Elvis makes a 'Spectacle' of himself

The great Ed Masley posted on that Kinks-Genesis blog, "First, America elects a president we can be proud of. Now, the Kinks are getting back together. What next, trees that do grow money?"

Sorry, the money on trees is for the bankers.

But we do get an Elvis Costello talk show, which can't be anything but an entertaining and very musical affair from one of the smartest rockers on the planet.

"Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..." premieres on the Sundance Channel Dec. 3 with a mix of conversation and music by Costello and his guests. Costello will begin each episode with "an original, never before seen (or heard) interpretation of a song by the featured guest, or a song connected to them."  Thirteen one-hour episodes will air Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. (One potential problem here would be not getting Sundance, but at least it will come out on DVD.)

The lineup of guests seems a bit mainstream, but we can trust to Elvis to do great things with it.

'"I didn't really want to talk to anybody that I would have to feign enthusiasm for," he recently told NY1. "Some of them are personal friends but it also wouldn't be any good if they were exclusively just my friends. It would be too inside."

Here's the schedule:
Dec. 3: Elton John.
Dec. 10: Lou Reed and Julian Schnabel
Dec. 17: Bill Clinton
Dec. 24: James Taylor
Dec. 31: Tony Bennett
Jan. 7: The Police
Jan. 14: Rufus Wainwright
Jan. 21: Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash, Norah Jones, John Mellencamp
Jan. 28: Renée Fleming
Feb. 4: Herbie Hancock
Feb. 11: She & Him, Jenny Lewis, Jakob Dylan
Feb. 18: Diana Krall
Feb. 25: Smokey Robinson

If there's a second season, you have to figure on a visit by big Elvis fan Nick Jonas.