestrian highway it is. and please always remember to signal before changing lanes or passing gas.