A love story | February 26, 2008
On a lark, I decided to tape Jimmy Kimmel's live special that aired after the Oscars. I hadn't watched his show in a few years, but I did know a little bit about his "feud" with Matt Damon. (This blog provides good background.)
Anyhow, for those of you who don't know, Kimmel is dating the comedian Sarah Silverman. A few months back, she taped a music video with Damon in which she brags about her, uh, affair with the actor. So Kimmel waited until Oscar night to unveil his response, in which he sings about his relationship with ... you guessed it, Ben Affleck.
The video gets off to an amusing start, but a few minutes in it goes in a completely different direction. And you know what? It really, really works. I think I sat there through the second half of the video with my jaw hanging, because I was blown away by just how many A-listers they were able to get to participate in this thing. (My favorite? Josh Groban. I won't spoil the rest of the all-star cast for you.)
(Note: The videos are bleeped, but probably still NSFW)
Here's the Sarah Silverman/Matt Damon clip that started things off:
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Conan vs. Colbert | January 18, 2008
Of all the late-night talk-show hosts during this writers' strike, Conan O'Brien has taken the art of time-killing to the highest level. He's taken viewers on a tour of the Late Night offices and secretly listened in on NBC tours of his studio. He recreated light shows one might find in a bad German disco last week. This week, he's been playing out his zip line fantasies (including saving Abraham Lincoln from John Wilkes Booth) and forcing guests (including Tom Brokaw) to navigate a maze before they get to the interview couch.
But a brewing feud has the potential to top all of that. You see, both O'Brien and Stephen Colbert are taking credit for Mike Huckabee's victory in the Iowa caucuses. Here's Colbert's take on the situation:
O'Brien fired back during Thursday night's show:
We'll await Colbert's response next week.
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Hooray for September (and early October) | September 04, 2007
I have been searching for the best fall TV grid out there. This one at The TV Addict is pretty good.
I still wish I could find something that listed all of the network shows and the cable premieres. But only the cable premieres I care about.
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Heroes news | August 20, 2007
I'm concerned the second season of Heroes will be a letdown, but one very interesting bit of casting news came out over the weekend.
Kristen Bell of the dearly departed Veronica Mars has been added to the cast, though the number of episodes she'll appear in hasn't been announced. Heroes, which premieres Sept. 24, won an apparent recruiting battle for Bell, who reportedly was asked to join the cast of Lost as well.
HBO recently re-aired the episodes of Deadwood in which Bell appeared, which led me to re-watch her guest spot on The Shield, and after that I had to go ahead and watch the extended version of the Veronica Mars pilot again.
So I really, really hope this role on Heroes is a meaty one.
(And did you catch the odd coincidence that Bell's character on Heroes will be named Elle, and Bell is rumored to be taking over the lead role in the Broadway production of Legally Blonde? Hmmm ...)
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She who shall not be named | June 29, 2007
There has been speculation that this was more of a publicity ploy than a journalistic stand (they just happened to have a camera pointed at the shredder?), but this clip of MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski refusing to report on Paris Hilton has been generating a lot of buzz.
Anderson Cooper also has been totally bummed out about the nonstop coverage, but seeing as he spoke just before CNN went to Larry King's highly hyped interview, his words carry a little less weight.
So, is this the new tack? Talk about Paris by refusing to talk about Paris?
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Steve Perry thinks it's the '80s again | June 20, 2007
It's no surprise that parodies of The Sopranos' final scene are popping up all over the place. But two of the latest to jump on the bandwagon are the Pittsburgh Pirates and Hillary Clinton.
(The Clinton clip, by the way, was put together as part of a campaign theme song contest. The winning song is by Celene Dion. Really?)
The great thing about It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which is set to return in "late summer" on FX, is that you get a pretty good idea of the wrong-ness that will take place in each episode just from the titles. This season's list is after the jump.
Continue reading "Steve Perry thinks it's the '80s again"
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You don't know what you've got until it's gone | May 27, 2007
I had to take a moment last week when I returned my DVR box to the cable company ahead of my move south. And now that I'm in a corporate apartment with only -- sigh -- basic cable, I'm jonesing for that silly little box. (And, really, how did we live before the on-screen programming grid?!? I need, need, need it back. Now.)
Just before my move, I took a weeklong trip to Portland, so the DVR was full when I returned home. With a mere two days before I had to surrender the box, it was time for TV watching triage. So I watched The Sopranos and Entourage. I said, "Sorry, 24." (Although from what I gather, I didn't miss anything.)
I took in the final 3 episodes of Veronica Mars. And after a mostly uninspiring season, suddenly the old VM was back. And then, just as suddenly, it was gone.
