Sad, sad news arrived this evening. Steve Brennan, longtime reporter and editor for The Hollywood Reporter, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center today after a yearlong struggle with cancer. He was my friend, and I will miss him so much.

Steve was an incredibly colorful character, a sharp wit, a fantastic and accomplished writer. He realized a longtime dream in 2007 with the release of his book, "Emeralds in Tinseltown: The Irish in Hollywood."

Steve worked for THR, in his last years as international editor, for two decades. He started out as freelancer (he liked to tell of how he managed to sell stories on every permutation of the Irish entertainment biz) and then after he moved to L.A., he charmed his way into a full-time gig covering syndication and international TV.

He was a great reporter and an even better raconteur. He added to the joviality of many a NATPE convention, that's for sure. (Let's just say there are some waiters at famed New Orleans establishments who will never forget him.)

Twelve years after he left the general counsel's post at the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski is back, and this time he's running the place.

President Obama's hand-picked FCC chairman -- the two are old pals from their Harvard Law School days -- is settling in to his new gig this week. Genachowski gave a lengthy pep talk to FCC staffers on Tuesday, his first full day on the job, that gave some insights into his policy priorities. It's also interesting to note what he didn't say -- no culture-vulture talk of policing the airwaves for the sake of children, just a mild reference to "protecting and empowering consumers and families."

He's clearly a tech-savvy guy with lofty ambitions. His resume by now is well known -- he chief counsel to FCC chairman Reed Hundt from 1994-97, then moved on to working for Barry Diller at InterActiveCorp and its predecessors. He clerked for Supreme Court justices David Souter and William Brennan, and way back when he worked for Sen. Charles Schumer (Rep. Schumer at the time) on the staff of the House committee investigating the Iran-Contra scandal. So he's got a few good Oliver North stories, no doubt.

Although he obviously wasn't making a big policy speech, the goals he outlined to the FCC staff are still telling. Job one is helping Obama fulfill a campaign promise to dramatically improve the nation's broadband infrastructure.

Or as Genachowski put it in bullet-point style in his address:

We've all had those moments of watching TV when a commercial pops up that is far more entertaining than the program.

Producer Robert Dalrymple's job is to hunt down blurb gem from around the world and make them the program. His latest "World's Funniest Commercials" spesh, hosted by Kevin Nealon, airs tonight at 9 p.m. on TBS.

What started for Dalrymple as a clip special of Super Bowl ads for CBS seven years ago has evolved since 2004 into a franchise for TBS and the web that will likely never run out of steam -- not as long as somebody somewhere needs to launch a new brand of beer, or a car, or a suntan lotion, etc., etc.

Dalrymple has a team of researchers who scour the world for the best spots they can find -- and then there are Herculean efforts to get them cleared for broadcast. It takes five to seven months to compile the material for one hourlong special, which usually features about 50-55 spots. Dalrymple works closely with Phil Oppenheim, TBS' senior veep of program planning and scheduling, in deciding which spots make the cut.

"There's so much material," Dalrymple says. "This really is mini-moviemaking, from all over the world."

In addition to the speshes, Dalrymple's treasure trove is nicely displayed in the www.veryfunnyads.com/ site that he runs with TBS. It's one of the largest web archive of blurbs in the world, searchable by brands, categories, country and popularity. It even has a bustling blog for people who can't say enough about their favorite commercials. And of course, it has plenty of (paid) advertising on it too.

In his years of research, he's come to the conclusion that pound for pound, blurb for blurb, there is no more bizarro advertising than the spots that come out of Thailand ("totally stream of consciousness and non-linear," says Oppenheim), with Canada a close runner-up.

See for yourself by clicking here for a sampling of Thailand's best marketing minds at work.

And for a cheap laugh, check out this spot from a French condom manufacturer.

"Harold and Maude." What a movie. A feel-good picture if there ever was one.

