Is that the same Joel Stein that does the back page of Entertainment Weekly?
The one and the same.
Here's the pertinent portions of the press release, which reveals that we'll also see another game show on Joel's \"My Trio\" nights:
MY TR!O: Joel Stein Week kicks off on Sunday, July 20 at 9:00 p.m., ET/PT with the premiere of My TR!O: Joel Stein, a half-hour special that explains the curator's unusual programming choices for the week. The special features clips from the upcoming week's shows as well as phone interviews with Welcome Back, Kotter's Gabe Kaplan (who appeared on Battle of the Network Stars), Jeff Altman (Pink Lady & Jeff) and Greg Fitzsimmons (Idiot Savants).
The first episode of TR!O's limited original series Good Clean Porn, follows at 9:30 p.m., ET/PT. This three-edition series spotlights the subtlety of the acting and the complex narrative storylines of four classic porn films, without any of those distracting sex scenes. The films Debbie Does Dallas, The Devil in Miss Jones, Through the Looking Glass, and I Dream of Jenna are each the subject of their own episode.
Among Joel's hand-selected acquired series will be five episodes of the reality show Battle of the Network Stars (1976-1983) which featured teams from the three major broadcast networks who compete against each other in physical challenges. Stars include Billy Crystal (Soap), David Letterman (Mary), Robin Williams (Mork and Mindy), Farrah Fawcett (Charlie's Angels), Penny Marshall (Laverne & Shirley), Ron Howard (Happy Days), and Rob Reiner (All in the Family). The series premieres on TR!O on Sunday, July 20 at 10:00 p.m., ET/PT and airs Monday through Friday at 7:00 p.m., ET/4:00 p.m., PT.
Additionally, the weeknight primetime schedule will include the camp favorite Pink Lady and Jeff, a short-lived 1980 series featuring a female Japanese rock duo (Pink Lady) and comedian Jeff Altman, airing Monday to Friday at 10:00 p.m., ET/7:00 p.m., ET. In keeping with the camp theme are five episodes of the Jerry Van Dyke classic My Mother the Car (1965-66), a comedy about a mother who was re-incarnated as 1928 automobile. Dave (Van Dyke), her son, was the only one who could hear her speak. This series airs Monday to Friday at 9:30 p.m., ET/6:30 p.m., PT.
Idiot Savants -- another personal favorite of Joel's -- is a quiz show in which four college-age contestants were asked pop culture questions by wiseguy host Greg Fitzsimmons. An episode featuring a younger Joel Stein as a contestant premieres on Monday, July 21 at 9:00 p.m., ET/6:00 p.m., PT.
To celebrate Joel's birthday on July 23, Late Night with David Letterman, airing during MY TR!O week in the special time period of 6:00 p.m., ET/3:00 p.m., PT, will feature the episode in which the talk show host reads a letter written by Joel Stein when he was a child.
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That's right--the Brain is back (in rerun form for one night)!
Right now in Chicago, besides satellite, Trio's (excuse me, TR!O'S) only available in those areas where Comcast has \"rebuilt\" the cable system on the digital tier--I'm not in one of those yet. I'd like to be in one by July 20.