I got to some of my cable TV guilty pleasures, such as TLC's The Real Deal. But I was quite upset to abandon all those unwatched episodes of BBC America's The F Word, because I can't get enough of Gordon Ramsay.
So while I'd love to get out of this (rather nice) apartment as soon as possible so I can have my own place again, I'm wondering if all I really need is just my HDTV and a DVR. With all the summer series rolling out, I might be leaning toward TV.
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Score! | May 11, 2007
Meant to post this earlier, but I got distracted and just remembered now.
Anyhow, NBC has renewed Friday Night LIghts and wil make the announcement Monday. So we will, indeed, get to find out if Coach Taylor decided to go to TMU.
And now for something completely different:
The amazing writer Hank Stuever had a piece the other day in The Washington Post on Bob Barker as he prepares to wrap up his 35-year run on The Price Is Right. You must read it.
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I'm working on a pilot for Keno | May 01, 2007
It's pretty clear we're scraping the bottom of the barrel for game shows, as ABC is giving us National Bingo Night.
The hook is that you can play along at home, but what fun is bingo if you can't revel in the deflated spirits of your competitors when you shout, "Bingo!"?
(And the proper response to that question: What fun is bingo, ever?)
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Hype machine in full gear | March 29, 2007
Vanity Fair has the April 8 return of The Sopranos as its cover story, and pretty much every other media outlet is already in full-on fuhgeddaboudit mode.
The Associated Press talked with cast members who have been whacked. And really, the motivation for this post was an excuse to share this quote:
“They killed me on HBO, and then I went to NBC to commit complete suicide,” said [Drea] de Matteo, drawing a roomful of laughter. “I can't lie. I was still in love with Adriana.”
Carry on.
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Calvert DeForest, RIP | March 21, 2007
Calvert DeForest, who played Larry "Bud" Melman on Late Night With David Letterman, died Monday at 85.
It's really a shame he wasn't able to bring his character to CBS when Letterman moved, because the show lost something without Bud. (DeForest did appear on Late Show with David Letterman, just not as Bud.)
If you're not familiar with DeForest, a couple of links:
• YouTube clips.
• Fade to Black Q&A
Update: The New York Times' obit has been posted.
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I'm never getting to those Netflix DVDs | March 13, 2007
Just when I had come this close to clearing out my DVR, I'm about to get buried under an avalanche of new shows.
FX got the ball rolling Monday night with the premiere of The Riches, with the wonderful Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver. The Shield is back April 3, with the hunt for Lem's killer in full force.
Over on HBO, The Sopranos begins its final season April 8, followed by the premiere of Entourage.
This Thursday on NBC, Andy Richter gets yet another chance to prove he can carry a successful series, with the pilot of Andy Barker, P.I. If you want, you can watch the episodes at NBC's Web site right now.
NBC also is trotting out reruns of The Office packaged in something called a "newpeat." I call it "How to cannibalize DVD sales."
And in a bit of news that made me say, "Yay!": 30 Rock's hiatus has been shortened. I fell a little bit more in love with the show last week when they included that sneezing panda.
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Yup, it's pilot season | March 07, 2007
I somehow missed that Fox has turned the Terminator movie franchise into a pilot, called The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
The series takes place after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and focuses, duh, on Sarah Conner and her son.
To be honest, the only reason that this caught my eye -- it was on the news ticker of an obscure cable network the other night -- was because Summer Glau (she of Firefly, Serenity and notable guest spots on The 4400 and The Unit) has been cast as one of the Terminators.
Her character's name will be Cameron, in what folks on the Interweb are speculating is a nod to Terminator creator James Cameron. No word yet on whether the Terminator that Glau plays will be good, though the series is to have a good model and a bad one. Owain Yeoman of The Nine is set to play the other Terminator.
Not sure if anyone will be interested in a Terminator without Ahnold, though. I'm setting the early over/under on number of eps Fox will show at 5. If it turns out to be good: 3.
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News, uh, scoop | February 14, 2007
Stephen Colbert's quest to get things named after him is proceeding quite nicely.
The latest to honor Colbert? Ben & Jerry's, which unveiled Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream on Wednesday.
It's vanilla ice cream with caramel and waffle cone pieces covered in fudge, and it's the "sweet taste of liberty in your mouth."
Colbert will donate the proceeds to charity.
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Stuff that's not the Super Bowl | February 02, 2007
For those of you not planning to watch the Super Bowl -- or even the commercials -- I was hoping to be able to list an interesting slate of shows for you on Sunday.
Alas, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of options. HBO is trotting out new episodes of two shows -- Rome and Extras -- but they're pretty much alone in doing so.
BBC America presents a Footballers Wive$: Overtime marathon in a clever bit of counterprogramming, and Fox News Channel, oddly, has apparently decided that nothing newsworthy will happen during the Super Bowl and will air an O'Reilly Factor marathon. Stephen Colbert's recent appearance on the show will be included.