Tonight's tribute to director Hal Ashby at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, co-hosted by Variety's Peter Bart and Cameron Crowe, was a treat from start to finish. And the bar was pretty high, given that the evening started with a three-song set by Yusuf Islam (known in the "Harold and Maude" era as Cat Stevens).

There was panelizing with hot contempo talents (Judd Apatow, Diablo Cody, Seth Rogen) from the generation that grew up watching the movie 200 times on cable, and there was panelizing from those who worked with Ashby (Jon Voight, Haskell Wexler and Yusuf). And Bart of course in his previous life was the Paramount exec who said "yes" all those years ago to a decidedly offbeat script, and then snuck it past the bosses at Gulf + Western.

(Apatow seemed tamer than he usually is when pressed into panel service. It seemed like he was trying to mind his manners, though he did note that he has a daughter named Maude and was hoping to impregnate wife Leslie Mann with a son to complete his own tribute to the pic.)

Bud Cort came out after the screening and charmed the packed house with about 15 minutes of memories. But as entertaining as all of the live yakking was, the real star of the evening was the movie. They just don't make 'em that good anymore. Apatow said so himself. We can all be thankful for Ruth Gordon, and to Ashby (who died in 1988) and screenwriter Colin Higgins for giving her the role of anyone's lifetime.

I picked up so many details in the moving this time around, thanks to the luxury of seeing "Harold and Maude" on the beautiful bigscreen and for the first time in many years.

If you want to, sing out! Play the banjo. Drive fast. Steal cars. Steal a cop's motorcycle. Crash funerals. And go watch "Harold and Maude"!

(Pictured: Cameron Crowe, Yusuf and Judd Apatow)

"Entourage" is back in fine form, just in time to be a guilty summer pleasure.

As season six dawns, Vincent Chase's career fortunes have taken a turn for the better, which brings its own set of problems. The boys in general appear to be going through serious growing pains, making the show feel more like "Sex and the City" for guys than ever. Not that that's a bad thing.

There's great stuff going on with Rex Lee's Lloyd, the long-suffering assistant to Jeremy Piven's alpha-agent Ari Gold. And there's some intrigue in store for Gary Cole's character, Andrew, the old friend that Ari brought in as a partner to the Miller Gold Agency last season. Jami Gertz is a nice addition to the ensemble as Andrew's wife, Marlo.

Of the insider-y stuff, early on in the season opener there's a reference to Andrew having just signed Greg Garcia of "My Name is Earl" fame (no mention of the show's demise), and Andrew and Ari put the hard sell on two "UTA showrunners" (they don't have names, just agency affiliations in Andrew's mind). And ICM's Ted Chervin gets a name-check, as "Chervin," who Ari frets about beating on the golf course.

"Entourage" bows July 12 at 10:30 p.m., running in tandem with newbie "Hung," which preems on Sunday. I intended to watch the "Hung" pilot last night but I couldn't resist taking in the second "Entourage" episode on HBO's screener. I've got a date with "Hung" tonight fer sure. 

Pros: Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Ed O'Neill, Ty Burrell, Sofia Vergara, Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet and Ty Burrell

Cons:

After screening  bad-to-not-too-bad half-hour pilots so far, "Modern Family" restored my faith in comedy writers.

This ABC pilot is really, really funny. The cast is great, and the premise is fraught with potential. The banter is witty without being too clever, and it delivers laughs. Serious out-loud yuks that hold up even on a second viewing.

It's a little un-PC in parts, in service of its finely drawn characters. It took me a little bit to warm up to Julie Bowen in a mom role, but once she started doing the kind of pratfalls with a refrigerator door that seem to happen to me first thing in the morning, I was with her.

"Modern Family" looks to be the show that will finally do justice to Ty Burrell's considerable charms. I liked him in CBS' "Out of Practice," and in Fox's "Back to You" (from the same creative stewards as "Modern Family") and I'm now preparing to love Burrell (pictured top right) as the self-described "cool dad" in "Modern Family." Ed O'Neill is also very smartly deployed here.

The show manages to offer sly and subtle insights into the state of familial relations without ever once getting preachy or "very special episode"-y. Co-creators Steve Levitan and Christopher Lloyd have set the bar high for the series with the pilot.

Cons:

The cons on this ABC sitcom are too numerous to mention.

I didn't buy the premise, the characters, the setting, the jokes, the casting. None of it worked for me. I'm surprised at how much I didn't like it, because the creative auspices are strong. But watching the "Cougar Town" pilot felt like a long 23 minutes.

I particularly disliked the perf by Busy Philipps as the dopey, slutty co-worker of Courteney Cox's recently-divorced-mom character. Josh Hopkins, who was so good in "Swingtown," and Brian Van Holt, who's adorable and roguishly charming, are simply wasted.

The one thesp who wasn't half-bad was Christa Miller as the married next door neighbor of Cox's hapless Elie.

It's always a treat to open up the newspaper and see Betty White's smiling face.

Susan King did a very nice profile of Betty for the Los Angeles Times, tied to her role in "The Proposal," and it features a fantastic photo that captures Betty's joie de vivre. (It looks great in color online.) As readers of this blog know, the mere sight of Betty White makes me happy -- and I'm not alone. America loves Betty White. Long may she reign....

... A performer who is cut from the same cloth as Betty (friends say he's nice, normal, utterly decent and very talented) is starting to get his due as a comedy comer with the success of "The Hangover."

Ed Helms spared a few minutes for me on the phone last week in between his promo blitz in London for "Hangover" to talk about that pic, as well as his own backstory, from his youth in Atlanta to becoming a "Daily Show" correspondent to landing a plum job on "The Office."

The Nard-dog rules!

(Pictured right, Ed Helms mugs at the "Hangover" premiere with co-stars Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper and Heather Graham)

This is why David Letterman is a more moral and honorable person than Sarah Palin ever will be.

He felt bad -- really bad -- after letting loose with a bad joke while doing his job as a latenight comedian and host. He apologized. She led hate-mongering rallies of people calling for the head of her political opponent while doing her job last fall -- in between shopping sprees.

From Tuesday's "Late Show with David Letterman":

"Top 10 Things Overhead at the 'Fire David Letterman' Rally" (click here for the clip)

No. 10 -- David who?

No. 9 -- "Well, it was nice of CBS to provide the catering."

No. 8 -- "We should have done this years ago."

(I emphasize that these are first impressions, not a full-fledged review nor a hit-or-miss prediction. Most pilots at this stage of the game are very much works in progress.)

Pros: Joel McHale, Alison Brie, Danny Pudi

Cons: Light on LOL moments, Chevy Chase

I liked these people -- or I should say I liked watching these people. I'll come back for more.

As an alumnus of Pasadena City College (we liked to call it "Caltech-adjacent"), I definitely recognized the truth of the humor in this motley group of characters. I liked the fact that Joel McHale's lead character, Jeff, is outfitted in an old blazer and the bottom half of an '80s era running suit, complete with the red racing stripes on the outside of the pant legs.

The pilot seg spends a little too much time for my taste on a convoluted plot that involve's McHale's effort to procure test answers from an old acquaintance whose who is now teaching at the school. But in general I found the half-hour entertaining and intriguing, if not laugh-out-loud funny. It's obviously shooting for the NBC ensemble feel of "The Office," so let's hope this study group comes alive, beyond quirky, during the first semester. Alison Brie of "Mad Men" renown (she played the pampered princess Trudy Campell) gets only a few minutes in the pilot, and she's very good in them.

Danny Pudi's fast-talking nerdy genius is fun, but it will wear thin unless Pudi can take it a step further ala Rainn Wilson and Dwight Schrute. I'm sorry to say that Chevy Chase is just a distraction here. His character, a one-time successful businessman who's enamored, almost Gomez Addams-style, with a young black woman played by Yvette Nicole Brown, doesn't really ring true, and his presence doesn't add any zing to the proceedings.