And that brings us to dear old Animal Planet, which is happy to provide viewers with an overdose of cute, to go along with your excess of football, nachos and beer. Yes, it's Puppy Bowl III, which begins at 3 p.m. EST. And, of course, we can't forget the felines, so the kittens get the halftime show.
It's not too early to start voting for Puppy Bowl MVP, either. (Bomber is totally working the "awwww" angle with the tongue.)
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It's that time of year | December 14, 2006
The American Film Institute has released its list of the top TV shows of the year, and here it is:
Battlestar Galactica
Dexter
Elizabeth I
Friday Night Lights
Heroes
The Office
South Park
24
The West Wing
The Wire
That's a fairly solid list, but as the honors start rolling in this time of year, I really can't say enough about The Wire.
There are many TV critics and Wire fans who already have written much more eloquently than I can about how phenomenal this season, which concluded Sunday, was. It tugged at you from every angle, enraging you, thrilling you and breaking your heart as it focused on four middle schoolers and how the public system failed them in nearly every way.
It's difficult to pick up all of David Simon's metaphors, but the major themes about how we've left the most troubled of our inner cities behind ring loud and clear.
I watched the last two episodes of this season back-to-back (thanks, HBO On Demand!) with a friend who hadn't seen The Wire before. I wanted to explain everything that was going on, but I couldn't. I couldn't because it would have taken hours. I couldn't because I was too caught up in what was unfolding in front of me. I couldn't because I wouldn't have been able to do the series justice.
The most telling moment came when my friend said, "I have no idea what's going on, but I'm hooked." I encouraged her to start the from the beginning, and I hope she does.
* Golden Globe nominations
* Writers Guild Awards nominations
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That's how they live in the Electric City | November 17, 2006
Having suffered through the seemingly endless construction on I-81 on my many travels through Scranton in the late 1990s, I got a big kick when I found out the U.S. version of The Office was set in the city.
And now it's at a whole new level, with the full version of "Lazy Scranton" from this week's episode up at NBC.com.
Enjoy.
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Remainders | October 18, 2006
A few random thoughts:
A friend got me hooked on Project Runway over the summer, and I'm eagerly awaiting tonight's finale, though I wonder if they can top the drama from last week, when everybody ganged up on Jeffrey and accused him of getting help with his final collection.
And since I'm hopelessly addicted to any sort of cooking show, I'll be watching the Season 2 premiere of Top Chef, too. I have one problem so far, though: Of the 15 contestants, exactly one is not from Las Vegas, California or the New York City area. There aren't any "rising chefs" working anywhere else in the country? Really?
Finally, I was rather annoyed when I discovered that The Wire will not be on this week, so HBO can show ... The Island? I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this somewhere, but I don't know what it is. *Grumble*
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"The kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage" | September 21, 2006
G4 TV, the somewhat obscure cable channel dedicated to video games, continues its expansion into non-gamer shows. G4 recently began airing re-runs of "Arrested Development," and now comes news it has partnered with Mel Brooks to create an animated version of "Spaceballs."
According to The Associated Press, "Brooks, 80, will write the pilot episode and voice two of the show's characters."
"Spaceballs: The Animated Series" is scheduled to begin airing in Fall 2007.
There are, of course, far too many memorable lines from "Spaceballs" to reproduce here, so I'll let IMDb.com do it. (And, really, the excuse to post a link to that page was the prime motivation behind this post.)
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Stephen Colbert, Internet god | August 24, 2006
After soundly defeating Wikipedia and puttin' a hurtin' on a bridge-naming contest in Hungary, Stephen Colbert has turned his attention to dominating viral video.
The Associated Press explains: "On Aug. 10, Colbert showcased his lightsaber skills in front of a green screen on his Comedy Central show 'The Colbert Report.' Soon, fans were filling in the background with video, placing the host in the realm of Star Wars, and posting them online" as part of Stephen Colbert's Green Screen challenge. (You can see some of the entries here here.)
If only I had some technical skills in this area, because the clip I *need* to see is Stephen Colbert vs. George-Michael Bluth.
(Oh, and the third season of "Arrested Development" is out on DVD next week. Huzzah!)
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All media, all the time | July 24, 2006
Because TV critics have no other way of letting the public know how they feel about what's on the air, they handed out some awards on Sunday night.
The quick rundown: Grey's Anatomy was program of the year; Lost won for best drama; and The Office got the best comedy award. Steve Carrell (The Office) and Hugh Laurie (House) took home the comedy and drama acting awards, respectively.
In related news, Matthew Gilbert, TV critic for The Boston Globe, admits that he watches on a 20-inch television. If he doesn't see the need for a full-blown home theater system, that's fine with me. But I do have a problem with his contention that as a more intimate medium, TV should be watched on a small scale.
The problem is, with shows such as Deadwood (which Gilbert correctly mentions as a reason you need HDTV), The Sopranos and even The Office, just about every shot is filled with necessary information; there is no wasted space. On a small screen, you're simply not picking all of that up. (And without a widescreen, you're just not seeing it on shows shot in HD.)
OK, off the soapbox.
Finally: Tabloid Wars, which centers on the reporters and editors at New York's Daily News, debuts tonight on Bravo. I'll be watching, but if it's true that the show does little with the rivalry with the Post, then really, where's the fun in that?
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'Girls' and chicken products | July 18, 2006
Sounds like a setup to a bad joke, don't it?
The Associated Press had a couple of interesting items Monday night:
First, Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel continue to hedge on their futures with Gilmore Girls. I admit to having a serious love-hate relationship with the show, but it's hard to not see this show coming to a much less-than-satisfactory end.
Elsewhere, it seems CBS is turning to poultry for help promoting its prime-time lineup. In the story -- and, no, I will not be using lame egg-related puns when talking about this item; if you want those, search Google News -- CBS says this is part of its "Outernet strategy," which aims to reach viewers "outside their homes as they go about their daily lives."
So, do you really want to be reminded of the CBS schedule every time you make breakfast? Also, as a person who never gave much thought to eggs having expiration dates before, should I be dead -- or should I at least have had several serious bouts of food poisoning -- by now?
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Last one on the bandwagon ... again | July 17, 2006
In my rapid fall from "young" and "hep," I've noticed I'm not quite on top of the latest news. In honor of that, a few things you already know:
• Fans of The Office can tide themselves over until the new season with the Webisodes at NBC.com. The clips feature the accounting staff, and two of the 10 episodes have been posted.
• It's been floating around the Internet for years, but the unaired Buffy pilot has made its way onto YouTube for easy access. (Hi, inadequate Willow!)
• If you missed it Sunday night, the skit that supposedly led Dave Chapelle to quit his Comedy Central show will air a kajillion more times (it's Episode 302).
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Let's go racin' | July 15, 2006
A quick weekend note, since DeAnn is "tired." Never mind that I got very little sleep last night, did a train-plane-automobile trip home and then a full day of work. Hmph.
Anyway, CBS released the list of teams for the tenth season of The Amazing Race on Saturday night.
"This cast is as different as it's ever been. It's meltdown city on this trip." -- executive producer Bertram van Munster
A not-so-bold prediction that these two teams will try to hook up:
• Friends Tyler Denk, 29, and James Branaman, 27, of Los Angeles, who are models
• Friends Dustin Konzelman, 24, of Riverside, Calif., and Kandice Pelletier, 24, of New York City, both former Miss USA contestants
Should be interesting to see how TAR does in its new timeslot (8 p.m. Sundays). It will be going up against the NFL on NBC, but a pretty good counterprogramming choice, methinks.
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Pee-wee's back | July 10, 2006
I have to admit I was never a huge fan of Pee-wee's Playhouse when it aired Saturday mornings from 1986-91. In fact, I found it a bit creepy. (But not as creepy as the biggest source of my early childhood trauma, which for some reason was the Spider-Man skits on The Electric Company.)
In any event, Cartoon Network gives us the opportunity to check out Pee-wee again when it begins showing Playhouse at 11 tonight. For those of you who, like me, might need a crash course, I found one site's top 25 show moments.
Also tonight, Hell's Kitchen, my favorite summer escape, is back after taking last week off. Haven't decided who I'm rooting for, but I think I'm partial to Heather. Nagging concern: I'm not sure what the significance of Gordon Ramsay bellowing "DONKEY!" so often is, although it gives me the giggles. Maybe someone who's worked in a kitchen can enlighten me?
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Hey, who let him in? | July 08, 2006
The TV Goddess has found a peon.
My name's Jay, and I'll be filling in whenever our beloved DeAnn is otherwise occupied or just off somewhere having fun. (And I'll pipe in every now and then when she's obviously waaay off on something. Checks and balances, ya know?)
And just what qualifies me to do this? Well, um ... er. Hey! Look over there!
Anyway, I'm going to begin, as any good peon would, by begging the TV Goddess' forgiveness for a couple of sins:
1. For not listening to you and watching these shows from the beginning: Firefly, Scrubs, The Office, Arrested Development. (And I promise to get around to Battlestar Galactica one of these days. Really.)
2. For driving away all of your readers.
One quick note on this weekend:
Chapelle's Show: The Lost Episodes begins its brief run Sunday night on Comedy Central. The uncensored DVD is scheduled for release July 25.
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